DW - One-Shot: All right
Title: All right
Author: Jaelijn
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all associated items are property of BBC. The Doctor's tenth regeneration was largely shaped by Mr Russell T. Davies, creator of the new Doctor, and Mr David Tennant. No copyright infringement intended.
Rating: PG
Warnings: triggering topic: illness (see prompt)
Characters: Tenth Doctor, Donna Noble, the TARDIS
Prompt: detached retina
Summary: Donna has a question for the Doctor, and when he does in fact answer...
Author's Note: Tenth Doctor fic. Written for hc_bingo . This was probably the hardest prompt. Quite happy with how it turned out, though!
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“Detached retina.”
“Huh?” Donna looked up from the magazine she was flipping through - it was just something the Doctor kept about in the TARDIS, and she wasn't even sure which time it was from. Certainly not from far in the future, since it seemed all terribly familiar to her.
The Doctor looked up from his tinkering with the console, lowering his screwdriver. How in the world he could remain lying on his back below the console, Donna had no idea. “You asked me what the worst illness was I ever had. Detached retina.”
“That was hours ago!”
“Was it? Yeah, well, I had to think about it.” The Doctor sat up, giving the console an affectionate pat.
“Uh-hu. So what's that, detached retina? Sounds more complicated than measles, something alien, I bet.”
“No, not at all. You humans can get it, too. The retina is a film in the back of your eye, and if there's a tear in it, vitreous fluid seeps in behind it, and it starts peeling away.”
Donna gave him a blank look. She had been practising.
“Basically”, the Doctor said with a sigh, “your eye starts falling apart.”
“That's... bad.”
“Yes.”
“So, how does it feel?”
“It's not painful.”
“But it's the worst illness you ever had.”
“Yes.”
“I get it, spaceman. You don't want to talk about it.”
“It doesn't really matter. The TARDIS fixed it for me quickly enough.”
“You were all right again, were you?”
“Always.”
They exchanged a quick glance, and Donna was not sure whether the Doctor was entirely glad that she had cracked his strange Time Lord code for 'not all right at all'.
“So, who was with you then? How long ago was it? I'm only asking, cause I'd probably laugh at measles now, but as a child, it was pretty terrifying.”
“No, not that long ago.” The Doctor started pulling his earlobe, gaze fixed on the console, where he flicked some switches. “This regeneration, in fact, just before we met again. I was alone then.”
“I see.”
And with that, they dropped the topic, Donna going back to reading, and the Doctor fiddling with the circuits.
Donna had never expected the Doctor to mention it again, not when he was so reluctant to talk about it in the first place, but to her surprise he suddenly stopped his work and leaned back against the console, looking at her. He had used his glasses, and now was turning them between his fingers. “I could show you, you know.”
Donna lowered her magazine, nonplussed. “Show me?”
“The illness.”
“Why would I want to see that?! That's just gross.”
He nodded, putting his glasses away. “Right.”
Donna snapped her magazine shut. “You never had the chance to talk about that to anyone, did you? I mean, it must have been pretty terrifying, if it was the worst illness you ever had. I suppose, if it would help, I could...”
“It won't hurt, I promise. You will just be seeing through my eyes.”
“Okay...”
Donna stiffened as the Doctor took her head between his hands. “You're not going Spock on me, are you?”
The Doctor had closed his eyes. “I'm allowing you into my mind. Just step through, right into the memory.”
Donna felt the Doctor tense up as she closed her eyes and allowed herself to access his memories as if they were her own. It was weird, she felt strangely detached, as if it were an old memory, or a dream, and yet she felt the truth of it.
She could see the TARDIS console before her, the engines in motion. She - the Doctor - was moving around the console slowly, almost leisurely, pulling a lever here and flicking a switch there, but far from the frantic movements she was used to.
Suddenly, there was a bright flash in the corner of their vision, and they turned, but there was nothing there. They shook their head, muttering something under their breath, and then, there was another flash, and another, and they stopped their fiddling. “What?” Thousands of tiny spots started dancing in their vision, and they rubbed their eyes, but the spots wouldn't go away. Instead, the darkness got worse, dark edges appearing at the corners of their vision, slowly moving inwards. They just stood there, frozen, watching as more and more of the TARDIS' console room started to grey and then fade into blackness, until only a small spot of colour was left. They threw a switch on the console, and everything went black.
Donna started as the Doctor threw her out of his memories with some force, stepping back from her and leaning against the console again.
Her fingers scrabbled for her magazine, eyes darting around the room as if trying to take in all the colours at once. “Ugh. That was terrifying. I'm glad the TARDIS fixed you.”
“Yeah.”
The Doctor wouldn't meet her gaze, but Donna stepped up to him and silently pulled him into a hug until he hugged her back. Then she punched his arm.
“Ouch!”
“Enough moping about, spaceman. Time to use you time machine and take me somewhere!”
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