Chapter One
Rose followed the man down the hallway. She looked around and noticed that most of the people were dressed in white scrubs. Several were shuffling around with blank look on their faces while a few were yelling out and screaming random words to the walls or floors. She glanced at all of them, but couldn't see the Doctor anywhere.
Where is he? She thought.
The man led her down another hallway. At the end was a white door with a small nameplate affixed to it. Rose read the nameplate
JAMES FOSTER
PSYCHIATRIST
She tried to look through the window in the center of the door, but there was a closed window blind covering it. The man knocked on the door.
"Yes?" Someone said inside the room.
The man opened the door and stuck his head inside.
"Rose Tyler is here for her appointment."
"Thank you, Mark."
Mark stuck his head back out and stepped aside.
"Go in, Rose." He said.
Rose hesitated.
"Go on, Doctor Foster is inside." He urged.
Rose eyed Mark warily. She slowly walked past him into the small office. She paused as the door was closed behind her and looked around. The walls were painted the same off white as her room with several motivational posters in gold frames scattered around the room. A crate full of toys sat in one corner of the room and beside it was a small table that had numerous magazines and coloring books on it. There was a leather chair sitting in front of a wooden desk and behind the desk, Doctor Foster was sitting with a huge smile on his face as he stared up at Rose. The man was in his late 40's with wavy, ginger hair, glasses and a pudgy face. Rose looked at his left hand and noticed a wedding ring there.
"Welcome, Rose." He said, gesturing to the chair in front of the desk. "Please have a seat."
Rose walked over and sat down.
"Where am I?" she asked him.
"You are in Bethlem Royal Hospital."
"Where is that?"
"We're near Croydon."
Rose nodded.
"I understand you have been taken off your meds, Rose." He said glancing at a huge file in front of him.
"I was never on any meds. I've been kidnapped."
Foster glanced at her.
"Where were you kidnapped from, Rose?" he asked gently.
"From…my home." Rose said hesitantly.
"Your home which is…"
He glanced at the file.
"The TARDIS?" he asked looking at her.
Rose blinked.
"How…how did you know that?" she said.
"It's in your file, Rose." Foster said pointing to the manila folder in front of him. "These are records of our previous conversations."
"I've never had any conversations with you. I've never met you before in my life." Rose protested.
"You were heavily sedated, Rose, so I doubt if you remember much. After the explosion, you were extremely suicidal and tried several times to kill yourself before you were brought in here."
"That's a lie!" Rose said angrily. "I've never tried to kill myself! And what explosion?"
Foster thumbed through the papers and finally found the one he was searching for.
"In 2005, you were working at Henrick's department store." He read to her. "You were just leaving for the day when a leaking gas pipe ignited and caused a massive explosion that killed several of your friends and coworkers. You were despondant and tried to kill yourself. Your mother brought you here and you were diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and depression. You've been here ever since and it's only been since yesterday that they determined that you were well enough to be taken off of several meds."
"No, that's not what happened. Everything you've said is a lie." Rose protested.
Foster glanced at her.
"There wasn't an explosion at the department store where you worked?" he asked her.
"Yeah, I mean, yes, that happened. But no one died. I wasn't dispondant and suicidal. My mum never brought me here. I don't know how you got this information, but it's a lie!"
Foster glanced back down at his papers.
"And this man named the Doctor saving you from the…Autons…this is what happened?" he said glancing back at her.
"Yes! The Autons were gonna kill me and the Doctor saved me at the last moment. He's the one that blew up the building because he was trying to destroy them!"
"Tell me about that, Rose. About these Autons. You say they were being controlled by…"
He glanced back down at his notes.
"The…Nestene Conciousness." He read.
He glanced back up at her.
"Well, yes, it was controlling all the plastic in the city." Rose said.
"Mmhmm."
Rose paused.
"Go on." Foster said smiling.
"Well, the Doctor was in the department store trying to kill the Autons that were there. But, no one else was in the building. It was just me and him. Everyone else had left for the day so when the building blew up, no one died."
"Mmhmm, so the Doctor escaped the explosion and then came to find you at your flat?"
"Yes. I had a plastic arm that he had pulled off of one of the Autons."
"And it came to life and attacked him and you."
"Yes."
Foster wrote something down.
"Why do you think the Doctor came to your flat, Rose?" he asked her.
"Because he was tracking that arm."
"Yes, but why you? According to you, he didn't seem too interested in you at first. He even refered to you as a stupid ape and yet after you saved his life from this…Nestene Conciousness, he asked you to travel with him. And…when you refused the first time, he left, came back and offered again. Why do you think he did that, Rose?"
"I…I don't know. I guess he saw something in me. He knew that I deserved more than a boring life as a shopgirl in London."
"And was your life boring, Rose?"
"Well, yeah, nothing but work, eat, sleep and back to work again. It was dull."
"And the Doctor. A life with him was fun and exciting?"
"Well, yeah, I love traveling with him."
Foster wrote that down.
"And so you left your family and friends behind to go traveling with this Doctor?"
"Yes."
"Who was a time traveling alien."
"Is." Rose corrected.
Foster nodded.
"IS a time traveling alien. This man invited you to go along with him and he took you to the year…5 billion where you witnessed the destruction of the Earth."
"Yeah…um, how do you know all this?"
"You told me, Rose."
Rose stared at him in confusion.
"So while you were in the year 5 billion you met this woman named…Cassandra…who was a talking piece of skin?"
"Yeah, well, she was because she had so many face lifts that she ended up that way."
"Mmhmm, and you also met a bunch of talking tree people and a huge face?"
"The Face of Boe, yeah."
"And all these people were there to watch the Earth get destroyed."
"Yes."
"And this Cassandra then tried to kill everyone including you."
"Yeah."
Foster looked at her.
"Weren't you scared, Rose?"
"Yes."
"So, why do you keep on traveling with the Doctor after you almost got killed that day?"
"Cause I like it."
"You like risking injury and death to travel with him?"
"Yes."
"Because…it's better than living a normal, dull life of eat, work and sleep?"
"Yes."
Foster wrote that down.
"So, you went and had many adventures with the Doctor and then you got kidnapped and taken to this…Gamestation where you were put into a version of Weakest Link that was hosted by a robot?"
"The Anne Droid."
Foster nodded.
"The Anne Droid who disentigrated contestants when they were voted the weakest link?"
"Well, yeah, except we found out they weren't really being killed, they were being teleported to the Dalek ships."
"Which is where you ended up."
"Yes."
"And the Doctor saved you."
"Yes."
And then you were helping him to save the Earth and he tricked you and sent you back to the present time so you would be safe."
"Yes." Rose said rolling her eyes.
Foster paused.
"Why did you just roll your eyes at that, Rose?" he asked.
Rose paused.
"Because…I was upset he did that."
"Why?"
"Because he had no right to do that."
"He had no right to send you back to your dull, boring life when you were having an exciting life with him?"
"No, he had no right to trick me like that and send me back when I was helping him. We're a team!"
Foster wrote that down.
"But eventually you did find a way back to him."
Rose nodded.
"You found a way back to the exciting life you had with him."
"I found a way back so I could help him defeat the Daleks and save the Earth."
"By becoming the Bad Wolf?"
"Yeeeah." Rose said hesitantly.
She shook her head trying to remember when she had told him any of this.
"Tell me about the Bad Wolf, Rose. What is it?"
Rose frowned.
"It was this…thing that came to life when I accidentally took the time vortex into my body."
"Okay. Can you describe what happened when you took the vortex into your body?"
"It hurt. My head felt like it was on fire."
"Uh-huh."
"I really can't remember much except that there was this singing in my head."
Foster wrote that down.
"What did the singing sound like, Rose?"
"Beautiful. One of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. I can't really describe it."
"And you or this Bad Wolf you saved the Doctor from the Daleks."
"Yes."
"How?"
"I vaporized them."
"You vaporized the Daleks and saved the Doctor?"
"Yes."
"How did that make you feel?"
Rose stared at him.
"Um, I was happy, I guess."
"Because you saved the Doctor?"
"Um…yeah."
"So, when you rescued the Doctor, you didn't have to go back to that boring, dull life. You could continue to travel with him and have fun?"
Rose sighed.
"Could you get off that, please?" she said irritated.
Foster nodded.
"So, you were happy because you saved the Doctor. Did you care for him, Rose?"
"Um, yeah."
"How did you care for him?"
"He was my friend."
"Was he just a friend or was he something more than that?"
Rose paused.
"I guess he was something more." She said.
"Do you love him, Rose?"
Rose thought for a moment.
"Yes." She finally said.
"Why do you love him?"
Rose sighed.
"Why are you so interested in my relationship with him?" she asked.
"I'm just curious, Rose. I mean, you had a human boyfriend, didn't you?"
"Yeah, Mickey."
Foster nodded.
"And yet, you left him behind to travel with this Doctor. The Doctor, who is an alien. He's not even your same species and yet you fell in love with him. Why did you fall in love with him? What attracted you to the Doctor? How is he different from Mickey?"
"He…the Doctor…he's courageous and kind and selfless and funny and sweet."
"And Mickey isn't any of these things?"
"No, Mickey is funny and sweet and kind."
"But, he isn't courageous and selfless?"
"Well, no, I mean he can be those things at times, but the Doctor is…"
Rose paused not even sure how to put what she was thinking into words.
"Being with an alien is more exciting than being with a human?" Foster prompted.
"No, that's not it. It's just that the Doctor and I have been through so much and we just formed this bond because of that and… it just deepened over time."
"He was lonely too, wasn't he?"
"Yes, he was."
"Because he lost everything. His planet and friends and family?"
"Yes."
"And you came into his life and gave him a reason to live?"
"Yeah, I guess so. I mean, I like to think I helped him in that way, but I'm really not sure. I mean, the Doctor keeps a lot of things to himself and sometimes you have to read between the lines to figure out his feelings."
"So, he keeps a lot of things hidden?"
"Yeah."
"Even from you?"
"Yes."
"Even though he loves you?"
"Well, I don't really know if he loves me or not."
"Why do you say that, Rose?"
Rose thought.
"It's just that he won't really say. Like I said, he's hard to figure out sometimes and I'm never really sure what he's thinking."
"Is it because he sent you away, Rose? Is that why you're not sure if he loves you or not?"
"No, he sent me away to protect me."
"So, would you say that by doing that, he was showing his love for you?"
Rose sighed.
"I don't know. I really don't." she said angrily.
"Do you want him to love you?"
"I guess so."
"Why?"
"Because he's wonderful."
"Is he everything you've ever wanted in a man?"
Rose thought.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that."
"And Mickey isn't."
Rose sighed.
"Look, Mickey and I were already heading towards a breakup when I met the Doctor." She said.
"But, meeting the Doctor kinda put the final nail in the coffin of the relationship."
"I s'pose so."
She sighed glancing around the room impatiently. Foster watched her for a moment and looked through his notes.
"Rose, after the Doctor took the vortex out of you, he then died?" he asked her.
Rose looked back at him.
"Yes."
"And he came back to life as another man."
"Yes, he regenerated."
"Why do you think that happened?"
Rose stared at him.
"Because he was about to die and that's what him and his people do whenever they were about to die." She said testily.
"And this Doctor was younger."
"Yes."
"And cuter?"
Rose shrugged.
"I…guess."
"What was the difference between him and his previous life, Rose? Were there any differences between the men besides age and appearance?"
"Well, yeah…"
"Like what? What was different about this Doctor?"
"Well, he's…a lot more lighthearted and not so…sullen."
Foster wrote that down.
"Anything else?" he asked.
"He's funnier."
"Easier to get along with?" Foster asked.
"Oh yeah, much easier."
"Anything else?"
"He's…more...sentimental, I guess."
"More…loving?"
"S'pose so."
"Was he easier to talk to?"
"Is..."
"IS he easier to talk to?" Foster corrected himself.
"Yes, he is."
"So, about the time you were falling in love with him and wanted him to fall in love with you, the old, sullen, angry Doctor died and a new, lighthearted, sweeter, loving version appeared in his place."
Rose glared at him.
"Why are you getting angry when I say that, Rose?"
"Because I'm getting tired of this bullshit! You're implying that I'm making up the Doctor and I'm not. He's not a figment of my imagination! He's a real person! Now where is he?"
"Where do you think he is?"
"I don't know, that's why I'm asking you! What have you done with him?"
"We haven't done anything with him, Rose."
"Then where is he?"
Foster smiled at her.
"He's inside you, Rose, safe and sound."
Rose gritted his teeth.
"He is not some make believe character I've thought up to shield myself from reality, dammit! The Doctor is real! You get that? He's real! Now, I wanna know what you've lot done with him! Take me to him or I really will go psycho on your asses!"
"Why are you getting so defensive, Rose?"
"I'm getting defensive because you don't believe me! Look, I know my flying around in time and space with an alien and all the things we did sound like a bunch of nutty nonsense to you, but I swear to you I didn't make any of it up. I don't have that good of an imagination. Now, please, let me see the Doctor."
"I'm afraid I can't, Rose."
"Why not?"
"Because the Doctor isn't here."
"Where is he, and by God, don't you dare say he's inside my head!"
"I don't know where the Doctor is, Rose. All I know is you are at Bethlem Royal Hospital where you are currently undergoing treatment for PTSD and depression. You and I have been chatting for the past two years and this is why I have this huge file on you in front of me."
"Let me see it." Rose said holding out her hand.
"Rose,"
"LET ME SEE MY FILE, DAMMIT!"
Foster handed her the file. Rose thumbed through the pages and stared at it in disbelief. Records of conversations she had been having with Foster stretched back two years. She glanced at the writing and read through her memories with the Doctor.
"No, this can't be real." She whispered. "The Doctor is real. I know he is."
She put her hand over her mouth as tears came to her eyes.
"Rose." Foster said gently.
"The Doctor is real. The Doctor is real! He's real! He's not made up!" she said to him. "I'm not nuts. I know I'm not. Please, you have to believe me! The Doctor is real!"
Foster rose from his seat. He walked over and knelt down beside her chair.
"Rose." He said taking her hand.
"The Doctor is real! Please, you have to believe me!" she implored. "He's out there somewhere looking for me! You have to help me get back to him!"
Tears flowed down her cheeks.
"Mum, I wanna talk to my mum. Please, can I call her? She can tell you. She knows the Doctor! She'll tell you!"
"You can call your mum if you want to, Rose."
"Please, I want to, right now! Please take me to a phone!"
Foster nodded. He took the file off her lap and sat it on his desk. He reached out a hand to her.
"Follow me, Rose, we'll go find a phone." He said gently.
Rose nodded. She wiped the tears away, took his hand and stood up.
"He's real. He's real." She murmured as Foster opened the door and led her outside.