Whouffaldi | Impossible Girl

Duty Of Care

DOCTOR

Today the seafront was unusually empty, in half an hour's walking I only saw a few people meandering around shops and the beach was completely deserted. It felt wrong for such a beautiful place to be so devoid of life so I climbed down a few worn steps and carried on my journey across the beach. I wandered along the sandy shore, admiring exquisitely shaped shells as I went.

Half a mile further down the beach from where I stood I could see a silhouette stood in the water, paddling ankle deep in the water. Suddenly, something dropped from their hand and they bent double and stumbled in the shallows. 'What is going on?' I thought aloud. I began to quickly walk in their direction until they collapsed where they had been standing. I broke into a sprint and my feet kicked up billows of sand.

When I approached closer, the figure was partly submerged in waves that rolled over them. I ran into the ocean and chilling seawater splashed all over my legs causing me to breathe in sharply. Leaning over I could see the figure was a girl, probably young, and lying on her front. Her brown hair was matted with sand and her sodden clothes stuck to her. I grabbed her shoulder and lifted her head above the waves. "Are you okay?" I asked desperately. When there was no reply I rolled her over onto her back so I could see her face.

My breath caught in my throat. The whole world around me froze.

I sank to my knees in the freezing water besides the girl but I felt nothing. My head was numb and so was heart. I tried to move but I was paralysed.

The girl in my arms was Clara. My Clara.

I hauled her limp body out of the water and stood up with her dangling bridal style across my chest. Breathing deeply and quickly, I grabbed her wrist and checked for her pulse. Thank God, her heart was beating but it felt agonisingly slow compared to my racing pulse. I slipped my hand behind her held and caressed her sand-swept hair. "Clara," I whispered, "Oh God, Clara." My shaking lips gently pressed against her pale forehead, just above her brow, before I whipped around and started running to find help.

Finally, I reached a souvenir shop and as soon as the lady behind the counter saw me enter with Clara's bedraggled body in my arms she grabbed the phone and called for an ambulance. Exhausted, I sat- almost near collapse- on the shop floor. I tenderly set her down next to me, resting her head in my lap. I lightly stroked my fingers along her jaw line and through her hair- tucking stray bits behind her hair so I could see all of her face.

"What happened?" the shopkeeper asked, making me jump.

"She's my friend, Clara." I replied, choking on my own words, "I don't know what happened. I just found-", My lips quivered and my voice broke. I took a deep breath and spluttered "I just found her on the beach. I should've been with her." I wasn't able to say anything else and simply wrapped my arms around Clara's chest and buried my head into her freezing neck.

Luckily, the shopkeeper understood that I didn't want to talk and returned a few moments later with a fluffy red blanket which she proceeded to wrap around Clara. However, just then, deafening ambulance sirens screeched outside the front of the shop and I shrank away from the harsh blare. I heard a sharp intake of breath below me and clutched Clara's twitching hand. I put my hands either side of her head and turned her face towards mine. "Are you awake?" I urged, desperately. "Please." An enormous flood of relief surged through my body as I saw her eyelids beginning to flutter. However, then the paramedics grabbed her and began to lift her onto a stretcher. I reached out for her hand just as her eyes opened and they immediately widened when they saw me. She opened her mouth weakly as if to say something but my view of her was blocked by the flurry of the paramedics that swarmed around her. I hysterically tried to heave my exhausted body up off the floor in order to get to her, but in a moment she was wheeled away and the ambulance door was slammed shut. She was snatched away from me again.

I managed to stutter the words "Where are they taking her?" half to myself but the shopkeeper knelt beside me and told me the way to the local hospital. I could hardly hear her and was too numb to respond to her in any way so I just continued to stare and the floor in silent shock. Gently, she took hold off my arms and pulled me up on my shaky feet.

"I will take you to the hospital." She said, kindly, her eyes filled with concern. I forced my eyes to meet hers and smiled weakly but gratefully. On the way out, she turned the shop sign around so that it read 'sorry, we're closed'. I was touched by her kindness. "Thank you." I said, still quietly but I hoped that she understood how grateful I was. "What's your name?" I asked.

"Claire." She replied softly, opening her car door for me. I guessed she was probably in her mid-forties and she was short with mouse-brown hair.

"I'm The Doctor." I told her, buckling my seatbelt.

"Doctor?" She questioned. "Doctor who?"

I simply laughed quietly to myself and looked out of the car window into the distance. After a few minutes of silence besides the car engine, Claire spoke up again. "Your friend, she will be alright, you know? Well, you're a doctor. I'm sure you do know."

I nodded slowly in response even though I doubted she could even see me. I just prayed it was the truth.

Minutes felt like hours and I was getting restless and wriggling in my seat by the time we finally reached the hospital. Claire pulled up right against the hospital door and I threw the door open, jumping out as quickly as possible. I bent over and leant into the car to thank her again. I scrambled in my pockets to find something to give her in return. However, she pushed me away and told me to hurry up with finding Clara. I nodded my head in a final thank you and whipped around towards the hospital entrance.

I sprinted into the reception area, weaving around children and random chairs. "I'm looking for Clara" I yelled, louder than I intended to, at a young man in glasses behind the counter. He looked at me with a surprised expression on his face and scrolled down a list on his computer.

"Clara Oswald?" he asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes!" I exclaimed. "Please, where is she?"

He directed me down a few corridors and I raced through them after hastily thanking him. After what felt like an eternity, I finally reached the room Clara was in. However, I was unable to open the door; a wave of horror froze me exactly where I stood. Four nurses were running frantically around the room. Clara lay on a bed in the middle of them. She was attached to a heart monitor and her face was pale and lifeless. I knew I wasn't allowed in there but I mustered every ounce of strength in me and pushed the door open. Everything around me slowed down into a slow motion race to save Clara's life. I stumbled my way through the room. As soon as I got to the side of the bed, I wrapped both of hands around her ice cold hand. My knees sank to the ground besides her and I fell to the floor in synchronisation with the tear that streaked down my face. My body was racked by an enormous sob and I couldn't stop my tears from falling to the ground around me. I pulled her hand to my lips and gently kissed her fragile skin. What had I done?

"I had a duty of care." My lips brushed against her hand as I whispered the words. "My Impossible Girl... My Clara."