Chapter 3 – Visitation
The music was playing again. Don had said there was nothing wrong with the player – it wasn't broken. There was something else seemingly pressing play, something that wasn't the TARDIS. And with all that had happened during that day Rose was almost fully convinced that maybe that the Doctor's spirit wasn't fully at rest; or however the cliché went.
It was 2am and she was once again staring at the ceiling, wondering if he'd visit her tonight. Even with that expression of pure hatred and malice on his face, she would give anything to see him again. But... why would he touch her and talk to her like he did on the first night if he wanted to kill her?
She waited. And waited. It was 2am when she finally began to drift without realising it… But then she jerked awake. Something had woken her up. She turned over quickly towards the door, and there he was. The Doctor. Staring at her with bright white eyes through the blackness of everything else, his teeth gritted, his eyebrows lowered, his fists clenched.
Rose resisted the urge to scream, forcing herself to calm down. She had to try and talk with him, try and understand why he was here...
"Are... Are you the Doctor?" she asked shakily, her eyes transfixed to his. He didn't answer, but simply began to walk forward. Rose's heart raced as she grabbed her teddy, holding it to her chest as though it would offer some sort of protection.
"Please, please Doctor... t-talk to me... It's Rose... I'm Rose..."
He continued to walk forward, getting faster and faster with every step.
"Oh god, oh god, oh god..." Rose whispered, hugging the teddy tighter than ever. Black aura was dancing all over him as he stopped within a metre of her. He hissed and gasped, spitting in a voice that barely resembled a human or a Time Lord alike...
"Rose... Tyler..."
He began to reach out to her...
"DON!" she screamed. The figure quickly dissipated seconds before Don burst through the door, looking cautiously around the room.
"Him again?"
She nodded. "He walked towards me... reached out... He said my name."
Don moved over to the bed, giving her a reassuring hug. "It's okay, he would never hurt you, ghost or not."
"Stay with me?"
He grinned. "Make room, then."
She shifted over, allowing him to climb in the bed beside her and draw the covers over them both.
"It's cold in here," Don muttered, shivering. "Is your heating on?"
"It's on max," she whispered back.
"Ah," Don muttered, drawing her closer with an arm. "Get some sleep. We can go out tomorrow, if you want."
She nodded.
Rose awoke once again with a jolt. Instinctively she looked to her right at the doorway…
There he was. Staring at her with that awful expression, his eyes shining brightly…
"Don…" she whispered, shaking the snoring man beside her gently. "Don, wake up…"
Don groaned in a half sleep, batting away her hand before turning over and slipping quickly back into sleep. The Doctor's ghost stepped forward, ever closer…
"Don!" she urged, "wake up!!!"
"Wha…" Don muttered, opening his eyes blearily.
The ghost stepped forward again…
"DON!" she shrieked in a panic, giving him a massive push and consequently almost making him topple out of the bed.
"Okay, okay!" Don yelped, scrambling desperately as he used the bedside table to push himself groggily onto his feet before lifting his head to gaze across the room…
"Don…" the ghost rasped."Whoa," Don muttered, staring at the sight before him. The ghost took another step forward. "Stop right there, Ghost Boy." Don cringed, knowing this was not the time for Donna.
"Doctor," he said quickly, holding up his hands in surrender. "I'm so sorry, but you're dead. Dead as in... deceased, kaput, finished, stiffie, bereft of life, inanimate, no more, passed away, perished..." Don stumbled backwards as the ghost stepped even closer, pushing him back towards the bed where Rose was still sat, clutching the teddy. "Please, Doctor, please let us help…"
The back of his legs hit the bed, but still the ghost advanced, his expression unchanged…
"Are you angry at being dead? Are you trying to warn us of something? Err… err…" Panic was rising in Don's chest… "Err… Unfinished business? Is that it?" The ghost continued forwards. "No? Okay, err… Ah! Carousel! This is like Carousel? No? Right… err…" Closer… closer… "You're annoyed at something! Something we did! Rose, did you use his razors to shave your legs again?"
But before Rose had a chance to reply the ghost stopped in front of Don, staring right through him. He suddenly threw out a hand straight into Don's chest, his ghostly fist passing right through him and out the other side so Rose could see it. She cried out in shock but now Don was crying out with pain, his entire body shaking violently as though he were having a seizure, his body falling completely limp but the fist through his chest held him up…
"Don!" Rose cried. The ghost suddenly shimmered away and Don lost all support, his scream abruptly cutting out before he collapsed to the floor in a heap of disorderly limbs, unmoving.
Silence.
Rose stared at the unconscious man lying on the floor before her, breathing heavily, her heart hammering in her chest as she clutched the teddy even tighter. After a moment she managed to gather her wits, calming herself down enough to place a foot on the floor, making to move forward towards Don.
Suddenly Don raised his head sharply, almost robotically, turned away from her and facing towards the door.
"Don?" Rose asked tentatively. "… Are you okay?"
He didn't answer. He was panting heavily as though unused to oxygen, his chest heaving. He slowly began to turn his head towards her, shrouded in complete darkness, but Rose could see the shining white eyes glowing in the dark even before the light caught his face…
"Rose…" he rasped, his expression full of anger and hate…
"No, Don…" Rose whispered, backing up against the wall as Don slowly rose to his feet, his shoulders hunched as he stared at her… "No! Don, Doctor, please!"
He reached forward. Rose closed her eyes, waiting…
Suddenly there was a high-pitched buzzing sound, and Rose opened her eyes just in time to see a burst of pure white light erupted from the teddy bear Rose was gripping, rippling out across the room and smashing into Don. He flew backwards across the room, crashing into the opposite wall and sliding down, coughing and choking as black smoke explode out of his mouth and spiralled upwards. It was seconds before it completely dispersed, leaving Don lying against the wall, his eyes closed.
"What the…" Rose looked down at the teddy bear she held, but something else was happening. Something was coming out of the teddy, something white, something shining…
It was a small, white, glowing sphere of light. It fell out of the teddy and onto the duvet covers, rolling until it stopped on the end, still. Even as Rose stared at it she knew it wasn't evil. It irradiated happiness and love, beaming it out all around it to give Rose a sense of peace and contentment through the panic of what had happened.
"Rose?"
She looked up. Don was awake, holding the back of his head and he slowly got to his feet, blinking.
"Don, look," she indicated the ball on the cover, reaching forward towards it.
"No, don't touch it," Don said quickly, moving forward to grab her hand. "That thing… It was him. I could feel him. All his hatred and anger, all the bad memories… It was him. It was the Doctor. And he's dangerous."
"This isn't bad," Rose said lightly, smiling. "Can't you feel it?"
Don paused, looking down at the sphere of white. She was right. He knew it wasn't bad. Rose reached forward, taking the sphere in both hands. It pulsated with light before it fell dim again, and Rose smiled.
"It's him. I know it's him."
Don placed his hand on the ball of light. He instant felt pure happiness burst through him, the pain in his head numbing as love and care bounded through him like leaping deer. Good memories, happy memories were running through his mind like a show reel. This was the Doctor.
"Take it to the TARDIS console," Don said gently, helping Rose up. "She'll know what to do."