The Doctor's body was bristling with pain on every inch and it took all of his strength to drag Rose into the doors of the TARDIS and press the correct buttons to send them as far away from Satellite 5 as possible. Once the TARDIS was making its way safely to Earth, he fell to his knees beside Rose on the floor. His body gave a shudder of pain and he collapsed, withering on the ground beside Rose. She was still unconscious and even though he was nearly consumed with the pain he was feeling, he was more concerned with Rose. If he was hurting this much then he could only wonder what damage it might have done to her.

The Doctor curled on his side as a fresh wave of agony came over him. His vision blurred at the edges but somehow he was still conscious. At first he had thought that he was going to have to regenerate, but it seemed that his body was dealing with it in a different way. The energy from the TARDIS was making its way out of his body on its own but it was agonizingly painful. They had long since landed at the Powell estate but the Doctor lost track of how long he lay on the floor in pain. Eventually, slowly, it began to ebb away. As the pain faded, it left him feeling cold and aching like the remnants of a terrible sickness. Cold swear covered his body and he resisted the urge to vomit. His head was splitting open with terrible pain but he could only focus on one thing.

Rose….

The Doctor opened his eyes and rolled over, crawling towards Rose. She still appeared unconscious and the Doctor gave her a good shake. Nothing; he shook her harder and still nothing.

"Rose…..can you hear me?" the Doctor asked. The sick feeling in his stomach was increasing with every second that she was asleep. He wanted to know, wanted to believe that he had saved her in time. The time vortex that had been in Rose's head was never meant to be there; it was a miracle that she hadn't burned completely. But that didn't mean it hadn't caused her some damage. He hoped he pulled it out of her head in time but until she woke up he wouldn't know. The longer she stayed under, the more he worried.

The Doctor sat down on the floor, cradling Rose's head in his lap. He looked down at her, brushing her hair out of her face gently, tenderly. He was never this kind, this affectionate with her when she was awake to see it. Why? Why hadn't he been? As he looked down at the beautiful, wonderful, fantastic human, he knew the answer to that even though it seemed ridiculous.

He loved Rose; he had tried to ignore that for a long time but he couldn't any longer. When he had met Rose, he knew there was something different about her. When he had saved her from the Autons in that shop, he had told himself that he would not see her again. When he'd ended up at her flat, he told himself that would be it. Each time he saw her, he said it would be the last because she was starting to have an effect on him. When she had refused his invitation to come with him, he definitely told himself that was it. She didn't want to come with him…leave it alone. But he just couldn't; he never asked twice but this young, amazing, vibrant human had convinced him to ask twice. Ever since she had run into his arms that night she had had every part of his hearts. He would do anything for her, had already done so many things for her that he wouldn't do for anyone else. Every day he told himself that he didn't love her but it was a lie. He did love her; even though it was obvious she didn't return his feelings. Rose was beautiful and she attracted attention everywhere she went; though it hurt, more that he wanted to admit, he hated seeing the looks other men would give her and the ones that she gave them in response. But, to make her happy he had never even thought about keeping Mickey, Adam or Jack away from her, nor anyone else. She didn't share his feelings so the least that he could do was make her happy. He'd do anything to make her happy even if it had nothing to do with him.

Up until less than hour ago, he had never thought he was part of that happiness. It had nearly ripped out his hearts to send her away. He knew she would never go on her own and he couldn't bear the goodbye even if she had. He just wanted her safe. He had really believe that he was going to die and the comfort he had was that Rose would be safe, that she would continue to live and be fantastic. When she had come back, he was beyond words. She could have died, would have died if she hadn't done what she did. She had chosen to come back to him, to almost certain death rather than staying on Earth.

I just want you safe…..my Doctor

The words kept echoing in his head. He tried not to let his imagination get carried away from him and imagine that she might share some of his feelings but he would allow himself the dream that at the very least her feelings were greater than he imagined. He hoped he had the courage to tell her how he felt when she finally woke.

But until she actually did wake, all he could think about was worrying she wouldn't wake up. If she never woke up or she had been somehow hurt from this experience, he didn't think he could ever forgive himself. All he had been doing was trying to keep her safe and even in doing so she had gotten hurt.

The Doctor lost track of how long he had sat there; he was too concerned with watching the slow rise and fall of Rose's chest to assure himself that she was still alive. He knew it had been a long time, far too long for her to still be asleep. He could sense the vague feeling of turmoil and distress coming from Rose's mind; even though that was not comforting, at least it meant that she was not brain dead. The Doctor put his arms under her and scooped her into his arms, lifting her up. He was not sure what state she might wake up in and he wanted her to be in a familiar and comforting place. As much as he didn't relish the idea of Jackie's reaction to him walking in with Rose unconscious, it would be best for Rose to wake up in her own room with her mum around.

Rose stirred a little as he carried her to the building and up the stairs, the Doctor watching her every move and hoping that she would soon wake but she didn't. When he reached her flat he pounded his foot against the door, his hands too full with holding Rose to knock or reach his sonic. Jackie came to the door moments later and shock instantly registered on her face.

"Doctor! You're…" she said in surprise, her eyes widening. Then he eyes fell on Rose, unconscious in his arms. Concern, worry and slight hope came across her face. She must have thought Rose was surely going to her death when she left. Her face suggested that she still thought Rose might be dead or at least near death. "Rose…..what happened to Rose? Is she alright?"

Worry filled the Doctor but right at this moment he focused on pushing past Jackie and walking towards Rose's room. He was glad when to find the door open and he slipped in quickly, laying Rose down on her bed gently. Jackie was quick on his heels and was beside him before he had even finished sitting her down.

"Is she alright?" Jackie asked desperately as she looked down at her daughter.

The Doctor looked at Rose for a long time before he spoke; he was supposed to protect Rose. That was his job, that was his duty. If he couldn't protect anyone else, he had always made it his mission to save her. He had failed and if he thought about that too long the pain would overtake him. But with Rose asleep and Jackie looking at him for hope and good words, it was all he could think about.

"I don't know" the Doctor was ashamed to admit. "She looked into the time vortex of the TARDIS to return to me. Humans are never supposed to do that…..no one is" He didn't try to hide the sadness in his voice like he normally would have. What was the point?

"Well, what does that mean?" Jackie asked, her voice rising several octaves as her own panic began to overcome her.

"I don't know what it means…..I've never dealt with this before" the Doctor said vacantly, staring at Rose. As much knowledge as he had in the universe, it was all worthless at this point. None of it could help her right now.

"Is she going to be alright? Is she going to wake up?" Jackie asked, her voice rising to near hysteria now. She tugged on the Doctor's arm. "Doctor!? "

The Doctor whipped around so fast that Jackie hand fell off him. "I don't know! I just don't know!" he shouted at her, his voice cracking dangerously at the end. Jackie's fast twisted in despair before she turned away from him, sitting on the edge of Rose's bed.

"She was always supposed to come back to me" Jackie said so small it was a whisper as she watched her only child.

The Doctor felt his emotions seeking to overtake him and he breathed deeply through his nose to try and calm himself. Yelling at Jackie would do no good. It was just hard to be reminded that he hadn't protected her, that she might die because of him. He slumped into a chair next to Rose' bed, staring at her. "I never wanted anything like this to happen to her" he said, his own voice sounding far away. "I sent her away to protect her"

"I tried to stop her" Jackie said, almost as if to herself than the Doctor. "She wouldn't listen….she would have rather died than stay here without you."

The Doctor's stomach clenched at those words; why would Rose do that? Why would she throw away the normal life that she could have to come die with him? Deep down, the Doctor knew the answer to that even though he couldn't believe it.

Oh Rose…please, oh please wake up, the Doctor prayed silently to anything that could hear him.

….

The Doctor and Jackie sat near Rose's bed as the bright afternoon sun changed to low lying evening sun through her window. They didn't speak to each other, their entire focus on the girl on the bed. Occasionally one would slip out of the room, only to aimlessly pace the flat for a minute and return. There was nothing to be done that could distract them from what they were really thinking about.

The Doctor was stiff from sitting still so long in his chair and thinking about pacing the flat yet again when Rose began to roll around, muttering in her sleep. The Doctor and Jackie both sat up, craning their necks toward her, watching her every move. Hope soared inside the Doctor's hearts when he saw Rose's eyes flutter open before going closed again, gripping the sheets as she called out; in pain or fear, the Doctor couldn't tell. He longed to reach out toward her and comfort her but he left that to Jackie for now.

Jackie scooted closer to Rose, whose face was scrunched in pain. "Rose, sweetheart, I'm here" she said gently, taking her hand. "It's alright"

The Doctor stood as close to the bed as he could, watching Rose. Her eyes opened and looked at Jackie and the Doctor felt a smile spread across his face. She was awake! Rose was really awake…his limbs felt weak with relief.

Rose's eyes filled with panic as she looked around before her eyes finally fell on Jackie. "Mum?" she asked. Her voice was small and lost.

"Yes, yes, I'm right here" Jackie said, giving Rose a warm smile.

Rose still looked scared, rubbing her head with her free hand. "My….my head hurts…so bad" she said.

"Just lie down a minuet" Jackie encouraged, helping Rose lay back down. "Your head has taken a bit of a beating"

Rose reluctantly lay down, her eyes on Jackie. She turned slightly, her eyes falling on the Doctor. He felt his toes warm up as his emotions overwhelmed him; he gave her a smile. "Hi Rose…..welcome back" he said, his voice cracked and he didn't even care.

Rose stared vacantly into his eyes for a minute before she said, "Who are you?"

Thanks for reading, please let know what you think so far! :)