A/N: And so this fic clings onto the last morsels of life, this isn't the last chapter! Yeah, I'm the sort of person who insists the drawer will shut with a few good whacks.

This chapter concentrates on the more...lustful side of parenthood. Plus, can I just say, I have no idea what this obessession I have with penguins is at the moment, but just ride with it, it'll be over soon!

Chapter 33 – Crazy, Crazy Penguins!

The Doctor moved tiredly around the TARDIS over the next few days, his concussion really taking its toll on his usually robust health. Every few hours Rose found him snoozing in the most strangest of places, from the hard wooden kitchen chair to the squidgy library beanbag to her own bedroom on the fluffy rug in the middle of the floor.

All this from an alien man who hadn't appeared to need hardly any sleep at all before now, was extremely perplexing, if not slightly worrying.

Rose had totally given up on trying to talk him into staying in bed and resting - partly because he blindly refused to be confined for twenty-four hours a day without freedom to have a walk; and partly because she wanted him wandering around the TARDIS. She liked having him nearby at all times.

Jackie had agreed to stay and look after Rory whilst Rose took care of her still slightly confused and disoriented Doctor, who had only yesterday mistaken an orange for a apple and had spent half of that day wondering why the Orange Juice tasted slightly off.

Howard had even offered to stay for a bit to help Jackie whilst Mickey insisted he was good for doing quick shopping trips wherever and whenever they were needed.

During the times he was awake, the Doctor, with a little help from Mickey and Howard, had built a makeshift cot for Rory before he and Rose went on their shopping trip. They would go, they decided, when the Doctor was well enough to travel again - which seemed quite a long way away, from Rose's examinations of him in the Infirmary.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Rose asked as she held up three fingers to the Doctor, waving them slightly to indicate their presence to him. God only knew how many times Rose had asked him this question now, because even despite his protests that he had a headache, double vision and had forgotten how to count, she still insisted on doing a daily check-up. He sighed to himself warily, tapping his fingers in a silent melody against his leg.

"Err…" he closed his left eye and looked intently at the proffered fingers, before opening his right and closing his left, and then opening them both again and looking for a third time, after which just shrugged in dismay. "One eye says three, both eyes together say six."

"Hmm…"

Rose turned to consult the giant medical encyclopaedia she had managed to salvage from the TARDIS library, resting open on the metal equipment table to her left. She traced a finger down the page towards the bold writing halfway down which screamed, 'CONCUSSION' in big, bold, black font with a picture of a pencil drawn man rubbing his head.

'The signs and symptoms of a concussion include severe headache, dizziness, vomiting, increased size of one pupil or sudden weakness in an arm or leg. The person may seem restless, agitated or irritable. As the brain tissue swells, the person may feel increasingly drowsy or confused, with double vision and heavy fatigue. If the person is difficult to awaken or passes out, medical attention should be sought immediately. This could be a sign of a more severe injury.'

'RECOMMENDED TREATMENT'

'Rest is the cure. If you suspect memory loss, try asking the patient a string of memory probing questions such as: How many planets are in the Galaxy? Who is the current Prime Minister? What is your middle name? What is the date of your best friend's birthday? Etc.'

"Doctor, I need to ask a few little questions, that okay?" Rose asked, dropping to sit on the Infirmary bed beside him with the heavy medical book open on her lap.

"Yep."

"Okay…" She read the top question, "how many planets are in the Galaxy?"

"…Which Galaxy?" he asked with a small grin, leaning over and looking into the medical book over her shoulder with interest.

"Err…Milky Way."

"Well, that's debatable, isn't it? I mean, first of all, you have a ton of undiscovered planets in your Galaxy that you've failed to notice, plus, where you're from they discovered Planet X – which by the way, sounds like something out of a dodgy superhero anime – and then decided Pluto wasn't a planet! It's insane! Have you humans ever been to Pluto? No! So you don't even know what's on there, do you?"

"Err…we know it's made of ice," Rose proposed, giving a small nervous shrug.

"Yeah, and people live there! Well, not people as such, more…penguins…but still, they were so offended when I found out and went to tell them! They got so infuriated they tried to kill me! Imagine that? There I was, standing all sweet and innocent when suddenly a penguin sneaked up behind me and throttled me unconscious! They're crazy Rose! Crazy, crazy penguins!"

She stared at his quite serious face blankly for a moment, wondering how a penguin could possibly strangle a being five times its height. Looking back down at the big book, she traced her forefinger along the list of symptoms to see if she could find 'nonsensical ramblings about penguins', but could see nothing.

"So," she started again, as though the past minute or so had never even happened. "How many planets are in the Milky Way?"

"Your time - nine or ten, depending on your outlook," the Doctor replied flippantly, waving an uncaring hand. "But how's that saying gonna go now with Planet X? Y'know, on that video with the Jamaican guy. My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming Planets, Pal. Or, Many Vile Earthlings Munch Jam Sandwiches Under Newspaper Piles, Porky." He paused for a moment, tapping his chin slightly and nodding his head, urging his thoughts on. "Or will it just be 'X'? 'Cause then it would be My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming Planets, Xena. Or if they got rid of Pluto it would be My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming Xylophones. Or…""

"Doctor…"

"You humans! Name all of your Earthly things after your Solar System! Mars the chocolate bar, Milky Way the chocolate bar, Galaxy the chocolate bar, Venus the beauty shop, The Sun newspaper, Comet electrical shop, Uranus, your anu-"

"Doctor!"

He stopped rather abruptly and blinked at her; suddenly realising he'd gone off into another rant.

"Oh, sorry," he muttered, blushing slightly red and looking at the floor, twiddling with his thumbs like a disciplined schoolboy. Rose just smiled at him in pity.

"Well, it took a while, but you got it right!" She gave the embarrassed Doctor a quick peck on the cheek in congratulations before consulting her book again. "Okay, who's the current Prime Minister?"

"…By current, d'you mean 2006?"

"Yeah."

"And in which Universe?"

"This one!"

"Oh…Harriet Jones," he finally answered, and Rose smiled again, scanning back down the book page to the next question – and stared.

"…What's your middle name?" she read and glanced up at him, not hiding the sly smile slowly spreading over her face. He just raised an eyebrow at her, giving a flash of a grin.

"So what's the verdict, Nurse? Am I going to live?" he completely ignored the question, beaming widely at her to proclaim his innocence instead. She held him in her regard for a moment, before straightening her facial features to an impassive gaze into his deep brown eyes.

"Doctor," she whispered in a heart broken voice, "you only have two hours left to live."

The Doctor knew she was only joking, but all the same, he flushed slightly pink as she climbed slowly onto his legs on the Infirmary bed with forced him to lay on his back, so she was pinning him down whilst tracing a sensuous finger down his jaw line and throat.

"Really? That's…terrible," he said in a broken high-pitched voice, which was shortly followed by a surprised yelp as she adjusted her sitting position on his pelvis. "Really…really…"

"So, as your personal nurse, I'll be willin' to make your last hours as comfortable as possible…"

"Feeling uncomfortable here…"

"I know, I can feel it…" Rose grinned, shifting her sitting position to a less bumpy surface. "Doesn't take much to seduce you, does it?"

He squeaked like a small vulnerable mouse as she reached up a hand to his neck and gently loosened his tie, eyes watching his Adam's apple bob up and down as he gulped. She leant forward and kissed him gently on the neck, working her way up towards his lips. She had just reached his jaw when there was a small, yet polite cough from the doorway, and the Doctor turned his head in surprise to see Mickey, looking slightly awkwardly at the scene infront of him.

"I'm thinkin' maybe I should have knocked first," Mickey half joked, forcing a small grin at the Doctor whilst Rose continued to kiss the alien along his jaw line.

"That is not what it looks like," the Doctor suddenly said in a hesitant voice, eyes wide and staring at Mickey in pure embarrassment.

"It looks like Rose is tryin' to undress ya usin' just 'er tongue."

The Doctor swallowed nervously, nodding in the affirmative as she reached his bottom lip.

"Then it is what it looks like."

It was then Mickey decided to look away and state the reason for his presence rather than watch the fireworks infront as Rose reached the Time Lord's lips.

"Err…Jackie just sent me to tell you dinner'll be ready in a few minutes," he said mildly, picking at his fingernails to try and create some sort of distraction for himself.

"Mmm…" Rose and the Doctor replied together in the midst of an extremely passionate kiss.

"In the second kitchen," Mickey went on, starting to turn away towards the corridor outside. "She said to try and not be late."

"Mmm…"

"It's spaghetti, I think."

"Mmm…" the Doctor and Rose replied, not really listening.

"So, I'll be leaving now…" Mickey gave an offhand wave as he disappeared out the doorway and the pad of footsteps slowly disappeared into the constant TARDIS sounds.

The Doctor and Rose finally parted after ten more seconds, both gasping for lost breath through the midst of the kiss. Rose was the first to regain her strength, pulling herself up off of the Doctor as he lay panting on the bed, trying desperately to balance his lustful hormonal activity so he didn't have to walk with his back to Jackie or a random hat over his crotch.

Staring up at the blank TARDIS ceiling, he finally levelled out his breathing to relatively normal before having the strength to say in a small voice, "I think I need a cold shower."