Red ⋆ Doctor Who

Chapter Twenty-seven

A hand grabs at her shoulder. It shakes her body violently. A buzzing sound floods her ears. The Doctor is calling her name. Her body is cold. The ground is colder. Her shoulder is burning. Her eyes are too heavy to open. Her limbs are too numb to move. Warm hands roll her onto her back. Her arm flails out to the side and smacks against the dirt. The big hands cup her cheeks, turning her pale face to the ceiling.

"Doctor? Is she going to be okay?" someone asks. Someone familiar. An Englishman.

"I don't know. She should be dead. That Cyberman must have been here for centuries. It was weak," the Doctor responds. He sounds strange. Sort of far away, like Cherry isn't in her body. But she knows it's him. She wants to argue when someone rips his hands away from her face, moving him away from her body, but she can't move.

"For Christ's sake, Doctor! What's happened to her?" the other man demands, placing his palm across Cherry's forehead and pushing some of her hair out of her face. "Charlotte, my sweet girl, can you hear me?"

She's dead. She has to be dead. Because she knows that voice, and she knows the only way she could possibly be hearing it right now is if she is dead. Does that mean the Doctor is dead too? What about Amy? Where is Amy? Is she safe? Did she run away?

"Charlotte?" the Doctor says slowly, as she flickers her eyes open and slowly twists her body around on the floor to push herself up with her shaking arms. "Woah, slow down. Cherry. Just hold on."

Cherry shakes her head, groaning in pain as she forces herself onto her feet. Her legs tremble, and she sways precariously as she tries to straighten her posture, and the Doctor catches her. He keeps his arms around her waist as she leans into him, and one of her hands comes up to the collar of his tweed jacket, and her fingers curl around the fabric. She's not dead then. She's still in the chamber with the Doctor and the Pandorica. She must've just imagined the other man's voice. That's the only explanation that makes sense because she can't have possibly heard it. Not here.

"Amy?" she rasps, her voice hoarse, and then she starts coughing. She doubles over, clutching her stomach as she struggles to clear her throat and the three men around her start to fuss. She shakes her head again, brushing off their concern. "Amy? Where... where's Amy?"

"She's fine. Rory stopped the Cyberman before it got her," the Doctor promises quietly. He glances over at Rory and the other man and sighs, shaking his head. "This is going to be too much for her all at once. Rory, go and check on Amy. Leave us alone for a minute."

"Sure," Rory nods, following the Doctor's orders and disappearing into the hidden room in which Amy is currently unconscious.

Cherry is resting her head in the crook of the Doctor's shoulder, leaning her entire weight into him as her body trembles weakly. Her eyes are shut, and she's still gripping his jacket with her hand so tightly that her knuckles are white. He places one hand on top of hers, gently prying her off of him. He presses a kiss to her forehead, his lips lingering there for a moment as he lets himself breathe because she is okay and seeing her limp on the floor like that had shaken him to his core.