"Is there anything else you need right now, Rose?" The Doctor asked as he put the glasses of medicine and water on the table.
Rose was warm and sleepy under the covers and she didn't want to move. But her stomach was beginning to protest loudly; a deep aching pain was shooting through her lower stomach and she knew she had to force herself out of bed soon or the consequences would be dire. "No" Rose said, "I just need to use the restroom...then I'll be alright" Rose ached all over and as she pushed herself up in bed, her head swam. She swayed a little sitting in bed and the Doctor swooped in on her quickly.
"Here, I'll help you" He said helpfully, putting an arm around her. Rose waved a hand towards him; surely she could make it to the bathroom unassisted. She didn't want to believe that she was that utterly helpless. "I can do it myself" she said weakly.
"Are you sure? You look awful pale" the Doctor said cautiously as he backed off.
Rose sat up in bed, her head swimming dizzily. Honestly she was beginning to feel the need to get to the bathroom growing quite desperate, making her stomach feel nauseous. "Yes...I'm fine" Rose said weakly as she pushed the covers back and swung her feet over the side of the bed, gathering her strength. Rose looked down at the floor and breathed deeply to gather the necessary strength to get up and make it the short distance to the bathroom. She noticed her clothes from the past night lying in a pile on the floor and gave herself a once over, noticing for the first time the pyjamas that she was dressed in.
Despite the horrible pain shooting through her at the moment, she felt her face turn red as the revelation came over her. She imagined the Doctor changing her clothes her face turned an even darker shade of scarlet as she tried to remember what she had had on under her clothes. She mentally chided herself as she realized a second later that he had probably changed her clothes because she had vomit on them.
"Rose?" The Doctor questioned her at the long pause. Rose was brought out of her embarrassing line of thought at his voice. "You sure you're alright?"
"I'm perfectly fine" Rose said, pushing up from the bed quickly. She tried to move toward the door quickly but a minute later her dizzy head was causing her to stumble. She was not surprised when she felt the Doctor's arm around her waist in less than a second. "I thought we just clarified that lies could be dangerous" The Doctor said dangerously close to her ear.
Rose's knees went weak and she was suddenly glad that he was there to catch her. "Don't even start...you'd do the same thing" she said with weak humor.
The Doctor nodded. "Yeah...you're probably right about that...assuming that my superior physiology betrayed me in the way that yours is now"
Rose rolled her eyes. "Because you never get sick, right?" she asked.
"Have you ever seen me sick?" The Doctor asked in a slightly offended tone.
"I seem to remember a certain Christmas where you were rather bad off" Rose said. She was joking, but even now the memory of how worried she had been when his regeneration had gone badly was enough to pull at her heart.
"That doesn't count...regeneration is not an illness" the Doctor quickly shot back. He led Rose toward the door and to the bathroom. It was such a short distance but Rose was so incredibly weak and dizzy she didn't know if she would make it to the bathroom without passing out. For her belly's sake she hoped that she was at least able to use the restroom before succumbing again to unconsciousness.
Rose stumbled along, leaning heavily on the Doctor. As much as she had wanted to appear stronger than she was, she was now glad to have his support. Right now walking was just so difficult. In fact, everything right now was pretty difficult.
Rose was relieved when they reached the bathroom door and the Doctor let go of his hold on Rose as she reached for the doorknob, swaying a little. The Doctor hung close to her, his face unsure. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked. "Do you need any help...in there?" His face showed he was willing to help but he was obviously mortified at the idea; Rose couldn't blame him. She didn't want him to be witness to the disaster that she felt coming on in the bathroom.
"No" Rose said quickly but with a smile. "No, I can take it from here" Feeling her stomach demand to be ignored no longer, she pushed through the door with sudden speed, hearing the Doctor only briefly behind her, "Alright, I'll just...uh...be out here...if you need anything"
Rose was later quite sure that the Doctor had no idea what exactly he was getting himself into by promising to be available while she was in the bathroom. She wasn't sure how much time had passed while she had been in there but she knew that it had been a long time. It was at least a half hour when the Doctor finally broke down from his silence. There was a knock at the bathroom door, followed by the Doctor's questioning tone behind the door. "Rose? You've been in there an awful long while. Are you okay?"
Rose wrapped her arms around her middle, cramps racking her body as her body rebelled against the disease inside it. She felt clammy and unwell as she had broken into a cold sweat and her head swayed; she feared she might just fall into the floor.
The Doctor had said that the awful concoction of medicine that he had given her would help her feel better and she was waiting for that to true anytime now. "No..." Rose muttered out to the Doctor's question. She felt her head swaying .
"Do...you need me to...come in?" The Doctor's voice spoke volumes into the fact he had hoped she said no. While Rose wasn't okay by any means, she didn't want him to come in until she was little more composed.
"No...that's alright. I'm almost done in here" Rose said weakly, hoping that was true and she could go back to sleep. Several minutes later Rose emerged from the bathroom, feeling weak and dizzy. The Doctor's face showed alarm when he saw Rose come out of the bathroom.
"Rose...let's get you back to bed" the Doctor said, putting his arm around her and helping her toward the bedroom. Rose's head felt like it was constantly spinning and she was glad when they reached the bedroom. Rose collapsed onto the bed heavily, closing her eyes against the dizzying sensation. She opened them again seconds later when she felt the covers moving around her; she looked up to see the Doctor leaning down and tucking the covers around her. "Are...are you tucking me in?" Rose asked, a smile turning at her lips despite the terrible way she felt.
The Doctor shook his head. "No...I'm not tucking you in" he said even though he was in fact tucking the covers around her protectively like she hadn't had done to her since she was a child.
"Of course I'm not tucking you in. You're a fully capable adult...you don't need me tucking you"
Rose smiled more at his denial even though it was obvious that he was actually tucking her in. He couldn't admit such a thing; it almost sounded domestic. "Then what are you doing?" Rose asked jokingly.
Rose didn't miss the slight blush that crept up his cheeks. "I'm simply making sure the blankets are close enough to you that they keep you warm" he said, trying to talk his way out of it as usual.
Rose could have pushed him more, but she didn't want him to stop, so she closed her eyes and simply enjoyed the loving gesture. By the time that the Doctor had finished tucking the covers around Rose, her eyes were heavy and she was almost asleep. She could feel fatigue and illness dragging her under the veil of unconsciousness as the Doctor sat down on the edge of the bed beside her. "Anything I can get you?" he asked gently.
"No" Rose said sleepily. "I'm fine" She was almost asleep when she felt the bed move as the Doctor stood up.
The small amount of movement was enough to make Rose realize that he was leaving and she didn't want him to. "Stay" he said, her voice barely a whisper through her drowsiness and sore throat.
"What?" The Doctor asked. His voice was surprised. Rose didn't know open her eyes.
"Please stay with me" Rose said. She would never have asked such a thing if she was in the right mind; the fever must have been making her delirious. She reached her hand out of the cold covers, reaching for what ,she didn't know. She felt a smile come to her face when she felt the Doctor's hand connect with her own.
His fingers wrapped around her hand and gave a reassuring squeeze. "Alright, I'll stay" he said in a quiet voice. Rose felt the bed move as the Doctor let go of her hand and sat on the bed beside her. Rose turned toward him in bed, her hand reaching out toward him again. She felt his fingers intertwine between her own. She felt her body give a violent shake as she shivered beneath the covers.
"Cold?" the Doctor asked, noticing the shiver. Rose simply nodded.
"I'll go get you another blanket" the Doctor said as he went to go get another blanket but Rose held tight to his hand.
"Stay" Rose said, her head swirling. "Warm me up"
"What?" the Doctor asked in slight confusion.
"Warm me up...you..." Rose said as sleep tried to claim her. Rose would feel embarrassed at it when she woke up but for right now she was cold and in pain, damaging her judgment. She didn't have much time to think about it or be embarrassed before the covers beside her moved. Rose's eyes opened just enough that she could see the Doctor, sliding under the covers beside her. He smiled softly at her and Rose felt her already red cheeks grow deeper. "Roll over" he said gently, giving her a smile. With a great amount of effort, Rose managed to roll over so that her back was to the Doctor. A moment later she felt the Doctor's arms wrap around her and pull her to him. As her back connected with the Doctor's chest, she felt immediate warmth spread over her. Her shivering stopped at once and she let out a small, involuntary sigh slip out of her mouth. It was a position that she never thought she would be in and even though she was sicker than she had ever been, she still felt like she must still be in a dream.