Version 2:

Free.

That's what I felt, when the blinding white sheathed me. That's how it felt, I was duly, finally taken out and away from the cage of my mind.

Wholeness.

That's what I saw, that's all I saw, when the Bad Wolf and I switched back to our proper rightful places – she tucked away in the deepest corner of my mind, and me back safely in my body filled with my own thoughts, feelings and memories.

Acknowledgement.

That's what suddenly hit me. The memory, clearer and bolder than every other, mostly due to the experience itself being one of the most recent to me, jumped up at me unawares.

Me bleeding through mouth and nose.

Me unable to staunch the flow of blood.

Me getting weaker.

Me hitting the floor.

Me falling unconscious.

Me thinking that my appointment with the Grim Reaper had finally arrived …

I could still feel the blood seeping through the crack of my parted lips, the metallic tang of hot blood filling my mouth, the thick liquid forcing its way down my throat … No! Stop!

But it still felt so real. Wait a minute, did that mean … no … it can't be … but … could it be … was I dead?

No, hang on, there was just the one memory left to be uncovered.

"Sorry, do I know you?"

-&-

"Rose, o' course you know me , I'm your mother!"

"Who's Rose?"

-&-

"Wha's wrong with me? I don't even know who I am!"

-&-

"How long?!"

"A year."

On the one hand, I wasn't dead – which was a plus point. But, on the other hand – even the Bad Wolf had been courteous enough to allow me this tiny piece of information – I was still supposed to be in a lifelong coma. If it weren't for Her and her puppeteer-like antics, I would've never woken up in the first place. I would've been still in a deep sleep to this very moment. I was lucky.

So … if I went back now things would revert to how they should be. What was in store for me? A lifetime of sleep, where time would pass me by and I wouldn't know a thing, that's what.

I couldn't, I wouldn't go back to a so-called "life" of safety and security – where not even a hair on my head would be harmed, but I'd stay tucked away in a everlasting slumber. If my travels with the Doctor had taught me anything, then, life was all about taking risks; jabbing at any and every opportunity that was hurled your way, making the most of what you had, living your life the way you wanted it.

So I had a choice: go back to a life of sleep and nothingness where I would never be harmed, or snatch this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, risk everything and try to avoid this coma induced future.

Well, I knew which option I was going for – and heck, it certainly wasn't the first one.

If it worked, I'd get to see mum and dad and John and Tony and all my friends again – if I had the chance to pick, the proper Doctor too, but as they say, beggars can't be choosers. But, if it didn't work … then, I guess, life just sucked and you couldn't always get what you want. Yeah, that, and I would sleep knowing that I'd, at least, tried.

Darkness …

That's what I was falling through. The darkness.

I went against the winds that whispered coma in my ears, ignoring the enticing, soft calls that beckoned me towards a life of peaceful slumber. I toppled through the great, colourful, whirlwind patterns of my mind. Soon enough, I slipped into a tunnel of darkness that told me I was nearly there, told me that I was close, told me to be patient, told me there'd not be long till I escaped this feigned reality inside my head.

Then, a loud, persistent gushing started up in my ears. The gushing noise grew louder and louder in volume. Louder and louder! LOUDER, still. It grew so loud and so noisy that I was sure that I'd go deaf from the sound itself.

I quickly clamped my hands over my ears, squeezing my eyes shut and bracing myself for some sort of impact or climax or just something. All of a sudden, there was a loud sort of popping noise. And then, just seconds later, the gushing noise stopped. The gushing noise literally just stopped, instantly evaporating into silence.

Had I made it? Had I not? Was I now back to my unconscious, comatose self? Was I just sleeping and about to wake up?

I opened my eyes to the unresponsive silence, determined to find the answer to all the questions clogging up my brain, only to find myself surrounded by, in darkness. It was the never-ending, pure, pitch black darkness; the sort of darkness that dug deep into your soul, peeling away the layers and stripping you bare, until it felt as if there was something in the darkness that was out to get you; the sort of darkness that meant your heart started beating erratically. It was all around me, wrapping me up in a velvet cloak of black.

Where was this place?

I spun my head around, feeling my hair billow out as I did so. Ah. And that was when I realised my faux pas. It wasn't because of the darkness that I couldn't see a thing - it was the other way around – it was because I couldn't see a thing that there was darkness.

How did I know?

It was like when I was a kid in the "Juniors". We'd spend break and lunch times playing childish yet highly entertaining games, like "tag" and "hide and seek" and "Blind Man's Buff". That was what it was like: Blind Man's Buff.

Whenever I was chosen to be "on it", someone would wrap their scarf around my eyes so I couldn't see a thing. So then, giggling I'd go stumbling about, thrusting my arms out wildly whenever I heard another play speak or move, in order to try and catch one of them.

Sorry; back to the point. The situation now felt like it did when blindfolded. You couldn't see a thing aside from the plain black darkness, but … whenever you moved; light seeped through your closed eyelids, so you could still technically "see" the blotches of patchy, yellow light.

I snapped my eyes open and close, but each time I was only to be greeted by the darkness and blotches of light every time I opened my eyes again. I was … blind.

Suddenly, my ears pricked up. My ears were met by the sound of buzzing. Familiar buzzing. Very familiar buzzing. … Sonic Screwdriver buzzing …

"Right, and now for you." Oh gawd, and that voice. I knew that voice. It was the Doctor's voice. The real Doctor's voice. I just knew it. And, ooh, his voice was coming from somewhere … in front of me.

I know what you're thinking, but I don't know really – the proper Doctor's voice just seems to sound so different from John's. So … alien. I just can't put my finger on it.

Scrap all that - what was the hell was the Doctor doing here in the first place?

OK, I was dreaming. Definitely. I had to be. It was confirmed. There was no way this could possibly be real – it was official – there was no other explanation for this either. If this wasn't a dream, I didn't know what it was. I'd just heard the Sonic Screwdriver and the Doctor, after all. How could anything be real after that?

So, now, the gist of it was: I was blind and dreaming. Lovely.

Now I just needed to figure out why my legs had turned to jelly.

The Doctor?

And that's the two words that ran through my mind, as exhaustion took over me and my legs buckled under my weight. I collapsed to the floor.

"Rose!" the oh-so familiar voice of the Doctor exclaimed, catching my fall. "I've got you."

My legs were folded up beneath my thighs, my trainers digging uncomfortably into my bum. The Doctor's skinny yet surprisingly strong hand was wrapped securely around my waist, holding up my upper body, whilst another hand was cupping and supporting the back of my head. Mmm … that felt nice. This was starting to feel like that time when the Doctor had been shot by that Dalek, although we'd both swapped position-wise this time.

My imagination sure knew how to run away with itself.

Oh hell, who cared whether I was in a coma or a sleep? 'Cos I was having a blimming good dream, right now. Even if he had abandoned me on a beach, some years back, with his human clone – who's made of pure win and still stuck with me despite my stubborn cold-heart, anyway. I was going to let that whole abandoning thing slide, for now – at least whilst I was dreaming.

However, if the Doctor did ever happen to pop over for a visit to this Universe in real life – though it's highly impossible anyway – then I would probably knock him into his next regeneration before he even had the chance to say "Hello". Though mum would've probably already beat me to it …

Anyhow, dream or no dream, coma or no coma, I decided to made the most of it – I'd wake up soon enough if this was a dream and I wasn't in a coma any more, but if I was still in a coma ... well, no complaints from me.

For now, at least, I was more than happy to put up with a dream where I had the Doctor with me – well, just bar the fact that I was blind.

"Hello," I whispered back finally.