Author's Note: This is where the twist mentioned in the summary comes into play.

Several weeks later found Rose with Mickey in a tiny cafe. She picked at her chips, displeased at their artificial nature. This parallel planet had shoddy chips, and she missed Randy's Chip Shack, which was a sushi place on Pete's world.

She still wore the Doctor's coat as a security blanket, but she seemed to be getting better. In fact, her family had noted that there had been a higher number of "good days" of late. Now, she sat discussing a happening at Torchwood with Mickey, and it was almost like old times, before her life had taken a downward spiral.

Now, however, as they talked, Rose felt a prickling on the back of her neck, as though she was being watched. She ignored it for a time, until it became so persistent that she was forced to turn casually to inspect the source of the problem. What she saw floored her so much that she leapt from her seat, upsetting the drinks and chips that the table supported when she knocked it over.

"What wrong, Rose?" Mickey asked, alarmed. However, he received no answer, as she was already out the door of the shop and booking frantically down the street. He could hear her shouting what sounded like "Doctor" over and over, as if trying to get someone's attention.

When Mickey finally caught up to her, she was rooted to the sidewalk, her throat raw from shouting. People on the street were giving her a wide berth as they passed, sure that she was mental. "Rose, what the bloody hell is wrong with you?"

"I saw him, Mickey. I saw the Doctor. He was just staring in the window, like he was watching me. But when I noticed, he just started running. I didn't see him when I tried to follow. But I swear he was there." Her tone was tiny and desperate.

Rose's words deflated Mickey visibly. She had been doing so well, almost seeming to move on, and now she was cracking up. "Rose, that's impossible. The Doctor told you that on the beach that day." He stared at her as if he expected her to combust. The look irritated a confused Rose.

"I saw him, Mickey!" She snapped. When he said nothing, she grew angry. "You think I've gone mad, don't you?"

"Rose, I don't think you've gone mad. I just think you're stressed out. You probably saw a guy who looked a little like the Doctor, and flipped out. Now come on. We have to go back and pay for the chips."

"You can believe what you want, but I know what I saw. He's here, and he's got to be coming for me."

He nodded placatingly, before taking her hand like a child, and leading her away.

Rose threw herself into preparing for the Doctor's appearance. She was so sure that she had seen him, hands in his pockets, that she even went so far as to pack a bag.

However, when he didn't come for a week, she began to wonder what was keeping him. She found herself searching for a phone box on every street corner. Nothing. She didn't see any sign that he was even in that world, let alone coming for her. Still, she refused to believe that she had imagined him in the window.

A few more days passed, and Rose's family watched her grow paranoid and depressed as she considered the idea that the Doctor might not want to retrieve her. Perhaps he had found someone else. Someone better, more intelligent, more attractive.

She found herself mindlessly typing up a handwritten report at her desk in Torchwood, feeling wretched, when suddenly, the screen on the monitor went black. Puzzled, she struggled to right the issue. However, when she succeeded in readjusting the brightness setting, her heart stopped. It was him. His face was staring back at her from the screen.

"Rose." His voice said, from the computer speakers.

She was shaking, and her heart pounded violently. "D-Doctor?" She whispered frantically. "Where are you?"

"Rose." The voice said again, before the screen suddenly returned to what it had originally displayed. She beat the keyboard spastically, and shook the monitor. "Come back!" She shouted. "Please, Doctor!"

Mickey walked in with Jake at that moment, only to see the other secretaries staring at Rose, who looked in quite a state as she pounded on her computer, hair and coat flying about her. Jake gave him a look, as if to say, is she mental? Mickey moved quickly across the room to secure Rose's hands, before she succeeded in clawing open the hard drive.

"He was there, Mickey!" She shrieked. "Just like at the chip shop! He said my name! I saw him!" Rose continued to struggle wildly against Mickey's restraining grasp.

"Rose! Stop it! He's not here!" Mickey had to shout to get through to her.

She sagged upon his assertion. "I don't know what he wants from me. He didn't say anything but, 'Rose.' That doesn't bloody help me, Doctor!"

"Let's go. We're going home," he said, again leading her away. As he passed Jake, who was still staring, concerned, Mickey snapped, "Get a techie on the damned computer. Check the hard drive."

Jake nodded. The only conclusion Mickey could draw from Rose's outburst, other than the idea that she really was mad, was that someone was playing a disgusting joke on her. If that proved to be the case, Mickey would kill the idiot with his bare hands.