Only A Sprain
By Sonic Jules
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Disclaimer: Doctor Who and the characters of said show do not belong to me, no matter how hard I've wished for it. No infringement meant on the owners and associates, nor BBC.
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A/N:A special thanks to Catharticone for her prompt which began this little tale and her suggestions to make it hopefully worthy enough to post.
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Only A Sprain
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The Doctor watched as Rose fell, his hand extended even though there was no way to catch her. She practically rolled down the steps, too fast to catch yet her fall was slow motion in his mind's eye. Her skirts fluttered around her head at one point, and during another, he swore she looked like something out of one of those Earth cartoons: A ball of dust and colorful cloth, with perhaps a flash of lace, all rolling down with an occasional limb poking out from within it.
He was beside her almost instantly when she stopped her downward tumble, lying on her side with her skirts wrapped around her arms, exposing her blue knickers and scraped legs. At first she didn't move, scaring the Doctor with the simple knowledge that a human body could not plummet down forty cement stairs without significant injury.
So it was with quite some surprise that by the time he'd begun to kneel by her side, she had stood up and quickly pushed down her skirt, looking at him as her face flushed with embarrassment.
"Some fall, yeah?" she asked nervously, shaking her right hand as if she were trying to remove some imaginary dirt lodged between her fingers.
"Yes," the Doctor began, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Perhaps you should sit back down."
"I'm all right," she replied immediately, her left hand brushing errant strands of hair from her eyes before straightening her pretty lavender blouse. "Think I lost a heel though."
He followed her eyes as they looked down and watched her left leg appear from beneath the many layers of skirts. The heel was indeed missing from her deep violet pump. Pulling out the sonic screwdriver, the Time Lord scanned first her head, then her torso. Surprising him further, he discovered no concussion nor broken bones. He was just about to run the tool over her extremities when she moved away from him.
"Rose -"
"I said I'm all right." She cut off his next words briskly as she looked around at the many people surrounding them. She backed further away, stepping out of both her shoes then picking them up to carry. Raising her head high, she began walking toward the TARDIS, whipping her hair back as she stepped forward.
Whispers and concerned looks followed them as they walked through the crowd, the townsfolk as sure as the Doctor that she had to have injuries, hidden no doubt by the clothing she wore. But she kept on walking, and he continued to follow.
By the time Rose stepped inside the ship, her face bore both her determination to get there and the strain of someone in obvious distress. He'd seen it as soon as he closed the doors, when she'd turned to him and said she was going to her room to clean up and change clothes.
"Rose."
She froze, her back still facing him. Quickly he walked up the ramp until he was standing in front of her. "Please tell me what hurts?"
He could see her lower lip quivering and knew she was trying rather desperately not to cry. Still, her eyes were growing brighter, and her cheeks were rapidly developing an even deeper flush. It was abundantly clear that she was in considerable discomfort. So he tried once again.
"Where does it hurt?"
"It's just my wrist," she replied, looking away from him. "That's all. No need makin' a fuss about it, I can tell it's only a sprain."
"You can't be sure -" he began, only to be interrupted.
"But I can. I've had it before, back when I as in school, doin' gymnastics. Actually it happened three times, so you might say I'm an expert on the subject." She looked away from him then, her eyes looking down the corridor. "Felt just like it does now."
The Doctor reached his hand toward the limb she protectively held to her middle, but she stepped back from him, just out of his reach.
"Come on, Rose. It won't be that bad. Just let me -"
She pulled back a little more. "No!"
Her reply was abrupt and emotional, undoubtedly fueled by her pain. Even so, it reminded him how terribly human she was. And, fond as he was of her species, they could be rather tedious and extremely unreasonable at times. He attempted to keep his voice calm as he tried once again.
"Rose, please. I just need to--"
She shook her head adamantly and crossed her arms firmly over her chest, careful of her injury. The Doctor's patience was wearing thin. He hated seeing her like this, particularly when relief was only minutes away. If only she'd let him -
He didn't really intend to blurt it out, but there it was, the one thing he hadn't meant to say:
"Rose Marion Tyler. You're acting like a child!"
She glared at him as hot tears spilled down her cheeks. "Yeah? Well you...you," she stammered, "you're actin' like a doctor!"
He couldn't help the amused grin that adorned his face. "Well, that's what I am, you know," his tone softened and was less defensive. "Among many other things. Now let me help, won't you?"
Instead of smiling at the silliness of it all and returning his irresistible smirk as he knew she would, her frown deepened.
"Oh, an' now you're just laughin' at me, just like those people did when I fell! I'm goin' to my room." Her tone left no room for discussion. She turned on her naked heels and stomped away from the Time Lord, leaving him watching in shock, his mouth agape.
A few seconds later he recovered. "Rose!"
The Doctor marched down the corridor after her, only slowing when he heard the slamming of her door.
He stopped in front of it, ready to berate Rose for hurting the TARDIS like that, when he heard her whimper in pain. All thoughts of chastising her left him. Tapping lightly on her door twice with his knuckle, he opened the barrier and peered around it.
"Rose?"
She plopped herself down to sit on the bed, cradling her injured wrist in her lap. "S'pose I shouldn't use the hand that hurts to slam a door shut, yeah?" She looked up at him, and upon seeing only his concern, burst into tears.
The Time Lord sat beside her instantly, his worry obvious. "Rose, what else hurts?"
She looked up at him then, her expression stricken.
"I'm sorry," she stuttered between hiccups, then leaned into Doctor.
He instantly wrapped his arms around her. "Don't be," he whispered into her hair. "Now tell me."
It took a few moments for her to calm before speaking. "I was embarrassed," she sniffled.
He leaned back from her, taking a gentle hand to her chin so she'd look up at him. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Whatever's wrong I can help. I dare say I know more about the human anatomy than most of you humans, and nothing will embarrass me, I can assure you, because I have seen some -" His words drifted off as her words finally sank in. "Oh. Not something embarrassingly wrong, you mean you were simply embarrassed."
"Yeah," she nodded. "That and my wrist hurt."
"But it was an accident." The Doctor felt suddenly defensive of Rose from herself.
"Didn't make it an less humiliatin'," she replied.
"Everyone was merely worried for you, Rose. No one was laughing."
"All those people, they were all lookin' at me. Maybe they had the good graces to wait until I stood, until they knew I wasn't dead or somethin', but when I got up, some of 'em were snickerin'. And my skirtin' was pushed up to my face when I stopped rollin', so I know I was showin' some bits." Rose took a deep breath, then looked the Doctor in the eyes. "But it wasn't just them I was embarrassed about, it was about you, too. It's bad enough I'm only human in your eyes, and I know sometimes it seems I'm a trouble magnet, but when I fell -" She turned away from him again as tears welled within her eyes.
The Doctor grabbed her shoulders and turned her gently to face him. "Number one - you are not 'only human', you are a fantastic human. Number two - you're not a trouble magnet so much as I seem to lead us into to trouble, so, not your fault there." He placed his index finger on her lips just as she was ready to protest his words. "And number three - you didn't fall because you were clumsy and you tripped, you fell because the shoe you wore was faulty and the heel came off. No other reason. And Rose? Let me just say this: Nothing you can do will be embarrassing in my eyes, because everything you do is simply spectacular."
They hugged one another, then Rose spoke up. "So, my fall today? Spectacular, yeah?"
"On a scale of one to ten? Definitely a ten." He smiled as Rose giggled. "So, can I have a look at that wrist now?"
"Okay." She held out her right arm and the Doctor took the limb gently, mindful not to touch the swollen joint or the skin near it. He used his other hand to pull out his glasses and skillfully placed them on his face, finally tilting his head to the right, then the left. Pulling the sonic screwdriver out next, he turned it on one-handedly, scanning the injury before reading the results. He met Rose's eyes with his own, placing her hand down gently across his knee.
"Nothing I can't sort. It's only a sprain," he grinned, replacing the sonic in his jacket pocket.
"Told ya," she laughed.
The End.