Owen had been worried he was needing too much during the day and talked to Pete about it in the daily briefing. Rose hadn't been going because she'd not wanted to leave John but she'd been asked to go.
"He'll be fine," Sammi was trying to tell her as Rose held John's hand.
Rose had been surprised how well she'd got on with Owen's new assistant but there again, Sammi wasn't in competition with her over John. Once in Pete's office, Jake had joined them.
"Rose, ya have to think more about finding The Doctor," Jake reminded her.
"How can I leave John?" Rose wanted to know.
"Rose, you're going to leave it too late," Owen also reminded her. "We'll do whatever necessary to keep him going but you have some sacrifices to make. Don't let them be for nothing."
"What aren't ya telling me?" Rose turned to him.
"Calm down," Pete urged her. "You do have to make your mind up Rose. You can stay with John but only until we get through to the right universe. Then you have to be ready to go, without any delays. No-one else can do it, it has to be you."
"How can I leave him now Dad?" Rose wanted to know.
"Tell her Owen," Pete replied.
Rose ran from Pete's office a few minutes later, followed closely by Jake, who caught her and made her sit down by the lift.
"It's not fair," she told him through her sobs, Jake offering her the box of tissues on the polished glass and chrome table.
He watched her grab a handful and dry her eyes.
"I'm sorry Rose."
"You knew? Everyone knew except me?" she asked him. "Only The Doctor can save him now."
"If we get him here in time," Jake replied, trying not to make it sound like a pun. "Sorry."
"Then why have John finding sound frequencies?" Rose wanted to know.
"To keep occupied, why else?" Jake admitted. "To make it seem like he was useful, instead of having him feeling sorry for himself and having you feel sorry for him."
"Thanks a lot Jake," Rose sniffed as she blew her nose. "How close are ya to finding a signal or a way through?"
"We'll go through those that John's identified, see is we get anything back. If it's safe enough, until we experiment with making the gap bigger."
"Is that gonna be soon?" Rose asked as Jake escorted her back to John's room.
"We're working round the clock Rose, trust me. Pete's prepared to try anything. Sorry about the news."
"Are ya picking the pad up that John was using?" Rose asked him, trying to dry the last of her tears.
"Ya heard Owen, no more input from John," he reminded her. "Just talk about the good things ya both remember."
"That's all we have now Jake," Rose replied. "It was just the way he put it."
"Owen was never known for being tactful," Jake laughed as they reached the floor they wanted.
"Geez, I can still see those Daleks down here," Rose cringed at the thought.
"Rose, there will be safeguards," Jake promised. "When we find the right frequency, we won't have to make a bigger gap until then. We're gonna need ya then."
"How can I watch him get even worse Jake?" Rose wanted to know. "Why is this happening to him?"
"I wish we knew," Jake felt sorry for her. "We all know how much ya love him."
"Well at least Owen got rid of Martha, John didn't need her around," Rose told him as they arrived outside John's new suite of rooms. "He has to get better Jake."
"If ya find The Doctor, he will," Jake tried to assure her.
Rose stopped as Jake was about to open the door.
"Will he Jake?" she asked him.
"Ya are gonna at least try?" Jake replied, a bit lost as to her doubting it.
"Yeah, I'm gonna try Jake, as long as I'm not too late in finding The Doctor," she told him. "Let me know when ya find something."
"Right away," Jake grinned. "I'll just collect that pad then?"
"Ya might have trouble," Rose smiled.
"What am I supposed to do now?" John objected as Jake took the data pad. "I can't explain the frequencies to Rose."
"He's right," Rose insisted. "Can't I just play them to him and he says yes or no?" she suggested. "It can't do him any harm just listening to them."
"Okay, I'll load some more onto it and have it sent back down when I've downloaded these," Jake agreed. "No sense in doing the same ones twice."
"Let me feel I'm of some use," John urged him, the nurse adjusting the oxygen in the nasal tube.
"Miss Tyler, can I have a word," the nurse beckoned to Rose. "He's going to need the full mask on for longer periods soon, I have to recommend it to Doctor Ngaru."
"If that's what's needed?" Rose had to agree. "Guess he'll just have to nod or shake his head then?" she tried to joke.
The nurse and Jake left, the machines just beeping and buzzing away in the background.
"So what's the conclusion then?" John wanted to know.
"John, we're only doing what's best for ya," she reminded him again.
"I know but I'm not seeing any change Rose," he disagreed. "Lying here's not for me."
"I know that John. If Owen would let ya go around in a wheelchair, I'd push around myself but he won't allow it."
"Sorry love. I know you would. He's scared I'd get out and run off," John joked.
"Or ya'd build another Tardis and disappear," Rose laughed.
"If only love," John tried to smile back. "So, what was the meeting about then?"
"Speeding things up, amongst other things," Rose replied.
"Really Rose?" John strained to raise his eyebrows.
"Well some of it was. I have to be ready to go find your twin at a moment's notice, as soon as they get the slightest hint they may have found him."
"Then it can't be soon enough for me love," John replied.
"No more talking for now," the nurse who had remained close by insisted. "Time to take some medication anyway."
"Did I miss my lunchtime order?" Rose asked the nurse, since John was now on a special diet.
"No Miss Tyler, no-one's rung down yet," she was told. "I think Doctor Ngaru is coming back to see you, she didn't know you were going to that meeting with Doctor Harper."
The nurse finished putting the full oxygen mask on John then she went off so Rose took John's hand and sat facing him.
"Want me to carry on tellin' ya about Tony?" she smiled.
John nodded and closed his eyes. He knew she had no idea what this was like for him but she was trying her best to understand how serious it was. Rose was willing to sacrifice everything to try to get back again and find his twin to help put things right but he knew deep down nothing was going to work. He just wasn't meant to be here, in this world or the other.
He was a freak of nature, an accident involving his twin's severed hand, a mad Dalek and Donna Noble. It was a paradox, another endless paradox and he was at the centre of it this time. All the factors that had contributed to his existence, from Jack finding and keeping his severed hand to Donna merging with it while the Tardis was on fire.
Well he hoped Donna had fared better than he'd done but he somehow doubted it. The least his twin could do for their friend was wipe her memories of them and let her go back to her old life before she'd met them.
Owen had remained with Pete after speaking with his assistant.
"Yes Sammi, go ahead and order that," Owen agreed to the extra oxygen being ordered, Pete listening in.
"What else can we do?" Pete wondered. "If there's a miracle cure, find it."
"Don't think for a moment I wouldn't Pete," Owen went serious for a change. "I remember under the old regime, the first time I met someone and I was recruited. I couldn't save my own fiancée and I swore I wouldn't lose another patient. I still did though but they were either victims of aliens or aliens themselves. I don't count John as an alien."
"I know you don't Owen. I remember you and Rose didn't used to get on but all that's forgotten now. She trusts you and Sammi."
"She'll lose that trust if John doesn't make it," Owen replied. "I can't guarantee anything."
Sammi had gone to see if Rose had got back as John was resting.
"How are you doing Rose?" she asked as they sat at the table in the rest area after Sammi made drinks, the nurse sitting by John.
"I hate this Sammi," Rose admitted. "I was so happy when I came back with him."
"So I was told. At least he admitted he wasn't well and got help. You know how some men are?" Sammi smiled.
"Yeah, ya never met his stubborn twin," Rose recalled.
"So, what happened between you and Martha Jones then?" Sammi wanted to know.
"She used to know his twin, in the other universe and this one acts the same way. John doesn't need reminding of it," Rose told her.
"Oh, I see then," Sammi was amused. "She came on a bit strong then?"
"Sammi, John remembers her well, this Martha doesn't have a clue. This Martha seems to think she can lure him away from me with her clever remarks and her flirting, she doesn't know when to quit. She doesn't get how upsetting it is for John when he's ill."
"So she didn't get to him before then?" Sammi asked her.
"John said not. It was too soon after I came here, he just wasn't looking for a replacement for me. It wasn't just Martha, it could've been anyone he turned down. What gets me is how this one knew?"
"Maybe some of it just seeped through, when the gap between the two universes were open?" Sammi suggested.
"Sammi. When John came back with us, did he bring something back with him that was harmful, just to him?" Rose suddenly panicked.
"Oh! Rose, did anyone even think of that?" Sammi wondered. "It could be the air, the atmosphere, the temperature. When did he first start feeling ill?"
"On that beach, in Norway," Rose recalled. "Geez, Sammi. Ya'd best get Owen down here, fast."
Sammi got her phone out of her pocket, then stopped.
"Hold on though. You and his twin were here before, right?" she wanted to make sure.
"Well yeah but the other Doctor is a full Timelord, John's only half and half Human," Rose reminded her. "That's why he's got so ill so fast."
"Let's not jump to any conclusions yet Rose," Sammi insisted as she pressed Owen's number
"I'm on my way back down," Owen answered. "Are there any changes? Have you put him on extra oxygen?"
Sammi put her phone down as a feeling of dread came over her.
"Nurse Jenkins, take John's oxygen mask off – now," she called over without hanging up on Owen.
"Doctor?" she was questioned as the nurse got up to disconnect the mask.
"Just put the nasal tube back in for now," Sammi told her. "Owen, we might be responsible for making him worse."
"What?" Owen thought he'd heard her wrong. "How do you make that one out?"
"I'll explain when you get back here Owen but Rose and I have a theory about John's illness. He became ill the moment he stepped out of the Tardis."
"We know that Sammi," Owen replied dryly as he stepped out of the lift. "Tell me something I don't know."
"Owen, just think about it. Rose, was he okay until he stepped onto that beach?" she asked Rose.
"Well yeah, we were all cheering that we'd got the Earth back where it should be. Then everyone was saying goodbye," Rose replied. "Before I could argue, The Doctor had landed here, on that beach in Norway and my mum was complaining she'd have to call Pete to arrange for us all to get home."
"So it started gradually?" Sammi asked as she hung up on Owen when he joined them.
"Hold on, what started gradually?" Owen wanted to know.
"When John stepped out of the Tardis, he sensed something was wrong," Rose repeated.
"You said that before," Owen reminded her.
"Don't ya get it Owen? It's the air or whatever, because he's not adapted to it like The Doctor was," Rose told him as she realised.
"So it's because he's half and half?" Owen then realised. "Surely it wouldn't do that much damage and even then only to his lungs?"
"I'm no medical expert Owen, that's your department," Rose replied, leaning on the table.
"We've been giving him oxygen," Sammi told him, patting poor Rose on the back.
"So?" Owen replied, not getting it. "Have you taken him off it?"
"Not completely, just cut him back," Sammi replied. "How about experimenting with different mixtures?"
"He can't do without it," Rose reminded them.
"We know Rose," Sammi assured her as she sat beside Rose, putting her arm in Rose's.
"We could try. I suggest we keep him asleep, so not to cause him any discomfort though," Owen replied.
"Don't do that Owen, he'll want to know what you're trying," Rose insisted.
"Rose, I urge you to think about that," Sammi had to agree with Owen. "Every second he's awake now causes him discomfort. Why don't you ask your stepfather what he thinks?"
Rose nodded and got her phone out.
"Dad, can ya come down here?" she asked when Pete answered.
"Do I need to get your mother here?" Pete sounded serious.
Rose covered the phone and asked Owen.
"It's up to you Rose but if you're going off to find The Doctor, maybe you'd feel better leaving your mother with him?" Owen wondered.
"Yeah, can ya ring her for me?" Rose asked Pete. "Can ya get Tony's nanny to stay over with him?"
"Leave it to me love, I'll be down as soon as I can and I'll get your mother over here," Pete assured her. "I'll get an update from Owen but in the meanwhile, let John rest eh, it'll be the best thing for him."
"I need to talk to him first," Rose told Owen as she got up.
"Go ahead but you do all the talking, then Sammi will put something in his drip-tube to make him sleep," Owen warned her. "We'll keep it under review but if we're right about it being the air and oxygen, it's best he stays under. Rose, we've never had to deal with this before but we're putting everything into it."
"I know ya are Owen, thanks," Rose replied.
Rose went over to John and the nurse moved away. Owen and Sammi were talking.
"She's going to be devastated Owen," Sammi was telling him as Rose mopped John's forehead with a cool cloth.
"I know but what do we do?" Owen wanted to know. "Rose and I never got along before this, now she trusts me with John's life. Bit ironic really."
Rose's phone rang and Sammi saw it was Jake so she answered it.
"Do you want me to get her?" Sammi asked him.
"Pete just told me, tell her I'm sorry. Anyway, I've just downloaded some of those frequencies to the main computer system for the cannon, see if any of them locate The Doctor. I'll let ya know," Jake told her. "Tell Rose to hold on."
"I will Jake, thanks," Sammi replied.
She got up and went to join Rose.
"That was Jake, they're going to try those frequencies," she told her.
"He can't even identify any more," Rose told her sadly. "What if none of them work Sammi?"
"Then they do it the hard way," Sammi smiled as she patted Rose's hand. "Or they'll start sending agents."
"To the wrong places?" Rose asked.
"No-one in Torchwood will give up Rose, they'll be more volunteers than the equipment can handle, trust me," Sammi assured her. "So, I stay out of the way when your mother arrives then," she joked.
"I stay out of my mother's way when she arrives," Rose managed to smile at the thought.
"I'm gone," Owen agreed.
That left the poor nurse wondering what they were getting at. Sammi reminded the catering staff they wanted to order their meals, Owen went off to the other lab to think about Rose and Sammi's theory and to discuss it with Pete.
"They could be onto something Owen," Pete thought about it. "I'll talk to you when I come down, I just got off the phone with Jackie, I only got her off to organise the nanny getting Tony from nursery school. One thing bothers me though Owen. The Doctor was fine when he was here."
"That's what Rose said, it must be because John's only half Timelord? That's what we don't get," Owen agreed. "It can't be because he's only got one heart."
"I doubt his twin will know the answer to that," Pete told him as he got ready to meet Jackie when she arrived.
"Well whoever finds him needs to warn him before he steps foot on this planet again," Owen replied.
"He would have suffered before, surely?" Pete thought. "Hold on, do you think that's it Owen? That when his twin was here before, it did something to him and he passed it on?"
"You could have something there Pete," Owen agreed. "Rose was on the right track then? So if we find him, it won't do him any harm to come here?"
"Doesn't seem so, does it? It's his poor twin who's suffering. I don't suppose when he was here he expected to have a metacrisis twin?" Pete wondered as he stepped out of his office.
Jackie was on her way to Torchwood, not bothering to call Rose after Jake rang to say she was with John.
"Well he's in the best place I suppose," Jackie had told him. "Poor Rose though, I mean she'll have to leave him to go find you know who."
"Not until we're sure we know where he is," Jake corrected her.
Sammi managed to get Rose away from John to eat her lunch and they had just finished as Pete and Jackie arrived as Pete had insisted on making sure Jackie had eaten.
"How's she holdin' up Pete?" Jackie wanted to know about Rose.
"Not very well Jaks," Pete admitted. "You go to her, I need to talk to Owen about John. It was Rose and Sammi who came up with the idea it was the air or oxygen that was making John ill."
"Fancy it being that then?" Jackie asked him on their way down. "It's a bit hard to believe Pete."
"Well Owen's running more tests and he's put Sammi on full time with John. He's not to be left without a doctor and nurse now, Owen will have to get someone else in to take over from them or everyone's going to be worn down," Pete told her.
"Well I wish Rose would get some proper rest," Jackie replied as they stepped out of the lift. "This building still gives me the creeps Pete. You weren't almost made into a Cyberman."
"Maybe not Jaks but I had to pretend they'd taken control of me and so did Rose," he recalled.
He opened the door for Jackie and Rose went straight to her.
"How's he doin' then?" Jackie asked after they'd hugged.
"He's not good Mum," Rose admitted. "Have ya met Sammi and this is nurse Jenkins."
"Mrs Tyler. Call me Sally. I'll be going off duty soon but someone else will be here," she told Jackie.
"Don't let Martha come in here," Rose reminded her.
"Of course not Miss Tyler," the nurse nodded.
"What's happened now?" Jackie wanted to know.
"Nothing Mum," Rose tried to bluff. "Just the same old stuff, like Martha thinkin' it was some sort of contest. I wonder if she thinks the same now?"
Rose dipped another cloth in the cool water beside John and placed it on his forehead.
"Rose, he's gonna spring up, just like he did that Christmas, remember? When he was regenerating and everyone was gonna jump off the rooftops," Jackie laughed. "Ya gave up on him then sweetheart but he didn't give up on us, did he?"
"That was different Mum," Rose replied. "He can't regenerate this time, he's not a full Timelord, he's only got one life. He was supposed to be spending it with me."
Rose leaned her head on his shoulder but Jackie pulled her away, motioning for the nurse to take over from her at mopping John's forehead. She led Rose over to the table and just let Rose cry, Sammi staying out of the way.
