A/N: Thank you so much for the support for the last chapter, I really love hearing from you all.

Kartastrophe was kind enough to make me a fabulous banner, which you can see on my profile, so go take a look!

Thank you to Lamia, my amazing pre-reader and Latessitrice, my fantastic beta.


Chapter 3

Rose sat in the waiting room of Doctor Richardson's office, staring idly at the posters on the walls: the dangers of smoking, sun burn, and the recently illegal flu vaccinations. Every month, she arrived at the special hospital for members of Torchwood staff, the same place she'd woken up eight months ago. They took blood samples, did all the basic health checks and finished up with a memory test. It was always the same result. She was in good health, nothing to worry about. Her mind was functioning properly, apart from that huge gap in her memories.

Seeing as it was a family trip to the doctor that day, Pete, Jackie and Tony sat with her as they waited for the doctor to return. Jackie fiddled with Tony's hair every few seconds, while the boy slapped her hand away, and immersed himself in his Nintendo. Pete paced. Rose sat. While she couldn't say she enjoyed these trips, they'd become so routine that they really didn't bother her anymore.

Jackie stood the moment that Doctor Richardson entered, and Rose sat up straighter. The doctor smiled at her, a smile that instantly had her on edge. There was something behind that smile, something worrying, something that made the doctor uneasy. No one else seemed to have noticed, and maybe she was reading too much into things. Either way she'd know in a moment.

"How is she?"

Jackie's voice snapped her back to the present, and Rose turned to her.

"Mum, I'm a big girl," she said, giving her hand a squeeze before following the doctor into her office.

"There's nothing to worry about. Your tests all proved you're just as healthy as you were last time, and there's no sign that your short term memory has been affected by the accident," she said as soon as they had sat down.

Rose nodded, knowing all this already. "But..."

Doctor Richardson paused, as if thinking exactly how to phrase her next words. "Have you experienced anything unusual with your memory? Anything different?"

Rose frowned. "Not especially. Why?" She tried not to think of what this could mean for her. She didn't want to get her hopes up.

"The test show that parts of your memory that were previously...blocked, shall we say, are responding. I wouldn't say it's enough yet for you to recall major events or long periods of time. But perhaps enough for you to get flashes of the past, or things becoming familiar."

Rose paused for a moment, absorbing her words. She couldn't say she was having flashes of the past, or that anything was becoming familiar. More that things around her were becoming unfamiliar. The knowledge that she was living a life that wasn't hers was always in the back of her mind, but it was yet to enlighten her as to what was wrong. And then there was the unfortunate vomiting incident...perhaps, though, she'd managed to scare Dr Smith off, which frankly wouldn't be a terrible thing.

"I'm been feeling...wrong." Rose admitted. "As if things are out of place. But I can't say I can remember anything properly. No people, no places, and nothing leading up to the accident," she said with a shrug.

To her amazement, Doctor Richardson grinned widely, her perfectly white teeth showing. Rose couldn't help but smile with her, though she wasn't sure why she was so happy.

"I know it may not feel like it Rose, but this is a huge breakthrough. We're hopeful that things should improve for you greatly now that you've overcome this first stage. That means I'll have to see you more frequently, but this is certainly good news."

Of course, Jackie was over the moon at her daughter's sudden progress. Although Rose attempted to explain that it was too early to really celebrate, it fell on deaf ears.

"The doctor said you should do some memory exercises, what do you think of that sweetheart?" she asked as they drove back home.

"I don't really understand how I'm going to do an exercise on remembering if I do not know what I'm trying to remember."

"Well, just try it." Rose shook her head and stared out of the window, deciding one breakthrough was enough for today.

#~#~#

"I actually get to work tomorrow? I wonder who my dad bribed this time."

Charlotte laughed. "Make sure he gives you a decent commission. So, Alicia wants to go out this weekend, you in? Her mum knows someone in..."

Rose half listened to the conversation for the next fifteen minutes, managing to somehow agree to a night out that she was certain her mother wouldn't approve of. With a promise of meeting her in the morning, Charlotte left, and Rose found herself staring at the walls of her room.

Memory exercises. They sounded simple enough. Listing what she knew about something, and going back as far as she could, seeing what she knew and what she didn't. The sound of manic giggling and pounding feet caused her to smile, and gave her an idea of where to start.

Tony. He hated bananas and was addicted to Fredo frogs. He had chicken pox a few weeks after she'd come out of the hospital, and managed to give it to her as well. Her mum had insisted she'd had it before, but it seemed she had a knack for catching it. They had matching scars on their ankles from where they'd been unable to stop scratching. When he had a nightmare, he needed his stuffed pig called Moo Moo, a glass of milk and to sleep in her bed, or he'd just wake up again crying.

But she couldn't remember his fourth birthday. Or his third. Or even when he was born. She couldn't remember Jackie being pregnant, or why they'd chosen to call him Tony. She tried until she gave herself a headache.

"Why is this so hard?" she groaned, dropping her head into her hands. It was no good, she simply couldn't remember something she didn't know. She needed a clue, a hint, something to jog her memory.

"Of course. I'm an idiot!" she cried, jumping up and leaving her room. She made her way up the stairs to one of the smaller rooms that was used as storage, knowing she'd seen the photo albums somewhere. It was cheating, but maybe if she saw a picture of her brother's birthday, she might be able to remember it.

Her mother had, in her opinion, far too many photo albums. They sat in a row amongst books on the shelves, and she maneuvered past old and tatty looking furniture in order to stare up at them. Or at least, far too many when she was simply trying to remember one event. Guessing, she grabbed the light blue one for no reason other than blue was her favourite colour, and sat on one of the decrepit chairs. Her hands shook as she opened the first page.

In the end, she was disappointed. It turned out that the album was just of Jackie and Pete, on some holiday that they must have taken back when they were still dating. Her mother's hair was insane, and her father...had hair. It was sweet to see a piece of their past, but naturally didn't help her at all.

She turned to the last page, about to close the album when she noticed a photo tucked into the back binding of the album itself. Thinking it was misplaced, she gently tugged it from the plastic, and turned it over. Her breath caught, and her hand began to shake as she stared at it.

The picture was obviously taken at Christmas, from the decorations of the room she didn't recognise and the festive hats the people of the photograph wore. But it was a Christmas she didn't remember, and by the looks of it, one that she should. In the photo were her and John Smith. Just the two of them, no one else, both smiling brilliantly - all teeth and flushed faces.

Rose swallowed and stared at the picture, trying to ignore her shaking hands, and concentrating on the facts. It must have been taken a while ago. The smiling Rose had hair with far more bleach than hers did now, in a style she wasn't familiar with. Dr Smith was clean cut and wearing an awful brown suit that must have been in fashion long ago. Yet there was something else about the Rose in the photograph that just screamed 'young.' She couldn't pin point exactly what it was, but it was definitely there.

Rose turned the photograph over, looking for some hint of a year. There was nothing, no scribbled date or place that could help her. And despite the fact that it was obviously a memorable occasion, or at least it should have been if she was smiling like that, she felt nothing. No epiphany, no understanding, not even a flicker.

Rose jerked to life as the laughing scream of her brother echoed down the hallway. Suddenly feeling caught somewhere she shouldn't, she stood and placed the album carefully back on the shelf. She hesitated for am moment with the picture still in her hand, knowing she should put it back. However, something held her back. Although she didn't really understand what it meant, nor was she sure she wanted to know what it meant, it seemed as if a photo like this would belong to her. Or at least, the old her. So, with a quick glance out into the hallway to make sure no one saw her, she pushed it into the back pocket of her jeans and left the room.

#~#~#

"You look awful. What happened to you last night?" Charlotte's remark did nothing to improve Rose's mood as she swallowed her tea and attempted to stay awake enough for her client.

"Bad dreams."

Charlotte backed off a little at the remark, and Rose sighed, shaking her head and trying to clear the cobwebs away. Her sleep had been terrible, probably due to the photograph she'd stashed at the bottom of a drawer in her desk. She'd managed to wake up and focus a little on whatever Charlotte was talking about when Alicia practically ran into the room.

"I'm so jealous of you. Your client is waiting outside and he's stunning,"she gushed. Rose rolled her eyes as Charlotte immediately ran to the door to check.

"I really didn't think they made them hot at Torchwood. What's his name?" she remarked, grabbing her things together.

"Doctor John Smith. Emphasis on the doctor part. God I'd play doctor with him any day."

Rose froze, ignoring her friend's remark, and stared at the door in horror. Of all the people, and of all the days for him to turn up at her work, it had to be today.

This is wrong. It's not meant to be like this.

The feeling swept through her without warning, and she thought for a second she was going to pass out. She closed her eyes and swallowed heavily, waiting for the world to stop spinning and the feeling to subside.

"Rose? You okay, Sweetie?"

"I'm fine," she gasped, opening her eyes and coming face to face with her two friends. Charlotte immediately passed her a cup of water, and she drank deeply, forcing herself to calm down.

"You sure?" Alicia asked, her voice sounding sceptical.

"Yeah, I am. Better get to work," she said, plastering on a smile and marching toward the door as if she were going to war.