The car journey to the hospital took forever. They'd left early so they could get straight off to the hospital. They'd managed to get the first taxi they saw however they'd been stuck in Londons morning rush hour.

"That does it I knew we should have taken the tube" Jackie said "Can't you go any faster?"

"Sorry love I can't just move em all to the other end of London, just for your sake" the taxi driver replied "I'll get you there as soon as I can"

"But…" Jackie began to protest again but Rose stopped her.

"Mum he's doing his best, just leave it" Rose said agitated looking out of the window. Her mother was never good at waiting patiently, and she certainly wasn't any better today, especially with Nan in the hospital.

Rose reached out and took the Doctors hand at the thought; she hated knowing that her Gran might die. Jackie had told them when they'd got there that when she'd had the heart attack it had weakened her heart, leaving her in a critical state. Rose although had been telling her mother other wise, had a gut feeling that this wasn't going to end as happily as they wanted. She hated having to do that though, feed her mother false information, but she only did it because she saw a little glimmer of hope flash through her eyes.

But what was the point, when something she knew was going to happen what was the point in bringing someones hopes up and then make them come crashing down again when the inevitable happened.

She felt the Doctor squeeze her hand in a reassuring gesture, she traced over his finger finding that the silver ring that was normally there gone and replaced on his other hand. They'd come to the decision that this was for the best so then to prevent confusion if Jackie noticed that they were both wearing rings. But the Doctor hadn't wanted to take it off completely for goodness knows how long, and so had places it on his other finger. Rose however had left her engagement ring on and placed her wedding band on her necklace. They then decided that if her mother should question them, they would say that they would say they were gifts from someone they knew from another planet and hopefully avoid any suspicions.

At least that was what she hoped, but she could never tell whether it would work. Her mother was cleverer than she looks.

"You know we could have gone in the TARDIS, it'd have been a lot quicker I can tell you" Jackie said all of a sudden.

"Did I hear correctly then? Did your mother just throw me and my TARDIS a compliment?" the Doctor said looking completely gob smacked at the thought.

"Well I'm not making a habit of it!" Jackie said quickly as if trying to cover it up.

"Ha! I knew it! I actually never thought I'd see the day you threw a compliment at the TARDIS" the Doctor said.

"Yes well much as I hate to admit to it Doctor I think that it would have gotten to the hospital a little bit quicker" Jackie said "Although saying that I know what his nibs' driving is like"

"Can you believe it Rose, after two years I've just managed to get… hold on what do you mean you know what his nibs' driving is like?" the Doctor asked looking at Jackie.

"Oh well yeah I suppose bringing my daughter back a year after you were meant to was the best piece of driving wasn't it Doctor" Jackie said.

"Hey I said I was sorry about that" the Doctor replied "Anyway wasn't my fault how was I supposed to know that the transdimensional time conductorwas set to a year later than expected" The Doctor replied.

"Well it's your ship" Jackie replied.

"You try flying something like a TARDIS on your own, and see how you feel when you've got to keep your eye on ten dozen other controls" the Doctor argued back "Good god you can't half slap!"

"You'll get another one if you're not careful" Jackie replied.

"All right that's enough!" Rose steeped in seeing this could get way out of hand if their not careful. "Look it doesn't matter how we got here, or how long it took us, or how we could have got here because we're here now. So if you don't mind can you too stop squabbling and get out the bloody car!" Rose said before paying the taxi driver and ushering the other two out of the car. Reminding herself never to let them sit side by side in a car ever again.

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They found their way to intensive care quite quickly, quicker than the taxi journey there anyway. They had taken the lift as the intensive care unit was ten floors up. Rose didn't know about the Doctor or Jackie but she certainly didn't feel like she had the energy to walk up ten flights of stairs.

They walked into the room after being directed to look for bed seven, where her Grandmother would be.

They passed bed full of people either weakly sitting up and talking to their friends or relatives or lying down and sleeping. Most hooked up to heart monitors and tubes going into their bodies left right and centre along with the beeps that startled you even if you knew that they weren't all bad.

The Doctor was right; hospitals did give you the creeps.

Hospitals either gave you happiness, or grief depending on why you used them. It could be that there had been a new arrival in the family, and everyone is coming to see the newest relative in the family.

Rose for a split second wondered whether they would have children, but she quickly shook any thoughts off. She could think about that later, but right now she was here to see her Grandma.

It was Jackie in the end who found her Gran; it was right at the end of the ward near the window, looking out onto the streets of London. Rose was slightly reassured that when her Gran woke up she could look out onto the street and see the Themes, or the London eye, she could sill see that little bit of civilisation that hospitals didn't match up too, and that she wouldn't have to just look at white walls twenty four hours a day.

She saw Jackie sit down next to her Gran and take her hand, she was obviously upset but she knew her mother wasn't going to show it, not in here anyway. She had such a look in her eyes, she'd only seen that look in her eye once before and that was the day her Granddad had died. Rose had only been nine at the time, and hadn't really understood what was happening. She knew that her Granddad had died and wasn't coming back, but she hadn't understood why he'd died, not really anyway, not like this.

Sidetracking her eyes to her Grandmother who was peacefully sleeping at the minuet, she looked paler than Rose had ever seen her, yet the energy that she always had hadn't disappeared, it may have lessened slightly as the years went by but it never went, not completely anyway.

"Excuse me Mrs Tyler?" looking round they saw it was the nurse who'd been at reception. "I'm sorry, I understand that you want to be with your mother but I need you to fill out some forms at reception. It won't take a minuet I promise"

"Yes of course I'll be back in a minuet" Jackie said rising from her chair before looking at Rose. "You alright?" Jackie asked softly

"Yeah, what about you?" Rose replied

"I'll be alright" Jackie replied before going off with the Nurse.

Rose turned round to look at the Doctor who took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Are you really alright?" the Doctor said.

"Well I'm gonna have to be aren't I, I can't let Mum see me broken if I do that she'll just worry and that'll make it worse for her" Rose said "I just hate seeing Gran like this I…"

"I know" the Doctor said pulling her into a hug and whispering in her ear "I'm here if you want to talk, or cry, or just a cuddle anything. I'm here"

"I know thank you" Rose replied pulling away from the hug when she heard a beep which gave her a shock. "Okay you're right hospitals do give you the creeps"

"Don't they just. At least this one hasn't got a load of cat nuns around"
"Or Cassandra's" Rose replied managing a little laugh from the Doctor.

"Well there is one good thing; at least it has a shop. Shops are good, you can buy bananas from them. Well maybe for the patient your visiting but what's the harm in nicking one or two from the bunch. Did I ever tell you about the time that I nicked these Bananas from…" the Doctor rambled.

"Seems like you have many a story to tell" came a small voice from the bed.

"Gran your awake" Rose said looking over to her Grandmother who was smiling softly at her. "Just about" she replied

"Yeah, well how are you feeling?"
"Oh me I'm fit as a fiddle, nothing to worry about" she replied making Rose smile at her enthusiasm. "I haven't seen you in a while Rose"

"I know sorry about that" Rose said "I would have come sooner…"

"Hey no need for apologies" she replied "You're here now and that's what matters. Anyway I think I need to hear about where you've been" she said sitting up. "You know how I like to hear a good story, and I'm sure you have many to tell"

"Don't I just" Rose replied thinking about all the stories that she'd told her as she was growing up. That was one thing that her Grandmother always liked, and that was hearing and telling stories, and Rose knew that she wanted to hear lots of them.

"So then what stories have you come back with to tell your dear old Grandmother, you know I like a good bit of fiction"

"Well okay I have one or two" Rose said thinking "Right this one we heard in France, and you see it's about this man…" Rose began to tell the story to her Grandmother who knew that it may well be the last one she heard in this life, who knows what stories will be told wherever you go after life on this earth has ended, and with that she let herself listen to her Granddaughters story knowing that these little tales might not be just little stories after all. She looked at Rose and noticed there was something different about the way she looked, there was something about the way she was, she didn't know what it was but there was something definitely there. But somehow she doubted that Rose or the Doctor knew what it was.

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"Right well I'll be back in a minuet. I'm just gonna get a cup of tea" The Doctor said getting up from his place at the bed. "Anyone want anything?" the Doctor said looking at Rose before saying "Except Custard creams"
"No I wasn't going to suggest that, anyway I'm coming too" Rose replied standing up from the chair and feeling her legs protest as she did so, they'd been sitting there for a good two hours.

"Want anything Mum?" Rose asked

"No I'm alright thanks love" Jackie replied "Thanks anyway"

"Okay see you in a bit yeah" Rose replied.

"Okay" Jackie said smiling at her.

They made their way down the ward and Rose took the Doctors hand once they'd gotten out of it, suddenly feeling the need to reassure her self that he was near. They came to the lift and made their way down three floors to where the cafeteria was.

They walked in silence down the white tiled floors that were illuminated by big white lights, they turned when they saw a sign to the café and soon found themselves finding a table.

"Tea is it?" the Doctor asked letting her sit down at the table.

"Yeah thanks" Rose replied letting him go and get the teas.

The Doctor looked back at Rose and saw her fiddling with her ring deep in the mist of thought. But there was something about her that looked so sad at the minuet, probably because her Grandmother was on her last legs. He hated seeing her so quiet which she had been since her mother had gotten back and finished telling her stories. She obviously wasn't herself and was thinking a lot, but he knew she'd be alright again soon, or at least that's what he hoped. He hadn't seen her quite like this since they'd been stuck on that planet with the black hole. They'd been there a good week before the drills had stopped and Rose had been quiet the whole time.

He was looking at something on the archives of the system at the sanctuary base; he was still trying to find a way to divert the drilling. He knew that it wasn't possible yet there was something telling him he couldn't give up on it.

He saw Rose sitting on a step in the far end of the room, deep in the mist of her own he thoughts, and he didn't blame her he knew she had a lot things to sort out in her head, especially if they were never going to travel again. All he could do was to let her sort things out in her own time, and be there when she needed him.

It was the same now, all he could so was be here for her when she needed them. That was all he could do, and hated the fact that she must be hurting inside, but he knew she had to come to terms with it in her own time otherwise it would break her.

That was why when he sat down next to Rose he didn't say anything, nothing much anyway she needed time to think and that was one thing he was able to give her. He looked at her and it wasn't the first time he'd noticed she'd changed, she'd grown up. She wasn't Rose Tyler the nineteen year old shop girl anymore, she was Rose Tyler traveller in time and space, and she was Rose. And he loved her more than anything; she wasn't just Rose Tyler traveller in time and space she was so much more than that. She was his wife, and he'd do anything to protect her.

They began to walk back up the ward well at least that was until Rose stopped.

"Just going to the loo" she said

"Okay I'll meet you up there" the Doctor replied before wandering back up the stairs to the ward. He walked up to the ward and saw that right at the end, where Rose's Gran had been was empty.

"Doctor" came a faint voice from behind him and he turned round to see Jackie, obvious tears were threatening to fall.

"She died" Jackie said

"I'm sorry" the Doctor said bringing her into a hug despite their differences. "I'm so sorry"

"Where's Rose?" Jackie asked

"She went to the loo, she'll be here in a minuet" the Doctor said "Come on lets go somewhere a little more private"
"There's a relatives room" Jackie replied.

"Okay come on" the Doctor said guiding her through to there.

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She looked in the mirror and noticed the lights flicker on and off, like when there's thunder and lightning and it cuts out your electricity for a few minuets and when the lights turned back on she saw her grandmother standing behind her, smiling at her and waving like when someone says good bye. It reminded her of the many films she'd seen in history lessons in school, about children during world war two and them being evacuated out of London on the trains. She saw her grandmother smile and wave again before disappearing into darkness.

Rose shook her head thinking she must be imagining things, but then she felt something cold sweep past her like when your running and the wind is in your hair.

She turned round at top speed to find she was in a completely different place, she wasn't in the bathroom that she had been in seconds previously. She was standing in a room, she could see her Mum and Gran there they were both talking before something happened and her mother got up to call a nurse. She felt the coldness sweep past her again and she saw her Gran again except this time she was with Rose's Grandfather. They both smiled and waved at her before they turned around and walked away before disappearing into darkness again.

She couldn't make any sense of it, how was this possible how can someone been seen in a mirror when they were a good three floors away. How can she just change places all of a sudden? How can someone just magically appear in front of you, she'd seen this sort of thing in films loved ones coming back to see you one last time before they...

Before they died…

With that thought in mind Rose ran from the room, up three flights of stairs not bothering to get the lift knowing it would take too long. She passed people all of which turned round to see what was going on, but she didn't stop to tell them she didn't need to if they were clever enough then they would work it out. She saw the Doctor coming out of the relative's room, a sombre look on his face, which only got worse when he saw her. She walked over to him knowing what was coming, but there was a little part of her that hoped that her thoughts weren't right. However when the Doctor began to speak, she knew that she was about to find that her thoughts had been confirmed.

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"Mums in bed, she's exhausted" Rose said coming through to the kitchen where they'd all sat I silence for a while drinking tea. Well that was at first anyway, but then Jackie had gone through to the lounge to ring more and more people about the death, during which the Doctor thinking that they needed some time on their own, had sat the kitchen whilst Rose helped out her Mum, and that had been over an hour ago.

"Good, she'll need her rest" the Doctor replied "We all will"

"Yeah" Rose agreed silently before walking over to the dirty dishes that had been there all evening and beginning to wash them up.

"I can do that if you want" the Doctor's gentle voice came from behind her and she felt his arms coming round her and she felt him place a gentle kiss to the back of her head. "Go on your tired too"

"I'm fine really" Rose insisted carrying on with washing up a cup.

"But Rose…" the Doctor started but Rose interrupted him.

"Look Doctor I'm fine" Rose said placing the cup on the side, but she hadn't noticed how close to the side it was and as she picked up the next cup it had fallen to the floor and smashed.

"Oh…" Rose started bending down to pick up the pieces of the remaining cup but did it in such a rush that she cut her hand on a large piece of the pottery, resulting in her having a large cut on her hand "OW!"

"Rose" the Doctor said coming down to level and carefully taking her injured hand in his and using the other to pick up the other pieces of shattered pottery "Slow down"

"Doctor I…" she started but her voice was lost before she could finish her sentence.

"I know Rose" the Doctor said "I know, now come on we're going to bed"

"But the washing up…" Rose protested

"Can wait until tomorrow" the Doctor replied helping her up and guiding her though to sit on the sofa before looking at her hand. "You've got some of the pot stuck in you, hold on" he said going back into the kitchen to find some tweezers. He came back sitting down and gently taking hold of Rose's hand pulled out the piece of pot before running the sonic screwdriver over her hand.

"All better" the Doctor said and placed a kiss to where the cut had been and smiled.

"Thanks" Rose said quietly before looking up at the Doctor and snuggling up to him.

"Rose it's time for bed" the Doctor said gently.

"Hmm" Rose said "Comfy here"
"You'd rather sleep here?" the Doctor questioned

"Hmm" was all Rose replied with and he looked down at her and noticed that she'd fallen asleep already quite content listening to his hearts. Smiling to himself he pulled a blanket from the back of the sofa, lied down on the sofa, and pulled it over them both and soon found himself drifting off into a sleep.

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Coming soon:

"You alright?" Rose asked

"Oh yeah brilliant" the Doctor said sarcastically "I'm just great Rose, fantastic even. I now have ten thousand women fussing over me, just great that is" the Doctor said and the carried on "I don't do domestic Rose I just don't" the Doctor said. "I never have"

"If you don't do domestic then why the hell did you marry me in the first place!" Rose shouted.

AN: Bit of a depressing chapter there I'm afraid and I hope I haven't depressed anyone too much, but it's vital to the storyline so it had to be done.

Hope you're enjoying this; the next chapter will be up soon I promise.

Please review.

Beres