I do not own Doctor Who, or a few lines near the end of this story. They come from a gif I saw a while back. Unfortunately, I don't remember where I saw it or who made it. Thank you to whoever you are that inspired this!
The couple was left standing nervously as they realized their situation. The TARDIS had just left, and Rose was left wondering if she had made the right choice. Her heart couldn't believe that he truly was the same Doctor, at least not yet, but her mind was telling her that this was right. In her heart, all she had wanted to do was run off with her Doctor – the real Doctor – and never look back. But her daft mind saw the clear logic in the Time Lord's plan. She was human, and this Doctor was human (well, sort of). He needed direction that she knew she could provide. He could let himself be with her in ways that the full Time Lord never would allow. They could have a family and a domestic life, something he had always wanted to be able to give her, but never could. Her rational mind knew all this. If only it would convince her heart of the same. It just didn't feel right, standing here, with him.
The new-new-new Doctor grinned down at Rose. "Hello," he greeted, as if for the first time.
She gave a small smile in reply, his hand in hers suddenly feeling tremendously heavy. The feel of his grip was achingly identical, but his skin was so much warmer; it was odd.
There was an awkward tension between them and Jackie Tyler knew when it was her cue to leave.
"Well, that was nice, wasn't it? I'm just going over here then; don't mind me. Gonna call Pete and have him send a car."
And then she was gone, across the beach, leaving the pair to talk.
"So… Doctor…?" she cringed. The name didn't quite sound right, yet it was the only thing she could ever see him being called.
He could plainly see the trepidation in her eyes, and truly, it hurt. In his mind, he was the Doctor, just as she was Rose. He loved her with the same intensity that He ever had, if not more. He remembered clearly his precious girl, with tears streaming from her eyes, declaring that she loved him. Although he hadn't actually seen it with his own eyes, the memory was as much his own as the kiss they had just shared. And speaking of, were they going to make that a regular occurrence? Because, well... it was rather brilliant.
"You don't believe it's really me, do you?" he accused gently, sliding his hand out from hers.
"No, no, I do… in a way." He raised a questioning eyebrow. "I don't know; it's like the opposite of regeneration, yeah? You look exactly the same, but I don't know if you are the same. I suppose I just…" she sighed.
"It's still me. Really. Do you remember the first word I ever said to you? I grabbed your hand, and I said one word, I said –"
"Oh, like I haven't heard that one before." She tried to sound serious, but she couldn't help the small smile that tugged at the corner of her mouth.
He was about to make a clever retort, but Jackie called to them, telling them that Pete was on his way but they had to wait at the road. The couple complied and began to walk. The Doctor reached his hand out for Rose's, but he then remembered their dilemma and shoved them in his pockets instead. She wished he hadn't.
"Do you remember the Howtloos? Knitting their parliament building back together? That was a lot of yarn. Or when I regenerated? You were the first thing those eyes saw, and it was wonderful! First thing these eyes saw was Donna. Not that it's a bad thing, mind you, but… Donna! And the Sycorax! Remember the Sycorax? It's because of them that I'm even here. Oh, and…"
By this time, they had reached the top of a mass of rocks near the road, and Rose was thoroughly amused. He still had that gob, that's for sure.
"… but you didn't even see it! And what about Hedgewick's World of Wonders? We were zooming around on all those rides!" he said giddily, running around her in circles to imitate the action of the rollercoaster. Only the rocks weren't very steady.
It all happened in slow motion for Rose. The Doctor stepped down on a loose stone; his arms flailed in an attempt to regain his balance; he grabbed at the air in her direction as he fell backwards, and tumbled down the steep precipice, calling out to her. She stared in dreadful panic at the limp body sprawled out in the sand. She could see faint trails of blood inching their way down his face, just as the tears did on hers.
"Doctor!" she yelled, carefully running down to his side. With a shaking hand, she pulled out her phone and called 999, requesting and ambulance immediately. Her mother had now reached her and upon seeing what had happened, tried to console her daughter to no avail.
"Please, please my Doctor! You can't die! Not after I just found you again!"
She was having terrible déjà vu. Why was it that every time she was reunited with him, he went and got himself killed? No, he was not dead; he couldn't be dead.
Pete and Jackie followed behind the ambulance while Rose rode with the injured man. She wanted to hold his hand, to take away the pain, but the paramedics were crowding him. She no longer cared that he wasn't the Doctor; he was her Doctor and she was completely worried to death.
"Here miss, fill in this form please," said one of the frantically working men.
She stared down at the white sheet. His information.
Her mind started racing. She certainly couldn't fill it in with real information; what would she say? 'His name is the Doctor and he's 904 years old, only he was only born less than a day ago from a human-Time Lord metacrisis in another universe, where he then proceeded to commit the genocide of an entire species… again.'
Okay. Deep breath. Think.
Name? John Smith. Age? He looked about… 35? Yes, 35 would work nicely. Birthday? March 6th. She smiled. It was the day they met. For address and contact information she put her own. Medical conditions? 'Part alien'... She left that part blank. Allergies? She knew Time Lords couldn't withstand aspirin, but what about this Doctor? Better safe than sorry. She wrote it down.
Rose continued filling in the form the best she could and she was grateful for the distraction. Almost as soon as she had finished the last section they had arrived at the hospital and her unconscious alien was being wheeled away from her.
The Tyler family – minus Tony who was staying at a mate's house – sat in the waiting room nervously. Rose spent some time encircled in her mother's comforting embrace, but she could no longer stay still. She was pacing and fidgeting incessantly. It was driving Pete mad.
"Why don't I go get us something to eat?" he suggested, standing.
"I'll join you. I could use a walk," Jackie said, joining him. "You going to be alright sweetheart?"
Rose nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She didn't have to wait long by herself, for almost as soon as her parents left the doctor came out with news.
She rushed up to the woman and bombarded her with frenzied questions.
"How is he? Is he going to be okay? Did he d... is he gone? Oh my god he's gone isn't he? I didn't even get to tell him that I do love him. That mad alien! He can't even regenerate anymore! He promised me forever!"
The doctor chuckled to herself at the worried woman's frantic behaviour and placed a hand on Rose's arm, leading her into the room.
"Calm down miss, he'll be alright. Just a few scrapes and bruises. Had to put in four stitches on the side of his head though. He also suffered a minor concussion, but he should be completely fine in a few days. He's going to need lots of rest. Make sure he does, okay? I have a feeling this one isn't the type to cooperate," she joked.
The Doctor, now cleaned and patched up, really didn't look as bad anymore. Rose could see some scratches on his face and he was definitely in need of some new clothes, but he would survive. He was resting peacefully and looked completely innocent and helpless. She rushed to his side and lovingly took his hand.
The medical doctor looked at her strangely as something clicked in her head.
"Hold on… did you say he was an alien?" she questioned, trying again to lighten the mood.
Rose reached forward and brushed some hair from his eyes.
"Yeah… only half though."
The doctor's eyes widened at the seriousness in Rose's answer. "Is that why he didn't crack his head open then?" she semi-joked.
Rose smiled. "No, that was just his thick skull."
"You know," said a raspy voice, "just because my eyes are closed, doesn't mean I'm asleep."
Rose gasped and jumped towards him, engulfing the injured man in a tight hug. The Doctor groaned.
"I'm sorry!" she apologized, jumping back from him. "I didn't mean to hurt you!"
He smiled up at her through tired eyes and motioned her forward again. "You didn't, I just feel strange… I don't think I'm used to breathing this much; this heart is so slow."
The doctor incorrectly assumed this was a good time to butt-in. "Actually, you'll be feeling like that for a while. It's probably from… uh… I'll just come back later…" she said after receiving a glare from both parties. As soon as the door closed, the Doctor scooted over, making his intentions clear. Rose accepted his unspoken offer and climbed in next to him on the small hospital bed, curling into his side with her head tucked under his head.
"I was so scared. I thought you were going to die."
He ran his hand comfortingly across her back and she sighed, content with simply being in his arms again.
"Every morning on the TARDIS, you'd wake up and go straight to the kitchen for a cuppa, still in your adorable jammies, and complain to me about how I look good every morning and you always look like a zombie. But you're beautiful no matter what. And that time you got sick, I stayed with you and watched telly all day. And when you fell asleep, I stayed and watched you until I fell asleep too. And we never spoke about that morning, but I thought about it a lot; I wanted to wake up every morning holding you like I was. And that time we had that awful row, I was so scared. I thought you were going to leave; I thought you wanted to go home. But then we hugged and I knew everything was going to be alright because he loved you, and I loved you, and I am him, and I never want to be separated from you again."
Sometime during his declaration, they had shifted so that he could pour his eyes into her heart along with his words. Every inch of Rose's heart turned to liquid and she tried to keep her tears back. He was the Doctor. He was her Doctor. She could feel that now, clear as day.
"Oh, Doctor! I –"
She couldn't finish her sentence, for her lips were on his for the second time that day. Their kiss back on Bad Wolf Bay had been desperate and needy. This was the opposite. This kiss was full of every word left unspoken and every action never taken. This kiss was one of love; a love so strong it had survived trials and separation; a love that had defied the laws of the universe to bring them together again. Rose Tyler and the Doctor. Forever.
So what did you think? Great? Okay? Horrible?