All of Space, Time, and You (Thasmin)

Outside

(tw- sexual assault)
It's been weeks since the first time I self harmed, and I'm so sick of what I've become since. I spend my days in bed, even though I'm never tired. The TARDIS has taken pity on me now, presenting me with medicines and soups and first aid. But comfort isn't the same when it's coming from a machine, and I need to find someone to pull me out of this decline. 

 Hauling myself out of bed, I'm seized with a new sort of energy. Sprinting towards the control panel, I program the TARDIS for the first place this face saw. Sheffield. Not the most romantic place in the world, but it's the closest I can get so far to those people on the train, and the hopeful, golden eyes of that beautiful policewoman. The doors swing open, eager to let me out into the world once again. I take a deep breath, and step outside.                

 Great concrete slabs tower high over my head, cars trundle past like beetles. The human race has been left completely unchanged, although my world feels like it's crumbled. Teenagers gossip on street corners, old ladies crawl along the pavement, all wrapped up in their own worlds. It's almost freeing, seeing how so many people all have these problems consuming them. I'm overwhelmed by the beauty of nature, despite this being such a crowded city, trees poke through the concrete, hopeful shrubs. Flowers bloom from cracks in the pavement, and window boxes high up in these concrete monoliths burst with colour. There's beauty in the world after all.               

  Inspired, I head for the police station. Not the most obscure place in the world, but I have to start somewhere. Almost sprinting, I race up the steps and rush through the doors. In an ideal world, there she would be, ready and waiting to take me into her arms and save me. What actually happens is I barge straight into a fuming middle aged man in his dressing gown. He's drunk. 

"Hello little miss" he slurs, breathing a putrid mixture of alcohol and drugs into my neck. "What's going on here then?"

His hands slide to my waist, and I draw away, repulsed.                                                                                 "Come back here you filthy whore!"

   Terrified, I turn and flee, desperate to escape his wandering hands. I sprint down an alleyway, coughing and spluttering- these weeks of isolation definately haven't done me any good. Sinking down, my breath begins to slow, and I'm just regaining my composure when I hear another voice:

"Hey little miss." Lunging forewards, like a snake about to swallow its prey, he grabs my shoulders and forces me against the icy bricks behind me. His hands reach up to my breasts, groping at me grotesquely. He's pulling off my clothes and soon I'm completely exposed, vulnerable and shivering, unable to move under his steady grip. Still holding me steady, he unbuckles his belt and I begin to cry. I can't speak, can't even try to run. Help.

 Suddenly, a voice rings out from the streets beyond this dingy alleyway. 
"Get off her!" A woman shrieks frantically.

   Finally, the man turns and stumbles away, dissapearing into the depths of the street beyond.    "Oh my god, are you okay?" My saviour asks, making her way towards me. "Let's get some clothes on you" she says, bundling me up in my coat. Too stunned to speak or even to be self concious, I oblige, leaning against the wall like a ragdoll.

   "It's okay, I'm a policewoman, I can take you into the station now"                                                            What? Hopefully, I turn around, and am faced by these flecked golden eyes. A calm washes over me and a smile breaks out across my face.