Stellar Collision

Chapter 4

The apartment door was answered by an American woman who reacted in much the same way Melody had. Albeit, a bit more sweary.

"Who the fuck is this dude Melody? And what's happened to him?" They helped him to what felt like a couch. He leaned back gratefully.

"We hadn't exactly gotten that deep into our relationship yet" Melody said dryly. "I was just headed out for my Tuesday yoga class and found him out in the hall like this."

The women stepped away to discuss the situation and the Doctor could hear water running as they decided what to do with him.

"So who does he belong to?" the American lady (presumably the nurse) asked. "Is there anyone we can call?". He tried to speak and was interrupted by Melody who sounded eager to gossip.

"He mentioned a professor...Song, I believe he said. She's supposed to live in the building. Does that name ring any bells?"

The nurse lady returned and began to clean his head wound. "Not at all. Shit Melody. I've lived here 8 years and I know everyone in this building." She expertly applied a bandage to the laceration, taping it to his forehead and wound gauze around his head to keep it in place. "No professors. No Songs." A warm wet cloth was used to clean his face. It felt rather nice.

"Hey Mister. Are you awake? Open your eyes." That was the nurse again.

Before he could respond, Melody supplied "I don't think he can see. His eyes have been shut the entire time."

"It's only temporary" he insisted weakly. "Temporary blindness caused by a gamma ray flash."

"A gamma ray flash? Are you fuckin with me?" The nurse seemed to be examining his face closely. "There does seem to be some burns around his eyes." she admitted. "Melody, I think we need to call 911. This guy has been hurt badly. We might need to involve the police."

"No!" The Doctor interjected quickly. "That won't be necessary. All fixed up now." He attempted to get up from the couch and a pair of surprisingly strong hands restrained him.

"Hey hey. Calm down!" American lady said firmly. "I think you have some broken ribs here. You aren't fit to be walking around." She sat down beside him and placed a calming hand on his. "Just relax. We don't have to involve the police. I don't know what kind of trouble you're in but you are definitely injured. Let's just keep still until we can find this professor friend of yours."

"Really?" Melody asked disapprovingly. "We don't know a thing about this man. Just call him an ambulance and be done with it. Not to be rude, but I'm really not interested in becoming any more involved in this mess. Plus I really need to get to yoga."

The nurse sighed. "Then go already. This guy is in no shape to do anybody any harm. And look at him. A bow tie? I'm in imminent fucking danger from an English man in a bow tie? I've got this. Really. Just go."

"Bowties are cool." he muttered to himself, pouting.

To Melody's credit, she did seem to hesitate, worried for her neighbor. "Well, if you're sure".

"GO." the nurse commanded, a bit more rudely this time.

Melody departed leaving the Doctor feeling abandoned. Melody might really be River Song. But she certainly wasn't the River he knew. This River seemed rather self-involved and pretentious. Certainly not up for any adventure. And yoga? Really?

The Doctor was becoming more and more convinced that he had found himself in a parallel universe. A parallel universe containing all the same places and people, but with different outcomes. And here he was, hurt, blind and left with a complete stranger. Said stranger was still sitting beside him, likely peering at him curiously.

She cleared her throat and asked almost shyly "So, what's your name hon?"

He replied, "I'm the D- Dr. Smith. The name's Dr. John Smith".

"Pleased to meet you John. I'm Dayle. Dayle Moss. I think I have some aloe for those burns around your eyes...and maybe I can track down an ice pack."

******************************************

Dayle hopped off the bus at the stop right near Grace Baptist Church. She took another gulp of coffee from her travel mug and headed in for her meeting, her mind already on her trip to the library in a few hours. She walked in and grabbed a chair, barely paying any mind to the sparse few who showed up at his early hour.

"Anyone sitting here?" A woman with a British accent asked as she took the chair right next to her. At first Dayle was merely annoyed that of all the chairs in that row, this woman had chosen to invade her personal space. Then she stared into the woman's face, and immediately recognized her as the woman from her dream last night. Now she had her attention.

Dayle was intrigued. Never before had she dreamed of someone before meeting them. God knows strange things happened to her all the time. Claircognizance, it was called. She had read many books and online articles about it. From the time she was a kid, she just sort of knew things. If her Aunt misplaced her glasses or bus pass, Dayle always knew where to look. Sometimes she would brush up against a person in a public place and she would just know their name and other tidbits about their life. It didn't happen all the time. And she couldn't just see into the future, like foresee winning lotto numbers or anything useful like that. But she would sometimes know the ending to a book just from touching it. Talk about spoilers.

"I'm River." the confident British woman introduced herself. Dayle shook the offered hand.

"Hi there River. I'm Dayle. Do you always come to these early meetings?"

"Oh no" River laughed. "This is actually my first time to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. Not exactly sure what is expected of me."

"You'll be fine" Dayle assured the newbie straight faced. "We don't get to the blood sacrifices until your third meeting".

River cracked up at that just as things got underway. Dayle continued to glance at the woman throughout the meeting. Why had she dreamed about her? Was there some significance to meeting her or was the premonition just some new variant on Dayle's usual oddness? Something told her she should find out more.

Afterwards, at the coffee table, Dayle couldn't help but pry. "So what's your story? You passed when it came time to share." (As Savannah would say, 'Zero chill mom.') If River was surprised at Dayle's nosiness, she did a good job of hiding it.

She merely sipped her coffee and replied "What exactly would you like to know?"

Dayle asked,"Are you newly here from England? What brings you to Ohio?"

River laughed and took another sip. "Oh my story is all too typical I'm afraid. Followed a man here and ended up alone."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Dayle said sincerely. "Sometimes I think we'd all be better off without them."

River tossed her empty cup into the wastebasket and changed the subject. "So what do you do for a living Dayle? Did you say you were a nurse?"

Dayle felt something flutter in her belly, goosebumps broke out along her arms. And she wasn't exactly sure why. It was probably just a misunderstanding. A total coincidence that River had mentioned the one career path Dayle had once dreamed of following.

"Uhm", she stammered, "N-no. I didn't say that. I'm actually a waitress".

River's expression became confused for a split second before she regained her composure and told Dayle "That can be hard work. On your feet a lot. Dealing with arseholes."

"Yes" Dayle replied, awkwardly shifting her weight. She suddenly had a very strong feeling she needed to get away from this strange woman. "Well, I better catch my bus so I can get to the library to meet my daughter on time".

River didn't take the hint or pretended not to. "A daughter? Oh that's lovely. What will you do there?"

Dayle kept it vague. "We catch up and find books together. A weekly ritual."

"You seem like a wonderful mum" River said, looking into Dayle's eyes. Unsettled, Dayle smiled, and made a hasty exit.