The Green Soul

Chapter 18

Rose drifted up from consciousness slowly several hours later. How she'd even fallen asleep was beyond her, but she supposed a lot had been through a lot in the past couple of days, and the Entity inhabiting her would certainly be repeated at least once more

She tried to stretch but ran into something warm behind her. She froze where she was and felt whatever was behind her moving, rolling over to wrap an arm around her and burrow his face into her neck.

The Doctor had stayed with her. He'd stayed! She couldn't stop herself from grinning as she cuddled back into him. He hummed in the back of his throat and kissed her neck, and her eyes fluttered closed, savoring his closeness.

She didn't want to wake him, or disturb him in any way, but she did feel that very human urge to talk. It felt foolish, especially after what they'd done. Hadn't he said enough to prove himself?

Still, the feeling to finally answer the question of "so what are we, Doctor?" Still ran through her head over and over at a hundred miles per hour. She was determined to ask, to change this day from "something that happened" into "something they did rather frequently and quite enjoyed it, thank you".

All she did was want it confirmed, and that felt ridiculous, and she felt shy about it all of a sudden, even in her current position. She pushed the thought from her head. Best to deal with matters like that when there wasn't an alien mucking about.

Well, an alien besides the Doctor, at least. Him, she figured, now she could handle. Quite well, actually.

Obviously no one had come to check on them, probably assuming that it would be best to leave the Doctor to tend to Rose all by himself. Even so, the door was locked, and she had to admire the Doctor's quick thinking to give them that bit of privacy.

But Rose still had to wonder if he was going to try to get the Entity in her body again.

Of course, she knew that would have to happen at some point, but did it have to be today? Twice within a few hours of each other made her tired just thinking about it. Tomorrow, she promised herself, she'd do what she was supposed to again, do as she was told. But for now, her tired body needed more sleep.

And she was that: tired. All of it, the Entity and the.... Well, the Doctor on the whole had proved to be very tiring, not that she was exactly complaining about that part of the whole "exhaustion" thing.

The only thing keeping her awake was the fact that she didn't know what had happened while she was "possessed". She couldn't remember how the Entity had been feeling or how she'd been feeling, only that she'd woken up screaming and crying. Before, at least, she'd gotten a grasp of the Entity's feelings, what it needed from her. Now? Nothing. A blank space where a bit of memories and emotions should be, which, though she wouldn't admit it, frightened her.

And obviously, if she was in her bed when she woke up, the Doctor would've had to touch her skin somewhere to bring her up the stairs and to their room. Curiously enough, though, it seemed as though she hadn't woken up until she was in bed.

The Entity hadn't been willing to let go of her body. The same moment she realized this, she banished the thought. It was just a sad, lonely being, and she'd seen loads of those over the years, what was one more?

She decided she had to go through with it again. She had to. How could she say no to something that needed help? The only thing she didn't know was what the Doctor would think of her continuing. Surely he'd seen what had happened with her. Had she hurt him? Had the Entity entered her thoughts, as Cassandra had done? And oh, God, what had it found? What had it said?

Jolted by the thought, she turned slowly sin his arms to examine his body. The covers were tucked under his arm, giving her the freedom to take a closer look at his upper chest, head, and neck.

Checking to make sure he was still sleeping, she traces her fingers along his cheek. When he didn't stir, she moved to examine him, coasting her fingertips over his chest and shoulders. He was completely unmarked, she was pleased to note, except for scratches on his back that she (with no small amount of pride) realized were not from when she'd been possessed.

Satisfied, she pressed a light kiss to his forehead and laid back down on her back, head turned to the side, watching him sleep. She was wary to bury herself back in his arms when he was sleeping so soundly, since he did so quite rarely.

She let her eyes close and tried to get a bit more sleep to prepare herself for the rest of whatever madness was ahead. Before she could drift off, she felt and arm wrap around her waist and the Doctor's head pillow on her chest.

She smiled to herself and brought her arm up around his shoulders, recognizing his deep, even breaths of someone who was still in a calm sleep. She tried not to read into the fact that he subconsciously sought her out. Maybe it was just her warmth.

Warm. She was warm now. It didn't take hours and hours to feel warm again. Even with the chilled air hitting her neck, she found that she was comfortable. Not even the slightest bit overheated with the Doctor lying on top of her. She supposed she had the Doctor to thank for that.

But then again, she has the Doctor to thank for other things too. She ran her fingers through his hair at the thought.

She let herself fall back asleep, into a black sleep with no dreams that carried her all the way to consciousness, making her feel blessedly and peacefully awake.

"Blessedly and peacefully" was very short lived on Rose's part. She rolled over as she was waking up and felt only cold sheets next to her. Furrowing her brows, she ran her hand along the surface of the bed a bit more. Nothing.

She sat up abruptly, her eyes flying open and one had clutching the covers to her chest. She blinked uncertainly, glancing around the room.

Her suspicion was confirmed on an eye-sweep of the room.

The Doctor wasn't there.