I Need a Doctor!

I'm Just Fine

It had taken a good five days for me to fully recover. In the meantime, the Doctor had become a nurse to me (which I teased him about). Each time he walked into my room with tea I'd say, "Ah! The Nurse has returned to comfort me!"

And he would grimace and mutter, "I didn't get a degree just for the title, y'know," and set the tea down.

It helped my spirits quite a bit.

When I was finally recovered, I walked down to the console room and leaned on the railing, watching the doctor fuss about with a wrench in his hand.

"Damned unit won't just-" he kicked the console, "-OW! Oh for f-"

"Doctor?"

He started and looked up at me and smiled. Even though he was smiling, I saw the worry cross his face and burrow into his eyebrows. "Sophia, is everything-"

"Everything's fine, Doctor. I was just checking up on you."

"Oh, well, I uh..." he nudged some broken peices of the console behind him with his foot, "I'm good. Everthing's good."

I covered a laugh by coughing, which didn't help to settle the Doctors anxieties. "Just something in my throat..."

After a pause and silence, I finally said, "Need any help with the TARDIS? I could help by..." A snapped off nob rolled past his feet before hitting against the base of the console, making a very loud clang. "...cleaning up..?"

The Doctor blushed in frustration. "I've got everything covered." 

I watched three more bolts fall out of his coat, hitting the mesh loudly.

"How about I sew up that broken pocket in your jacket?"

The Doctor's blush was even more intense, and he simply nodded.

So as it went, I sat perched on one of the benches, sewing the Doctor's worn jacket back into a usable peice of clothing as the Doctor swore and grumbled beneath the console of his dearest TARDIS. I thanked her under my breath once again for saving me, and jumped when she seemed to hum back at me.

***

It had been a full week since I had awaken from my death-sleep, and the Doctor was finally comfortable with me moving around the TARDIS without his constant watch. He moved the TARDIS at night when he thought I was sleeping, leaving for a few hours for this or that. I would lie awake and wait for the sound of him returning. For one thing, I needed to make sure he was still alright, but I was also uneasy about being in the TARDIS alone. Knowing that she could communicated with me and that I was somehow a part of her was rather unsettling...

But as it went, there were no strange occurrences between her and I, and no black outs or sudden deaths either. 

Everything seemed normal.

I had been bothering the Doctor about taking me out somewhere, telling him how bored I was in the TARDIS, how we never dd anything, how all of his books were boring or poorly translated. Each time I asked, he gave the same excuse: "I'm just not sure you're ready to go back out there!"

"Of course I'm ready! Look at me! I'm just fine."

He never believed me. But still I kept at it. I knew if I kept asking, I'd wear him down. I needed to go outside. To see the world, any world. To breathe fresh air and see new faces.

Not that I minded only seeing his.

But I couldn't just stay inside anymore! It was confining. Suffocating. Boring. 

So I kept asking. 

"Where are we going today?" I asked, leaning against the console sipping coffee. A far off planet? Unnamed moon? Ancient Rome?"

"I don't recommend ancient Rome. Far too many volcanoes."

I decided not to ask into that. "Well then where are we going?"

"You," he said, turning to me and putting his hands on my shoulders, "Are going... to stay here."

I looked at him exasperatedly. "Are you serious?"

"Dea-... Yes."

Seeing his awkward concern, I chose not to argue. 

He patted one of my shoulders. "I'm going to go scan the library again, see if I've missed any books," and he strode out of the console room and down the hall way.

I sighed and looked up at the TARDIS. "You wouldn't happen to know any good vacation spots to relax him, would room?"

Almost immediately the TARDIS whined and rumbled, beginning to warp. A sharp lurch smacked me into the console, my tea falling to the floor and shattering on the mesh. 

Within seconds the Doctor was at the door, gripping the frame and staring in alarm. "What did you do? Are you okay?"

"I didn't do anything!"

"I TOLD YOU, YOU AREN'T WELL ENOUGH TO TRAVEL," he roared.

Besides the loud vworping of the TARDIS, the room fell silent. I looked down at my hands, tightly gripping the rim of the console, the TARDIS suddenly falling silent. 

The Doctor rubbed his temple, mumbling, "I didn't mean to yell, I just meant-"

"It's fine," I said, cutting him off. "You... You should see where we are. Wouldn't want to injure myself or something." I felt immediate guilt over the sharpness in my voice. "I'm going to... I'll be in my room."

I pushed myself off of the console, crunching over the remains of the cup as I pushed past him and into the hall.

If I had stayed, I would have seen his face turn white when he opened the door. Instead, I just heard his thud.