Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who
Chapter 9
It was several hours after they had all gone to bed, but Rose couldn't sleep. She was too worried about the Doctor. When she'd said goodnight to him earlier, he had seemed like he was still in pain. Thinking about it, she realised that he probably still had a concussion from when he crashed the TARDIS. Weren't you supposed to wake people who had a concussion up every few hours? She remembered hearing that somewhere. So should she wake the Doctor?
Unable to stay lying in bed worrying any longer, Rose walked down the dimly lit corridor to the Doctor's room and opened the door to check on him. No Doctor – his bed had been abandoned some time earlier, the covers thrown back and his trench coat missing. A little annoyed that he refused to take care of himself, Rose walked quickly to the console room to find him.
Sure enough, that was where the Doctor was. He was just standing, only wearing his pyjama bottoms and his trench coat, looking at the monitor on the console.
"You should be sleepin' y'know, "Rose said from the doorway.
The Doctor turned to face her and said, "Yeah, I know."
Rose walked over to him, "Can't I leave you alone for a couple of hours and trust you to go and get some sleep?"
The Doctor didn't answer her question, but turned back to the monitor. "They've found us. They searched the whole house, and couldn't find you lot, so they've figured that you're probably in here with me."
"Apparently not," Rose mumbled under her breath, in answer to her own question. Then as the Doctor watched the soldiers that had surrounded the TARDIS, she took a better look at the console room. It really had changed a lot from the last time she was here, and it really was a complete mess. Most of the new pieces of machinery were hooked up to various parts of the TARDIS with long wires and cables. "So, you've been doin' some work then?"
"Yeah, this is what I had to fix up so the TARDIS could get here. Glad I bolted it to the floor though, or it'd probably all've been destroyed when I crashed here."
Still looking around at the changes in the console room, a thought occurred to Rose. "Umm, Doctor? Has anything else changed? I mean, has there been anyone else here, travelling with you?" She asked awkwardly.
The Doctor turned and looked straight at her, and she could see the pain in his eyes as he answered, "No Rose, there could never have been someone else other than you."
"What, so you've been travelling on your own for…" Rose trailed off, realising that she didn't know how long it'd been for the Doctor. "How long has it been for you Doctor?"
The Doctor glanced away from her and looked back at the monitor, "Not that long," he mumbled under his breath, scratching his ear.
Rose however, was not convinced. She knew that habit, whenever the Doctor tried to lie to her, he always scratched his ear, "You're lying Doctor. Look at me, and tell me the truth, how long?"
The Doctor looked back at Rose, and through his eyes, she could see how much he was hurting. She pulled him into a hug, and he whispered, "57 years Rose. That's how long it was for me."
To say this shocked Rose would be a huge understatement. She was absolutely astounded, her Doctor had been on his own for over half a century. It'd been hard and painful enough for her, and she'd only been away from him for a few months, and she'd had her mum, her dad and Mickey helping her. He'd had no one, for over half a century. She couldn't even begin to comprehend what he must've gone through. Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her face as she hugged him tighter. When she did this however, he gasped in pain.
Quickly she released him, apologising, "I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"
"I'm fine Rose," The Doctor said, putting a hand gingerly to his stitched chest and wincing slightly.
"You never actually told me what happened there. I mean, I know that the cut on your head was from you crashin' the TARDIS, but what happened to your chest?… and your face?" She asked, referring to his stitched up wounds, and the scar on his face.
"I got careless," was all the Doctor would say.
Changing the subject, Rose wiped the tears from her eyes and gestured towards the monitor, and the soldiers outside, "They definitely can't get in here can they?"
"Now Rose," the Doctor began, chiding her playfully, "what did I tell you about this ship and the armies of Genghis Khan?"
"Oh, yeah," Rose smiled, she remembered him telling her that.
"We'll leave tomorrow," the Doctor said, "Give them lot one more surprise as we go." Then he grinned at her. It was a mere ghost of his usual grin, but it was near enough to his old one that Rose was unable to stop herself from automatically grinning back at him. It was definitely a start to getting the Doctor back to how he was before.
"Come on!" Rose grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the door, "You said it yourself, we're not leavin' 'til tomorrow, and you need some rest. Except this time I'm staying to make sure you actually go to sleep!"
A few minutes later, she was curled up next to the Doctor, tucked up in bed. She smiled to herself. This was as it should be, them together again. She lay with her head on his bare chest, listening to the comforting sound of his dual heartbeat, and looked up at him. There was no sign of fear, desperation or pain anymore. The only thing that marred his now-peaceful face was the scar down it's right side. For her it was a symbol of what the Doctor had had to go through without her, maybe one day when he was ready, he'd tell her about all those years he'd spent alone, and what had happened to him. The Doctor was almost completely asleep by now, but he was awake enough to mumble sleepily, "Rose Tyler, I love you." At this, she snuggled closer to him, being very careful of his stitches, and closed her eyes. "Quite right too," she replied.
THE END
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finished! Yes I know, a very cheesy ending, but I thought that the Doctor should really finish his sentence from the beach! (after all, he did start it a VERY long time ago!) I wasn't really sure of how many years the Doctor should've been alone for. But I figured that even for someone as clever as him, it would've taken him a long time to find a way back to Rose, and I really wanted to show that he never gave up looking for her.
Anyway, I will be doing a sequel sometime soon, and I would've told you the name now, but I haven't thought of one yet!
This is your last chance to review this story, so please, please, please, PLEASE take it, and tell me what you thought of the story (and/or anything you want to see in the sequel)!
Any questions or anything anyone wants to say, always feel free to PM me, I will always reply! (and I love getting messages!)
