It turned out that waiting out the Doctor's illness was taking longer than the Tylers thought. He was still asleep in the afternoon the next day, so Rose went to check up on him.

She entered the room to find the Doctor asleep, lying on his side with his back facing Rose. The room was dark no thanks to the rain outside. Rose felt a cold chill just walking into the room. She absolutely hated days like this, especially when she was back at home compared to traveling with the Doctor. They were so damp and dreary, it was taking the life out of the world.

She put her hand on the Doctor's arm and gently shook. "Doctor?" she asked. "Are you awake?"

The Doctor cracked an eye open. "I am now..." he grumbled tiredly. He shifted positions to lie on his back and rubbed his brown eyes sleepily. "What time is it?"

"It's after four," Rose answered, sitting in the chair next to the bed and clicking on the bedside lamp. "You've been asleep since last night. Do you want anything? Some tea or water?"

"Maybe both," The Doctor agreed on.

Rose smiled and stood up. "Coming right up!" she said, turning and walking out the room.

The Doctor breathed a sigh of frustration. How much longer was he going to be sick? He hated keeping Rose stuck at home for so long. He also hated being stuck in bed. He had to get out. He didn't know why yesterday's attempt to go outside failed. His immune system still must have been weak so the outside did him no good.

He must have fallen asleep again because the next thing he knew, he was being woken by Rose. "Doctor?"

The Doctor opened his eyes again and found Rose's smiling face staring into his eyes. He smiled back at her. "Rose..."

"You fell asleep again, sleepyhead!" Rose joked.

The Doctor yawned. "Oi, it's not my fault," he said in his defense. "I dozed off!"

Rose ignored what the Doctor said and handed him a mug of tea. "Here, just steeped it!"

The Doctor smiled and guzzled it down. Rose stared in amazement once more. She could STILL not believe he could gulp down such a scalding hot drink and be okay. It was his superior Time Lord biology that gave him taste buds of steel.

He was just handing Rose the mug back to her when Jackie appeared.

"How are you feeling, Doctor?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Still the same," The Doctor replied as Rose fluffed his pillows. "Still tired but my stomach has improved a little more."

"Well then, fancy some soup, then?" Jacked asked. "I could make you some more chicken broth."

"We could give it a shot," The Doctor said with a nod.

Rose was impressed with how civil the Doctor and her mother were being to each other. She guessed her mother couldn't be mean to someone who was ill.

Unfortunately, before Jackie could leave to make the chicken broth, the Doctor threw his blankets back, sprinted out of bed, and ran to the bathroom, throwing up his cup of tea. Rose joined him as he hunched over the toilet, rubbing his back.

"You shouldn't have guzzled that tea down so quickly," Jackie warned from the doorway. "Tiny sips are the best way to go with a stomach bug."

The Doctor shot Jackie a glare. "I don't think this is a-" he said until he began to cough uncontrollably.

Rose sighed, gently patting her friend's back. So much for the Doctor and her mother being civil...

The Doctor continued to cough into the toilet until he rested his forehead on the cool porcelain bowl. He immediately felt relief against his burning skin, beginning to relax.

"You alright, Doctor?" Rose asked worriedly as she stroked the Doctor's hair.

"Hope so," The Doctor answered, feeling both embarrassed and miserable. "Just leave me here. This toilet is so nice and cool..."

Rose placed a hand on the Doctor's forehead. "Still feverish," she concluded. She began to help the Doctor up. "Come on, let's cool you down, yeah? Maybe a nice, cold bath?"

The Doctor nodded weakly, sitting on the closed toilet seat, resting his head into his hands. Rose started the bath, running ice cold water into it and began to comfort the Doctor until she realized she forgot something.

"Hang on, let me go grab you some towels," Rose spoke up, walking out of the bathroom and over to the linen closet. She opened it up, took a stack of pink towels out of it, one large and one small, and went back over to the bathroom. "Sorry, but we have a lot of pink-Doctor?"

The Doctor was missing. This made Rose fill with worry. Where did he go? Did he go back to bed? Or did he go get a change of clothes? She rushed to his bedroom to check but he was not here. She checked the kitchen, the living room, even her own room. No Doctor. She was beginning to panic.

"Rose?" Jackie called from the front door. "Did you leave the front door open?"

"No, why?" Rose answered. She gasped as a realization struck her. The Doctor! She ran to the front door and checked around for the missing Time Lord. "Doctor!"

No answer. Rose stepped out of the flat and looked around. It didn't help that it was already dark out, the rain clouds making it even darker. It was pouring rain, water cascading onto Rose and wetting her blonde locks, making her hair stringy.

It didn't take her long to find the Doctor. She found him standing behind her, soaking wet. His hair was messier than before, dripping with water, and his pajamas were just about see-through, clinging to him. His expression was a tired one, but also signs of being a little out of it.

"Doctor!" Rose cried, throwing her arms around him, not caring her own clothes were getting wet. "What are you doing out here? It's freezing!"

The Doctor smiled, remaining silent as he spread out his arms and threw his head back, taking in all the rain that was hitting his face. He stuck his tongue out and let the raindrops hit it as the rain refreshed him.

"Are you mad?" Rose shouted angrily. "I have a cold bath running for you in the flat! You could have waited a few minutes!"

The Doctor said nothing as he continued to stand there until he closed his eyes and his arms dropped to his side. He began to sway, Rose rushing and grabbing him as he fainted, collapsing heavily onto her.

"I've got you!" Rose whispered. He was looking very pale, his lips very dark coloured.

"Rose?" Jackie shouted from the front door. "What are you doing out here? It's bloody freezing out here!"

"Mum, I need your help again!" Rose called. "He's fainted, I need to get him inside!"

"Oh, bloody hell!" Jackie cursed, running to Rose and helping her get the Doctor inside and into the kitchen on a chair. "He's soaking wet!"

"I know, mum," Rose said, drying him off with the towels from earlier. "I was trying to run him a cool bath so he could cool his fever and he just goes and stands outside in the rain!"

"Did you ever turn off the bath, Rose?" Jackie asked skeptically. "Because I can still hear it running."

Rose clapped a hand to her forehead and rushed to the bathroom, where the water level was about to overflow on the bathtub. She turned off the water and began to drain the tub. She breathed a sigh of relief as her mother arrived in the bathroom.

"You DIDN'T turn it off?" Jackie asked, alarmed.

"It didn't overflow!" Rose pointed out. "I'm draining it right now!"

She huffed in frustration, feeling very overwhelmed at the moment. She had a passed out Doctor, the bathtub nearly overflowed, and she had her mother yelling at her. This was not one of her best nights back at home.

"What are we going to do about the Doctor?" Rose choked out, tears strangling her voice.

"I'll tell you what we'll do," Jackie explained calmly, rubbing Rose's shoulder. "We'll dry him off and get him into a fresh pair of jim jams. Then back into bed for him!"

Rose smiled. One of the best things about her mother was that she always knew what to do, and that she was always so forgiving. No matter how many times Rose screwed up or ran off with the Doctor, she was always one to forgive.

And so Jackie grabbed another pair of the Tyler Cousin's pajamas (dark blue) and other things and helped Rose haul the Doctor to his room. Jackie didn't make Rose help change him this time. Instead, she had her go get another glass of water and a cold compress. By the time Rose returned, the Doctor was back in his bed, covers drawn, looking much more comfortable. His hair was still wet from the rain, which Jackie was gently towel drying.

"There," she said quietly. "He's all settled in. He should be good as new again once he wakes up, especially since he went out into that dreadful rain." Jackie stood up from the chair and began to gather the wet pajamas and towels.

Rose giggled and rolled her eyes. She was about to leave the room with her mother when she noticed the Doctor's lips. Not in the good kind of kissable way, but in the bad way. His lips were turning blue. She took that as a bad sign, so she took the Doctor's hand into hers and noticed he was shivering. She placed he hand on his forehead again and felt it still burning hot.

"Mum?" Rose called out.

"What's the matter, Rose?" Jackie called back from the laundry room.

"The Doctor," Rose explained. "His lips are blue and he's shivering but he's still got a fever."

Jackie returned and examined the Doctor. His teeth began to chatter. "My God, he's got chills!"

"What are we going to do, Mum?" Rose asked frantically, tears stinging her eyes. She was terrified and didn't know what to do.

"We just need to give him a lighter blanket and give him plenty of water," Jackie instructed. "Go grab a thin blanket from the linen closet, honey."

Rose did what she was told. She came back with a thin blue blanket while Jackie stripped the bed of the thicker blankets. She took the blanket from Rose and spread it out over the Doctor, who already looked a little more relieved.

A little while later, the Doctor opened his eyes and Rose had him take some sips of water before he fell back asleep again. Jackie went to bed at midnight, but Rose told her she would stay with the Doctor and watch over him in case he needed her. Jackie said it was fine and bid her good night. It was going to be a long night, seeing as there was nothing to do but sit around and watch telly. At this point, Rose was sick of the telly. She had seen so many reruns and movies it was not funny.

Rose then decided to grab a book from the living room. Her mother recently bought a few books so she figured maybe something new would help keep her occupied. She settled on a murder mystery and took it back to the room with her. She opened the book and began to read, immediately immersing herself in the book. Everything was calm until Rose was 4 chapters in. That was when she heard the Doctor calling out in his sleep.

"No!" He shouted with his eyes still closed. "Leave her alone! Take me instead...I love her too much for you to take her!"

Rose ignored what he was shouting. She shook him by the shoulder, trying to wake him. "Doctor!" she yelled. "Wake up! You're having a nightmare!"