Haana lay back on her bed and listened to the rhythmic beating of her hearts. Even after all this time it felt a little odd. She picked up an old Polaroid picture of her former lover, Claire Mason and looked at her gorgeous features. Even after all this time she had remembered Claire and honoured her memory. She wondered how different her life would have been had Claire survived the shuttle crash, would they still be together or would some other dark tragedy take Claire from her arms? Closing her eyes Haana emptied her mind of everything but her memories of Claire.


Haana stared down at Claire’s broken body. She trembled with sadness when she saw the life drain from her body. Tears streamed down her cheeks as the feelings within her body started to overwhelm her. She was about to scream when she heard Claire’s ragged breathing. “Fight it Claire.” Haana started to lift the heavier pieces of machinery off of her lover. “Doctor!” Haana shouted. “She’s alive.”
The Doctor knelt down next to Claire and did something complicated with her eyes. “Rest Claire, imagine yourself as a photograph. Don’t move, don’t breath, don’t think.” Then the Doctor quickly bandaged up the horrific injuries. “We need to get her to a hospital ASAP.” The Doctor bundled Claire inside the TARDIS and set the controls before Haana got inside.
“Wait for me.” Haana shouted as she squeezed through the closing doors.
“No time to wait for anything.” The Doctor replied. “Speed is for important. Talk to her; tell her you love her or something. Just keep talking, it’s vital.”
“Hi sexy.” Haana lay down next to Claire, supporting herself with an elbow. “You just have to get better, do you hear me?” She looked down at Claire’s face and kissed her cold lips. “You have got to get through this, do you hear me? Otherwise we can’t get married. We can both wear the sexiest dresses and the Doctor can give us away. Unless she wants to be our bridesmaid. Maybe she can do both, I don’t know. But what I do know is how much I love you. I love you so much that I think my insides are being gnawed out from within by some sort of worms.”
The TARDIS landing chime sounded. “We’re here.” The Doctor announced. She dragged two men and a trolley back inside with her and shouted at them to help Claire.
Haana watched tearfully as they lifted Claire up like a rag doll and placed her on the trolley. The Doctor escorted her to the waiting room and comforted her while she cried onto her shoulder. “I don’t know what I’d do without her.” She managed to utter between choked breaths and sobs. “She means more to me than shoes.”
“There there.” The Doctor ruffled Haana’s short dyed black hair. “I know you love each other and sometimes that’s enough to heal all wounds but right now she needs you to be strong for her. Can you do that?”
“I dunno Doctor, I may need help. I don’t think I can do this by myself.”
“I’m here to help you, if you need it.” The Doctor held Haana as she started to cry once more. “You girls mean a great deal to me. I’m not sure what I’d do with out you, probably retire and teach at the academy or something.”
A Draconian nurse walked over to the Doctor and Haana. “Your friend is out of the critical stage and she hasn’t rejected the blood transfusion and donor organs. She will however need to use a wheel chair for the rest of her life and we couldn’t save her left forearm. I’m sorry. Which one of you is Haana?”
Haana stood up. “Can I see her now?”
“Only for a few minutes and from the observation window. Are you coming Doctor?”
The nurse shook her head. “It’s immediate family only and partners I’m afraid.”
Haana stared at the reptilian nurse. “The Doctor and I are the only family she’s got in the whole Universe. She’s an orphan and her brother died last year. The Doctor is acting as loco parentis for her.”
“Oh very well, but don’t disturb her.” The nurse walked towards the intensive care area.


Haana looked at the bandaged body of Claire. “She looks so frail Doctor, like a damaged rose. Will she be ok?”
The Doctor looked at Claire’s medical notes. “She’s lost a lot of blood and she’s had four replacement organs including a new heart and liver. She’s very lucky to have survived this long.”
Haana sighed. Hold on Claire, hold on she whispered inside her head. Taking hold of the Doctor’s arm she returned to the waiting room at the Draconian nurse’s urging.


Haana smiled as Claire opened her eyes. “Doctor, she’s awake.” Haana called out before kissing Claire. “How do you feel?”
“Like I’ve been put through a mincer.” Claire replied. “I was in this strange place, a tunnel of swirling grey clouds and there was this bright white light. It was all terribly clichéd but the Chippendales were there and several Playboy centrefolds too, so I had a really nice time.”
The Doctor wandered into view. “Hello Claire.” She said. “There are a few things you should know. Your left arm was beyond repair, they had to amputate above the elbow.”
“Thank you the Mistress of tact and subtlety.” Haana snapped. “Hey it’s not that bad though, after all you’re right handed you can still write your name and do other things.”
The Doctor gazed at Haana sternly for a brief second. “Yes well, there’s a mountain of soft toys outside and several acres of flowers to brighten your room with. I’ll get a start on organising them and leave you two to have a quick chat ok?” She looked back to see Claire and Haana kissing like crazy.
“Marry me?” Haana asked Claire. “I think I’m ready to spend the rest of my life with you now.”
“I don’t have a finger to put the ring on.” Claire joked, trying to hide the tears.
“Well we can pierce something.” Haana laughed. “We can both have one done in fact. It’ll be fun.”
Claire laughed before yelping in pain. “Can’t laugh, too much pain in my stomach.”
“They had to do some surgery on you.” Haana explained. “They needed to replace a few things. Fortunately you won’t be incontinent but your kidneys are second hand.” Haana watched as Claire went to sleep again before going to give the Doctor a hand with the soft toys and flowers.


Haana wheeled Claire into the TARDIS. “Home sweet TARDIS.” She joked as they circled the mushroom shaped console before heading off to their room.
The Doctor set the controls before heading to make them all a nice, proper, cup of tea.


Haana looked down at Claire. “I do.” She said, a huge grin on her face.”
The priest finished the wedding ceremony and pronounced Haana and Claire partners for life. Haana and Claire removed each other’s veils before exchanging a lingering and passionate kiss.
The Doctor, who was the chief bridesmaid along with Rodan watched as the two newly weds, walked and rolled down the aisle together. The Brigadier had agreed to give Haana away while Andred had volunteered to give Claire away. She dabbed at her eyes with her hankie with the emotion of the occasion. Slowly she and Rodan followed the two lovers down the aisle hoping to get some confetti in her hair.
“Have you told them yet?” Rodan asked the Doctor?
“Not yet. I want it to be a surprise.” The Doctor hoped her wedding gift to the girls would be more than suitable. A custom made bungalow designed for Claire’s disabilities and needs. They needed a place of their own, after she had dropped them off on Selnax 3 for their honeymoon of course.
“It is a great gift Doctor. They will appreciate it.” Rodan smiled as the photographer took the next photograph.


“You want to get rid of us?” Haana shouted at the Doctor? “Are we in the way now?”
“No, no, no.” The Doctor replied. “I love the both of you dearly but the life I lead is too dangerous for the two of you now, besides your first priority is Claire’s well being and besides you don’t need me any longer. I’d just be in the way of your marriage. It’s better this way. Painful yes, but I’ll pop by and visit. You know I never break a promise now, cross my hearts.”
“We’ll miss you Doctor.” Claire said. “You’ve been there for me when I needed help, when we both needed help. We can’t thank you enough for being our friend.”
“Oh stop it you two, you’ll make me cry again.” The Doctor smiled. “Well I’ll be off, see you in two months. Enjoy your honeymoon, do you hear me?” The Doctor walked back into the TARDIS and it dematerialised.
“She’s gone.” Haana said. “What do you fancy first? Sunbathing, swimming or staying indoors?”
Claire grinned at Haana. “Indoors please Mrs. Mason-Sinclair.”
Haana wheeled Claire into the hotel’s lift. “Right you are Mrs. Sinclair-Mason.”


Haana stepped out of the shower and walked into the bedroom. She gently shook Claire to wake her up. “Come on Claire, naked woman in distress.” Something was wrong Haana realised. She saw that Claire’s bottle of painkillers was lying open. There didn’t seem to be any missing but she dialled for the reception and demanded medical assistance at once.
She must have gotten dressed at some point because she found herself dressed in a bathrobe when they took Claire to the hospital. She sat all alone as she waited for the news. A slightly balding male doctor finally came to see her. “What’s wrong?” She asked.
“Your partner suffered a major overdose. The pills she had taken were stronger than indicated on the label. I’m sure she didn’t suffer, she would have just gone to sleep and never woken up.”
Haana fell to the floor, tears pouring down her cheeks like two waterfalls. She held the doctor’s leg and buried her face in his shin. She felt a pain in her arm and the room went grey then black.


Haana woke up. She was back inside the TARDIS. It had all been a dream, some sort of vision. Is that really what her life would have been like if Claire had survived? Would their marriage doomed never to last? She curled up tightly into a ball and pulled the duvet up into a bundle.


The Doctor found that dusting those hard to reach areas of the console was made easier with a semi-sentient feather duster. She was finishing off when Haana walked into the console room. “Ah there you are, did you have a nice sleep?”
Haana shook her head. “Not particularly. I dreamt of Claire, but it was so vividly real in its details. I dreamt that she had survived that crash and we got married.” She explained the wrong prescription and the overdose. “It was so very intense. I can still smell her perfume.”
The Doctor tapped her fingernails on the console for a few seconds. “It sounds like you’ve been shown a view of a possible future to me. They say the White Guardian works in mysterious ways. Usually he just turns up, says his piece and goes away again. I have the definite suspicion of fate and destiny being cast aside and I don’t like it.”
“Would you like to share my dream?” Haana asked the Doctor. “Well some of it, the bits before the honeymoon probably.” Haana held her fingers to her forehead. “Contact.”


The Doctor knelt down next to Claire and did something complicated with her eyes. “Rest Claire, imagine yourself as a photograph. Don’t move, don’t breath, don’t think.” Then the Doctor quickly bandaged up the horrific injuries. “We need to get her to a hospital ASAP.” The Doctor bundled Claire inside the TARDIS and set the controls...