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Chapter One

A coma? How was that possible?

Rose was stunned, and didn't know how to respond. "I – how?"

Doctor Sanchez glanced at her parent's, and Pete nodded the go ahead. "Rose, you've been in a coma because you were the victim of car accident. A hit and run to be precise. Your body was thrown and flung upon impact, resulting in rather critical head injuries. After the surgery, we had no choice but to put you in a medicated coma so that you could properly recover."

If somebody asked her how she currently felt, Rose would use one word. Overwhelmed.

"But I – I don't remember ..."

He smiled warmly, almost reassuring. "Nobody would expect you to remember right away, it was a pretty severe injury. Your memory will gradually return in its own time, so please don't worry. All you should focus on right now is recovering, within the next few days you'll have your first physio appointment, and then when the time is right you'll have your first therapy session with me. I'll leave you now to spend some time with your family, they've been eagerly awaiting you to wake up."

The tension seemed to dissipate when Doctor Sanchez left the room.

Jackie shuddered, apparently relieved. "Ooh, tha' man gives me the creeps. I'm glad he's gone."

Pete shook his head, annoyed by his wife's accusations. "C'mon Jacks, he's a Doctor, which means he cares. How can he be creepy?"

"I dunno, do I? Somethin' about tha' man gives me the creeps. Anyway, never mind about him." Jackie sat on the edge of the bed, smiling at her daughter. "How are you feeling sweetheart?"

"I'm confused." Rose stated hoarsely. "Where's the Doctor?"

Jackie frowned. "Wha' do you mean, love? Doctor Sanchez jus' left."

"No Mum, not him. The Doctor, tha's his name, remember? You know him. I – I travel with him, yea'?" Rose chose her words carefully, unaware of how much this version of Pete Tyler knew already. She hadn't figured out where exactly she was yet, so Rose needed to be cautious. "You weren't exactly best friends with him, either."

"Sweetheart, I don't know who you're goin' on about. I don't know anybody called the Doctor."

Rose was even more confused. How could that be? Surely her mother knew. "You're lyin', you're jokin' yea'? This is some kind of sick joke, righ'?" The more panicked Rose became, the more the heart monitor beeping increased. "How do you not know the Doctor? You're scarin' me, Mum."

"I'm sorry love, I don't mean to scare you, but I really don't know this person you're talkin' about." Jackie said firmly, trying to calm her daughter down so it didn't alert the nurses. She knew what would happen if Rose got too riled up. "An' before your accident you weren't even travellin'."

"Then wha' was I doin'? 'Cause I clearly don't remember."

Jackie exchanged a distressed expression with her husband, unsure as to how to answer it. "You're sayin' you don't remember anythin' from the accident?"

Rose shook her head. "Nothin' at all. Wha' happened? Please tell me, I want to know."

Pete copied his wife's actions, and sat on Rose's other side on the bed. "The day you had the accident, it was a normal day for us all. You were on your way to work, we actually work together, at Torchwood. Usually, you're on time at work, but on this particular day you were running late. The weather was bad that morning, to the point of a torrential downpour. The traffic was horrendous, and you'd stepped out of the car briefly to pick up your usual order of a coffee and a bagel. You were going to get back in the car, when another car came out of nowhere and hit you. On impact, you were flung into the air and flipped at least three times before coming into contact with the ground. Not only that, you landed on your head. When you were brought to the hospital, they put you into a medically induced coma. John was so distraught, he thought he was going to loose you."

"Woah, woah, woah, wait a minute." Rose wasn't entirely sure she believed his story, but for now, she would have no choice but to expect it. "Who the hell is John?" Her mother and father exchanged another look. "Wha'? Who is he?"

"Rose," Jackie heaved a heavy sigh, controlling her own emotions for the sake of her daughter's. "John is your fiance."

Rose's mouth dropped open in shock.

"I'm married?! Is there anythin' else I should know?"

Jackie was becoming more upset with her daughter's reactions, and so Pete carried on further with the explanation.

"You and John have been married for just over a year." Pete explained. "But you love each other very much, and you were both in talks of starting a family together."

"Pete, I think we should stop there." Jackie advised. "You must be exhausted love, perhaps you should try an' get some sleep."

"I'm not tired." Rose mumbled, exhausted purely from what she'd been told.

"Tha's alrigh'." Jackie said, kissing her daughter on the forehead and getting to her feet. "I'm goin' to nip home an' get some of your things to put in an overnight bag. I need to relieve the nanny too, I'm sure your little brother has been driving her insane."

Rose looked up in surprise, but didn't say a word. She had a brother? Since when? And since when was her family wealthy enough to afford a nanny? Rose didn't understand any of what was happening, and most of all, she couldn't understand where the Doctor was, and why nobody except her could remember him. A terrifying thought suddenly crossed her mind …

Was the Doctor even real? Or had the Doctor and his entire universe been a figment of her imagination this whole time?

One way or another though, Rose was determined to find out the truth.

No matter what.

Jackie made sure that the door was closed to Rose's room before turning to her husband. "Wha' are we supposed to do now? She can't recall anythin' about James, an' she sure as hell can't remember Tony. Wha' do we tell James? He'll be devastated."

"I think we should at least tell him that Rose is awake." Pete suggested logically. "But perhaps dissuade him from visiting for the time being, at least until Rose regains more of her memory. It'll take her a while to get over the shock of all this in the meantime."

Jackie nodded, agreeing with the idea. "Tha's good. Alrigh', I'll go back home an' relieve Anna from her duties, an' then I'll get some of Rose's belongings. Are you coming?"

Pete shook his head. "I'll stay here, I'll give James the call and update him with what's going on."

James Smith wearily sat down on his bed, drained from the daily routine of caring for an eight month old baby girl, his daughter Mia. Of course, he was devastated and anxious for waiting for an update on his wife, who was still in a coma.

He'd begun to doze off after laying Mia down to sleep, when his mobile rang out of nowhere. Seeing Pete's name lit up on the screen, he answered it straight away. "Hi Pete, is everything alright? You don't normally call this late at night."

"I'm sorry to do so, but I'm calling with good news. Rose woke up about an hour ago."

James sat up, swinging his legs around the side of the bed. "Really? That's fantastic! How is she?"

"As you'd imagine, Rose is quite disorientated. And as predicated, her memory is … blocked in some ways. There's no easy way to tell you this James, but Rose can't remember you. At all. And she's not even mentioned Mia."

Deep down, James had been prepared for this to happen, but hearing this shattered him. "Oh." He tried swallowing the pain, but it was an effort. "I see. What would you like for me to do? I was hoping to visit her, but I don't want to upset her if her memories not intact."

"I'm so sorry James, I know this can't be easy for you." Pete tried his best to comfort his son in law. "But for the time being, we both think it's for the best. For now, at least."

James understood. It hurt, but he understood. "What happens when she comes home? What if she doesn't have her memory back by then?"

"We can cross that bridge when it comes. For now, you should continue focusing on Mia, and we'll keep you updated on Rose's progress. I'm sorry that there's not much more we can do."

"No, it's fine." James began rambling. "I mean, it's not, but it is to the point where I can't do anything about it. Just, let me know if there's any updates."

"I will do. Goodnight, James."