Notes: Rose wakes up in the Torchwood Hospital with amnesia. Or does she? Everyone seems to have a different memory of events to hers.

Chapter 4

She could hear the beep of a cardiac monitor and the general murmur of noises that you associate with a hospital ward.

'Rose Tyler?' she thought. 'He said agent Rose Tyler was down'. She cautiously opened her eyes and waited for them to focus. She was in a hospital bed in a hospital room. In a Torchwood hospital room to be precise.

"Oh, you're awake," the nurse said who had been writing in her notes.

"Mmnnh," Rose muttered. "What happened? How did I get here?"

"All in good time Rose. Take it easy, I'll let the doctor know you've woken up. There's someone who's been standing vigil at your bedside all the time you've been here. It's typical, he only just popped out to use the toilet and you wake up."

Rose smiled. That was so like John to be at her side, even when he couldn't do anything.

"Ah, here he comes now. I'll go get the doctor."

To say Rose was shocked, stunned and gob smacked, didn't even begin to describe how she felt when Mickey Smith walked into her room.

"Hey Babe. How'ya feelin'?" he said with his lopsided smile.

"Oh my God, Mickey! What are you doin' here?" she held out her arms and enveloped him in a hug.

"Hey, what's this? I'm happy to see you too. You gave me quite a scare back there in that temple," he said.

'What is he on about?' Rose thought in confusion. "How did you get here? Did you come through when the walls were all wobbly?"

"Wha? I think that energy discharge must have scrambled your brain Babe."

"Yeah, I think it did a bit. Anyway, it's not important right now. You're here and that's brilliant. Have you seen John, I thought he'd be here?"

It was Mickey's turn to be confused. "John?"

The only John they both knew was John Armstrong in Accounts who dealt with payroll enquiries.

"What, John Armstrong?"

Rose rolled her eyes at the joke. "Very funny. Now are you goin' to tell me where he is, or do I have to go and find him." She then had a thought.

"It's you isn't it? You're using a shimmer. Oh you had me goin' then," she laughed.

At that point the doctor came in and looked at her charts. "How are you feeling Miss Tyler? You had quite a lot of energy pass through your body."

"I feel fi…. Miss Tyler? You need to update my records doctor, I'm Mrs. Smith now. I thought everyone knew that, what with us bein' such celebrities."

The doctor's face took on a look of concern. He started going through standard neurological assessment questions. What was the date? Who was president? When was her birthday? Everything seemed fine except for the fact that she was convinced that she was married.

"Is everythin' alright doc?" Mickey asked.

"I just want Alice DiMaggio to have a look at you if you don't mind Miss…. er, Rose."

"Somethin's the matter, in'it?" Mickey said.

"It's just a precaution, that's all," the doctor said as he left the room.

"Mickey, how could he get my name wrong? I mean everyone here knows I married John. And if you're not him usin' a shimmer, then where is he?" She was starting to panic now.

"Mickey, what's happened to him? You would tell me if anythin' had happened to him wouldn't you?"

Before Mickey could answer, Rose's best friend and past counsellor, Alice, walked into the room.

"Rose, how are you? The doctor said you seem a little confused." She gave Rose a reassuring hug and rubbed her back.

"A little confused?" she said haughtily. "I'm downright baffled at the moment Alice. No one will tell me what's happened to John."

Alice spotted the distress in Rose and went into 'counsellor' mode.

"Tell me what you remember before you woke up here. When did you last see John?"

"We'd taken the TARDIS to Siem Reap International Airport in Cambodia, and spent the night at the Park Hyatt." She smiled at the memory of the very comfortable king sized bed and the bedroom gymnastics that had gone on.

"The next mornin', we drove to the Prang Pyramid in Koh Ker. We found our way into the central chamber where John deactivated the crystal. When I picked the crystal up, there must have been some feed back or somethin' because I remember a green light around me and then I woke up here."

Mickey was about to speak when Alice raised a hand to stop him.

"The TARDIS you say? Is John a Time Lord by any chance?" Alice asked her as she held her hand.

Rose scrutinized Alice's face. "C'mon Alice, you know he's part Time Lord, part Human."

"Of course he is, sorry. And how long have you been married now?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me it's affecting you as well. My chief bridesmaid can't remember when I got married. August 5th, 2014."

The door to her room opened and her parents popped their heads around the door.

"Is it alright to come in?" Jackie asked.

"Oh Mum," Rose said holding out her arms. Everything would be alright once she'd had a hug from her Mum.

"Sweetheart, we were so worried about you when you wouldn't wake up." Jackie sat on the bed and rocked Rose like she always had when she was upset.

"I'm fine Mum. I just need to find John and go home." She then realised that both her parents were in the room. She looked between the two of them with rising concern. She needed to ask a question, but was dreading the answer.

"Mum, Dad, where's EJ?"

Jackie glanced at Pete and then back to Rose.

"This John and EJ, are they friends of yours Love? Did ya meet them in Cambodia?"

Rose's breath caught in her chest. She couldn't breath. She felt as though she had been punched in the stomach as nausea rose in her throat.

When she spoke, tears trickled down her cheeks. "Mum, I'm scared," she confided. Jackie instinctively grabbed her into a protective hug as she started to sob.

"John is my husband, [sob] and Eyulf is our son. [sob] Your grandson Mum. How could you forget your own grandson?"

Alice ushered Pete and Mickey out of the door and closed it behind her, leaving Jackie to do what mothers do best.

"Alice, what's going on?" Pete asked.

"I'm not sure, but I think it's some sort of fugue state brought on by the trauma of that energy discharge that she experienced. Was she alright during the mission up to that point?" she asked Mickey.

"Yeah, everythin' was fine. We took the airship to Cambodia, met the guy from the embassy and went to the hotel. The next day we drove to the temple and deactivated the pyramid."

"Hmm. Rose seems to be confabulating a story that she actually got the Doctor back, married him and had a son by him. I thought she was finally coming to terms with the failure of the dimension cannon project. This accident must have triggered the dissociative fugue."

"Is it serious?" Pete asked. "I mean will she get better, can you help her?"

"Oh yes, don't worry. These things are only temporary. It's like a form of self induced amnesia, where her brain creates a story to fill in the gaps. The story is usually one based on desires of what the patient would like their life to be like."

"Is there anythin' we can do to help her?" Mickey asked.

"Just do what you did when she first came to our world. Show her love, kindness and be patient."

"Thanks Alice," Pete said as he leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "Do you think it's alright to go in now?"

Alice nodded and opened the door for them to enter. Rose had her face buried in Jackie's shoulder. Jackie looked over at them with sad concern on her face.

"Well?" she asked.

Pete sat on the other side of the bed and squeezed Rose's shoulder, trying to reassure and comfort her.

"Rose? Rose, look at me."

Rose took some shuddering breaths and sniffed before raising her head from the comfort of her mother's shoulder. He had an overwhelming urge to hold her and protect her. This usually strong and independent woman looked so weak and afraid. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying.

"Alice thinks that the accident has caused some sort of amnesia, and that your mind is trying to compensate for the missing time that you were unconscious."

"Wha? Are you tryin' to tell me that the last two years of my life have been a dream or somethin'?" she said angrily.

"No, no sweetheart. Don't get yourself upset. It's just that things will seem a bit confusing at the moment," Pete said trying to placate her. It didn't work.

"UPSET?! I'm way past upset. I'm borderin' on homicidal. My family disappear without a trace and nobody seems to care. I'm fit to kill somebody. I'll give you upset!"

"Now Rose, calm down," Jackie said trying to hold her hand.

Rose snatched her hand away. It was a conspiracy, she was certain of it. Had they all been brainwashed, or were they all using shimmers? Were the alien lizards after her son again, or had someone taken John and EJ because they were part Gallifreyan?

"Calm down? Mum, imagine if Dad and Tony suddenly disappeared. Hang on; you do still have Tony don't you?" Rose asked, uncertain of anything she thought she knew.

"Of course we've still got Tony. He's at nursery school," Jackie reassured her.

"Well, imagine one day you go to collect him from school and no one knows who he is. And you go home and no one's ever heard of Pete Tyler. Mum, that's what's happened to me, and it's scarin' me. I don't know what's happened and I don't know what to do."

Jackie could empathise with her daughter. If it happened to her she would fall apart. She hadn't heard Alice's explanation of what might be wrong with Rose, and to be honest, she didn't care. Rose was her daughter and her daughter needed her.

Rose was wringing her hands, and realised that an object that she usually fiddled with when she was nervous or upset was missing.

"Where's my ring? Where's my wedding ring? That'll prove I'm tellin the truth."

"Check the bedside cabinet. It might be in there," Mickey suggested.

Pete pulled out the draw and had a rummage through the contents. There was an envelope that said 'Rose Tyler' on it. He took it out of the draw and handed it to Rose. She opened the envelope and tipped the contents into her lap. There was her watch, some hooped earrings, and…. a white gold ring.

"Oh thank God," she cried. "Here, look. This is my wedding ring."

Now, to be fair, Pete and Mickey were men. They had no idea about women's jewellery. They didn't really notice it unless they had bought it, and then it was usually the women who had chosen it, and they paid for it.

"I've not seen you wear that ring before," Jackie said, looking uncertain on how she should tell her that.

"Look at the engraving. It's Gallifreyan for 'infinity'," she told them, desperate for them to believe her.

Jackie had seen enough weirdness where Rose and that daft alien of hers were concerned. If Rose said that he was her husband, and that he had sired a son, then no matter how weird that sounded, she was willing to buy into it for now. She held out her arms for Rose, waiting for her to accept her unconditional love.

Rose's shoulders sagged and she slowly fell into her mother's embrace, weeping quietly.

"There, there sweetheart. Don't worry. Whatever's gone wrong, we'll fix it."

"Jacks?" Pete asked, looking a little surprised by his wife's response.

"Pete, I've known her a lot longer than you have, and I know somethin's not right. And that bleedin' alien has a weirdness magnet like no other. Mickey can tell yer that," she said.

"In fact, I'm surprised at ya for not considerin' that she might be tellin' the truth," she said, casting an accusing look at Mickey.

"Mum, [sniff] it's not Mickey's fault. I know how unbelievable it sounds."

"Well come on sweetheart, let's get you dressed and get you out of here. The sooner we get you home, the sooner we can sort this out."

Pete and Mickey left the room, while Jackie found her clothes in the small wardrobe. Rose removed the unflattering gown and put on her underwear, the denim shorts, her black vest top and denim jacket. She sat on the bed and laced up her hiking boots.

She recalled lacing them up in their room at the Hyatt. John kept interrupting her by nibbling her neck. She had playfully pushed him away then. How she wished he would do it now, she would pull him into a snog that he wouldn't forget.

Pete had gone to find Alice to tell her about the ring Rose claimed was a wedding ring.

"This could be a worrying development," she explained, as she stood from behind her desk. "She's using objects to reinforce her delusion, trying to prove that her created memories are real. This will prolong the recovery process."

"What can we do?" Pete asked.

Alice smiled. "Provide proof of your own. Show her the evidence of the last two years of her life. Eventually, she will come to accept that the evidence that you have is real and irrefutable."

"Okay, I'll start pulling mission logs, photos and videos for her to look at. Thanks again Alice, you've been a good friend to Rose."

"Oh, Pete. Be gentle with her. Let Rose discover the truth for herself."

He nodded and left the office.

Rose put her backpack over her shoulder and left the hospital room with her Mum. They went to the lifts and Jackie selected the basement car park. They went to Jackie's reserved parking space, where her Audi was waiting for them.

Jackie drove away from Canary Wharf and headed north up Abbott Road, heading for Tyler mansion.

"Where are we goin' Mum?" Rose asked.

"We're goin' home sweetheart, to the mansion."

"Don't tell me I still live at home with my parents," she said despairingly.

"Don't be a silly plum. Your flat is in the quarantine zone, you and Jack are staying with us until the area is declared zombie free."

"Hang on Mum, pull over, I need to talk to ya." Jackie just smiled, thinking she was joking.

"MUM! PULL OVER…. NOW!"

Jackie indicated, pulled up to the curb and put on the hazard lights. She turned in her seat to face Rose.

"Now I know you're upset and are havin' a bad time of it at the moment, but there is no need to shout at me Rose. I'm tryin' to help you."

Rose felt very guilty at snapping at the one person who was willing to even consider that she was telling the truth.

"I'm sorry Mum. I didn't mean to shout, it's just that everythin' that's happenin' to me is SO strange. I don't have a flat, we have a house in Notting Hill. London doesn't have zombies, the TARDIS fixed them."

"If only that were true Love. I've seen 'em on the news. Those poor people, there were children as well Rose, it was awful."

"At the top of the road Mum, turn left onto Mile End Road and go to Notting Hill. I want to show you somethin'." Jackie looked at her suspiciously.

"Humour me, please Mum. And then I'll go home with you, I promise."

"Alright then. And then we go home, right?"

Rose smiled and squeezed her hand. "Right."