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Chapter Four

"This is a general hospital," Sanchez reassured her. "But we specialise in patients struggling with mental and psychiatric disorders. You have been a patient in our psychiatric ward for two years."

"Wait, hold on a second." Rose spluttered, leaning back in her chair. "You mean to tell me tha' I've been here for two years as a patient?"

Doctor Sanchez thought about it and tilted his head. "On and off. More recently we've been considering a more permanent solution."

"An' wha' exactly have I been diagnosed with?"

"Delusions of grandeur." Sanchez explained, reading from his notes. "Ah, here we go. Your parents became concerned for your mental health and wellbeing after an explosion at Henrick's department store where you worked part time. You sustained quite the bump on the head and afterwards you would talk of a fantasy world involving a man called the Doctor. Although he wasn't a man. He was an alien that lived in a blue box that could travel through time and space. It was bigger on the inside and rather magical. You were – or still are rather – that this world you had created was real."

Rose shook her head in denial. This couldn't be right. "How do you know all of this?"

"Which part?"

"The Doctor. How do you know about him?"

"You told me."

"When?"

"In our sessions."

"Wha' sessions? I don't remember having any of them."

"You wouldn't, you were heavily medicated at the time."

"Why was I on medication?"

"You were convinced that these delusions were real, and it was starting to affect your life and your family. You were put on this medication to calm any anxieties, and we had to increase the dosage when you were brought back from a visit home after striking your mother."

Rose faltered. "Wha'? I would – I would never strike my mother! We had our arguments at times an' sure we could fight, but I would never hit her! No, I refuse to accept tha'. I don't accept any of tha'."

"Rose." It was the first time the medical professional had addressed her by her first name. "I understand how hard this must be to hear, especially all at once, but you must accept this. Once you have accepted this, you'll be able to live a normal and happy life with your family. You struck your mother because she refused to accept that your fantasy world with the Doctor was real. That was when they decided you weren't ready to come home, and you put up quite a fight when you realised what was going on." Before Rose could interject or protest, Doctor Sanchez continued. "After being temporarily restrained by your father, your mother contacted our emergency services. You somehow escaped and ran out of the house. During your momentary sense of panic, you ran out into the middle of the road without looking, and you were knocked down by a car."

Rose's mind was practically spinning. "Tha's not wha' my Dad told me. He told me tha' I was running late to work an' tha's when a car ran me over." She glared at Doctor Sanchez. "So which version is it?"

"Your father and I discussed what to tell you when you eventually woke from your coma, and we decided to tell you the version that you were running late to work, to avoid upsetting you further. But the facts still remain, you were put into a coma because you were having a manic-depressive episode."

Rose shook her head vehemently. "No, no you're wrong! I've never been diagnosed with anything before, especially not mentally. This can't be right!" She looked around the room wildly. "Where is he?" She suddenly demanded, her hands gripping the edges of the chair until her knuckles turned white.

"Where is who?" Sanchez asked patiently, and Rose found his relaxed demeanour quite condescending.

"The Doctor. If you've got me here, then you've got to have him here somewhere too. Wha' lies have you been tellin' him? Have you been tellin' him tha' he's human?"

"The Doctor does not exist, Rose." Sanchez repeated calmly. "The Doctor and the world you created with him is a figment of your imagination. The TARDIS is not real, nor are the monsters that you claim to have fought against with him." He searched through her file some more, before pulling a stack of papers out. "All of this, does not exist." He insisted, holding the papers out for her.

Rose took them, and upon closer inspection, realised that they were her own drawings. After every adventure with the Doctor, she would record it in a journal, occasionally sketching every now and again. It had become one of her most prized possessions. But how … how had Doctor Sanchez received them?

"Where did you get these from?"

"You drew them after a dream about the Doctor, and then you gave them to me."

"Why would I give them to you? There were only a few people in my life who knew about the Doctor an' his world." None of this made any sense. There were drawings of Dalek's, a full body sketch and a close up. Cybermen in their thousands, the dogs with no noses, Chloe Webber and her infamous drawings. The drawings went on. All of the drawings that belonged in her journal. "No." She shoved them back onto the desk and sank back in her chair, running a fraught hand through her hair. "This isn't right." She murmured to herself.

"What isn't right, Rose?"

"This." Rose gestured to everything all around her. "This entire stupid world tha' I'm in! I'm not suffering from 'delusions of grandeur' or hallucinations. I know damned well tha' I'm not. You need to let me an' the Doctor go, if you don't, we'll find our own way out. We always do."

"Rose – "

"No!" Rose got to her feet and marched to the office door and jerked on the handle, only to find it locked. "This isn't righ'! Get me out of this place now!" She started thumping on the door, frustrated that it wouldn't open.

"Rose, if you don't calm down now then I'll have to give you some medication." Doctor Sanchez warned coolly, making sure Rose could see him placing a liquid bottle and a syringe onto his desk.

Rose understood the message and the underlying threat. She stayed by the door, feeling relatively safer from the medic, and folded her arms across her chest in defiance. "You wouldn't dare."

"I will if I have too. This is for your safety more than anything. Why don't you come and sit back down, and we can have a proper discussion?"

"I'd rather stay over here, thanks."

"Do I need to call in an orderly to assist me?" Rose decided, perhaps against her better judgement, to return to her chair, keeping her arms crossed. "Thank you." Doctor Sanchez collected the scattered notes and drawings, returning them to her file. "Now, I think that concludes this session for the time being. I know this is a lot to take in at once," he said to her without much expression. "So, I suggest that we have another session within the next two to three days. The time is now eleven o'clock, most of the patients will be in the day room doing a variety of activities. Why don't you go and join them and find something productive to do on this pretty miserable day?" Rose soon realised that she had no other choice but to comply. She could ask more questions later. Doctor Sanchez used a microphone on his desk to call an orderly to come and collect Rose, and when they arrived, there was a buzz that opened the door. A male orderly arrived, and Doctor Sanchez indicated to Rose that she should go with him. "Have a good day, Miss Tyler." They were back to the formalities. "I hope you don't causing too much trouble."

"We'll see about tha'." Rose murmured, standing up and marching out of the door, the orderly following closely behind.

The day room was incredibly boring, Rose soon decided. There were four long tables in the centre of the room, where there were different arts and crafts taking place with orderlies: origami, scrapbooking, sewing and painting. Normally, Rose could be quite creative, but right now, she really wasn't in the mood.

She was encouraged to take part either way, so she ended up choosing the painting table, and grabbed some paper and started to aimlessly sketch. Unsurprisingly, it ended up being a sketch of the Doctor, a close up where he was focused on the console, a few tools in his hands as he attempted to 'fix' the TARDIS.

A lot of the time it didn't need fixing.

Rose had been sketching for a while, and her eyes were starting to droop as she rested her head in her hands. The therapy session had apparently worn her out. She was about to fall asleep, when the sound of her name being called startled her.

"Rose!"

Rose looked up, and to her surprise, the Doctor was right there, standing in front of her. Well, it wasn't exactly a solid form of him, more like a hologram. He was frantic, and his hair was all askew. She glanced around the dayroom, and nobody except her had noticed the Doctor. Had Doctor Sanchez been right after all?

"Finally, I'm so glad I found you! They've really hidden you well."

"Doctor? Wha's goin' on? Where are you? Where am I?"

His expression turned sheepish. "Ah, that's what I'm working on right now. I'm still trying to find exactly where you are, but I'm close. Wherever it is that you are, don't believe anything they say. It's a lie. Everything is a lie. Wherever you are is not real, it's not the truth. I'm sorry I can't be of more comfort right now, but I know you can take care of yourself. I'll find you, however long it takes. I'll find you Rose Tyler, and I'll bring you back home. See you soon."