The next morning before breakfast, Martha admitted the Doctor to the UNIT hospital. His body was failing to stabilize his energy and his kidney infection had grown worse. In order to fight the infection, she placed him on stronger antibiotics administered through the cannula in his arm. She then had a second bed brought into Imogen's room though the Doctor refused to move to it. He instead laid cuddling with his daughter, refusing to eat, drink or do anything besides try to sleep. He was receiving nutrients still through the IV, so Martha allowed him to rest leaving bananas next to the bed in case he became hungry. She allowed Jack to sit with his family in the morning, but the Doctor and Imogen weren't the only ones who needed to heal.
After lunch, she checked that the Doctor and Imogen remained stable before leading Jack to her temporary office to talk. She had allowed the Doctor to hear the first part of the conversation in order for him to understand the consequences of his actions if he chose to take aspirin again. Now she wanted Jack to be able to talk freely to her without him worrying what the Doctor would think of his actions. She made the both a cup of coffee motioning for Jack to take a seat on one side of the desk. Rather than sitting on the other side, she pulled out her notebook then sat down beside him. She turned the chair so that she was facing him, leaning back in it slightly.
"So when we left off yesterday you were holding the Doctor in the medi-bay," Martha recounted softly. Jack swallowed hard before nodding. He lifted the coffee to take a drink but his hand was shaking so hard that he spilled it down the front of his shirt. Martha stood going out into the hall. She returned a moment later with a towel. He took it from her wiping the front of his shirt off. He could get a clean one from the TARDIS before returning to the Doctor's side. Martha took the towel from him, once he was done and sat it down on her desk. She then took a seat again. "You can continue, whenever you're ready. Just take your time Jack. You don't have to tell me everything today. We can talk about as much or as little as you want to."
"I left the medi-bay heading up the stairs to find Imogen curled on the bed in his coat. Somehow she knew that he was gone and that he wasn't coming back. I held her promising that I was there for her, but it was a promise that I couldn't keep," Jack recounted slowly his voice breaking several times as he spoke.
"Why not?" Martha wondered.
"Because he wasn't there anymore," Jack answered. "During the first day, we were united in our grief as I laid in bed holding her. I don't know what I would have done without you as you were the one who called our friends and family letting them know what happened. You wanted to bury him, but I promised him years ago that I would burn his body and it was a promise I intended to keep." He continued softly explaining to Martha about getting the Doctor ready for the funeral and then taking the TARDIS to a quiet location to burn his body. The tears were falling freely once more and he was grateful when Martha offered him a handkerchief. He dabbed at his eyes with it continuing as he told her about returning the Doctor's body to the sky and the ground. By that time over an hour had passed but Jack wasn't ready to stop yet. Now that he had begun speaking he felt the need to tell Martha all of it. He had to make her understand what led him to let her take Imogen from him.
"The first two days were hard but we had each other. It was after the funeral was over and I was left alone in our home with her that I felt lost. Our house wasn't really a home anymore without him and every time the floor squeaked or a door creaked I looked up expecting to see him enter. At night, I laid awake waiting for him to come to bed. Mornings were worse, though, as I woke up alone in the bed after dreaming about him and had to remember all over again that he wasn't there. I quickly learned that it doesn't matter if you are four or over 2000 years old when someone is suddenly taken from you, it is impossible to understand why. I tried to help her at first, but she was angry. She threw fits, refused to eat and cried constantly. I quickly realized that I couldn't handle her. Rather than trying to, though, I turned to alcohol," Jack explained to her.
"Can you remember what led you to that decision rather than asking for help?" Martha wondered. She wanted to know what led him to think that turning to whiskey was a better option than asking for the help that he obviously needed. She also couldn't help but wonder why she had left them alone rather that checking in on them after the Doctor's death. Granted she didn't know the extent of the Doctor and Jack's marriage problems, but it didn't make sense to her that she had abandoned Jack in his time of need.
"I couldn't," Jack told her simply.
"Why not?" Martha questioned.
"You had already done so much for us in making sure the Doctor's final wishes were carried out. You offered to help with Imogen but I was angry with you for not being able to save him. Instead, I sent you away thinking I could handle her on my own. I had already lost the Doctor by failing to notice how much he was hurting. Imogen was all I had left of him and she needed me. I couldn't lose her as well," Jack admitted talking it out as he had never really thought about it beyond the anger he felt. Jack stood up moving to the window. He stared out of it watching the troops march in the square below.
"But you did lose her in the end," Martha told him after Jack failed to continue.
"In the end, I lost everybody including myself," he whispered to himself. He wasn't sure if Martha heard him, nor did he care. He didn't want to talk about it anymore. He just wanted to take his family home and forget. He couldn't, though, not yet. He didn't look at Martha as he turned heading towards the door. Opening it, he rushed down the hall to Imogen's room. He let himself into the room, finding the Doctor cuddling her close as they rested. It was something that was normal between the two of but with them both in the hospital how could anything be normal?
"Jack?" The Doctor questioned seeing him standing in the doorway. Jack took a step backward followed by another as the scene changed before his eyes. In his mind, he could see the Doctor laying on the bed as his right heart stopped and Jack knew it was just a matter of moments before his left one stopped as well. Unable to stop himself, Jack turned and ran.