"Here we are," the Doctor announced as he led young Rose up to the large shipping crate in the center of the old factory. Rose looked down at the picture of the TARDIS and back up at the shipping crate in confusion. "You'll see," he assured her.
He pushed the door inward, revealing the console room of Rose's TARDIS. "This one's yours," he explained. "We'll find my TARDIS in the garden."
Though the concept would confuse others, it didn't seem unusual to her.
The Doctor led her through a maze of hallways and opened a door to a bright, sunny garden. There in the center stood the Doctor's TARDIS. Rose looked at her drawing again and back up at the blue police box. This time she nodded. When they came near enough, the Doctor snapped his fingers and the door swung open. Rose smiled up at him and he returned it, trying his best to keep his sadness hidden.
"So, does any of this look familiar?" he asked hopefully, looking around the bright control room.
Rose's fingers dropped away from the console and her smile fell as it always did when asked a question. Every question posed to her caused her to pause and frown.
"That's alright," he said reassuringly, lightly rubbing her back. "We'll get it all sorted. It'll just take some time. I have just one more question for you. What would you like to do now?"
It wasn't the sort of question she was expecting and she felt as lost as she did with all other questions.
"We could do something fun now, if you'd like. There's plenty to do here." The Doctor paused before making his next suggestion. "Or… we could get started on making you better."
Rose stared up at him in question. The idea filled her with hope and fear alike.
"I have some ideas on what's making you forget, or rather keeping you from remembering. If I could just get a peek at that brain of yours-"
"My brain?" she asked in panic. Her eyes darted to the door behind her.
"No, no, no, not a look inside. I'm not going to open you up," he hastened to explain, coming to kneel before her. "I'd never hurt you. I promise you that, Rose Tyler; I'd never hurt you. I meant a picture. Just a little video. I have a special machine that can take a picture of you and let me see the activity going on inside."
Rose eyed him dubiously and looked at the door again.
"It's just a little video. I promise. It'll last five minutes tops and it won't hurt a bit. It'll give me an idea on what we need to fix and get us one step closer to making you better. I know it's been a hard day for you already, but do you think you could let me take that picture really quickly?"
"You really think you can make me better?" she asked hopefully.
"I'll do everything I possibly can and more," he pledged solemnly.
Rose nodded in agreement and the Doctor climbed back to his feet. He took her by the hand again and smiled down warmly as he led her up one of the staircases and down the hall to the infirmary. The Doctor stopped in surprise the moment he entered. Everything was in place, but the room looked nothing like he'd left it. His cupboards and equipment had not moved, but the white walls had turned a soft pink color. A colorful border ran around the top of the room; an adorable line of bears, bunnies, frogs, and ducks. A painting of a rainbow with butterflies hung on the wall to his right. The exam table had been replaced with a small bed, covered in lavender sheets. The TARDIS had redecorated room for one very special patient. The Doctor patted the wall affectionately.
"Right," he said, leading Rose over to the bed. "All you have to do is lie here."
Rose toed off her shoes and climbed on obediently. The Doctor crossed the room and rummaged through a large cupboard until he found what it was he was looking for. When he looked back at the patient in the bed, he saw terrible fright that he'd managed to overlook when they entered the room. She was stiff as a board with her hands balled at her sides. Her chest rose and fell quickly and her lips were closed tightly to fight the pout that wanted to form.
"Oh, my brave Rose," he said gently. He set his gadget down on the floor, knelt at her bed, and took her hand. He leaned over her, holding her hand near his chest. "I've promised not to hurt you and I'll promise you again. This won't hurt at all. Why are you so frightened?"
Rose shrugged but the Doctor already knew the answer. 'Torchwood,' he thought angrily. Time and time again they hurt her. Would it ever stop? Even without her memories, the fear haunted her.
"You've no reason to fear. This room isn't for hurting; it's for making people better. That's what we'll do, Rose, but you have to trust me. Can you do that?"
A few tears sprang free, but Rose still nodded in consent. The Doctor raised his machine again, a white globe about the size of a basketball, and held it above her head. Rose squeezed her eyes shut.
"Now," the Doctor spoke in hushed tones. "I'm going to ask you a lot of different questions, but this time you don't have to answer a single thing, alright? Just hold still."
She had started to nod again but stopped at his instruction.
"Okay, Rose. How old are you?" The Doctor paused a moment between each question, but kept the questions flowing. "Where were you born? What's your favorite food? Which Christmas was the best? What does your mum look like? How do you take your tea?" The questions continued for nearly three minutes. When he stopped asking, Rose peeked open one eye. "Almost done," he assured her. Thirty seconds of silence, and the Doctor stepped back. "All done."
Rose peeked with one eye again. "You're done with that?" she asked worriedly.
"Yes, that's it. Didn't I tell you that was all? Just a quick picture." The look on her face showed that, no, she didn't remember him telling her that. When she had opened her eyes, she didn't even know what he'd been doing.
The Doctor plopped down on as rolling stool and wheeled himself over to a large monitor in the center of the wall. Rose sat up in bed and watched him blankly.
"You can get up, if you'd like," he said with an encouraging smile. After searching through a mess of wires, he finally found the correct one and plugged it into the globe. A large circling image appeared on the screen, bright splotches of color moving about, grouping and separating seemingly at random.
"That, Rose Tyler, is your brain," the Doctor stated as the young girl came up behind him.
"My brain?"
"Yes, I just took a quick picture and this is what I found."
"It's colorful," she commented.
"That's just what the computer makes it look like. The colors show me where your mind is thinking when I ask you different questions. And this here is the problem: the colors are all over. Teeny flecks of color everywhere. That's not how it's supposed to work."
"You know what's wrong with me?" she asked anxiously.
"Yes." He watched the image again and used one of the dials this time to scan through the brain's many layers. "Your brain seems perfectly intact. No visible brain damage. The damage it did do was to your neural pathways. The synapses are firing, searching to retrieve information, but the paths that are supposed to lead them to each memory are either weak or broken."
"Sometimes I say stuff… stuff that doesn't make sense." She was playing with her fingers nervously, but glanced up at the Doctor, seeking explanation.
"Oh, you always make sense. You're as smart as ever," he reassured her. "It's those busy little synapses. They're still working hard on their recall missions and when your mind is at ease, they bring forth something they think is useful. It sounds like most times they come out at random. A few times they've gotten things right, but then they have a hard time finding that same information again the next time."
Rose wasn't sure she fully understood, but she understood enough to know that she wouldn't remember any of it the next time she tried. She had one question she needed answered before it all disappeared again. "Can you fix me?"
The Doctor sighed and stared down at the tips of his shoes. He wouldn't lie, not to her and not to himself. "I'm not sure yet. I'm not sure how badly the neural pathways are damaged. I have a feeling that I can strengthen them, but I'm not certain of it. If we can manage to strengthen them, it will give you access to more memories."
"I'd be okay again?"
"Better," he corrected, "but I really don't know if you'll be able to get everything back. We can hope though. We've been quite lucky in the past. Let's hold hope in that luck again."
Rose shook her head sadly. "I won't remember to hope."
"Hope isn't something you have to remember to do," the Doctor disagreed. "It's a feeling you hold in here." He poked her lightly on the chest and she smiled brightly.
"Thank you," she said with deep sincerity.
"Anything for you, Rose Tyler." He leaned forward and placed a kiss on her brow. "I'd do anything for you."
"So what happens now?" she asked.
"Tomorrow, we're going to start the process of strengthening those weak points. Today… well, we've got a little time before dinner, so I was thinking maybe a bit of ten-pin bowling. Do you know what that is?"
Rose frowned and shook her head. The Doctor saw her lose it; all that had just happened suddenly vanished somewhere deep in her mind. Their conversation was gone. He'd felt hopeful with how long she seemed to be keeping up, but one small question, one little prompt for a different memory, turned her into a blank slate once again. She was as lost as she'd been in Gwen's flat. He'd be much more careful about asking her questions in the future.
"Ten-pin bowling, you'll love it," he said with forced enthusiasm. "I'm a champ, myself, but I have a feeling you'll do quite well, too. You've an eye for it, you see. You seem to know just what that ball should do."
His energy had Rose smiling again and it stayed in place the whole time he rambled, all the way to the bowling room.
Thank you all so very, very much for the reviews. Each one means so much to me. I hope you'll continue to leave reviews as the story progresses.
I know the first chapter left you with many questions, but I hope this one explained Rose's condition alright. It's not explained how she got to be young, but I'll get to that.