Chapter Text
Rose slowly got up from the bed and made her way to the door. To her disappointment, as she started walking it became clear that her symptoms had only gotten worse. She prayed that the Tardis had actually cooperated this time and taken them somewhere safe- if she could barely make it down the hallway without having to stop to steady herself and catch her breath, she was done for if she had to do the typical amount of running.
Finally, she made it to the control room. She had to smile at the sight of the Doctor moving around the control panel pulling different levers and pushing buttons with his usual chaotic enthusiasm. The engines came to that same grinding halt she'd come to love so much, signaling that they'd arrived wherever the Tardis had brought them.
"Oh good, perfect timing," he said once he finally noticed she was there," I just set us down, and I think we might have finally found somewhere catastrophe-free for a change. Granted, with our track record I make no promises, but the Tardis didn't seem to have any trouble landing, so I think we have a fair chance at a nice calm trip. Don't want to make that a habit of course, wouldn't be much of a thrill if we did, but once in a while-"
"Mm, right, thrill," Rose said, now only half-coherent as she fought to stay upright.
He looked over at her, clearly confused by the lack of excitement on her part.
"I mean, I thought it was a good idea, you seemed excited about it a moment ago... But I can find somewhere else if you would like, it's not a big deal really..."
"No no, it's not that," she said, but that was all she could manage as her legs finally gave out and she started to collapse.
"Whoa whoa whoa, easy easy," the Doctor exclaimed as he rushed forward to grab her before she could hit the ground.
"Rose, what's wrong?" The Doctor asked, frantically assessing to make sure she was alright.
"It's nothing, I'm fine..."
"Rose Tyler, don't even try that. You just collapsed on me! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" He said angrily.
"Don't you mean hearts attack?" She said weakly, hoping to get him to lighten up a bit.
It didn't work.
"That's not funny! What would I do if anything ever happened to you on my watch?" He said frantically, clearly deeply concerned about her.
She sighed, "I'm sorry Doctor, I promise it's not as bad as it looks, but I should have told you I didn't feel up to going out today. I just didn't want you to overreact and think it was worse than it really is."
He took a deep breath to calm himself. "No, I'm sorry. You're right, I did overreact. You just scared me half to death!"
"It's really nothing, Doctor, this happens all the time."
"Why is this the first time I've seen it then?" he questioned.
"Must be because I've been under less stress and have been less getting more lately. That's what usually causes it- I overwork myself, then my body just kind of gives out until I take the time to rest. That last trip is the longest I've gone without sleep since we started traveling, so that must be what triggered it," she explained.
"Well, I guess that makes sense," he said, now visibly calmer. "Are you sure you're alright though? You don't want me to drop you off at your mums or something like that so you can rest?"
"Oh please no, you remember how much she was fussing over you when you regenerated!"
His eyes widening in horror was proof that he remembered the incident all too well.
"Yah, on second thought, maybe not the best idea. Come to think of it, aside from all the fussing, with my luck I'll have earned another Jackie Tyler slap for even letting you get sick in the first place."
She gave a weak laugh, glad that he seemed to have forgiven her for scaring him.
"Well, guess I'm clearly not going anywhere today. Don't miss out on my account though, go have a good time. Just try not to get into too much trouble without me," she said.
"Oh come on Rose, don't be daft. You know as well as I do that traveling's not half as much fun for me without you. Nope, till you're well I'm not going anywhere, no arguments," he said before she could object.
"Ok ok, guess if you want to be bored it's up to you," she said, knowing there was no way she'd win this argument, and not even sure she wanted to if it meant she'd have to spend the day alone.
"Good," he said, grinning, "Well, now that that's settled," without warning, he was suddenly picking her up off the ground bridal style and carrying her out of the control room.
"Doctor, what are you doing?!" She said in shock.
"Taking you to your room to rest, I'd have thought it would be obvious." He answered, seemingly oblivious to her reaction.
"I have legs you know," she protested, not sure how to react to this situation.
"Yah, legs that just gave out back there. No way I'm chancing that you'll collapse on me again."
"I'm pretty sure I could have made it on my own Doctor, I'm not that fragile. I did make it to the control room remember," she said, rolling her eyes.
"Let me worry about that, alright? Would it kill you to let me take care of you for a change?" He said, looking down at her with a smile.
"Come on, you take care of me all the time. If it weren't for you I would have died in a basement surrounded by living plastic."
"You don't give yourself enough credit. We both know you didn't need me and my big ears and leather to get you out of there, you would have been just fine."
"Yah, I'm being carried back to my room and I'd have been 'Just fine'", she retorted with a roll of her eyes.
"Rose Tyler, if there is one thing I'm determined to teach you, it's how to pick your battles," he said with mock sternness.
"Alright, I give," she said, smiling, "And not just because it would be pointless to argue since we're already at my room anyway."
"Yup, totally pointless," he agreed, opening the door and setting her down close to her bed.
"Now, I know you said you just needed rest, but is there anything else I can do for you? The Tardis is much better equipped with whatever you may need to speed up your recovery then anywhere you'd find on Earth."
"No, I think I'd rather just rest. No offense, but I'm not sure I want to risk having some weird reaction to whatever you might have stashed away," she said, as she could just imagine any number of scenarios that might result from her taking whatever strange alien remedy he might come up with.
"Ok then, I'll just leave you to rest. The Tardis will alert me when you're up again, so I'll come check on you then," he said as he prepared to leave. She didn't know why, but all of a sudden she didn't want to be alone.
"Doctor, you know how I said I didn't want you to take me to my mum's?" She asked
"Of course, why? Did you change your mind? I'd be more than happy to drop you off if that would make you feel better-"
"No no, I still want to stay here. I was just wondering- human sicknesses don't affect you, right?"
"Nope, my immune system covers nearly all your typical Earth diseases," he said with pride.
"Yah, that's what I thought. You see, it's just that, well, it's kind of miserable to be sick all by yourself, so I was just wondering, I mean, would you be willing to keep me company? Just till I fall asleep, that is."
She could tell by his stunned silence and rigid posture that her request had completely caught him off guard.
"Um, well, you see, I had some repairs on the Tardis I needed to take care of and, um, I don't want you to lose rest on my account," however, when he saw the look of disappointment on her face, he added, "But you know what, the Tardis really could handle the repairs herself, it's minor stuff really, and if you think the company would help your recovery..."
He was cut off by her coming forward and pulling him into a hug and it would be hard to say who was more surprised.
"Thanks Doctor, that means a lot," she said.
"No problem," he said thickly.
Now it was her turn to be at a loss for what to say, as she was unsure what to do now that she'd actually gotten him to stay.
"Well... I'll just...go change then...just...make yourself comfortable," she said awkwardly before grabbing her pajamas and making her way to the bathroom as quickly as she was able, leaving a stunned Doctor in her wake.