Chapter Six: The Goodbye
Veronica sighed as she rolled around on her bed, tangling herself up in her sheets. She had been trying to fall asleep, she really had been! But she couldn't get Alex's words out of her head.
"Will you go on a date with me?"
He had said that! He! Had! Said! That! But why? They both knew that they were going their separate ways in less than a year. It was foolish, silly, stupid-wrong! Tears bubbled in her eyes at the thought and she tried her best not to cry. I shouldn't be crying, she thought.
She sniffed, hating herself for crying when she knew she should be excited. The worst thing was that she had no one else to turn to her. Her father was hopeless, he would just hug her and tell her that life is funny, or something stupid and not helpful like, You're too young to date. You're grounded. So she laid there, trying to deal with it by herself. She let the tears fall, because after awhile they made her feel better.
She had almost cried herself to sleep when a soft whooshing started. She was instantly awake, and she rolled off of the bed, landing with a loud thud. She was struggling out of her blankets when the TARDIS blinked into existence a few feet away. The door to the Tardis flew open, and the Doctor jumped out, happy and excited.
Seeing him happy brought tears to her eyes and before Veronica knew it, she was crying again. The Doctor winced at this. "You look terrible."
"I know, shut up." She wiped at her eyes, sighing. "I'm just tired," she muttered.
The Doctor gave her a small smile. "Girls don't usually cry when they're tired," he laughed. His happy face dropped right after he said it, however, and he looked around. "Or do they?"
Veronica's face scrunched up, but she didn't go back to crying, instead she pouted. "I want to say it's normal." She shrugged and wiped at her eyes again. "Why are you here?"
The Doctor's happiness popped back up, but then mellowed into something fatherly. "I came here on accident," he said.
Veronica gave him a dull look, irritated. "Accident? You're in my room."
"Yes!" The Doctor patted the Tardis. "I guess she missed you."
"Missed me? The Tardis has feelings?" she said. Veronica sniffed and stood up. "That's amazing."
The Doctor nodded, as if bored with all of her talking, and he put a hand on her arm and led her to the Tardis door. "I'm afraid I'm in a bit of a hurry though. I don't want to be late."
Veronica nodded, and let him lead her away. If she had been more aware at the moment, she would have commented he was a time traveling man. It should be impossible for him to be late, but of course, at the time, she wasn't too aware of what was going on. She just went with him.
Just like her mother.
Shhe felt a pang go through her, and she finally remembered why she had been crying. She wanted my mother. Veronica glanced at the Doctor, he didn't seem to notice. He was too busy dancing around the control panel, his hands flipping switches and cranking knobs and pushing buttons to take notice to her unhappy frown. He was a man with a time machine. He could do anything. He was the mysterious man. He knew no limits.
She opened my mouth to ask him, but then he looked at her. Her voice froze in her throat. His brown eyes danced with excitement. There was a giddy smile on his face. His body twitched with anticipation. Veronica's mouth stretched into a smile almost instantly. There was no way she could ask him. She decided to speak after a second. She threw her hands up. "Where to?"
"It's a surprise," he said. He stood up straight and wiggled his fingers in front of himself. "You'll see soon." He suddenly spun around, and then slammed his hand on a button. The Tardis let out an angry shake in response. "Grab the rails!" Veronica's hands latched to the orange railing in a panic. The Tardis shook violently for about ten seconds before it stopped suddenly. The Doctor hummed, and looked back over the controls. "Uhm, nope, nope, nope," he whispered to himself. He looked up at some things-things Veronica couldn't begin to understand. "We shouldn't be here," he muttered to himself.
There was a movement just outside of her vision. The Tardis door had opened. She stared at it. "Uh, Doctor?"
"Not now, Veronica, I'm busy," he said. He glanced up at her, nonetheless, then followed her line of sight to the door. "No. No. No. Don't go outside."
Veronica looked back at the Doctor, and nodded, a silent promise to do as he had said. She looked back out the door to notice they were in a space station of sorts. Well that, or an alien warehouse. Or...and a dirty and dark hospital. Then she thought she heard moaning. It sent a chill up her spine.
It went on for a moment before her ears picked up on what was being said. "Doc-tor..."
She glanced at the Doctor the same time he glanced at her. They shared a look: fear. "Veronica," he started, but she was already creeping towards the open door, "don't go out there."
"Someone's calling your name," the girl whispered. She met his eyes, trying to convince him that someone needed him, the mysterious man, to save them. He looked at her like there was no hope.
Wasn't he the fountain of hope? "Veronica." The way he said her name made her suddenly unsure. Unsure of herself, unsure of everything. She knew he saw that.
"Doctor."
His eyes filled with a look Veronica hated, pain. Oh, how his face displayed it well, like he had felt the emotion too often. "You're not going to like it." His voice broke. He look away from the teen.
Veronica glanced at the door and didn't move any closer. Did she really want to see what was out there?
"..Doc...tor..."
Yes. Not for herself, but for the poor person calling for the Doctor. She glanced at him once before finally gaining the courage to walk away. He was standing at the control panel, his arms latch on to the side, leaning forward, his head hung. He looked defeated. Veronica knew this was something she was going to have to do herself. She stepped out of the blue box and then looked around. Definitely an alien spaceship. She felt out of place, but she looked around more. The fact that the Doctor was just a few feet away in his box made exploring a bit easier, a bit safer.
It was pretty much an empty storage room with a few boxes. The scene reminded her of the warehouse from Star Wars Episode III, but without the aliens or the space crafts. She looked around more, the seconds ticked by and each gave her a new feeling of courage.
Veronica was going to call out, but then she spotted her. She was lying there, very still, but her chest slowly rose and fell. She was bleeding, and Veronica had no idea what had happened. The lady had just suddenly appeared.
"Help," she whispered. "Please." Her voice was small and weak, but Veronica heard it clearly.
Veronica didn't speak, she couldn't, as she ran to her. The woman wasn't far, only a quick step away, but she was next to her in the blink of an eye. She looked over her body, mortified. It looked like she'd been taken a bite out of. Veronica felt faint. Nonetheless, she did her best to stop the bleeding. She put her hand on it to stop the bleeding, but somehow she knew that wasn't going to help. There was more to the bite than just the chunk of flesh missing. There was something spreading throughout her body. A nasty black circle surrounded the wound, and branched out across her body. Veronica didn't need to be a genius to know it was a lethal bite.
She wanted to help, but her mind was blank. I should move her, but that might make it worse. I can't leave her here, but she's too broken to move.
"Baby?" the lady whispered. Her voice held question that made Veronica's heart skip, despite the situation. She looked at the lady's face to show her she wasn't her baby and then she realized who she was.
Veronica's heart shattered. It felt like her world crumbled before her eyes. It was the woman's eyes that gave her away. Those brown eyes Veronica would never forget, the ones that screamed for adventure. She looked awful. Her face silken, hair tangled, blood-red tinted teeth. "Mommy?" Veronica's voice was higher than usual. She bit back a sob, the back of her hand resting on her lips so she didn't make too much sound. "What? Why? Mom?"
"Baby..." The woman looked tired. Veronica felt more determined to stop the bleeding. There was something that clicked inside of her, telling her that she had to do something, even if it was something pointless.
"Shut up," Veronica hissed. She didn't know what to do so she did what she thought she could. "I love you," she said, and she kept repeating it because it felt right. The woman needed to know that after everything, Veronica loved her. "This was not what I meant when I said I wanted you," she whispered suddenly. Veronica looked at her in the eyes, and saw she had smiled. It was like a final blow to the teen. She drown in self pity. Why me? Her mother set her hand on hers, and Veronica shivered. She was so cold.
But then there was someone behind her. Veronica felt their presence a second before they grabbed her and pulled her back.
Veronica screamed. She flailed, but she stopped when she figured out who it was. The Doctor. She didn't even need to look. Tears spilled down her cheeks. "Doc, she's..." He hugged her, and shushed her. They both looked at Veronica's mother, both helpless. "We have to help her."
"We can't," he said, his voice hollow. "She has only minutes," he added more for himself than forVeronica. A part of her knew that he wasn't talking to her, and that what he said was a slip up, a mistake. Something he didn't mean to say out loud.
He realized his mistake instantly as Veronica tried to break away from him, but he held her tighter. His chin landed on the top of her head, as if he was trying to sooth her. She could feel him close his eyes in his own silent misery as he held her back. "She wanted this."
"She couldn't have wanted this," Veronica hissed.
"She knew the danger," he insisted. His voice was so broken.
She just sounded angry. "We have to save her."
"We can't."
"Why not?!" She yelled, jumping back onto him. He let go of her, not suspecting my sudden rage. Veronica heard him stumble back as she fell to my knees, but she ignored it and crawled to her mother. Her mother was a goner now. The black now surrounded her lips, and was raising up to her cheeks. "Mommy."
Veronica's mother didn't do anything, but set a hand on her pocket and try to get something out of it. Veronica noticed instantly. Her attention was so focused on her, she didn't notice the Doctor painfully watching them. She couldn't focus on him, not when her mother was like this. SHe grabbed her mother's hand and moved it out of the way gently, and then reached inside of the pocket for her.
Veronica pulled out the diary she'd read since forever.
She was confused.
Her mother's lips curved up, and she moved her head in a small nod. But then there was booming voice. A shout that interrupted them. "Elisa-no!" Veronica looked up towards the voice. Feet pounded on the ground, rapid and desperate. The Doctor grabbed her again, and she reached for my mother. Her mother reached back, but the Doctor grabbed her waist, and pulled her away.
Veronica looked at her mother, met her eyes, and said, "Goodbye." It was breathless word, and she almost thought her mother couldn't hear it, but the smile the ghosted her lips told her everything she needed to know. "Goodbye," she whispered to herself. She felt cold.
"We can't stay, we can't interfere with the timeline anymore. I'm sorry," he said pulling her farther and farther away.
Veronica felt dead. She didn't fight back, she just watched her for as long as she could. She didn't say anything as he pulled her back into the box and sped them out of there. She just stared at the book in her hands for a long time, thinking about it, thinking about where it came from.
It was a while before Veronica spoke again. "Doctor." Her voice was broken. His head snapped to her, desperate to get back on good terms, and his big cornered eyes trained on her, ready to listen. The silence has been painful. He was ready to break it. Veronica shifted, uncomfortable with the sudden hit of attention. "We need to make one more stop."
Author's Note: This is just a short story I'm writing. I will most likely make a lot of mistakes because I'm trying to get it out of my head before I lose it, but I will go over it again and again. So do not worry!
So, this chapter took forever (six monthes) to write. How does one find the inspiration to write a chapter like this? Well, she starts to update her other stories and gets frustrated that this one hasn't made progress for a looooong time. It's my fault. I'm a loser. I know that, but I need to get over myself.
Have a great day - and criticism is welcomed. I'm aware that I'm not perfect, and it's okay to point out the flaws. I would actually insist on it because not only will it help me as an author, it would help me to make this an enjoyable story for more people. I love you, by the way. You're spending your time reading this, and that's appreciated it.