"Hey, shhh, it's going to be okay," Rose murmured, stroking her hand over his hair, trying to keep the curls from sticking to his forehead.
The Doctor quieted momentarily at the sound of her voice, leaning into her touch. They were entering day two of being imprisoned on some planet that Rose couldn't remember the name of and the Doctor was incoherent with a fever.
He'd been pacing their cell, presumably contemplating the best way to escape, when he'd collapsed. When Rose had reached him, his normally cool skin felt like it was on fire and it hadn't cooled since then.
"Come on, Doctor. I need you to come back to me," she said, voice shaking. "I don't know how to make this better."
She had searched the pockets of his velvet frock coat for medicine that she recognized to no avail. He'd only had time to teach her the settings to unlock most locks, cut through ropes, and reheat tea on the sonic so that wasn't any help either.
It hadn't even worked on the cell door which is why they'd still been in the cell when the Doctor collapsed.
Rose leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. This was completely hopeless.
She didn't remember drifting off to sleep but a sharp movement from the Doctor whose head was in her lap jerked her back to consciousness in an instant.
"Rose?" The single word was weak but it was the most beautiful thing Rose had ever heard.
"I'm here, Doctor."
"Mmm, good," he mumbled, turning his head to press his cheek into her thigh.
"Hey, hey, need you to stay with me," Rose whispered urgently. "You went and got sick on me and I don't know what to do."
"Terribly impolite of me, wasn't it?"
She huffed out a watery laugh, unable to stop the tears gathering in her eyes. He had to be mostly alright if he was back to making quips. "It is and I'll take you to task when you're better but I need you to help me get you better."
He squeezed his eyes shut. "Just a native virus that I'm having an adverse reaction to."
"Kinda figured that much out on my own, strangely enough."
"Should finish running its course in a few hours, I would guess."
"Don't you dare pick now to start being wrong about things," Rose said, tangling her fingers in his hair, ready to try and soothe him back to sleep.
He opened his eyes again and craned his neck to meet her eyes. "I'm going to remember you admitting that I'm usually right," he said.
"Only saying it so you'll get better on time," Rose promised. "I'm just tired of being in this cell. You're ruining our average on how long it takes to escape."
"Rude."
"Yes, you are. Now go back to sleep."
He grumbled but quickly nodded back off, lulled by the rhythm of Rose's fingers and comforted by her nearness.
When he awoke again, he was almost back to his normal self. After a few minutes of thinking out loud as he paced the small space again, he hit upon a successful escape idea.
They made it back to the TARDIS and the Doctor sent them whirling into the Vortex before he sought out Rose, expression serious.
"Thank you for taking care of me," he said.
Rose could feel her cheeks heating, the sincerity of his words making the unresolved tension that hung between the two of them suddenly feel like a physical presence in the room. "It was nothing."
"No it wasn't," he argued. "But we'll call it even since I distinctly remember you calling me rude at least twice. Don't you know not to insult sick people, Rose?"
She just rolled her eyes and got up from where she was sprawled in one of the arm chairs. She wrapped her arms around him briefly, giving him a quick hug that he didn't have time to reciprocate. "'M just glad you're okay," she said when she pulled back.
"Me too," he said.
Rose nodded and started walking towards the door to the corridor, more than ready for a shower and a full night's sleep on a proper mattress. The Doctor clearing his throat made her turn around to see him leaning against the console with all his dangerous grace and charm on display in the deceptive tension in his affected sprawl and little smirk.
"Don't think I've forgotten about you admitting I'm right all of the time," he said, smirk growing more pronounced.
Rose rolled her eyes and turned away, pushing down the bone-deep desire to just go snog the smirk off his face and prove that he wasn't right about everything.