Cosmo || Doctor Who

17 : Dreamer's Ball

  "Yeah."

  Her smile grew, which in turn, made him grin too. "I like it."

  As she stepped through the door, EJ hurried after her, just to whisper in her ear and shake his head at the same time. "You're trying so hard."

"Me?" She scoffed. "No."

EJ gulped, and widened his eyes. "Yeah, you. Try hard."

Suddenly, the lights flipped on and the Doctor beamed, proud of himself. It gave them the chance to look at what they were working with: it wasn't pretty. Everything was a complete mess.

The room was in two halves; the one they were in belonged to whoever had been in charge. There was a tape recorder, with two large spools of recorded tape set out. But the glass between the halves had been smashed. It was all over the place, and if EJ had been wearing thinner shoes, he would've cut his soles open completely.

"What do you think?" The Doctor questioned, only partly for their benefit.

Jack's brows furrowed as he stepped into the room. "Something got out of here."

"Yeah." He replied, unimpressed. "And?"

"Something powerful. Angry."

"Powerful and angry." The Doctor reiterated as the others walked through the partition.

Though it didn't seem to be possible, this side was even worse. There were kids drawings everywhere. They were all over the walls, and stuck to the floorboards too, even scattered over the hospital bed in the corner. A disregarded toy lamb had been lain to rest at the centre of the room. The pictures stuck out to EJ more than anything, because he could see the focus clearly.

It was family. The child just wanted his family, and that was all he said. It was all on his mind, and the pictures proved it.

"A child?" The words caught in Jack's throat momentarily before shrugging. "I suppose this explains mummy."

"How could a child do this?" Rose didn't understand, and disdain filled her voice as the Doctor flipped a switch.

"Do you know where you are?" Doctor Constantine's voice rang through the speakers, and EJ's head snapped towards it. He was stood alone, facing them.

"Are you my mummy?"

"Are you aware of what's around you? Can you... see?"

"Are you my mummy?" The child didn't give coherent answers beyond the thought of its mother.

"What do you want?" Doctor Constantine asked, partial curiosity in his voice. "Do you know what...?"

"I want my mummy! Are you my mummy? I want my mummy! Are you my mummy? Are you my mummy? Mummy? Mummy?"

EJ could feel the tears seeping down his face as he blinked. His breaths were longer as he tried to control himself, but it was hard as his hands shook in fisted balls. All he could hear inside this small boy's voice, was Josh. What if it had been another time, and he was the one damaged? This boy was someone's son... and it took a moment to convince himself that it wasn't his.

"Doctor, I've heard this voice before." Rose mentioned, concerned.

He nodded in agreement. "Me too."

"Mummy?"

Her mind was ticking away at a million miles a minute. "Always are you my mummy?" She didn't sound comfortable saying it. "Like he doesn't know."