Recovery

10/Rose

Hurt/Comfort

Summary: When Rose falls ill on an alien planet it's up to the Doctor to help her recover.

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or its characters. Last night I watched David Tennant in Recovery (if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. It's on youtube. It's a great story, and DT does a fantastic job. All of them do.) So this story shares its name with that, because I'm lousy with titles, and the idea behind it follows along those lines as well, though of course with a DW twist.

Previously:

Guilt washed over the Doctor. He had brought Rose here, she had gotten sick, and the one thing she wanted was him. And he was out buying spare parts and chatting with the locals. How could he have left her? A twenty year old human on a strange planet without a guide; without him.

After ten minutes brisk walk the vendor stopped outside of the gates of the local hospital.

"Here, Sir. She was brought here. Our healers do not know her species, but she should be easy to find with her pale skin and hair. Good luck, Sir. I hope she is all right!" And with that the woman shuffled back toward her stall at a much more benign pace, clearly having spent all of her energy getting them there quickly. The Doctor was grateful, but he had no time to spare. Rose was in danger and in a hospital full of people who didn't know what to do with her.

Chapter 3

The Doctor rushed through the main doorway and straight to the desk.

"I'm looking for my friend. She was brought in a couple of hours ago. She's pale, like me, but with yellow hair. Some vendors brought her in from the marketplace."

"Of course, Sir. If you'll follow me please. The healers will be happy to see you. They've been most confused about her physiology and anatomy and if you can help shed some light on that they'd be grateful."

That was the Doctor's worst fear. That they would have tried to heal her like a Ledonian and it would end up killing her. But it didn't sound like it had come to that, at least not as far as the receptionist knew.

The green skinned woman led the Doctor to a quiet ward on the third floor. There the Doctor could see blue robed people standing around a single bed. He couldn't see who was in it from the doorway, but he was guessing it was his Rose. He strode up to the bed and straight through the group of people. Sure enough, there was Rose. He quickly assessed her from where he was standing. She had a tube up her nose and an IV in her cheek. Her wrists and hands were swollen, and it seemed her feet and ankles were as well.

He turned to the people in blue robes. "Who is in charge here with this woman?" He tried not to lose his temper -- they had never seen a human before -- but it was hard when it was Rose who was sick.

A woman came up and stood in front of him, clearly not intimidated by his tone or his height. "I am, Sir," she said, looking up at him with a combination of anger, concern, and relief on her face. "I am assuming that you are friends with this woman? My name is Matron Sats, I am head healer in this hospital. We have done what we know for your friend, but she has not improved. We are not familiar with her species, though. Maybe you know more about her...?"

The Doctor was only half listening. He had pulled out his stethoscope from his pocket and was listening to Rose's lungs and heart. Her chest was barely rising, and he could hear popping in her lungs with what breathing she was doing. Her heart was racing, he could barely count the beats from one to the next. He could feel heat radiating off of her body, and she was paler than he had ever seen her. He had no idea what had caused any of it, though.

"What happened?" he demanded of the staff as he propped Rose up on pillows to ease her breathing. "Why was she brought in, and what have you done in your attempt to treat her?"

Matron Sats placed her hand on Rose's. "Poor girl. She was brought in by some people from the marketplace. Apparently she had collapsed. She had stopped at many of their stalls and had sampled some of the fruits they sold. For whatever reason something must not have worked with her body. When she arrived we tried to slow the reaction with acaphin, and when that didn't work we tried giving her colatite and phargo to increase her fluid production and her heartrate. We also gave her lankierip for her obvious pain. When her breathing became shallow we inserted a nasal tube as best as we could, and when we saw no fluids being excreted we inserted a line into her cheek to provide more to her vascular system."

For a Ledonian they had followed protocol to a T. For Rose, though, they were killing her. The Ledonians, when they had ingested something they could not handle, from an allergy to a poison, could simply excrete it through their skin with enough fluid. Their heartrates increased to help pump it out. And their respiratory system was much closer to that of a fish than a human's, with the air being passed over an organ at the back of the nose and then breathed out of the mouth, much like water passing over gills. So they had done what they could. Unfortunately, Rose's body didn't work that way. The extra fluid was filling her lungs and was causing her to swell. Her heart was going to give out soon, and the nasal tube was doing nothing other than blowing air up her nose. The IV in her cheek wasn't harming her, but it wasn't helping in the least.

The Doctor nodded. Then he got to work. "Matron Sats, Rose is what is called a human. They don't work like Ledonians. Her body can't flush out toxins like yours can. It'll simply fill with water. And her respiratory system is in her chest, not her head. We need to disconnect the medications you've given her and help her body regulate itself. Have you got anything like frusemide on hand? Something to get rid of the water. A diuretic? Also, we need to slow her heartrate down. You've given her four medications already, yes? Plus the diuretic? I'm wary to introduce another one, since we don't know how they'll act in her body. Have you got a machine that can shock her heart? Good. Bring that over, we'll use that." As he spoke his fingers were working, disconnecting the tubes from Rose, putting an oxygen mask on her face, taking out the IV and reinserting it into a vein in her arm. A nurse hurried over with the diuretic.

"Good, good. Now, do you have a catheter? We need to help her get the water out of her as quickly as possible. Also, where's that shock cart?" More nurses were rushing over toward them. One pushed over the cart and the other held out the catheter to the Doctor. He thought briefly about what Rose would say if she found out what he was about to do, but knowing Ledonian physiology he also knew she would be grateful that he didn't allow them to do it. Very quickly the Doctor did what needed to be done, and nearly immediately he was rewarded with a liter of fluid. Rose's stomach visibly sank.

"Brilliant! So far so good. Now, let's take another listen..." He leaned over his friend's chest and listened with his stethoscope again at her heart and lungs. The fluid in her lungs had not progressed any further, though it had not yet disappeared. Her heart was still racing at over 200 beats a minute, though, by the Doctor's best estimate. He pulled the cart over, set it to 300 joules, and pushed Rose's hospital gown to the sides. He looked at the green skinned group around him, took a deep breath, and yelled, "Clear!" as he pressed the paddles to Rose's chest. She gave a small jump and he put the paddles back and listened again. She was still tachycardic. He grabbed the paddles again and repeated the procedure. "Clear!" After the third shock a moment later he listened and was rewarded with the sound of Rose's heart being at a much more normal 80 beats per minute. He smiled, then closed her gown over her chest.

"Her heart is going back to normal. And her lungs are already starting to empty of fluid." The bag at the end of the catheter had already been replaced with an empty bag, and it was nearly full again.

Now that her vitals were stable again, the Doctor wondered why she had not regained consciousness. And why her skin was so warm. He turned back to Matron Sats.

"Did you sedate Rose, or do any of the medications you gave her have a sedating property? Also, have you checked her for infection?"

"She was unconscious when she was brought in, though the people carrying her say that she was conscious for a few moments on their way here. They said she asked for a doctor and that was all. She mumbled a bit, but she's been silent for us. We haven't needed to give her any sedation at all. As for an infection, how do you propose we do that?"

So they hadn't yet discovered the germ theory, or the reaction from the body to an invader. Then he remembered. They didn't have an immune system like that of a human. Their answer was to secrete it, not fight it. So the fever would have been marked as unimportant.

"Matron Sats, I appreciate all that you have done for Rose. But she would be better cared for with me, in my infirmary. I know her species and I have the training to take care of her. With your permission, and honestly even without it, I'm going to take Rose with me and finish her treatment myself. Could you please help arrange transport for us?"

Matron Sats' eyebrows had gone up during the Doctor's little speech, but she simply nodded when he finished and went off to make the necessary arrangements. The Doctor tucked Rose's clothes and purchases into his large pockets, then he got her ready to be moved. Her breathing had improved so that she could go without the oxygen for a time, but her body was still putting out a phenomenal amount of fluid, so the catheter had to stay.

The preparations done the Doctor sat on Rose's bed at her hip and brushed her sweaty hair off of her face.

"Oh Rose. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'll get you better, I promise. I can fix you."

to be continued...