I had a bit of a re-write of this. Wow. Thank you for the review and love!

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Chapter 3 - Stitches Removal

The Doctor returned to the kitchen and picked back up his tea. He stood staring out the window, consumed in his own thoughts.

Traveling. How in the world could he and Rose go traveling while he continued to grow his TARDIS without her knowing about it? He would definitely have to do something with it now that it appeared that they would have to move. He couldn't keep moving around though. It took up a lot of room, he had to tend to it daily, and Rose just simply wouldn't understand about it right now. As many times as he... and the other him... had left her, he was sure that she would see it as his ticket away from her as soon as she found out about it. Pete and Jake thinking trying to talk Rose into moving? No, that was a small problem in the grand scheme of things. He had to convince her, somehow, that he was hers for as long as she would have him.

Or rather, he supposed, as long as he could be had since the Bad Wolf seemed to have given Rose an extended lifespan. Gosh, thinking about Rose having to live a very long life like he had done, saying good-bye to everyone she knows or would ever know -

Rose slipped in behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist in a hug. The Doctor had no idea she was even awake yet and was so wrapped up in his thoughts that her suddenly being there startled him. He tossed his tea cup across the room and yelled something in a language Rose didn't recognize. Rose quickly removed her hands from his waist. As soon as he turned to face her, both of them burst out laughing.

"What did you do that for you daft alien?"

"I had no idea you were awake." He took Rose into his arms.

"Sorry, about that." he chuckled. "I was just preoccupied in my thoughts. My mind was working on a million things all at once. How are you feeling this morning? Did you sleep well?"

"You never came to bed. Or did you?"

He closed his eyes as he held her in his arms. How he wished he could just hold her here, and keep anything from ever hurting her again. If only he could get the TARDIS to mature a bit faster so he could get her off of this rock.

She asked him something that brought him back to reality.

"I'm sorry. What?" He leaned back to be able to see her face.

"What's on your mind?" She smiled at him.

"You." He said simply and brushed the hair from her face. "Are you certain you are alright?"

"Well, I could do with some tea."

He smiled and repeated, "Tea." How he loved the simple things that she reminded him of.

He let go of her and began to prepare them both a cup.

Wearing her jammie jams and a pink robe she sat at the table there in the kitchen where she could see him.

He asked her again. "So, you're alright?"

"Yes." She insisted. "Gosh."

He chanced a look up to her. "Yeah?"

"Well, a bit sore. Oddly enough, my arm tends to hurt worse than my chest does. Is that strange?"

The Doctor took out his sonic and scanned her. "Well, that would make sense" he replied. "There's some more healing that needs to happen in your arm than in your chest. It looks like your chest will be as good as new by tomorrow. Your arm might need another day. All your ribs are fine, though. That's remarkable."

You had to admire her healing ability. He returned to the kettle to ensure he had turned it on.

"My chest just itches like mad." she said. "Right here on the stitches."

"Want me to look at it?"

"Well. Yeah. I mean. I suppose. Do you mind?"

The kettle was taking forever to heat up. He picked it up and looked it over.

"Do not even think about doing something to the kettle," Rose demanded.

"This thing takes forever-"

"Have you ever seen an English woman who can't have a cup of tea?"

"Good point. I've seen it start a war." He sat it back down. "Alright. I'll look at it later."

"No, don't you dare!"

He grinned as he walked over to stand in front of her.

She smiled. "I'm serious about the kettle."

"Do you want me to take a look?" He asked.

She unbuttoned her pajama shirt to get to her injury.

He blushed a bit and cleared his throat.

"What's with you?" She asked.

"Well, um. Nothing-"

"You're acting as if you've never seen a breast before."

"I'm sorry. It's just that. You're hurt, and I don't want to-"

She rolled her eyes at him. "I am seriously fine!" She began to untape the pad on her chest.

"Be careful with that." He stopped her and took over.

"Control freak." She teased him as it looked it over.

"Yeah, just a little bit longer, and it will be good as new. Well, it might scar."

"None of this stuff ever scarred before."

Surprised but trying not to show it. He hated she even had a reason to say those words. "Right..." he said quietly.

He snapped out of his guilt, "The stitches are itching because they really could come out now. Do you want me to take them out?"

"You know how to do that?" she asked quietly.

Gosh, these humans. "How many times have I told you that I am a Doctor?" he asked, exasperated.

"Sorry, it slipped my mind." she smiled with her tongue in her teeth.

Oh, how he loved that look. He smiled back at her.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Look. It's like this. I'm going to blame everything I'm about to be bold enough to say to you because I'm on medication or….I'm in shock."

"Well, that's a comfort."

"No. Listen. I am going to lie on the sofa."

He cleared his throat.

"And we are going to start by taking out these stitches."

He rubbed his face with one hand.

"And…where ever it goes." She hinted.

He looked at her in stunned silence. "But-"

"But, what?"

"You are hurt."

"I'm fine." She told him as she took his hands.

"I don't know. It's not a good idea-"

"Tell you what. I promise to tell you to stop-"

"If I hurt you? Nah, Rose. I think it's just too risky. I mean-"

Rose had pulled him to her lips to shut him up. She kissed him slowly, pulling him even closer to her while running hands through his hair. She knew that melted him.

She slowly ended the kiss as she caught his bottom lip and sucked it while she backed away.

He opened his eyes to see her walking away from him.

He stood there for seven seconds before he launched into action. He was instantly looking all over the place, wild and babbling about this and that. "I need some scissors! Small ones! I saw some that would work in the other room! And tweezers! I think I know where I can find those!"

Rose giggled at him. This was her Doctor. Mad, silly, and never able to standstill.

She made herself comfortable on the couch in the living room. She noticed his hair looked wilder the longer he ran around.

He had just run into the bathroom.

"Oi!" she yelled at him. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to run with scissors? Slow down, you nutter!"

She heard things crashing about and him murmuring. Finally, she heard him exclaim. "Ah, ha!" A few moments later, and he was walking into the living room to meet her.

"Just had to sterilize everything," he started as he was walking towards her, "You know, Rose." "Stitches, or sutures, have been around for centuries. They were used in Ancient Egypt on mummies. Hippocrates taught about stitches, nice guy. Extremely clever." He sat down to face her. She had already unbuttoned her shirt. He folded down the pad again to reveal the wound.

"Don't worry, love. This won't hurt a bit," he told her. And with that, he clipped the first stitch and pulled it out of her chest.

She wiggled a bit under him. "Is that alright?" he asked her quietly, not taking his eyes off of his work.

"Yeah, I'm alright," she told him. "It tickles a bit. Feels strange."

He just smiled as he finished up his work. It took a surprisingly short time, only forty-seven seconds by his count. He sat the instruments down on the coffee table and pressed on the wound gently. "Any discomfort?" he inquired.

She was noticing his ears growing red again.

"No," she laughed. "That feels so much better. Thank you. You know, I've never seen you do 'Doctor' sort of things."

He looked her in the eyes and gave her a mad grin. "Oh, Rose. I'm full of surprises, huh?"

She returned his mad smile. She was lying sideways on the couch. He sat down next to her and pulled her legs laid across his lap. He wrapped his arms around her knees. He looked down at the floor as he stroked her leg through her pajama bottoms.

"You know, I very nearly lost you." he told her very quietly. "And after reading your records, I could have lost you many times before then."

"Yeah."

"I just need to know why you didn't feel like you could tell me?"

Rose couldn't look at him, but took his hand. "I really don't know...maybe I thought it was just too much. With everything, you had been through. You were losing everything. I suppose I was worried that you would think you had lost me as well. The Rose that you knew."

He suddenly looked at her, "You are still my Rose. Regardless of this. It doesn't change how I feel about you. Except, that I believe you probably are going to need an expert in such matters as telepathy and an extended life span."

Rose smiled and asked, "Really? Know someone good?"

He looked shocked, "Boy, you are cheeky today Rose Tyler!"

She laughed at him.

"I just don't want any more secrets between us." he shook his head. "I want us to work. I'm really shit at this sort of thing, but I do think that's important."

"I agree," she told him. She looked down and noticed his bruised up hand that was lying on her knee. She grabbed it, which caused him to wince painfully. "What the hell is this?"

The Doctor turned his bruised hand over and looked at it. "My hand," he answered cheekily.

Rose tilted her head and gave him a look that could kill. He was sure it probably did on some worlds. He raised his other hand to the back of his neck.

"No secrets," Rose said as she rose her eyebrows. "That means for both of us."

"Okay, " he started. "I punched the wall in the shower last night at the hospital, while you were in surgery. It was stupid, I know. But it's fine. It's just bruised up. I'd know if it was broken or anything. It just looks bad."

"It does." she agreed as she kissed it lightly. "How would you know without having an x-ray done or something?"

"Nah...I don't need that," he exclaimed. "It's a sense I have. I can tell when my body is broken and when it's not."

"Sounds like a typical bloke response to me."

"Oi!" he replied. "It's true!"

"Whatever, mate. Get an x-ray tomorrow when we return to the hospital."

The Doctor groaned.

They sat in silence for a bit.

"Can I ask you something?" Rose began.

"You can ask me anything." he smiled at her.

"What is it like? You know, knowing you are going to live forever?"

"I wouldn't know. Even Time Lords don't live forever."

"Well, live for a very long time, then." she corrected herself.

He looked away from her and at the ceiling. He considered her question for a moment. "It has its good and bad parts, I suppose. Outliving people you love is hard." he said very sadly.

A look of deep despair came over him. She could feel his deep sadness. "Sometimes, I think of the people I have lost. But, there is a time to live. And a time to sleep. And they all sleep in my memory now. "

"Wait a minute. You mean to tell me that Time Lords don't live forever? I don't understand. Don't they just keep changing?"

"Nah. Each Time Lord can change only twelve times. And we are all good looking, if I say so myself." he wagged his eyebrows at her.

She laughed. "Every conversion with you just goes...mental."

" But, that's no matter. I won't regenerate anymore. I don't have to worry about it again." he declared, sounding a lot happier about it than he felt. "Why are we talking about me? Should we be talking about you? Say on the subject, Rose Tyler."

She smiled at him. "Full of surprises you are." He smiled at her and started to run his hand up and down her leg again, caressing her.

"Telepathy. Emotions bring my shields down?" she asked.

"Emotions rule so much of our lives that when they run high, they will take all of the energy you have towards your shielding. Oh, I'm rubbish at explaining this. Emotions make you vulnerable. Also, when you are asleep, your shields will be lower. I can teach you to keep them high. It just takes practice."

"When I'm asleep?" she looked questionability at him, "You been in my head?"

He quickly replied, looking her right in the eyes. "No. Never. Not without your permission. I swear. That's a violation of the highest order. I would never, ever do that to you. Or anyone."

Those beautiful brown eyes weren't lying to her. She could feel the sincerity.

"It's funny how certain people come into your life when you need them the most," she told him. "I don't know how I would do this without you."

"I love you, Rose Tyler. And I'll be here for you as long as you'll have me." He leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips.

Rose raised her hand to his head, raised her eyebrows, and asked, "May I?"

"Yeah, please." he agreed. Rose had never asked to link with his brain telepathy. He knew it had been a gift of the Bad Wolf, just as she was also able to heal so quickly. He was curious about what she wanted to show him. He was interested in what she could show him. He knew her powers were young. As he had already seen, they were extremely powerful.

He closed his eyes and saw her. She was in a chair in a dark room, tied up. A woman came in demanding her to answer what species she was. He could feel Rose's fear. Her anger. Her determination. Then everything went dark as the woman punched Rose in the face.

Then he saw Rose walking from the elevator at Torchwood through the parking deck. She turned just in time to see a car driving towards her. That instant of fear gripped him. He felt the pain as the car struck her.

He was now on a merry go round at a park. It was night. He was looking into his own eyes. She was so excited, nervous, and bubbling over with love at the sight of her Doctor, laying there stroking her girlie bits and dipping a finger inside of her, right there in the middle of a playground. "Let's take this someplace more private." he heard himself say, but in her voice.

She broke the connection. He opened her eyes to see her blushing like mad. She covered her face with both of her hands.

That made him blush. "That really happened, right?" he was still a little unclear. "That night, with the 'bee stings' venom, I wasn't sure if I might have dreamed it or not."

Rose shook her head and smiled as she dropped her hands. "Didn't mean for you to see that. It's just been on my mind in the middle of all of that other stuff. I suppose I needed something nice to think-"

He crashed his lips into hers. He brought his hand up and cupped her face. His tongue danced with hers. The sexual tension that had been between them for weeks had made him even randier for her than he thought was possible. She kissed him back and ran her hands through his hair. He ran his hand down her chest and rubbed the side of her breast.

Rose cupped his face with her hands as she sucked his bottom lip.

"Rose, you probably need to stop me now," he whispered to her.

"Don't stop," she whispered back to him as she stroked his face.

That made his brain short out. She did want him. He continued to kiss her as he brought his hand back up to her cheek.

"This is okay, right?" he whispered to her.

"Yes." she breathed at him.

"I don't want to hurt you," he told her.

"Shh." she whispered back.

He wrapped one of his arms under her knees and one behind her back and stood up, holding her. He stopped kissing her long enough to tell her, "Let's take this someplace more comfortable."

She didn't stop kissing him as they made their way to the bedroom. At long last, he was going to have his Rose.

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"Gosh, he is a brilliant kisser", Rose thought. He kissed her so gently. She ran her fingers through his hair, making it stand on end.

He lay her down across their bed, still kissing her. From below him, she unbuttoned his shirt as he finished unbuttoning hers. Her breasts were exposed. Working carefully around her wound, he kissed down her neck and sucked both of her nipples in turn.

His eyes met hers again. "Rose. Tell me to stop-"

"No." She managed and unbutton his jeans. She could feel his length swollen in his pants.

She moaned in his mouth as they continued to kiss. She removed his jeans from his hips. He grabbed them and shook them the rest of the way to the floor. She palmed him through his pants.

"You should probably stop me now," he whispered to her.

She bit her top lip. "Don't you dare stop." she begged him.

She used one hand to pull down her pajamas and knickers. She moved one of his hands to her middle. He moaned as he made contact with her curls. She was ready so wet that he slipped his finger inside of her.

"Rose-" He breathed into her mouth.

"Don't stop-"

She pulled down his pants, immediately grabbed his length to stroke it. She was kissing every part of him she could reach. He jumped as she bit his neck.

"Oi!" he said, "You said gentle!"

They both laughed at one another as their eyes met.

He whispered and kissed the end of her nose. "Rose, are you sure about this?"

"No," she whispered back. "Lay down your heart and-"

"There's no way I could ever do that with you. Rose."

"New plan. For the next fifteen minutes, just do whatever you want. No judgment, don't hold back. I want this. And I think you do too."

He smiled, "I do. Gosh, so much."

She smiled and began to kiss him again. Their tongues danced as his mind raced. She was intoxicating to all of his senses. He had wanted her for so long.

He grabbed her by the hips and pulled her closer to him as he slipped inside her. She looked into his eyes. She was lost in that sea of beautiful brown. He stroked so slowly and gently, hitting all the right places. She moaned as she whispered in his ear, "I've wanted you for so long."

That drove him mad. He kissed her even more passionately than he had before. He was trying to keep his strength and enthusiasm in check so he wouldn't accidentally hurt her.

He continued to kiss her neck and chest.

"You trust me, right?" he whispered to her.

"Of course," she breathed.

And with that, he touched the side of her head and filled her mind with what he was feeling at the moment. The lust. The love. The excitement. The pleasure. Knowing he felt all of these ways, too, eliminated her little bit of embarrassment that was there. It was nothing like she had ever felt before. She moaned loudly when he pressed himself deep inside of her.

He continued to thrust inside of her, gently. He could feel her pleasure, which just encouraged him more. He knew she didn't have the strength she usually would, and decided he probably needed to cut this short. But he didn't want to. He had waited for this for so long.

She continued to moan as she ran her hands through his hair. He stroked some more as he kissed her neck and lips. He moaned her name.

"This is so good." Rose moaned in his ear.

He quickly pulled out and moved his hand to her opening.

"Why did you-"

She forgot what she was about to say when he began to roll her clit between his fingers. She stretched her arms out above her head. "Oh. Yes."

He kissed her neck. "Let go. Let me see you."

She moaned and arched her back. "More."

He continued to tease her opening.

"Stay tight." He whispered to her, "You'll get there sooner."

She began to moan loudly. She was already there. Her fingernails dug into his back. He embraced the pain and slipped back inside of her, deeply.

He began to stroke again as he felt her come. Within another stroke, he erupted, too.

He laid down next to her. Breathing heavily, he was spent. She noticed the sweat beaded on his forehead.

"My god. That are amazing!" she declared when she regained her breath.

He turned his head to look her in the eyes and panted. "You are like candy in my veins. I love you so much, Rose Tyler. I could never live without you. "

Rose smiled and kissed him lightly on the lips. "I love you my Doctor. You'll never have to be without me again."

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