ignite ➝ Doctor Who¹

VII

"I can't help it, I don't like hospitals. They give me the creeps."
— The Doctor, New Earth

They sat on the Doctor's coat, sprawled out across apple grass underneath an alien sun. Penelope had to admit, this was a brilliant way to avoid properly grieving for her mother.

The Doctor and Rose sat idly by her as she started to slip off into her own world. It blew her mind that she could sit on a planet light years away from her own and still think about it.

She was shaken out of her stupor by the Doctor pulling her up off his coat. He gave her a worried look but she smiled reassuringly, his attention immediately taken by Rose.

"So, what is that?"

"Some sort of hospital." Penelope looked over and could feel herself blushing at how much of the conversation she must've missed. "The green moon on the side, that's the universal symbol for hospitals. I got this," he pulled out a wallet and Penelope leant over his shoulder to have a look.

"What is that?" He smiled down at her, always happy to explain something to his new arrival.

"Psychic paper, makes you see whatever I want you to see. For example," he held it up to the girl, causing her to blink rapidly. His smile was bright, "what does that say then?" She frowns at it.

"That's blank? Is there supposed to be something there." He immediately stopped and flipped it around to face him, reading the clear 'hello' across the white paper. Rose pulled on his coat the other side of him, taking his stare off the ginger girl.

"What did you get?" He started talking again, and Penelope sent the blonde a grateful smile. She had never been good under scrutiny or pressure.

"A message on the psychic paper, someone wants to see me." This time Penelope could see the text appear and disappear, further confusing her as to why she couldn't see anything just before.

She didn't even realise that the Doctor had come back for her and grasped her hand to pull her along until she stumbled over her own feet. She takes a deep breath, keeping up with the taller man as he talks constantly.

"You know," she looked up to him as they caught up to Rose, "I don't really like hospitals." She couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up in her throat, she looked away as she laughed, unable to see the proud smile on his face. Rose grinned at the other two as they entered the hospital.

"Bit rich coming from you." The ginger girl continued to laugh quietly as he pulled her along by her hand. He suddenly felt ganged up on, getting defensive.

"I can't help it, I don't like hospitals. They give me the creeps."

"Very smart." Penelope nods, having calmed down in the trek to the lifts.

"Yeah, not exactly NHS." The Doctor pulled her around a circle as he looked for something specific, ignoring both girls.

"No shop, I like the little shop." She was pulled along with him, unable to hear what Rose was saying anymore, luckily the Doctor did. "The human race moves on, so do the viruses. It's an ongoing war."

"They're cats." At Rose's voice change, Penelope turned around, nearly getting her arm ripped out of her socket from the unstoppable force named The Doctor refusing to turn with her. He took his time walking over, grinning, Penelope right by his side.

"Now, now. Don't stare. Think about what you look like to them, all pink and yellow." Rose looked so offended and Penelope only made it worse when she hid her giggles behind her hand. He used their conjoined hand to point just behind Rose. "That's where I'd put the shop, right there."

He walked off, dragging a still giggling Penelope behind him, feeling accomplished as she wasn't as out of it as before. He spoke to the lift and he watched as her attention turned to the machinery they were stepping into. The doors closed behind them, shutting out Rose from the pair. The Doctor started to shout through the doors at her whilst Penelope looked around as far as she could as the Doctor still refused to let go of her.

She tugged him slightly and all his attention went to her, his yelling dying out as the lift ascended. She points at the funnel that the disinfection protocol would start from.

"I don't trust anything that could come out of that." He sighed heavily at her, earning a playful glare, before he tugged her back into the middle of the lift.

"Oh calm down, it's just disinfection." Her head snapped towards him, suspicious.

"Just what?" A voice went over the tannoy and green lights started to flash in the four top corners of the lift, overall it gave Penelope a very bad feeling.

She was right, of course, as water suddenly came from the ceiling and the walls, completely soaking her. Glaring up at the Doctor as best she could whilst blinking away water, he pretended not to notice, deciding to face upwards at the jet stream like an idiot. As it continued to pour down on them, he used his free hand to ruffle his hair, grinning at the ginger girl who looked as if she had been drowned.

It stopped just long enough for Penelope to catch her breath, before she nearly fell backwards from the forced used to cover her in a powder. She couldn't identify what it was, but it didn't taste the best. The Doctor continued to look pleased with himself.

The final stage was concluded with both of them being air dried. And even Penelope didn't mind this but, shaking out her hair in the hopes that it would dry faster. She didn't worry all that much about her clothes, she could always get new ones if these didn't recover from disinfection.

They arrived at ward 26 and the Doctor strolled out as if nothing had happened, still clutching her hand. Before he could get any further from the lift, she tugged him down to her level, using her free hand to grab hold of his coat.

"If I have to go through that again the only thing they will be disinfecting is your lifeless, cold body." He grinned wildly and untangled himself from her hand pretty easily. Continuing to drag her along as if her threat meant nothing.

She found it endearing that he thought she wouldn't follow through, she always follows through.