Chapter 21: One word
Martha woke with a start, immediately looking over to where the Doctor lay, enclosed in the clear chamber that held him. What had woken her?
Cough.
There it was; a weak cough and groan. She opened the clear cover and leaned over him.
She soothed him, placing her hand softly on his cheek. He was beginning to sweat a bit, exerting all his strength just to wake. Martha dabbed a cool cloth on his face as she did so many times before when his fevers broke. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at her. She could tell he was having problems focusing his vision; he blinked in the bright light of the medical quarter. His right brow area was still shadowed from the connection with the TARDIS console when he fell. She stroked back his hair.
"Easy, I'm here."
He was still trying to focus, his brown eyes drifting about. Martha's heart was breaking into but also glad he was regaining consciousness. Martha was unprepared for what came next. One simple word.
"Rose."
He breathed a few times before the coughing set in again. It was the kind of cough where you have something caught in your throat, thick and raspy. Martha was quickly brought back from the word that stirred questions deep within her soul. He was choking.
She quickly suctioned his airway and he responded with some dry coughing. He licked his dry lips. He continued to try to clear the dryness from his throat. Taking a syringe she pulled up some cold water from the sink. Drop by drop she gave him water and he hungrily lapped it up, not too much though. She didn't want him to strangle.
"Better?" she asked.
He nodded slightly and closed his eyes. His eye brows were knitted together in pain and he groaned slightly.
"Doctor?" she placed her hand on his, giving it a gentle squeeze. He opened his eyes again and blinked, looking over towards her. He reminded her of a newborn kitten opening its eyes for the very first time. She couldn't be angry at him for thinking she was Rose. She knew Rose meant a lot to him from the tiny clues he'd mentioned about her. Martha couldn't help but to be a little jealous, she cared a lot for him. He was probably just a little confused from the shock to his body from all the infection.
She could tell he was miserable. The probe from the TARDIS was still implanted in his right carotid artery, tendrils now wrapped around his normal sized left heart, prodding it to beat out a feeble rhythm. His lab values had improved, the infection finally dissipating.
"You're going to be all right. It's just going to take time."
Time. He closed his eyes and slept.
Later, Martha moved him from the chamber to the bed in the Medical Suite. He seemed to rest better but still his body continued to use a lot of oxygen to help with the healing process. She placed an oxygen mask on his face. The TARDIS probe lengthened in response to the move and continued the assistance his body so much needed. IV fluids fed into the vein in his left arm keeping him hydrated while he recovered. The TARDIS took care of the medicine he needed at the moment.
"What would Rose do?" she asked herself, whispering. "Good ol' Rose." She smiled sadly, remembering when they shared the bed in Shakespeare's time. Of course he didn't make any moves on her not that she expected it. But when he said what he did then, it had ran deep in her. Rose.
Was she herself just a passing fancy to him, an experiment? "Just one trip". One trip proved to be a few trips. Not that she didn't enjoy them, she loved it. She loved him.
He shifted around, groaning, his arms and legs moving under soft white blankets. She knew he had to be hurting. She rubbed slow circles on the center his chest and quietly spoke to him.
"I know you're hurt and in pain. It's okay. Just rest and don't worry. I'm here for you."
She said this more to reassure herself.