"Hey, um, Doctor," Jess wheezed as he gripped her in an embrace.
"Oh, sorry," he apologized, still smiling brightly.
"You know, I think I might have to tell my mom who you are," she called, as the Doctor scurried off. "I mean, if she sees me with you again, I'm afraid she's gonna think I'm having an affair with my so-called teacher or something."
"Affair?" he yelled. "You're fifteen! Who in their right mind would want to have an affair with a fifteen year old?" he said, running back up with some wire, his sonic, and a bunch of other things.
"Doctor," Jess said. "What're you doing?" she asked as he ran - and almost fell - down the steps that led to the engine.
"Trying to fix my TARDIS, what else?" he replied. Jess laid on her stomach and poked her head just beyond the mezzanine. He took some wire and fused it with his sonic onto the engine (or what Jess thought was the engine).
"I really miss this place," Jess started, turning on her back and looking up at the dome ceiling.
"What do you mean?" the Doctor said, flicking hair out of his eyes.
"The décor. This one was my favorite. Very - uh - retro."
Jess listened to the hum of the screwdriver for what felt like forever, until the Doctor let out a cry of joy.
"Finally! Okay, Jessica, step back. This might be very, um, wibbly," he said, as he connected the last wires. They were arranged in disarray, all leading up to the engine. It kind of reminded her of veins in a body all connecting to the heart, the center of most living masterpieces (unless, of course, they had two hearts, which made it better all the more).
There was a crash, and sparks flew everywhere. The lights flickered, and the TARDIS woke up from her slumber. Both the Doctor and Jess smiled brightly, and he grabbed her in a quick embrace.
Jessica felt, for a moment, as if she was going to throw up. Her head seemed extremely heavy, and her palms were instantly clammy. Her heart rate quickened intensively, but it was all gone in a flash, and she couldn't remember why she'd grabbed her stomach in what seemed to be faux pain.
Suddenly, there was a loud pop, and sparks shot out of the wires, the electricity visible. The Doctor hurried over and tried to fix it, but only ended up electrocuting himself.
The room grew dark. There was a thud, and Jess tried to feel her way through the wires.
Lying at her feet was the Doctor, unconscious.
Panicking, she sat down next to him and slapped his cheeks, but to no avail. She bent down so her face was at his chest, looking for a pulse. Only his left heart was beating.
"Doctor! Doctor, you've gotta wake up," she yelled, looking around in the dark.
She could see the moonlight shining through the windows on the door, and, without thinking, grabbed his ankles and pulled him up the stairs and through the entrance.
Making sure she was far enough from the TARDIS and a bit past the entrance to the woods, she called for her mother.
"MUM! MUM! GET OUT HERE!" she screamed, tears blurring her vision. She knew too well that a Time Lord didn't last very long with only one heart. Although they looked human, there was very little human about them.
"What's going - oh my God." Melissa gasped, and knelt down next to the Doctor.
"Um," Jess stuttered, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Get me a pitcher of cold water," she demanded, with a quizzical expression from her mother. She obeyed, however, and ran back into the house.
"C'mon Doctor. Stay with me," she pleaded, giving up on trying not to cry.
"Here," Melissa said, handing Jess a bucket of ice-cold water. "What're you gonna do -" she began, but stopped mid-sentence as Jess poured the whole thing on the Doctor's face, drowning his features with ice.
"WOO!" he shouted, standing up immediately. "Oh, not again, my right one's stopped," he said, grabbing his right side in agony. "How do you humans manage with just - ah! - just one heart?"
Jess rolled her eyes. "Don't just stand there, tell me how to fix it," she said, rolling up the sleeves to her sweater.
"Okay, hit me on the chest." Jess did as he said, but flinched when he screamed. "Back, back! Hit me on the back!"
After another minute of Jess hitting him, the Doctor stood up straight and shook out his limbs, giving her his goofiest smile.
"See? Never waste time on hugs." Jess scoffed.
"You idiot!" she said, punching him in the shoulder. "You half scared me to death!"
"I think I was the one dying, Jessica," he said. Jess gave up the 'I'm mad at you' façade and laughed.
"Jessica," Melissa said slowly. "What the hell is going on?" she demanded, crossing her arms.
"Mum!" Jess forgot she was standing there. "Uh ... there's no point in saying 'it's not what it looks like', because I have absolutely no idea how it might look like at all ..." she said warily.
"Did you say 'your right one stopped'? As in a heart? On your right side?!" Melissa backed up, looking appalled. "And you said 'humans' as if you weren't one!"
Jess paused, then sighed. "Mum, you know that show I watch?" she asked, scratching the back of her neck.
"Maybe. The one with that hot guy from Harry Potter, right? What does that have to do with anything?" Melissa questioned.
"I think this face is pretty hot, if I do say so myself," muttered the Doctor, offended. Jess gave him a warning glare. "Sorry," he whispered.
"Well, this is him. Not David Tennant, this is the next regeneration of him ... from a different - uh - dimension," Jess said awkwardly. Her mother stared at her, wide-eyed.
"That's crazy! No, John Smith, you're crazy! I bet that's not even your name! Oh, get out! Just get out!" she shouted, pointing her finger to nowhere in particular.
"I'm not exactly anywhere to get out of," the Doctor retorted automatically, to which Jess lightly elbowed him in the ribs. "Ow, Jessica! I just got that one working."
"Sorry," Jess muttered, patting his shoulder.
"Jessica Rhiannon Bennett," her mother hissed furiously. "If you don't tell me what's going on right this instant -"
"Okay, you don't want to believe me? Fine. I guess I'll just have to show you that this man is the man I say he is," Jess said, running to the woods, through the clump of trees, and into the field, where the TARDIS was parked. Melissa and the Doctor followed.
Jess looked behind her in confusion, as she couldn't have dragged the Doctor that far without getting tired. She brushed it off and kept walking.
"Keys," Jess said, holding out her hands. The silver felt heavy in her hands, as if their weight was scientifically impossible compared to the size.
"What's this?" Melissa demanded, looking skeptically at the blue box. "It's a phone box. What's so great about that?" Jess looked at the Doctor, and they shared a moment of giddiness.
"It's actually a police box, mother." Jess momentarily fumbled with the key, but placed it in the lock and turned, entering her favorite form of transportation.
"Okay, ready?" she asked, sticking her head through the door. Melissa walked inside, eyes wide. She scurried back out, to see that, indeed, the box was smaller on the outside.
"But - how - what - it's -" Jess's mother couldn't find the right words.
"Amazing? Fantastic? Impossible?" Jess said, with a satisfied look on her face.
"Wow," was all she could say.
"I know," the Doctor whispered.
Jess started to rub her eyes, then again, then yawned. Still star struck, her mother grabbed her and said, "I think it's time for bed."
"No." She scratched her eye again.
"I think I have to go, too," the Doctor said, pointing at his TARDIS.
"No," Jess muttered. "You shouldn't have to sleep in there. Come stay in the guest room for the night." The Doctor shook his head.
She sighed. "I've got a fez and some Jammie Dodgers," she said temptingly.
He looked indecisive for a second. "Oh, alright!" he said with a grin.
"You're such a goof," Jess murmured.
"I know." His smile grew wider.
She rolled her eyes and they headed back to the house, glancing at the stars on their way. And for a second, a mere sliver of a moment, it seemed as if the whole universe was getting ready for something big. Something life-changing. Something deadly.