Chapter Text
Rose was new in the building, only two weeks into her new flat. She loved it there. Her landlady, Sarah Jane Smith, was a dream. Her coworker Clara lived across the hall. And most importantly, she had the feeling of accomplishment that came from making it on her own. Her dad could have set her up in a much more posh flat, but Rose had insisted on doing it herself. Her flat was small, but it was cozy, and it was hers. The brick building was a charmer, too, with a bright blue front door and stained glass windows surrounding it. Rose was getting used to having her own place and meeting the neighbors as she could. Everyone was busy with the holidays approaching.
She'd seen the handsome upstairs neighbor a few times in passing. He was tall, fit, had a propensity toward tight suits and converses, and hair that stood up in carefully sculpted hedgehog spikes. And of course, there were the rockabilly sideburns.
He was handsome, but a combination of nerves and bad timing on Rose’s part kept her from properly introducing herself. And the whirlwind that was the holiday season made it more difficult.
When Rose Tyler finally met the man in the flat upstairs, it was in a way she could never have imagined.
***********
“Come on, Amy, you're barely around anymore. Martha is coming, and I think Clara. We’ll throw on Christmas Vacation and…..”
Rose could hear Amy’s sigh on the other end of the line. “Wish I could, but Rory’s off and he doesn't get a lot of weekend nights off from the hospital.”
“Okay, go be with a boy and just forget about us,” Rose quipped, laughing. “You can come see the new flat some other time, I guess.”
“How's that going?” Amy asked.
“Well, Sarah Jane, the landlady, is a dream. Clara’s across the hall and we ride to Coal Hill together when she's not with her bloke, so that's nice except it's easier for her to borrow my jumpers.” Rose heard Amy snort laughter. “And I hear there's a man upstairs who's is pretty fit, but I haven't met him yet.”
“You need to get over your nerves and introduce yourself,” Amy recommended, not being one to beat around the bush.
“Who says it's nerves! The timing’s been...off.”
“I say it's nerves and I know I'm right! Jimmy's over, and you need to get back in the saddle again.” Amy was sure of herself, and Rose knew she probably was right. Not that she'd admit it.
“Well, he could be a weirdo for all I know. I don't know what he gets up to but I swear I thought I heard something explode the a couple of days ago. Then there was a lot of running.”
“Well, see that he doesn't burn the place down. Is he a mad scientist or something?”
She answered, “Who knows? Maybe he is a mad scientist.”
Rose could imagine the smirk on Amy’s face when she said, “Maybe you need to experiment with him, yeah?”
“I don't think we've gotten off to a very good start. I pounded on the ceiling with a broom handle and told him to keep it……”
A flash of activity through the window in the late afternoon sunlight caught Rose's attention. Before she could process what was happening, a body fell past her window. The person managed to grab her fire escape rail long enough for her to see spiky brown hair and a shocked expression as the man’s fingers scrambled for purchase on the wet metal and slipped off. Rose screamed, “Bloody hell!”
She could hear Amy on the other end, yelling, “Rose, what's wrong? Did someone break in? Are you hurt? What happened?”
Rose clutched her phone in her hand as she opened the window and climbed out onto the fire escape. She looked up to see a string of blue LED lights dangling off the escape. Apparently the occupant was trying to make his window rival Clark W. Griswold’s house and it hadn't gone well at all. She peered down at the ground below, and there was the spiky haired man, sitting on a pile of boxes, shaking his head, confused “Oi! Are you okay? Stay still! I'm coming down there! Don't move!”
Amy hollered, “What the bloody hell is going on? I'm gonna call 999. And Mickey! And Rory too….”
“Amy, the bloke upstairs….he just fell out his window. I'll call you back.” Rose disconnected the call, but not before she heard Amy’s protests. Rose swung her leg over the rail and climbed down the fire escape ladder, jumping the final few feet down.
“Seriously, mate, don't move. I'm gonna call for help,” Rose called to him. He peered at her curiously.
“I'm fine. I must have misjudged the...oh, hello. I believe I might pass out.” And with that he collapsed bonelessly back onto the boxes.
*******
That was how Rose found herself riding in an ambulance to Royal Hope Hospital’s A & E with a man she'd never met. Despite being tethered to a backboard, and the nasal cannula of oxygen, she saw that Clara was right. He was fit. Then she immediately felt like a daft cow for thinking that of this very attractive man whose life might be in terrible danger.
The paramedics had said he seemed to be stable and his pupils were equal and reactive, which she imagined was a good thing. He'd been lucky to land on the boxes they'd been trying to get Adric in 2G to recycle for a week. She supposed it was good thing that Adric was lazy. It certainly had saved this man’s life.
“Do you know his name? Medical history?” the EMT asked.
“He lives upstairs in the flat over mine. I only moved in two weeks ago and I haven't met him properly yet. I don't know his name. But I know how to find out, I'll call the landlady.”
“Well, not sure you can call this a proper meeting. Memorable, for sure,” the other EMT commented as they pulled up to Royal Hope. She noticed that the man's eyes fluttered as the ambulance came to a stop.
“Hey, hey there, can you hear me?” Rose grabbed his hand, and he squeezed back. “You're gonna be okay. I promise. My friend Martha’s workin’ tonight and she'll take good care of you.”
The EMT’s began the process of getting him out of the ambulance, and Rose let his hand go with another squeeze.
“That's good,” her neighbor sighed. “You're beautiful.” Then his eyes drifted shut before she could ask his name. Rose was left behind as they hurried him into the hospital.
*******
Rose called Sarah Jane immediately upon entering the hospital waiting room. “I was wondering what happened,” Sarah Jane said, “I was just pulling up to the building when the ambulance left! His name’s David McCrimmon, and I think he left the number for a reference on his rental paperwork. I'll find that.”
Rose sighed, relieved. “I'm glad he has someone. I'm not leaving until I know how he is. I hate the thought of him being alone. And it's just a couple of days before Christmas. He was trying to decorate his flat, I suppose.”
Sarah Jane chuckled. “He could be doing just about anything. He's a lovely man, he really is, but he's eccentric. Mad scientist! Do you want me to keep you company, love?”
Rose smiled. In the two weeks she'd lived in her flat she had come to regard Sarah Jane as an honorary aunt. “Maybe. This could be a long night.”
“I'll stop by later.” They rang off after Sarah gave Rose the contact information she had. Rose sighed, reading the number over and over until she almost had it memorized. She hated giving bad news.
After a stop at the front desk to let them know their John Doe had a name, Rose pulled stepped back out into the chilly night air to call David’s contact person, Donna Noble.
It rang several times before anyone answered. When the answer came, it was in the form of a brusque woman’s voice shouting over the din of what sounded like a very lively pub. “If this is a salesman or a political call, I’ll….”
Rose cut her off before she heard what Donna would do. “M’name’s Rose Tyler and I’m callin’ on David McCrimmon’s behalf. I'm sorry, but there's been an accident….”
This time Rose didn't get to finish her sentence. “What? Oh, God. Did he blow something up? Was there a fire? Is he burned?”
Rose immediately attempted to reassure her, although what she had to say didn't sound much better than what Donna was imagining. “He fell out his window. He landed on some boxes on the ground….”
“That's three stories! Bloody hell! Did he break his neck? Wait a minute, let me get where I can bloody hear you.” After a pause, Donna came back on the line, much more subdued. “Now what's happened?”
Rose explained again, being sure to tell Donna about the EMT’s optimism.
“Yeah, but these things can change in a heartbeat. Right then. I'm in New York with my boyfriend. Bloody hell, I had a bad feeling about David being alone at Christmas…..he's an absent minded professor. I'm gonna make arrangements to come home.”
Rose heard a male voice in the background, and Donna's muffled answer, “I don't care about the weather forecast, we have to get home, Jack.” There was more mumbling from the person Rose assumed was Jack, and Donna then let him know in no uncertain terms they'd figure out a way home. Rose chuckled quietly. Donna seemed quite the force of nature.
Donna returned her attention to Rose. “He's like a brother to me, and he doesn't have anyone else. Please don't let him be alone, okay? You sound like a good friend.”
“He won't be alone,” Rose promised. She saw no need to tell Donna that she'd never properly met David until he fell past her window.
“Thank you….Rose, was it? You're an angel. Thanks.”
Rose promised to call Donna with any news, and then she disconnected the call.
Her heart went out to both of them. Donna, so distraught and worried about her friend. And David, trying to make his flat festive for a Christmas alone.
Her phone buzzed with a text, from Amy, all in uppercase, shouty letters that Rose answered immediately, then she went back into the waiting room. It was a chaotic mass of activity, so Rose settled settled in a corner to await news.
*******
It was two hours before Rose saw her friend, Dr. Martha Jones. “Rose! You came in with David McCrimmon?”
Rose leapt up from her seat. Sarah Jane, who had brought coffee and biscuits, followed her. “Yes! He's the neighbor upstairs. What's going on?”
“Your friend is very lucky. He didn't break any vertebrae in his back or neck, and he hasn't a serious head injury, despite the fall. He must have nine lives. He did break his leg, and I shouldn't really be telling you any of this because you're not a relative.”
“I talked to a friend who says he doesn't have anyone else. Isn't that good enough?” Rose asked.
“Is she his next of kin?”
“Martha, I don't know. His friend Donna is out of the bloody country. I'm all he has right now,” Rose informed her, becoming frustrated.
“Well, he's awake. And he's asking for the beautiful angel who saved him. Is that you? He can't seem to remember your name,” Martha said, concerned.
“He doesn't know it. We literally met two minutes after he fell out of his window.”
Martha's eyebrows raised. “I feel better about his cognitive abilities now. I was concerned he couldn't recall your name. He wants to see you, at any rate. I'll tell you what I can, and only because you're one of my best friends. If anyone finds out I'll have to say I don't know you.”
“Fine!”
“He didn't hurt his back. But he will need surgery for the leg.”
“So he's stuck here for Christmas,” Rose stated.
“And he's lucky it's only that,” Martha reminded her. “C’mon, he's going to surgery soon.”
******
David McCrimmon’s eyes were closed, his leg in a brace. He looked peaceful for the moment, probably due to whatever painkillers he'd received. In the dim light of the A&E room, she could see constellations of freckles standing out against his pale skin.
“Poor thing,” Sarah Jane whispered behind her, causing her to startle. “I suppose it could have been so much worse.”
Rose nodded and approached his bed. She didn't want to wake him, but she wanted him to know he wasn't alone. She clasped his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
Her hand felt like it belonged there.
David stirred and returned the pressure. His brow furrowed as he swam up from the depths of unconsciousness. “Hello,” he rasped, gazing at her with bleary eyes.
“Hello,” she returned, smiling. “David, I’’m Rose Tyler. I came in with you.”
“Rose Tyler,” he sighed. “Great name for an angel.” His eyes were beginning to flutter shut again.
“David, listen,” Rose requested, wanting to tell him before he dozed again. “I called your friend Donna. She's going to try to get here as soon as she can.
Eyes closed, David moaned a bit and muttered, “I hope I haven't ruined Jack and Donna’s holiday. Can you call her and tell her to stay there?”
Rose smirked. “I think she's pretty determined to get here.” David groaned. “Are you okay? Do you need anything?”
“Need to go back in time and not hang lights on the fire escape.” He opened heavy eyelids again in a panic. “Oh, I left the window open!”
“David, it’s Sarah Jane. I took care of that for you before I came over here.”
He sighed, relieved. “S’good. The experiment’ll be okay.”
“What experiment?” Sarah Jane asked, suddenly concerned for her property. Before she could get an answer a nurse entered the cubicle, informing them that David would be taken to surgery soon.
“David, I'll be here when you get into a room,” Rose vowed. She sympathized with him, for sure, stranded in a hospital, alone at Christmas. She also found herself not wanting to ever leave this man alone on Christmas (or any other time.) Get a grip, Tyler, she chided herself. This has to be some sort of speed record. That thought warred with I'm contemplating pulling a guy in a hospital A & E. There's probably a special place in hell for me right now….
David had been talking, and Rose, lost in her thoughts, had missed it. Luckily Sarah Jane was there to answer him. She gave Rose an amused smile as she did. “I'll make sure the plant gets fed and watered, sweetheart.”
“There's instructions written down next to the tank….” David’s voice trailed off as he winced.
The orderlies and a nurse peeked into his cubicle, so Rose squeezed David’s hand one more time and backed away so that they could care for him.
“I'll be here when you wake up,” Rose reassured him.
“Thanks,” he sighed. With his eyes still closed he murmured, “Was hopin’ to meet you soon but was too much of a coward to knock on your door……”
Rose felt her cheeks redden. Sarah Jane was still smirking.