When Martha came into the room a short time later she was unhappy to see that the Doctor hadn't touched his lunch. She had spoken to Daniel not too long beforehand and was excited about his progress. He seemed to finally accept that he needed to talk in order to get well and she hoped that he would open up soon. Jack, though, didn't seem worried about the fact he hadn't eaten.

"He actually talked to me, Martha," Jack whispered as she tried to run through the Doctor's vitals. It was a little difficult with his body sprawled across Jack's as he slept soundly.

"Oh, about what?" Martha wondered curiously.

"His drug usage and why he took them," Jack told her. Martha raised her eyebrows at him in surprise. He didn't plan on telling Martha any more about their conversation, though. Even if it wasn't confidential between them, he wanted the Doctor to be able to trust him enough to talk to him again in the future.

"Daniel said that he was making progress and seemed ready to talk. He was hoping that the Doctor would talk to him within the next few days," Martha explained to him.

"I don't know if he will ever actually talk to Daniel. He doesn't seem to like him much," Jack responded.

"I know," Martha sighed. "I also know that you are trying to help him and you being here has been one of the best things for him in terms of his recovery. You're not a trained psycatrist, though."

"I don't have to be. Of everybody currently treating him, I am the only one who understands what it is like to be out of your own place and time. Who knows what it is to take drugs to deal with the pain of losing everyone you love. I also was by his side on the valiant and the TARDIS. I know what he has gone, through and I can help him come back to us," Jack snipped at her. His voice rose slightly in his anger and the Doctor moaned turning his head. Not wanting to wake him, Jack went quiet as he adjusted the blankets. He kissed him softly on the top of the head as the Doctor relaxed into him again.

"I want him to still try to talk to Daniel while he is here in the UNIT hospital. Once he is ready to leave, we will reassess his treatment," Martha informed Jack. Jack nodded.

"And if he says more than two words to Daniel tomorrow about how he is feeling, I will pay you five quid," Jack told her.

"Deal." Martha held her hand out to Jack and he took it shaking it. She still had faith that the Doctor would open up to Daniel if he continued to be patient. She finished running the Doctor's vitals then took his untouched lunch with him as she left the room. She decided not to worry about his not eating one meal due to the fact that he had spoken with Jack. Leaving the room, she headed to her office to update Daniel on his progress.

-DW-

The Doctor came back into awareness slowly. The first thing he noticed was that Jack was still in his bed holding him close as he laid across his chest. He could hear Jack's heartbeat and feel the movement of his chest rising and falling steadily with each breath. He didn't need to open his eyes to sense time bouncing off of Jack in a way that should have offended his Time Lord senses. Instead, he took comfort in the fact that as much as he wanted Jack to go away sometimes, he would never actually leave him. He had changed Jack's life forever by bringing him with him on the TARDIS. It was his even his fault that Jack was immortal even if Rose had been the one to bring him back.

"Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you hadn't met me?" The Doctor asked after awhile alerting Jack to the fact that he was awake.

"Sometimes, I don't know how much good that does as one thing I know for sure is that I would be dead," Jack admitted looking down to see the Doctor still had his eyes closed. He adjusted his grip to hold him a little closer as he heard the Doctor groan. "It's true Doc. I am over two-thousand years old now. Even with scientific advancement in medicine during the 50th century, I couldn't hope to live longer than a few hundred years."

"Jack," The Doctor drew out his name in annoyance. Jack sighed.

"I was a coward before I met you, though. You made me into a better man and I have often based my decisions on what you would do," Jack informed him. The Doctor opened his eyes finally to look up at Jack.

"I'm not a good man Jack," he told him seriously.

"You're still a better man than I am. If I hadn't met you I probably would have been dead in a few years anyways due to trying to con the wrong person," Jack responded. The Doctor nodded resting his head once more on Jack's chest. "What about you Doctor, where would you be?"

"Alone, in the TARDIS with my tea," The Doctor answered him.

"Am I correct in assuming that your tea would be laced with drugs?" Jack questioned.

"Yes," The Doctor replied not denying it.

"Then, I hate to break it to you Doc, but we both know that you would probably be dead as well. Your body not only malnourished it was also riddled with infection and you were bleeding from a tear that required stitches to close," Jack informed him.

"I would have been fine," The Doctor huffed loudly. Jack rolled his eyes.

"For how long?" He wondered. The Doctor didn't have an answer for him. He knew deep down that Jack was right. He couldn't have survived much longer with the way he had been treating his body. He had been weak to the point that he could barely walk and it would have been only another matter of days before the infections killed him if he didn't bleed out first. He would have been extremely lucky if he was then able to regenerate properly. More than likely the regeneration would have failed, causing him to reach his final death. The last of the Time Lord's would be gone not in a fight but because he was too weak to fight against a drug addiction.

"That's what I thought," Jack told him after a long moment of silence. The Doctor tried to pull away from him, but Jack held on tightly not letting him. The Doctor swore under his breath fighting harder as Jack continued to hold on. The Doctor eventually gave up going limp once more against Jack's chest. Jack stared down at him to see defeated brown eyes looking back up at him. Jack hated that look. He would take the Doctor's anger over him giving up any day. Even if that anger was directed at him.