Bit of a shorter chapter I'm afraid. But don't worry, the next one is longer.
It was the sound of a beating heart that came to him first in the darkness.
Uh oh, the right one's stopped beating. I need to get that one started again!
He started concentrating on the rhythm.
The left one seems a bit slow. Why's it beating so slowly?
He tried to breathe in using his respiratory bypass to reduce any stress on his lungs in case they were injured. He ended up gasping for air instead.
Well… that's never happened before…
"It's okay Doctor. I'm here. Just stay calm." It was Rose's voice. He could feel her one of her hands wrapped around his and the fingers of her other hand drifting through his hair. But how could he stay calm when one of his hearts had failed and his respiratory bypass was suddenly non-existent? He also couldn't get his eyes open. They felt so heavy.
"I gotta… gotta get…" He managed to talk, his voice weak and slurred. The fingers that were in his hair came to rest gently on his lips.
"Shh… don't try and talk just yet." She sounded scared. The situation must be far worse than he thought.
"Gotta get… the other… heart started…" He wrenched his eyes open. The lights surrounding him were blinding and there was a pink and yellow blur off to his side. He focused on the blur and it slowly resolved into the shape of Rose Tyler. She looked tired; her face was lined with worry. "Rose, only one of my hearts is beating." His words were more coherent, but his mind still felt heavy. She squeezed his hand a bit more.
"There's a reason for that. Think." He closed his eyes, and could feel Rose's fingers running through his hair again. He concentrated a moment and then all the memories of the past day came flooding back.
He remembered Rose running through the deserted street to reunite with him.
He remembered getting shot by that stupid Dalek.
He remembered regenerating, but keeping the same face.
He remembered arriving at the Dalek Crucible with Rose, Jack and Donna.
He remembered the look on Donna's face once she realised he was sitting on the floor of the TARDIS completely naked.
His eyes shot open.
He remembered the Metacrisis!
He moved his free hand over to the left side of his chest to cover his singular heart, but in doing so he noticed the electrodes and wires attached to his chest and the clear tube stuck into his arm. His eyes traced these objects to the monitors and IV bags they were attached to.
"Rose?"
"Yeah?"
"Why am I in the hospital?" He couldn't keep the nervous squeak out of his voice as he turned to look at her. "Am I ill?" Rose shook her head.
"You're in Torchwood," she corrected him, "And no, you're not ill."
"Then what am I doing here? And how did I get here?" Rose bit her lip as she thought how to properly answer him. He found the bed controls and adjusted them so he was in a more seated position. Staring at the ceiling was getting boring.
"Well, you're basically a newborn, even if you look like a full grown man." He laughed lightly at her explanation.
"Yeah, you don't see too many babies with sideburns now do you?" He mused out loud, giving her a cheeky grin. She playfully smacked his cheek, absently letting her fingers stroke his trademark facial hair. He leaned into her touch slightly as he felt his face flush a little.
"Nah. They're much cuter than you." And there was that tongue in teeth smile he missed oh so much.
"Oi!" He practically shouted in mock indignation.
"Sorry. Anyways, since you technically qualify as a brand new lifeform, Torchwood just wanted to make sure you were healthy." He nodded.
"Okay, makes sense. Better to be safe I suppose. But why was I unconscious? I honestly don't remember how…" His hand absently went to the side of his neck. "Oh, Rassilon! They drugged me, didn't they? They drugged me and dragged me away without my consent." Rose nodded. She watched as his face contorted into a dark expression. He was transforming into the Oncoming Storm right before her eyes. "Typical. Bloody typical! I should've known that Torchwood would remain the same. If it's alien it's ours!" He mimicked Yvonne Hartman's voice in a harsh mocking manner. Rose shuddered at the memory. That was a day she tried very hard not to think about. "Did you know they were going to do this?" He hit her with a hard accusatory glare that made Rose want to back up a few paces. She held her ground however and shook her head.
"This was all Pete's doing." He noted how Rose didn't call him 'Dad', "When he met you before he thought you were unpredictable, thought you'd say no to coming here." The Doctor made a noise resembling a growl as he flung the bedsheets off of him and moved to get off the bed. He pulled all the electrodes off his chest and his fingers gripped the IV line, ready to tear it out of his flesh, but he was stopped by Rose clamping her hand over his.
"I swear to you: I didn't know." His eyes met hers once more. He searched them for a moment and knew that she was telling him the truth.
"How? How can you work for this place?" His voice was quieter, but still hard. Rose broke eye contact with them and examined her shoes like they were the most interesting things in the universe.
"I only worked here because I felt like it was the only way I could get back to you. But defending the Earth felt so hollow without you at my side." She felt the Doctor's hands grip her shoulders and she looked back at him. His eyes had begun glistening with unshed tears.
"Oh Rose…" He started but she interrupted him with a wave of her hand.
"I began to hate working here, but I kept at it because I had hope that I would find you again. The way they dragged you here… the only other times I've seen them do that is when we were dealing with criminals. That's why I can't… I can't do this anymore. I got what I needed out of this place." She took his face in her hands. "I got you back. I don't need Torchwood if I've got you." He pulled her into a bone-crushing hug.
"Did I mention that I love you?" He murmured into her ear.
"I think it came up in conversation, yes." She giggled as she rested her hands on his chest. He suddenly jerked back once he realised that her fingers were touching bare skin. He flushed furiously noticing that he was dressed only in a flimsy hospital gown. This was almost worse when he woke up wearing Jackie's boyfriend's pyjamas. Rose found his embarrassment adorable and she shot his favourite grin at him.
"Rose… what happened to my suit?"
