Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, the lovely folk at BBC do
A soft, consistent, beeping noise rang in Amaras ears. She stirred slightly and opened her eyes, looking around the brightly lit room slowly. After a second she recognized the room she was in. All the rooms at the Hospital section of Torchwood were the same. In the corner, sleeping soundly was the Doctor, curled up awkwardly in one of the chairs. She smiled and sat up, hugging her knees to her chest. The last thing she remembered was looking down at John then everything going dark. It took her a second to register what she had really seen back in the alley. The sonic screw driver. She smiled and watched him sleep, resting her head on her knees. Everything was starting to add up, the name, the psychic paper, the sonic screw driver, and the obvious love he had for her mother. He had to be the Doctor. When he started to wake up, she jumped at the chance to know for sure.
"Morning sunshine" she said casually, leaning back against her pillows.
"Morning. How're you feeling?" he asked, moving over to her side. He yawned softly then took her hand in his. "Thought I'd lost you for a second"
"Can't get rid of me that easily Doctor" she said with a smile. "Everything squared away with Torchwood?"
"As far as I know everything's been taken care of and…" he paused and dropped her hand. "What did you say?"
She sat up and looked into his eyes, a smile spreading across her face. "Did you really think I wouldn't figure it out? That you were the Doctor?" she asked.
"Well I uh… well I don't know what you're talking about" he replied, looking away from her. Even looking at the floor he could still feel her eyes on him.
"Oh come off it. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Stop playing games" she said, her eyes still on him. "Look at me and tell me you're not the Doctor".
He turned around, his eyes on her but not her eyes. "I'm not the Doctor".
"Alright fine" she said. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and moved, with some difficulty because of her leg, out the door.
"Amara wait!" he yelled, standing up and moving to follow her. "Where are you going?"
He followed her closely, repeating his question. She made her way down a corridor and through a door, down some stairs and finally stopped at the end of a short hallway.
"If you won't say it to me, maybe you'll say it to her" she said turning the corner. She stopped in front of a door and moved a little out of the way so he could see through the tiny window. His heart started to race as he moved closer. Even in her old age she was still as beautiful as ever but he could see the sadness in her eyes. Her beautiful eyes that used to sparkle with excitement and adventure, oh how he loved those eyes. And her smile, the smile was still there. He could feel it, that same feeling he always got when she smiled.
"Amara, what's wrong with her?" he asked softly. Amara stood silently for a few moments, watching her mother.
"It's complicated. I don't really understand it myself" she said quietly. He put a hand on her shoulder, encouraging her to tell him.
"I've got time if you're willing to tell me" he said, his gaze shifting to Amara. She looked at her mother one last time and then up at him.
"Nothing. There's nothing physically wrong with her. Never has been, but looking at her tells you otherwise" she said quietly. "She's been like that for as long as I can remember but a couple years ago when Grams died it got worse. It was like all of a sudden she gave up fighting".
"But you don't believe that do you? That there's nothing wrong with her" he said, lifting her chin so she was looking at him. She shook her head and looked back at her mother.
"When I was little, I remember waking up in the middle of the night all the time. Always the same thing woke me. A soft muffled noise coming from my mother's room. Whenever I'd ask her about it she told me I was dreaming and change the subject" she said, her gaze dropping to the floor. "One night I got up and went to her room to see what the noise really was. I remember being confused when I opened her door and went to her bed. I didn't understand why she was crying, why she was so sad, so I asked her"
Amara stopped, tears falling down her cheeks slowly. He reached forward and wiped just under her eyes, brushing some of her hair out of the way. She looked up at him and took a slow, deep breath.
"She just sort of looked at me, tears running down her cheeks, and all I could think of was how badly I wanted to make her happy, just take the sadness and hurt away so she didn't have to cry anymore" she said, pausing again. "She reached out for me so I climbed into bed and held her, repeating that it would be okay, everything would be okay over and over again. She kept saying that her heart was breaking".
He stood silently, listening to her story. That sadness, the same sadness in Rose's eyes, he could see in Amaras. He pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her as she sobbed into his chest. He couldn't help but feel that she was dying because of him. He clenched his eyes shut as a tear slid down his cheek and dropped onto the top of Amaras head. She looked up at him and took a tiny step back, reaching up as she did. She ran her fingers gently under his eyes, wiping away another tear that had started to fall.