Chapter Sixteen

The Doctor touched down in front of a hospital. Rose let go and followed him as he walked into the emergency room entrance.

"This woman needs medical attention!" he said.

Two nurses wheeled a gurney up to him and he laid her on it.

"Are you relatives?" one of the nurses said.

The Doctor shook his head.

"No, we found her lying out on the street and brought her in here," he said.

The nurse shook her head.

"Do you know what happened to her?"

The Doctor glanced at Rose.

"Um…no, I have no idea," he said.

The nurse nodded.

"Take her to room three," she said to the other nurse.

The nurse took the gurney and wheeled it off to a nearby exam room.

"Thank you for bringing her in. We'll take care of her," the other nurse said to them.

The Doctor smiled and nodded. He waited until the nurse went back behind the desk before turning Rose towards him and putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Stay here, Rose, where you'll be safe."

"No way."

The Doctor sighed.

"Rose—"

"Doctor, this is just as much my fight as it is yours. I'm going to help you."

The Doctor folded his arms over his chest.

"How?" he said. "Ian is a powerful vampire with abilities far beyond any mortal, not to mention the fact that he still has a hold on your mind. He will be able to take control of your mind before you get within ten feet of him. So how are you going to do it?"

"Change me."

"Change you?"

"Yes, make me a vampire, so I can fight alongside you."

"Rose, be sensible."

"I am being sensible. You allowed Ian to change you into a vampire, so you could fight him, and you told me you have a way to change yourself back to a mortal, so do the same to me."

The Doctor looked around and pulled Rose into the corner. He leaned down and lowered his voice.

"This won't work, Rose," he said. "I can't turn you into a vampire."

"Why not?"

"Because, in order to become mortal, you have to kill the vampire that changed you and do it before the next full moon. If I change you…"

Rose's eyes widened in understanding.

The Doctor nodded.

"So you see, Rose. The only way you could become a vampire safely is if Ian turns you, and I'm not about to do that."

"But I want to help you."

"Rose, you can help me by staying here and staying out of harm's way," the Doctor said. "I'll be able to concentrate on defeating Ian if I know you're safe."

The Doctor's eyes widened in shock when Rose suddenly turned and stomped away from him.

"Rose…" he said starting after her.

"Leave me alone."

"Rose."

He took a hold of her shoulder.

"Rose, please, don't be angry at me," he said.

Rose turned around and put her hands on her hips.

"When are you gonna stop treating me like a child and let me be a part of the team?" she said.

The Doctor let out an exasperated sigh.

"You are a part of the team, Rose," he said. "If you weren't, you wouldn't be here."

"Then let me help fight Ian."

"Rose, it's too dangerous!" the Doctor said through gritted teeth. "I care about you more than anything, and I will not see you get hurt!"

"What about me? I care about you more than anything, and I don't wanna see you get hurt either!"

The Doctor ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

"I don't have time for this now, I really don't," he muttered as he headed for the front entrance. "I have a vampire to stop, and I'm not going to waste valuable time arguing with you. If you feel you're not a team player then you can stay with your mum when all this is sorted out."

He looked back when Rose gripped his arm.

"Doctor, don't be angry. I just want to help, okay?" she said. "I don't understand why you don't have faith in me. I've never let you down. I've fought the Daleks, the Slitheen, The Cybermen and a ton of other monsters and I've come out of it alright. I'm not weak, Doctor."

"I never said you were, Rose."

"Then why do you constantly try to put me on the sidelines?"

She gasped when the Doctor seized her arms and stared at her with an intense look in his eyes.

"Because, Rose, I care about you more than life itself, and I'm scared half out of my mind I'm gonna lose you!" he said. "I've lost too many people in my life, and I'm sick of going through the pain and the grief. Every time we step onto a planet, I'm taking a risk that you might get hurt or killed. I play Russian Roulette with your life every time we go somewhere."

"No, Doctor, it's me who is risking my life," Rose said. "I love what we do. I love being with you and I want to help you defeat bad guys and save the universe. I can't do that if I'm stuck in a hospital. There are a lot of things I can do to help you, if you'd just trust me."

The Doctor sighed.

"Please, Doctor, please trust me."

"And what happens if he takes control of your mind and turns you against me?" he said. "I don't think my trust in you will do much good when I'm trying to fight both you and him at the same time."

"Well, you're a vampire now. Can't you do something about that?"

The Doctor paused. His eyes widened as realization hit him.

"Of course," he said. "I'm more powerful than he is now. I can just block your mind and prevent him from accessing it. Why didn't I think of that be…"

He paused when Rose folded her arms across her chest and raised her eyebrow.

"Okay, I admit it, you do help me out a lot," he said.

"Oooo; that must have been really hard for you to say," Rose said.

She giggled as the Doctor eyed her. He looked out the front entrance and back at Rose.

"Alright, you can help me, but you will follow my orders. If I tell you to fall back, you will do that, is that clear?"

"Crystal."

The Doctor nodded. He put his fingertips on her temple.

"I hope this works, he said closing his eyes. "If I'm wrong, I'm pretty sure he won't hesitate to send you after me."

He opened one eye.

"Rose, if this does fail and he makes you fight me; are you prepared to accept that risk? Because if I'm forced to knock you out to get to him, I will."

"I accept that risk."

The Doctor nodded and closed his eye. He took a deep breath and concentrated. Rose stood quietly and waited for him to finish. After a moment, the Doctor opened his eyes.

"Okay, I think that's done it," he said. "I can't be sure though. Never done anything like this."

He put his hands on her shoulders.

"Stay back out sight," he said. "Don't let him see you unless it's absolutely necessary. I'll try to keep him busy so he won't have time to think of you and if he sees you he might try to take over your mind. As I said, I'm not sure if I was successful with the mind block so I'd rather not take any chances. Okay?"

Rose nodded.

The Doctor sighed. Taking her hand in his, he gave it a squeeze before walking out the door.