Delphine and The Doctor II

Chapter 8

When Delphine landed she opened her eyes, realizing she was still standing. She looked around to see a white space filled with pieces of metal frozen in time as they travel out from an explosion. "The heart of the Tardis..." She said as The Doctor landed right behind her. "The engine, it's already exploded. It must have been the collision with the salvage ship." He said, clearly saddened by the state of his beloved ship. Next came Clara. "We're not dead!" She said, happy she came out fine. But The Doctor's face stayed grim. "She wrapped her hands around the force. Froze it." The Doctor continued. "So it's safe?" Delphine asked, pushing a piece away from her face. "Temporary fix. Eventually, this whole place will erupt. There's no way I can save her now. She's just always been there for me and taken care of me, and now it's my turn and I don't know what to do. I think it just..." He stopped walking and just sat down, close to tears. "Oh my beloved Tardis, what have I done!" He yelled as he began to furiously wipe a few tears that fell from his eyes. Just then a bright light flashed through the room and materialized as a scene. "That's us..." Delphine remarked, remembering this from one of the first long-term trips she had taken in the Tardis

It was early in the morning, or at least morning time. You couldn't ever quite tell from inside the windowless Tardis. I was surprised from the quiet in the Tardis, the only sound is one of my bare feet making their way out of the kitchen, tapping against the chilly ground. I grumbled slightly in annoyance at the chill, and I yelled for The Doctor to make the ground warmer. Usually, he would have just laughed and told me to put my multitude of socks on if it bothered me so much. Another thing he knew well about me, I liked the warm. But today, there was no response. With a cup of steaming coffee and a plate of cinnamon toast in hand, I made my way towards the console room. As I walk in, the humming sound of the Tardis making me smile, I realize The Doctor is nowhere in sight. I looked around the room and zone out a bit. It seems like every time I've ever walked into this room, she brightens up and even buzzes with a quiet hello. Sitting down on the little bench I sip my coffee and whisper. "Morning, Tardis."

Another buzz fills the air and I smiled, sitting quietly as you look around the Tardis. Even though I've been traveling with The Doctor for what feels like years, mostly because it really has been, the Tardis always seems to have something new to her. Whether it be a curve in the railing or a little knick on the console, something is always different. Just then, the sound of a low moan of sorts is heard. Curious, I put my coffee down and stand up, looking around and realizing that The Doctor is still not in the room. Just then it happens again. Somewhat scared, I walked to the Tardis and realized something off with her too. It was the same beat the Tardis makes, kind of like her heartbeat, except this time it sounds sickly. Not sure what to do, I put my hand on the console and quietly question her, "You okay?" The noise happens again, more of a long grumble this time- almost like a reply, "Had a tough fly the other night didn't you?" Another groan is your answer and I nodded in understanding. "Well don't worry, I'll tell The Doctor and he will quickly fix you up, he doesn't like when you aren't working," You move your hand down and across the console and add, "I don't like it either, you give us all the adventure- I mean obviously Doctor is a big part about it too it's just you get us there and the journey is what matters."

Just then, I shook my head and laughed, "Oh wow, I'm talking to an inanimate thing. This is new...." I said as I turned around, seeing a bedraggled looking Doctor. "No, I talk to her all the time." I gasp in surprise, watching The Doctor pushing off the wall with a smile on his face. Putting your hand on your chest you call out, "You made me jump out of my own skin! God!" He just laughs and ends up coughing, leaning on the railing as he catches his breath with much difficulty. I slowly make my way over towards him, grabbing my deserted toast off of the plate before giving half of it to him, noticing his sickly condition. He smiled and gladly accepted it, coughing again before he ate it. "Are you sick?" I ask, looking at him. He rolled his eyes and shook his head as he suddenly fell to the floor."Doctor!" I yelled as I kneeled down, tilting his head, to look to me. I checked his pulse and breathing, wondering all the while what on earth had happened to him.

I finally had a good look at his appearance. His entire face was pale except for perhaps his cheeks, which were an odd, pink color. Strands of dark, brown hair stuck to the Doctor's forehead with sweat and shallow puffs of breath escaped out of his lips, though in my opinion, it was a bit too quiet and rapid for my liking. Baggy, dark half-circles were underneath the Doctor's eyes, giving him a slightly ghastly look. The Doctor was shivering too, which struck me odd – I had always thought that the Doctor was never cold, seeing that he wore layers of warm-looking clothing. But then, as I gently started to prop the Doctor up into a sitting position, it occurred to her that maybe the Doctor was sick with something. "But he never gets sick," I said out loud, looking up at the TARDIS console. There was a small, sighing sound from the TARDIS, which I took as an agreement. She began humming again and as I looked up, the med bay was now across the hall. I smiled as I pushed up my hand to the Doctor's forehead, which, just as I suspected, was uncomfortably warm.

Counting to three, I hoisted The Doctor up. What sounded like a good plan became one that was wrongly planned. For a person who looked like a stick, he weighed twice as much as he looked. Not knowing what else to do, I realized I needed to wake the Doctor – just for a few minutes for him to walk to the med bay room as I didn't like the idea of dragging the Doctor on the ground. Again, it wouldn't be too comfortable. "Doctor, wake up," I whispered, gently nudging his back. When he didn't stir or make any signs of waking, Clara gave him a harder nudge. She shook him slightly by the shoulders until finally, his eyes started to flicker open. "Delphie?" He murmured in an unusually sluggish tone. "Is that...you?" I sighed. He was definitely sick. "Who else would it be?" I asked lightly. I started to pull him up by the arms. "Come on – I'm taking you to the med bay. I only need you to stay awake for a few minutes, alright? Can you do that for me?" I asked as I began to walk him to the med bay. He nodded as I looked back to the console, saying thank you to the Tardis.

By the end of the flashback, The Doctor was freely spilling tears everywhere. Delphine, who was also somewhat crying walked away, pushing away pieces as she walked. Clara takes his hand and pats his back. "We'll find a way Doctor, I promise," She said as he takes her hand and pauses. She looked down, following The Doctor's gaze to see the burn marks on her hand. "Oh, Clara. Oh!" She looked down to see some writing on her hand.The burns were fully formed now and she could read the letters. "Big Friendly Button?" Delphine asked, coming up behind them. "You are beautiful. Beautiful fragile human skin. Like parchment. Thank you. The rift in time. All the memories leaking out. I need to find the moment we crashed. I need to find the music!" He said, sorrows forgotten as he began to run to the console room. The group ran to the console room and followed the sound of music the Brothers were playing as they used their Magno-grab. The Doctor smiled as he looked down, pointing to a vertical crack in the wall with bright light streaming through. "The time rift. Recent past, possible future." He said as he looked around.

"What are you going to do?" Clara asked as The Doctor grabbed his sonic screwdriver. "Rewrite today, I hope," Delphine said as she watched The Doctor use the sonic screwdriver to etch the letters onto a grenade. "I've thrown this through the rift before. I need to make sure this time. Going to take it in there myself. There might be a certain amount of yelling." He said as he stretched. "It's going to hurt?" Clara asked just before The Doctor reached through. He smiled. "Things that end your life often do that." He said, reaching in again. "Wait! All those things you said. How we've met before, how I died." She asked, trying to get more answers.

"Clara, don't worry. You'll forget. Time mends us. It can mend anything." He said, looking at her. "I don't want to forget. Not all of it. The library. I saw it. You were mentioned in a book." Clara said as The Doctor smiled. "I'm mentioned in a lot of books." He said, shrugging. "You call yourself Doctor. Why do you do that? You have a name. I've seen it. In one corner of that tiny..." She was cut off by The Doctor. "If I rewrite today, you won't remember. You won't go looking for my name." He said as Clara stopped him again. "You'll still have secrets." She pleaded. But The Doctor shrugged. "It's better that way." The Doctor counted to three as he forced his way through the crack in the wall, screaming as he pushed against an immense force until he suddenly vanishes.