Lost In Time: A Doctor Who Fanfiction

Chapter 61 - Waking Up

"Doctor?" The name left her lips involuntarily, almost too quiet to be heard as she walked towards him.

He still reacted like he'd heard a gunshot, whipping around to face her with a sudden energy.

"Lyssa?" He stared at her with wide eyes, looking like he couldn't believe his eyes. "Rassilon, Lyssa, where have you been? We all thought you were dead!" He still hadn't moved from his position by the door, and she hesitated, suddenly unsure if he was actually glad to see her or not.

"I don't - I'm not quite sure, actually," she admitted with a little shrug, stopping a few feet away from him. "The last thing I really remember was Howie yelling to the beast, and not over the intercom. Did he get free?"

The Doctor nodded, not taking his eyes off of her. "Yes. Well. I don't think he got there entirely on his own, but he got out, and, well..."

"The beast got him?" Lyssa finished, feeling strangely detached from the horror of what she was saying. 

The Doctor nodded slowly. "I found his glasses a few hallways down from the beauty parlor. Then his body a short distance beyond that."

"Anyone else?" she asked immediately, starting to feel lightheaded. 

"No," he said slowly, eyeing her carefully. "Why? Should there be?"

She frowned. "Maybe. I don't - I don't..." She put a hand to her head, trying to think. Why was everything getting so... foggy? "Why do I feel so... dizzy all of a sudden?" she muttered, swaying on her feet and leaning against the wall. 

"Lyssa?" The Doctor was by her side in an instant, looking her over for any sign of injury. "Lyssa, what's wrong? Wait, Rory mentioned something earlier, he said you were sick. Have you come down with something, or..." he hesitated, drawing back a little as if afraid to say the words as they came out. "Have you found your room?" he asked in a tense whisper. 

Lyssa looked up at him timidly with a sheepish grin, knowing he could see the answer in her eyes.

He sucked in a breath. "Oh, Lyssa. Okay. That... is a bit not good," he said shakily.

She swallowed hard and nodded. "Yeah. Just a bit." She grimaced as the world decided to change things up around her, and she slid to the floor in an ungraceful heap. "Okay. Yeah. Definitely not good. I'd say going from bad to worse very quickly now."

"Lyssa, please." The Doctor crouched down beside her, looking very worried. "Your room - What did you see? Do you know what faith it's targeting?"

She shook her head, panting. "I don't even know why I'm reacting like this. Joe and Howie didn't, and neither did Rita or Amy."

The Doctor froze. "Rita and Amy found their rooms?"

Shoot. She hadn't meant to disclose that information quite yet. "Yeah." She bit her lips. "Rita found her room around the same time Howie did, I think. And Amy... I'm not sure. Maybe around when Howie died?"

The Doctor eyed her carefully. "And do they... die?"

Lyssa relaxed suddenly, smiling giddily as all her dizziness and stress and fears were washed away, replaced with a heartfelt gratitude for the one who'd done this for her. "We all die in the end, Doctor. We're just lucky enough to have him here to do the job for us. It makes it all so much better."  Her smile fell when the Doctor didn't look as ecstatic as she had hoped, leaning more towards the horrified end of the spectrum instead. "Doctor? What's wrong?" she asked uncertainly.

"Oh, Lyssa," he mourned, sounding heartbroken. "How long has this been going on? How long have I been missing it?"

"It's okay, Doctor. If you've found your room, you'll feel happy too soon enough," she assured him, knowing he was probably feeling left out. Feeling daring, she reached out and clasped his hand in hers. Startled, he glanced down at their joined hands then back up at her. "Don't worry," she promised, smiling reassuringly at him. "I'll wait for you until you're ready, and then we can go together!" She released him and clapped her hands eagerly. "Won't that be exciting?"