Chapter Thirty-One (Ditzy`s Point of View)

His face went completely white like he had seen a ghost. He leaned against the railings, his mouth agape, almost like he was a statue.

"D...Doctor...?" I asked, carefully inching closer to him.

He shut his mouth but remained still. His breathing picked up and I was starting to let my curiosity get the best of me.

I lifted both of my hands to his hearts, and it was like he didn`t feel my presence. They were like an insane drumbeat, never ending, and both slamming against my hands.

"Are you alright...?" I asked, removing my hands from his chest so I could move a stray strand of hair out of his face and back to the top of his head where it belonged.

He shook his head, eyes blinking frantically for a few split seconds. "Ditzy..." His voice was shaking, almost desperate, "look."

"What about it?"

His eyes searched through mine and I knew it was serious. "This was the dream."

"Wait, THE dream? What dream?" Dinky asked, now standing next to me.

"It`s nothing to concern yourself with," he sighed, a frown closing onto his face.

"Oh, Doctor, what are we going to do with you?" I asked.

"For starters, I suppose we can go check this place out," he said slowly, almost as if he was trying to not say them. "And Ditzy, before you say this, let me say, yes, I am fine with going outside..."

"Alright then," Dinky smiled, totally unaware of the situation, "let`s go!"

The Doctor grabbed my hand and fearfully looked into my eyes before masking it with a smile. "I love you, Ditzy Doo, don`t forget that."

"I love you too, Doctor. But if your dream is going to come true, which I am praying it doesn`t, we shouldn`t spend the rest of our time dwelling on it."

He nodded, a real smile cascading onto his face. "I suppose you`re right."

Dinky opened the door for us and slipped out. "Wow, this place looks so...dry?"

"Yeah, but not dry enough. I mean look at this," I laughed, "we dug a hole in the ground using the TARDIS, and she isn`t even scratched!"

"That`s my girl," the Doctor smiled, patting the TARDIS with his other hand. "So, shall we explore?"

I nodded. "But let`s try to stay close to the TARDIS. I really don`t want to die of dehydration out here."

"Noticeably true," the Doctor agreed.

"I know the TARDIS healed your foot, but doesn`t it hurt?" Dinky asked.

"No, the TARDIS is very trustworthy," he laughs.

"Oh, trustworthy, that`s what you're calling her," I nudged him when we began to start walking.

"Oi, don`t diss the TARDIS," he smiles, beginning to swing my hand back and forth within his grasp.

(About 30 Minutes Later)

"Yes, it was absolutely beautiful," the Doctor answered Dinky, who was asking about Gallifrey. We had spent the last half an hour talking about the Doctor`s Time Lord abilities. Dinky was really excited to hear about it.

The Doctor`s grip tightened for a second on my hand and I looked up. He pointed to his head and sighed. "Mind if we sit down for a second?" I asked Dinky, who happily obliged. "Dinky, you can go walk around, but don`t go too far, alright? Stay within our vision."

Dinky nodded and slowly walked over to an extrinsic patch of grass to look for insects.

I and the Doctor sat down in front of each other. "Headache," I asked him.

"Horrible one," he sighed again, rubbing his head.

"I can run back to the TARDIS and get some water, if you`d like." I suggested.

"Nah, I`ll live," he laughed slightly. He set his hands down on his legs and stared straight forward.

"Are you alright, though?"

"You`ve been asking that a lot lately," he smiled.

"I have my reasons." I put my arm around his shoulder and a faint blush spread across his face. "It`s weird seeing you still do that," I laughed.

"Doing what?"

"Blushing, obviously," I kissed his cheek and rested my head against his arm.

"Well, excuse me for having a crush on my assistant," he smirks, looking down on me.

I simply laughed at his remark and watched Dinky in the distance.

"You know, something happened," he starts.

"What?"

"Were you asleep when Sweetie Belle was talking to Dinky after you handed them the marshmallow bag?"

"I think so, yeah."

"Well... Sweetie Belle mentioned to Dinky that with me around, it`s kind of like having a father again. And Dinky agreed with her." For a second I saw a sparkle of pride, nervousness, happiness, and sorrow gleam in his eyes. He quickly blinked it away, still looking for my reaction.

"I knew this would happen," I laughed.

The Doctor moved a handful of hair out of my eyes. "How so," he asked.

"You just... have you ever looked at someone and just... kind of saw it in them? That if he or she becomes friends with a child, they`d seem like the child`s parent?" He smiled, chewed on his inner lip, and nodded.

"Many times," he answered.

"That`s basically what happened," I shrugged with a smile.

"Mommy, guess what?" Dinky calls out. "I found something!"

"Duty calls," we said in unison, causing us to laugh. We walked over to Dinky and she took our hands, leading us somewhere by the entrance of a cave near a... cliff. Fear filled my lungs, but I shook it away, whereas the Doctor averted his eyes from the cavernous drop.

"What`d you find?" I ask her, kneeling down so I could partially see where Dinky had run.

"I don`t know, but I think you guys might." She handed the Doctor a grey metal rod with a white plastic coming off in five waves, a dimmed blue light surrounded by something that resembled a large, black, twistable lid.

"No..." his eyes searched throughout the cave`s depths from the entrance, for some reason not daring to enter.

"Doctor, what is it?"

"It`s the eye of a Dalek..."

"DOCTOR, IT IS THE DOCTOR!" A raspy, robotic voice shouted.

"Girls, run!" The Doctor shouted, pushing us out of the way and towards the TARDIS. He jumped down to the ground, dodging a laser shot from inside of the cave.

"Doctor-"

"I said RUN!" He shouts again. "Go to the TARDIS and grab your sonic screwdriver! RUN!"

I stared at him before clutching Dinky`s hand and running faster than my legs could bear.

Author`s Note:

And so, we will have to wait until tomorrow to see the fate of the Doctor. Sorry, but I haven`t really been writing lately, so there`s 9 chapters until you guys have caught up with me. I`m not good with writing on a deadline, it gets rushed, but I also want you guys to have a chapter at least every day.