Alec woke up just after four, opening his eyes to see Rose looking at him and smiled as best as he could. She kissed him carefully as he still had wires on him and a breathing tube. He said he was hungry so she got up and went to ask if he could get something to eat. He asked how long she was staying and she said at least until he went to sleep for the night and although he wanted her to stay all night he realised she'd have to go home. A nurse came in to check on him then said she'd arranged for him to get something to eat so Rose said she'd pop out and get something herself while he was eating. She came back and they starting talking and Rose suddenly realised they'd not talked about their engagement and wondered if he'd actually not realised he'd asked her and had still been under the anaesthetic so she carefully approached the subject.
"Alec, you know when you came round this morning and we were talking to the surgeon?" Alec nodded slowly, holding her hand as she sat on the edge of the bed. "Well, he asked who I was and I said I was your partner. Do you remember?" He nodded again. "Do you remember what you said to him? I mean you were probably still groggy from the anaesthetic." She was hoping he'd been fully aware when he'd spoken.
"Yes, I remember him asking you who you were, you said you were my partner. Why wouldn't I remember that?"
Rose was thinking she'd been right and was about to brush it off that he'd not been aware of anything else.
"There was one other thing I remember," he added.
Rose was getting more hopeful.
"I said 100 years was not enough. I want forever."
"That's good then, so do I," she replied, squeezing his hand. "Anything else?"
"I don't know, was there anything? I was a bit groggy when I came round. I know we talked for a while, well you did, I was just listening, my head was spinning a bit," he grinned.
He took her left hand into his as she was realizing he'd not meant what he'd said after all. There had been a room full of people but they all knew he'd just recovered from surgery and she couldn't ask them anyway.
Taking her ring finger he then said, "Well there is something missing from here and I never did ask you properly, I just sprang it on you. This isn't really the best place to ask you something really important. I'll ask you when I get out." Now she knew he was teasing her.
"Ask me now Alec, I can't think of a better place and you did say it before in front of loads of people so say it again, properly."
"Rose, will you marry me? I know it's a bit soon but after last night, there's no time to waste. I'd get down on my knees but I'm tied up to this hospital bed and if they don't let me out in the morning I'm going to defy you and them. I love you Rose Tyler, will you spend forever with me?''
Rose kissed his cheek, avoiding the two breathing tubes that were in his nose. "Yes, Alec, I want to spend forever with you, if you'll have me. I know I've been causing you nothing but trouble but I can get over that now with you helping me. If I had any doubts I wouldn't have kissed you that Saturday night outside my door, I love you. Hopefully they'll let you out in the morning if I promise you'll rest and you will Grumpy, or you'll have me to answer to. I can put my mother off coming down, you don't need her full attention."
"No, let her come down, you'll only put off the inevitable, she needs to know and if I've got to rest, she can keep you company. I might have to stay at home while you go see John's mother though and I really wanted to go with you Sweetheart. Maybe if you wait until Monday, I might be able to go with you if you drive."
Rose stayed the rest of the day and left just after ten at night, saying she'd be back at eight to see if he could go home. She didn't know how she was going to be able to sleep alone again but he had to. She'd kissed him goodnight properly before she'd left, giving him her assurance she'd be back first thing. He asked her to leave his mobile but he wasn't allowed to have it anyway and it was turned off. When she got home, she tossed and turned, laying on Alec's side of the bed, not that he had one really, more like he lay in the middle when she was spread out across him. Sometimes she would find herself on one side of the bed if he'd got up without wanting to wake her but mostly he did disturb her then they'd fool around. She wished he was with her now and thought about him lying on his own in that hospital bed, she wouldn't be there when he woke. She hadn't known him when he'd had his first operation but if she had, she would have always been by his bedside.
Finally giving up on getting any sleep, she got dressed and was downstairs drinking tea just after four. Almost 24 hrs after his operation and it was all she could think about. She could have lost him, she knew that. Her mother was right, what would she have done then? Losing two men she'd loved, would she have been able to go on? Alec had helped her over the worse, who would have helped her if she'd lost him? She hadn't, he was in the hospital and although it was only half past four, she had 24 hr access so she was going back. Twenty minutes later she was back in the ward, sneaking into his room so as not to wake him, asking the nurse on duty to leave them and she would let them know when he was awake. The nurse got the idea. Good, he was still asleep, he'd be surprised when he did wake so she pulled the curtain round and squeezed beside him.
He woke up just after seven, his internal clock again, Rose had her eyes closed, the most she had slept all night. He kissed her and she woke, kissing him back. He took the breathing tube out and kissed her properly. He said he was hungry so she went out to let them know he was awake. They waited for the doctor to do his rounds and Rose was keeping her fingers crossed she could take him home. They asked her to leave but Alec insisted that she stayed so they gave him the all clear to go home on the condition he rested. Rose said there would be no argument on that point, she just wanted him home. He was told he could get dressed and for him to wait for his discharge papers, something he wasn't accustomed to doing prior to his last operation so Rose wanted to use a wheelchair to take him to the discharge area and Alec said he was having nothing of it, he'd walk. So they walked slowly and didn't have long to wait.
They got home and Rose made him lie on the sofa and put the TV on for him while she made them a drink then she squeezed in beside him and they just lay together, falling asleep after about an hour. She was woken by her phone ringing but answered it before it woke Alec. It was DS Miller wanting to know how he was and that an envelope had just arrived for her, care of DI Hardy and she had signed for it. She asked if Rose wanted to call in for it or for her to bring it round. She said she would call in and see her, Alec wasn't up to having visitors just yet and thanked her for all her help. Before she hung up, DS Miller said the Chief had told her he would have to see the medical officer before he could go back to work and Rose said she'd tell him and that he was still asleep.
Her compensation cheque had arrived but she didn't know how much it would be. She would go collect it when Alec woke up. She didn't want his DS to see him like that, she knew they didn't get on and he wouldn't have wanted it. She would open it with him, it might not be for all that much really, they might have been worried about nothing, not telling people they were together so they wouldn't think he was after her money. There was no doubt in her mind that was not the case. He hadn't even known her for that long and he didn't know about John the first time he'd stayed with her so she that was quite clear in her mind about him. He was willing to support her, she had stopped working because he said he could provide for them both. Even with the money, it wouldn't make any difference. She wanted to stay where she was with now, they had just chosen the house together, maybe they'd take that holiday she was looking for.
She crept back on the sofa and lay beside him, waiting for him to wake up. He stirred and nuzzled up to her, putting his arm around her, then opened his eyes slowly, smiling at her.
"Hey, what time is it? I feel like I haven't eaten in hours but first, we have some catching up to do, come here gorgeous," he said, leaning nearer and kissing her.
She was about to protest but he began snogging her and she gave up, figuring no harm could come from that and she'd missed him. She managed to tell him that was as far as they were going today. He pulled a face, then contented, carried on with what he was doing. Rose finally escaped with a bit lip and a bite mark but reckoned she could live with it. He deserved some pleasure after what he'd just gone through and she had to keep him from getting over excited for now, something that was clearly going to get difficult later that night.
Rose made him a drink and a sandwich then after making sure he made it to the bathroom and back, set off to the Police Station to meet with DS Miller. When she arrived, she was shown into Alec's office again, Miller had set up a temporary camp in it and Rose was thinking she looked too cosy for her liking, half tempted to tell her not to get her feet under the table but thought better of it, she had after all helped in John's case. She invited Rose to have a seat and picked up the envelope off the desk, handing it to her and asking her to sign for it. Miller already knew that Rose was due compensation but wasn't a party to know exactly what the court had awarded her.
Miller asked how DI Hardy was doing and Rose said he was up and about and she'd left him having a late lunch and she really should get back to him as she had taken responsibility for his early hospital release and to keep him quiet. Miller joked that he'd twice discharged himself and wished her good luck with keeping him cooped up, he'd twice come back to work against medical advice and Rose assured her she wouldn't allow him to make it a third. It was the holiday weekend anyway so it would be at least Tuesday before he could see the medical officer. Rose said goodbye and walked back home, calling for a few things on the way back, she was going to go shopping on Saturday with her mother.
The moment of truth came when she sat down next to Alec, lifting his feet up and sitting back with him. She assured him this was not going to affect them in any way. If it was a small amount, they would just have a holiday and that would be it. If it was a large amount, she would get some advice and use the money to just live a normal life with him and use it for luxuries like getting him a car and maybe giving some to John's mother. She was just about to open it when she handed it to Alec, saying she couldn't look. He took out the cheque, not looking at it, saying he didn't want to know and showed the amount to her. She clasped her hands to her face as she looked and thought she was seeing things. She just stared at Alec, not wanting to tell him how much it was for in case he ended up back in hospital again. The amount was a six figure number.
She just took the cheque from his hand and put it on the coffee table, face down. He insisted he didn't want to look but asked how many figures were written on it. She told him six and it wasn't in pounds and pence, it was whole figures, enough to live more than comfortably. She said it wasn't going to make any difference, they couldn't show they had money anyway, due to their new relationship and everything they'd told people and trying not to let the police in London and the court know they were together. She couldn't even put it in a joint account and now Alec had proposed to her, they would have to delay actually getting married for a reasonable time. That didn't matter, he had asked her and that was good enough for her. She would stay engaged for as long as it took, it was only making their relationship official, in their hearts they were already committed to each other.
Alec said she had better go to the bank before it closed and deposit the cheque as they would be closed until next Tuesday and to make an appointment for them to open a joint account so he wouldn't have to keep transferring money into hers, so making sure he was ok, she walked to the bank, just in time to ask to see the manager again, explaining the cheque was compensation. The manager said there was no need to ask then how the hearing had gone. That all settled she went back home to find Alec was watching the news and told him to stop keeping up with the world and lighten up a bit, he did, starting with her.
She made something to eat and they talked about their engagement and how they were going to break it to her mother when she arrived since Alec wasn't allowed to go out and no way was she getting a ring without him so he said if they went down to Brighton to see John's mother on Monday instead of Sunday, they could go look around and see if there was a jewellers shop open and find one she liked. Rose said as long as her mother didn't tag along so they'd have to find her somewhere else to go. They also discussed about giving some money to John's mother but Alec said despite Rose's good intentions, she might take it the wrong way and she may inadvertently tell someone where the money had come from.
She supposed he was right, they were trying not to attract attention to themselves after all and splashing out giving money away wasn't going to help. Rose said instead, she would donate some of the money anonymously to a charity for relatives of accident victims because she could relate to them and to a heart research charity because of Alec's condition. He asked what time her mother was arriving and Rose said she'd ring when she was on the train, probably around lunchtime so they'd bring something back for lunch, not fish and chips, he wasn't allowed them just yet.
They both felt sleepy, having not slept properly since his hospital admission so they had an early night, Rose telling him to behave himself to which he'd just said there was a fat chance of that happening but was persuaded to let Rose take the lead as they had both missed each other the nights they were apart. Rose was almost too scared to go to sleep but had to, for his sake, she had to look after him and she had four days of her mother's visit, hoping Alec was really up to it.
Alec woke her just after seven, who needed and alarm clock with him around? They lazed in bed for a while, just kissing and making up for being apart. He had a fresh scar, still covered up so she had to be extra careful where she lay on him, having to swap sides before she'd gone to sleep so she wouldn't hurt him. She had still sprawled all over him though, the way she liked to sleep, with his arm wrapped around her.
After getting a phonecall from her mother, she left twenty minutes before her train was due in and kissed Alec goodbye, saying they might call for extra groceries on the way back and had tuna salad for lunch. He told her to hurry back and she made sure he had everything he needed before she left. She only had five minutes to wait before the train arrived.