Rose was tired. She figured, as close as she could, anyway, that it had to be somewhere in the early hours of the morning, and she desperately wanted to rest her head against the bed and sleep. But every time she closed her eyes, the fear that the Doctor might not wake up jolted her back to reality, and she went back to trying to work out how to say what she wanted to say.

Eventually growing fed up of sitting on the hard floor, Rose looked around for a chair. Dragging one from a corner, she sat as close to the bed as she could and sat down, taking a deep breath.

"Okay." She took another breath. "Okay. God, Rose, stop repeating yourself." She picked the Doctor's hand up again, linking her fingers with his and resting his palm against her cheek. Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw his eyelids flutter, then dismissed it as wishful thinking.

"I'm glad you didn't go poking around in my head too much, you know," she whispered, smirking, "'cause while you were standing there telling me to run, I was more interested in pulling you into the nearest store cupboard and having my wicked way with you." She laughed and rubbed her eyes, trying to stay awake. "Seriously, though, for all your wandering around up there, I don't think you've got a clue how much I think about you. Broke my heart, you did, sending me back. You'd probably make all kinds of fuss if you were awake now, but you're not, so I can say it. I knew it was going to kill me. All the while I had the TARDIS in my head going, don't you dare, it'll kill you, let it go, but I didn't. Couldn't, could I?

"It hurt, you know, not saying anything before. I wanted to. I wanted to turn round, tell you I loved you more than anything in the universe and kiss you senseless, but I couldn't. Even if you felt the same, it was beside the point, 'cause you'd never let it go anywhere. Too bloody noble, you are. You'd say stuff about how your life was so dangerous, and how I'd die and you wouldn't and you couldn't do that to me. You want to know something? I don't care."

Rose was growing more confident now. All the stuff she'd been dying to say came spilling out, and she tried to stop herself talking, but she couldn't. What if the Doctor really could hear her? What was he going to say when – if – he woke up again? Sighing, Rose reached out and ran her free hand through his hair, muttering nonsense under her breath.

"I don't give a damn," she went on, wiping a tear from her face now. "And I'll tell you something else. I'm not going to die. I'm not going to disappear and leave you on your own again." Rose gasped, shaking her head. It was that sensation again, the feeling that you weren't quite yourself. She could hear herself speaking, but it wasn't her. The voice was strange, distorted. She shook her head again, saying quietly, "I'm not going anywhere…" before coughing and changing the subject.

"I'm a bit disappointed, actually," she grinned, tracing a finger down the Doctor's arm. "I was hoping I was going to get to put you in pyjamas again. That was definitely an interesting experience. Mum was going to do it in the first place. I told her you'd got two hearts, so she got curious. Not much point if you were only going to be an hour, though, was there? Actually-" she looked around for some kind of clock, but failed to spot one, "how long has it been? Shouldn't you be waking up by now?"

There was no response from the seemingly sleeping Doctor. Rose swallowed nervously; trying to convince herself it had been far less time than she thought. Letting go of the Doctor's hand, she stood and started wandering round the small room.

"I love you so much, you know," she said over her shoulder, stopping abruptly in the far corner of the room. Leaning her head against the wall, she sighed deeply. "Just wake up," she whispered. "Please?"

"I wasn't asleep in the first place." Rose spun round to see the Doctor perched on the end of the bed, a huge grin spread across his face. Her mouth fell open in shock, and the Doctor, regretting it instantly, could see anger in her eyes. The smile faded.

Rose crossed the room towards him, slowly, each step measured, until she was no more than a hand's length away from him. Looking him straight in the eye, she inhaled deeply, trying not to let the tears or her anger show.

"You bastard."

And she turned on her heel and ran from the room.