Rose looked at him. This was not the same Doctor who left her on that beach in Norway or the man she used to travel with. Her best friend, the love of her life. Alec was a broken man, he had been suffering all this time, since his arrival and she had ignored him when he came to tell her. How could he forgive her? Now she was going to make up for it and never leave his side, for however long that might be.

"Alec, try to get some rest, I'll come back first thing, I promise and Pete said everything will be taken care of. You went to him, didn't you? When you became ill."

"Not at first, I hesitated because I didn't know if he would help me but once I knew no-one else could help me, I went to him. Rose, I'm sorry I didn't come to you for help."

"It's ok Alec, get some rest. I'll look after you now."

Alec took both her hands and Rose sat on the side of his bed, getting a funny look from the nurse who swore the woman had said earlier she just knew him.

"Thank you." He closed his eyes and lay back on the pillow. The heart monitor was still beeping and Rose knew he was resting, probably for the first time since he had got ill.

She crossed over to the nurse after kissing his cheek. "Please tell him I'll be back in a few hours, I have some things to do. I expect to be let back in here when I do come back or you'll have to answer to him and believe me, you wouldn't want that."

The nurse nodded. Rose knew what his twin had been like, she had no reason to think Alec would be any different. She was tired when she got back but grabbed a few essentials and put them in a holdall, then set her alarm for three hours, it was already well after 2am and then she laid back on her bed and tried to get a few hours sleep.

By 6.30 am, she was getting a taxi to the hospital, there was no point in taking her car if she was going to London with him. She had gone on the auction site and cancelled her listings, only the outstanding orders were left and she composed a message to Sarah, telling her she would ring her when she could and asked her to open the shop at eleven and everything would be taken care of during her absence. She explained a friend had been taken ill and she was looking after him.

Alec woke up just after 7am to feel someone holding his hand and a head on his legs. It could only be Rose. She had only been there twenty minutes and had fallen back asleep. He looked up as a nurse came in with some tea for him, he just put his finger to his lips and shushed her. The nurse took the readings from the monitors and smiled at Rose. By 8am, Rose was just coming round, a sheepish grin on her face as she realised she had fallen asleep on him and he was awake.

"Hi, I thought I was the patient around here?" Alec smiled as she sat up, still holding his hand.

"Hi. Are you feeling better? You look better than you did earlier, you gave poor Ellie quite a shock."

"I vaguely remember her saying she wouldn't forgive me if she had to give me the kiss of life."

Rose laughed. "We have a lot to talk about but let's get you well first."

"I know, I'm sorry I stayed away but I didn't think you wanted me."

"I was making you suffer for leaving me here for seven years. I would have come round eventually but I didn't know you were running out of time. You should have told me."

"What then? I'm not him Rose, I didn't know you, not until I came here."

"It doesn't matter, you're still him." She wanted to say still part of him but didn't want to be overheard even though they were talking in whispers.

"Yes, well, about that. I have a lot to tell you and you'll have to fill in some of the gaps I'm missing. I can remember most things, it's just you weren't there."

"Don't worry about it Alec, it doesn't matter. I can remember for both of us. Maybe there's a reason why you don't remember me and of course, you'd want to forget my mother."

Alec smiled. From what he had seen of Jackie Tyler, he couldn't imagine what Rose meant but it was obviously a joke between Rose and his twin.

Rose went out to phone Pete while Alec had his breakfast and then went to find some breakfast herself. Pete had some news for her.

"Owen is arranging a zeppelin on standby, it will be easier to bring Alec to London that way than a three hour drive by ambulance. It may be this afternoon or tomorrow now, they're keeping him stabilized for now and he can't do anything in hospital."

"Don't bet on it, knowing the other one. We made up by the way, I've been ignoring him for two months, did he tell you?"

"Not exactly. He asked me a few times what he should do. I was the one that told him to give you some space, seems like he took it literally. We should have told you about him but your mother and I, we didn't want to upset you."

"Well I'm staying with him, no matter what. We can work out the details later. He says he doesn't remember me."

"I know, that's what we didn't want to tell you."

"Well I know now and it makes no difference, it never would have, I was just mad at him, making him feel the way I did when he left me here though I shouldn't have taken it out on Alec, he wasn't the one."

"I'll explain everything when you two get to London. There will be another ambulance waiting to meet the zeppelin when it docks, just a short ride from Torchwood. Alec will be taken to the med lab and he'll be monitored until Owen says the operation can go ahead."

"How long will that be? It might be too late."

"Rose, he won't leave it too late, relax, we won't let anything happen to him that isn't beyond our control. We'll do everything we can, just leave it to us, you just look after him. Be ready to leave when the ambulance gets there. What are you doing about your shop?"

"I've got it sorted. I'm just worried about Ellie."

"Why?"

"Because Alec told me to tell her he knew who had killed Danny and she wouldn't like it. That means it's someone close. She's just waiting to confirm it, it may be today or tomorrow, I don't know but I should be here when she finds out."

"We can't delay getting Alec here, we can't risk it. You can keep in touch with your friend by phone."

"It won't be the same. Can you make sure Alec gets the credit for it? They may bring someone in to replace him and he's done all that hard work, he deserves to be recognised for it."

"He will, I'll make sure of it. No-one else will take the credit for it. Whoever replaces him will be told that."

She went back to Alec's room. He had his eyes closed and she sat beside him, taking his hand again. He woke up just after ten. Rose had been back out to call Ellie, someone was always in the room with him so she let Ellie know how he was doing.

"Is he going to be ok Rose? I mean. He's a real pain but I had no idea he was so ill. What happened to make him that way? Just how well do you know him?"

"I saw him on TV, the night Danny died, I thought he was someone I used to know so I wanted to see him. He told me he wasn't him and he went off – end of story."

Ellie wasn't having it. "That's rubbish Rose and you know it. Why would your stepfather be helping him if that was the case?"

"Ellie, please, just leave it." She knew her friend wouldn't let it rest. "Remember the Cyberman invasion? Alec helped him to try to save his first wife, he owed him. Ok?" It was near enough. It was all she could tell her without saying who Alec actually was.

Ellie seemed satisfied and told her tell him that the phone hasn't been switched on yet and she was continuing to question the other two suspects and he'd know who they were.

As Alec woke up, he was aware Rose was still holding his hand. He regretted not letting her in on his secret, she could have made things so much better for him but he had wanted to respect her wishes.

"Hi again, you're making a habit of being here when I wake up."

"Best get used to it then. As soon as the staff here say you can travel, an ambulance will take you to the nearest zeppelin port and take you to London. Do you need anything from your hotel?"

"No, I'll manage."

"It's no trouble, I can nip over and get what you need. Is there anything in your pockets you want me to look after?"

Alec managed a smile. "Right hand inside pocket of my jacket, there are two items you can keep safe for me."

Rose retrieved them. "Well, can't have these going missing can we?" she smiled, putting the sonic screwdriver and the psychic paper in her purse.

"I want those back Miss Tyler."

"When you tell me exactly why you chose to come here and I don't mean to Broadchurch."

"I'll tell you everything when we get to London, I promise. Come here." He patted a space he had made on the bed.

"Nurse, can we have a few minutes?" he asked.

"I promise I'll come and get you if he needs anything and you have him monitored," Rose added.

The nurse nodded and left the room.

"Right Alec Hardy, you tell me now and I don't want anything left out."

"Yes Ma'am."

So he told her about the meta-crisis again and how he had absorbed some of Donna's traits and how he had covered them by adopting a Scottish accent and how he became Alec Hardy.

"It was Donna's idea for me to come here. She knew all about you and I swear Rose, if I'd have the time when we landed here, I would have found out more about you but I was so angry, with my twin because he was angry with me and he offered me a part of the Tardis, to grow my own but I turned it down. I didn't want anything to do with my twin and if I'd have accepted it, I would have accepted help from him and I didn't want it."

"But why Alec? It's not like you haven't wiped out a few species before. What was so different this time?"

Alec looked at her. "Because I didn't give them a choice. I just did it to fulfil a prophecy. Donna told me to wait but I couldn't because Davros was about to continue what he was doing whether he had the reality bomb or not and I had to stop him."

"Who's Davros?"

"The creator of all the Daleks."

"I thought that was the emperor?"

"No, Davros created them out of the people of Skaro. Sort of."

"But when he left you here, why did he tell you to find me?"

"I don't know because I didn't know who you were, telling me to find you must have been his way of making sure I would be ok but my stupid pride got in the way. I told you, I know he loved you."

Rose moved even closer, perched on the bed.

"You thought I wanted him but don't you see Alec? He sent me you. He wasn't doing it just for you, he was leaving you here for me."

Alec thought just how stupid he really had been. Rose closed the short gap between them and gave him a light kiss on his lips and Alec felt himself giving in and kissing her back despite the breathing tube.

"You always were a 'nana."

Alec managed a smile. He supposed he was. "So you forgive me then? For taking nearly four years to come and find you."

"Not entirely, you have a lot of grovelling and making up to do Alec Hardy. How did you even come up with that name?"

"I don't know. I had booked into a hotel in Bergen and had to sign my name and I couldn't put the Doctor, mainly because I didn't want anything to do with him and it seemed as good a name as any. Anyway, I checked up to see if there was a real one and there wasn't so I hitched a ride from Norway to Glasgow and set myself up. I didn't know what I was going to do when I got there, I thought about being a teacher then those two girls were murdered and so I became a detective. Fat lot of good that did, I never solved the case."

"Well maybe that was because you weren't using that Timelord brain of yours to its full capacity, you were being too human, trying to fit in."

"Maybe you're right. You know me so well but I don't know you. How can you ever forgive me?"

"Don't be daft, that's what I do and I'll help you remember. I always said that it's better with two. But first, we need to get you well, bringing you up to date with all we did together is going to take quite a while so you had better get yourself fixed first. What's Torchwood doing to help?"

"Dr Harper was going through all the medical technology they had to see if there was something to fix me and avoiding me having to go through surgery but he hasn't come across anything to help. There are some things they don't understand that I'm going to go through when I get there. Rose, can you go to my hotel and get a few things for me?"

"Sure. I'll go now before they come for you, I've already packed a bag, it's in the corner. If they come for you, tell them they have to wait for me, Pete Tyler's orders. I'll let the staff know and I have to call Ellie again. You know who it is, don't you?"

Alec nodded. He wanted to be wrong but the evidence was overwhelming. For once he had used his Timelord brain to work it out and he shouldn't have waited so long to do so. If he'd used it before then he wouldn't be lying in a hospital bed at this present moment but there again, Rose may not have just kissed him and that had been his best experience since his creation.

Rose kissed him goodbye, awkwardly as there were still tubes in him and went off to convince Becca Fisher to let her in his room to pack a few things but since she had covered up his last episode, she went with Rose while she packed some clothes and other needs and was soon back at the hospital. She had called Ellie and Sarah, Sarah agreeing to hold the fort and she said her sister was interested in maybe helping out if need be but Rose said she would put the internet orders on hold for the time being as she wasn't sure if she was going to continue this but told her not to worry, everything would be taken care of and she wouldn't be giving up just yet.

Ellie had no news for her. "Tell Hardy we're still questioning the two we have in custody. A new DI is being sent, he'll be here soon, someone from Exeter. Hope he's not as grumpy as your new boyfriend. Don't try denying it Rose Tyler, I knew there was something between you too."

Rose let out a laugh. "Yeah well, it just took him nearly dying to bring us both to our senses shall we say but you know why he was grumpy Ellie, he was ill."

Ellie had to concede on that one. "Just tell him he'll have to fight me for his job when he gets back, I'll not give up that easily if that's what he thinks. Seriously though, what are his chances?"

"Well if my dad gets him the best care, I'd say pretty good."

"Well tell him I'll send him some grapes. I'm just worried over one thing though, what he said about me not liking the fact of who will switch on the missing phone. Does it mean it's someone I know well?"

"I can't tell you that Ellie, he never said who it was so maybe he doesn't want me to know either. It must be someone we both know very well."

Rose said goodbye and opened the door to Alec's room. One of the nurses said the ambulance had just arrived to take them to the zeppelin port and staff were just waiting for Alec to get dressed so Rose went in and retrieved her own shoulder bag and Alec was behind the curtain getting dressed, with help from a male orderly who was just putting wires back into the heart rate monitor.

"Ready to go Alec?" Rose called from the other side of the curtain.

"As ready as I'll ever be. Did you talk to Miller?"

"Yeah," she replied as Alec pulled back the curtain. "She's worried about it being someone she knows." Rose just hoped it wasn't someone too near to home, like it being Joe Miller.