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Despite Rose's protests, the Doctor got up. He spent the whole day just being useful with his sonic screwdriver, fixing things for Jackie. Rose could tell he was in pain but he kept on doing the stuff anyway, unable to face boredom and the thoughts that came with it. Rose sat next to him on their sofa, watching TV, a warm mug of hot chocolate in her hands. his arm was around her shoulder as she lay snuggled up against him. Soon night would fall and, with it, another transformation would arise.
This time, Rose stood with the Doctor as he transformed, crying out with pain. He managed to keep control, only just, laying on the floor calmly, and rolling onto his back so as not to get blood on the carpet. The wound was large and painful, and Rose could hardly stand to see him like this, wolf or not.
Morning came slowly, and when it did, Rose passed the exhausted Doctor- despite the fact he had not done much except lay there- a bundle of clothing and covered her eyes respectively while he put on the trousers, pants and socks. She tried hard not to peek.
"I'm done" his tired voice reached her ears and she uncovered her eyes, looking at him. The wound was slightly healed, but not much, and she suspected there may have been some interference. But what could it have been? Nothing had gotten the Doctor before OR after the stumble that almost sliced him in half.
The next day passed practically the same, but at the end, he gave her a wan smile. "Nothing more to worry about. No more transformations for a month. We'll just have to wait." There was a knock on the door, and rose sat watching the Doctor unconcerned as Jackie went to answer it. Then, Jackie screamed.
A group of men burst into the room, holding unmistakably tranquilizer guns. A voice spoke, and Rose recognised it. JAKE!
"You're the doctor?" he asked, and the confused Doctor nodded. Jake indicated to the others who grabbed the Doctor, who fought angrily to be free, but an injection was thrust into his arm. As he went limp, Jake looked at her, and Rose realised. This jake was totally different to the other world jake she knew. She almost sighed. "you can come with us, girl"
He said, indicating with the tranquilizer gun. Rose meekly walked, saying goodbye to her mother and promised she would be back. AND the Doctor.
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A little silver creature perched atop a white van screeching around the streets, head down against the wind, eyes watering. But it wouldn't relent this prey.
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When The Doctor stirred, he was laying on a hard bed, a rolled up blanket serving as a pillow. his stomach felt unbelievably hard and tight, but when he opened his eyes, blinking in the bright light, he saw that it was bound expertly in bandages. He was lying on a metal table, equipment strapped to him, the reassuring double blip of his two hearts audible. Rose looked at him, the nhugged him tightly. "You're okay" she whispered to him. "you're safe with these people, they aren't after you. But they just take lycanthropes apparently, and help them. Dunno why, they wont tell, but apparently a lot are being poisoned recently and they want to stop it" she informed him. He nodded.
A nurse walked in, the Doctor swallowing bile in his throat. He felt ill, overheated and feverish, but icy cold. Yet he dismissed it, as the feeling was faint. "Well, we have the result of the test" she informed them. "he has the poison in his system, and it's been there for three days" Rose's eyes widened. "This poison strikes slowly, but as with the other lycanthropes, his transformations have speeded the flow of it through his blood. The affects are sudden, he could be struck at any time-" almost cheesily on cue, the Doctor gasped in pain, clutching his chest, eyes shutting tight.
The machine beside him began to bleep very fast as his hearts went into overdrive, then slowed slightly as one of them cut out. He struggled to stay conscious, Rose clutching his wrist tightly, able to feel his racing pulse. his breathing was fast and feverish, he felt like fire was scorching through his veins, every nerve was burning. "Doctor, why aren't you regenerating?" Rose's voice was faint.
He turned his face to look at her as a load of Doctor's rushed in, trying desperately to get the antidote ready in time. But then Rose watched in fear and alarm as the Doctor's beautiful, deep brown eyes glazed over, all emotion fading from them. Rose felt the pulse fade from his wrist but she was shoved aside brutally as they injected the antidote into his dead arm. The word dead scorched in her mind, making bile rise into the back of her throat as they prepared the electric shock things, she couldn't seem to remember their names.
The charge shot through the Doctor, making him arch for a second, but the machine didn't start bleeping again. Rose watched, terrified, from behind. "charging to 120" one informed the others. "clear!" the Doctor's body arked again. But no, it didn't work. "160!" "clear!" the third and final time. No reaction. They sighed. "Time of death, 4:60 AM." Just as he was turning to switch off the heart monitor, the Doctor gasped, eyes opening. The heart machine started up with a loud bleep, the thumping of his two hearts making it bleep.
Rose rushed over, clutching his hand. He smiled at her and swallowed. "Had you scared for a moment, didn't I?" he wheezed. She was almost crying, clutching his hand. The other Doctor's left the room, and she was left alone with him. She couldn't help it anymore and began to sob loudly, leaning against the Doctor. He placed an arm around her shoulder, and she cuddled into the embrace.
The Doctor's own mind was reeling from what had happened to him. He couldn't have been gone for more than a few minutes, yet it had seemed like hours. He had done the light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel thing, but he had seen after that… he swallowed.
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On the windowsill, watching the Doctor gasp with life, the little silver creature hissed angrily.
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What's wrong, Doctor?" Rose's voice cut into his train of thought. They had been sat like that for several hours, and he had though her to be asleep. He hadn't realised how upset or hurt he was looking. "What?" he asked her softly. "you look really bad. Almost like you're gonna cry" he looked down at her. "I was just thinking. About… what I saw…." "You saw something? Like, light at the end of the tunnel?" he nodded. "Yeah. Rose… I saw my…" his voice broke. "I saw my family… they… they talked to me…" he really was on the verge of tears now. She stroked his hair softly, hardly able to stand him like this.
"Why didn't you regenerate?" she asked. "Well…" he tugged on one ear. "I'm not quite sure. I was fighting it too, because I didn't want to force you through that again, but I should've been forced into ti. Must've been something in the poison. But that's not all the bad news, sorry, Rose. The poison's not completely gone, there's a trace of it, and I'm not sure what it'll do to me."
She gasped, and hugged him so tightly around his chest he couldn't breath. "Let go!" he gasped, prizing her off. She smiled weakly at him. He noted te dark rings under her eyes. "Have you been sleeping?" he asks her softly. She looks away, but does not deny it.
"Rose" he turns her face cupping her cheek with his hand. She looks into his eyes and he sees the tiredness reflected in them. He lifts his other hand to the other side of her face and she feels their warmth either side of her. his fingers splay gently, and she feels a slight bit of pressure. The Doctor closes his eyes and leans his head back a moment, before she almost melts into his arms, fast asleep. He sighed, placing an arm over her shoulders again so her head rested on his chest.