Having your head in the clouds was an expression Rose didn't know could have literal meaning. But she found as she began to come back to consciousness that she felt literally as if her head and body were detached, as if her thoughts and awareness were separated from her body. Her thoughts were slow as if they were in a sludge. She opened her eyes slowly and found herself staring at the ceiling of her room. She hadn't went to sleep here though...so how had she gotten here? She began to panic.

"Doctor! Doctor" she called out, her throat feeling like dry sandpaper. She tried to move but couldn't; he whole body ached. She felt like she had been hit by a truck. Despite that she tried to move and figure out what had happened. She couldn't remember anything very well.

Suddenly though, she felt a hand on her shoulder still her and heard the calming voice of the Doctor beside her. "Shhh...Rose. I'm right here. Don't try to move"

Rose obeyed and immediately fell still on the bed; she hadn't wanted to move anyway and knowing the Doctor was here now meant she was okay. "W-what happened?" she asked weakly. Her voice was so hoarse she could hardly be understood. Her throat burned like it was on fire; she vaguely remembered throwing up but after that she couldn't remember anything.

Rose felt something cold and wet on her lips and looked down to find the Doctor putting a piece of ice to her lips. "Easy" he said so soft it was almost a whisper. "Don't want to make yourself sick"

Rose marveled at how wonderful the tiny bits of water felt as they drifted down his throat. She felt her hot cheeks blush even more when she felt her lips drift past the cold ice to the heat of the Doctor's fingers holding the ice. She pulled back slightly, taking the piece of ice in her mouth and swallowing what was left of it. Already her stomach was churning from the small amount water and she laid back down. Her head was swimming and she suddenly felt like she might fall unconscious again. "W-what...D-d...Doctor..." she found herself stuttering out as her eyes fell closed again. She felt a hand on her cheek, warm but cooler than her own skin.

"Shhh...Rose. Don't fight it. Just go back to sleep. Its alright...I'm here. I wont leave" He cooed to her.

A peace filled Rose at his words. She had been fighting it, unknowingly. But knowing the Doctor was right there with her and wouldn't leave, eased her enough so she could drift off to sleep again.

...

Rose's sleep was not peaceful; her mind drifted through feverish, erratic dreams. Flashes of memories, painful and scary things her mind had held onto, flashed through her consciousness. Rose couldn't understand why her dreams were so terrifying and she felt herself weakly whimpering, even in her sleep. Make it stop...I just want to rest...make it stop, her mind called out as she squirmed in her sleep. Pain seeped into her dreams, the sickness she was feeling physically bled into her dreams.

Rose just wanted to wake up, to make the dreams end when suddenly the terror stopped. She could hear a distant sound, a wonderful, magical sound. It was like a song, only better; it was like the words of the best song combined with the most amazing music she had ever heard. It got louder and closer and as it did, it pulled Rose out of the dark place that she was in her mind. Rose clung to it in her sleep, feeling peaceful and calm. She wasn't aware how long she stayed asleep after that; it might have been awhile but it didn't seem like a hardship anymore. With the wonderful song drifting through her mind she was able to get rest.

Eventually, she could feel her muddled mind pulling itself out of sleep and into consciousness. She opened her weary eyes and the bright light stung her eyes. In reality the room was dim but Rose's eyes stung all the same. She turned her head slowly, seeking out the Doctor as she woke. Even the very small movement was enough to make her body protest. She found the Doctor sitting next to her in bed, running a wash cloth over her forehead. The water on the cloth was cold and it made her shiver. She was covered only by a thin blanket and she was freezing.

"' 'M...s...so cold...D-doctor" Rose said weakly as she looked up at the Doctor.

She wasn't expecting the look of concern that passed over his face as gazed down at her. "I know...you have a very high fever. I've been working my best to cool you down"

"B-b-blankets" Rose muttered, her teeth chattering as the cold water stung her face and the skin on the rest of her body bristled with goosebumps. She shivered so hard it hurt.

The Doctor used his free hand to gently push her sweaty hair off her forehead. The movement was so gentle, so loving and it surprised Rose. She began to worry she was really very sick if the Doctor was acting this way. "No, Rose. I'm sorry but your temperature has to go down some more before you can bundle up. Your temperature got up close to 40.5. It was very serious; its gone down now to 39 degrees, but that's still very high. You've been very sick, Rose"

Rose could hear the worry in the Doctor's voice; the temperature would explain why her thoughts were so slow, why she hurt so badly and why she felt so cold it felt as if she would never be warm again. She tried to think, to remember; the last she had remembered she'd been going to bed. But something had happened...what was it? She couldn't quite remember; it all went dark.

"I...I...am?" Rose croaked out. She knew she was sick but the Doctor acted like maybe this was serious. Maybe she was dying or something; she definitely felt like she was dying.

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, Rose" he said grimly. "Rose, why didn't you tell me you were sick?"

Rose's answer was slow as her fevered mind slowly thought up the words that she needed to say. "I...well, it was just the flu, Doctor...I didn't want you to worry." she said. "I knew I'd...get better"

The Doctor looked sad. "Only you wouldn't, Rose." he said. "You wouldn't have gotten better because you didn't have the regular human flu. You had the Skuparian Flu. Remember us going to Skupar a few weeks ago? Well, you must have picked up the flu while we were there. The symptoms are similar to the human flu in the beginning but if you don't get treatment, it can be very serious. It could go to your brain and do serious damage."

Rose felt panic grip at her at those words. Was that why she felt so muddled?Was there something wrong with her mind already? Sudden, intense panic gripped her. Rose hadn't realized the small tear that had slipped out of her eye and began to drift down her face until she felt the Doctor reach over and wipe it away.

"Rose, you're going to be okay" the Doctor soothed, seeing her unspoken distress. "I didn't say that to scare you. I got to you in time. But you didn't tell me, and something really bad could have happened."

Rose's mind was still slow at moving but she was glad to know that it wasn't because she had brain damage or something wrong with her. Her head was still swirling and though she had been sleeping for what she suspected was a long time. Despite her reassure that she was okay, she still felt tears in her eyes. She felt so incredibly tired and everything just hurt. She had never felt so badly in all her life. "I'm...I'm sorry" Rose croaked out. "I did mean to hide anything from you. I really did think it was nothing. " Suddenly tears weren't dripping out of Rose's eyes but running down her cheeks as she began to cry softly. She felt like a total idiot but she found that she couldn't stop. She was in too much pain and too sleep deprived to be able to hold back.

"Rose..." the Doctor said, sadness in his voice as he looked down at Rose. "Don't cry. Its alright...please don't cry. You're going to be okay...really. You happen to be in the very capable hands of an experienced Doctor" He said it with his normal tone of jest but Rose didn't stop. She was burning from the inside out, her pain the only thing she could feel. She wanted to go back to sleep and drift into that calming music of her dream again.

"Oh, Rose..." The Doctor said gently. Rose's eyes were closed, her head against the Doctor when she suddenly felt movement. She felt the Doctor's hands under her as he lifted her up onto his lap. Rose's eyes popped open as she looked up at him, her weary head supported by the Doctor's arm. For a moment she wondered if she was delirious; surely the Doctor wasn't really holding her in his lap, gazing down at her with such unguarded care for her in his eyes. "W-w...what?" She started to ask, before her tired eyes shut again. "I must...be dreaming"

The Doctor chuckled lightly. "This is hardly a dream" he said softly. "But you need to be dreaming. We can talk about this when you are a little more ready" The Doctor used his free hand to push her hair out of her face.

Rose could already feel herself going back to sleep at the Doctor's gentle permission to do so. "I...I...was having such a...nice dream. There was singing...and it was so...calm" she said slowly. She wasn't even sure she was making sense.

Rose was almost asleep, cradled against the Doctor, warm and safe, when she heard him speak. "Just go onto sleep Rose...I have a feeling that if you do, your dream will start again"

And as usual, the Doctor was right. As she went to sleep, the wonderful, strange song made her feel calm and at peace as she drifted into dreamland.