Flower and Willow Chapter 18

[timelord1]

Title: Flower and Willow
Rating: Teen
Pairing: 10/Rose
Category: Drama, Romance, Humor, Action/Adventure
Summay:On their way to visit old friends, the Doctor and Rose come across a mystery in one of Kyoto's geisha districts in US-Occupied Japan, 1948.
Notes: I once again bow to the awesome beta trinity: kelkat9, onabearskinrug and who_in_whoville

Rose led the Doctor through the front doors and helped him to a seat in the waiting area while she went to the front desk. She was grateful the TARDIS had brought them right outside the front doors of the hospital, rather than making them walk up the imposing front steps. She never would have made it, and was frankly surprised she made it inside without fainting. It was almost impossible to get anything more than a sip of a breath, and all she wanted to do was lay down and sleep. Her stomach was boiling and she knew it wouldn’t be long before she got sick one way or another. Or both.
 
She felt so strange, like she was wilting. When she left the Doctor and walked to the front desk, she had to put both hands on it to hold herself up. The nurse behind the desk was already on her feet, calling for some assistance.
 
“We’re friends of Doctor Constantine. Is he in?” Rose asked, and then she vomited all over the desk and collapsed.
 
*****
The Doctor heard her voice, so thin and breathy, asking for Doctor Constantine just before she retched and there was a thud and the sound of chaos at the front desk. He jumped up and called for Rose, but she didn’t answer him. Panic whited out all thought but getting to her to make sure she was all right. He had no idea where he was in relation to her, but he blundered forward, arms stretched out like a zombie, trying to find her. Suddenly there was a pair of thick hands grabbing him by the shoulders, pushing him back away from the chaos he knew was surrounding her.
 
“Sir, please, you need to sit down. We’re going to get you some help.” The voice belonged to a young man, probably an orderly.
 
“You won’t understand what’s wrong with her,” the Doctor said, pulling out of the orderly’s grip. “Rose!” If he left her in their hands, she’d be dead within hours. He needed to get close to her, to give her a proper assessment and tell them what to do so they could help her. Nobody in this era would have the slightest idea what to do about radiation sickness, but if they did what he said, maybe they could keep her stable until he could get her back to the TARDIS and on their way to Czeython for proper care.
 
“We’re seeing to her right now. Just please, come with me so someone can attend to you. Your burns are very serious, and you need treatment.”
 
The Doctor shook his head with a bitter laugh. “I don’t think so. She’s got accelerated radiation sickness. You familiar with that, eh? I’m not letting you waste hours wringing your hands trying to figure out what’s wrong with her – she’s dying. She needs a dose of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. Got that in your dispensary, do you? How about Potassium iodide? Prussian blue?” He tried to push past the orderly, but found the pair of hands on him again. “You’re standing in the most dangerous place in the world right now, sir, and I suggest you leave off trying to stop me getting to her, or you’re going to find out exactly how dangerous it is.” He could hear her being loaded onto a gurney, being wheeled away. He was going to lose track of her if he didn’t get past this well-mannered behemoth.
           
The hands did not yield. “Sir, I promise you she’ll be all right.” The orderly then had the gall to take the Doctor by the upper arm to try to help him to a seat as if he were feeble. The orderly quickly learned that one thing one should never do is insult the Doctor, whether intentionally or unintentionally, when he is already under a great deal of emotional and physical strain. He couldn’t see where he was going, but the Doctor could still move fast as lightning and he snatched the orderly by the lapels and slammed him up against the first hard thing he ran into, baring his teeth as he spoke in a low growl.
 
You’re going to lead me to her right now, and then you’re going to find Doctor Constantine and bring him back here so he can help me save her life.”
 
“Doctor Constantine runs the hospital,” the orderly said. The Doctor could hear him cringing. “He doesn’t see patients anymore.”
 
“He’ll see Rose,” the Doctor answered. “Just tell him there’s a woman in the surgery asking about her mummy. Now, take me to that gurney before your staff kill her.”
 
The orderly took his hand, and it felt like he’d just taken a seat in Rose’s chair. The Doctor jerked away and grabbed the orderly by the arm. He was led down what he presumed was a hallway leading to one of the surgeries. He could hear people shouting and scrambling around, trying to do something to help her, but he heard no sound from Rose. He could deal with being blind for the rest of his existence if he just had Rose to guide him. Without her, he felt completely without reference in the world, drifting in darkness as he tried to find her. If she died here in this primitive hovel they dared call a hospital without him able to help her, the universe would lose all meaning to him. The stink of iodine and antiseptic assailed his senses as they came into the surgery. The confused din swirling around him made his ears start to throb.
 
“This man insisted on coming back here,” the orderly announced as he brought the Doctor to the edge of the gurney. “He thinks he can help.”
 
“Get him out of here!” a male voice cried. Someone dropped a tray of instruments. The metal clattered to the floor somewhere behind the Doctor’s right shoulder.
 
“Go get Doctor Constantine,” the Doctor said in the orderly’s direction. He felt the orderly’s hesitation. “Now!”
 
He heard the orderly’s shoes squeaking as he went down the hall. The Doctor felt along the edge of the gurney and found Rose’s hand. Cold. He felt her pulse and found it faint. There wasn’t much time left, and they were wasting it. They were discussing how they were going to examine her, and every method they discussed would lead them directly nowhere. They were going to chase around in the dark until she died on that rickety gurney.
 
“I’m here,” he said, squeezing her hand. “I’m right here with you and you’re going to be all right.” He raised his head and addressed whomever was immediately around him. “You need to listen to me. I can help - “
 
“Sir, please, you need to sit down and be seen by a doctor,” a tightly-clipped woman’s voice spoke in his face. Her breath stank of coffee and a breakfast roll. “The blisters on your eyelids are starting to weep. We’re going to examine her.”
 
“I’m not going anywhere,” he snarled. “You don’t know what’s wrong with her, and the longer you waste time, the worse it’s going to get. She needs Doctor Constantine and she needs me and she doesn’t need you lot cocking everything up!”
 
Someone put their hands on his shoulders from behind him and he stuffed his hand in his pocket, drawing out the sonic screwdriver. He swung it in a circle around him and heard the assembled people jumping back, crying out in surprise and fear. He pressed the button and the sound made one woman scream.
 
“Everybody back off!” He roared. “I won’t have you stupid apes killing her! Get me sodium iodide and three units of O negative blood and get me Doctor Constantine or I’ll set this thing off!” He knew he sounded completely out of his mind, but he couldn’t have them getting in the way with all their worthless diagnostic toys.
 
“We’re trying to help you, sir! Let us help you!” someone cried. He felt the sting of a needle going into the back of his shoulder, the pressure of something chemical being released under the skin. His system gathered up and expelled the ineffective tranquilizer and he hoped it would not be in his bloodstream long enough to have an adverse interaction with the Pethedine he’d taken earlier.
 
“You know,” he said, “the woman I love is possibly dying in your surgery. I’m upset, understandably so, and so you decide the best course of action is to hit me in the back with a tranquilizer? And how do you know I don’t already have some sort of medication in my system that might combine with whatever random drugs you just injected into me and stop my hearts? Or heart in the singular. You just proved my point that you’re completely incapable of handling this situation. Now stay away – this is your last warning!” He kept the sonic raised and buzzing to make sure no one else tried to get the drop on him.
 
“What’s all this commotion?” a cultured, well-aged voice shouted as the pounding of Doctor Constantine’s wing-tips brought him into the surgery. “What’s all this? Who are you?” The staff raised their voices in a clamor to try to explain, but Constantine silenced them all with a harsh whistle, reminding the Doctor why he’d taken such a shine to Constantine in the first place.
 
“You don’t recognize me,” the Doctor said. “Of course you wouldn’t, but we saved the world together a few years back. Physical injuries as plague, as you so eloquently put it. Maybe you remember my friend Rose.” He stepped aside so Constantine could see Rose on the gurney.
 
“You can’t be…” Constantine’s voice and breath came very close to the Doctor. For the first time the Doctor was aware of how hard his own breathing was. “Is it you? I didn’t recognize you with the burns – and you’ve lost some weight. Your voice sounds completely different than I remember. I’m very sorry. And I remember your friend, of course. What’s happened to the two of you?”
 
“It’s complicated,” the Doctor said. “She has radiation sickness. Needs sodium iodide and a blood transfusion right away.”
 
“And you?” Constantine asked. The Doctor flinched at the touch of Constantine’s hand on his face. “Can you see?”
 
“No, I can’t.” he answered, ducking Constantine’s ministrations. “Rose is more important, please.”
 
“He had some kind of weapon, Doctor Constantine!” one of the nurses cried. “We tried to subdue him –“
 
“And injected drugs into a patient without first assessing his condition,” Constantine snapped. “You’ll want to not do that in the future, Nurse Jenkins. I will tend to these patients myself. You may all go back to your duties at once.”
 
The Doctor heard the staff filing out of the surgery and the creak of Constantine’s shoes as he moved around the gurney. It wasn’t the ideal assessment for Rose, but it was better than nothing. What disturbed the Doctor most was how brief the assessment was. Constantine grunted and shifted around the gurney for a few moments before he walked across the room and picked up a telephone.
 
“Yes, this is Constantine. Bring my car around to the front entrance at once.” He hung up the phone.
 
“Going somewhere?” the Doctor asked.
 
“I can find a heartbeat, but it’s weak and growing weaker. There is no help for her here.”
 
“Well, so what are you going to do?” the Doctor sputtered. “Are you taking her somewhere else? I hate being at the mercy of everyone else and not being able to see what’s going on!” He reached out to smash whatever his hands struck first, flipping over tables full of instruments. One of them hit a glass cabinet and shattered it. He stumbled backward with the effort and Constantine caught him and helped him to a chair. His eyes felt like they were leaking acid down his cheeks. “Why would the TARDIS bring us here if there’s nothing you can do? We were en route to somewhere that could help her!”
 
“Her condition is deteriorating so rapidly there’s nowhere you could have gone that could help her except here. Now, I want you to get up and hang onto this gurney and let’s get her out of here.” Constantine snapped. “We haven’t very much time at all.”
 
*****
The Doctor could smell the newness of Constaintine’s Ford Anglia as they drove out of London and into the countryside. He was in the backseat with Rose in his lap, and he had a stethoscope around his neck, periodically listening to her heart. She was breathing, shallowly, and her skin was getting colder and more flaccid as the moments wore on.
 
“Can’t this thing go any faster?” he shouted from the back seat.
 
“I have the pedal depressed to the floor,” Constantine answered. His voice was level. “We are going as fast as humanly possible.”
 
The Doctor slid Rose gently into the seat and leaned up into the front seat, taking the sonic out of his pocket. He flipped the settings with his thumb until he got them where he thought they were right, then held it up in what he hoped was Constantine’s line of sight.
 
“What do those numbers say on the side?” he asked.
 
Constantine hesitated a moment as he read. “1906-G,” he said at last. The Doctor cursed under his breath and moved one switch three clicks to the right.
 
“And now?”
 
“1906-J.” Constantine answered.
 
“Excellent,” the Doctor said. He launched himself almost completely into the front seat and felt along the dashboard until he found the spot just over the steering wheel. He held the sonic to it and pressed the button and the Anglia downshifted, engine roaring, as it took off at twice the previous speed, throwing a cloud of dust in its wake.
 
“That’s more like it,” the Doctor said, scooping Rose into his arms again. “Now we’re going faster than humanly possible.”
 
The Anglia made the rest of its trip in under three minutes. They skidded to a halt on gravel and Constantine laid on the horn for several moments before he finally stopped.
 
“Jamie, there’s a good lad. I need you to run up to my study and bring down the jar of fireflies, quick as you can.” Constantine shouted out the window.
 
“Jar of fireflies?” the Doctor asked. And then, gloriously, he understood. “Doctor Constantine, you sneak! You kept some of the nanogenes.” He was going to kiss the TARDIS on whatever passed for her face when he saw her next.
 
Constantine sniffed. “They chose to remain here. I don’t know where the rest of them went, but I had a glittering trail of yellow lights following me all night after you left, until I finally coaxed them into a jar.”
 
“And Jamie?” the Doctor asked. “That wouldn’t be Jamie, the little boy looking for his mummy?”
 
“Nancy and Jamie had no family left after the war. Neither did I. We adopted one another.” Constantine answered. “She’s getting married in the spring.”
 
He was going to owe Rose an apology. Sometimes you went back to see someone and the ending was much happier than he ever could have anticipated. London was the one city in the universe that seemed to delight in proving him a curmudgeony old cynic whenever it could. Constantine suddenly opened his door and stepped out of the car. “Well done,” he said to someone outside, then leaned back inside the car. “They prefer an enclosed environment, so I will just step out while they do their work.” The Doctor heard the sound of a jar lid being unscrewed, followed by Constantine closing the car door.
 
Immediately everything started to tingle as the nanogenes surrounded him and began their work. Soon the tingling changed to a warming sensation that got warmer and warmer and completely relaxed him, filling him with fresh energy. The rawness on his face and the pain in his eyes subsided and he felt hair sprouting back where it had been burned off his head in the blast. It was like a gentler form of regeneration. They were done in moments and the first thing he did was put his hands on his head to make sure they hadn’t given him a gas mask face by mistake.
 
He decided to try opening one eye just a little, to see if he could see anything. If he was met with darkness, he was just going to have to accept it and figure out a way to live with it. He lifted the eyelid slightly and saw the dark leather of the Anglia’s front seat. Slowly he let his left eye open all the way. It was a little fuzzy at first, but when he opened his right and the two could work together, things came quickly into focus. He looked down at Rose and his hearts soared at the sight of her. She was just starting to wake up.
 
*****
 
Rose felt fantastic; warm and tingly and cozy. A moment ago she'd been honking all over the front desk of Albion Hospital, and now she felt like she'd spent the afternoon at one of those posh spas getting a facial and a massage and whatever else women did at those things. She opened her eyes and saw golden twinkles of light surrounding her, and she remembered the nanogenes from Captain Jack's stolen Chula ship.
 
They took one more lap around her and trailed away into the front seat of the large car she was lying in. Her head was in someone's lap. She looked up into the Doctor's beautiful, perfect brown eyes. He was still wearing the Army pants and the bloodstained white undershirt, but his hair had grown back to its full glory and there was no trace of the blistered burns anywhere. It was odd but he looked brand new, just like he did right after he'd regenerated. His smile was exquisite in its tenderness.
 
“Where are we?”she asked. She was surprised at how drowsy she sounded, like she’d been sleeping for hours.
 
“Visiting friends,” he answered, stroking her hair.
 
“You’re lookin’ at me,” she said. He nodded. She sat up and held up three fingers; she wasn't simply going to take his word for it, given his tendency to bend the truth to protect her.
 
“How many?” she asked, clenching her jaw.
 
“Three,” he answered. She squealed and dove at him, choking him with a hug and smothering him with kisses. He clutched her tightly, nuzzling her cheek. When she finally had her fill of Doctor snogging (for the moment), they got out of the back of the car and she was surprised to find Doctor Constantine and, she could hardly believe it, the little boy Jamie standing nearby. He was older now, but it was clearly the same little kid, sans creepy zombie gas mask. He was grinning up at her, holding a jar full of swirling, glittering nanogenes. When Constantine saw the Doctor, his eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
 
“Oh, dear. I think my little friends might have reconstructed your face wrong,” he said, looking back and forth from the jar to the Doctor. “You don’t look at all like you did before.”
 
“That’s all right,” the Doctor said, putting his arm around Constantine’s shoulders. “I’m sure I’ll get used to it.”

Comments

[kelkat9.livejournal.com]

Woo hoo you posted it! This chapter rocks! I wasn't kidding when I said it had me on the edge of my seat. Some fics or chapts you can read and do other things, this chapt was not like that at all. I had to read the whole thing through nonstop without interruptions. I loved the solution and how it brought everything full circle Fabulous job my dear!

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

Thank you, and thank you very much for the Rose POV suggestion - I think it really helped bring it together. You're so awesome! One more chapter to go on this one, and then it's Allons-y to Pete's world for me (I hope!)

[country-who.livejournal.com]

Yay! You have NO idea how excited I've been awaiting for this chapter! And it's even better than I expected, the Doctor's all better and even Nancy and Jamie. :)

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

Thank you!!! I'm glad you enjoyed - it's keeping me quite busy, fo sho. One more chapter to go! :)

[larxene-12.livejournal.com]

hahahaha! The last two lines made me laugh so hard! I'm so glad everyone had a happy ending. See? The TARDIS brings you where you need to be, Doctor.

I absolutely loved the tension during the hospital showdown. I could picture exactly what was going on, and I was eagerly looking forward to how it would play out. So glad you updated!

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

One more chapter to go - tidying up the loose ends! Should be up in the next couple of days. Glad you've enjoyed so far! I'll be kind of sad when this one finishes up, but that just means more stories to begin, eh? :)

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Absolutely gorgeous!! I was hoping that someone had some leftover nanogens - but we got to see Constantine again, too, so that made me deliriously happy! Actually, this whole damned CHAPTER made me deliriously happy!!

*DANCES LIKE A LOON*

LOVELOVELOVE!

*SQUISHES YOU*

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

Yay! *hugs* Just wait for the finale! Lots of goodness to come!!!! :D Glad you liked it!!

[roselikeschips.livejournal.com]

I meant to comment on the last chapter as well, but I guess I didn't submit it.

Either way, on both of these chapters, WONDERFULLY written!

I love the surge of emotion I get from reading them and imagining this actually happening. How many more chapters? I love this story so much, I want to prepare for the end (and therefore lack of amazing story).

<333

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

There is one more chapter to go - probably a fairly good-sized one. But that just means more stories will be written - I hope they are as well received as this one has been!!!! :D

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy the ending!

[shadowneko003.livejournal.com]

Good ole nanogenes! You should always have some by your side.

And never get in the way of the Doctor and Rose. Poor hospital staff.

Extremely well written story.

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much!!! Yeah, one place you don't want to stand is the spot between the two of them. :)

[rosetylersale.livejournal.com]

Oh that was so perfect!

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

Hee hee thank you!! One more chapter to go! :)

[lauraxtennant.livejournal.com]

Yay!!!!!

Oh, this was such a perfect chapter. Another 'the woman I love' line from the Doctor, nanogenes, Constantine, Jamie, and happy endings :) I'm so sad this story is nearly over, but it has been truly brilliant x

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much!! :) Glad you enjoyed. Check out some of the new stories that will be coming - hopefully they'll be as entertaining lol. :)

[othermewriter.livejournal.com]

Oh I sooo knew it Nanogenes to the rescue!! Love the Doctor's comment to Constantine's at the end!

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

:) lol yeah they were pretty much up a creek without the nanogenes.

Even after being partially blown up, going blind and nearly losing Rose, he's still got a one-liner for every occasion hee hee :)

[freaky-anomaly.livejournal.com]

I couldn't help but laugh at the image I got in my head of Doctor Constantine driving his Anglia at the speed of light, eyes bugged out and hands on the steering wheel, quite possibly thinking Jesus, take the wheel!

I love how you fixed the whole problem with the Doctor's gorgeous head of hair being shaved and now not. Ah yes! All is right in my world again.

When Constantine saw the Doctor, his eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

“Oh, dear. I think my little friends might have reconstructed your face wrong,” he said, looking back and forth from the jar to the Doctor. “You don’t look at all like you did before.”

“That’s all right,” the Doctor said, putting his arm around Constantine’s shoulders. “I’m sure I’ll get used to it.”

You certainly have a way with imagery my friend. This is LOLZ.

[timelord1.livejournal.com]

LOL that's hilarious - I can see that now, too. Jesus take the wheel made me literally laugh out loud. Very funny. Thank you so much!! :) And the hair HAD to get fixed. That was as important as fixing his sight lol. :)