The Companion

Harry and I found ourselves, minutes later, on the edge of our seats, literally and metaphorically as we watched the Doctor inspect the crack in the wall of the studio.

“She’s very much active but not nearly as strong as she should be. Although, apparently strong enough to erase someone, bit like her friend in the shop,” the Doctor said to the room at large. He began to pace back and forth and as he did so. I turned to Harry.

“They’re louder… the voices, surely this means something,” I said.

“I hope so,” said Harry.

As the Doctor continued to pace from wall to wall his forehead creased more and more as he frowned, muttering to himself. The gaps between his lashes were incredibly small and he played with the end of his sonic nervously.

“Could you two keep quiet for a minute, I’m trying to concentrate,” he said, sharply before continuing his mutterings. I couldn’t help but glance at Harry and could see that my hope was reflected in his eyes. More than anything we both want this strange activity brought to an end before the cracks could do any harm to the rest of our loved ones. We’d put our faith in the Doctor in the hope that he could somehow figure out how to resolve this. It still amazed me how quickly the both of us had become used to the fact that there was other intelligent life out there, billions and billions of light years away and yet at the same time it was just so… out of this world and frightening. As I thought about this I began to shake my knee as the tension in the room thickened. I knew the Doctor was a brilliant man but for the love of all that was good in this universe, could he just get that damned brainwave!

“Of course!” the Doctor exclaimed.

“What?” Harry and I said, in unison, the both of us jumping to our feet.

“Its merely the scar tissue, which came as a result of the reboot of the universe. The cracks couldn’t fade entirely, there had to still be some kind of fracture, some kind of scar. This crack and the one in the ice cream shop are a result of this and because they appear to be only the scars then that means the strength of the time field shouldn’t be as strong… I desperately hope because I’m going to do something unbelievably stupid and this could be the only way to save them.”

“And what is that?” I asked, my voice shaking in shock from this overload of information and at the fact that the Doctor’s plan didn’t sound like it would be foolproof.

“I’m going to open the crack, jump in and hopefully… hopefully pull them out again.”

“Are you mad?!” said Harry, a look of shock plastered on his face.

“It’s the only thing I can think of,” said the Doctor, avoiding our eyes.

“Surely…” I said.

“You want to save them, don’t you?” said the Doctor.

“Of, course but… there has to be a more foolproof way. This is incredibly dangerous,” I said.

“Believe me, I deal with that all the time. Life would be dull without a bit of danger… and seeing as I’ve lived over 900 years… well…” and with that he gave his neck a crack.

“Have you thought this through?” said Harry as the Doctor approached the crack.

“Not really,” the Doctor replied.

“That makes me feel so much better,” Harry said under his breath.

The Doctor quickly turned and walked back to us. With his eyes boring into both of our own he said, “The most important thing now is to try and not forget. I’ll be out as soon as I can but you must try and remember. Do you understand?”

Harry and I nodded in unison. I slipped my hand into his and gave it a slight squeeze, which he returned.

“Right,” said the Doctor, turning back to the crack. “See you on the other side.”

It was as if time had slowed down as he stepped up to the crack, arm outstretched with his sonic raised. The buzz was followed by a blinding white light, which in seconds had swallowed the Doctor.

“Remember, remember, remember,” I muttered to myself, closing my eyes and forcing my mind to concentrate on nothing else but the Doctor. I felt myself being led somewhere and lowered onto something soft, but all that mattered was the Doctor, for I felt my memories of him slipping away already.

Alongside my chants, another voice joined in and together we tried to hold on until I felt like my head was being pressed in a vice.

Remember, remember, remember the Doctor.

It was like the reverse of watching a Polaroid come into full colour. Everything was fading and it was getting more and more difficult to keep the memories clear as the day.

“Come on, Doctor. I can’t hold on,” I whispered.

Something changed once I had said this for now the memories seemed to be flickering, not unlike a television with very poor reception.

“Come on, come on, come on.”

Things grew a bit clearer but this didn’t stop the mounting headache. Suddenly a bump and a groan of pain punctured my thoughts and my eyes flew open. A gasp escaped my lips and next to me I felt Harry’s body tense up before he jumped up and ran over to the crack… for lying there as if he’d been physically thrown out of it was none other than Niall Horan. How could I have forgotten…? How was this even possible? It was as if memories were surging back into my mind at top speed.

“Mate, are you all right,” said Harry bending down next to Niall and trying to pull him away from the light of the crack without giving him too many bruises.

“I’m fine I’m fine,” he said, blinking with every word as if trying to clear his head of something.

“Come on, stand up. Come over to the couch,” said Harry, putting a hand under Niall’s arm and lifting him. Niall swayed on his feet and stumbled as Harry tried to move him over to the couch. My common sense suddenly kicked in and I ran over to help.

“Ah, fucking dizzy,” Niall muttered, eyes shut tight

“I’ll get you a water,” said Harry once he’d sat him down on the couch.

“No, I’m fine but you… you need to keep remembering, Harry. And you Kylie. Remember the Doctor, he won’t be long. I promise,” said Niall as he bent over to hold his head in his hands, trying to overcome his dizzy spell.

“The Doctor?” I said slowly.

“Doctor who?” said Harry.

Notes