Wow! thanks for all the lovely replies. you like me, you really, really like me! :D

here is the final chapter, I was considering splitting this one up in two chapters, because it's veeeery long, but I have no discipline and I just wanted to post it XD.

I love hearing what you think about it, this story is my first even fanfic ( whump or otherwise :P ) so I'm super nervous. *please love me* :P

oh and I forgot the disclaimer: I own nothing, blabla. please don't sue me :)

enjoy!

*chapter two*

The Doctor doesn't scream.

No matter how they beat him, he keeps his jaws clenched and he doesn't scream.

He is bleeding from jagged, uneven cuts everywhere on his body and his stomach feels so bruised he thinks the bruises on the front might leak (leak? Do bruises even leak?) through and be visible on his back. But he won't be able to check. He wouldn't see them through the large bruises already marring his back. Rassilon, it hurts so much.

But he doesn't scream.

And this seems to really annoy the man with the bat.

The poster man seems to make it his mission to make the Doctor scream, hitting him again and again, hitting him where it really hurts, but the Doctor never makes more sound than the occasional loud, heart-wrenching groan from behind gritted teeth. It's not enough for the poster man though, he wants to hear the Doctor scream, so he hits him hard in the gut once more, but instead of lifting the bat straight off him, he drags it across the Doctor's stomach, tearing him to shreds.

Now the Doctor screams.

The poster man smiles a vicious smile, just what the alien freak deserves.

He takes in the hunched form of the Doctor, only held up by the rope and cuffs around his wrists. Sweat on his brow and specks of blood on his face like some kind of morbid addition to the freckles he already has.

The poster man swings again, this time hitting him low in the left knee. It makes a strange crunching sound that is somehow heard clearly over the noise of the crowd.

He doesn't scream this time, not wanting to give in again, he makes a kind of choking sound in the back of his throat instead, face contorted in utter agony and falls to his knees on the floor of the stage.

The sudden tug on his wrist from the hit to his knee and subsequent fall causes the small chain between the fluffy cuffs to break, his left arm dropping limply, one fluffy pink cuff still around his raw wrist. His right arm is still sticking up in the air, the rope around his right wrist still holding steady and the men holding it still pulling his arm out to the side.

He lies there, shaking and bleeding when he hears the worst ( and the best ) thing he could possibly hear.

"DOCTOR!"

His eyes fly open and even from his crumpled position on the floor he still manages to find her.

"Rose…", he whispers.

Rose is pushing through the crowd, calling for him. Her face is etched with unspeakable horror and the Doctor can't help but feel guilty, he never wanted her to see this. He had hoped when she got away, that she would keep running, But she came back for him. Again.

Rose is struggling to reach him, fighting her way past the agitated mob. She stretches out her hand, she can almost touch his cheek when a couple of the people on the stage yank her away and pull her up on the stage by her arms, clothes and hair. Rose screams, in rage as well a as pain and from somewhere in the crowd the Doctor can hear Jackie's frightened shriek.

The man holding the bat immediately stalks over to Rose and grabs her by the front of her shirt, pulling her almost flush against him, frenzied gaze drilling in her eyes.

"What are you then, eh? Some kind o' alien lover, aren't ya? Bet he's got ya brainwashed or summat, infected even. Though maybe I'm wrong an' you're a filthy alien freak like 'im, all I have to do to find out is cut ya," the man spits at Rose, holding the sharp pieces of metal close to her face.

"NO!" the Doctor shouts. "No! let her go!"

He struggles to get back on his feet, pulling with everything he's got on the rope that's still restraining his right wrist. He manages to get back up, his destroyed knee barely holding any weight, but he doesn't seem to feel it. Rose is straining for him, trying to get to him and shouting for him while being dragged back by several people on the stage.

Then, with one final desperate pull, the Doctor snaps the rope that was holding him back and falls to the ground again. He wastes no time and instantly scrambles back to his knees and starts crawling towards Rose, still yelling at the men holding Rose to let her go. But they are backing away, taking Rose with them, the poster man with the bat holding it threateningly close to Rose's throat.

The Doctor can barely move, he'll never be able to get Rose away from them by force. He pauses, he can barely talk either, but he has to try.

"Please", he begs, "please! Let her… go, she's not a-.. an alien. I'm the alien, you want …me. Wasn't it more… fun that way, eh? Beating me? You…. don't want… her. Let… let her go".

He's still trying to crawl to them, to Rose, when someone – he can't see who – stomps on his mangled left knee. He howls in agony, pushing his forehead against the floor of the stage in an attempt to ride out the unimaginable pain. His face is set in a grimace and he is trembling, but still he carries on, dragging himself towards Rose.

"Please", he tries again" just… listen, you can h-have… me. I won't run, even… if I could. Just re…lease her, she's only human, just… please… let her go and you… can have me. I'll give…ungghh…give myself to you, you can do… whatever you want, just…hrrgh… don't hurt her!" he croaks out his plea.

Some of the people holding Rose seem to be getting a bit uncomfortable listening to the Doctor's desperate pleading and they loosen their hold just a fraction, but just a fraction is enough for Rose who seizes her chance and kicks one of the men holding her in the groin causing him to let her go with a pained yelp. She rips herself out of the hold of the others and rushes towards to Doctor.

He is panting and coughing on the stage, finally unable to move anymore. She reaches him and falls to her knees beside him. He has collapsed on his front and Rose carefully rolls him to his back in an attempt to make him more comfortable. She cradles his head in her lap stroking his bloody, sweaty hair away from his equally bloody, sweaty face. She starts to cry.

"Shhh, Rose, it's… okay. It'll be alright… it'll be fine, don't… cry", he gasps out, trying to shush her, but she can't seem to make the tears stop falling. Oh, he's so sorry, he didn't want this for her. He was so relieved when she got away earlier, he was so scared for her, so scared that they would hurt her like they have hurt him. And then she came back, throwing herself back into danger just to be with him. Just so he could hurt her and make her cry. He is so, so beneath her.

Everyone has sort of stopped, even the poster man with the bat – though he doesn't look happy about it – even Jackie who is staring at the Doctor and Rose up on that stage with a mixture of horrified terror and pure awe.

Rose is still crying over the Doctor, telling him in broken hiccupping sobs that she's sorry, she's just so, so sorry.

"Hey, that's… my line", the Doctor gasps and smiles a little at Rose. "Besides, it's okay, I- Hgggnhh…" he groans and arches in Rose's lap. She strokes his cheek, trying to calm him and after taking a moment to relax and catch his breath he continues, "I…I'm happy that you're safe…nothing…nothing else matters", he finishes and smiles up at her again. She smiles back warmly and kisses him on his cheek. He is watching her through heavy eyes and after a moment's hesitation she kisses him again, on the lips this time. A second passes and he kisses back, just a little but enough for them both. She draws back and they smile at each other again.

Cla-click!

At the sound of a gun being cocked the Doctor tenses in Rose's lap, he sharply turns his head, wincing against the pain that movement causes. Rose follows the Doctor's gaze and looks straight into the eyes of the formerly bat-wielding poster man, now aiming a gun at the Doctor with a hate-filled look of revulsion on his face.

"Get away from the alien", he almost spits out the last word, like it's something vile on his tongue. He's waving the gun about, motioning for Rose to get up and away from the Doctor.

"I won't", Rose spits back, an equal amount of revulsion in her voice. "You'll hurt him", she states accusingly.

"Of course I'll bloody hurt him! He's a freaking alien! He's filth! He has it coming!", the poster man yells back at Rose.

Rose takes a deep breath, getting ready to shout her reply, but the Doctor stops her by painfully moving a bruised and bloodied hand on her arm.

"It's…okay", he gasps, his voice barely more than a breathy whisper.

Rose stares back at him and he implores her with his eyes, too worn out to speak anymore, to understand. He just wants her safe no matter what.

" she's only human, just… please… let her go and you… can have me"

Her eyes widen and she stares in shock at the Doctor, his red rimmed eyes confirming her fears. He'll let himself be taken, if it means she gets away unharmed.

Well, she's not having it.

"WHAT!?" she screams. "Are you simple? They're just gonna 'urt ya again!"

"Maybe…maybe it's better that…way", the Doctor whispers, "maybe I… deserve it".

"You can't think that! You're wrong! You're not some alien freak, you matter!" Rose yells at him, panicking. Please God, don't you know how much you matter!

"Grab her!" the Poster man yells at his cronies still on the stage, but the men hesitate. The emotional reunion of the Doctor and Rose moments earlier and the quiet words shared between them after that have given the men a chance to stand still and think and slowly get themselves out from under the influence of mass hysteria. Now they were really seeing what they had done and they found themselves unsure. The adrenaline was still pumping, but the solid conviction of their rightness in their actions, that they had felt so strongly before, was gone.

"GRAB HER!" the poster man shouts again, his voice a little higher now and tinged with budding panic.

He pushes Rose roughly aside and grabs one of the Doctor's chafed wrists, the one with the single fluffy cuff. A few men have hesitantly come forward and taken hold of Rose again, but their hold is lax and they are not quite as firm with her this time.

The poster man, sensing the hesitation, gives a sharp, panicked, yank on the Doctor's arm and tries to drag him further away from Rose.

"Yaaarrgh!" the Doctor screams, now far too exhausted to bite back his pain.

The Doctor's scream seems to be the signal for several people in the crowd who were also starting to get unsure to raise their voice.

Slowly soft mutters become shouted outrage and the people who were calling for his blood are now yelling for his release. Distinct cries are hurled at the panicked poster man, still holding the moaning Doctor by his wrist, to let him go, how it's wrong and they shouldn't do this, how he's hurt enough and they should leave him alone now.

Some people are even climbing up on stage and they are closing in on the frantic poster man. Realising his game is up he drops the Doctor and kicks him as hard as he can in the ribs before jumping of stage and making a run for it.

She sees several people chase after him, but Jackie doesn't care about what happens to the man who beat the Doctor half to death on a stage like some sort of public execution, instead she climbs up on the stage herself and makes her way to Rose who has pulled the Doctor into her lap again.

When she reaches them she sees a small half-circle of people has formed around them. She glares at them, powerfully and feels a little bit victorious when they look away embarrassed. In fact most of the people surrounding them and a lot of the people still beside the stage looked ashamed of themselves, they never thought they could get so swept away. Even though they may have made bold statements in the heat of the moment, now, looking at the bleeding, gasping, trembling alien…man held so gently in the arms of a crying human girl, they felt…wrong. This was what they had asked for, demanded, screamed for, but now that they got it, it didn't feel as good as they thought it would. It didn't feel good at all. There was no pride, no sense of accomplishment, just a feeling of wrongness and an overpowering feeling of shame.

"What…what should we do with him now?" one person asked.

"Should we…put him out of his misery? You know, like with a sick pet or something?" another one hesitantly suggests.

"We can't kill him", someone else yells, "he's…he's sort of a person now…isn't he? He should go to a hospital".

"How are they supposed to treat 'im? He's an alien, for all we know 'e's gonna spin 'imself a cocoon or summat, like in that one film", yet another person puts in.

They start to argue amongst themselves, not quite sure what to do with the Doctor now that they're left with him, though not brave enough either to offer help to the blond girl that's still holding him.

A sharp gasp, followed by a wracking cough snaps them out of it, every person going silent and looking at the Doctor again.

Rose is thankful they shut up, she was this close to yelling at them to shut it and that they had no right to decide his fate after how they treated him, but the Doctor's gasp and cough stopped her too.

He's so broken, she thinks. He's barely breathing, every breath he does take is wheezing and that cough made him give up a little blood. He coughs again, grimacing and groaning when it's over and Rose cups his cheek, stroking his hair with her other hand and softly tells him to be still, it will be okay.

"Just keep still, Doctor, okay? We're gonna get 'elp, just hold on….please".

He looks up at her then, his eyes are so full of pain. It hurts so, so much. It's so bad.

But Rose is here.

He smiles at her. It's barely a smile, more of a grimace that turns into a wince, but she understands and smiles back at him.

"Rose…thank you….brilliant…love y-".

His last words are lost as he simply runs out of air, he tries again to say something else, something really important, but the best he can do is a garbled throaty sound. He gives up and closes his eyes.

Rose leans down in a panic when she can't hear him breathe anymore, but leaning in close to his mouth she feels tiny puffs of air coming from his lips and she sighs in relief. He's still breathing.

But he's only got one heart going.

The Doctor is lying still in her lap and Rose can't help but think that the Doctor should never be so still. Tears are still rolling of her cheeks in big, wet droplets and she hugs him close, burying her face in his neck. Jackie comes up behind her and puts a hand on her shoulder, it's intended to be a comforting gesture, but to Rose it's the very thing that breaks her and she cries loud, half-swallowed sobs begging him to wake up and be okay. Just wake up. Wake. Up!

Jackie uncurls her from the Doctor, swallowing her own tears over his limp form, and hugs her firmly to herself, squeezing her daughter just as hard as she is squeezing her. Letting her cry out her heart over the alien man she loved - loves! – against her mother's shoulder.

The heart-breaking scene is witnessed by several dozen silent spectators, all of them understanding the girl is grieving for a lost love. For all of them can see, he hasn't long left to live.

From the crowd, one man comes forward. He kneels down beside Rose and Jackie and tells them that he can't undo what he did, Rose has never wanted to punch someone this badly in her life, but he can try to make amends now. He offers to carry the Doctor back to wherever he lives.

"It shouldn't be here", he simply says, meaningfully.

Rose nods, she doesn't want any of them touching him, but she wants him home more than that.

The man picks up the motionless Doctor and silently asks them to lead the way. The Doctor shows no sign of acknowledging being picked up, Rose feels a bit guilty for hoping he would at least wince, or groan, something, anything to show he's still there, but he only lets out a small wheeze when he is pulled off the floor and Rose can't fool herself enough to say it's not just from the temporary pressure on his ribcage. She wipes away another tear.

Jackie leads the man on, while Rose hovers near the Doctor's head, eyes always on his face, waiting for the smallest sign that he's waking back up.

As they leave Rose doesn't spare a second glance to the crowd they leave behind. It's not even a conscious decision, she simply doesn't care enough.

If she had turned her head and looked, she would have seen the once hysteric mob now turned into a hesitant group of confused and ashamed strangers, none of them sure what to do now, slowly shuffling off towards their homes.

Jackie opens the door to her flat and lets Rose and the man carrying the Doctor in. she tells him curtly to lay the Doctor down on Rose's bed and then leave. He does so, gently putting the Doctor down. He apologizes once more and walks out the door, closing it behind him. Rose doesn't thank him, neither does Jackie.

Rose and Jackie start to remove the Doctor's clothes, they are half torn off anyway and the ones that aren't are too dirty and bloodstained to stay on anyway, besides, they need to see his injuries.

Rose hesitates for a moment when she reaches his pants, they have to come off, they're soaked with blood that's leaked through from other wounds, but she lingers at the waistband. She glances up, Come on Doctor, she thinks, I'm gonna take of your pants now, this would be the perfect moment to wake up and stop me. Mum's just in the kitchen getting some towels an' things, but she could come back any moment and walk in on you naked… But he doesn't move, doesn't flinch or try to wriggle away, there's not even a change in his barely-there breathing, he doesn't react at all.

Rose gently eases down his pants and covers him back up with a spare towel. Despite him not waking up and stopping her she doesn't think he would appreciate Jackie seeing him naked.

She smiles at the thought a little and hopes she gets the chance to tell him and tease him about this…she really hopes she gets the chance.

Jackie comes back in with clean towels and a bowl of warm water.

"I brough' some disinfectan', you know, from when you go' you're ears pierced. It's all I 'ad, d'ya fink it's alright for him?" she asks, setting down the bowl of warm water and handing Rose the bottle.

"It'll be fine, mum, thanks", Rose says quietly.

"It will be, love, it will be", Jackie emphasizes, squeezing Rose's shoulder.

They clean his wounds as best they can, wiping away the blood and rinsing out the jagged cuts and gashes. Jackie has some bandages, but not many so they improvise where they can to make sure they can bind or at least cover all of his injuries. They don't know what to do with his knee.

Jackie has to swallow some bile a couple of times, especially when she sees the state of his knee. It's gone a shade of blue so dark it looks more like black and the shape is…well, it doesn't even look like a knee.

As soon as they have done as much as they can Jackie offers to put the dirty towels in the wash and make some tea. Rose nods, she knows her mother needs to get some air and she'd rather be alone anyway.

As the hours pass Rose keeps her vigil. Jackie comes in now and again to bring her (and the Doctor, she always brings a fresh cup for him too, you never know…. So far she's had to take it away again each time, cold and still full) some tea or something to eat. She's cleaned up a bit, though. Mostly because her mum made her, but she's taken a quick shower while Jackie kept watch and she does feel better for it.

She went right back to sitting by him after that, stroking his hair like she did on that stage.

He keeps getting worse.

He's ice-cold now and it's hard to tell if he's still breathing sometimes. His remaining heart is beating slower by the minute.

"He's 'urt really bad, love", Jackie says while she sits in the chair next to Rose. Rose doesn't react, she just keeps rubbing circles with her thumb on the hand she's holding. There used to be a fluffy cuff on it.

"Maybe…maybe he's 'urt too bad, sweethear', maybe he won't make i'", Jackie says carefully, expecting her daughter to turn around and list off all the reasons why the Doctor is going to make it.

Rose sighs.

"I know, mum", she says in a little voice. She's not lost in her own hysteria anymore, trying to fight it every step of the way and refusing to believe he might not wake up. She's not trembling with the effort of keeping herself from jumping up and shaking him 'till he opens his eyes and comes back to her anymore. She's accepted that it was just too much for him. She turns to her mother.

"I just want him to stop hurting, mum", she says with fresh tears in her eyes.

Jackie moves her chair closer and hugs her tightly.

"I don't want 'im to go, I don't", she continues, "an' I can't say it won' 'urt if he dies, cuz it will, but I can be okay for him if I 'ave to. Let go, so he can. 'Cause I love him, mum! I love him and I want to see him safe. My Doctor…nothing else matters anymore".

Throughout her confession Rose has started sobbing louder and louder, but she's holding it together, Jackie knows. She's keeping strong so the Doctor can be weak for once and let go.

She is so strong, her Rose, Jackie marvels. She has never seen her daughter this strong. If only that stupid, bloody, brilliant alien didn't- ..

The Doctor takes a deep breath and both Rose and Jackie snap their heads to him. Another deep breath, though this one is a bit staggering. One last deep breath and a slow exhale…. And the Doctor stops breathing altogether.

There's no heartbeat anymore. He's gone.

Rose bursts into tears, openly weeping. Stroking his forehead 'till she can't hold herself up anymore and breaks down on the Doctor's still chest, sobbing into the improvised bandages.

Jackie just rubs her back and lets her cry it out. Rose can't be strong anymore, she did her job, she held it together long enough for the Doctor to let go, now she can give in.

Jackie rubs her back and cries as well.

Eventually Rose stops crying and gets off the Doctor's chest, she strokes his cheek again and kisses him on the lips.

"I love you", she tells him, "an' I'll miss you an'….I hope you're happy... an' safe".

Jackie takes Rose to the living room and gets them both a cup of tea, if only to keep their hands occupied. They're quiet for a moment and then they start to talk. About the Doctor and about Rose travelling with him. Rose tells her mother about things she's seen that are so beautiful, you get worried if you can keep your eyes open long enough to take everything in. and about things that are so awful, you get so lost in it you don't think you'll ever find your way back again. And then about the Doctor again, how he was always there when she got that lost, to lift her up and show her the way out. How he could find the one great thing between all the misery that made everything seem worthwhile. And how he could keep his eyes open the longest and spread them the widest and always looked like he could see far more than she could.

Jackie throws in what annoyed her about him and Rose laughs at that. She talks about his annoying habits and the things that drove her mental, but Jackie can she she's smiling throughout the whole story.

They finally get to the subject of what to do with him now.

"He should be in the Tardis", Rose says without a doubt. "They should be together".

She can only imagine how the poor time machine must feel now that she's lost her Time Lord.

"We can take him to his room. I got him new covers from Schrm, he likes them", Rose utters in a soft voice, throwing a glance in the direction of her room, where her Doctor is.

"But what then, Rose?", Jackie asks, "won' 'e … rot, or sumfin'?" she continues, not really wanting to bring it up, but knowing she can't exactly leave the question unanswered.

"I don't know, mum. Maybe the Tardis'll keep 'im or we can find some sorta stasis pod or summat, I don' know, but I don't want to leave 'im here an' I don't want to think about that right now", Rose replies. "Besides", she says quietly, before Jackie can argue, "the Tardis deserves to say her goodbyes too".

"Alright then, we'll take 'im there. We can fink abou' i' some more an' decide later", Jackie obliges.

"Let's cover 'im up a bit an' move 'im".

They wrap the Doctor in a bed sheet and carry him outside to the Tardis. Rose leads them to the Doctor's room and they lay him down softly on his bed, on the lovely covers from Schrm.

They take the time to check his make-shift bandages while he is still lying on the bed sheet on top of the covers and replace them where necessary with fresh ones from the Tardis infirmary. Then they change him into one of his own pyjama's, his suit a bit too tricky to change him into when he's so unresponsive and they finally pull the bed sheet out from under him and tuck him in a bit.

The entire room sounds sad.

Jackie decides to see if the Tardis has any tea, she doesn't really want a cuppa, she's probably drunk a gallon of the stuff in the last few hours, but it's something she can do to keep her busy and keep her mind off things.

When she comes back she finds Rose curled up next to the Doctor.

She should say something. Her daughter's lying next to the corpse of an alien… but she doesn't quite have the heart to disturb her, so she covers Rose with an extra blanket and leaves the room for now.

Rose is awake. She's not quite sure why, it's the middle of the night and she's still a bit sleepy.

She glances around and then she remembers.

The Doctor is dead.

She lowers her head trying to hold back new tears. She's done crying! She takes a deep breath and steels herself to turn around and face the lifeless body beside her…and freezes.

It may just be the darkness of the room, but the Doctor's face looks better than before.

She scrambles out of bed and hurries to the Doctor's side to turn on his bedside-lamp. In the light she's sure. His face has healed!

She touches his cheek just to eradicate that last lingering bit of doubt, but it's real. He's healed. You can still see some of what used to be the larger gashes, but he's mostly bruise free and there's no trace of the smaller cuts.

He's really healing!

Now she understands why she woke up.

Silently sending up a thank you to the sentient time ship she hurries to the kitchen, the last room she saw her mother in and bursts into the room.

The slam of the door jerks Jackie, who was snoozing in one of the beanbags along the hammock wall in the kitchen, awake. Barely coherent she is accosted by her frantic daughter, screaming something about the Doctor.

"R'se…wha..", Jackies mumbles groggily and a little ticked off for being woken up.

"He's doin' it, mum! He's doin' it!".

Jackie barely has the chance to react before Rose is dragging her to the Doctor's room.

"Rose! Wha' are you goin' on abou'!? Wh-..", Jackie says angrily, but before she can finish her sentence she glances at the Doctor and the sight takes her words away.

The Doctor's face is almost free of any injuries and his colour is slowly coming back. She turns to her daughter in speechless shock.

"See, mum! He's doin' it! He's healin' 'imself!"

"H-how?", Jackie manages to utter.

"I don't know and I don't care!", Rose cries jubilantly. "He's doin' it! He's alive!"

Rose clings onto her mother in a hug and Jackie hugs back, a little baffled still.

"I'll make tea", she says suddenly," it worked last time, it might work now". She pulls out of the hug and hurries to the kitchen, all the while muttering something about crazy aliens and their weird zombie healing, but Rose can see the skip in her step. She's just as happy as she is.

Jackie almost crashes back into the room with the tea, they hold it close to him not knowing what to expect.

A moment of silence… and then the Doctor takes a deep breath, releasing it on a satisfied sounding sigh.

Rose is ecstatic. Jackie keeps running back and forth, hauling buckets of fresh ginger tea. Every time they let him smell the tea and every time he breathes it in.

By the morning his face is fully healed and most of the larger bruises and bandaged wounds on his body are gone. His breathing is soft and staggering, but it's there and he has one heart beating a strong rhythm in his chest. His back still looks badly bruised and his ripped apart stomach is still torn, but they both look better. Even his knee is looking more like a knee after every cup of tea.

Rose is just taking another cup of, now cold, tea away from the Doctor when he makes a little whining noise. Rose snaps her head to him and looks at him wide eyed. His eyes are cracked open minimally and he's looking back at her. He makes the noise again and she lets him sip a little of the cold tea. He smiles a small little smile at her and she beams back at him. He closes his eyes but this time his breathing is stronger and his second heart is beating again.

By the time he wakes up the second time it's early in the evening. Rose is already there with a steaming cup of tea. He drinks, well…gulps down, a whole cup of tea this time.

He swallows a few times and tries to talk, but he can only make garbled wheezing sounds.

"Sshh, you don't have to talk. It's okay", Rose soothes him.

He looks up at her with a look of gratitude in his eyes and she smiles at him warmly, stroking his hair 'till he drifts off again.

He wakes up early in the morning, feeling rested and fully recovered from his healing coma. He wishes he could have warned Rose when he felt himself slipping into it back on that stage. He tried, he did. But he couldn't squeeze out enough air to form the words. He sank into it without being able to explain. He fought it with all he had, tried to hold on, cling to consciousness. He could feel it dragging him down, but he had to explain.

He doesn't remember why he finally felt he could let go, he just remembers it was okay.

Still, she must have worried so much.

When he woke up the first time he knew it was too early, it still hurt so bad, but there was this smell, this delicious smell. He opened his eyes and she was smiling down at him. The most glorious sight he could ever imagine. And with tea! He wanted to say so much, but he was so tired. Things turned dark before he could try.

The second time he wakes up he can still feel the pain in his body. It's hiding in his bones, a deep, drumming ache that seems settled where it is. It's still too early to be waking up and before he can wonder what woke him this time, there is Rose again. Rose and tea.

He tries to inhale the tea, it's so welcome, but his guilt hits him. He needs to explain. He needs to tell her why, but she shushes him and tells him he doesn't need to say. He wants to, but he's so tired and she's stroking his hair and that feels so nice.

He drifts off again.

Now he's awake though and he feels good. This is the right time.

He turns around slightly and sees Rose lying next to him. She must have fallen asleep watching him. There's a cup of tea on his stand for him. It's still warm, but he leaves it for now.

He turns more and kisses Rose on her forehead, the way he's lying he can't quite reach her lips without disturbing her and he doesn't want that, but she wakes up anyway.

He smiles at her. She smiles back

"Hello", he says.

"Hello", she responds.

"I thought you were dead", she says after a moment of silence.

"So did I for a second there", he admits.

They pause. The Doctor looks into her eyes and comes to a decision.

There'll be time to explain the intricacies of regenerative comas later, now is more important. So when she asks "How are you still alive?"

He has a better answer to give.

"I love you".

*the end*

tadaa! did you like it? I really hope you did!

I for one, loved writing it and I've got at least three more stories floating around in my head, so this won't be the last you hear from me.

I'd love to hear what you thought about it!

cheers! :D