The breath was knocked out of Rose as she slammed into the white wall. She laid on the ground gasping. Every gasp was accompanied with a sharp pain in her chest.

"Rose!" the Doctor yelled, running across the room towards her. He crushed her against her chest. An involuntary whimper escaped her lips. The Doctor heard and gently pulled away from her.

His eyes roamed her body before settling on her arm that had been crushed between their bodies. The wrist was very swollen and bent at an odd angle.

"Rose. Is it just your wrist or does it hurt anywhere else?" His voice was so gentle. As hard as Rose tried she couldn't answer. Her ribs hurt so much every time she breathed in or out.

The Doctor must have seen her struggle to respond because he quickly stood before picking her up and carrying her back to Tardis.

XX

He made quick time and before she knew it they were in the med bay of the Tardis. He set her gently on the medical table.

He gently rolled the sleeve of her hoodie up to get a better look at her wrist. He searched his pockets for his sonic. The Doctor quickly scanned her and read the results.

Rose was too delirious to notice any of this. All she could focus on was the intense pain originating from her ribs, her wrist, and her ankle which had begun to throb at some point during the trip to the Tardis.

Rose opened her eyes and immediately closed them again.

Why is it so bright? Rose tried to ask but all she could manage was a small grunt. Instantly she felt a hand on her forehead and a muffled sound came from above her. She opened her eyes to see a blurry outline slowly coming into focus. It was the Doctor. He was talking but she couldn't focus on his words.

Rose closed her eyes and allowed the darkness to consumer her.

XX

The next hour passed as the Doctor worked to heal Rose as best as he could. He reset Rose's wrist then passed the sonic screwdriver over it a couple of times, healing it as best as he could.

Then he scanned the sonic screwdriver over Rose's ankle and ribs a couple of times. After that, he meticulously wrapped her wrist, ribs, and ankle in a gauze bandage.

All that he needed to worry about was Rose's concussion now. She had hit the wall pretty hard and while he was certainly not happy about her being hurt he was extremely happy that she was still alive and was going to get better.

And, ok, he was even more happy that she had stayed with him. Because above all else he wanted to be with Rose and he was an extremely selfish old man who didn't want her to leave him ever. But she was going to one day. He dreaded that day. Luckily, that day was not today.

He slumped into the chair beside Rose's makeshift bed. The glasses were removed to allow for him to scrub a hand down his face.

The Doctor sat straight to gaze at Rose. Would she regret this? he wondered. Staying with me. She gave up so much just for me. Her own mother, and Mickey, and a chance to get to know her dad like she deserved. But she chose to stay here with me. A broken old man. Why would she do that?

The bitter thoughts ran rampant through his mind. But one thing rang clear as day. She chose to stay with him. She had chosen him over everyone else.

He spent the next several hours waiting for Rose to wake up, occasionally scanning her head with the sonic screwdriver. Constantly checking on the concussion.

Usually, he would never wait but this was for Rose and it was the least he could after everything she had done for him over the last several years.

XX

Rose woke up gradually. First her fingers twitched, then a low sound escaped her lips, and finally her eyes flutter open and close. It was so bright. The Tardis realized this and adjusted the lights to better accommodate her.

"You can open your eyes now," The Doctor's low voice filled her ears. She cautiously followed his instructions and was relieved to not recieve a headache from the attempt.

She rolled her head over to look at the Doctor who was looking at her with a worried frown on his face. She tried to quirk her lips into a smile for him and murmured, "Hello."

He smiled gently back at her, "Hello. You had me worried there."

"I'm sorry. I don't want to worry you." She honestly hated worrying him. He had enough to think about without me adding stress to that pile.

"It's fine." He pushed himself out of his chair and pulled the Sonic out from his jacket and scanned her head before double checking the results, nodding to himself an ever present frown marring his face

"Doctor," Rose got his attention. "What wrong?"

"Well, you have a sprained ankle, a broken wrist, 2 fractured ribs and a concussion for starters." She winced. " For another, you" He trailed off with a conflicted look on his face.

"What, Doctor," She asked.

He looked up at her and there was even more raw pain etched into his face. "You'll never be able to see her again."

"I know," Rose replied. Her voice wobbled and there were tears in her eyes that he refused to shed because Rose knew that the Doctor would only blame himself. So she wouldn't cry. Not until she was alone where she knew her tears couldn't hurt him.

Yes, she wanted this. To be with him forever. And she would never regret her decision to stay but she was still going to miss her mother very much.

Rose sniffed and told him "I'm never going to leave you. Never. Okay?" He nodded before pulling her into a loose hug, careful not to crush her right arm or her ribs. She tried her best to hug him back but she still felt so weak.

After a moment he allowed her to lay back down. "Would you rather lay in your bed? I can carry you there. You really shouldn't walk until your ankle is fully healed."

Rose nodded, gently and closed her eyes. She felt one arm go under her legs and sat up so the Doctor could put his arm around her back. He lifted her effortlessly and she rested her head against his shoulder while he made the quick walk to her room.

Once there, he settled her onto the pink bed and helped her to get under the covers. "Do you need anything? You should probably eat." Rose's nose scrunched up in disgust. Her stomach churned at the thought of food. "Just something simple. Maybe some toast." The Doctor coaxed.

Rose nodded her head, reluctantly. The Doctor left the room in search of the galley. Rose stared at the ceiling of her room and felt tears begin to burn. She couldn't cry now. The Doctor would be back any second and she had already decided not to make him feel any more guilty about this than he already does.

But no matter how much she tried to push them away the tears began to stream down her face. She heard the door open and tried to wipe away the tears away before he could see them but it was too late.

The Doctor rushed to her side and set the plate with toast and a mug of tea on her bedside table. His hand brushed her cheek, wiping away the tears. But the tears just kept coming and she couldn't seem to do anything about them.

The Doctor sat on the edge of the bed, patiently waiting for her to calm down. After several minutes the tears slowed and Rose got her breathing back under control.
"I'm sorry," the Doctor, murmured to her.

Rose shook her head as hard as she could, "Don't be sorry. I chose this. I want this."

"You want to be in pain? Rose, this is all my fault. You should have gone with with you mother." Before he had finished talking Rose was pushing herself into a sitting position.

"'s not." She grabbed his hand. "'s not your fault. I want to be with you. Forever. I already told you that." They gazed into each others eyes before the Doctor looked away.

Rose rested her hand against his cheek in an attempt to get him to look at her but her refused. Instead he stood up, breaking the connection, and grabbed the mug and plate off the table.

"Here. You need to eat." He handed the plate to Rose. Rose looked at the toast. Raspberry jam was spread across the top of the perfectly toasted bread. She picked it up but only managed a couple bites before she felt sick.

Rose set the remaining toast back on the plate and reached for the mug. The smell of her favorite tea, a raspberry and earl grey tea blend they had found on an astroid bazaar, wafted up her nose. She downed the whole mug as quickly as she could.

When she was done she set the mug on the nightstand. The Doctor was staring at her. They sat in silence just looking at one another for a few minutes.

The Doctor cleared his throat, abruptly, "I should let you get some rest." She nodded slowly before laying back down.

XX

Several hours passed and while Rose passed that time in a dreamless sleep the Doctor passed that time in the console room, using the Tardis to scan the universe. Searching for the impossible. As much as Rose didn't regret staying with him she deserved the chance to give her mum a proper goodbye.

XX

"Once the breach collapses, that's it. You will never be able to see her again. Your own mother!" The Doctor's face is very close to Rose's. His eyes are wide and panicked. But Rose is calm in the face of his fear and desperation.

"I made my choice a long time ago, and I'm never going to leave you. So what can I do to help?" He has to understand. This is Rose's choice, not his. Yes, she will miss her mum but not nearly as much as she will miss him.

The computer announces "Systems rebooted. Open access."

The Doctor's face shifts to one of acceptance. He's not willing to send her away again and he doesn't have the time to argue with her.

" Those coordinates over there, set them all to six. And hurry up." His yell doesn't phase Rose and she calmly follows his instructions, taking the yellow button off as she goes.

"We've got Cybermen on the way up." She informs him.

"How many floors down?"

"Just the one."

"Levers operational." The computer says. The Doctor and Rose look at each other, smiling.

"That's more like it. Bit of a smile. The old team." Rose says.

"Hope and Glory. Mutt and Jeff. Shiver and Shake."

"Which one's Shiver?" Rose questions, teasingly.

"Oh, I'm Shake." He responds in a matching tone while handing Rose one of the Magmaclamps. They walk to opposite ends of the room. "Press the red button," the Doctor helps her.

They both walk to the levers. "When it starts just hold on tight. It shouldn't be too bad for us but the Dalek's and the Cybermen are steeped in Void stuff. Are you ready?"

"So are they." Rose says, nodding towards the window where Daleks are flying.

"Let's do it." Rose and the Doctor push the levers up and dash for the Magmaclamps, grabbing on before the suction of the void can become too strong.

"Online," the computer says.

"The breach is open. Into the void. Ha!" The Doctor's glee is contagious and Rose and the Doctor both smile at each other while holding onto the Magmaclamps for dear life.

"Offline," the computer announces in the same pleasant tone as before. Rose's lever had shifted down.

"I've got to get it upright." Rose says, letting go of her clamp and falling onto the lever. The Doctor watches all of this with a look of horror on his face. He can't do anything to help her. Please, Please let her be alright, he prays silently.

Rose pushes the lever into the correct position. "Online and locked."

The pull of the void becomes stronger again but Rose is closer to the void and the pull is stronger for her than it was before. She holds on for minutes before her fingers become to sore and she cant any more.

She falls towards the void and darkness consumes her.

Rose gasps awake. Her heart is beating so fast she is surprised it's still in her chest at all. Someone is holding her shoulders. The Doctor. He is speaking to her. "-breathe. You can do it. Deep breaths." She follows his instructions and forces herself to breathe deeper. She calms down gradually and grabs his arms while she does so.

The Doctor sits on the end of Rose's bed. She flips the covers off of herself and launches herself at him, wrapping her arms around him in a vice-like grip. He wraps his arms around her too. It hurts her ribs to move this much and her head is pounding. But she doesn't care right now. All she wants is to be wrapped up in his arms forever.

Minutes pass and she still refuses to let go of him so he shifts them to be seated at the top of the bed.

"Are you alright?" He asks, already cursing his idiocy. Of course she's not alright. She's crying and hurt and she clearly had just had a nightmare. What kind of question is that? So he asks a new one before she can answer, "Do you want to talk?"

"I…" Rose pulled back and looked into his eyes, lost in thought. She nodded before leaning her head on his shoulder. She tells him about her dream and how much it scared her. Knowing that if she hadn't managed to wrap one leg around the lever for the few second that she had she would have gone into the void. Never to be seen again.

She finished telling him about her dream and his arms tightened around her, comfortingly. They sat in silence for a while. Rose was just beginning to doze off again when the Doctor spoke.

"The void didn't get you. Your here. With me. And…" He looked down at her, "I'm so glad that you're okay." Rose can see the raw fear in his eyes before he looks away. "You should get some more sleep."

Rose vigorously shakes her head, "I can't," she tells him.

"Rose."

"I don't want to have a nightmare," she interrupts him. "Besides I thought that you aren't supposed to sleep with a concussion?"

The Doctor pulls out his sonic and scans her head again while saying, "You can as long as someone keeps an eye on you. And you need sleep so that you can heal."

"I don't want to."

"You need to," he tells her, firmly.

She looks at him and asks in a small voice that he could never say no to, "Stay."

The Doctor nods his head in agreement and helps rose get back under the covers before standing. Rose moves to sit back up but stops when she notices that he is just taking off his shoes, suit jacket, and tie.

He lays on the bed beside Rose and gazes at her while she tries her best to go back to sleep. It takes nearly half an hour but she manages it.

XX

The next several weeks pass with very little variation. Rose sleeps for most of the day and eats when the Doctor brings her food. He stays with her until she falls back asleep and if he stays a bit longer sometimes then no one else needs to know it.

While Rose sleeps in her room he spends the hours in the console room scanning for any cracks. He finds several but none that match his needs. When Rose is having a nightmare the Tardis lets the Doctor know and he spends several hours with Rose after each one.

The only variation happened about a week after the Battle of Canary Wharf when Rose asked to go to her mums flat to grab what she wanted to keep.

The Doctor had asked if she wanted to have her name removed from the list of the dead and all she responded with was, "Why? It's not like I have any one left there waiting for me." He decided not to argue with her.

They spent the whole day sorting through her mother's things. In the end, Rose only grabbed the photo albums and a couple of sentimental items, like her mums favorite mug and Rose's old baby blanket.

At the end of the day Rose was both physically and mentally exhausted. The Doctor hadn't allowed her to do much moving but this was the longest she had been awake for a week and it was taxing. Not to mention all the tears that had been shed. She tried not to cry in front of the Doctor but she couldn't seem to control her tears. And she rather enjoyed his comfort.

That night ended with them back in the vortex and the Doctor comforting Rose for several hours before she fell asleep resting against him. The Doctor fell asleep not long after that.