6 – A Helping Hand

'There,' Jackie said triumphantly as she walked into the kitchen, dusting her hands together. 'Gave him an ear bashing Mike Tyson would be proud of. Silly sod, getting tanked up like that. He's coughing and sneezing too. Serves him right if you ask me. You should go up and finish him off while that smart mouth of his is down.'

Rose had hardly heard a word Jackie had said. She stared down into her coffee and drew small invisible rings on the workbench with her finger. 'Mmm.'

'Oh and your dad's not getting off lightly either,' Jackie said, taking a seat opposite her daughter at the counter. 'Hiding bottles of whiskey around? What on Earth is he doing that for? The only thing I can think of is that other version of me must have been a right handful. Men. Bloody wrong they are. Sometimes I think we'll be better off without them.'

Rose frowned slightly at her own thoughts. 'Mum…' She paused, thinking how to go on.

'Yes, love?'

'Do you… do you think of the Doctor as… y'know the Doctor?'

Jackie nodded. 'Yes.' She said without hesitation. 'Of course. He still talks to me like I've got the brain of a toad and he's still incredibly rude so, yes. He's the Doctor alright.'

Rose nodded slightly, but the reply didn't wipe away the frown from her brow. Jackie sighed and reached across the table, taking her hand. 'It's just…' Rose sighed and rubbed her head with her free hand. 'I always think about how I felt when I first got stuck here. It was so hard to adjust being out of the TARDIS. Trying to squeeze myself back into a normal life. You were there, you saw how hard it was.'

Jackie nodded sympathetically and allowed her to carry on.

'But with the Doctor… He spent practically his whole live travelling. And not just a daft sixty-odd years, it was over nine hundred years. Imagine being able to go wherever and whenever you want for nine hundred years, and then suddenly find yourself stuck in a mansion with a human family without so much as a passport.' She looked up at Jackie. 'Wouldn't that just drive you insane?'

'Oh sweetheart,' Jackie sighed, squeezing Rose's hands. 'He wants to be here with you. Even I could see that on that bloody beach. It's going to take him a while to adjust to the new way of living but he'll manage it eventually. You've just got to be patient with him. Help him along.'

'That's the thing,' Rose sighed, leaning back and pulling her hands into her lap. 'I don't think he wants my help. I've been trying to get him to go to the hospital and he just won't hear any of it.'

'Hospital?' Jackie asked, curiously. 'What's the matter?'

'I think it's his heart,' Rose replied. 'He gets out of breath and… he just looks ill. Just look at him, he looks like he's aged about five years in the past month. He looks terrible.'

'Rose Tyler,' Jackie said jokingly. 'You're not getting shallow, are you?'

Rose cracked a small smile. 'Don't be daft. But seriously… I really think there's something wrong and he won't listen to me at all. I don't know what to do. I can feel him drifting away from me and… and I don't think I can bring him back.'

Jackie sighed and looked down at the workbench. 'Have you spoke to him about it?'

'I've tried.' Rose replied. 'But he doesn't want to listen. Thinks there's nothing wrong with him. I don't think he understands that now that he's human these things can happen to him. Mum, I'm so terrified of losing him again. I don't know what I would do.'

Jackie reached for her hand again but Rose pulled it away and pushed her hair back with a heavy sigh. 'He'll listen, Rose. He'll listen eventually.'

Rose shook her head. 'I don't think he will. The Doctor… I mean the original Doctor, he said I would be able to help the new one. Like I helped him. But I'm starting to think I can't. Everything is so different and now with this on top…' She trailed off and sighed. 'I need help.'

'Well you know me and your dad are always here to help.' Jackie said, gently.

'No…' Rose shook her head. 'I mean… I need someone he will listen to.' She sat for a moment, trying to decide whether she really wanted to say the thing she was thinking, and decided that she did. 'I think I need Martha Jones.'