Broken: A Time Lord's Story (Doctor Who Novel)

Chapter 28 The Vigil part 2

“Leave me alone.”

Thete groaned as he pushed hands away from his face. Blurry images refused to stay in focus. First two and then three things moved, and danced around making it difficult to know where to yell. Cold enveloped him sending painful shivers through his thin body. How could he be this cold when his insides felt as if they were on fire? He didn’t like this place. This place confused him, and made him feel bad.

The creatures insisted on sticking him with things or touching him. They tried to make him cough. Coughing made breathing hard, and it hurt -- a lot. Sooner or later, they had to go away, and when they did, he would find some way to leave this place. A fuzzy face floated back into view, kissed his forehead, and left.

The other creatures in this strange place stayed behind, breathing, clicking their fangs and making strange noises to each other that he couldn't understand.‬ Their machines beeped and blew things in his face. They shifted, ‭making their chair squeak or made something clang when they bumped his sleeping surface.‭ ‬What did you call a sleeping surface anyway? There had to be a proper word.

When he opened his eyes,‭ ‬fuzzy creatures looked back and smiled.‭ ‬He didn‭’‬t like the smiles;‭ ‬there were too many teeth.‭ ‬Grumbling,‭ ‬unable to keep his eyes open,‭ ‬Thete drifted.‭ ‬Leaving would have to wait just a little bit longer --‭ ‬until the fuzzy creatures went away.‭ ‬He could hear them‭ ‬make little noises. ‬One of them laughed,‭ ‬it was shrill and annoying.‭ ‬The noises were so loud that they seem to echo in the dark.‭ ‬Why were fuzzy creatures so noisy‭? ‬He would just take a little kip while he waited for the creatures to go way.‭ ‬Sooner or later they had to go away.‭ ‬Maybe they would go on a hunt for others and make them suffer.

Unable to focus more than a few seconds,‭ he‬ had trouble formulating a plan.‭ ‬His bones ached,‭ ‬and he hurt in‭ ‬a place a person wasn‭’‬t supposed to hurt.‭ ‬The pressure in that place made him sick to his stomach.‭ ‬There must be something in the air blowing in his face that made him feel bad.‭ ‬He reached‭ ‬to push the air away.‭ ‬A fuzzy creature patted his hand then replaced the air.‭ ‬He needed to get rid of it soon.‭ ‬ If he could just get rid of the nasty air he‭ knew he would feel better. He drifted again, vaguely remembering that he needed to do something.

Why did he need a plan?

The creature wiped his face dry, put a cold cloth on his forehead, and then stuck something in his ear.‭ ‬Thete tried to wiggle away when the creature kissed his forehead. Why did fuzzy creatures keep kissing him? Maybe they were tasting him.‭ ‬Once more, he drifted.‭ They muttered, "it’s up". What was up? Was he going up? For some strange reason things seemed to grow colder. Maybe it was winter in this place. Somebody definitely needed to fix the heat.

The creatures seemed to want to touch him a lot, constantly wiping his face. He was burning inside, therefore; they must be basting him. He didn't want to be barbecued and eaten, but when he tried to protest the idea, they didn't seem to understand. They just wiped his face again and patted him. For a while, the fuzzies went quiet, leaving him to drift on a murky cloud of nothingness. Some little noise roused him in time to watch them leave muttering ‬something about breaks as they left.‭ ‬Maybe, they were going to break someone else.‭ ‬The only light in the dark room came from the things beeping above his bed.‭ ‬He peeped from under heavy eyelids and watched the door close, ‭ ‬he realized that they were leaving silence behind.‭ ‬No one else was in the room.

He was alone, ‭ ‬perfectly and wonderfully alone. They were remarkably stupid if they thought he was asleep, but that was alright, he had a plan. What was the plan?

His escape route was only a few feet‭ ‬away.‭ ‬ ‬He didn‭’‬t like the things that the fuzzy creatures left‭ ‬stuck in ‬and on him.‭‬ They pulled and hurt when he moved.‭ ‬They must be the cause of why he felt so miserable.‭ This whole place was terrible.‭ ‬He didn‭’‬t want to be in this place.‭ ‬ Fishing seemed a much better idea.‭ ‬He didn‭’‬t remember‭ ‬exactly what fishing was, or if he‭’‬d ever actually gone fishing, ‭ ‬ but at least he‭’‬d be outside ‬ and free.‭ ‬ He‭’‬d just find K‭’‬Nar, ‭ ‬and they‭’‬d go fishing.‭ ‬ All he had to do was keep it together long enough to sneak past‭ ‬the door, ‭ ‬and get around those‭ ‬creatures.‭ ‬ The thought flitted through his mind they might be people.‭ ‬They didn‭’‬t look like people.‭ ‬They were exceptionally fuzzy to be people.