Week 3
11. hours
The Doctor wept; not with blubbering sobs or salt water trailing rivers down his cheeks, but with two solitary tears diving to the grated floor of the TARDIS. It had been an hour since Rose's image had faded and gone. The Time Lord wanted nothing more than time to grieve, but the woman stalking his control room in a wedding dress was concerned with her own predicament.
The universe could be unfair sometimes; dropping trouble in his lap when a nice bit of tea and a moment of quiet reflection was what he desired most. Deciding the buck the universe, if only for a few minutes, he led the cantankerous bride to the jump chair and took his leave.
12. days
It had been three days since the Doctor's image had faded and gone; an incomplete confession of love on his lips. Rose stalked the halls of her father's mansion, exploring the many rooms, most as empty as the hole in her heart. When she was younger, before the Doctor, she would fantasize about being rich and living in a home larger than she could ever use. To have the dream come true and be nothing more than a hollow comfort was insult to the injury of the life she had lost. Dropping on to her ornate, four post bed, Rose dreamed of the TARDIS and its labyrinthine spaciousness.
13. weeks
It had been six weeks since the Doctor lost his Rose. Not even the presence of smart, attentive new companion was enough to quell the ache in his hearts. To make matters worse, the new girl fancied him. He had hoped it would be just that, a surface attraction, but the more time they spent together, the more adventures they completed, the more lives they saved and lost, he could see that it was more than just a school girl crush. He couldn't allow it to continue. No matter how much he liked Martha Jones, he would not lead her on.
14. months
It had been 9 months since Norway. Rose was attempting to return to some semblance of a normal life. She couldn't deny that there was something cool about living in an alternate universe. Initially she would take daily trips into the city to see how many differences she could find; both large and small. It was great fun and bittersweet as well. Her fact finding missions just weren't the same with Mickey. She knew that this would be much more enlightening with the Doctor. Ha! Not only enlightening, but exciting and exhilarating. She missed the time lord and kept him close to her heart at all times. But she had to move one. He would want her to live.
15. years
Sometimes he wondered what it would have been like if Rose had been with him through it all. What comment she would have made, what joke might have inspired him, what insight she would have shared. Most of all, the Doctor mourned how her love might have saved him.
She would not recognize him now; new face and all. New Hair. New teeth. New gigantic brain. Scratch that. It might take a minute, but she would know him. Rose could always see through his posturing; of which he did a lot; an almost constant state of being.
My Rose. Where are you now when I need someone to both recognize my brilliance and challenge my absurdity.