Saving the Doctor

Chapter 4

I sit there for a long time, listening to soft mechanical sounds and the man's breathing. I don't think I can call him 'the Doctor' until he tells me that's his name. It would just make it seem so....official. I would really start to believe that that's who he really is...but...I don't want to; especially if it's a trick. If it's all a trick and I start to believe its real, then that means the pranksters have won.

I'm not going to let that happen.

I stand and walk towards the doors again, tired of this game and determined to get out and face the people who think this is so funny. I yank the door hard, expecting it to still be locked. It flies open instead and suddenly, freezing wind is blowing in, sucking the breath from my lungs.

I slam the door shut and quickly wrap my arms around myself, shivering despite the Martha-inspired leather jacket I'm wearing under the lab coat. "Oh. My god. And I thought the winters we had back home were cold."

I'm about to turn, go back and sit down when I realize exactly what it was I just saw.

A frozen tundra. Covered in snow. At least a foot. More than that, even. There is no way that much snow could have fallen in the short time I've been in here and the storm already be gone. Besides: Winter is over. It's practically summer now.

I run to the closet, almost missing the door and all but completely abandoning the worry that there still might be some invisible wall I could run into any second. I quickly open the door and go through everything, eventually finding a big furry coat. I frown at it. "Gosh, he has everything in here."

I slip off the doctor outfit and shrug on the big coat, then run back down the hallway, up the stairs and back to the doors. I stop and look out the window, making sure I'm not about to make a complete fool of myself by stepping out into the summer heat wearing a big furry winter coat. Everything looks exactly the same, so I slowly open the door, the hinges squeaking as I do so.

I shield my face with my hand to protect my face from the wind and step out, wedging one foot between the door and it's frame. I don't want to trap myself out here in the cold with no way to help the man who is still laying there unconscious.

I look around as much as I can without letting the door shut and then bend down and grab a handful of snow to see if it's real. The cold of it seems to penetrate my very bones and I drop it, drying my hand off on the front of my coat, and step back inside where it's warm. "Okay," I shiver, "not fake."

I start to make my way back to the closet to get the doctoring supplies I had left there in my haste. Along the way, I begin to theorize how someone would be able to pull off a trick this big.

They could have been transporting us by truck, which would explain the rough ride, and set us down outside their home which is in a very cold part of the States.

But. That would have taken a long time. Longer than we had been thrashed around for. So that's out.

Unless. We had been transported by helicopter. Which would also have explained the rough ride and new surroundings. Air travel is quicker than land travel, after all.

But it still would have taken longer than the actual trip. So probably not.

The longer I continue to theorize, the more outrageous my theories become. I eventually just sigh and give up, soon realizing that I've walked farther than I should have.

I go back and retrieve the supplies. This time I take the nurse's uniform along too. I head back to the console room and drape both uniforms over the outside rail in and shrug off the big coat, draping it beside them.

It is much too warm in here to be wearing any type of coat, let alone a big winter one.

I walk around the console a couple times out of boredom, keeping my eyes on the center pillar of glass.