I re-edited chapter 4's end – i forgot this chapter, oops!

Chapter 5

Oh you don't know what you've got
No you don't know what you've got
Until it's gone

Until It's Gone

-Linkin Park

It had been almost a month and neither Martha nor Mickey knew what to do with themselves. Rose was clearly having a mental breakdown and refused to speak to either of them. Even with her plethora of medical knowledge, Dr. Martha could do nothing for her patient.

"We should take her to the hospital"

But, whenever she brought the subject up, Mickey would shut it down just as quickly. His eyes flickering nervously, his tongue darting out to moisten his lips.

Mickey was scared, and while he would not tell anyone, he felt the cold stamp of dread flow through his veins. He knew that a hospital would probably be in Rose's best interest, but he clung to the hope that maybe they could fix her – they could get her working again. He was terrified of the questions the doctors would ask her when they tried to find her health records and find out she was "dead".

He was being unpractical and he knew it, but he just had a feeling that bringing Rose to a doctor would just make matters worse.

He could just imagine the man (or woman) walking in, looking at her and telling her:

"I will be your doctor today"

"Your doctor".

Rose had stopped interacting with them. She had receded into her own mind and stared blankely at the walls of her room. Martha, worried that she was not eating – of which she was correct, had proceeded to insert tubes into her body and feeding her through intravenous.

Martha fingered the bottle of Brintellix she had found in her medical supplies. Anti-depressants. She could not remember why she had kept the bottle. The medic inside her told her it would help her patient and encourage them to feel better, but the more human part of her told her it would chemically force Rose to let go of her trauma. It was not her decision to take – and Rose could not make a decision because she refused to acknowledge anyone.

"We should find him"

Martha turned away from her medical supply cabinet and squinted at her husband across the room.

"Who?"

"The Doctor"

Martha's lips thinned.

"How do you intend to do that? It's not like we can just ring him".

Mickey rubbed his nose with his index and knuckle, a nervous tick.

"We could ask Jack-"

"No."

"Oh, c'mon! He could help"

"No, let it go. We are not seeing Jack".

Mickey growled and rubbed his nose again.

"Then, we should track down the Doctor!"

"How do you intend we do that Mickey! For God's sake, I couldn't find him if I wanted to!"

"We could ask Unit"

"They're useless! Isn't that why we went solo?"

They stared each other down, daring the other to back down.

"We can't keep doing missions like this Martha"

"Like what?!" She screeched back angrily.

"Like this!" Mickey gestured between them, "Only one of us talking it and going at it alone!"

Martha sighed, hand covering her face.

"Then we should take her to the hospital"

This was a never-ending battle between them lately – who would take the mission, and who would stay back and watch Rose.

"We can't go on like this" Mickey said, voice of reason and Martha nodded, letting him think he was the one being right.

"Mickey, if not the hospital, where?"

"The Doctor, Jack! Anyone really!"

And again, the fight would start up again.

Finally, at wits end, Martha all but shrieked at her husband "Fine then! Take the mission, go let off that steam!"

Every mission it came down to a fight – a back and forth interaction that left both of them tense and angry.

"I am going to go check up on Rose"

Martha left the room, the door slamming behind her.

Fuming and arms crossed, Martha walked the few steps to her patients room. A sense of hope sprung when she noticed that the door had been left open. Had Rose come out of it on her own? Could they begin her reintegration into society? Surely, Rose understood that she was stuck in this world now, that she could not go back.

She knocked on the door politely,

"Hello? It's Martha, I'm coming in."

Sheets littered the ground, a miscellaneous pillow loafing next to it. But, no Rose.

Worried, the dark haired woman checked the washroom for any signs of her and returned shortly thereafter.

The room was warm and a bead of sweat formed at the base of her hair line, trailing leisurely down her slopped back. The room's thick, musty smell was slightly nauseating and her heart was pounding in her ears. The overhead light glared down on her as she searched the room for Rose. The only sign of her left was an old, worn, leather bag tilted slightly against a wall.

Martha swore. Rose was gone. There was only one place she would go and Martha dreaded the call she would need to make.

First, she decided, she would look around the abandoned compound before contacting him. As it was, they had not been on the best of terms lately and calling him might create a larger rift between them.

"Dammit Rose" she muttered before returning to her own Unit.

"Mickey!" Her voice demanded that he arrive now before she lost patience.

"Yeah"

His outstretched hand freezing above the facial hair he had been about to shave.

"Need to search the compound. Rose has gone missing".

Mickey froze. Growling, he threw the disposable razor to the ground and rubbed the cream of him face.

"Right. You take the left wing and I'll take the right. We circle around and meet at the other side."

Martha nodded and bit her lip.

"Thick she could have gotten outside?"

Mickey frowned.

"I'd say no, what with all the safety protocols I built. No regular person could get in or out. But, this is no ordinary person. This is Rose Tyler. She traveled across worlds to save the Doctor, whose to say she couldn't reprogram a security alarm?"

All of a sudden, Mickey realized how little he knew about this Rose – this older woman whom he had not seen for the better part of two and a half years. Of course, it had been longer for her. The other universe ran at a different rate – to her, it could have been over four, maybe five years. And what had she done? What had she learned? What were her priorities now?

"I think if she's outside,"

Martha nodded uncomfortably as she worried her lip.

"If she's outside, she's going to head towards –"

"I know" Mickey grimaced, pulling his shoes on.

"Let's go".

There ya go.

Rose going through depression and becoming detached.

Of course, she is missing now.