Chapter Two
The Doctor stands at a street corner staring up at the TARDIS, not quite believing what he is seeing, and completely oblivious to the commotion happening behind him. In front of him stands the familiar bright blue Police box, and next to it stands another, identical bright blue Police box. He looks from one to the other, with a hand slightly outstretched, attempting to construct a logical explanation in his mind for the impossibility occurring before him.
Amy appears at the open door of the TARDIS, dragging her husband by the hand behind her. She stops suddenly at the sight of the Doctor, causing Rory to bump into her. Rory's face appears over Amy's shoulder: 'what's going on?' he asks.
'Doctor' says Amy, 'are you okay?' She steps out of the TARDIS, spins around, and stands next to the Doctor. In an instant she adopts the same facial expression and stares blankly at the identical boxes in front of her.
'Okay, this is weird' says Rory, still looking out from the doorway of the TARDIS.
The door of the other, identical Police box opens and a short man, wearing a navy blue, single-breasted coat and a black tie, steps out onto the street; under his arm is a black-peaked cap with a chequered band. The man is taken aback by the presence of the Doctor and Amy staring directly at him, and confirms his disapproval with a strange grunt. After a moment, however, he adjusts the large-lens spectacles on his nose, places the cap on his balding head, and closes the door of the Police box behind him. Before he can address the Doctor and Amy, the man spots Rory still standing in the doorway of the TARDIS, and shuffles towards him.
'Get out of there, boy' the man says, whilst grabbing Rory by the arm and dragging him into the street. Rory stumbles onto the pavement, lines up next to the Doctor and his wife, and, upon seeing the two Police boxes side by side, adopts the correct facial expression. 'What can the three of you possibly be getting up to inside there?' the man questions, as he grabs the door of the TARDIS and pull it shut. He doesn't wait for an answer to his question. 'These boxes belong to the Metropolitan Police; they're not here for you to go hiding in! Though why they think we need two on one corner' says the man, patting the wooden exterior of the TARDIS, 'is totally beyond me.'
'Oh, so... you're a Policeman?' Amy asks; her eyes widening as she begins to grasp an understanding of the situation.
'Of course I am' he replies. He stares at the three of them stood in front of him, particularly Rory who still has a look of utter confusion on his face. 'I'm Sergeant Henson – and you three best be on your way. You don't want to be caught up in all of this' he says, nodding to the events happening behind them.
The Doctor looks over his shoulder, before spinning his body around, to get a good look at the scene. The street is crowded with people: half a dozen Policemen, all dressed in the same uniform as Sergeant Henson, are attempting to hold back a small crowd of people; an ambulance, with its hinged back doors open, is parked on the pavement just beyond them. The flock of onlookers, the majority of them women and children, are attempting to get a glimpse at a huddle of Policemen standing at the doorway of one of the terraced houses. There is a fog of stifled commotion hanging over the street, but nobody shouts or even raises their voice – the crowd of onlookers talk in whispers.
Eager for a closer look, the Doctor creeps forward, unsure as to how to correctly approach the situation. Amy quickly follows his lead, and leaves Rory standing alone on the street corner, still somewhat perplexed at the sight of two identical Police boxes before him. As they get nearer to the barrier of Policemen blocking the crowd of onlookers, the Doctor reaches inside his jacket, retrieves a small leather wallet, flashes the contents of which to the nearest Policeman and strides cautiously towards the huddle of people by the doorway of the house. Amy, a few paces behind, goes to follow the Doctor, but is stopped abruptly by a man in navy blue.
'Sorry, Miss, I can't let you any closer.'
She stands with the crowd of eager onlookers, straining her neck to watch the Doctor animatedly introduce himself to the huddle of confused men by the doorway. A few moments later she is joined by her husband and they share a concerned glance. For a minute or two the pair stands in the crowd: Amy stares directly at the gathering of people in front of her, annoyed that the Doctor has excluded her, whilst Rory examines their surroundings, and shoots confused looks over to the pair of Police boxes still standing side by side on the street corner.
The Doctor returns with a grim expression on his face. He motions for the three of them to escape the crowd and strides back towards the TARDIS and its twin. 'Bit of a sad sight, I'm afraid' the Doctor explains, as he walks along. 'A boy fell from the upstairs window,' he turns to face them as they return to the street corner, 'he's bleeding internally and... he's not going to make it.'
'That's horrible' Amy remarks.
'I checked him over and it wasn't anything alien' the Doctor says quietly, 'it was just an accident.' The Doctor's eyes, ordinarily glinting with the thought of boyish adventure, are darkened by image of the young boy lying motionless on the pavement: another horrific sight added to hundreds of year's worth of anguish that can never be unseen.
'I'm a nurse, Doctor' argues Rory; his tone of voice a mixture of anger and regret. Even after travelling through time and space, Rory Williams, The Boy Who Waited, Rory the Roman, Rory Pond, he still has an intrinsic desire to help others: 'I could have helped.'
After a moment of silent respect, the Doctor turns his back on the scene and begins to walk in the opposite direction.
'Well can you at least explain to me why there are two TARDIS's?' Rory asks, the anger fading from his voice. He looks back and forth between Amy, who rolls her eyes, and the Doctor, who begins waving his arms in explanation.
'Well the last time the TARDIS landed in this part of time and space, one of its circuits malfunctioned causing the exterior camouflage to become permanently fixed: that's why it always looks like a Police box. Now that I'm here again, it just so happens that we've landed right next to...,' the Doctor opens the door of the second box, 'an actual Police box.'
'Hey! I thought I told you three to pack it in?' shouts a voice from inside. The Doctor quickly snaps the door shut and spins on the spot to give Amy and Rory an informative look. The three of them, all instinctively knowing exactly what to do, make a hasty exit to the next street, leaving the unfortunate Policeman irritated and confused.