She still had these dreams occasionally, she'd brush it off and say she was fine but he'd still go to her every night, when it happened, to comfort her. It made his heart bleed, she would cry out his name helplessly, to listen to her so upset. Tonight was another one of those nights but she seemed even worse, she was in a cold sweat and she was thrashing around the bed violently, worse than he'd ever seen her before.
"Shhh..." He whispered, careful not to be so loud as to wake her, but enough to calm her in her sleep, usually it would work almost straight away, but it wasn't. "Donna, I'm here, don't worry. Please Donna, calm down." She didn't relax at all, if anything it only seemed to upset her more, he climbed in to the bed beside her. He'd never actually done this before but extreme times call for extreme measures, she needed him like he had always needed her, it was his turn to be there for her now. He held her close to his chest, resting his chin on the top of her head and trying to stay as still as possible while she calmed, it seemed like she was settled when she let out an almighty cry that sent a shiver down the Doctor's spine.
He shook her awake gently, he couldn't bear it anymore, she would have to know sooner or later that he'd been coming to her in the night. As soon as she woke, her eyes shot open and she jumped to the other side of the bed. Trying to wager her reaction, the Doctor observed her for a few moments, but she just looked shocked, not scared or upset or angry, just shocked.
"Donna, don't worry, it's only me, it's the Doctor yeah? Remember me, eh?" He kept his voice quiet and spoke in a hushed tone, hoping that she would reciprocate, no such luck. He thought as her eyebrows knitted together and her green eyes narrowed in an expression of pure rage.
"YES! I can see it's you Doctor, but I think the more pressing concern here is your whereabouts, you appear to be in my bed, is there a reason for this or did you just think you might pop in for a cozy cuddle, eh?" At least the bad dream hadn't unnerved her too much, but then again she never seemed too shaken up, she was good at hiding her emotions.
"I think you already know why I'm here. I could hear you from the other end of the TARDIS, I mean I know you've got a set of lungs but it was really loud, even for you Don'. Please just tell me what's wrong and I can try to help you. I'm sorry for barging in but I couldn't bear it anymore. Nothing is more painful that watching the people you love in pain." Donna's eyes widened, they had always kind of known that they loved each other - platonically of course - but neither of them had actually said it out loud before.
"It's nothing, just another stupid human problem that you can't solve, I'm fine Doctor, as long as I'm here with you I'm fine." The Doctor always hated when she wrote it off as 'stupid and human', he knew it was so much more than that but she wouldn't admit it, or accept any help. "All I need is you to be here with me Doctor."
If she isn't ready to talk about it yet then I won't force her, The Doctor thought, but next time I will, I can't bear this any longer.