A/N: Ugg I feel quite sick this morning. Maybe this is my punishment for being so mean to Rose and the Doctor. I hope it doesn't impede my creative genius. Ok I don't think genius is quite right. I'm not that good at writing.
Disclaimer: Don't own the Doctor. Sniff
Shuttles in the year 100,475 did not go nearly fast enough for the Doctor's liking. Geoffrey Paxton had offered to take the Doctor to the hospital because John Smith didn't own a shuttle. Dr. Paxton punched a few co-ordinates into the control panel and swiveled around to face the Doctor. "Traffic isn't that bad today. We should be there in thirty minutes or so," he said.
The Doctor found it hard to concentrate on Dr. Paxton's words because his mind was buzzing through all the possibilities for Rose's sudden collapse. They all boiled down to the same thing: he shouldn't have left her alone. "What did your wife say exactly, Geoff? I can call you Geoff, right?"
The other man looked taken aback. "I suppose… Glenda didn't say much. She was just stopping in to say hello and they were sitting there having tea and your wife just fell off her chair and started writhing on the floor. Poor Glenda was scared out of her wits. She has a delicate heart you see. I try not to let her get too riled up but there was this one time when I first met her…"
The Doctor tuned out the other man's droning voice. He now regretted not taking the TARDIS to the hospital. It would have been quicker, even if it risked suspicion.
"Mr. Smith… John, did you hear me?"
The Doctor snapped out of his reverie. "Sorry?" he answered.
'"I asked you how long you two have been married?"
The Doctor pondered over what to answer, finally deciding he said, "Just under two years." About the same amount of time Rose had been traveling with him.
"So you don't have any kids yet?" Geoffrey asked.
"Nope. I don't do domestic," the Doctor answered rather quickly.
Geoffrey stared wistfully at the ceiling. "Glenda was pregnant once. When she told me I went straight out and bought a little set of booties. They were yellow because we didn't know its sex." He turned his head towards the window. Deep lines formed in the normally cheerful face. "She lost it," he said finally. "I wanted to try again but Glenda wanted to wait. That was thirteen years ago. I'm fifty-six now. Too old to be a father."
"I'm sorry," said the Doctor, quietly.
"Maybe you're right to not do domestic, John. It only hurts in the long run."
They rode the rest of the way in silence, each haunted by old ghosts. Geoffrey dropped the Doctor off at the main entrance to the hospital and went to park the shuttle. A quick stop at Information told him Rose was on the fourth floor in room 435B. He got hopelessly lost, unable push away the thoughts of what Rose would say if she were with him. It doesn't matter what planet their from. Men never stop for directions. Her tiny voice spoke in his mind. Finally a nurse noticed the lost look on his face and sent him in the right directions. (He had been going in circles it turned out.) "Great," he muttered to himself, "I can navigate time and space but I can't find my way around a hospital." A passerby gave him a very odd look and walked away shaking his head.
He heard a high-pitched woman's voice upon walking into room 435B. Peaking around the corner he saw Rose sitting up in bed, very pale, a bored expression on her face. A brown-haired woman, possibly in her late 30s sat in a chair next to the bed chatting away, unaware that her audience was tuning her out.
"Ahem," the Doctor cleared his throat as he walked in. Rose's looked unmistakably relieved to see him. "I'm sorry," the Doctor continued, "Am I interrupting anything."
Rose started to speak but the brown-haired woman interjected. "Oh I was just telling Rose all about my debate society. My husband, Geoffrey, suggested that I start it up. He said, 'Glenda you are so good at talking you should make it a hobby.' My Geoffrey is so smart. You must be John. He told me about you, though he didn't say much about you. He doesn't talk much my Geoffrey."
Rose flashed him a look that clearly conveyed a message saying 'save me from this woman'.
The Doctor moved over to stand beside the bed, taking one of Rose's hands in his. "How are you feeling?"
Rose began to answer but Mrs. Paxton cut in, "Oh she's been right sick all day. She threw up all over the nurse who brought her up from radiology. Poor bloke."
The Doctor flipped through the pages of Rose's chart, scanning the information. Looking at Rose, he commented, "It says here you've been getting dizzy spells."
"I'm fine," Rose began.
Again Glenda cut in. "Oh she can't stand without holding onto a wall."
"Really," he noted, not taking his eyes off Rose.
"Do…John," stammered Rose, "Can I go home with you now?"
"Oh but dear," Glenda began, "The doctors insisted that you stay here for observations." To the Doctor she added, "They were concerned about her being all by herself during the day. Who knows what would happen if I hadn't been there today. I explained to them that you were just starting a new job and couldn't possibly take time off to stay with her."
"Oh well…" the Doctor started to say before he was interrupted by Mrs. Paxton.
"But that's okay because she can come and stay with my husband an I until she is feeling better." Oblivious to Rose's look of horror, she continued. "Oh no need to thank me. I'm always happy to do a good deed. Honestly I'll be glad of the company. My friends havn't come calling much lately. They have terribly busy lives. They're not like you dear, they don't need to live off their husbands."
Ignoring Rose's scathing look the Doctor answered, "We would be glad to accept your hospitality for a few days. Just until Rose feels better. Right honey?"
Rose chose not to answer.
"Well, I'll leave you two alone for a minute while I go collect her things. They took away all of her clothes. Even her jewelry. Someone could try to pinch it. Not that you have to worry, dear. You obviously have nothing of value."
Rose waited until Mrs. Paxton was well out of earshot before speaking in a low, dangerous voice. "You are not leaving me alone all day with her."
"Now Rose, that isn't very nice. She seems quite kind. Besides won't it be nice to have someone other than the TARDIS to talk to?"
Rose was about to reply but Geoffrey Paxton walked in the room smiling. "My wife," he said, "has informed me that we are having house guests for a few days."
Sighing, Rose leaned back. She had lost this battle.
Glenda's constant chatter and an occasional nod from Geoffrey animated the drive to the Paxton's home. Rose spent the whole trip with her head in her hands, breathing carefully, while the Doctor rubbed her back. He tried to ignore Glenda's repeated remarks about how cute they were.
When they arrived, Glenda showed them to a comfortable room with a king sized bed in the middle. "This is the guest suite," she explained, "The bathroom is just behind that door. If you need anything don't be afraid to use the intercom. The dresser should be able to replicate any nightclothes. I will see you in the morning."
"Thank-you" the Doctor told her as she left.
After helping Rose sit down on the bed he wandered around the room, fiddling with curtains and examining the pictures on the walls. "Well this seems like a nice place Rose."
She stared back at him, not trusting herself to speak.
"Oh don't give me that look, Rose. It's for the best really. I can't look after you while I'm poking around at the university," he said while placing her bag of belongings from the hospital on the dresser. Slowly he began emptying the contents out of the bag, placing each item neatly on the countertop.
"Oh and that is so important," she sneered.
"You're the one that told me to," he responded, confused.
"Well that was before you decided that I can't look after myself."
"I didn't decide anything. You're sick. I'm trying to look after you."
"Well just stop, ok," she huffed, "I'm fine."
"I won't stop, Rose," his voice hard and forceful. "You are my responsibility."
"Oh I forgot," she said, fighting tears, "I'm just a responsibility. Like a little pet that tags along. Something that you can just leave behind or drop on someone else whenever you feel like it."
"Rose, it's not like that."
"You only care about me when it suits you."
"Rose you know that's not true," he replied.
"But it is true," she said. "You've ignored your 'responsibility' again and again. Dumping me on these people while you go swanning off, leaving me for Madame de Pompadore." He started to answer but she interrupted him, anger fueling her beyond all reason. "You're just trying to get rid of me. I bet you were hoping that I'd be killed when you locked me in with that Dalek." She regretted her words as soon as they past her lips.
He looked like he had just been slapped. His face contorted in anger. Her mobile, which he had been holding, flew across the room, crashing into a picture frame. Glass shattered everywhere. In a moment he had crossed the room. Wrapping his fingers around her chin, he pulled her face so that it was inches from his own. Intense brown eyes bore into her soul.
His voice echoed like fire on ice off the walls, both soft and deadly. "There is not night that goes by, Rose Tyler, that I do not relive the moment when I thought I killed you. Not a single night that I am not haunted by my decision. Don't you DARE accuse me of not caring, you stupid human girl."
She squeaked and a tear rolled from one hazel eye. Slowly, as if in a trance, he released the vice-like grip on her chin. As he pulled his hand away he noticed white marks where his fingers had been. She started to rub her chin but quickly covered her mouth, pushed him out of the way and ran to the bathroom.
Both sobbed, alone, and in separate rooms. She whimpered between the heaves of her stomach and he sat on the floor beside the bed, his body wracking in fits of tears as he stared at his hand. The same hand that had caused the purple bruise slowly creeping over Rose's cheek.
A/N: Well that got a bit intense. Oops. I have a feeling that I'm gonna get some pretty interesting and opinionated reviews.
I was completely floored by the number of reviews from the last chapter by the way.