13 Novella 4

Breathe

You groan, feeling something hard and uncomfortable over your face. You lift an arm to try to brush it off but someone grabs your hand, stopping you.

You blink and open your eyes, finding yourself in your bed with the plastic mask on again, three anxious faces talking above you.

"She was struggling but we didn't want to wake her" says Missy and Jenny nods, playing with your hair.

"Well you did the right thing, I'm not sure of the extent of the damage but we're going to have to keep an eye on her" says The Doctor, crossing her arms.

You successfully remove your mask and look around.

"What- what's going on?" You say groggily.

"What's going on is, you keep nearly giving me a heart attack. In both hearts." Smiles Missy in a strained way.

"You weren't breathing properly in your sleep so we put the mask on you" adds Jenny, seeing your confused face.

"Well I feel fine" you say, and The Doctor smiles.

"Well maybe, but you ought to carry an inhaler with you at all times- and this oxygen needs to be close too."

"But not forever?"

"Well... we'll see how it goes" she says, you feel your heart rate quicken and The Doctor hands you a small blue inhaler that you activate and breathe.

"Point proven" she says lightly and you roll your eyes.

"Now can we go somewhere?" You ask eagerly and she frowns, ready to object.

"Ah come on, you said so yesterday! Please!" You beg and Missy chuckles next to you.

"Yeah good luck trying to keep her here." She mutters and you punch her lightly on the shoulder, sitting up on your knees.

"Fine." Says The Doctor, scrutinising you carefully. You bounce up and down then make your way to the bathroom to hide your breathlessness and next use of the inhaler.

This was going to be difficult to make everyone believe you were truly fine.

You found you had had few nightmares last night however, perhaps warded off by the prescence of your intimidating girlfriends. You smile at that as you shower then dress, placing the book underneath all the clothes in your hamper.

You couldn't explain why, but it felt private. You didn't want the others to see it.

You emerge with semi dry hair, where you sit in front of Jenny on the bed while she braids it neatly, Missy tidying the room. They lead you into the console room, holding a hand each, where you stand expectantly. The Doctor and Yaz are leaning against a pillar, looking cute as they talk. It makes you smile.

"Ok" says The Doctor, rubbing her hands together and scronching her face. "Where are we going? Past, present or future? Earth or elsewhere? This galaxy or beyond?" She announces with charisma.

"Anywhere so long as it's far away from you" mutters Missy and you snort.

"Behave you bad girl" you say and she grins.

"Sorry love, you want good behaviour, ask Miss Golden over there" she says, indicating Jenny who rolls her eyes.

"It's not difficult you know, to just think about how your words will impact others." She shoots back and you smile at her.

"Well it's easy for you my good girl, unfortunately this one does think how the words will impact others, and still chooses to say them anyway." You say, raising an eyebrow. She scowls.

"And I wouldn't want her any other way" you add and she smirks. "I've got the best of both worlds" you add and they squeeze a hand each.

"Ahem" says The Doctor and you jump slightly, having forgotten she was even there.

"Sorry yes, well I say future, if that's ok with everyone..?" You start and they nod and shrug alternatively.

"Galaxy?" She asks, already flicking switches.

"Surprise me" you say and she grins hugely, pulling on a lever as you feel the ship spin to a far corner of the galaxy.

You land and right yourself, your girlfriends having kept you on your feet.

"Ladies first" they say in unison and you blush, letting go and leading the way out. You look around, mouth open as you take in the view.

It's a huge room, futuristic and dark, with strobe lights illuminating five dots on the floor.

Take you place echoes around the room, loud and clear.

You cover your ears with your hands as the others step out behind you.

"Doctor where are we?" You ask as she looks around.

Red dots appear on the ground, moving slowly to the lit up patches. You understand but don't comply.

"They want us to step on those?" Asks Yaz in disbelief and The Doctor swallows and nods.

"Apparently so..." she says, looking around furtively.

"This isn't safe, come on we're leaving" says Jenny taking your hand, and you turn gladly, only to find The Tardis has disappeared.

"Doctor where is she?" Hisses Missy and The Doctor turns in alarm.

Take your place echoes again, and you shiver, moving between Missy and Jenny.

You don't want to admit you're scared, but you really did want to leave.

The red lights seem to be losing patience, and aim to the left of your foot, suddenly blasting a burning patch in the floor.

You Yelp and step onto Missy who trips but catches you.

"This is ridiculous" she mutters, tightening her grip on you.

"Doctor what do we do?" Asks Yaz desperately and you see them holding hands in the semi darkness.

"I think... I think we'll have to take our places" she responds into the heavy silence.