She looked around the TARDIS again, slower this time, taking it all in. She shifted position so that she was sitting more balanced, her legs stretched out in front of her, leaning on one hand while the other rested on her stomach.
"Okay. Alright then. Clara, right?" Clara nodded. "Um, so ...where am I again?"
"It's called the TARDIS. It's a ... a big blue telephone box that can travel through time and space." Clara felt there was no point in trying to find an excuse to explain the whole time-machine thing, since she was already in the TARDIS.
The girl raised an eyebrow and looked up at the ceiling.
"It's pretty big for a phone-box."
Clara had to smile.
"Well, it's smaller on the outside. I say 'it', but really I should say 'she'. The TARDIS pretty much has a mind of her own. Which means she can move my bedroom around whenever she wants." Clara finished with a slight edge to her voice. That particular issue occurred far too often, in her opinion.
Clara shook her head, banishing the memories, and looked back at the girl.
"So, what's your name?"
The girl hesitated, then visibly relaxed, losing some of her tenseness, and replied "Clair. Clair Watson."
Clara grinned. "That's quite a nice name. Better than Clara Oswald."
"Thank you. And you know, I think Clara's a very pretty name," Clair replied with a slight smile. Clara laughed and Clair's smile grew wider.
Clair gasped a little and cringed suddenly, her shoulders hunching. Her hand resting on the floor beside her curled into a fist, the other pressed into her stomach slightly. Clara watched her with a mixture of concern and suspicion.
"Are you alright?"
Clair nodded, though her eyes were brightening with pain. She seemed to try and shrug it off, but as she tried to sit up straight and relax her shoulders she hissed and doubled over, folding her arms tightly over her lower stomach and squeezing her eyes shut. Clara remembered seeing her do the same thing back in the alley.
Warily Clara moved closer. Uncertainty and concern were fighting in her chest. She had no idea what was going on, and she'd been on too many adventures with the Doctor not to be wary. But concern won. This girl needed help, and Clara had always been one to help people in need, where she could. Hopefully this one isn't an alien. Well, not a harmful alien anyway.
"Clair," she asked quietly. "Tell me what's wrong."
Clair shook her head. "Nothing."
Clara cocked her head and raised her eyebrows, an expression completely lost on Clair, who had her eyes tightly closed.
"It doesn't look like nothing."
Clair didn't say anything. Clara pressed on.
"Is it something one of the men did to you? Are you hurt?"
Clair didn't answer. She just curled up tighter, drawing her knees up and resting her head on them as she breathed in strangled breaths. Clara rubbed her back gently, at a loss for what to do without knowing what was wrong. Clair flinched at her touch, but didn't recoil as she'd done before.
"Clair, please, tell me. Whatever it is, I'll do my best to help. I promise."
Clair didn't say anything for a bit. She didn't want to tell Clara, but at the same time, she needed help. She knew she did. And Clara seemed genuinely concerned. Maybe she can help, Clair thought to herself. Maybe there's something she can do.
She buried her face in her knees so that Clara wouldn't see her blushing, and said softly "I... it's... cramps. I've got really, really bad cramps."
"Oh," Clara said shortly, taken a little by surprise. She didn't know what she'd been expecting, but it wasn't that. Feeling deep empathy for the girl, Clara hugged her trembling form. "Oh, you poor thing. I'm sorry, I didn't realise. It makes sense now."
Clara pulled away from Clair slightly, keeping an arm around her shoulders and staying close beside her. Clair sniffled and Clara realised that she was crying. She bent down to try and see her face, held so close to her knees, and saw that she was blushing bright red. There were tears dripping onto her knees and sliding down her cheeks. Clair opened her eyes and caught Clara looking at her, and quickly turned her face away, trying to hide. Clara guessed she'd never felt more embarrassed.
"Clair... Clair it's okay, it's alright. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you embarrassed, I just wanted to help. I thought... Well, I was worried, that's all. But there's really nothing to be embarrassed about. I'm a girl too, y'know. I do get it."
Clair took a deep, shuddering breath and let it out slowly. Then she turned her head so that she was facing Clara. Her eyes were spilling over with tears, and her face was still bright red. She didn't lift her head from her knees as she asked "Really?" in a small, shaky voice. Something in her eyes nearly made Clara flinch - a sense of deep desperation, of loneliness, of yearning.
Pushing the thoughts away, Clara nodded, keeping her face warm and friendly.
"Really really. And I've got something that'll help." She smiled encouragingly.
"I - I can't take any kind of medication for it. It - it doesn't work. I've tried everything." Clair's voice trembled. Clara shook her head.
"Don't worry, it's a lot simpler than that. And I don't have any medicine with me anyway, because it doesn't work for me either, believe it or not." Clair looked a little surprised, but when Clara smiled at her, she smiled back. Just a little bit. Clara gave her shoulders a squeeze.
"Just hang in there for five more minutes, alright? I'll be back soon." Clara stood and headed toward a corridor in the opposite wall of the TARDIS. She reached the doorway, paused and turned back.
"Oh, and maybe don't wander anywhere. It's pretty easy to get lost in here. "
"I don't plan on it," Clair replied shakily. She very much doubted she'd be able to move at all.
Clara smiled and disappeared into the corridor. Clair put her face back onto her knees and tried to breathe properly through the pain that was racing through her abdomen.
Five minutes is going to feel like a year.
*
Clara hurried to the TARDIS' kitchen, mind buzzing with thoughts and questions. The poor girl. She filled up the kettle and set it to boil. As if a kidnapping attempt wasn't enough to deal with, she's got that on her plate as well. She went to her bedroom, checking quickly on Clair as she passed through the console room, and rooted around in the drawers until she found the hot water bottle and empty pillow-case she kept there. She returned to the kitchen with both items as the kettle reached a boil. What was that look she gave me? It was like she'd never had anyone offer her help or understanding before. Clara unscrewed the top of the hot water bottle and filled it up from the kettle. She screwed the lid back on tightly and put the hot water bottle in the pillow-case. The Doctor's voice echoed through the TARDIS.
"Clara, where are you?"
"I'm in the kitchen, heading to the console room now," she called back as she started walking back to the main room, holding the hot water bottle. "Why?"
