Chapter Fifteen
A minute after Triton disappeared, the enchantment was lifted and the Doctor, Martha and Donna leapt up. The Doctor ran to Rose and threw his arms around her. Tears ran down Donna and Martha's cheeks as they listened to the Doctor weeping uncontrollably. Martha swallowed hard as her mind flashed back to when the Master had died. His anguish had been great then, but this far surpassed it. Both women stood still, unsure of what to do or say as The Doctor let out a ragged sob and put his hands on the side of Rose's head.
"This isn't the end, my Rose, I promise it. I will find a way to free you if it takes me the rest of my lives. I'm not giving up, so don't you give up either."
He leaned his forehead against hers and murmured, "I will save you." Over and over softly.
After a few minutes, the Doctor managed to get himself back under control. He kissed Rose's forehead and looked back at the two women.
"Stand back, I'm gonna bring her inside." He said to them.
The two women nodded and quickly got out of the way as the Doctor grabbed Rose under her arms and gently picked her up. They watched as he turned and walked towards the console with her.
"Do you need help?" Martha asked hesitantly.
"No, I'm fine, thanks." The Doctor said to her.
He sat her down gently by the console and looked at her. He swallowed hard looking at the ecstatic look on her face and he had to turn his head away for a moment to keep from losing it again. When he finally got himself under control again, he forced himself to look at her. He glanced down at her legs. They were spread apart.
"Doctor, what's wrong?" Donna asked.
"I don't think we can keep her upright in here." The Doctor said looking at her and Martha. "You know how the TARDIS is, one hard jolt and she might fall over and shatter…"
He trailed off. Martha and Donna ached inside when they saw him swallow hard and take a deep breath. He put his hand against Rose's cheek.
"It's too dangerous for you to be out here, angel." He said to her. "We have to lay you down where you won't be in danger of falling over and breaking apart. I'm gonna put you in your bed until I can figure out a way to free you from this, alright?"
"Are we going to go back to the Arcadian's ship then?" Martha asked.
"Not yet, first we have to figure out a way to cancel out Triton's abilities so we can fight him on an equal footing." The Doctor said. "But, we will go back. He is the key to restoring Rose and I will make him change her back if it kills me."
He picked her up under the arms again.
"Follow me. I might need your help this time." He said to them. "Once I get Rose in bed, I'll need to tie her down just in case something happens and the TARDIS lurches. I want her absolutely safe and secure until we get her back to normal."
Martha and Donna nodded. They followed the Doctor as he carried Rose to her old room. Once they reached it, Donna got ahead of him and opened the door. The Doctor thanked her and brought Rose inside.
"Here we are, Rose, your old room. Just as you left it."
Martha put her hand over her mouth when she noticed the Doctor was on the verge of losing it again. He took a deep, ragged breath and forced himself to look at Martha.
"Could you pull the covers down? I don't know if Rose can get cold now, but I want to make sure she's comfortable."
"Yes, Doctor." Martha said rushing to the bed.
She pulled the covers down to the end and stepped back.
"Donna, I'm gonna turn Rose around, grab her legs and I'll tip her over gently. Then, we'll put her in the bed."
"Yes, Doctor." Donna said.
The Doctor walked over to the side of the bed. He sat Rose down gently and slowly turned her around. Donna waited until she was completely turned around before walking up and grabbing her legs.
"Ready?" he asked her.
"Ready when you are." Donna replied.
The Doctor nodded. Slowly, he gently leaned Rose back as Donna brought her legs up in the air. When she was off the ground, they slowly walked over as Martha ran to the other side. Martha grabbed onto her right arm and the three of them gently brought her down on the bed. When they were done moving her into the exact center of it, the Doctor grabbed the covers and pulled them up to her neck. He smiled tenderly at Rose.
"Rest now, angel." He whispered, running his finger across her cold, lifeless cheek.
He looked back at Donna and Martha.
"There's some rope in the supply closet. I'm gonna go get it and you can help me tie Rose down. Just stay here and keep an eye on her while I'm gone."
Donna and Martha nodded. The Doctor smiled at them and quickly hurried out of the room. As soon as he left, Donna and Martha walked to the head of the bed and looked down at her.
"The Doctor will free you, Rose, you can count on it." Martha said.
"And we're gonna help him, no matter what it takes." Donna added. "You're too nice a girl to spend the rest of your life like this."
"Yeah, we're not about to let our new best friend spend the rest of eternity as a statue. We need you to help us irritate the Doctor."
"That's right," Donna said. "You have to help us give him wedgies and put ice down his trousers and kick him in the bum whenever he's standing at the console. We need you to stand with us behind him and sing sappy romantic ballads off key until he screams at us to stop. We don't wanna do all this and have you miss out on it, Rose."
"And besides, the Doctor needs you, Rose. He needs you so much. Donna and me have never seen him this happy. We don't want him to go back to the man he was before. That's why we're gonna do everything in our power to help him get you back to normal. Just don't give up, okay? We'll come in here and keep you company. We're not about to let you stay in here collecting dust. You're a part of the team now, not a paperweight. Just relax and keep calm. We're gonna come through for you, I promise."
The Doctor stood at the door silently listening to Martha and Donna talking to Rose. A knot formed in his throat and tears coursed down his cheeks as he heard them vowing to help her no matter what it took. He was so glad that both of them wanted her back just as much as he did. He knew now that with their help, they would find a solution. He didn't want to interrupt them since they were trying to comfort Rose, but he wanted to get this over with so they could start planning a way to get her back. He entered the room and Donna and Martha paused and looked at him. He nodded down at the rope in his hands.
"Help me tie this around the bed, but not too tight. Again, I don't know how much Rose can feel in there and I don't want to tie her down so tightly it hurts her. Just tight enough that she'll stay in bed if the TARDIS lurches."
Donna and Martha nodded. The Doctor walked over to him and they helped him as they wound the rope around and under the bed securing Rose to the bed. They tied it off and stood back up. They looked down at her face.
"At least he caught Rose in a happy moment." Donna said.
"Yeah, at least we don't have to look at a sad or scared face." Martha added.
"She may look happy, but I doubt at the moment she's anything but." The Doctor said.
He cursed in Gallifreyan under his breath.
"Damn him. I'll make him pay for this." He said in English. "I'll find a way to get back at him and make him undo this if it's the last thing I do."
He sighed angrily.
"Ranting about it is not gonna undo it though." He said. "We might as well get back in the vortex and get away from here before someone decides to start battling outside the TARDIS. We were lucky to land where we did. One well-placed missile would have blown this ship to bits. I don't want to press our luck."
Martha and Donna nodded. The Doctor leaned over and kissed Rose briefly on the lips before he leaned back up and followed his companions out of the room.
As the Doctor closed the door behind him, he failed to see the golden glow that flickered briefly inside the statue's head before it faded away and all was still again.