We're going to be getting lots of drama in this chapter. I'm not sorry for what's going to happen. *evil music*
The party had ended just two hours ago with most of the guests leaving. Amy and Rory were still present in the Oswald mansion, but they were invited to stay in one of the guest bedrooms and that was where they were, discussing the events which had unfolded.
"So just to be clear," Rory said, plopping on the bed before loosening the top button of his shirt. "The first man who danced with Clara isn't her suitor but the second was?"
Amy nodded. "Yes, that's what Clara told me."
"Two hearts for one," her husband murmured.
"Pardon?"
He cleared his throat. "I was just saying – two hearts for one – they're both after her."
His wife then added, "And looked as if they were ready to murder each other – anyway, I'm going to check up on Clara… she seemed upset."
"Did you see the way Clara and Medicine Boy looked at each other?" Donna Noble exclaimed as she washed the dishes in the kitchen.
"Donna, anybody with eyes could tell they're attracted to one another," Shaun replied, cutting the remainder of the cake into smaller pieces to distribute to the household.
She splashed a small amount of water on him. "You saying I'm blind?!"
"That's not what I meant, darling," he replied, suppressing a smile. How could he not fall in love with this woman?
"So, is 'Medicine Boy' going to steal her away from 'Chin Boy'? I have my money on the young one," piped one of the kitchen helpers. Several other people murmured in agreement.
"Oh yeah, Chin Boy looked pretty jealous and even cut in, but I doubt Clara feels as strongly for him as she does for Medicine Boy," Donna added. "What do you think, Henry?"
Mr Rentford put down the fork he held, taking his time to chew his food before answering, "No comment – I prefer to stay out of this… discussion."
"Oh, come on!" she encouraged. "We know-"
"Not so loud!"
"We know where you took Clara whenever she says she needs 'fresh air'," she said in a low voice.
He sighed. "You know my answer."
"So Chin Boy doesn't stand a chance, then?" a young man enquired.
Henry Rentford merely pursed his lips. If he was honest, nobody in the entire world except John Smith could win Clara Oswald's heart and in a way, he felt sorry for the Foreman boy – he seemed like a sweet and caring young man. Perhaps, if things were different, then maybe he stood a chance.
Clara hugged the pillow she held in her arms, sitting crossed leg on the bed as she listened to her grandmother. Her best friend sat next to her, placing a comforting hand on her arm.
"I know it upsets you, but you shouldn't ignore your father – talk to him," her grandmother coaxed gently. "Tell him the truth."
Her granddaughter shook her head. "He wouldn't understand – you know what he's like."
"Clara, you can't just ignore him forever," Amy reasoned. "I know that you're in a difficult situation but please, you can't run away from it."
She rolled her eyes. "I'm not running away from anything – I'm just afraid of what might happen if I tell father the truth… please, can we talk about something else – I promise you I will talk to him at some point, but I just want to forget what happened."
Amy and Clara's grandmother exchanged looks before the latter, patted her granddaughter's hand. "The first man you danced with, tell me about him – you only mentioned him being a doctor."
Clara finally relaxed. "The Doctor runs his own practice, he has a sister who he finds annoying-"
"I think your nan meant your relationship with him," her best friend cut in, giggling. "Come on, tell us, have you two kissed?"
She huffed. "Don't be ridiculous, Dr Smith is nothing but a gentleman…," she explained, while at the same time contemplating on whether to tell her best friend and grandmother about the near-kiss. "But we almost kissed when I taught him how to dance."
The older woman arched a brow. "Oh my, what happened?"
"We got interrupted by the grandfather clock."
All three women shared a laugh before Amy asked, "What about Chin Boy?"
Clara sighed before she explained everything from their first meeting to when John Foreman told her she was her childhood friend and even the accident that took place.
"Now it makes sense why he looks so smitten!"
"You're not helping," Clara groaned, burying her face in the pillow. "I really don't want to break John's heart, but I have to tell him the truth… he's so sweet and kind and deserves someone better…"
"But you love the doctor more," her grandmother finished.
"And that's another problem."
"I have to be honest, Clara, I didn't expect you to fall for an older man – don't get me wrong, he's definitely good looking for his age but I thought John Foreman was more of your type," Amy commented, getting hit with a pillow.
"Shut up, it just so happens that the man I fell in love with is older."
Her nan smiled. "If you don't want the Foreman boy, can I have him?" she joked, causing the two girls to laugh.
Morning came by and breakfast was a quiet affair. Dave was unusually silent, and Clara was ignoring her father completely, preferring to talk to her best friend and her husband. It made both Amy and Rory feel awkward, but they soon left the mansion to catch their train.
While waiting for Clara to return from the station, Dave paced around the study, thinking about what Harold had said to him the previous night.
He had expressed his concerns that the Doctor might be trying to steal Clara away from John and Harold had specifically said he would have a private word with the man. Dave wasn't sure what he meant by that, but he had hoped it was nothing more than a few strong words, after all, he did deliver a strong message to stay away from his daughter and hopefully, that should be enough.
Dave heard a soft knock before one of the double doors slowly swung opened and his mother walked in.
"You shouldn't be so hard on Clara," she said gently. "She takes after you – mean-spirited, takes orders from no one, constantly wants to be in control."
David sighed. "I'm just trying to do what's best for her… for this family."
His mother shook her head. "You can only plan David, but at the end of the day, it's not entirely up to you what happens," she murmured, taking a seat in one of the leather chairs. The fire could be heard crackling in the background as mother and son stared at each other. "Perhaps you should ask her what she wants."
The sound of a carriage pulling over could be heard and Dave stared at the large window. "This silent-treatment is getting a bit childish, don't you think?" his mother murmured before she rose from her seat and leaving, leaving the door slightly ajar.
When Clarice Oswald stepped out, she rushed to her granddaughter. "Talk to your father – he's in the study - I slapped some much-needed sense into him earlier," she whispered, winking at Clara before disappearing into the hallway.
She took one quick look at the study before straightening her back and marching in, determined to tell her father the truth.
Clara was greeted by the sight of her father pacing around, hands in his pockets. He stopped when he realised his daughter was in the room. Dave cleared his throat. "I'm sorry for giving you the cold shoulder," he began.
She nodded. "I'm sorry, too, father," she said meekly.
"Look, I've said it countless times and I will say it again – I just want the best for you, Clara, you're my only child and I'm not getting any younger. All I want is for you to have a happy life," he explained.
Clara resisted the urge to cut in and let him continue. "I know it was wrong of me to do what I did last night, but your fiancé-"
He immediately stopped as soon as he realised the mistake he made.
"Fiancé?!" she growled in anger. "Is that why some of your friends congratulated me last night?!"
Dave pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's not what I meant – it was a slip of the tongue –"
"What next father? Are you going to call John my husband?"
He had made a serious mistake. All hell would break loose. "I told you, I said it by accident!"
Clara shook her head. "I somehow doubt that – you've been hoping I would develop romantic feelings for John from the very beginning and I can assure you that I am not in love with him – yes, I love him but only as a friend."
Dave let out of frustrated sigh as he placed one hand on the desk to balance himself. "Why are you throwing away your future?! You've rejected every single eligible suitor I could find!"
"That's because I wish to marry for love, not to please society! I'm not in love with John, father… I'm in love with Dr Smith."
Dave knew something was very wrong when everything started spinning, he tried to regain his balance, his chest felt as if it was caving in and he was short of breath. He placed a hand on his chest, but it did nothing to soothe the pain.
"Father!" Clara screamed, running to his side, as he crashed to the floor. "Donna! Mr Rentford! Anybody! Help!"
A moment later, Donna came rushing into the room. Her panicked expression morphed into that of horror. "I'll tell Henry to get the Doctor."
Clara didn't a word she had said, in fact, she sat on the floor, trying to wake up her unconscious father with tears streaming down her face. What on earth happened?
John Smith packed up his equipment after he had assessed Dave's condition. The man had indeed suffered a heart attack, a minor one, thankfully so that meant none of his internal organs were permanently damaged and he could tell Clara of her father's well being without breaking any actual bad news.
"Doctor," Dave managed, his voice hoarse, as he lied in bed, eyes half opened. "Please do not tell Clara of my condition."
John furrowed his brows. "I'm sorry, I can't lie to her – she would want to know of your condition as soon as I walk out the door."
Dave let out a tired sigh.
"Do you have children, Doctor?"
"No."
"Are you married?"
"No."
"I do not think you will understand – Clara is the only child I have – her mother died when she was young and since then, I realised that I couldn't be weak, constantly mourning the death of my wife – I had to be strong for Clara's sake… If I wasn't, we wouldn't be where we are today… please, I will tell her the truth myself… when the time is right."
He was putting John in a very difficult spot. "Mr Oswald, I think you will find that your daughter is and looks much stronger than she seems. Shielding her away from the truth won't do any good – it will only drive her to find it," the Doctor explained as he grabbed his bag and left the room.
He was immediately greeted by Clara who was patiently waiting outside with her grandmother, in the empty hallway.
"How is he? Will he be alright? Did he suffer a stroke? It seemed like a stroke," she began bombarding him with questions.
John licked his lips. "Your father's fine- his memory might be a bit hazy too – it's likely he's been under a lot of stress, so I had advised him to take time off from work."
She merely nodded, about to be in tears once more. Her nan thought it was best to let the two have a private moment as she stood up, thanked the Doctor and entered Dave's bedroom.
The moment the door closed, Clara wrapped her arms around him and began sobbing. John nearly lost his balanced but recovered quickly and led her to the sofa, where she continued crying into his coat.
"Clara," he murmured, chin resting on top of her head. She didn't look up. "Clara," he said as he pulled her face away from his chest with both hands as gently as he could and wiped the tears with his thumbs.
"He suffered a stroke, didn't he?"
John swallowed the lump in his throat. "You will have to get the answer from him… I'm sorry, Clara."
She shook her head and hid her face in the crook on his neck.
Twelve minutes later, her sobbing finally died down.
"I think you should go inside and see him," John murmured. "He's most likely wondering where his daughter is."
"Seeking comfort from her doctor and wetting his shirt with her tears," she said, voice muffled, before looking up. "I apologise for ruining it…"
"Don't worry about it," he whispered before planting a kiss on her head. "Go, see your father," he advised before pulling out a blue handkerchief and handing it to her.
When the door to the master bedroom creaked opened, both Clarice and Dave turned to see Clara standing in the entrance.
"Clara," Dave said softly, reaching out a hand to her.
She immediately ran to his side and grabbed his hand. "I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier," she said, eyes watery.
Dave furrowed his brows at her words. "Yelled? Did you yell at me?"
"… I… Father, what was the last thing you remembered before you passed out?"
"I was about to talk to you about last night and the next thing I knew, I was in my bedroom."
Clara and her grandmother exchanged a look of concern. It would seem that Dave Oswald had lost his memory of the argument that transpired shortly before his stroke.
It was around midnight by the time John had finished marking his students' papers and called it a night. His day had started out slow and when he had hoped to be occupied by something, he didn't expect to be rushed to the Oswald manor so soon, let alone, discovering that Dave Oswald had suffered more than one stroke since the past year.
Placing the stack of papers away, John rose from his seat and blew out the candles in the study. As he marched halfway up the staircase, he heard loud multiple knocks coming from the front door.
"I need a doctor! Please!" yelled a manly voice.
The Doctor unlocked the door and was greeted by the sight of three burly men. Without warning, one grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out.
John resisted and even punched the man who grabbed him, but the others were faster and began pummelling with punches and kicks.
He tried to fight as best as he could, but it was three against one and once they were done beating him up, one of the men said, "Stay away from the girl."
After he spat at him, the three men left without another word, leaving the Doctor lying on the cold pavement ground, in pain.
John's breath was shallow, and his vision was blurry. He knew he wouldn't survive the cold night if he didn't get inside and so, gritting his teeth as he fought through the pain that shot everywhere in his body, he crawled back into his home, hoping to reach the kitchen but only managed the living room before darkness greeted him.