Lost in the Universe

ix

"Just doing them now," Abi told him, looking around to see the monitors and the computers already doing the scans.

"Oh, you're good," he laughed, earning a smile from the young girl. "Anyone else presenting these symptoms?"

"Not so far."

"Well, that's something," the Doctor granted.

"Will someone tell me what is the matter with him?" McDonnell suddenly exclaimed. She was obviously very worried about her husband.

"Some sort of infection. We'll know more after the test results," the Doctor explained. "Now, allons-y, back downstairs." Ashton leaves the room, but the Captain hesitates. She doesn't want to leave her husband alone. "Hey, go. See about those engines. I'll be right behind you." McDonnell nods gravely and follows Ashton out.

Nina was about to follow them back to the engine room, but a hand on her arm stopped her. The Doctor grabbed her arm and pulled her to a corner of the room.

"What did you see?" He asked her. Nina immediately knew what he was referring to. Nina looked down at the memory. She had seen the Doctor in an orange space suit, his face scrunched up in pain as he screamed in agony. Burn with me, he had said. Nina shook her head.

"I can't tell you that," she said, keeping her gaze on the floor.

"On a scale from one to ten?" He asked her, placing a hand on her shoulder, seeing the memory was clearly bringing her discomfort.

"No, that's not--" she sighed. For once in her life, she found herself lost for words and sighed in frustration. "I only saw a fragment of time. I don't know all that's going to happen. I know about a few seconds and nothing beyond that. I have no idea if it ends well, but the stuff I saw I--"

"It's bad," he guessed, pulling her into a tight hug. Nina couldn't help but feel safe in his embrace. She felt like that's where she needed to be.

As soon as they separated, Nina stepped back just enough for her to look up and look him in the eyes.

"You know what's going on, don't you?" She asked quietly.

Of course, he knew. This was who they were. Who they were meant to be. The last two Time Lords, and the universe pulling them towards each other, drawing them together, playing with their feelings. Both Nina and the Doctor knew that they were probably only having these feelings towards each other because they were the last two living beings of their species. Yet, it felt so real.

The Doctor nodded shortly, cupping her face with his hands. This felt so right, Nina knew of it. But she couldn't do this. Not now. She needed time. Her last relationship didn't end well, and it ended quite recently from her point of view. She had just been ripped away from her universe, from her friends, from the people she had gotten to love, to call her family. Nina placed her hands on his and gently pulled them away from her face. She held onto them for a few seconds, before letting them go.

"I can't do this," she told him. She could feel the tears starting to sting the back of her eyes, and it drove her mad. She hated crying, she hated letting people know how vulnerable she actually was. "I'm sorry. I just -- I can't. Not now," she made clear to him that this was temporary, her voice barely being able to come out of her throat. Nina didn't want to get into another relationship so fast, but she didn't know exactly how long she was going to be able to keep away from the Doctor.

"I understand," he said. Nina could hear the hurt in his voice, but she also knew he completely understood what she was feeling. For some reason, Nina got the impression that he, too, had lost someone quite recently.