It has been a lot longer than I had planned on...I am truly sorry. Between health issues in the family, family emergencies, school getting out, my children never giving me a minute alone, and writers block...its been tough. So I am very sorry that this story has just been sitting here. I am going to try and get back into it but it still might be slow at getting chapters out. But hopefully the story will get moving and it won't be three months again.
Chapter 6
Rose was feeling overwhelmed. She wasn't use to letting many people into her life. James had been hard enough, but Donna...Donna came barging in like a wrecking ball. She had appointed herself as Rose's best friend, and either called or came to see her every day. She'd call Rose to ask her opinion about the wedding, come by to go grab lunch, or just hang out. Yes it was overwhelming, but for once Rose didn't mind. Maybe it was because Donna had no problem talking, instead of digging for information. Maybe it was because Donna kept the conversation light.
Maybe it was because Donna understood Rose didn't want to open up...maybe she understood Rose needed some lightness in her life.
Or it could be the joy she got out of seeing James pout over Donna stealing his friend. Any time James wanted to hang out with Rose, Donna would meet him to it. It drove him mad.
Rose giggled to herself as she thought about the night James decided to stop by with a pizza.
Rose smiled as she opened the door to reveal James' grinning face, holding up a bag of chips
"Hey," Rose said.
"I was just in the neighborhood, was getting hungry, fancied myself some chips and thought 'hey! My friend Rose loves chips. She might like some too."
Rose laughed. "You know I never say no to chips."
"Hope you brought enough for everyone Doctor."
James' smile fell and he looked around Rose. His smile turned to a grimace. "Donna! Don't you have a fiance to hang out with or something?"
Donna smiled. "Yes but I needed some girl time with Rose."
James walked in. "You've had girl time every night for the past two weeks!"
She shrugged. "So what? There's no limit on how much girl time one needs."
"She's my friend too Donna. I would like to spend some time with her too...without you always being there."
"Ohhhh...getting a little possessive aren't we James. Any particular reason why?"
James' ears turned pink and he pulled at them. Rose smiled and crossed her arms.
"I'm not some sort of possession, like some toy to fight over."
James quickly turned to Rose and had a look of terror on his face. "No. No never Rose. I never meant that. I am so sorry. I don't think about you like that." He grabbed Rose in a fierce hug that took her by surprise.
"I know James. I was just messing with you." Rose squeezed him and stepped back.
James dropped his arms and looked bashful. "Well, um...um. I'll let you get back to girls night." He started for the door.
"Oi! Get back in here spaceman. We were just going to watch a movie." Donna called out.
James turned back around and looked at Rose for confirmation.
She grinned. "Come on. I don't want you to leave."
James perked up at that and hoped on her bed, grabbing the bag of chips. "So what are we watching?"
Rose finished putting her leotard on and grabbed her stuff to head the the floor. The competition was today, and though she was nervous, she was excited. She had a flawless routine and had been landing everything the past week at practice. She was ready.
As she walked with her other teammates to their warm area, she heard a familiar whistle and turned towards it. There was Jack, grinning like crazy. Beside him was Ianto, Rhys, and James. Below them were Donna, Martha, Gwen, and Tosh. Rose waved at them. That's when Jack nodded at the other guys. Jack, Ianto, Rhys, and James all raised their shirts to reveal an R, O, S, and an E written on their chest. Jack stood proud like superman, Ianto just stood there with a closed mouth smile, Rhys shook his stomach back and forth, and James raised his arms screaming and cheering. Rose could feel her cheeks turn bright red and she couldn't help but giggle. James gave her a wink and raised his camera to take a candid shot of her.
"Tyler, enough flirting. Get over here." her coach yelled.
Rose jogged over to her team to get ready. As her coach talked she couldn't help but keep glancing over at her group of friends. It was nice having a cheering section, but it meant more seeing James there for some reason. He had promised he would be there, but actually seeing him there made Rose even happier. She still couldn't understand why it meant more to her to see him. He kept taking pictures of the group and then of her, grinning the entire time.
As Rose began stretching, she zoned in on focusing on her routines and mentally preparing herself for the day...but not before talking to her parents first.
She never did it out loud, so no one would think her crazy. But it helped her to talk to them, to almost pretend like they were there. She would always repeat back the speech her dad always gave her before a competition, and she would remember the tight hug her mom would give. Once she was done she opened her eyes, and they landed right on James. He was lowering his camera as her eyes opened on him. He stared at her, expressionless, which made it feel self conscious...almost vulnerable. She didn't like not being able to read him. She broke their stare and looked down for a bit. As she stood up, her eyes made contact with him again. This time he was smiling at her. Not his mega watt smile, but a smile that still made her tingle. This time he broke their stare as Donna called his name. Rose turned around, smiled, and got ready for her first event.
It had been a great day for Rose so far, for the school team as well. They were in the lead and looking to stay that way. Rose had done well on the beam, vault, and uneven bars. Now it was just down to her floor routine. This routine would seal the deal for her school winning, and this just happened to be her best event.
As she walked out to the middle of the floor, she could hear her friends cheering loudly from the stands. James had his camera up and ready and Rose rolled her eyes at this. He was going to waste all his memory on her competition.
As the music started Rose let everything go and just gave her all to the routine. Every flip and spin flowed seamlessly into another. Rose couldn't help but let her smile grow wider and she drew near to the end. This was her best run on this routine and she had just one more pass to land. As she took off and completed her front handspring to a round off to a double layout, something felt off.
Perhaps she didn't take off fast enough, or her steps were off, but as she made her last rotation before landing, she braced herself for landing wrong. She was hoping for just a sprain, something that could heal quickly. What she hoped she wouldn't hear was the pop that sounded as her feet landed. What she hoped was the searing pain wouldn't be there as she sunk to the ground.
Rose let out a cry as she laid on the mat. She clamped her mouth shut so she wouldn't scream too loud. The only way to calm herself down so she could block out the pain was trying to block out all the noise. As voice came closer, Rose slowly retreated into herself.
Before she allowed darkness to completely overtake her...she heard a voice...the one voice she didn't even realize she wanted to hear. The one voice that could take it all away.
"Doctor," Rose whispered before her eyes closed.
