Chapter::4::
A.N: I got the beginning of this chapter from a show I saw a long time ago. It was on either Disney or Nick…Bleargh I can't remember the name…something like "Strange occurrences of (name)" But in that particular episode there was a woman who had been in a coma for a long time and this girl "guided" her "home" by emailing her subconsciousness. Really weird, but I remember loving it. Does anyone remember it? I came up with this bit at 1:30AM. I was writing late as usual…not expecting anything amazing…and BAM! WHOOSH VROOM! It popped into my 'lil 'ol head. I am very happy. I'd like to thank Emela for being my fifth reviewer, thanks so much. And this time...just for the heck of it, lets see if I can get seven reviews.
Disclaimer: If I owned anything do you really think I'd be writing this? It would have already been made into an episode.
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Rose heard a voice. It sounded muffled, like she was hearing it while submerged under water and it was calling her from above, willing her to rise. But she couldn't respond. She could feel nothing. She felt weightless, suspended in space, unable to discern up from down. Gradually the voice became clearer and she could make out that it was calling her name.
Rose.
The voice sounded familiar, but her highly confused mind couldn't place it. She wanted to wake up, but she felt trapped in her subconsciousness. She screamed in her mind, mentally jarring and kicking, trying to escape her prison. Nothing happened, and she panicked.
But then a smooth calmness rushed over her, and she felt rather than heard, a low humming sound. It filled every ounce of her body, requesting her full submission. Rose fought it for a moment, but then complied, recognizing with a start that it was the sound of the Tardis in her head.
You'll be with him always. She heard it say in her head.
'What?' She asked urgently, feeling their shared contact grow faint and the humming more distant as she felt herself waking up.
Silence answered her. She felt the cot beneath her, and the weight of her existence upon it. She opened her eyes, squinting at the bright lights of the Med-Bay. There, standing over her, was her beloved Doctor.
"Hello," he said tenderly, the concern in his face being replaced with broad smile.
"Hello." She said groggily, sounding surprised herself.
"I missed you." The Doctor gazed down at her blissfully happy, he had missed her so so much.
"You too." She said, reaching for his hand, her eyes filling with tears. "I can't believe I made it. How long was I out?"
"Three days," He told her, pulling her into a gentle hug. "You were in a coma, all of a sudden you came out of it…I've never seen someone do that."
Rose didn't respond right away; she content to just take in the Doctor. His smell, the feeling of his arms around her, she wanted to make sure that she was really where she thought she was. "The Tardis," She said finally, "She got inside my head, I could feel her there, and I heard the humming. She led me out of the coma."
"I'm so glad she did." He asked softly, holding her closer. "But Rose, you can't stay." As soon as he said it, he regretted it.
"What?" Hurt ebbed in her voice. "What are you talking about?" She felt herself go cold. Voices suddenly pounded in her head, 'He doesn't want you anymore, he has someone else.' She pulled away from his embrace and pushed him away.
He spoke softly, wishing he didn't have to say these words. "You're not supposed to be here. Nothing is supposed to travel through the void anymore. Not since the technology was lost. I'm sorry." The Doctor could almost see her heart breaking before his eyes. He wanted her to stay, so so much. "Sometimes the Void spits things out over here that aren't supposed to be here."
"But it wasn't the void I came here on my own." Rose explained, her voice trembling. "I think it should be alright, after all this is my original home."
"That's true." He scratched his head, going over all the information about the rift he knew. "Well I suppose…we'll give it a shot."
"Oh thank you!" She hugged him tight.
"Oh I think I'm going to implode." He said slightly out of breath. He gingerly helped her off the table. "Cuppa tea?"
"Sure!"
"And maybe some chips as well. Though, you may need to go easy on them." He was doing his best to revert their relationship to what it had been, all their jokes, their comradeship, and their teasing.
"Oi!" She gently nudged his side. "Wanting a slap are we?"
"Just like your mother you are."
"Con you do something for me?" She said very seriously.
"Anything."
"Can it not be awkward between us? Can it feel like I never left?" She had a pleading sound to her voice.
"Of course," The Doctor understood. He preferred it that way too.
Rose grinned and braced her hands on the table jumping off. A sharp throbbing pain filled her hands and she gasped, bringing them to her face. Bandages were wrapped around them and fresh blood oozed through the cloth. "What happened to me?!" She looked down and saw that her knees were bad off as well. "Why didn't you tell me I was injured?"
"Don't you remember?" His eyes became grave.
"No." She became tense and misread his concern. "What's wrong with me? What happened Doctor!?"
He spoke softly, holding her hands, careful to not shift her bandages. "I came to Canary Wharf to close the rift. I found you there, lying on the floor, your hands and knees like this. I brought you into the Tardis and took care of you. But you didn't respond to anything I said or did. You were suffering from dehydration, which caused an immensely high fever. But what really hurt you was the rift." He paused, taking a sip of his tea. "It was, and still is, too small a cut to travel through safely." He used his hands for demonstrating, "when you went through it, the sides of the void had to compress you to get you through, sort of like in that book A Wrinkle in Time."
Rose nodded in understanding. "I read that book for school a while back. The kids felt like their bodies had been flattened out yeh?"
"Precisely, and so that caused all sorts of problems for you, do you remember any of it?"
She winced in remembrance, "I remember Mickey and Pete vanishing and suddenly I couldn't move and I felt burning everywhere, then I could hardly walk."
The Doctor was floored. He hadn't appreciated how much she had gone through just to reach him until now. For the first time since he had found her again he comprehended what she must have given up, and all because of him. Her family, her life, everything. "Oh Rose," He said. "I didn't realize…what you lost…I'm so sorry." The moment the words were out of his mouth he regretted it. Rose's face showed guilt and she wilted against his shoulder, sobbing gently. "I-If you want to go home, I'll understand. But we'll have to wait a few days for it to become wider."
"No." She said firmly, "I told you once that I would never leave you and I meant it. I made my choice and it's already done. I know what I left behind." Her voice dropped lower. "These past two years without you have been the worst I've ever known. I'm not going back."
"If that's really what you want." He replied, hoping she was right in thinking she could stay permantly. He was relieved she felt like that, although the guilt he felt for being the reason for her leaving her family still hung around. "How are you feeling?" He felt it necessary to change the subject.
"Better."
Something was troubling her, he could tell. "What's bothering you Angel."
Rose stiffened. "I don't want to talk about it." She would rather not trouble him with her hallucinations and fears just yet.
He put his hands on her shoulders and tilted her chin up, forcing her to look at him. "When you're ready to talk…I'll listen."
Rose felt tears welling up inside her. His willingness touched her. She had wanted someone to listen for so long and here he was, her Doctor wanting to do just that. "Ok, I'll tell you. But can we go somewhere more comfortable?"
The Doctor smiled, "I know just the place." Taking her hand and interlocking their fingers, he led her through corridors and rooms, finally reaching a sliding glass door. The glass was opaque and Rose was unable to see beyond it. With a grin he flung it open revealing a beautiful garden complete with simulated sunshine and a waterfall ending in a crystal clear pool filled with tiny goldfish and lily pads. The air was filled with a tangy fragrance the completely put Rose at ease. The Doctor led her to a stone bench with a tree reaching its leafy boughs over it.
"It's beautiful!" Rose exclaimed, with her head turned upward marveling in everything around her. "I never knew this place existed!" She leaned on his shoulder, their hands still intertwined and just relaxed.
"I had it put in after I visited a Japanese garden with Mar..." He bit his tongue, he had botched it again.
"With who Doctor?" Rose asked, lifting her head and looking at him with an almost hurt expression.
"Martha…Martha Jones. She traveled with me for a while."
"How long has it been? How many more companions have you had since I left?" Her voice was almost accusing.
"Just one. She left me in the end. I only asked her to come because she saved my life. Then things…escalated. I would have rather gone on alone." He finished lamely.
Rose took a deep breath. She mustn't let herself get angry at him, not when she just found him again. "Don't worry about it. You're so lonely, you need someone. I understand."
"Not anymore." He smiled down at her. She looked so beautiful right now. The light reflected off her complexion, making her skin almost glow. He kissed her lightly on the forehead, rearranging their positions so the she leaned against his chest. "Are you ready?" He asked, stroking her hair.
She tilted her head back to look at him, "are you ready to listen?"
"Always."
And so she told him of all that had occurred in the two years of their separation. She poured out her heart to him, all her hopes and fears, and all she had gone though. He sat there, just listening to her and comforting her.
When she had finished they sat in silence. Rose felt both physically and mentally worn out and unable to trust her voice to speak.
"I'm sorry Angel." The Doctor finally said, pressing his lips to her head. Rose, feeling moisture on her check, glanced up to see a tear rolling down his cheek and more forming, "So, so sorry."
"Doctor, are you alright?" She asked timidly, reaching up to wipe them away. He suddenly grasped her hand in his tightly, staring off into the distance.
"If I had only known," he said half to himself. "I would have torn down the walls of time to find you."
"It doesn't matter," Rose made her voice stronger. "I'm here now."
The Doctor nodded, composing himself. "You're right." He blinked the tears away. "We shouldn't dwell. We'll do the best with what we're given."
A Distant beeping distracted the Doctor from Rose. He listened to it a moment with his ear cocked toward the sound. A worried look appeared on his face, "the Void, something's changed." He pulled Rose up to stand beside him. "We'll come here again." He said, taking one last look at the paradise. "The New New Adventures of the Doctor and Rose, eh?"
"You sound Canadian." Rose giggled.
The Doctor raised his eye brow in mock horror. "Canadian Time Lord? Now that," he laughed, "would be pretty awful." He caught his arm through hers, "Dame Tyler? Will you accompany to the console room?"
"I'd be honored Sir Doctor." She mock curtsied.
They marched joyously back to the control room, Rose temporarily forgetting the reason they were there was the Void. The beeping was almost hard to bear by the time they got to their destination and Rose covered her ears. The Doctor moved around the console, pressing a button here and flipping a switch there until the beeping stopped and the main screen began to fill with writing. The Doctor flew to the screen scanning the data rapidly, with Rose peering over his shoulder. The Doctor let out a Gallifreyan curse and ran his hands through his hair, kicking the main frame.
"How bad is it?" Rose queried, worry in her tone.
"Bad," He sighed. "I wanted your first few days back to be relaxing."
"Don't worry," She tried to cheer him up. "We're gonna do it, like we always do."
"But Rose, it's the Rift. The same one I lost you in." He turned to her, studying her face. "I don't want that to happen again."
"I'm not staying here," she straightened up. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"In that case," he grinned. "Fancy a trip to Cardiff?"
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A.N: I'm sorry if my explanation of Rose staying is rubbish. I don't like it much, but I hope I answered your question AlixMM The Whole thing was much clearer in my head than on paper. Don't forget to give that dahling button a squeeze!
Allons-y!
