Simple Sneeze
By Sonic Jules
A/N: I really don't own Doctor Who and therefore it should be said that I intend no infringement on the people who do. The only thing I can give them is my envy and jealousy of their ownership while I try not to drool.
All the thanks in this world to Catharticone - a wonder with words and support, as always.
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It was just a little noise, sounding somewhat like a cat spitting at a dog, pretending (or not) to have no fear of the beast bearing down upon it. She was behind him when he heard it, and the Doctor turned his head from the TARDIS console to look at Rose, wondering what precisely the noise had been.
Rose glanced up from the book she was reading, sensing his sudden attention on her.
"What?" she asked, unconsciously wiping her nose with her shirt sleeve.
"What was that noise?" the Doctor asked in return, still holding a tool in each hand as he turned himself completely around to face her.
"Huh?"
"Didn't you hear it? It sounded like it came from you - surely you must've of ..."
"Oh! Sorry. I sneezed. It was nothin'."
"You sneezed?" he asked with an alarmed tone. She graced him with an incredulous look, wondering if he'd zapped himself with one of those wires he'd been working on.
"Yeah, why? It's no big deal."
The Doctor set his tools carefully on the console then walked over to Rose, giving her a critical eye as he looked her over from head to toe then back up again. Sitting down beside her on the bench, he placed a hand on her forehead. "Are you feeling ill?"
"What? No. 'Course not. It was just a sneeze. Nothin' to get your knickers in a bunch over," she said rather rudely, snatching the wrist he'd grabbed away from his fingers as he tried to take her pulse.
"Rose, you very well could've picked up some sort of virus from somewhere. Sometimes a sneeze is one of the first symptoms of many, many ills. Although it's good that we're catching it now - who knows what disease could be lurking behind that simple involuntary nasal response."
"Don't be ridiculous," she began, scoffing at him. "It's nothin'. Probably from that dusty old book I picked up in the library."
He took her hand back, this time holding it in his. "You traipse though time and space on a daily basis. You've visited people and planets that no twenty-first-century human's even dreamed of before. Please believe me when I tell you that this is something you shouldn't put off or dismiss as 'nothing'."
"I'd know if I were sick, Doctor," Rose began, standing up as their hands disengaged. Picking up her book, she grinned at the eyes that were staring worriedly at her. "I'll be fine," She patted his shoulder with the hand that wasn't holding the book and turned, intent on walking away and ending this conversation. But as soon as she reached the corridor ...
"Achoo!"
"That's it!" the Doctor shot up and began walking towards her.
"What?" she looked at him as he approached her rapidly. Then she giggled. Dropping the book, she began backing down the corridor. "It's just a sneeze!" she told him, watching as he came after her.
"If it's just simply a sneeze, then why are you running away from me?" the Doctor asked, picking up his pace.
"Oh, I'm not runnin' - yet," and with that said, she took off, laughing as she ran.
The Doctor stood stock still for a moment, hands on his hips. "Rose!" It was then that he took off running after her, grinning at her playfulness and gaining on her with every step. "When I catch you, we're running some tests!"
"Yeah, yeah - you gotta catch me first though!" she hollered over her shoulder.
It didn't take long. The Doctor was a fast sprinter and Rose wasn't running for her life, so in a matter of a few minutes he'd caught up to her, grabbing her around the waist from behind until both of them ended up on the floor in a mess of tangled limbs and giggles.
"I think you owe me a few tests, Rose Tyler," the Doctor said slyly as he lay beside her on the floor.
"Oh, if I must, Doctor," she replied with an all-too dramatic sigh.
They both smiled at one another and then the Doctor stood up quickly, offering her his hand to help her stand. She took it and was soon pulled up beside him.
"Let's get this over with quick, yeah? I'm starvin'," Rose exclaimed as they walked hand in hand towards the infirmary.
"Oh, if I must," he answered using her same dramatic sigh, smiling at the grin she gave his mockery.
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Rose looked at her left arm and then at the Doctor, granting him a glare as she pulled her sleeve back down to her wrist.
"What's with all the needle pricks? Isn't there some much more high-tech and quicker way of checkin' things without stickin' me to death?" she asked, scowling at his chipper face.
"Well yes, there are other ways to get some of these results, I suppose," he began, taking off his glasses and sitting beside her on the gurney. "But I prefer this method. Gives you instant results and this way I was able to test you for allergens and virus-related bacteria based on the places we've been to in the past two weeks. If there were anything that you could've picked up, it would have shown on your arm at the testing areas. Luckily, nothing produced a positive result."
"So you've been playin' the mad scientist and havin' your wicked way with me all for naught, yeah?" Rose asked, grinning slightly as she rubbed her arm subconsciously.
The Doctor's eyebrows lifted slightly at her comment, then he winked at her as he jumped off the gurney, slipping his glasses in his pocket as he turned to face her. "Better for me to make sure you're all right than to worry and hover around you waiting to see if you succumb to some deadly alien virus that makes you sprout whiskers or grow additional limbs, don't you think?"
"I reckon so," she grinned, sliding off the gurney to stand beside him. "We're all done here then, right?"
"Not just yet." The Doctor grabbed a tube of ointment from a tray beside the bed. Opening it, he then lifted her left arm then gently pushed up her sleeve. He applied the cool, soothing gel and soon Rose no longer felt the stinging sensations from the needle pricks. When he was finished he looked at her and smiled. "Better?"
"Yeah. Thanks."
"Are you still hungry?"
"Nope - it's worse than that. Much more than hungry. Whatcha got in mind?"
"Dangerous territory, Rose Tyler. Dangerous," he warned with a twinkle in his eyes. "Fancy a mess of scrambled eggs and toast?" he changed his tone quickly.
"Sounds good!" she began as they walked out of the infirmary. "I'm going to go get my book and meet you in the kitchen. I think after some food I'll be ready to lie down for the night - 'specially on a full belly," she replied with a smile as she walked towards the corridor.
"Don't take too long," he hollered after her, watching her leave. He closed his eyes for a moment, grateful for the knowledge that she really was all right.
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The Doctor sat across the table from Rose, seeing in her eyes the reflection of her sleepy contentment. They'd eaten their meals and had since been sitting across from each other in companionable silence.
Suddenly Rose stood, yawning and stretching. "Thanks for the supper - it was very good," she told him, patting her full stomach.
"Oh, you're quite welcome, but just remember, tomorrow it's your turn to cook."
"No problem - after that meal it's more than worth it. I think I'm gonna head off to bed now though, okay?"
"You do that," the Doctor grinned at her. "Rose? I thought you were going to take that book with you - didn't you go get it earlier?"
"Sure I did - just dropped it off in my room on the way back here's all," she answered, rubbing her eyes.
"By the way, what was that book you were reading?"
"Oh, just some book on the flowers that grow on the planet Somersault - or somethin' like that," she told him, fighting not to yawn while she talked.
"You mean Soumaltath?"
"Yeah, sounds right."
"Oh," he said too quietly.
"What's that mean - 'oh'? Huh?"
"Well, that's a very special book." The tone the Doctor used was a bit suspicious in her opinion.
"How so?"
Suddenly Rose wasn't looking so tired.
"Well, you see, not only does it show you all their flora - with very pretty 3-D textured pictures, by the way, but it also has the pollen that comes from each flower within each picture - the 3-D effect is what holds it in place. So if you had any allergies to their planet's flowers, which have about three times the pollen that those on Earth have ..." He let his words drift off, waiting for her to puzzle it together. Not one to disappoint, she figured it out very quickly.
"You mean the bloody book made me sneeze?"
Oh yes; Rose was wide awake now.
"Looks that way," he answered lowly.
"An' I've been goin' through all this, this - stuff, and you've been thinkin' I'm going to die or at the very least my sinuses were gonna blow up inside my skull - all because of some stupid book?" Her arms suddenly folded across her chest and the Doctor just knew what was coming.
"Um, yes, but -"
"You know," she interrupted, "there should be some sort of warning label on books like that. Geez! What other things are goin' on in the books in there? Got any books on fire that'll singe your eyebrows off?"
"Now Rose ..."
"Oh! How about books on poisonous snakes? How many bites per chapter, eh Doctor?"
"Of course not," he tried to defend himself but she was on a rant, and as with all the Tyler women he knew, it wasn't over yet.
"You've just been havin' a go at pokin' and proddin' me and, hell, I bet we could've just gone to the bleedin' library and found a book to do that for ya too - could've saved you so much time in the long run, yeah?"
"Rose!" The Doctor used his best 'I'm-so-over-this' tone and she quieted, if only for a moment.
"Yes?" she responded, hands now on her hips and eyebrows raised, silently telling him to say whatever he needed to interrupt her for.
"I was only worried about you, you know," he said quietly.
"Maybe so," she began with a slight smirk, her defenses softening. "But I'm beginnin' to think you like playin' Doctor a lot more than you admit to."
He looked at her then, and a sly grin began spreading across his face as one eyebrow rose at her comment.
"You know what I mean," she said, but her words weren't as stern as she'd hoped they'd be.
"I didn't pick the book for you, and had I known ..."
"I know," she told him, her body deflating from its angry stance. "It's okay. I'll know better next time. Sorry I went off like that - I know you're jus' lookin' out for me," she said, a yawn beginning at the end of her sentence.
"Come on, I'll walk you to you room, and take that book out of there before you start sneezing all night."
Rose took the hand he offered and they walked leisurely down the corridor until they'd reached her room. Once there, the Doctor followed Rose in and grabbed the book from her nightstand.
"Sweet dreams, Rose," the Doctor said, smiling at her when he reached the doorway, ready to close the door behind him.
"Yeah, you too, Doctor," she smiled back at him as she brushed her hair.
The door was almost closed before the Doctor opened it up just enough to poke his head through. "By the way, did you enjoy the book?" he asked, an amused grin spreading across his face.
Rose stared at him for a moment before throwing her brush at him, hitting the door instead as his swift reflexes put him out of harm's way.
She smiled as she heard his laughter echoing down the hallway.
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The End.
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