The Doctor solemnly watched as Wilfred and Sylvia Noble gave Donna the lottery ticket. Her wedding present. He saw Donna's reaction and couldn't help but smirk. He'd forgotten how much she loved to shout. As Wilfred and Sylvia were bent over, excited by the chance of that lottery ticket being the winning ticket, the Doctor knew he'd done the right thing. The proper thing. Donna Noble and her family had had a rough year, it was time they had something good happen.
Both Wilfred and Sylvia turned and looked at the Doctor. Grief and despair heavy in their eyes. They knew what was coming. Wilfred saluted the Doctor, as he fought back his tears. A cool spring breeze glided past the Doctor, slightly ruffling his hair and coat as he gazed back at them. As the Doctor turned and started walking back into his TARDIS, Wilfred felt warm tears falling down his face. This man, this strange, alien man—no, he was not an alien. Wilfred realized he was more than just that. He was a man, a man who had saved him from radiation poisoning, a man he would have loved to have had as his son. And he was dying.
The Doctor opened the TARDIS door and walked inside. He couldn't help but feel comforted by the humming sound the TARDIS made as he closed the door. A great surge of pain flashed down his chest at that moment. Taken by surprise, the Doctor gasped and leaned heavily against the door. He couldn't help but chuckle exasperatedly as a thought came into his head.
"Blimey! Consuming the Time Vortex to save Rose didn't hurt this badl-"
His voice stopped when he thought of Rose. Everything stopped when he thought of Rose. The day on the beach, when he left his meta-crisis self on the beach with her flashed through his head.
When I last stood on this beach, on the worst day of my life, what was the last thing you said to me? Go on, say it.
The Doctor grimaced. He wanted to say it, was going to say it, but couldn't. He knew if he had told her she would not have stayed with his meta-crisis self. Before he could fall deeper into that dark moment, another wave of pain flashed through him. He was dying and didn't have long left. Leaving the door, he stumbled his way up to the console.
"I have to see Rose," he whispered, "even if it's the last thing I do."
The TARDIS was traveling through the Time Vortex, taking the Doctor on another short journey, when it suddenly landed. The Doctor looked up from where he had been sitting on the captain's chair. He had no idea what year, or day, it was; but, he trusted the TARDIS and knew he was where Rose would be. Gently getting down from the captain's chair, the Doctor walked over to one of the corals and grabbed his jacket. He grimaced as he slid one arm at a time through the sleeves. With the jacket on, he opened the TARDIS door and stepped outside.
The ground crunched as he stepped out. It was cold, and there was snow all around. He turned his head and looked around and noticed he was at the Powell Estate. There were Christmas lights strung everywhere, and only a few people outside on their balconies. It was unusually quiet, but the Doctor didn't care, he only had one thing running through his head. Struggling to walk, the Doctor made his way towards the building Rose, his Rose, lived in.