The Doctor looked down at Rose in his lap as she slept, her pale face calm and quiet as he sang to her in her sleep. As the Gallifreyan words slid off his tongue he could only hope that Rose was too feverish to remember any of this when she woke. He was normally so closed off; he made sure he was to save himself from the pain and loss that he knew would inevitably come. But when he had seen her lying on the floor, passed out and with her body riddled with alien disease, he had thought he might be too late. He was so relieved to have to her with him that he would let down his barriers, if only for these few moments.

With his free hand, he ran his fingers along her cheek, singing for as long as his voice would allow him. Rose looked so peaceful in her sleep, so vulnerable. She turned in her sleep toward him, her hand reaching out for him, coming to rest on his chest. His arm was numb where all of Rose's weight was resting on it but he didn't care. She looked so restful he couldn't bear to move her. She could probably sleep for days before she made up the rest that she had lost running around while her illness was zapping her strength. Besides, he imagined he could sit here and watch her sleep forever and never get bored.

It was much later when he finally decided to move; he knew Rose needed more medicine and fluids and he could feel the need for rest himself. He slowly and reluctantly slid out from under Rose, laying her gently on the bed. She stirred but didn't wake and he was glad for that. He pulled the covers up to her waist, planning to cover her shivering form once he had given her some more medicine. He went to the infirmary and fixed an IV for Rose; she flinched in her sleep when he inserted the needle in her arm but she quickly went back to sleep. With the medication and fluids coursing through her body, the Doctor pulled the covers up to her neck and felt himself relax.

Knowing he had done all that he could do for her now, the Doctor pulled his shoes and jacket off. He lay on the bed beside Rose, turned toward her, watching her chest rise and fall, her breath even. He watched her in her sleep until his own eyes began to drift downward and sleep claimed him as well.

...

Rose's eyes fluttered open as she began to wake. She was instantly aware that she was stiff and as she began to stretch her muscles ached in protest. She knew that she must have been asleep for a long time unmoving. But even though she was stiff and achy she was also instantly aware that she felt much better than she had when she had went to sleep. Her head still hurt but it didn't nearly feel as foggy. Her stomach still ached but she didn't feel like vomiting with every move that she made. Her throat was sore but she didn't feel as parched and she wasn't shivering like she had been before. There were blankets all around her and she felt pleasantly warm.

Rose opened her eyes and looked around the room, wanting to locate the Doctor. He was sitting on the other side of the bed, his glasses perched on his nose as he read a thick book with circular, twisty symbols on the front of it. She turned over in bed towards him, her arm protesting. She lifted it up to find an IV stuck into it; she moved it more gently as she turned over toward the Doctor. He was so immersed in whatever it was that he was reading he didn't notice her for a moment; he was uncharacteristically laid back, his jacket off, his shirt sleeves pulled up, a look of concentration in his eyes behind his glasses. Rose felt a little dizzy as she looked at him in bed beside her; she didn't think she could blame it entirely on the fact that she was sick.

A few moments later the Doctor noticed Rose was awake. He put down his book and, unfortunately, removed his glasses. "Rose...you're awake" he said, a smile coming across his face. "How are you feeling?"

She was still feeling pretty lousy; she ached and hurt all over but she was doing much better. "I still feel like a car ran me over" she said. "But still, much better than I was feeling" She held up her hand with the IV in it. "I take it I was pretty bad off"

The Doctor waved a hand of dismissal even though Rose was sure that he was a playing it off as less than what it was. "Nah...you needed sleep but you also needed medicine and fluids. I didn't want to wake you up to give your medicine and keep you hydrated so this was the best way to get you everything you needed. And see? It worked...you're feeling much better right?"

Now that Rose's head was cleared a bit of the fever, she could tell that the Doctor was downplaying how serious it had been. She went along with it anyway. "Yeah...yeah I'm feeling better. Well, somewhat..." she said. She burrowed into the blankets. "I suppose my fever went down? Since you gave me my blankets back" he looked up at him with a smile.

The Doctor smiled down at her. "Yes" he said. His smiled faded a bit. "When I found you...your temperature was a dangerous 40 degrees" He looked sad for a moment but then he quickly recovered. He grinned at her. "But you're down to 37.7 now. I figured it was the least I could do to give you some blankets" He smoothed the covers around her in a loving motion. "Are you warm enough?"

Rose smiled, feeling wrapped in the blankets like a burrito. "Yes...I'm definitely warm enough" she said. She closed her eyes for a second as she enjoyed the warmth around her, her head still swimming a bit. She vaguely remembered the conversation she had had last night, about how sick she had been. She really had thought she had the flu and that it would run its course; had she known that she was seriously ill, she would have told him. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Doctor" she said finally, looking up at him.

The Doctor looked down at Rose, a mix of a smile and sadness on his face. "I was worried about you Rose" he said. "When I came back from the Aboron's party and found you passed out on the floor..." he paused, closing his eyes for a minute before looking at her again. "I was so worried about you. I shouldn't have left you last night. I should have stayed with you"

Rose started to shake her head but stopped when it caused pain to shoot through him. "I told you to leave...it was my fault for trying to play it off"

"I shouldn't have" The Doctor said. "I knew something was wrong. I ignored my gut feeling and I never do that...it never works out for me. Didn't this time either" He looked sad again but pulled out of it quick as he gave her a smile. "But you're alright now...that's the important part."

Rose smiled up at him; despite the fact that she felt really terrible, there were some perks to it. The Doctor was showing more open care for her than he ever had before. "I'm sorry I scared you" she said. "I really did just think it was the flu and that it would go away"

"It could be anything out here" The Doctor said. "You've been lucky so far out in our travels, but Rose...there's so many things that you get out here. Even if it seems like no big deal, you really need to tell me so I can fix it"

Rose nodded again, pain hurting her swirling head before she remembered not to move her head. "Alright" Rose said slowly. "I'll tell you next time" she looked up and gave him a sly smile. "You know, though I was just trying to do what you do"

The Doctor looked confused. "What's that?" he asked.

"I was just doing that thing where you pretend you're alright when you're really not" Rose joked weakly despite the sickness that was racking her body.

The Doctor gave her a puzzled look. "I don't do that" he said defensively.

Rose smiled at him. "Yes you do, Doctor" she said, "You always said you're alright"

"I am always alright" he said firmly. He gave Rose a glance out of the corner of his eye and they both knew he was lying. He gave her a hard look but it failed with in a second as he joined Rose in laughing.

"You're such a liar" Rose said, holding her hands around her middle, pain shooting through her from the small movement of her laughter.

"Yeah, you're the one to talk" the Doctor jibbed. Rose could see him relax slightly and knew he had still been holding onto worry over her condition. Silence passed for a few seconds before the Doctor leaned over Rose to the bedside table and grabbed a small, glass bottle. He poured a dark green vile looking liquid from it into a small cup. Rose scrunched up her nose at the horrible smelling medicine. "Is that my punishment" Rose asked with a lopsided smile toward the Doctor.

The Doctor chuckled. "You can look at it that way" he said. "But believe it or not this will actually help you out a lot" The Doctor put his arm under Rose's head and helped her sit up enough to drink the disgusting medicine. She was glad when, a second after swallowing the terrible medicine, the Doctor had a cup of water at her lips, helping her wash down the taste and helping her parched throat. When she was done drinking, the Doctor helped Rose lie back down again. The small movement of sitting up alone had left her feeling more tired and Rose wondered how long she was going to be put up in bed. As she looked up at the Doctor though , she mused that it could have been much worse.