Before she knew it, Clara's heart rate sped up. Before she knew it, Clara could hear a yelp of surprise. Before she knew it, the log had split in half. Before she knew it, she was on the other side of the stream. Before she knew it, she could see the Doctor's head bobbing up and down as he struggled to stay afloat in the deep water of the stream, which now seemed like a river.

And before she knew it, she was in the river after him.

She could hear the dog yelping in the distance as the current swept her downstream at an alarming rate after the Doctor. Up ahead, the water got deeper, and the Doctor couldn't stay afloat any longer. Clara gasped, and instead of trying to find a foothold, she allowed herself to be swept down faster to where she had last seen the Doctor. She sucked in her breath and swam under, but the water stung her eyes. She had lasted about two seconds when she was hastily pulled to the surface and flung to the bank of the river, where she coughed up some water.

She quickly recovered and turned to the river in horror, screaming the Doctor's name. As she started to let out the first strangled cry, she saw that the dog had jumped in to the river. The fast-flowing water was up to the dog's chest, and she was barely managing to stay put as she dunked her head under to find the Doctor. Clara's heart felt like it was about to explode after three horrifingly long seconds that the dog had had her head underwater. She nearly fainted when the dog's back paw slipped and she stumbled forward. But the dog quickly regained her footing and reached down deep into the river, plucking out the Doctor and sending him crashing to the shore in one swift motion.

"Doctor!" Clara shrieked, nearly tripping over her own paws to get to him. In her haste, she forgot entirely about the dog and if she was managing to get out of the river. She stood over his limp body, fear of him being dead rising in her chest. If cats could shed tears, she would practically be standing in a puddle. She barely noticed the dog come up behind her, give her a reassuring lick over the ears as if to say, "It'll be alright."

Clara silently suggested CPR to herself, but realized it'd be quite impossible when the victim was a cat, as well as she herself being one too.

He's dead.

The thought lingered in her mind, her attempts to get rid of it being completely ignored. The man she traveled with, the one who made her laugh when she cried, and possibly even... the one she loved. And he was dead.

No, I can't think like this, she thought. The only thing stronger than fear: hope. But her hope was hanging by a thread. And that thread was about to break when suddenly, the Doctor started coughing. It was a sort of coughing that sounded like he was drowning in blood, the kind of coughing that scared her.

But it was the Doctor's cough. And that was definitely good enough for her. It didn't scare her like his near lifeless body did, and she was okay with that. Actually, she wasn't okay with that. The only way she'd be okay with it is if he stood up right then and hugged her like nothing happened, but she knew he couldn't.

She rested a paw on his flank as his coughing fit started to subside. "Doctor?" She asked, ears perked. "You okay?"

He turned his head so he could see Clara, his green eyes focusing on her like she was the path out of his darkness.

He blinked, then said, "Why... why do these things always happen to me?"

Clara laughed, sensing the humor in his voice. "Oh, Doctor. I'm so glad you're alright. No more streams, though!"

"No more streams," he repeated with a slight laugh. "Or rather, rivers. I think this is a river. I hope it is, because drowning in a stream doesn't sound like a very dignifying death to me." He shivered a little, and Clara took that as a hint. She curled up next to him, attempting to warm him up. Clara had completely forgotten about the dog as she flopped down and curled her body around theirs, the Doctor squished between them. They were all wet and miserable, but the Doctor didn't mind the dampness of the bodies pressed around him. They made him feel warmer, perhaps more mentally than physically.

He felt Clara shift and nearly flinched as something touched his fur. It was rough, but a comforting kind of rough. He looked up to see Clara grooming him, as if one stroke of her tongue could make him warm again.

And it did. Physically, no, but mentally. He started to protest, for his dignity's sake, but just as he was about to say something, his body erupted into another coughing fit. It was worse than before, and Clara immediately stopped in her grooming, looking at him worriedly. He rose, and his reflexes immediately took charge as bile rose to his throat. He hacked some of it up, leaving a rather put-off Clara behind him. But she walked up behind him, and as he turned she recoiled as if he was about to vomit all over her.

The Doctor sighed. "It's really awful that you have to see me like this," he said. "I'm sorry."

She immediately recovered and leaned forward to affectionately lick his cheek, and his eyes widened a little in surprise. "No, it's fine. Really, it's fine. It's just that I've never really seen you sick before," she assured him. "Come on, let's rest a little and get warmed up." She gently led him back to their temporary nest/bed/whatever it was that they were napping on and he curled up in between the dog and Clara. She resided to grooming him again, but this time he didn't even try to protest. Soon she was rewarded with the slow, gentle sound of his breathing as he fell asleep.

After some time, Clara began to feel sleepy as well. The "awake" part of her brain was currently losing against the "sleep" part, and she fought to stay awake, to finish her job of grooming the Doctor, but eventually she gave in and her chin fell onto the Doctor's flank.

That night she had a dream. Or rather, a nightmare. She was standing on sand, squinting into the sun, her eyes fixed on the horizon over an ocean. Wait, no... a lake. The lake. She heard a voice high above her, and turned to see a cliff. She looked up to the top. The Doctor stood alone, it seemed, at the top. His eyes were fixed on the horizon as hers had been.

She turned back to the ocean. What she saw, however, set her fur on end. She let out a gasp as a silver orb flashed through the sky, appearing to be falling from the cloudy afternoon sky above. Before it hit the water, it suddenly changed course, zooming across the surface of the water and causing it to leave a trail of bubbles behind it. Whatever it was, it was moving fast, and it was moving at her. She tried to flee, but her legs were suddenly stuck in mud and she couldn't lift a paw.

The orb stopped a paw-step in front of her, its abrupt stop causing her to recoil as the dust flew up around her. She found herself staring at it, a perfect silver orb silhouetted by the sun. She heard a groaning noise, and the orb started to take another shape. Soon she was staring at a bronze-colored machine, but before she could make out the details, everything disappeared. It was replaced by the sound of a river gurgling, and the soft breathing of the Doctor and the dog.

She sighed in relief as she realized it was just a dream. She stood and gave herself a quick shake, padding over to the river to grab a drink. Once her thirst was quenched, she took a look around. It was still day, probably a little in the afternoon as she noticed the sky had a tint of orange combined with its usual blue.

She padded back over to the Doctor and nudged him with a paw. He slowly blinked open an eye. "Clara," he murmured. "Did it... did it hurt you?" He asked slowly. Clara blinked in confusion, not knowing what he was talking about.

"Did what hurt me?" she asked, cocking her head. The Doctor's eyes opened abruptly, as if he had been daydreaming and something snapped him back awake.

He shook his head. "No, no... I don't... never mind." He sighed. "I just... I had a weird dream, that's all."

Clara thought back to her nightmarish dream. Was it possible that the Doctor in her dream was actually the real Doctor and had shared the dream with her? She quickly shook herself to get rid of the thought. It was technically impossible, right? Well, it was the Doctor...and she had no idea how far his alien powers really went.

You know, Clara," he suddenly whispered, causing Clara to snap back to reality. "The TARDIS normally only leaves when there's danger, and that danger-"

"Has to be pretty bad if the TARDIS leaves us behind," Clara finished. "But why would the TARDIS take us here and then leave? Unless..." She trailed off, thinking of her next words. The Doctor beat her to it.

"Unless she was shoved into this universe, but then was shoved out. I think someone wants us here." He paused. "I think it's a trap."

Sorry I took so long! My computer had to be "borrowed" and I couldn't work on this for a couple days. Real sorry. I'm trying not to rush because if I rush then it comes out all weird... I'll try to make some better work if this chapter's a little too weird for ya.