For domina tempore, because of her story Doctoris Lacrimae.

* italicized text from Psych Central

1. Denial and Isolation

The first reaction (…) is to deny the reality of the situation. It is a normal reaction to rationalize overwhelming emotions. It is a defense mechanism that buffers the immediate shock. We block out the words and hide from the facts.

He drops the phone back on its cradle. Maybe the noise will jolt him out of this nightmare. He hasn't been sleeping enough recently—he's overdue for a lie-in. Five hours or so, that should do the ticket. Lack of sleep can cause bad dreams, can't it? He'll ask Rory when he wakes up.

Because he will wake up, he always wakes up from bad dreams eventually. He pulls on his bow-tie, wondering why it's suddenly so tight. The patterned tweed scratches his skin like sandstone.

"Doctor, who was that on the phone?" Amy pokes her head down the staircase. "Another one of your friends? Winston Churchill and Liz Ten were nice, but do you have any nice, normal friends we could go down to pub with?"

He doesn't answer. So, Amy's in this dream too. Maybe she knows how to wake up. "How do you wake up from a bad dream?"

"Doctor?" Amy jogs down the stairs, pausing at the bottom step. "What'd you say?"

"How do you wake up from a nightmare?"

"I'm not sure…I just wait for it to end. Sometimes I scream or cry or pinch myself, but it doesn't work," she stares up at him. "Have you been having nightmares?"

"Right now." He swallows again. "The air seems very thick in here. Does it seem thick to you? And cold. Very cold. Maybe the heating's broken."

"It seems fine to me," Amy crossed her arms. "Doctor, is there something you're not telling me?"

"No, no. Nothing at all. If you'll excuse me, Pond. Things to do."