A-Levels and Aliens
Thanks for the reviews, sorry it took some of you ages to read the chapter as fanfiction dot net was playing up again! Here's the next chapter, I don't know very much about medicine and stuff so sorry if I get anything seriously wrong in this and the next couple of chapters. I don't honestly know when I can update again as college is starting again tomorrow and I'm busy over the weekend. Hopefully it won't be too long though! Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: Nothing you might recognise belongs to me
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The Doctor burst out of the TARDIS door and looked around anxiously. He was on a suburban street with old, three storey houses surrounding him on both sides of the road. None of them looked particularly welcome and there seemed to be no-one about- not even the odd car lining the road.
Suddenly, a commotion caught his attention. Further up the street, a front door had been yanked open and a figure was stumbling down the path and then turning right, not really seeming to know where they were going. He strained his eyes; the figure was slim, of medium height and didn't seem to be wearing a top of any sort.
"Rose!" he yelled, suddenly recognising her, "Oh God, Rose!"
He began to run up the street, pelting along as fast as he could.
"Rose! Come back!" he shouted, trying to get her to stop. Unfortunately, all it seemed to do was make her run faster. The Doctor watched, his chest constricting as he saw her limping as she tried to get away, and he followed, seeing her suddenly disappear into an alleyway. He round the corner, panting heavily, to discover her curled up on the cold floor, trembling violently.
"Rose," he said, hoarsely, kneeling down beside her and placing his hand on the side of her face, biting his lip as she visibly flinched. "Rose, it's me, it's the Doctor."
He watched as she slowly opened her eyes, looking up at him hopefully through teary eyes. "You came," she whispered, a small smile appearing on her lips,
"I'm sorry," the Doctor said, tears appearing in his eyes as he took in her battered and bruised body, "I should have been here earlier,"
"You're…here…now," Rose said, shakily, "My…Doctor."
Her eyes closed and she seemed to go limp. His hearts in his mouth, the Doctor quickly checked her vitals and was relieved to find she was still breathing. She had just fallen unconscious.
"I'm so sorry, Rose," he whispered, picking her up and cradling her gently in his arms, trying to ignore the grimace that appeared on her face, telling him that she was in pain. He adjusted her carefully and began to stride back to the TARDIS.
As he passed the house where Rose had originally run from, he looked over and saw Zach standing there, watching him with a red but smirking face. Growling angrily, he fumbled for his sonic screwdriver, balancing Rose in one arm momentarily, before pointing it at the house. He pressed the button and immediately every door and window slammed shut and locked, effectively imprisoning the Ziola until he had more time to deal with them.
"Hold on, Rose," he murmured, walking as fast as he could without jolting her too severely. "JACK!" he yelled, as soon as he got close enough to the TARDIS.
The door opened and the pale American appeared. "Oh God, what happened?" he gasped, "Is she OK?"
"Does it look like she's OK?" the Doctor snapped, "C'mon, help me get her to our bedroom!"
Jack nodded and ran ahead of the Doctor, opening doors wide so he could get through. They reached their destination quickly and the Doctor set Rose down with a sigh.
"Do you know what happened?" Jack asked, quietly, aware that he was on dangerous grounds with the Doctor,
"They tortured her," he said, tucking some of Rose's hair away behind her ear, "The bastards tortured her!"
Jack watched as the Doctor shakily took in several deep breaths. He knew this was the closest he'd ever come to seeing him completely break down. "Was it the Ziola again?"
The Doctor nodded. "I'm going to get some medical equipment from the lab. You stay here with Rose,"
"'K," Jack said and watched as his friend swept away. He sat down on the bed next to Rose. "I'm sorry," he murmured, taking her hand in his, "I shouldn't have let you go off by yourself." He sat and stared at her in silence before a loud thundering announced the return of the Doctor.
"Can you take us back to the Powell Estate?" the Time Lord asked, "Otherwise Jackie'll be screaming blue murder and I really don't have time for that now. Do you remember how to work the old girl?"
"Yeah," Jack nodded, before slipping off. Moments later, the TARDIS shuddered into motion.
Meanwhile, the Doctor was standing over Rose, waving a sort of scanner over every inch of her body. He cursed every time it beeped, meaning that it had found an injury of some sort, and checked the screen on the back of it which told him what was wrong. Finally, he was done and he tore off the little strip of paper that had been ejected out of the contraption before scanning it.
"What's the verdict?" asked Jack, appearing in the doorway, "We're back at the Estate, by the way,"
"Several broken ribs, badly bruised nose, black eyes, lots of bruising on her stomach, arms and legs… that's about it, really," he replied, without emotion, "Nothing too serious. She'll just need to rest to get better,"
"OK," Jack said, feeling relieved that it wasn't anything worse, "How long has she been unconscious?"
"I don't know," the Doctor replied, honestly, "She was still conscious when I found her but only just. I think it's down to shock or her body trying to heal itself. We just need to keep an eye on her."
Jack nodded, staring worriedly at his sister in everything but blood. His musing was suddenly interrupted by a loud banging coming from the TARDIS door.
"Jackie," both men said together,
"I'll go," Jack offered.
The Doctor nodded his thanks and watched as the ex-Time Agent disappeared out of the room, leaving him alone with his Rose. He picked up a roll of bandages. "I'm just going to wrap this around your ribs," he told her, hoping she could hear her, "It should help them heal faster." He did as he had said before gently changing her into her pyjamas, knowing that she would be more comfortable in the soft cotton than in her denim jeans. He then carefully lifted her and slid her under the covers of their bed. He noticed some dried blood just under her nostrils, which must have been from a nosebleed.
"Be right back," he murmured, before darting into their shared bathroom for a clean sponge and a tub of warm water. Upon returning, the Doctor sat on the edge of the bed and dabbed the sponge over her face, cleaning away the blood and other muck from her face, neck and hands before just taking her hand and holding it.
Suddenly, the bedroom door burst open and Jackie Tyler appeared, her heavily made up face white and strained. She looked a lot older than her forty something years.
"How is she?" she demanded, "Jack told me everything that happened,"
"She'll be OK," the Doctor replied, reluctantly moving so Jackie could take his place, "She'll probably be sore and weak for a while but nothing too serious as far as I can tell,"
"How could you let this happen to her?" Jackie cried, looking down at her daughter,
"I'm sorry," the Doctor said, quietly "I tried to protect her, I really did. Do you think I wanted this to happen?"
"It was my fault. I let her wander off, unsupervised," Jack admitted, sadly,
"No, it wasn't Jack," the Doctor said, suddenly recognizing this fact, "I should've realised the Ziola were still a big threat and taken more care of Rose,"
"You couldn't have known, sweetheart," Jackie said, looking at the Doctor in particular but aiming her words at Jack as well. She had suddenly noticed how broken they looked and realised they despised themselves for Rose's condition. Jackie could see just how much both of the men loved her Rose. With Jack, it was purely platonic but she knew he'd do anything for her daughter.
And that was enough for Jackie Tyler.
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The hours and then days slipped by and still Rose didn't wake. The Doctor spent every waking moment sitting by her side, holding her hand. He didn't sleep or eat very much. He just stayed there, holding onto his angel's hand as if he was holding onto his sanity. And perhaps he was.
On the Monday, two days after the incident, Jackie slipped into Rose's bedroom with a cup of tea to discover the Doctor had fallen asleep, his head on his folded arms next to where Rose was lying, her hand still securely gripped in his. Jackie quietly put down the tea, tiptoed out and called softly for Jack.
"Look," she whispered, pointing at the Doctor,
"Thank God," Jack breathed in relief. He had been getting worried that the Doctor was making himself ill by not sleeping. He had tried talking to him but the Doctor refused to sleep, even in the bed next to Rose. He was adamant that he had to stay awake in case Rose awoke.
"He really loves her," Jackie said, feeling a sudden lump in her throat,
"More than life itself," Jack answered, "She saved him from himself when they first met. He told me. He doesn't think she knows that but it's true. I think he'd gladly die for her. And her, him."
Jackie nodded before jumping as a 'phone began ringing. "That's Rose's mobile," she said.
They walked swiftly back to the control room and Jack picked up the vibrating 'phone from where it was still lying on the Captain's Chair.
"Hello?" he said,
"Jack? Where's Rose?" asked a tinny voice,
"That you, Matt?"
"Yeah. Where is Rose?" he asked again,
"She's at home," Jack began, realising that her friends didn't know about what had happened, "She…she had another run in with the Ziola over the weekend,"
"Oh my God," Matt said, worry clearly in his voice, "Is she alright?"
"She'll live," Jack said, grimly, "She's still unconscious at the moment…"
"I'm coming over," Matt interrupted,
"Matt that might not be such a good…"
But the 'phone was dead.
Jack sighed and looked at Jackie. "We're gonna have company."
Sure enough, ten minutes later, there came a great pounding on the front door. The TARDIS' lights flicked crossly. Jack guessed she was a little fed up of people bashing on her door. "Sorry, old girl," he muttered, before opening it cautiously. His jaw dropped. "Oh God, Matt! You didn't!"
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The Doctor slowly came back into wakefulness after his unplanned nap. He lifted his head and smiled sadly at the motionless Rose. He wished she would wake up; it was killing him, her not being able to talk, laugh, hug and kiss him.
Suddenly he frowned as he heard a loud commotion coming from outside.
"You can't just go barging in, Matt! She's still unconscious!"
"She's my friend and I don't see you physically trying to stop me!"
"What the hell is this place?"
"How is this possible?"
The door banged opened, making the TARDIS groan in annoyance again, and the Doctor stared, his hearts dropping. There, standing in front of him were Jack, Jackie, a worried looking Matt and… Kirsty and Lauren.
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Review please. Constructive criticism is gladly received
