Recovery
10/Rose
Hurt/Comfort
Summary: When Rose falls ill on an alien planet it's up to the Doctor to help her recover.
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or its characters. Last night I watched David Tennant in Recovery (if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. It's on youtube. It's a great story, and DT does a fantastic job. All of them do. There is sex and language, if that offends you.) So this story shares its name with that, because I'm lousy with titles, and the idea behind it follows along those lines as well, though of course with a DW twist.
Prologue
Rose looked around. She had no idea where she was. She was in some sort of building, with long windowless corridors that opened to a large room. The walls were tall, curved, and orange. There were roundels set into the wall. And a green cylinder in the center of a large, six sided console set in the middle of the room.
Feeling panicked and unsure, Rose spun in a slow circle, trying to take in everything she saw. Doors, ramp, console, bench, rail, overcoat. Overcoat? Someone else was here?
Closing her eyes, taking a few deep breaths, and then reopening them, Rose saw the same tall orange room as she had before. Nothing had changed. She had hoped she was dreaming. Her breathing was getting faster as she felt herself succumbing to the panic just under the surface.
"Rose?"
She jumped and turned toward the voice. A tall, thin man with brown hair – great hair, Rose noticed – was walking toward her, his arms out in a non threatening way. He had on white trainers, brown trousers with blue pinstripes, and a light blue shirt with sleeves rolled to the elbows. His tie was loose and his top button was undone.
"Rose? What are you doing out here? Are you ok?"
"Where am I? What is this place?" Rose didn't ask who the man was. She didn't know, but somehow it didn't seem important. She knew that he was someone she could trust.
Her questions didn't seem to surprise the man at all. In fact, he just nodded and continued to move toward her slowly.
"This is the TARDIS, Rose. You live here, with me. Do you remember me?"
"Doctor?" The title came out of nowhere, and yet Rose knew that it was correct. "I call you 'Doctor'. Though I can't remember your name. I'm sorry, just 'Doctor'."
The man, the Doctor, gave a small grin. His eyes smiled along with his mouth. "That's because that is all you know me as, Rose. Just 'the Doctor'. It's good you remember that. What else do you remember?" All while he was speaking he was moving closer, and when he had finished he had reached Rose. His arms went to her shoulders and held her at length, just watching her. Rose found she didn't mind his touch. It felt familiar, like it should happen.
She thought back. Snatches of memory were dancing in her brain. Surely, though, some of them were dreams? They seemed too far fetched to be real.
"Rose, just anything. What do you remember, even if it seems odd or unusual. It doesn't have to be in order. Don't try to make sense of it, just tell me, please."
With that encouragement Rose started speaking. "I remember my mum, and my dad. I remember the end of the world. I remember going through a market in a city with people with green skin. You were there! You were looking for new zeus plugs. Whatever those are. I remember a red bicycle when I was twelve for Christmas. I remember looking up at a ceiling in a white room. You were in that room, too. Blimey, you get around, yeah?"
The Doctor nodded and smiled slightly. "Good, Rose. Those are all memories, and from both recent and distant times. That means that it's all there in your head somewhere. We just need to figure out ways for you to access it. I can help you, if you'll let me. I promise. I can help you set this right."
to be continued..