okay, sorry about the delay...again. on the plus side, the next and final chapter will be up in next to no time - cuz i've nearly finished it!
thank you so much for your reviews!! you lot have really kept me going with this story!! please keep reviewing for this chapter and the next and then i will ask no more of you for this story!!
a really big thank you to totally.doctor.who for reviewing every chapter of every story i have written so far in just a few short days! and here is your bucket...that i pinched the idea of! thanks for that too!
quite a long chappy this time! i thought you deserved a longer update! especially after the shortness of the last one, and the fact that i have just uploaded a REALLY long chapter to my other story - Moving On.
one more thing before i let you go. i just wanna thank Happy loving Heroes for pointing this out to me. the word convocation in fact means a church assembly to mass, the word i was looking for in previous chapters is in fact spelt conersation. so sorry about that! i hope it didn't cause too bigger confusion, and that you still understood what i meant! like i have meantioned before (i think) i am not good at spellings, and if anyone notices a mistake in my work please drop me a review to let me know, and i will try to change it!
right then. enough rambling. i'll let you continue with the story now. anyone who read all that - this chapter is dedicated to you! don't forget to drop me a REVIEW when you're done!!
"You'll what?!" Donna, exclaimed, shouting the thoughts running through both heads. Rose looked up at her with unseeing eyes.
"But how…why…what?!" she raved, trying to understand, while still Rose looked on.
While Donna rambled, Rose just sat there, not really listening. She had stopped concentrating when the symbols had revealed themselves to tell her that by saving the Doctor, she was putting both Donna's and her own lives at risk.
Rose suddenly stood up, surprising Donna into closing her mouth for a minuet – just long enough for Rose to walk out the control room, leaving Donna to her thoughts.
.o0o0o
Rose fell into the chair next to the Doctor's still body, resting her head on the draws, she let the tears she had been holding back for so long fall down her beautiful face.
"Oh, Doctor! What am I going to do?!" she sobbed, calmed and unsettled at the same time by the Doctor's silence.
The gentle rise and fall of his chest, and the quietness that was issuing from the old Time Lord made Rose feel oddly calm. Yet at the same time, his lack of speech and movement worried her sick. She was so confused, and to make matters worse, she didn't know what to do!
"Doctor, help me!" she whispered, leaning into his ear like she had done all that time ago, just after he regenerated.
Suddenly, he sat bolt upright, causing Rose to jump off him, startled.
His empty eyes flickered slightly, not focusing on anything. He appeared to be looking for something, something he couldn't see.
Finally his eyes came to rest on Rose. He looked at her for a moment, before doubling up with pain. When he looked up again, he spoke to her, in rushed, strained tones.
"Rose… Rose?…" he breathed, his eyes searching again.
"I'm here, Doctor, it's me. I've got you." She replied, slipping her hand inside his and giving it a gentle squeeze, letting him know she was there.
"Can't talk… Don't have long… Got to tell you… You've got to know… Arg!" his face twisted with pain as the Doctor doubled over again. When he looked up, his voice was filled with more urgency, more desperation, "Rose, the Bad Wolf… It's you… Which means… Arg!… You can fight it… You can control it…" his words were coming out between strangled breaths. Suddenly, he looked over her shoulder, seeing something she could not, "No! Not yet! Give me a few more seconds!" he pleaded. Anxious, Rose looked behind her, trying to see what the Doctor was addressing, but there was no-one.
"Rose… Rose, listen…" his grip on her hand tightened, "You can do it… You won't kill… You know what to do…" Rose opened her mouth to argue, But I don't! I don't know what to do! I need you! But before she could say anything, the Doctor interrupted, "You know… When the time comes… You will know…" his eyes began to close, "I trust you…"
"But, Doctor, what's wrong? How can I help you if I don't even know what I'm helping?!" she begged, pleading with him to stay with her. His face contorted with pain as the Doctor tried to stay awake to answer Rose's question.
"When you… the Bad Wolf… Now defences… Too high… Couldn't get to mind… Had to see you…" his voice started fading, "You can do it… Good luck…" and with that, the Doctor's eyes closed and his hand slipped from hers. Rose closed her eyes, and allowed a few escaped tears to slide down her face, landing with a 'plop' like sound on the Doctor's slightly shaking head.
Rose took a deep breath, pulling herself together. She slowly bent her head and placed a small kiss on the Doctor's forehead, whispering as she came back up, "I'll save you, Doctor."
She couldn't help but notice how he seemed to still as her lips touched his hot brow. The way his breathing regulated, and he stopped shivering quite so much. Rose felt her heart nearly melt with this simple act, and would've quite happily sat there for hours, just watching him sleep.
But there were other things to do. She couldn't simply sit all day. She had to save the Doctor, and with him, save herself… Without hurting Donna, or burning out her head.
Yes. This was turning out to be a long day.
.o0o0o
"Donna, that bar there, turn everything a quarter turn to the left!" Rose shouted as she came crashing through the doors.
Without thinking about it, Donna rushed to the part of the TARDIS Rose had indicated to, and immediately got to work twisting all the complicated controls lying out in front of her.
"What does that do?" Donna asked, stepping back from the desk.
"No idea!" Rose shouted, fiddling with some further switches on the other side of the control desk, "Sorta thing the Doctor would say!" she twisted away from the desk as she flicked another switch, if Rose had been wearing a long, brow overcoat at that moment, she would've almost looked like the very man she had just referred to, "Ha!" she shouted, throwing back her head and laughing madly.
"Now, it was the Bad Wolf that got us into this mess and it'll be the Bad Wolf that gets us out of it!" Rose declared, working out so many things in her head at once, it was a wonder there wasn't smoke issuing from her ears!
"But I thought you said you were the Bad Wolf?" Donna asked, struggling to keep up with Rose's complicated thoughts and random sayings.
"I am. And that means… I can control it." Rose said, quickly trying to make Donna understand. At the look of her blank face, however, Rose realised she was going to have to be a whole lot clearer whilst explaining something she didn't properly understand.
"Um… Basically, when the Doctor accessed my mind to tell me where he was, part of me was still connected to the Bad Wolf and it brought up my brain defences… um…" Rose paused, trying to work out what she was trying to say, but Donna interrupted.
"Which means…?"
"Um… it means that…um…well, I think it means that, when the Doctor went into my mind, the Bad Wolf tried to protect me, and did something to his head…"
"But what can you do?"
"Um… well, I was gunna absorb the time vortex again, giving me full access to the Bad Wolf. Then I was gunna go into the Doctor's mind, and fix whatever the Bad Wolf did in the first place…" Rose explained. She didn't know if she was making much sense in the first place, as she was working it out as she said it.
"So where does killing me come into this grand scheme of yours then?" Donna asked.
God, if she doesn't stop asking these questions, I might not even try to stop the Bad Wolf! Rose thought to herself, even though she knew she was lying. She would never hurt anyone, let alone Donna. It was such a pointless thing to think, but she really was getting on Rose's nerves now.
"Well… um… the Bad Wolf is strong, and it might be difficult to control. There is a possibility that it will get out of hand and hurt you… I don't know how, before you ask… but if it does, then it'll burn my mind as well… and the Doctor's, if I'm still in it."
Donna said nothing, her brain hurriedly trying to process the information Rose had just given her.
"Right…" she eventually got out, but Rose had already moved on, and was once again buried in controls and wires and all sorts of various objects that Donna could never hope to know the names of.
"Donna, come and help me with this!" Rose's voice seemed to echo in the emptiness that filled the TARDIS without the Doctor's loud presence. Pleased for the distraction, Donna rushed over to Rose's side, to be greeted with a huge bundle of wires and a couple of the unnamed objects.
With only a brief description of what she was required to do, Donna was left to get on with things. Meanwhile, Rose was franticly rushing around, trying to sort out the TARDIS – although, why and exactly what Rose was doing, was completely beyond Donna, and she had no intentions of interrupting.
.o0o0o
They worked in silence for a long time, and Rose found herself preferring that to the distracting babble of conversation.
She had been back to the Doctor's side a number of times throughout the day, but he hadn't woken or spoke to her since the earlier incident. His words still filled her mind, however. Every time she closed her eyes, or thought of him, Rose could hear him speaking clearly in her mind, I trust you. And he did. She knew that. But still, Rose couldn't shake the feeling that she didn't deserve his trust. After all, what could she do? It was her fault any of this happened in the first place!
So, Rose busied herself in her task – making the TARDIS strong enough to hold the Bad Wolf. Strong enough to stop her… hopefully.
.o0o0o
Eventually, after what seemed like forever, Rose whispered the words Donna had been longing to hear ever since the Doctor went under and Rose had been trying to help. Words that she had began to fear she would never hear.
"It's ready."
Instantly, Donna was up and by Rose's side. She looked at the young woman and was almost surprised to see fear in her eyes.
"Rose… are you okay?" Donna asked, quietly.
Rose sniffed, and raised her eyes to the sky, summoning up a strength Donna had already seen wasn't there, "I'm fine."
It was then, that Donna knew Rose really wasn't fine at all. Simply because, that was what the Doctor said, whenever Donna noticed him with his barriers down. Whenever he let his emotions slip, whenever he wasn't fine, he would always cover it up. I'm fine, he'd insist, but Donna knew that he wasn't. She wished he would talk to her. She could help him if he let her in, she was sure of it. But he'd never let her in. The Doctor never let anyone in. It was just his way. Be strong cuz that's what he thinks they all need.
He let Rose in, once. Something Donna would never know. Sometimes, when she could, she would get to him, talk to him. She was one of the only, very, very few people who could do that.
"Fine." Rose repeated, but whether for Donna's benefit or her own…
Donna gave Rose what she hoped was a sympathetic smile, before turning back to the TARDIS.
"Well…I suppose I'd better…I'll just go say goodbye…" Rose turned and began to make her way over to the Doctor's room before Donna stopped him with the inevitable
"What?!" Slowly, but without hesitation, Rose turned back to face Donna, she knew that this moment would have to come, but she would much rather it could've waited for a bit longer, "What do you mean, 'goodbye'?"
Rose took a deep breath before answering, this is gunna be tough, she thought briefly, "Um… There is a possibility, that the Bad Wolf will burn out my head…"
"WHAT?!" Donna interrupted, "Wait…how high is the possibility that that will happen?"
"Well…Quite high, actually…" Rose whispered, but she quickly continued in her normal voice before Donna could respond with her increasingly common "What?!", something that Rose was sure she must've got from the Doctor, but she may have been like that before – it was hard to be certain, "But you should be fine…"
"Should?" Rose ignored the latest comment from the gob-smacked Donna Noble,
"Last time I did this… I absorbed the time vortex… The Doctor said that he took it out of me… but this time he can't… this time it'll stay, and it'll be up to me to get it out…and if I don't…"
"It'll burn you." Donna finished where Rose could not.
"Yeah…" Rose whispered, and nodded her head towards the door, "So I suppose I'd better…" She trailed off, unable to continue. Again.
Donna nodded, allowing Rose to walk out in search of her Doctor's room.
Poor Rose, Donna thought, there's got to be something I can do!
At that moment, an idea struck her and she rushed into the corridor after Rose, but disappeared into a different room, eager to put her idea into use.
.o0o0o
Darkness. All around him. Darkness. Filling him up. In his ears, up his noise, in his mouth. Everywhere. There was nothing else. Nothing. Only darkness.
Until…
"Me again…"
"Rose…" he whispered, her wonderful voice cutting into his silent dreams.
She was talking to him, quietly, but talking nonetheless. He could feel a small, tight grip on his hand, but could not return her grasp. He desperately tried to listen, but something was stopping him from focusing on her words. He tried to give her hand a comforting squeeze, but it was like his body was no longer listening to his mind.
"ROSE!" he shouted, but his voice only echoed in his mind, not even leaving his lips, which had frozen.
"Rose!" he tried again, quieter this time, so wanting her to hear him. He needed to tell her… it will be okay…
"Rose…"
.o0o0o
"Me again…" Rose whispered, closing the door quietly behind her. She hovered at the door, just marvelling at the Doctor's stillness,
"So how are you?" She smiled as the words left her mouth, knowing that the Doctor couldn't answer her, even if he could hear her.
Still smiling, Rose walked over to the Doctor. Sitting on the chair next to his bed, Rose slipped her hand into his. A single tear escaped from her eye, but her smile only faltered for a second before it was back. There was no point in crying, she didn't fear death. She wasn't happy, but she wasn't particularly sad either, and for some reason wanted to put on a brave face, even though she knew the Doctor couldn't see her.
"I suppose… this is goodbye then," she whispered, her grip on the Doctor's hand increasing only slightly, "But that's fine… that's okay. Maybe it's time," Rose's smile changed to one of sorrow, but there was still an element of acceptance and peacefulness in it.
"We never went to Barcelona, did we?" she laughed, "All the things we said we'd do…" Rose lost herself in her thoughts for a moment, but regained herself quickly, bringing herself back to the now.
"Have a good life, yeah Doctor? Have a good life for me." Her smile brightened ever so slightly, but at the same time, decreased, as she thought about the Doctor, happy and alive. "I wish I could be in it… but we both know that's not gunna happen. I'm gunna be burn out, saving you… and that's the way it was always gunna be. If I have to go, then I want it to be for you. You're more important than me, and don't you go saying otherwise!" She laughed, hearing the Doctor in her head, insisting that everyone's important. But she knew that wasn't true. Not entirely. The Doctor was the most important. He saved them all more times than anyone could ever imagine. Without him… well, it doesn't bare thinking about.
Rose let another tear escape her as she thought about the life she could have had. A life she should have had. With him. With her Doctor.
"I…" she started, but lost herself with a small smile. She couldn't finish that sentence. Anyhow, he knew.
Rose left the smile on her face, and bent down to leave a lingering kiss on the Doctor's forehead.
She frowned and sat up quickly, much more quickly than she was going to. The reason being that a sudden, loud scream filled her ears, coming closer.
"What the…" but before she could finish, she was interrupted by the door being thrown open, revealing a slightly breathless Donna Noble, holding a large bucket.
She opened her mouth and screamed again, running towards the Doctor. Stopping just short of him, she threw the entire content on his still body.
Rose's mouth opened and her eyes widened in shock, horror and just a hint of amusement at the strange thing she had just witnessed.
Donna looked at the Doctor with a triumphant smile, as he slowly raised both hands to his face, brushing off the excess water, once he had recovered from the shock of suddenly getting a large bucket of icy water poured over him. His eyes stayed closed tightly. Slowly, he shook his head, sprinkling the bed, and Rose, with tiny drops of freezing cold water.
Donna's smile faded, however, when the Doctor brought his arms back to his sides, and began shaking slightly. Rose brought her hand carefully to his head, but withdrew it quickly, unable to cope with the increasing heat issuing from the Doctor's boiling skin.
Rose looked up at Donna, before returning her gaze to the Time Lord's feverish body. Making up her mind in a brief second, Rose turned and fled from the room, setting the door flying in the process.
.o0o0o
Donna rushed into the control room just seconds after Rose, but she was already at the other side of the room, one hand on a leaver and a blank expression on her face.
When Donna ran into the room, Rose snapped her head up, facing her, but her eyes were looking through her somehow. Looking at, but not seeing, the ginger woman standing in the doorframe, trying to catch her breath after running from the Doctor's room to the control room after Rose.
"I'll save you…" Rose whispered, and Donna knew that she was talking to the Doctor, not to her.
In one swift movement, Rose pulled the leaver down and the section of the TARDIS control that she was standing by flew open, revealing a stunning golden light.
"Donna don't look!" Rose shouted, suddenly seeing the danger Donna was in by standing so close to the heart, "Whatever you do don't look!"
Donna didn't need telling twice, and quickly looked away from the brilliant light, bringing up her hand to shield her eyes. However, she didn't look away completely, unwilling to let the fragile-looking form of Rose Tyler from her sight, just in case she needed her.
Once checking that Donna was okay, and properly shielded, Rose slowly moved around to get into a better position to look into the TARDIS. She was ever-so-slightly worried for Donna, after all, last time she looked into the TARDIS, Rose had been alone, and she wasn't sure about the effect it would have on a bystander.
All these thoughts were forgotten, though, as Rose felt her head fill with the time vortex.
Soon she could see nothing but the golden light, shimmering and flowing around her. Her only thought was the time vortex, slowly revealing itself to her. She could feel the oddly familiar pressure on her mind from the whole of time and space. Slowly, memories came back to her. The last time she absorbed the vortex, the memories had been erased from her head, but now the TARDIS could not stop her from remembering.
Everything dies. All this. Everything must come to dust. The Time War ends.
Rose would've stumbled, would've stopped, but she could not stop the vortex from pouring into her. Not now. She was too strong, and there was too much at stake.
She knew it would hurt her, may burn her, if she stopped now. Besides, the Doctor needed her. She had to keep going. For him.
Finally it stopped. And Rose could feel the time vortex running through her mind. Could see the power flowing through her hands. She could do it. She could save them all. She could stop the hurting. She could bring back the Doctor's family. She could change it so she never fell into the void. She could do it all.
No! It's not meant to be like that! Everything that happens, happens for a reason.
It almost sounded like the Doctor's voice, talking to her in her head, stopping her before she tried. Before she hurt herself. Before she burnt.
"Rose…?" Donna's scared, timid voice broke into Rose's thoughts.
Rose looked up, her golden eyes burning into Donna's own blue ones.
"I can see," Rose whispered, allowing herself complete access to the Wolf, "I can see everything…" she remembered the last time. All of time and space and matter. She could see it all, "All that is. All that was. All that could be. All that mustn't be." Her voice was quiet but strong, and it scared Donna, "Everything."
"Rose…?" Donna murmured, unsure about this woman standing in front of her. So much had happened in the last few moments, and Rose had changed. Like she said she would, but it was still weird. "Rose, remember why you're here. Remember why you're like this. Help him!" the last came out as a plead, and anxious request from one who was so very afraid of allowing all this to happen.
"Do not fear, Donna Noble, you are safe." Rose said, facing Donna and sensing her fear, "I promise I won't hurt you."
Donna breathed a small sigh of relief, Rose Tyler was still in there somewhere. She had no doubt that the Bad Wolf could kill her in an instant if she saw fit, but she knew that Rose would never do that. Rose couldn't kill, and Donna didn't need to know her that well to know that. Rose wouldn't hurt her.
"The Doctor…" a breath, a voice caught in the wind. Coming from Rose and Donna at once, but also coming from neither. A voice issuing from the TARDIS herself. Rose turned herself and her thoughts to the Doctor. The man she loved. The man she would save. She had to.
Donna watched as Rose drew in a deep breath, and when she let it out, it was followed by a string of golden light. Donna did not need to know what that light was, and she didn't really want to.
So she just watched it. Watched it as it snaked past her and down the corridor that led to the Doctor, still lying in his bed.
Rose watched it too, a slight look of interest on her face. She didn't know what she had been expecting to happen, all she had thought about was the Doctor. His smiling face, his hand in hers, his whispers and his shouts; telling her it'd all be okay. She smiled slightly, she was still Rose Tyler. And she loved him. He was kept her fighting.
And she was what kept him… Rose stumbled slightly. She was in his mind. And it burnt!
All his thoughts, his dreams, everything. It was too much for her….almost. But she stayed, because she could. It wasn't too much for the Bad Wolf, and the Bad Wolf was her. So she could see.
Eventually she left his head before it became too much. She was good at that, telling when it was time to go. Time to leave. She knew how much she could cope with, and how much it took to hurt her.
Rose felt the Doctor heal, and she knew it was time to let go. Like the Doctor had once told her, You've done it, Rose, now let go. Just let go! And she would've, had it not been for that little voice in the back of her head, speaking to her, holding onto her, telling her not to let you.
You can be with him, you know. You and him. You can have forever. Never aging, never withering, never dying. All of time and space. Rose Tyler and the Doctor. The Bad Wolf and the Oncoming Storm. All you have to do is hold on. Just don't let go, and you can have it all. No-one ever has to die again. No more pain. No more suffering. You could help everyone. You could save them all! Just hold on to the power. Don't let go of the Bad Wolf!
"Rose…" Rose looked up, a comforting, welcome and much-missed voice cutting into her thoughts.
"No!…" the Doctor breathed, seeing what Rose had done.
"I had to. I had to keep you safe. I couldn't…couldn't let you die." Rose responded, trying to make him listen, make him see why she had done it.
A single tear slipped down her face, leaving a pail yellow trail down her golden cheek.
"You didn't have to…" he whispered, walking over to her, the brilliant, bright light not appearing to faze him. He walked straight past Donna, who was still watching with amazement, he didn't look at her, but Donna could tell he was cheeking to see if she was okay. Donna nodded slightly as he slowed near her and he continued walking. Closer and closer to Rose Tyler aka the Bad Wolf.
"But I did." She said, barely a second after he spoke, "I want you safe, my Doctor. Safe." She echoed from so long ago. Memories and knowledge simmering in her mind, drowning her. She was falling, falling through time and space and no-one could help her, no-one could stop her. Then she felt a hand close around hers.
"It's okay, I've got you," the Doctor murmured from somewhere by Rose's ear as he linked their hands.
Donna watched in amazement as the Doctor reached out a hand and took Rose's in a firm grip. She was vaguely aware of her mouth hanging slightly open as the golden light surrounding Rose swept down her arm, and slowly crept up the Doctors, flowing through their joined hands until both were bathed in an unearthly golden glow.
"No…" Rose whispered as she realised what the Doctor was doing. He didn't reply, just stared straight ahead, a blank expression on his face, "You can't. It'll kill you."
Then he looked at her, really looked at her, and saw his emotions mirrored on her face, "I'm sorry, you have to let go…"
"Then I will." Rose said, he mind made up, "It doesn't burn like it did, I am in control of the Bad Wold. It is me and I am it. I can hold it…" her voice broke slightly, but she carried on nonetheless, "and I can let it go."
Another tear leaked from Rose's eye, following almost the same path as the last, but still leaving a slight indent on her face whenever the trails differed.
Summoning up all her energy, Rose pulled the power back from the Doctor, back to herself.
Hold on, Rose Tyler. Then you can be together. You can be his equal. More than a companion, more than a friend. You can be special. You can live on. With him… Don't let go, Rose Tyler. Just don't let go and you can be more…
"You're already more," the Doctor whispered, as if hearing her thoughts. His words gave her strength.
You are not in charge of me! I make my own decisions and I say no! She shouted inside her head, forcing the Bad Wolf out. Fighting it back. Back to the time vortex. Back to the TARDIS. Away from her and away from the Doctor. He would be safe and they would be happy. They didn't need forever like the Bad Wolf promised, and that was what made all the difference between the human and the vortex. The Wolf wanted forever, but all Rose needed was here and now. With the Doctor. No forever, no false promises, nothing. Just them.
The Doctor watched, pride in his eyes as Rose fought the Bad Wolf. She was so strong, and when it came out of her, when the light he had allowed to leave him left her, he didn't think he had ever been so proud of anyone in his life!
He had almost changed his mind when he had felt her pull the vortex out of him. He knew he was strong enough to get rid of it, but he couldn't be sure if Rose would be. He knew the power the time vortex held, and he would die if anything had happened to Rose. He had only let her go because he trusted her, and he knew he could step in if it looked like anything was going wrong. If he needed to, he could still save her.
But he hadn't needed to! He hated to admit it, but he honestly didn't think that she would be able to do it. He knew the vortex, he knew all about the little mind games it plays with you, and that was why he spoke to her when he did. He had no doubt that it would be telling her all sorts of things, fake promises, if he knew anything – which, of course, he did. So he had told her. Well, sort of. He had told her that she was more… he only hoped she knew what he meant. And she was… she was so, so much more…
Than what? What was Rose Tyler more than. She was more than so much to the Doctor. He couldn't even find the words to say what she meant to him.
Donna was still watching as the light fled out of Rose, leaving her. Briefly, it flew towards her, and Donna was afraid that it would find her and take her, but it didn't. It changed course and was sucked into the TARDIS, closing the open section as it disappeared. Donna looked on as Rose fell against the Doctor, her hand resting in a small fist by the side of his neck. She watched as the Doctor placed a strong hand on her back, while the other slipped to her knees, pulling her into a tight embrace and lifting her off the ground.
Donna rushed to help as the Doctor stumbled slightly under Rose's weight, but instead headed towards the door when he regained his balance and carried Rose easily across the room and through the now-open door into the corridor of the TARDIS.
"Door…" he breathed, concentrating on the female resting in his arms. Donna quickly scurried to open the door to the Doctor's bedroom, standing aside to allow him to carry Rose through.
Carefully, the Doctor edged past Donna, looking down at the small human he was holding. He examined every perfect detail on her peaceful face. The Doctor found himself wondering numbly exactly what it was that made him fall in love so deeply with this child. He would never admit it, of course, not even to himself, but there was no denying
She breathed deeply, and her head fell against his chest, causing the Doctor's heartbeats to increase dramatically. He so wanted to move that strand of hair away from her face, but he could not move his hands for fear of dropping her. She looked so delicate, so fragile, that at that moment, the Doctor was positive that if he let her fall, or held her too tight, she would shatter into a million tiny pieces.
Donna stood by as the Doctor slowly laid Rose Tyler onto his bed. She watched as he brushed her hair carefully out of her face with his fingertips. So much love shone through his eyes, Donna thought it a wonder he didn't explode with not telling her. She was sure he hadn't told her, but maybe he didn't need to.
Look at them, Donna thought, and suddenly she found herself feeling rather detached, like she shouldn't be there.
Rose drew in another deep breath, and the Doctor looked up at Donna for what felt like the first time in years. He beckoned for her to come and sit with him by the bed.
Together, they watched Rose Tyler as she slept. Both lost in their thoughts, both thinking the same thing:
Please let her be alright!