Behold, Chapter three! I did it, finally. I know, not as long as would be nice, but I've been having problems with it. ANYWAYS. Here you go, I hope you enjoy it. Read & Review!

Ch. 3

The TARDIS rasped to a halt, and the blue doors swung open. A rush of noise immediately assaulted the pair, and Rose's eyes shot open in wonder at the pale pink sky she saw outside. The pain was almost forgotten as she reached for the Doctor's long-fingered hand, but made a very abrupt return when he pulled her to her feet. The stabbing, acute sensation flared in her ribcage, and she cried out.

Immediately, she realized what she had done and instinctively shied away from the man before her, expecting to be struck for the sound.

"Rose!" The Doctor was by her side in seconds. "What's wrong? Are you hurt? Did I do something?" Memories flashed through his mind unbidden, set off by her pain. Other friends, injured in his care.

After her initial wave of panic, Rose realized that she was in no danger from this man, and was silently furious with herself for showing weakness. "No, I'm sorry, I'm fine." Working to keep the grimace from her face, she straightened up. "I stepped on my ankle wrong."

The brown suited man ran his fingers through his hair as he surveyed her.

"Liar."

Before she could protest, he continued. " I know when someone's hurt, Rose. I've been around a while. I can help you if you tell me what happened."

She hesitated. It had been drilled into her time and time again, never to let anyone see the damage. But then, she realized, Matthew wasn't exactly going to know about this. Obviously she wouldn't tell him how she got the injuries, but she couldn't really afford to pass up free medical attention, could she?

"I...I fell down some stairs at school" she winced inwardly at the terrible lie, but he seemed to accept it.

"Where is it worst?"

Gingerly, she touched her ribs.

He reached toward her, but then drew his hand back. "Can I see?" His tone surprised the girl. No one ever spoke to her in such a gentle voice, especially not men. Since Matthew had moved in with them, she had been extremely cautious around men. They seemed to pick up on it, and were usually quite cold and distant with her. It wasn't doing much for her relationships with her teachers and doctor, but the constant beatings had her too well conditioned to behave any other way. This strange man, though... His attitude was strange, and she was hesitantly pleased.

"Yeah." She pulled up her grey shirt to reveal her battered torso, and almost winced herself at the sight. The bruises had fully formed, and her ribs were mottled shades of black and blue. A few lone lashes from the belt, although mostly contained to her back, slashed across her front and the red of dried blood stood out against the pale, abused, skin.

"Rose…" he whispered in horror at the sight. She hung her head, once again ashamed of her own weakness. Noticing, he tried to fix his mistake. "Hey, it's alright. Let's just go up to the medical bay, and I'll patch you up, yeah?"

As they walked, the Doctor's mind wandered, trying to think of a way she could have gotten this badly injured. Helping her up a flight of stairs, he wondered if she might have been beaten up at school. He knew firsthand just how cruel children could be to those smaller and weaker than them, and Rose was downright tiny. He pulled the heavy doors open and guided the young blonde onto the nearest bed. "Lie down, and pull up your shirt again. I promise I'll be gentle."

She obliged almost immediately, pale eyes staring trustingly up at him.

He surveyed the mess in front of him, trying not to think about where a teenage girl would get injuries like that. Not that he didn't intend on finding out as soon as possible, but right now he needed to fix the problem at hand. How long Rose had been walking around like this he didn't know, but any longer and she could have seriously damaged herself. "Alright, let's see. Could you tell me where it's worst? "

Rose pointed out several places. All of them, he noticed, were directly on top of a rib. "Ok, does it hurt when you breathe in?" She nodded. Twisting in his chair, the Doctor reached his hand into the drawer behind him. " I think you may have a broken rib. I don't want to hurt you, so it would be best if you were sedated while I fixed it. Is that ok, or should I just numb it?"

The idea of rest, artificial or not, was too tantalizing to resist. She hadn't gotten a good nights sleep in months, and couldn't remember what is was like to not be exhausted. "That's fine."

Her response was a relief, as the Doctor had worked on enough broken ribs to know that this would be painful even with painkillers. He pulled the needle from the drawer. " close your eyes, and when I'm done you pick where we go." After only a few seconds hesitation, her eyes slid shut, although her body was tense with anticipation of the needle. One practiced movement, and it was done. Within seconds, she relaxed as the drug took over her system. After checking to make sure that she was truly asleep, he turned his attention to the job at hand. He hadn't been exactly truthful when he said she might have had a broken rib. She had a least three, without a doubt, and a few more likely candidates. The cuts needed to be cleaned to avoid any further infection, and he had some cream to get rid of the worst bruises. Once again pushing aside worries, he began.

Laughter drifted across the garden, to where Rose and her mother sat swinging. Birds were chirping playfully, and the sunlight was warm on their backs. They were talking about unimportant little things, gossiping and giggling. Rose felt perfectly happy, and could not remember a time when she hadn't been.

"Ro-ose!" From somewhere beyond the apple trees to her back, a voice called her name. She turned to look, a lazy grin on her face.

"We're over here." But even as she spoke, the atmosphere was shifting. A shadow fell across the fading colors of the garden and sent a chill over her skin. The birds had fallen silent, the only noise remaining being the crunching of footsteps as a figure emerged from the low branches.

"Hello, Rose. You're certainly out early." At the sound of that voice, the young girl's heart nearly stopped. She reached her hand out for her mother, but her hand grasped empty air. " Mummy's not here, girl. No one but you and me. " And with these words he advanced towards the terrified child. A hand went up, but before the blow could land a voice broke through the haze of the dream.

"Rose! Rose, wake up, you're dreaming." In front of her, Mathew flickered and the dreamscape began to fade. Her panic subsided as she realized where she was and that her tormenter was gone. Above her, a fuzzy brown head was surrounded by a halo of light. For a moment, she thought he was an angel. But as she fully awoke and his worried brown eyes appeared, she realized that she hadn't been exactly right.

Although he might not be an angel in the literal sense, maybe he could still be the guardian she had been praying for.

So. You guys may hate me for this, but I've actually had this all written for quite a while. Like, two weeks. But there was ONE PARAGRAPH. Barely two sentences, but it was absolutely necessary to the chapter, and it just would not work. I rewrote it at least ten times, and ended up so incredibly frustrated that I just left it be for a long time. But I did eventually get my issues straightened out and fixed it, so I hope you liked it ok. Review, please! I will love you forever and ever. It really does help me speed up with my writing. On the other fic I'm working on, I got eleven reviews the first day, and I'm already halfway done with the chapter. Seriously, they won't have to wait more than a week before the next update. The same thing could happen here, if that's any motive. Thanks!

-StarsInTheRiver