Chapter Four : Safe-ish Distance
The Doctor checked in on Rose after a couple of hours, only to see her still curled up and fast asleep. He leant against the door frame, still too wary to venture further into the room -- aware of what would happen if he did. But from this safe-ish distance he was content enough that she was fine, blissfully lost in the land of nod. Dreaming of... Mickey, no doubt. He tried not to think about that. Then he tried not to think about why he tried not to think about that.
He sighed, annoyed with himself, he knew full well that his thoughts should be focused on the problem at hand and not Rose's boyfriend -- ex-boyfriend. It was strange, he thought, that he'd never placed so much importance on such a small word as ex, before. He felt sure that there were a multitude of far more important words that he could fixate about, and all with far more letters.
He groaned and crossed his arms, still watching her. He'd break the news to her when she woke up. He'd sit her down and tell her in his very best 'trust me I'm a Doctor' voice that she'd be fine, she'd be great, she'd be fantastic. Well... just as soon as he figured out how he was going to fix it. One thing was for sure, this time his sonic screwdriver wasn't going to come to the rescue. This was going to take a bit more than jiggery pokery.
Watching her, he couldn't remember the last time he'd slept and he began to realise just how tired he was. He gave a wry smile as he considered the possibility that his nine hundred years were finally catching up on him. He felt sure that when he'd been three hundred he hadn't ached so much; but then he was almost certain that his younger days hadn't been quite so full of running. He shrugged himself away from the doorframe and took a last lingering look at Rose, deciding that maybe it was time he slept too, so he stepped back into the safety of the corridor and headed towards his own room. Alone.
oOo
Rose opened her eyes and found herself on her bed, staring up at the white ceiling of her room, her mind a little foggy as to how she had ended up there. The last thing she remembered was being in the med bay because -- she sat bolt upright scrambled off her bed and quickly checked that an alien creature wasn't about to rip its way out from her chest cavity. Breathing a somewhat unsteady sigh of relief she slumped back against her bed. Bloody side effects!
She'd fainted! Tyler women didn't faint -- not ever. Except... she had, obviously.
Shit.
If this ever got out her name would be mud, she'd never be able to walk through the Powell Estate again. There was only one thing she could do; she had to find the Doctor and swear him to secrecy. Make him take an oath or something. Have him promise faithfully not to, not to...
She groaned, what the hell was she thinking? This was the Doctor. He was going to blab this all over the universe and there was nothing she could do to stop him. But that didn't mean she was going to go down without a fight -- Tyler women definitely didn't do that. She collected her thoughts and pushed herself away from the bed, opened her room door and still in her socks, padded off down the corridor in search of the Doctor.
oOo
The Doctor wasn't in the med bay, console room, library or the wardrobe room. And to Rose's great surprise he wasn't even in that room at the end of the long corridor; the one filled with junk -- and yes, he'd told her a hundred times it wasn't junk. But she knew junk when she saw it, and he wasn't fooling anyone.
Taking yet another turn down yet another corridor she decided to try the observatory, garden and kitchen. However, after Rose found herself standing infront of the same wooden door five times in a row, she had to accept that the TARDIS had grown bored of her wanderings and was trying to tell her something; and that something was that the Doctor was in his room.
Rose took a deep breath, not sure why she was feeling so nervous, or why her heart was jumping into her mouth, or why there were at least a hundred butterflies in her stomach, or why... Oh, this was ridiculous! She took another deep breath, told herself not to be so stupid and placing her hand on the silver door handle turned it slighly, pushing the door as she did so and walking into the room beyond.
She closed the door with a soft click and leant back against it as she held her breath, waiting for her eyes to grow accustomed to the dim light of the room. It didn't take long, and soon she could make out the Doctor, sprawled out across his bed, his body half covered by a white sheet -- and little else. Nervously she licked her lips, taking a moment to let her eyes drift curiously over the sleeping man before her. She'd never seen him asleep before, or without his jumper and leather jacket for that matter.
Rose bit her lip as conscience and curiosity wrestled within her. After two falls and a submission curiosity won, and despite her better judgement Rose took a silent step forward, then another, then another. Soon she was standing at the Doctor's bedside, her fears gone and wonder in her heart. She smiled softly, sleep was good for him, he didn't look so careworn. It was as if he'd let go of the worries he carried -- at least for now, and allowed himself peace. She was glad that wherever his dreams had taken him, it seemed he was content there.
Her gaze explored uncharted pathways across revealed flesh. She took in his long lean arms and smooth chest, before moving down and over toned muscle and naked skin. Her busy eyes continued their greedy journey until with a soft sigh she reached the plain white sheet that cruely denied her any further observations. Rose swallowed, her mouth dry and her body suddenly a little too hot.
Since there was nowhere left for her gaze to travel but back up again, she did exactly that, retracing her scenic journey over the Doctors lean frame, until she finished where she had begun only moments earlier; the Doctor's face. Only this time she was met by the sparkling flash of his blue-steel eyes staring up at her in the darkness.
Rose took an instinctive half step backwards as she tried desperately to think of an excuse for her being there at all. She opened her mouth to say something -- anything -- but all she could manage was a gasp of surprise as the Doctor grabbed at her wrist, and she was effortlessly tugged down onto the bed beside him.
In one lithe movement she found herself pinned down on the bed, the Doctor above her, and a look in his eyes that she had never seen before.
