Sparkling Cosmos {A Torchwood Story Two} [COMPLETED]

13. Dafuq Is Up

I feel dizzy. Why do I feel dizzy?
I try to stand for water, but as I do I feel my legs wobbling dangerously, so I sit back down again.
Tosh's eyes are on me, I can sense it. "What is it, Toshiko?"
"You don't look well at all, Eve."

At the mention of my name along with the suggestion of poor health, Owen is immediately jumping up from his desk and putting a thermometer in my mouth. I roll my eyes. I don't need him making a fuss!
"Duss giff me an i-oo-offen," I protest with my mouth full, and although Owen knows what I mean he glances up at me with a wicked smile.
"Now, Evy, you know I can't tell what you mean when your mouth is full."
I roll my eyes again, trying not to smile and let the thing fall out, and he takes the thermometer out of my mouth and blinks at it.
"Evy, it looks like you've got the start of a fever."

"I'll go make some tea," Ianto calls from the upper balcony, and I swivel - slowly in case I feel even dizzier - and ask, "Uh, how is tea gonna help me if I'm ill?"
"My mum always said that a good cup of tea will help cure anything," our faithful teaboy says in his strong Welsh brogue, and I roll my eyes for a third time.
"Will you all stop fussing over me? It's just a dizzy episode, it happens to people sometimes." I try to get up again, only to have my vision nearly blacked out and to feel my legs give way.

Owen grunts and I feel his strong arms underneath my armpits lifting me up, and I blink enough to see that he's helping me down to the autopsy room. I try to stand on my own and immediately black out again, falling.

But that's not scary; what's scary is when I black out, I hear this laughter, maniacal laughter that's accompanied by that pattern I don't recognize. It's like I've been thrown into another world as soon as I lost consciousness.

When I finally blink my eyes open, I'm on the gurney and Owen and Toshiko are hovering over me. Gwen is standing behind the chain link lining, keeping out of the way.
I don't try to struggle this time, only ask, "Has there been any activity with the Rift lately?"
"Not much, just the usual," Tosh replies, short thin eyebrows diving down. "But you haven't acted like this with the Rift before."
"Maybe it's something else," adds Gwen uncertainly, still wary of what abilities I own. I nod wordlessly, still thinking through everything. I already knew it wasn't the Rift.

Something new. Someone I've not known before, being broadcast straight into my brain and causing me to go loopy.
Surely only Time Lord technology is this precise, only contacting me and nobody else in the Hub through psychic waves? Is it someone from my home planet, Gallifrey? Perhaps someone calling me back? I've still not got my full memory back from before the ring, but if someone wants me back they'd get me in some way, right? Maybe they want me back?
But then how come the voice was so... evil? Their laugh sounded as if it came from a monster, and the pattern... it's back. They're connected, of course! But how?

The voice and tapping have stopped since I've awoken, but I still feel like shit. Owen notices and takes my temperature again, it not having changed, and sets off rootling through his medical stuff to find something for me. Both of us pretty sure nothing about Time Lord illnesses is gonna be in his files, Tosh sneaks me an Ibuprofen and I swallow it dry before the doctor twirls back.
"What did you just give her?"
We both shrug and shake our heads innocently, and I don't think Gwen was paying attention, so he just narrows his eyes and helps me off the gurney. I don't black out or drop to the floor, but there seems to be permanent black dots in my eyesight now.

I sigh heavily. I guess being abnormal in a group of humans will always have downfalls. Let's just hope this doesn't turn into anything worse.

But in my case, it always does.