Red ⋆ Doctor Who

Chapter Thirteen

"I hate you all," Cherry grumbles, crossing her arms over her chest in a sulk. Despite apparently sleeping for twenty hours, she's incredibly exhausted and her whole body aches. "And I can't believe you played UNO without me."

"Well, we couldn't just sit in silence doing nothing for twenty hours," Amy points out, shaking her head before adding teasingly. "Besides, our worlds don't revolve around you."

Cherry rolls her eyes at her cousin, pretending that her words don't sting. She looks up at the Doctor, who frowns when Amy puts down her penultimate card and shouts out the game's name to announce that she is about to win. The Doctor picks up a card, unable to play anything, and then it's Rory's turn. He goes to put a card down and then glances anxiously at Amy and hesitates. Cherry giggles when she realises Rory had intended to put down a plus four card, which would stop Amy from winning and then decided against it, picking up a card and refusing to put anything down. Amy places down her last card, winning the game with a smug cheer, and Cherry raises her eyebrows at Rory.

"You're so whipped," Cherry muses, and Rory scoffs, shaking his head defensively. Amy's smug celebration swiftly ends, and she snatches the cards left in Rory's hand, frowning when she realises the nurse had let her win.

"You let me win?" Amy demands, her Scottish accent thick as she accuses him, and he stutters, unable to come up with an answer. Amy lets out a frustrated huff and walks away from the group, presumably heading to her and Rory's room.

"Thanks, Cherry," Rory says sarcastically to the girl, and she smiles sweetly at him as he chases after his fiancée, calling out to remind her it's just a game.

Cherry turns to the Doctor then, with a proud smirk on her face, very pleased with herself for getting back at Amy and Rory for their teasing of how long she slept. He stands up, pats her on the head and waltzes to the controls. "Go and get ready, Cherry. I'm taking you all on a trip."

Cherry groans, lifting her arm up to her face dramatically. "Do we have to go anywhere? Something always goes wrong."

"Not this time," he promises, and she highly suspects he is lying to her. He notices her sceptical frown and crosses his hand over his chest twice. "Cross my hearts."

"Hearts?" Cherry's nose wrinkles as she looks over at the Doctor, and he nods, unbothered by her question. "What do you mean hearts? How many do you have?"

"Two," the Doctor tells her, and she raises her eyebrows, standing up and marching over to him.

"Two! How? Where do they go?" Cherry asks, staring down at his chest. He shakes his head at her, laughing, and then gently takes her left hand in his and raises it to his chest. He presses her palm flat against the left side of his chest, holding it there so she can feel his heartbeat. Then, he moves it lower down and on the right side to the other heart, and her jaw falls slack. She laughs in a mixture of shock and amazement and then looks up at him with her eyes wide. "How can you have two hearts? What happens to the rest of your organs?"

"They're there..." the Doctor says, shrugging his shoulders. "Somewhere."

"Right?" Cherry seems very unconvinced by his answer, keeping her hand pressed firmly against his chest.

"Are you okay, Charlotte?" The Doctor asks her softly, his hand still resting atop hers. "I'm sorry about everything that happened in Venice."

"It's not your fault," Cherry shakes her head, smiling sadly and then looking down at her feet. Her bare feet and painted toes are almost touching the Doctor's leather, lace-up boots, and she wiggles them. He doesn't agree with her at all. It is his fault. He should just drop her home or convince her that she wants to leave because she still doesn't seem sure about whether or not she wants to stay. But he can't let her leave. She's scored on his hearts, just as Amy is, and he's too selfish to let her go. "And I'm fine. Just tired."