Aftershocks
The Doctor held her wrist tightly. "No, Rose," he said, "you can't make it in time. I won't let you."
Rose shifted frantically, unwilling to let this go. Yes, the world was in danger of erupting around them, but how was she supposed to watch a child die and do nothing?
A crash behind them startled them both, and the Doctor whirled around, letting go of her in the process. Rose, seeing him distracted, made a split second decision.
"I'm sorry," she called, as she dove through the door. She had to try.
She almost made it.
The first thing Rose noticed when she woke up on a hard bed in a white, cold room was a head full of spiky hair laying near her elbow on the bed. A moment's investigation revealed it to be the Doctor, leaning over from a chair he'd pulled up beside her. He was pale and looked utterly exhausted, and even in her confused state she decided not to wake him. He looked like he could use the rest.
The second thing she noticed was pain.
Oh lord, the pain.
Up and down her left side, burning and stabbing, from her shoulder to her fingertips, tingling anew with every breath, and topped off with a crashing headache. She moaned in spite of herself, and the head next to her popped right up.
"Rose! You're awake. That's brilliant," he said, smiling, "just bloody brilliant."
Rose tried to smile back but her lips felt strange and her tongue was glued to her mouth. "Where m'I?" she finally muttered.
"Hospital. Sisters of Plenitude. Needed a little more help than usual to get you fixed up this time." He paused and peered at her more closely. "Speaking of which, how are you feeling?"
"Hurts," she muttered. "Everything hurts."
He reached over and fiddled with the settings on a tube that she had not previously noticed running into her arm, and suddenly the throbbing tuned down a notch, settling into a dull roar.
"Better?"
Rose nodded. "What happened?"
A cloud passed over the Doctor's face. "Explosion," he said tersely. "You were injured rather badly. Do you not remember anything?"
Rose wracked her brain for a moment but she couldn't really dredge up anything in response. She shook her head mutely.
He closed his eyes for a minute and took a deep breath. "We'll discuss it when you're better. For now, you need to sleep." He laid a cool hand on her forehead, brushing her hair off from her face. "I'm very glad you're back. Really, really pleased. Couldn't be happier to see you on the mend. We'll talk about it later."
There's something he doesn't want me to know, Rose thought groggily, but the thought drifted away before she could pin it down. "Wait," she said, "how long have we been here?"
"Three weeks." This was the last thing she heard before she drifted off to sleep.