Sunday, September 22, 2024

Some Girls: The number of girls increase

 First,

'Are you okay?' says Mara to the stranger, from a couple of steps away. She turns in Mara's direction, lips pressed together, coat twirling, surprised.

'Who, me?' says the stranger, as Mara bends over, coughing. 'Uh, that sounds bad. Can I see? I'm the Doctor.'

Mara squeaks, out of breath, getting dizzy, failing to straighten up. The pale girl reaches a hand out to her and she takes it, reflexively. A breath catches in her throat and a shiver passes through her and suddenly all Mara knows is a foul taste in her mouth. Bile and chemicals and soot. She spits on the ground, gagging, once more certain she's about to vomit, and the girl steps closer, putting a white-coated arm around her shoulders, a thoughtless gesture of support.

'What the butt?' says Mara, spitting again, mouth mostly clean.

'That crap was in your lungs. Better out than in, right? Sorry, I try to warn people first but when you have trouble breathing, you know, no time. I'm the Doctor.'

'You said. What does that mean?'

'It's what they call me. Because I've got healing powers.' The girl, the Doctor?, fingers a thing on her wrist, a band of large irregular stones Mara thinks may be pearls. Her eyes are white, with a thin black ring where the iris should be. She's the whitest white person Mara has ever seen, white as snow, enough that the pale pink of the corner of her eye stands out, wearing only white, with a thick mess of black hair.

'Oh. Huh. I guess that was some really bad smog.' Mara breathes deep, touching a hand to her chest. 'Um. Do I owe you a big bag of money now or something?'

'It's no big deal. It's a bit like blinking when you've got something in your eye, actually.'

'Cool. Thanks. So, what are you doing here all alone, the Doctor?'

'I'm never alone with the voices in my head, but, just watching. The water, the city.' The Doctor faces the river again, hands in her coat pockets.

'I,' says Mara, backing away without thinking. 'I won't bother you anymore then. Thanks again. I just moved here today. Don't know the, yeah, thanks.'

'You don't have to go,' says the Doctor, with a strange, sad smile, hands dug into her pockets like she's afraid of having them leap out and strangle something.

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