A/N: This past week, a dear old lady from my church, a part of the group of women that were like extra mothers for me, passed away from cancer. So, this is dedicated to Miss Kathy, her family, and all others that have been touched by this terrible disease.
It was a quiet morning in the TARDIS. The ship had just exited its night mode, switched on for the benefit of her human passengers that needed the sleep, at this time namely Rose Tyler. She got out of bed feeling like her head was being split in two. She had never had a headache or migraine like this before, and she hoped it would go away. As the lights of the TARDIS rose on the console room, it only got worse. She got out of bed and went to find the Doctor, who was surely enjoying breakfast in the TARDIS kitchen.
"Rose! Good morning! Where should we go today, then?" He asked cheerfully, putting plate with a piece of toast and a cup of tea at Rose's place at the table. He notice her grimacing at the light, and noticed her pale appearance. "Rose, are you alright?"
"Yeah…it's just…my head…"
"Well…maybe tea will help? It always does for me." The Doctor said. Rose smiled, remembering the day after his regeneration where the thermos of tea had, quite literally, brought him back to life. She pulled the chair out from under the table, when the Doctor noticed her hands were shaking.
"Rose…are you sure you're ok?" The Doctor asked. Rose's grip loosed on the chair, and she fell to the floor. She shook wildly, her eyes open wide but vacant. The Doctor ran to his companion, cupping her head in his hands. After a few seconds, Rose was still. She came to after her seizure, the Doctor taking his glass of water from the table and offering it to Rose. Rose took a long drink, and began to sob.
"I'm sorry…I thought it was…I thought it was just a headache."
"We need to get you to a hospital."
"So, maybe New Earth then? The cat-nuns would be able to cure me in an instant, right?"
"It's touchy. Their medicines are for new diseases- diseases a person from your time could never get. That, and the human body changes so much…they may do more harm than good."
"I'm so tired…" Rose said. The Doctor helped her up and got her to the console room, where she helped her lay down on the couches that surrounded the main console. Rose's eyes closed immediately and she was asleep within what seemed like seconds. The Doctor quietly set the TARDIS into motion, the TARDIS herself helping out my making sure the flight was as smooth as possible. They arrived, and the Doctor slowly and quietly opened the door, emerging into the living room of the London flat Rose and her mother shared.
"Doctor!" Jackie Tyler exclaimed seeing him come through the door. Then, she noticed that Rose wasn't behind him, "Where's Rose?"
"I may need your help." The Doctor said, "She's inside the TARDIS."
"Oh, what did you do now? You got her into some sort of trouble, didn't you?"
"It's not me, I promise you." The Doctor said as Jackie followed the Doctor into the console room, and saw her daughter sleeping on the couch.
"Well, what happened?" Jackie asked.
"She had a seizure, Jackie. We need to get her to the hospital."
"Wait, aren't you some sort of high-tech alien? Can't you take her to some future hospital or something?" She asked.
"Their medicines might kill her. They're not for a person from her time. The body changes so much, there's no knowing what could help and what can hurt. The best thing we can do is use medicine from her own time."
"Right. Let's get her inside the flat." Jackie said. They moved the sleeping Rose and placed her on the living room couch, Jackie draping one of the throw blankets kept beside the television over her as she grabbed the phone to call the ambulance. The Doctor moved the TARDIS as not to cause a scene when the ambulance arrived. The ambulance came as fast as they could, and the paramedics woke Rose up to take her to the hospital.
"Mum, I'm sorry…" She said groggily. Her mother took her hand and squeezed it tight.
"It's alright, sweetheart. We just need to make sure you're ok." Jackie said. Rose lay down on the gurney and was taken to the ambulance, her mother and the Doctor following close by in the TARDIS. The Doctor timed the TARDIS' arrival with the ambulance, and then the waiting began. As the doctors did test after test on Rose, the Doctor was left pacing the waiting room, anxious to hear any news at all.
"Oh, sit down, Doctor, that pacing is driving me mad." Jackie said, "It won't make them be able to finish up any faster." She added. The Doctor sat and held his head in his hands.
"It's just…this takes so long. I'm not used to this, having to wait." The Doctor said. Jackie took his hand and smiled.
"She'll be alright, Doctor. No matter what, she'll be alright." She said. Just then, a man in a white coat entered the room.
"Ah, Doctor Fitzroy. Did you do all the tests on Rose?" Jackie asked.
"Yes, I did. Come with me, please." Dr. Fitzroy said. Jackie and the Doctor followed him to a room where Rose was sitting in a chair, awake but groggy. She had obviously been sleeping through most of the tests, and was now perhaps starting to get some strength back.
"Doctor!" She said. Dr. Fitzroy smiled at her, before realizing that she had meant someone else. The Doctor went to her side and gave her a hug, before Dr. Fitzroy motioned for them to sit.
"Now, Rose, we did some scans on you while you were asleep, including what's called a PET scan." He began to explain, "The purpose of this is to make sure there aren't any tumors in your brain that may be contributing to your symptoms, and unfortunately, this is what it looks like." Dr. Fitzroy said, pulling up an image on a computer. Rose could see it clear as day- the white blot in the middle of the image.
"So I have…cancer?" Rose asked breathlessly as tears began to stream down her face. The Doctor began to shed tears as well, which was extremely rare for him, and Jackie was inconsolable.
"We'll take care of you, Rose, I promise. We can start treatment right away, and we have a whole staff of experts here to help." Dr. Fitzroy said, "And it looks like you've got quite a team behind you here." He added. Rose took the hands of her family (the Doctor might as well be a Tyler, right?) and gave both of them a smile. Nothing would tear them apart. Not even cancer.
