A/N: For those who have me on author alert, I do apologize for spamming your inboxes. This is another response to one of the prompts on the Doctor/Rose 100 challenge (link found in my profile). This is a response to prompt 85 - Sick. We all have seen those fics where The Doctor takes care of Rose when she is sick. Yes, this is another one of those, but I hope that you like my take on the idea.
Spoilers: Nothing too specific. Only that it could be set anytime during season two and beyond (for those who pretend that Doomsday never happened).
Disclaimer: I own two Doctor Who pillowcases. That's about as close as I can get to owning Doctor Who. Anything your recognize isn't mine and is property of Stephen Moffat, the Doctor Who writers and the BBC.
Rose Tyler was walking hand in hand with The Doctor across a stretch of yet another planet. They had parked a little ways from town and had spent the afternoon exploring the market place. He had been looking for a TARDIS part and gave her some money for spending as well.
Rose had enjoyed herself immensely, in spite of the fact that she had gotten very little sleep in the past week between alien invasions. She smiled slightly to herself. The Doctor was like a kid on a sugar rush most of the time and sometimes forgot that she was human and needed rest.
Her throat had been feeling scratchy all afternoon but she blamed that on the lack of sleep. Maybe once they got back to The TARDIS, she could get some rest.
The Doctor practically bounced over to the console. "So, where to next? We could go to Barcelona! We still haven't been there! Dogs with no noses! They are quite remarkable creatures you know."
Along the way, Rose had started shivering and now she leaned against the wall, supporting herself. She heard The Doctor rambling on about something as black spots began growing in her vision and with a wumph on the floor, she passed out.
Rose awoke in her bed. Her head was pounding, her nose was clogged up, her throat hurt and she felt awful. She let out a pitiful groan.
"Oh, you're awake. You really should let me know when you're felling bad. Alien viruses can be rather nasty. In fact, one time, I think it was during my fifth regeneration, I encountered a culture..."
Rose groaned again and managed to get out, "Doctor, I love your stories, but do you have any medicine for this?"
The Doctor hopped up from where he had been perched beside her bed, "Oh yes, right. I have some banana flavored medicine. It should help nicely with this. It's designed to help with the symptoms of the common cold, which is what you have. Actually, it's not the common cold as you know it. It mutated over the years. It's actually a virus from the year 15,076. It really does make you feel rotten. Only Time Lords have biology that resists getting infected with it. Here you go!"
He placed a spoon in front of her lips and she obediently swallowed it. The stuff tasted nasty. It was way too sweet and didn't taste even slightly like bananas. Of course, the Doctor loved anything that was related to bananas, so he probably loved the stuff. Oh well, as long as it worked, she wouldn't complain.
"There you are. You should be feeling better in no time. You want anything, tea, water?"
Rose felt her head pound again. "No thanks Doctor. I just think I will sleep…" Her voice trailed off as she allowed the allure of sleep to pull her under again.
The second time she awoke, her head didn't seem to be pounding nearly as badly. She opened her eyes to see The Doctor, dozing in a chair beside her bed. He looked so peaceful when he slept. It was something she rarely witnessed him do. She realized she was thirsty; however, and noticing a glass beside her bed, she carefully attempted to reach for it without waking The Doctor. As she leaned over, he jerked awake and grabbed it for her. She should have known his superior hearing would pick up her movement. She gulped down half the glass, thankful for the cool water hitting her parched mouth. She placed it back down on the nightstand.
"How are you feeling?"
"Better. Still am congested and have a slightly sore throat, but my head is feeling better."
The Doctor whipped out his Sonic Screwdriver and waved it across her.
"Fever's down a bit-almost normal now. Just a day or two more of bed rest, and you should be right as rain!"
Rose groaned. As much as the news she would be all better in two days thrilled her, she now was sick of being in bed (not that she had any energy to get out of bed at this point anyway).
"What? What's wrong Rose?" He questioned, worry in his eyes.
"Two more days in bed. I don't know whether I can survive the boredom."
The Doctor looked contemplative for a second and then his eyes lit up. "Ooh! I know!" He ran out of the room. A few minutes later, he dashed back in holding a game of Guess Who, except it wasn't any version Rose had ever seen.
The characters were all various species of aliens.
"Popular game this one! It survives throughout time. I thought I had a copy of it somewhere."
He pulled out the boards. Most of the "people" on the board were species she hadn't even heard of.
Rose felt slightly ridiculous asking questions like, "Is his skin green?" and "Does he have more than two eyes?" But, she quickly got used to the concept after awhile. Soon it was down to three cards for her and two for The Doctor. She knew she had to guess now. "Is it Hank the Hath?"
"Oi! I was so close! I demand a rematch Rose Tyler. I think you must have some mysterious telepathic skills. I know it!"
They played several rounds throughout the afternoon, leaving an end score of Rose with two games won and The Doctor with three.
Rose was tired again when they finished. The Doctor went to leave so that she could rest in peace, but Rose called him back "Doctor? Can you…" she blushed slightly, "stay with me? I don't want to be alone right now."
"Of course Rose," he responded with soft eyes.
He kicked off his trainers and removed his tie and jacket and crawled into bed with her. For a couple seconds they stayed a respectable distance away, both wondering if it would be appropriate to bridge the gap, before The Doctor finally gave in and said, "Oh, come here!"
Rose scooted towards him, so that she was spooned up against him and he wrapped his arm around her torso.
"Sleep well Rose," he murmured.
Rose drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
When she awoke again in the morning, she felt good as new. She noticed that The Doctor was still holding her against him. He hadn't left in the middle of the night. A warm feeling spread throughout her. She didn't know what she had done to deserve this wonderful alien, but she was happy he had chosen her to travel with him. She also knew that there was no other person, human or alien, in the universe who she would rather have take care of her when she was sick.
As always, please, please review! I know it is tempting to just close out of the fic as soon as you finish reading. I have done the same thing in the past (and I know how golden reviews are). However, I love to hear what you have to say, good or bad. If you point out the good, it will help me aim to do more of the same. If you point out where I can grow, I can use that to improve my writing skills. I really do appreciate every review I receive. Thanks a bunch!