I Didn't Mean It (Doctor Who)

Ch.16: Cold as Ice

Recap:

"D-Doctor, what are we going to d-do?" My voice seemed to shiver and stutter as much as my body did. He didn't answer at first, and for a while I just waited, until I saw that he was squinting at something in the distance. I used all the strength I had left in me to pull myself up, following his gaze to see a strange blurry shape in the distance. My sucky vision didn't help in this situation. I had ditched my needed glasses years ago, thinking that glasses and asthma didn't mix well when trying to keep a good reputation.

"What do you see?" I croaked, surprised to barely hear my own voice. It seemed to blow away in the wind.

"The TARDIS".

~o0o~

"W-What?" I stuttered, wondering if he had gone crazy.

"I see the TARDIS," Doctor breathed, his voice rattling.

I would normally find his appearance comical if we weren't on the verge of freezing to death, his normally smooth hair tousled stiff with frost, his tweed jacket tattered, and his bowtie lopsided.

"You must be s-seeing things," I sighed, sitting back on the beam, which was slowly beginning to sink back into the water under our weight. My skin felt raw with cold, and my eyes began to feel heavy with sleep. I felt myself drifting into blackness.

"Alice! Y-You can't fall asleep!" I was jerked awake from my short-lived sleep to see the Doctor looking down at me with anxious eyes. His lips were turning a light blue, and I wondered if mine were, too.

"If you f-fall asleep, you will n-never wake up again. Your body is shutting down," Doctor explained, his voice quivering wildly.

I struggled to keep my eyes open. I tried to move, but I felt as if my body weren't there anymore. My heart felt as if it were barely beating, just a faint flicker of movement throbbing in my chest.

"I can't stay awake," I groaned, my voice sounding more like a whisper. I felt arms begin to pick me up and carry me. "Doctor, s-stop," I protested.

"We're going to the TARDIS before we freeze," Doctor said determinedly. He began to drag me back into the water.

I thrashed weakly with as much strength I had left against him. "No!" I clawed at the beam, trying to get my way back on. He dipped me into the water. I yelped, feeling piercing water pour back over my frozen skin, burning like fire. I writhed wildly through the water, trying desperately to get back to the beam.

"Please, it hurts," I begged him, the pain forcing tears from my eyes.

"You'll th-thank me later," Doctor shivered, looking at me with sincerity as he pulled me through the water.

I buried my face in his shoulder, fighting against the cold to try and move my limbs. My head dunked under the water and came back up again as Doctor struggled through it. The once loud area around us was now deathly silent.

I gasped and twisted out of the Doctor's arms as I saw a lady bobbing in the water, her skin covered in a thick layer of frost and her dull, cloudy eyes staring blanky over at me. Her hair was white with frozen water and her lips were a pale shade of blue. I breathed heavily, my heart pounding. I churned away slowly, the Doctor reaching out for me. I began to sink through the water, remembering that I was too cold to move. Doctor grabbed my hand and pulled me back up again.

I gasped as I gazed into the distance, the TARDIS coming into view. The Doctor was right! It radiated warm yellow light over the choppy water around it. The frozen body of a man floated by the TARDIS, his pale, boney hand still clinging onto the side; he had tried to get in. I reached out futilely towards the TARDIS, hauling myself onto it. I shivered violently as the Doctor pulled out the key from his pocket, which had miraculously survived. He reached up a shaking hand toward the keyhole and opened it, a gust of warm air from inside the TARDIS blowing over us. We collapsed inside and I managed to reach for the door, closing it. I dragged myself across the ground, making my way over to the chest of blankets and ponchos behind the console, pulling out every single article of warmth I could find, piling them on top of me.

I lay sprawled out on floor, warmth beginning to thaw out my frozen body. I lay that way for what seemed like hours, drifting in and out of sleep.

I finally opened my eyes, sitting up groggily. I still felt splotches of cold skin over my arms and legs, but my blood felt as if it were flowing again. I looked over and smiled to see the Doctor curled up into a ball in the corner, a few blankets spread messily around him. I felt a pang of guilt at the fact that I had taken most of the blankets in my frenzy, leaving him with only a few.

The visible rising and falling of his chest relieved me. I got up shakily to my feet, something I thought I would never do again, and walked over to him, brushing frost out of his hair. I managed to drag him down the hall and into his bedroom, hauling him onto his bed, tucking him in like a mother would do to a child.

Blankets wrapped over my shoulders, I made my way over to my own bedroom, peeling off my wet, tattered dress and replacing it with a pair of fuzzy footie pajamas decorated with smiling bumblebees. I slipped underneath the covers, falling asleep once again. My dreams were filled with swirling water, sucking me down into its depths. Large, curling waves engulfed me, swirling me through the black foamy water. I woke up with sweat beaded on my forehead, my heart racing in my chest.

I made my way out into the console room, seeing the Doctor clipping wires on the TARDIS, his familiar round glasses hanging on the bridge of his nose.

"Thank you," I said quietly, making him jump slightly.

"For what?" He said, folding his glasses and setting them down beside him to look at me.

"For saving me," I shrugged, looking down at my fuzzy yellow and black feet.

"Listen, I understand if you eant to go back home. Most people would after something like that," Doctor said quietly, turning back to his work. He avoided my eyes.

For a moment I thought about it, going back. That last trip had terrified me, and I knew I would never be the same after something like that. But I immediately shook that thought away. "What do I have to go back to?" I smiled.

Doctor looked up at me incredulously, his eyes filled with confusion. I rolled my eyes, "Come here," I sighed, opening my arms out to him. He stood up, grinning, and accepted my hug. I squeezed him tightly, not wanting to let go.

"Why would you ever want to stay after something like that?" Doctor asked as I released him.

"Like I said, what do I have to go back for? I don't have a family. And I made a wish to stay with you for as long as I live, and I plan to fulfill it," I grinned.