Title: How would you feel.
Number of parts: 2/?.
Pairings: Ninth Doctor/Rose Tyler, Tenth Doctor.
Synopsis: "The nurse walked to Rose, really angry. She was gonna give her a good walloping to make her understand that she had enough of cleaning her mess. It was time for her to learn the hard way that she couldn't do whatever she wanted there."
A/N: The characters and the universe don't belong to me. All rights goes to Russell T. Davies, Phil Collinson, Susie Liggat, Steven Moffat and to the BBC. Everything else belongs to my imagination.
A/N2: Once again, this story has been rewritten from a roleplay I'm doing with (impossible).(wolf) on Instagram. The roleplay is still on so the chapters won't be up a fast as they are for My Time Of Dying.
CHAPTER 2: TRANSFER
Rose gladly took Maxence's offer to go to her bed because she felt miserable. She was already feeling weak and sick when he had come in the room earlier, but it was worse now that she had been sick for good. She was cold and trembling and dizzy. She didn't know if she would survive another night in there. She didn't know if she would have the strength to fight one more minute. She had reached her limits. Definitely. And that man, that so gentle man, was her only chance out of that hospital. He seemed very determined to help her, and that was good to see. She really wanted to trust him, to believe that he could help her get better and get out of there, but she was afraid. Afraid of trusting someone else who could crush her hopes. She was clinging to that last chance though, clinging to the fact he hadn't run away, that he had stayed with her, that he hadn't thought she was crazy. He was even touching her. None of the therapists she had seen before had been that close to her.
Rose smiled slightly. Once again, the smile was nearly impossible to see, but it was there. She slowly walked back to her bed when Maxence gently pushed her. He almost smiled when she accepted to go to her bed, but the nurse coming in ruined all his efforts. Rose looked at the door to see who was there. Her eyes grew big when she saw the nurse and immediately went to the nearest wall that wasn't too dirty. She sat down and brought her knees tightly to her chest. She wouldn't go back to bed now. She wanted as much distance as she could get between what was coming for her and herself. She bit her lip and looked at Maxence. She didn't feel any better, and the nurse was making it all worse.
"The hour is up, doctor Spitz."
Maxence glanced at his watch. He had indeed been here for a whole hour. He hadn't seen the time passing by. Rose frowned a little at the statement. She didn't want Maxence to go. She enjoyed his company. It was the first time she ever felt calm with someone from the medical staff on that hospital, the first time someone ever cared for her in there. She didn't want to lose that. Not yet. She wasn't ready to let him go so easily.
The nurse looked around the room. She really was surprised that Maxence hadn't run away from the room as soon as she opened it, but she didn't say anything about it. She noticed the puddle of vomit in the corner and the strong smell of it bothered her. Anger sparked in her eyes.
"Damn it! She's been sick again!"
The nurse walked to Rose, really angry. She was gonna give her a good walloping to make her understand that she had enough of cleaning her mess. It was time for her to learn the hard way that she couldn't do whatever she wanted there. However, Maxence wasn't seeing things her way. Soon as he saw the anger on her face, he stood in front of Rose in a protective move and prevented the woman from reaching her.
"You think it's funny? You think I like cleaning your mess, you stupid mad bitch?" yelled the nurse at Rose.
She was angrier now because Maxence was preventing her from disciplining that damn patient causing them troubles all of the time, but she still tried to hit Rose though he was blocking her way. Maxence caught her arm before she could reach Rose though.
Rose swallowed at the nurse's anger. She was used to it. They were 'disciplining' her all the time in that hospital. Everything she was doing was wrong, even when she was doing whatever they were forcing her to do. That was why she was so scared of them all. With the power of the Wolf, she could erase them from time and space but she had promised herself a lot time ago not to use that power, not to let herself being corrupt by that power. Nevertheless, Rose knew that if Maxence hadn't been here, she would have been slapped around – and maybe more – by that nurse, and she knew that he wasn't a man who would allow someone to touch her, to punish her for something she had no control on.
"I want her to be transferred into another room. She can't stay here anymore."
The nurse was surprised by his sudden words. She looked up at him to see if he was serious or he was joking. He couldn't be serious. They had all run away from that room after the first hour. But not him. It was the first time someone made a stand for Rose Tyler, and the nurse didn't like that. She didn't like the fact someone was protecting her scapegoat.
"She's responsible for all that mess, doctor."
"No. She isn't. How can she get better if you lock her in such a room where she has to live in her own excretions, in the cold with no access to a bathroom or to good food? This is not how we treat a human being, miss."
"She deserves it, doctor. She isn't good to anyone."
"She has been good to me."
The nurse looked at him as if he was lying to her. He was a newbie. He could have been fooled. All the other therapists had given up on her after the first hour. She had made them run away in just an hour. She was always provoking them and fighting them. She was dangerous. Or was it just a strategy? She knew Maxence Spitz was a newbie, the last therapist who could help her. Maybe she had decided to show her good side to him so he would let her out. It seemed to work so far.
Rose flinched and scrambled as far away from the nurse as she could get without leaving the room. She sniffled quietly and bit down on her trembling lip. She couldn't help that she didn't feel good at all. She wasn't responsible for that mess. She had needs too. She was trembling more now but was trying to hide it.
Rose wasn't all bad. She was a good person. She just had something in her head that caused her not to have full control over her emotions. She wasn't mean to everyone. She couldn't really control the anger anyway. She blinked back a few tears and watched Maxence and the nurse closely, listening to them. She hated the names that they called her and how they treated her. How they would throw her around sometimes like she was nothing. She didn't know if she would ever be the same girl she once had been because of these evil people.
"I wanna go home," she mumbled under her breath with the voice of a child, her words lightly audible by accident. But they didn't seem to hear it.
"Or you're finding her a better room with a full access to a bathroom and good food, or I'm calling the inspection to report you."
Maxence stood firm on his demands. He wouldn't leave until he had what he had asked for. The nurse was observing him and trying to know if he was joking or anything, but he wasn't. He was really serious, but he was a newbie. He wouldn't dare. It would ruin his career from the start if he did anything against them.
Rose could tell Maxence wouldn't leave until he got what he wanted. She would be forever grateful if he was getting her out of here by force, but he had just gotten his job and she didn't want him losing that. She knew that the people here didn't want a call to have the place inspected so he was playing the right card there. It was to hope that he wasn't gonna lose his job for using that card. It was to hope that it would work.
"I don't care about my career, miss. If I let you treat miss Tyler the way you're treating her, I don't deserve my certificates and job." And he would rather quit and get Rose Tyler out of here by force. "Now, you better do what I am asking for."
"I'll see if a room is free to transfer her."
The nurse got free from Maxence's hold and left the room without a second glance. She locked the door and left him with Rose Tyler once again.
Rose let out a little sigh as the nurse left the room. She killed a spider with her bare foot and wiped the guts off her foot lightly. She sniffled quietly and buried her face into her knees, not caring about her dirty outfit at the moment. She just wanted to go home. She wanted to be clean. She didn't wanna feel miserable everyday anymore. Was that too much to ask for?
After the nurse left, Maxence gathered his things together. He put his bag on his shoulder and grabbed the shoes. He observed Rose silently and put the shoes down next to her. He didn't need them. He would get his own shoes back when he would get out of here so he wouldn't need those ones anymore. Rose could use it. Maybe she would get a little bit warmer. Or at least, it would protect her feet. He sat down on the bed, still avoiding the chair in the corner.
Rose's eyes were the only thing that moved as she watched him gather his things together. She then buried her face back into her knees carefully. Rose doubted that they would let her have those shoes so she would probably not take them, for she didn't want to be accused of stealing them. She wanted to be as warm as she could be. Or at least be able to protect her feet as well as keep them warm. But she couldn't take any risk. She didn't want to be punished anymore. Maxence had shown her she could be treated as a human, and she wanted them all to finally see her as a human instead of a beast.
Maxence rubbed his arm with the word 'RUN' carved in thoughtfully. The word hadn't hurt in a long time and suddenly it was getting itchy. Probably just because he had woken up the memory of it when he answered Rose's question about it. Rose was still observing him. She chewed her lip, something she did when she was nervous.
Maxence looked at her. That poor girl curled up in the corner of the room. Dirty. Miserable. And he hope he could change that. No. He was gonna change that. That was his thought when the door was unlocked again and three nurses came in.
"Did you find a better room? Or did you bring more people to throw me outside?" he asked, still looking at Rose.
"We have a room. We're transferring her. Just like you asked."
Two nurses came into the room and immediately walked to Rose. One of them was holding a straitjacket and the other had a syringe full of some drugs that would keep her quiet for the transfer. They all feared her in that hospital but they had the means to overpower her.
Rose's gaze averted to the door quickly when she heard it open and she observed the three nurses. She saw the syringe and the straightjacket and immediately hid under the bed, ignoring the pain it caused her to cram herself into the tiny space. Some drugs were still in her system from the dose she had had earlier and she didn't have the urge or want for any more drugs at the moment. She swallowed hard and wiped off whatever bugs were on her. She stayed as quiet as she could. She hated bugs and spiders, but it was better than what the nurses had in mind for her. She wasn't trembling as bad as earlier, but she was still trembling and the anxiety didn't help in any way. She sneezed quietly and wiped her nose with her sleeve. She curled up the best she could under the bed to protect herself. Anything to put as much distance between her and that straightjacket and drugs as possible. She let out a small whimper.
Maxence was seriously pissed off with that hospital now. His heart hurt when he saw Rose crawling to hide herself under the bed so they wouldn't use any of their restraints on her. She didn't blame him for being pissed off with the hospital. She was really angry at it too and wanted out of there as soon as she could be. She had been there for too long already. She curled up tighter in the corner at the anger she could sense in the room.
"Wait." Maxence got up and once again stood between the hidden Rose and the nurses. "What do you think you're doing with that?"
"I don't know what she told you, doctor," the nurse sighed. But we had her under our watch for a year. We know how she is. We have to keep her calm while we're transferring her."
"With a straitjacket and drugs? Not gonna happen."
"Doctor…"
"Give her a chance," he cut her off. "If you don't give her a chance to anything, how can she be fine?"
The nurses looked confused but they didn't seem like they wanted to listen to him or to obey his orders. They wanted to do it their way and nothing would stop them. The two nurses with the restraints were still trying to reach Rose but Maxence stayed in their way. He looked at them all, a bright spark of anger burning in his eyes.
"Out."
"What?"
"The three of you. Out. Now."
"What does that mean?"
"That means she is terrified of you, of what you're gonna do to her. Now, wait outside. We won't need any of this."
The three nurses looked at each other, surprised and still confused. Maxence Spitz was the first one to make a stand for Rose Tyler, to ask for her to be free from her movements. She obviously hadn't showed him how dangerous she truly was. The nurses came out as he asked though and closed the door behind them. They didn't lock it and waited outside while Maxence lay down on the dirty ground to look at Rose.
No one had ever stood up for her all the time she had been here. Maxence was the first, and that was surprising to her. More than it was for the nurses. They weren't used to have someone go against them that way. They hated it but they had to play his game for now. They would find a way to hold their own against him, and to act like they always did with Rose.
Rose looked at Maxence as he lay down on the dirty ground with her. She chewed on her quivering lip, blinking away the tears as she tried calming down the looming panic. She closed her eyes for a moment to calm down Bad Wolf before it could cause any trouble. She was trembling and painfully curled up. She was just scared, miserable and sick. She was still even scared of Maxence, but he was proving himself to be trustworthy so the scared feeling was lessening slowly.
"Hey, this is okay. I won't let them touch you. Can you come out of here for me? As much as they probably like our company, I'm not a fan of bugs and spiders." Plus, it wasn't very good for their health to be laying in the middle of those bugs and dirt. They were all carrying some diseases. "I will protect you. They will have to go through me before they can touch you."
"I'm not a fan of bugs and spiders either. I hate them," Rose replied honestly.
"Yeah, that's an opinion I can understand."
"Yeah. They're terrible to say the least. I've slept with them for longer than I'd like to admit. But you get used to being around them."
She knew it wasn't good for their health to lay here so she very slowly came out from under the bed. She stood up and stretched a little. She wiped off some stuff on her already dirty clothes. She believed Maxence. He had proven that he was trustworthy, but she wasn't gonna open up so easily. It would take some time. He was being protective of her though and that was nice to see. But that was also something she had to get used to since he planned on staying.
Maxence hated bugs and spiders too. He was a bit afraid of them but wouldn't admit it. He observed Rose as she was trying to calm herself down. She was doing good. It was probably a habit to do it by herself since no one seemed to have done anything to help her around there. He waited until she was out of her hiding place and got up. He wiped away the dust and other things he would rather not know what it was. He would probably burn his shirt when he would be back home. He picked up the shoes and held them out to Rose.
"Put them on. I've got my socks on so I don't feel the cold. You'll feel better with them on."
Rose ran a hand through her hair lightly as she finally calmed herself down and sighed deeply. It was a habit to do it by herself. She had no one to help her calm down so she had to do it herself all the time. She had to do everything by herself. No one had ever helped her in there. She looked at the shoes Maxence held out to her and took them slowly.
"Thank you."
Rose slowly put the shoes on. The feeling of wearing shoes again was very weird to her. It was a new feeling. She hadn't worn shoes in such a long time, but she would get used to it. Slowly. She was thankful for Maxence's help and she gave him a tiny smile, glancing at the door briefly to make sure the nurses weren't watching them or trying to get in. She kept her hands at her sides and played with the hem of her dirty shirt.
Rose didn't have to admit it to him. He had guessed it by now. She had been in isolation for months according to her records. It could have been years that she wouldn't have noticed it since the isolation made the patient slowly drift into a condition he couldn't be reached anymore. That room was the perfect example of a room you sent the patients in when you thought there was nothing left to do, but not everyone was a lost cause. They had just thrown her in there some time ago and forgotten about her. She didn't know exactly how long she had been in that cell. She just knew it had been a while.
Rose was nearly in the condition where she couldn't be reached anymore, because everyone thought she was a lost cause. She felt like it. She felt like she was a lost cause because of how she had been treated. Hopefully, Maxence would prove her wrong. He was observing her silently. The shoes he had given her were a bit too big for her, but, at least, her feet wouldn't be as cold as they used to be. They had missed the comfort of something beneath them to make them not hurt so much. Maxence explained her slowly how things were gonna happen now.
"We're gonna get out of here, okay? The nurse is waiting for us outside. She will lead us to your new room. You'll be able to take a shower, change clothes and have a real lunch. But first, you will have to stay close to me. They won't dare doing any harm to you if I'm here. Are you ready?"
"Yeah. I'm ready," she replied.
Rose hesitantly walked close to him and stood as close of him as she could without feeling uncomfortable or having the fear that someone would hurt her. That was why she was keeping some distance between them. She hoped the nurses wouldn't just keep her in the clean room while Maxence was here and throw her back in there while he was gone. She didn't wanna be in that room anymore. She wanted to feel like a human and be treated like one.
Maxence opened the door. Two nurses were still waiting for him. The third one was gone with the drugs and the straightjacket. He almost sighed in relief that they actually listened to him, but he knew the second nurse was only here to 'control' Rose if she did anything wrong. She would have to get through him to do anything though.
Rose swallowed at the sight of the women and let her gaze drop to the ground. She never liked giving the nurses eye contact because then, they thought she was defying them and they took it as an offer to always be mean to her. She sighed under her breath in relief as she noticed the third nurse was gone, along with the drugs and straight jacket.
"Are you really sure about that, doctor Spitz?"
"I am. And you're both walking in from of me. I hate being followed."
The nurses looked at each other but didn't say a thing. They would discuss about his methods later, when he would be gone and unable to hear them anymore. They already had been bets and rumours about him before he came in, and there would be more now that they had met him, now that he had shown them who he was and what he was capable of. They were distrustful about Maxence's methods, but Rose wasn't gonna do anything wrong. Bad Wolf was calm at the moment. She hated being followed too. So, she was glad that they would be in the back.
"What have you done of your shoes?"
Maxence looked down and wriggled his toes playfully. Rose pointed to her feet as they asked where his shoes were. She picked at her fingers as she waited for her transfer to start. She didn't have any belongings there so it would be quick. If the nurses stopped trying to keep her down in that cell.
"You don't like my socks?" he asked, shrugging a bit. "I prefer my boots. You're gonna give them back to me so I gave the shoes without shoelaces to miss Tyler. They're a bit big. I hope you're gonna give her shoes that fit her feet."
"I doubt they're gonna give me anything for my feet. They'll probably make me give these back to them," Rose mumbled to him.
The nurses ignored the both of them. They didn't add anything and just walked away. Maxence followed them, making sure Rose was walking close to him. She walked close to him in silence as they were heading to her new room. She kept some space between herself and Maxence but stayed close to him. Just in case. They were brought to the upper floor, and to a room much more spacious and brighter and cleaner and warmer than the one they had just left. The sheets were clean and there was a clean outfit on the bed.
"I'm gonna help miss Tyler to settle down in her new room and supervise the shower. You can come around later."
Once again, the nurses didn't discuss and just obeyed. They left the room without a word and locked the door behind them while Rose stood there. She squinted her eyes a little at the new, cleaner and brighter room. She sighed at the warmth and rubbed her arms a bit. Her lips twitched at the sight of the clean bed and outfit. She swallowed as at the idea of Maxence supervising the shower though. Last time a man had supervised her shower it hadn't ended well and she didn't want that situation to happen again. She ran a hand through her hair and wiped her bloody fingers on her dirty outfit. She looked around the room quietly.
Maxence looked around after the nurses were gone. He checked everything, making sure it was all in the norm and perfect to welcome a human being. The bedroom was perfect. He walked to the small bathroom and checked everything. They had taken away everything that could be used as a weapon, only leaving a razor. The shower was always a supervised activity. No patient could take it alone because of the risks of suicide. He checked the small cupboard and found a few clean outfits, towels, hairbrush, soap feminine products like tampons and sanitary pads.
Rose was also taking a look around her to get used to her new surroundings. She played with her hands and grabbed the clean outfit off the bed, waiting for Maxence to check and make sure everything was perfect for a human. She assumed they only left a razor for her to shave with. She knew how to break it and get the razor out though, but she didn't mention that. She knew the shower was always a supervised activity and she hated it. They were always watching her like some science experiment or something. It made her feel uncomfortable.
"Everything looks good to me."
"Okay. Good to know."
Maxence grabbed the razor and came back into the room. He faced Rose who was still standing in the middle of the room. She looked pretty amazed by that new room and he couldn't blame her. After months in the isolation cell, that room must look like some kind of paradise to her.
"I won't come with you in the bathroom. This would be disrespectful of me. Just let the door open enough for me to hear but not see. I trust you with this." He gave her the razor. "I'll get it back when you'll be done. The bathroom is all yours."
"Thank you. I would like a little privacy at least. And I'll keep that door open enough for hearing only. Is there a time limit?"
Rose walked to the bathroom doorway and looked at him. She leaned against the doorway lightly, waiting for his answer. She took the razor slowly and bit her lip lightly. She hadn't touched a razor in a while and though she was promising herself not to do anything with it, it was really tempting to end the hell quicker.
"I'm giving you that privacy," promised Maxence, looking at her straight in the eyes. "You have my trust about the razor. Don't ruin it. The chance is not gonna happen twice."
"I know. I'm not gonna do anything bad with it. I promise. I know this chance won't happen again."
He was serious. It was very dangerous and unprofessional of him to let her alone in the bathroom with a razor. She could use it to hurt herself badly or to kill herself and then, she would lose her only chance to get out of here because he would lose his job for professional misconduct and recklessness.
Rose knew he was serious and knew he could lose his job if she did something bad. She could lose his trust too. She wouldn't hurt herself badly. She had stopped cutting when she was locked in this place. Since she didn't have anything to cut with. She would also lose her only chance out of there if he lost his job because she would have fooled around with dangerous object. She nodded. He shook his head lightly.
"No time limit. Just make sure I can always know what you're doing. I don't want to be forced to come in to check on you. Like I said, you have my trust. I think you're a smart girl. You know the risks there is when you play with the fire." He sat down on the ground, close to the bathroom, and pulled out a notepad and a pen. He was gonna take some notes while she was showering. "Don't get burned," he added, looking up at her.
"Alright. Just wanted to make sure. I always have a time limit with the other nurses. Didn't know if you were any different. I am a smart girl and I know the risks that there are when you play with fire."
Rose walked into the bathroom and left the door a bit cracked. She set the outfit on the counter before she undressed and put her dirty outfit outside the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror briefly. Terrified by the way she looked – all skin and bones and dirt – she quickly looked away and started the water.
Maxence let her get into the bathroom and checked that the door was a bit open for him to hear what was happening in the room without the obligation of being in there with Rose. He heard her when she started undressing herself and forced himself not to think about how thin she must be under that dirty outfit of hers. He had studied her face a lot. Her brownish hair-because she was so dirty and from the small amount of hair dye remaining-, her brown eyes, her plump lips. No doubt that the girl was beautiful, and it would be even more noticeable after the shower.
For a moment, he thought that she would look even better with blonde hair. He didn't know why. He just had that certitude. He pushed the thought away quickly. It was inappropriate and very unprofessional of him. Rose Tyler was his patient and the only thing he would do with her would be talk so she could get out of there and have a better life. Plus, he had a girlfriend. He couldn't allow himself to think about other girls. Especially when that other girl was his patient.
Maxence started writing down notes on his notepad. He was focused on both his work and the bathroom. He would hear it if anything was wrong, or if she was fooling him around. He hoped she wouldn't. He really wanted to help her but wouldn't be able to if she made him lose his job or kill herself because he had been reckless. But that wouldn't have been respectful of him to be in that bathroom with her. As a human being, she needed her privacy. So, he just wrote down everything about their meeting while she was showering. He shouldn't have stayed that long with her but he needed to be sure the change of room would be done before he could leave the hospital.
Rose got under the water when it was warm enough and sighed. She carefully got her fragile body wet and looked at herself while she could. She was pretty thin. Disgustingly thin actually. She had lost a lot of weight over the time that she had been here. It was caused by all the bad treatments and undernutrition. If her mother saw her like that, she would have a heart attack for sure. She used to be so healthy, with curves. That was before she was locked down in there.
Rose had been a beautiful girl before. She used to have blonde hair because she was dying then, but she couldn't do it anymore so they had gone back to their natural colour: brown. She didn't like it at all to be honest. She wanted her hair blonde again and that would be something she would be one of the first things she would get done when she would get out of here. She missed her blonde hair a lot. She had gotten her brown eyes from her father but she had no idea where she had gotten the plump lips or from though. Her mother had nothing remarkable on the physical plan and she was a blondie. The mysteries of the genetics.
For some reason, Rose was thinking about Maxence, about what he looked like under his clothes. She had seen what was under the clothes of the Doctor, of her Doctor, once or twice – he wasn't the type of man who liked showing his body around. He had been so insecure about the way he looked, but he was a handsome man, and always would be in her eyes. Since Maxence looked exactly the same, in the facial area at least, she assumed that maybe he was the same. But she shook the thought away. Anyway, no one would ever want to be with someone like her. Someone who was dangerous and disgusting like herself.
Rose just missed her Doctor a lot. She remembered their first time together. She had lost her virginity with him. She remembered how gentle he had been with her. What would he think of her if he saw her now? Would he still want her? The question was stupid, really. He wouldn't have let anyone throw her in that hell in the first place. He would have fought everyone to keep her safe. He would just have stood up for her and taken her as far as he could.
That was what she liked to think though. Nothing had ever happened between her and the Doctor. She had fallen in love with him, that was true, and she was almost sure that he was in love with her. Well, the Doctor she had first met was in love with her. The new Doctor hated her. She had just imagined that lie one day to hide the real truth behind her first time. Something she never liked to think or talk about. Something no one but her mother and best friend knew about.
Rose pushed the thought aside and washed her hair. She scrubbed well at her scalp and made sure she didn't miss an inch of hair. She wouldn't fool around or cause trouble. She wanted to be able to have a long and comfortable shower and Maxence was giving her the chance to. She couldn't ruin that chance by doing anything wrong. She rinsed her hair when she was done washing it and shaved her armpits and legs slowly. She was quite hairy and it was quite gross. She was glad Maxence was staying to make sure everything went well. Nothing would have gone well if he hadn't stayed. He was a good guy and she wanted to know more about him. She bit her lip lightly.
"Are you an only child? Or do you have other siblings?" she asked him, breaking the silence.
Maxence stopped writing when he heard her question. He hadn't expected her to talk to him at all while she was taking her shower. He raised his head lightly and looked at the door. He was supposed to be the one asking questions, not the one answering them. But there wouldn't be any harm done if he answered that one. Plus, answering her questions would help her trust him more. Therapy could work better if it worked on the two ways.
"I am an only child, technically speaking. But I do have a brother. My mom adopted him when I was five."
That didn't make any difference to him that his brother had been an adopted child. He loved him just as much as if they were blood-related. They had a strong bound and neither of them could really live without the other. Of course, his brother wasn't living with him and his girlfriend but they saw each other as often as they could.
"Before him, it was just me and my mom. We are a happy family. That's all that matters to me."
Rose finished shaving as he gave her an answer to her question. She hadn't exactly been expecting an answer since he was supposed to be the one asking the questions, but he did it anyway. She liked it. She liked the fact that he wasn't refusing. She liked the fact that he was talking to her like a normal being. After being considered as a beast for so long, it felt good to finally have someone to talk to, to have someone treating her the right way. Though it was tempting sometimes to act like a beast like everyone called her out to be.
Rose started washing her body as carefully as she could. She was taking her time to wash herself very well and get rid of any marks of dirt, of anything that could remind her of that awful cell. She didn't want to keep anything that would remind her of the cell. They could even burn the outfit. She would never wear it ever again. Unfortunately, she couldn't get rid of the memories as easily as she could with the dirt and clothes. She smiled small at Maxence's answer.
"I'm glad you're a happy family. It's just my mum and I. No one else. That's how it has always been. But I guess that it's just my mum now."
Rose hoped that her best friend, Clara, was checking on her mum regularly though. It had been hard on Jackie to send her only daughter in a place like that, to be alone again and not being able to see her little girl. Or maybe not. After all, she had never come there. Maybe it had just been a way to get rid of the woman she had become. A stranger to her own mother. It hurt to think like that.
Rose hoped Maxence didn't mind her asking whatever personal questions she did have. He wasn't forced to answer them of course. He wasn't even forced to give her personal information about him, but he was doing it anyway. She decided keeping her own questions at a minimum though.
"I actually wouldn't be surprised if she had come to see you but couldn't get in because they would have told her you were 'bad'."
Maxence drew inverted comas in the air though Rose couldn't see it. It still was unbelievable for him to treat a human being the way they had treated Rose and he wouldn't have been surprised if that hospital had prevented her mother from seeing Rose at all. He was gonna promise her to bring her back to her mother, but bit his tongue instead. He couldn't promise it. Not to the first appointment.
"I wouldn't be surprised either. I haven't seen anyone from the outside since I've been here. Only the therapists. And the same nurses every day since the first day."
Rose sighed softly. She too had found it hard to believe that they could treat a human so badly. Until she was sent there. She wouldn't be surprised either if they had prevented her mother from seeing her. She missed her, but Maxence shouldn't be saying so many promises to her unless he could keep them. So, she was glad he hadn't made that one.
Rose swallowed quietly and glanced at the razor again. She was having a strong want to break it and cut herself. She got out of the shower briefly and tossed it outside of the bathroom, making sure she didn't throw it on Maxence. She didn't want to do anything bad with the razor, and since she had felt the urge to do something bad with it, she had tossed it out before doing anything. She stepped back in the shower and sighed at the warmth.
"If you don't mind answering this question: you got a special someone in your life? You seem like a family man."
Maxence got surprised at the razor suddenly landing next to him. He picked it up and made it disappear into his bag. He was still writing while listening to her speaking to him and making sure the shower was going well. He was glad – and relieved – that she had given him the razor back once she was done with it. He felt sad that she hadn't been able to see anyone from the outside, that the heartless therapists she had seen never tried to help her. The visit of family and/or friends was a good way to help the patients feel better while they were here. It was a good way to keep the contact and support the patient through his therapy.
Rose's next question surprised him even more than the return of the razor. That was quite inappropriate, but, once again, he had no reason not to answer it. He had nothing to hide to anyone. He scratched the back of his head.
"Well, I'm not really into domestics actually. I used to live alone and I travelled a lot before I chose to settle down. I don't have kids though. I don't know if I want any yet. We didn't talk about it with Donna, my girlfriend."
Rose felt sad too. She hadn't seen any of her few friends or her mother since she had been thrown in there. The only people she had seen were the heartless nurses and the therapists who never helped her. She didn't feel better while being here. She felt worse and she felt scared and alone.
Rose knew it was a quite inappropriate question but she couldn't help but ask it. She was curious about the man who looked so much like her Doctor. She was curious to see if there was anything in him that would remind her of the Doctor, except for his face. She almost smiled at the domestics. So much like the Doctor. But he had a girlfriend. Stupid her. How could she have hoped that he would be single? How could she have hoped that he would find any interest in her?
"That's nice. I'm sorry I asked though. I realized that's quite inappropriate for me to ask you that. You're the one supposed to be asking questions."
Rose only wanted to know more about him. She didn't want to be telling her whole life to a total stranger. She wanted to learn a bit more about him. So, yeah, her questions were a bit specific. Which was kind of odd she assumed. Maybe she had a growing crush on him because of his uncanny resemblance with the Doctor she loved? It would never work though. He was already in love. Already taken.
Rose finished up in the shower. She shut the water and got out. She dried herself off and got dressed in her clean hospital outfit. She glanced in the mirror and a small smile crossed her lips. Her blonde hair was back. But how? Had the dye finally come out? Thank god! She bit her lip and stayed quiet about it as she towel-dried her hair. How would she explain that? Would they punish her for that? It wasn't her fault. It just happened, and she liked it a lot.
"You seem to be really curious about my life." Maxence chuckled lightly. "It's boring really. Yours look much more interesting."
Maxence wasn't saying so because he had to make her talk to him – and, at least, there was some trust between them, even if it was just a little – but because he meant it. He wanted it to know more about that Doctor and about the Bad Wolf. He was curious of how all those things had led her into that psychiatric unit. He really wanted to help her. Not like all those therapists before him.
Rose finished drying her hair and brushed it out. She sighed quietly. She hadn't taken care of herself that way in a very long time and she was enjoying it. It felt really good. She looked more human again. She felt better in her skin now that she was clean. Her mind was still a mess, and she didn't look well, but she felt better now that she had had a real shower, a bit of privacy and someone talking to her like she was a normal person.
"Well, yeah. You're the first one whose stayed with me for longer than ten minutes. My life isn't interesting at all anymore. It used to be. But not now."
"You didn't give me any reason to run away either. It's easier to impress me than to impress all the therapists you've seen before. They were much more experienced than I am." He was easily impressionable, but he was also very curious about that girl. "What you lived is interesting enough to be told to someone, you know."
"No. I didn't. That's only because Bad Wolf feels calm around you. Which is weird. I haven't felt like this in a while to say the least. It's nice. The other therapists might be more experienced, but they never did anything for me. You are the only who's tried to change the awful situation I was in." She assumed Maxence was pretty curious about her. Since she had an interesting record and all. "But no one believes me. So, it must not be interesting enough. Everyone thinks I'm more insane than what they label me."
That was something he didn't understand. There probably was a reason why the Bad Wolf was so calm with him when it had lashed out on the other therapists. Maybe it was sensitive. Maybe it could feel the things, feel the people and their intentions. Maybe it had felt that Maxence just wanted to help Rose, that he wasn't the bad guy of the story. That was a point he had to clear. But not today. He had to take things slow even if he really wanted to know, to understand the mystery.
Rose didn't understand it either. She didn't understand how or why Bad Wolf was calm with him but not with the other therapists. Maybe Bad Wolf was sensitive. It definitely could sense people's intentions and emotions. Maybe it was calm because Maxence looked so much like the Doctor. Rose didn't know, but she could see that he did want to help. However, she was reluctant to give him her trust. She wanted to take things slow. She would tell him what he wanted to know. She was sure that he was curious, but he would have to wait some time before she really open up to him.
"I do. I believe you."
Rose ran a hand through her hair, loving how clean it felt. At least, there was a little trust between her and Maxence. He had earned a little bit of it thanks to his actions, to the way he was. She wouldn't have given him a bit of trust just because he was a Doctor lookalike. She had given it to him because she was thinking that he was worth it. Not like everyone she had seen so far. She knew she would have to tell him more about the Doctor and the Bad Wolf as time went on, but for now, she didn't feel ready, and he wasn't asking her questions or forcing her to talk about it. He was taking his time, giving her the time she needed.
Rose came out of the bathroom when she was done. She put the towel she had used with the dirty outfit. The nurses would have to take it later in the day to bring it to the launderette. If they felt like it. Maybe they would just leave it there for the room to become as unhealthy as the cell had been. Or Maxence would force them to do it, like he had done for everything until now. She looked down at him.
"I'm done," she said softly.
Maxence looked up at her when she came out of the bathroom and raised a surprised eyebrow at her hair. A sudden image of a blonde Rose, smiling with her tongue poking out of her mouth came to him. Where had it come from? He didn't know Rose Tyler. It was the first time they ever met so why was he thinking about it? Why was he imagining her with such a beautiful smile? Plus, he had a girlfriend already. He couldn't think about another girl, certainly not when that girl was his patient. But she seemed to wake something up in him and he didn't know what. Her questions were strange and specific. What did it possibly mean?
"That's a nice change," he finally said, once he was in control of himself again.
His mind was troubled with all that image of a smiling Rose, of a healthy Rose, and he had absolutely no idea from where that thought could have come. Maybe he had seen a picture of her on the newspaper or in the streets. He couldn't imagine something that seemed so real about someone he didn't know before he came there. He felt incredibly stupid right now, looking at her with big eyes, and the mouth half open. He had to pull himself back together before she started asking more questions, before she noticed the strange effect she had on him…
