Once again thanks to TheBigCat for being a great Beta for me. please drop me a review I would love to know what some of you readers are thinking I want your feedback. It makes me hungry to write more for you guys and I promise you drop me a few more Reviews I will post the next chapter it ready to go. well cheers to chapter 3.
He stood there, gaping like a fish at everything the other him was saying. He was dead and Rose may as well be dead from what the other Doctor was describing. His Rose Tyler, the strongest women he knew, was not her anymore.
She was more like him now, full of sadness and pain. He had done that to her, made her want to end her life. The other him had failed to give her the life she deserved; the house, the picket fence and 2.5 children. He didn't love her. She did not love him. He had thought he had got it right, leaving them there on the beach together. Sure, it had hurt him greatly, breaking his hearts as he watched them kiss and having to force himself to walk away, knowing that it was best, even if he did not like it. But now he was standing here, realizing he had failed and facing the choice the other Doctor was giving him.
Regeneration or Rose, the two big R's. If he continued to regenerate nothing would change, the memories would still be there, just beaten down in the back of his mind. But this conversation he was having with himself would stay fresh. He would become a new man, but by doing so he would still be forced to know what he had done to Rose. Or he could choose her, knowing that she would never see her mother, or her Brother or the man she now called 'dad' ever again. That he would be taking away her life from her without her even having a say in it. Could he do that? It was incredibly insensitive and more than just rude. Rude and not ginger played back in his head.
He wanted to be insensitive; he wanted to be selfish, he wanted Rose even if she was not the same Rose anymore. Even if she withered and died, Rose was always more than just a companion. He had burned up a sun just to say goodbye to her and he had never done that for anyone else. He knew his answer- it was going to hurt Rose, but he knew what he had to do. He could not be selfish even if she was hurting right now- she would get better in time.
He opened his mouth and the words that came out were not the ones he was thinking.
"Rose," his hearts said. "I choose Rose Tyler."
The other him smiled. "I thought you might. Your head did not win that battle. Might be a first for us, eh? But you've made your choice. Goodbye me, goodbye Tardis and hello, Rose Tyler!"
And just like that the other Doctor was gone, winking out of existence like he had never been there to begin with. But in the spot where he had once stood lay one blonde girl sleeping, tearstains still evident on her face.
On the grating lay Rose Tyler. He did not blink as he stepped closer and gathered her gently in his arms; his hearts breaking when she mumbled his name into his shirt- she was dreaming of him, tears rolling down her face. He stood gently so not to jar her, and turned on a heel.
He took her a room the Tardis had opened for him. It was not her room, just a bare one. The Tardis had hidden her room from him a long time ago. He laid her on the bed just as gently as he had picked her up from the floor.
The Doctor stood there staring at Rose, marking the differences. Her hair a bit shorter than the last time he saw her on Bad Wolf bay, her body a little thinner and her face which seemed to lack the animation she once shared with the world. Even when she slept, her face had always seemed so animated. Now it was just a shell just like the other Doctor had said. The tears still rolled down her face. He reached forward to wipe the moisture off her face, but faltered, his hand just hanging there.
He did not want her to wake up yet. She needed to rest. The tears hurt him, though- he knew he had caused them. He turned to leave the room but couldn't do it. Sighing, he found a chair had appeared in the corner or the room and made his way to it. He sat down. There was no way he could leave tonight. He had to make sure she was okay. If he left she might disappear just as quickly as she had appeared. So he sat there and waited. Waited for her to wake up.
