The Doctor sits by Clara and puts his arm round her gently as she quietly sips her tea looking around at them. He whispers to her " Do you want me to ask about your birthday party?". She smiles weakly nods.
" Ok so Clara's birthdays coming up do you fancy coming round for a little party?" said the doctor.
" Of course! We'd love to, don't we Linda?" said Dave.
" yeah great " Linda says smiling falsly
Clara smiles weakly " I'm looking forward to it.."
The Doctor nods smiling giving Clara squeeze. " it is going to be so much fun"
Clara leans in and kisses his cheek, mumbling " Thank you.."
The Doctor smiles and kisses back " my pleasure"
In the evening her dad and Linda say goodbye.
he smiles " thanks for coming" said the doctor as Clara hugs her dad and they leave.
" that was nice wasn't it Clara? "he smiles kindly she nods and curls up in a ball. he strokes her hair gently "are you ok?" said the doctor.
" Hmmh.. Waiting for dinner." Said Clara.
" ok do you want me to go and get it?" said the doctor.
" No, someone will bring it." Said Clara.
he nods "yeah ok hey what shall I get for your birthday"
" What do you mean?" said Clara.
" i mean what do you want as a present?" said the doctor.
" I've got you back, that's all I'm asking for.." said Clara.
" but i want to buy you something to open on the day" said the doctor.
" I can't think of anything.." said Clara.
" ok well i'll think of something " he smiles
she smiles back shyly " Hmm.." said Clara as he walks around the room looking at the photos/
Eventually someone brings their dinner, smiling. "Enjoy it!" said a member of staff. "Hmmh.."
" ah lovely thank you " he smiles "right tuck in Clara" said the doctor. she takes a seat at the table and pokes around in her food with her fork.
" come on Clara eat a bit for me please" said the doctor.
she takes a small bite and pulls a face "Eugh.."
" Clara come on its fine you can eat some" said the doctor.
" I'm not hungry.." said Clara.
" Clara come on you need to eat don't be silly ai do it for me" said the doctor.
she shakes her head like a child and looks down, pushing the plate away.
" Clara Oswald eat your food " he puts on a teachers voice she looks up, glaring weakly " No." said Clara.
" Clara you need to keep your strength up" said the doctor.
" But I'm not hungry! " she pushes the plate off the table, and it shatters.
he sighs and keeps a determined calm voice. " Clara if you don't eat they won't let you out "
" Dropped the plate. Ooops." Said Clara. " it's ok don't worry I'll clean it up " he says in a determined cheery voice
she folds her arms, stubbornly and watches him. He cleans it all up " there we go all better" said the doctor.
she gets up from her chair and paces through the room.
he sighs " are you ok?" said the doctor.
" Mmhm.. " she shakes her head, scratching her arms.
" ok ok come sit down and we'll have a chat ai " he talks gently
she digs her nails into her skin, shaking her head more. He jumps out and pulls her hands away from her. " Hey hey don't do that " said the doctor.
she continues and whimpers. " Uh..mmhm.."
" Clara come on stop it your hurting yourself" said the doctor.
Nnggh! *she backs away from him*
he holds his hands up " ok ok just calm down ok"
The nurse comes in to fetch the plates and notices her. " Oh Clara, again? " said the nurse as she sighs and gets a straitjacket.
he sighs as he watches them " be careful with her"
"Don't worry, it's not the first time." Said the nurse. She puts it on to Clara. "Now calm down, alright..?" said the nurse.
he sighs "come on Clara it's ok " he says sitting by her
the nurse nods at him, before leaving. Clara stares to the ground.
he strokes her hair gently " feeling better now clara?"
she whimpers and weakly tries to move her arms.
he sighs" that's for your own good we can't have you hurting yourself can we" said the doctor.
she starts to cry and sob hardly.
"hey hey come on don't cry it's all ok your going to be fine " he puts his arms round her.
she cries even more into his shirt, thinking of how it used to be, how she used to be.
"Ssh it's going to be ok we'll get you all better then we can start traveling everywhere again ai " he says softly
she wants to cling to him, but of course she can't now.
he sighs " now if you promise not to do that again I can get you out of that do you promise?" said the doctor.
she looks down for a minute, then nods.
" ok but if you do it again I'm going to put you back in it ok does that sound fair?" said the doctor. she nods again, still looking down.
" ok " he slowly takes the straight jacket off her. she immediately pulls her arms around him with a gasp. he hugs her tight " are you ok now?"
" This is much better. " she snuggles into him.
" yeah there we go it's all happy now and if you ever feel like doing that just ask for a hug ok?" said the doctor.
"Doctor..? " she peaks up at him.
" yes Clara what is it? " he asks gently
" Can you make the Maitlands come here for my birthday?" said clara.
he nods " yeah yeah of course I can if that's what you want " he smiles at her. " have you seen them since you came here?" said the doctor.
she nods " Only a few times though.. " she lies down on his bed where they were sitting, tired.
he looks at her " do you want have a little nap?" said the Doctor. she takes his hand and fiddles with his fingers, looking at them and studying them. "Hmmh.. No.."
"no?...ok what would you like to do then? "he asks in a soft and caring voice as she plays with his fingers.
they spend the days inside the asylum, drawing, taking photos or walk through corridors. At the morning of her birthday she wakes up, smiling weakly.
he wakes up as well and looks over at her and smiles " happy birthday Clara " he beams and gets up kisses her cheek and hugs her.
she hugs him back gratefully" Thank you, Doctor..!"
he smiles and pulls back. " right i got you something it's not much but I hope you like it " he gives her a wrapped package inside was a silver locket with a picture of both of them together they had taken recently.