In Her Eyes (A Whouffle Fanfiction)

Chapter 22- On Her Way

The Doctor crossed from the cupboard to the bed, neatly folding and piling Clara's clothes into the suitcase that lay open on the duvet. Clara herself was sat on the armchair, trying to teach herself the muscle exercises she had to do off a sheet Kim had given her. It had been four days since the gardens, and Clara had been deemed stable enough to go home. Not that the Doctor would have waited much longer to take her, anyway- they all knew that she was not going to get any better no matter how long she stayed in the hospital. It was time for her to go home, to face friends and family.

He folded the last of her clothes and zipped the suitcase up. "That everything?" He called over his shoulder. They had already had to repack her wash bag three times as Clara kept on forgetting what she had taken with her and where she had put it. He didn't fancy having to do that for the whole suitcase. 

Clara paused mid stretch. "Should be," she said, unsure, "try the bathroom." She blinked in confusion and raised a hand to her temple. "Wait what?"

The Doctor sighed, pressing his palms into the rough fabric of the case. "Don't worry about it Clara." She was becoming increasingly forgetful- a side effect of the medication she was taking. Hopefully she would be less so once she was back living in her flat, but it was a slim hope at best. 

Clara finished her exercises and sat back in her pillows. She couldn't be bothered to pull herself back up into a more comfortable position so instead she propped herself up on her elbows and watched the Doctor retrieve her wheelchair and unfold it, securing her medicines and a bottle of water in the mesh pockets stitched into the back. 

"Ready?" the Doctor asked. He pushed her chair over to her, aligning it with her so it would be easier to get into. Clara nodded, and held herself up on her palms. The Doctor frowned but kept the chair steady as she shuffled into it. 

"You should let me help you," he reproached her. She was getting weaker by the day but she was still refusing to let him help her with everyday tasks, too stubborn and proud to admit that she needed more assistance than she was currently getting. He didn't blame her- he would be the same if he was in her position- but it infuriated him to see her struggle with tasks that she would usually think nothing of. 

"I don't need help," Clara said stubbornly but not unkindly, "I can manage." 

The Doctor humphed, ready to argue, but was cut short by the door swinging open behind him and Kim walking in, clipboard in hand. She pulled up short when she took in the situation in front of her. "Is this a good time? Only I could, uh, come back later when it suits you-"

"No, no, you're fine," Clara told her, smiling brightly, cutting across the Doctor before he could speak. "We were just about to leave." 

"Oh, good," said Kim, with a wary glance at the Doctor, "in that case I have some forms for you to sign then you can be on your way." She offered them to him and he took them before Clara could wheel herself close enough to take them. She glared up at him but said nothing, scrawling her signature along the dotted line when he offered the papers to her. 

"Thanks," said Kim when the Doctor passed the papers back. "And...good luck." She swallowed, nodded to Clara and turned to leave, but paused at the door, tapping her fingers on the frame. She looked conflicted for a moment, debating something, then suddenly rushed to Clara in her chair and pulled her in for a long hug. "Take care, OK?" She whispered in her ear, keeping her voice deliberately low so the Doctor couldn't hear them talking. "Don't give up yet. If there's anyone that will find you a cure, it's the Doctor."

"I won't," Clara promised her, yet there was a sad edge to her smile and a dead look in her eye as she embraced the other woman. Kim pulled back and rubbed her forearms.