Bad Wolf and the Oncoming Storm [Book One: Back in Time]

.:Chapter Two:. A lot of Waiting

     Rose felt the shift and the breeze again, she no longer felt the Doctor’s hand on hers. She was running still, but it was no longer towards the door at the end of the hallway, but rather the wall at the end of the hallway at her mum’s house. She was no longer with the Doctor; she was back in her universe. Rose just managed to put her arms out and brace herself. She recognized her surroundings and hit her palm against the wall. “No!” she cried, “Not again! This can’t happen!” Rose leaned her forehead against the wall and let the tears fall freely. Once again, after finally reaching her Doctor, she lost him.

     Jackie appeared in the doorway to Rose’s right. She took in the sight of her daughter’s tears and rushed to her side.

     “What’s happened, sweetheart?” she asked in a worried tone. She always worried for her daughter. It was more a worrying towards Rose’s mental health, though, rather than towards her physical health.

     Rose looked up at her mum with eyes filled with sadness and hurt. “I got back to the Doctor!” She said with fervor. “I was here, walking, then I was with him! Now I’m back here again.” Rose said the last line in a defeated tone. She covered her face with her hands, unable to grasp that she lost him once again.

     Jackie wrapped her arm around her daughter’s shoulder and brought her closer in a sideways hug. “Oh, Rose.” She said in a sympathetic tone, but nothing else.

     “I’ve got to get back. I can use the dimension cannon again!” Rose spoke up after a few moments of silence. She was yet again, filled with hope and determination. She’d gotten back before; she could do it again.

     “Sweetheart, the Doctor said you’d rip a hole in the universe if you did.” Jackie spoke in a soft tone. In all truth, she didn’t want her daughter pursuing the Doctor. She would be happy if she completely forgot the Doctor. Jackie couldn’t deny that he had done her daughter some good, but now all he was doing was causing her heartbreak and he wasn’t even in the same universe as them!

     “I’ve already been back, mum! I got the dimension cannon to work! That was months ago! If something hasn’t happened already, then maybe the Doctor was wrong for once.” Jackie didn’t say anything else so Rose, exhausted, went up to her room and laid on her bed, letting memories consume her until she eventually drifted off into a well needed sleep.

     Rose awoke in the morning, still feeling as exhausted as she did when her head hit her pillow the night before. The smell of cooking chips drifted into her room causing Rose to look over at the alarm clock resting on her bedside table. The annoyingly bright red numbers read 12:05 p.m.; she had slept for nearly fourteen hours and she was currently smelling her mum cooking chips for lunch. They were presumably for Tony as he had picked up Rose’s taste for the delicious crispiness of chips.

     Sluggishly, Rose climbed out of bed and shifted her way over to her vanity. She looked at her reflection in the shining glass; looking back at her, she saw a girl with dull brown eyes whose unders carried purplish, black bags, pale skin, and blonde hair that was completely flat, a few strands stuck to the sides of her face where she had laid her head against the pillow.

     Rose could remember only one time when she had looked this bad. That one other time had something in common with this one. She had looked this way after she had lost the Doctor in Cardiff, and once again, she lost the Doctor when she had just gotten within his grasp. She could swear that she could still feel the Doctor’s hand in hers, but whenever she looked down at her hand she was overwhelmed with sadness and loss; each time she tortured herself, but she couldn’t help but look down where the Doctor’s hand should be.

     Deciding it was time to clean up, Rose went into the en suite connected to her bedroom. She drew the bath and filled it up with some bubble bath. When Rose was satisfied with the temperature of the water, she climbed in. She had no intention of leaving the comfortable water anytime soon but her little paradise was ruined by pounding on the door. With a croaking voice, Rose answered the pounding. “What?”