Disclaimer: Doctor Who is owned by BBC and Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber & Donald Wilson. David Tennant and Billie Piper both own themselves.
Author's Note: Popped into my head while reading "Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini. Since I didn't like the way my first Doctor Who story turned out, I'm hoping that this one will be better.

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He'd broken the promise; the words just kept taunting him as the lights flashed across the night and the sirens sounded. Everything was hazy, the loud noises just whispered as they hit his ears. Nothing mattered right now, just the beautiful blonde in front of him and the fact that he'd completely betrayed her…He'd done it to his people once before and now, he had done it again to the one person he'd give anything for. Her ragged breaths and piercing screams from hours before still rang fresh in his mind and though he'd tried everything to rid the thoughts from his brain, they stuck there, like horrible leaches, sucking away every ounce of sanity he had left.

Then it all stopped and everything came rushing at him full force. The ambulance had parked at it's destination, the sirens reached his ears within milliseconds, the men around him all ambled from the back, shouting words that he didn't understand in the least bit. It wasn't as though he couldn't understand the medical jargon that made most patients confused, it was just that without her nothing seemed to make sense, whether the knowledge was with him or not. The one thing that he did know was that he needed to stay with her and through much protest, he walked alongside the gurney, his large hand gripping tightly to her small, frail one. All the color that had once lit up her cheeks had been drained with the blood that now stained the steel grating of the TARDIS. She'd probably have it cleaned up by the time he returned, not wanting him to have that horrid reminder to come back to. Little did his beautiful machine know, it was all he could think about, with or without the actual sight of it.

"I'm sorry, sir. This is as far as we're allowed to take you."

"But I need to stay with her…I promised her, I wasn't going to leave her."

"Sir, we're going to need you take a seat in the waiting room." Normally he would have put up a fight, showing them the psychic paper in the end, watching every move the surgeon made as scalpel met flesh. It would be too painful though to watch someone cut the same milky flesh that he longed to touch himself. Besides, he was too tired to fight, so he held up hands in defense and made his way to the row of uncomfortable looking chairs. All around him were families and from the looks of the members, they'd been there quite a while, all eyes red and puffy, sleepiness drifting from person to person as they huddled together for support more then warmth. They could be waiting for anyone: Mothers, Fathers, Aunts, Uncles, Grandmothers, Grandfathers; he was just waiting for her. A few minutes passed, the families all glancing up hopefully as a doctor emerged from the E.R., but he just kept his head down, the images still flashing in his mind. They were all so vivid like a the pictures from the movie screens. He would give anything to press the fast-forward button, to peek ahead to the Hollywood ending just to see if their story would be a tragedy or a romance.

The doctor from before had motioned a nurse to him and stood, but a few feet from the chair. They talked in hushed voices as though he wouldn't hear them, but every word reached his ears crystal clear.

"This is who was with Ms. Tyler, yes?"

"That's right, doctor. He hasn't told us anything involving himself or the case, he's just been sitting there."

"Thank you. I'll handle it."

"Will he be alright?" The young nurse's voice made him remember something that he loved most about those silly apes that wandered this planet. Their hope was something that he was intrigued at. Even with all the war, murder, accidents and carnage in the world, you were still able to find people with a small light of hope in their hearts. This rang true in her words and he guessed that she was new. If it were anyone experienced they would have known that no matter how much hope that you have in something or someone, the wreck of the world would start to drain you eventually. It just hadn't hit her yet, with her rosy cheeks, her sparkling eyes and her light of hope. It would though and that thought made him frown. Had he made her light go out? Was his broken promise enough to leave her a twisted mess?

He was suddenly torn from his thoughts as the doctor took a few steps towards him and his feet fell into the line of vision that was still locked on the cold tile floors.

"Excuse me, are you with Ms. Rose Tyler?" A slight nod was all her received as an answer, but that was enough for him to press on. "Anyone we should contact?" Another nod before his mouth opened once and then shut, trying again a few moments later.

"Jackie…her mum." The voice sounded foreign, but he knew that it was his own. The tiredness and sorrow coating it with something unfamiliar.

"Thank you." That was the consolation that he got. That's the only consolation that he ever got, no matter how many planets he saved. That's all he'd get this time too, even though the result had been a deadly blow to both of his hearts. The people wouldn't care what or who had been sacrificed…just that they were safe.

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Author's Note: Just a short prologue to get you interested and hopefully it worked. If you'd like this to continue, definitely with longer chapters, click the little purple button. Next chapter will include familiar faces, promise.