Hey all! GOOD NEWS - I have internet in Scotland! Which means? I CAN PUBLISH MORE STUFF! Watch out for the next chapters for Love Handles and Silence of Rydonia VERY SOON.
So this is that little 'one shot' idea that I came up with. Major Doc!Whump coming up, so prepare yourselves.
Please read, review, but most of all, enjoy it!
-x-
He had pushed her out of the way.
At the very last second.
He had saved her.
Rose could feel herself sluggishly drifting back into conciseness. She gave her toes a wiggle and counted to ten in her head to check for any damage, but apart from a few cuts and bruises that she could feel, there was no major damage.
Steadily she opened her eyes, her vision faintly blurred. There were clouds of dust everywhere. She could barely see the tunnel walls that surrounded her because of the very thickness of the dust.
That's when she remembered.
She and the Doctor had landed on the planet with the intention of a simple walk, and within thirty minutes, The Doctor had managed to upset the alien culture in front of the president of the planet, and they had ended up running through the alien landscape away from some extremely angry guards.
Hurry up and catch them, they're getting away!
They thought they had been lucky to find a tunnel that led underground so they could hide. The aliens, being nine feet tall, were unable to follow them. However, that was when the guards had fired their laser guns on the tunnel. And the rocky walls had instantly begun to collapse from the constant impact.
Rose, look out!
The last thing Rose remembered was the Doctor shoving her out of the way, as a mass of rocks and boulders landed right where he was still standing.
Doctor!
Forgetting about her aching head, Rose was rapidly on her feet with her intentions only focused on finding the Doctor. She brushed the dust off her jeans and top. The dust had cleared slightly, but it was still rather difficult to see. Looking around, there was no sign of the Time Lord anywhere.
"Doctor!?" Rose howled with distress plain in her tone. A stray rock suddenly fell to the side where Rose was standing, and she realised that the tunnels were bound to still be very fragile and dangerous. One wrong move and more of it could collapse.
Seeing a glimmer of light behind her, Rose turned to see the entrance to the tunnel hadn't been blocked much and there was a gap leading to the outside. At least when she found the Doctor, they hopefully had a way out. But the question still stood, where was the Doctor? At this point, Rose dreaded the worst.
Tentatively stepping over stray rocks and piles of rubble, Rose frantically hunted for the Doctor. The tunnel became more claustrophobic as she continued searching. In such a small space to search with nothing found, she began to feel hopeless.
Suddenly, as Rose turned to look round a pile of sandy rubble, she spotted something poking out from behind a vast boulder that made her heart flutter with relief.
The Doctor's hand.
That relief turned to dread when she remembered just what kind of situation they were in and wasting no time, she began to clamber towards him.
As she rounded the huge boulder, she found the rest of him.
The Doctor was lying face down on the ground, a huge pile of rubble lying on top of him. Only half of him was visible, the pile of rubble starting from his middle, covering his lower back and legs. He was bleeding from gashes on his face and hands and his suit was battered and torn.
"Oh god…no, Doctor!" Rose cried, rushing as quickly as she could towards him. When she got to him, she was immediately crouched at the side of him, placing her hands on his face and attempting to wake him up.
"Doctor?! Doctor, come on, wake up…wake up, please!" Rose pleaded with tears welling in her eyes. When she got no response, she decided to check for a pulse. Fearing the worst, she placed two fingers to the Doctor's thin neck, imitating what she had learnt in First Aid classes at school. To her absolute relief, there was a faint double pulse.
"Oh thank God..." Rose panted, but the tears still fell from her cheeks. She then gathered that the best thing she could do for him was begin to free him from the pile of rubble.
Sprouting to her feet, Rose began to remove the larger rocks from the pile first. They were rather heavy and as she moved the first one, the biggest one, she had a flash of guilt begin to overcome her. The Doctor had saved her life again for the hundredth time this week. This time, it had nearly killed him. She felt terrible knowing that if she hadn't of been dawdling in the spot she had been stood in, none of this would probably have happened.
Once she had placed the biggest rock to one side, she was able to start moving the smaller ones.
"R-Rose..."
When Rose heard the small wince coming from the Doctor, she dropped the rock she had in her hands and threw herself onto the floor next to him.
"Doctor, oh my God…Doctor I'm so sorry about this, it's all my fault." Rose whimpered, grabbing his hand and holding it gently in hers as she stroked his dusty brown hair. His irritated bloodshot eyes looked dazed and tired as he looked up at her.
"No it's…not," The Doctor croaked. "I j-just wasn't quick enough." His eyes suddenly screwed shut and he groaned in pain.
Rose shushed him quietly. "You just try and stay still, I'm getting you out now."
There was no reply. He had gone silent again and his hand had gone limp. Rose new she had to work quickly. She got herself standing again and got to work again.
After a good few minutes, she had managed to get most of the rocks away. Now, it was the considerate amount of dust and stones that lay on top of the trapped Time Lord that needed to be shifted.
Without thinking, Rose carefully began to dig the rest of the rubble away. It hurt the tips of her fingers with every scrape, but she didn't care. If it was going to free the Doctor, then there was nothing she wouldn't try and do for him.
Eventually, she saw the rest of his pinstriped suit beginning to appear and she worked frantically to remove the final layer. She noticed a gash below his shoulder that was bleeding badly as she continued to work. His legs slowly appeared and finally, he was completely free. The Doctor stirred again and coughed slightly as Rose was brushing the last of the dust away from his converse. He attempted to push himself up from the ground, but fell to the floor weakly as soon as he was an inch from the ground. Rose rushed over and knelt beside him.
"T-thank you, Rose." The Doctor winced, his teeth gritted. Rose knew they needed to get to the TARDIS fast.
"Okay Doctor, we need to get out of here, yeah?" She told him, stroking his cheek gently whilst wiping some blood that was straying close to his right eye. She looked over his thin body, checking for any obvious broken bones. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any that she could see. But that didn't mean there wasn't some. As far as Rose was concerned, there was probably internal bleeding.
The Doctor took a sudden intake of breath through his teeth and clawed at Rose's leg. Rose didn't ignore the Time Lord's pleads and promptly set about on helping him up. She wrapped her arms underneath his and she began to lift him up. He was trying to lift himself from the ground, and with every move, his teeth were gritted and he would let out a painful moan. Rose turned to look at his legs. His left ankle didn't seem to be co-operating properly and she guessed that it had been badly crushed in the rubble.
"Come on Doctor, you're doing fine." Rose attempted to reassure him. He seemed to muster what looked like a small smile as they finally managed to get him standing. Rose was taking most of his weight as his ankle didn't want to. Blood was seeping from the gash below the Doctor's shoulder and Rose could feel the warm red liquid drip onto her arm as she clutched the Doctor tightly.
Slowly but surely, they began to inch forward. The Doctor's dark brown bloodshot eyes were watering from the pain and excursion from his ankle. So far, he didn't seem to be showing any sign of internal bleeding or injuries. He had been one lucky Time Lord.
After a good few minutes, Rose and the Doctor had made it to the tunnel opening. Rose knew this was going to be the worst bit for the injured alien as it was a good meter from the ground, but it had to be done.
"I'll go first Doctor, and then I'll help pull you up, okay?" Rose told the Doctor, who gave a sluggish nod in response, his eyes drooping. Rose let go of his arm that was round his neck and cupped his cheek in her hand. "Come on, we're nearly there, it's only a small trek to the TARDIS from here I think."
Leading him over to the gap, Rose slowly slipped away from his arms and let him gently fall against the tunnel wall so he could support himself. He gritted his teeth and winced, but seemed as if he could manage. With that in mind, Rose made her way over to the gap and pulled herself up and over the top. Grass met her hands on the other side as she drew herself over the top. The fresh air was a blessing to her lungs. She turned to peer down the gap and held out her arms.
"It's not that high Doctor." She told him, trying to sound reassuring. The Doctor looked up to the gap and limped his way to stand in front of the opening. He reached up, biting his lip to stop him from crying out in discomfort, and grabbed onto Rose's arms. When Rose felt his hands, she wrapped her hands around his arms.
"I've got you," Rose stated taking a deep breath in at the same time. "Right, three…two…one, go!"
She began to pull with every ounce of strength she had in her body. The Doctor, ignoring the searing pain from his injured ankle, used his other leg to push himself up with. It scraped weakly across the tunnel walls, but it helped. Rose puffed out a breath but didn't stop. She had to admit, for such a thin man, he was actually rather heavy and her arms strained with his weight. But to her relief, the Doctor began to appear through the gap.
"Nearly there!" Rose gasped, moving backwards to give his long frame room to squeeze out. Eventually, he was up and out of the gap, and he let go of Rose's arm and collapsed on the soft grass below, panting heavily. Rose sighed with relief as she sat in front of him.
The Doctor slowly moved his hand towards hers and placed it gently onto her dusty knee, his fingers spread out. She instantly took his hand and they sat there for a minute while they both got their breath back.
"You are brilliant, Rose Tyler." The Doctor panted, stroking her hand with his bruised thumb. Rose could hardly smile as she could feel a lump forming in her throat.
"Never mind me; I'm not the one who survived a whole tunnel collapsing on top of me." She specified to which the Doctor let out a weak chuckle in response. Rose decided it would best if they got moving again. She was scared in case the guards came back, or the Doctor's condition worsened.
"Okay, I think we'd best be off, we need to get you sorted out." Rose said, helping the Time Lord to his feet again slowly. Rose held onto him tightly, as she began to lead the limping Time Lord in the direction she hoped was the way that led back to the TARDIS.
-x-
Would you like to see some more? I have written another chapter, but I want to see what you guys think! Let me know in a review!
