The Doctor's Daughter

Chapter 19

Emily's POV

I wake to the sound of a door slamming, my heart practically jumping out of my chest. I don't sit up when the sound wakes me, but my eyes spring open. Carl sits by the bedroom door, mumbling angrily to himself and staring at the wall. I pretend to awaken slowly; blinking and carefully sitting up with a yawn. He stands and comes over to the bed with a small smile. He then kneels on the floor beside me, and I lay back down.

"Hey, sleeping beauty. Have a nice nap?" Carl asks teasingly, and I chuckle to myself and nod.
"How long was I asleep?" I ask, yawning again.
"About three days, though this is terrible timing. It's like 3 in the morning." He laughs. Three days? Why did I even fall asleep in the first place? I ask myself, but then all the memories come rushing back. I groan, and close my eyes. Carl, worriedly, asks me what's wrong, but I just slightly shake my head at him.

After a second of painful reminisce, I open my eyes again, taking a deep breath. Monster. I think to myself. You are a monster that can never be healed, broken forever more. Carl looks into my eyes, almost as if he is searching for something. I try to hide the pain in my eyes, and the darkness as well, and I look anywhere but at him. I just won't be able to hold myself together if I see him look at me with sorrow and love, pity intertwined. I have seen this look before, and it will tear me to pieces.

Eventually I feel his gaze burns into me so deeply that I look at him, knowing it was inevitable. That he must be disappointed in me, must be angry at me for leaving him. Must pity me for what I did. When I meet his eye, however, I am surprised to see none of what I thought, but love mixed with sadness, determination filling the blank spots as well.

"Emily." Carl whispers my name softly, caressing my face with the back of his hand. I let my eyes bore into his, watching his every move. "I love you Emily. It hurts me that someone did this to you, forced this to happen and for you to feel guilty about something you had no control over. And I promise you, Emily Pond, that I will protect you through whatever the danger is, always guard you and be there for you. I will comfort you when you need, cry with you, and I will forevermore be truthful with you. No matter what it is, no matter how small or big, I will tell you. I swear, I will."

Tears running down my face, I sit up and pull Carl to me. He sits next to me and we kiss. The taste of his luscious lips, so smooth and full, mesmerizes me, and our mouths move in synchronization. I grab a fistful of his hair and deepen the kiss, still crying. My heart swells with love, and I feel like I can breathe again, as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Carl could be my antidote, my personal cure to this cruel world and everything that has happened.

I feel a tingling sensation fill me from head to toe, and it's almost as if I am glowing. I open my eyes in wonder and Carl does the same, us both freezing in shock. A golden mist swarms around both of us, swirling and running down every inch of me and him. After a moment or two they leave, and I stare at Carl in awe.

Carl is taller and more filled out, muscular and solid. His hair is longer, but even and older looking, the brown ends going past his ears. His face is thinner, and his eyes more wise and beautiful than ever before. Overall, he looks like an eighteen year old, husky super model. Mesmerized, I stare at him, tracing his every feature with my eyes. Then I realize that I feel different as well, and I dash towards the mirror. Once standing in front of it, I gaze wordlessly at myself, someone who I can barely recognize.

I am still a lot shorter than Carl is, and my thin hair is curly and going past my shoulders in chocolate locks. My freckles fill out just above my nose and on my cheeks, like always, but my face is thinner and older as well. And I'm curvy, which is a new feeling altogether. My eyebrows are arched more, and I try to search for signs of the me I knew for so long. The only things I can find that are the same as before are my eyes, which still dance green and bright in the light, and my nose, which is still abnormally thin. I feel, different. I feel beautiful for once, more matured.