An hour later, Rose and The Doctor were standing outside, looking back at the hospital.
Rose glanced over at The Doctor, "I wonder what Dr. Jacobson meant about not finding people's fingerprints on the record being "not wholly unusual"?"
The Doctor continued to look at the hospital, before glancing over to the TARDIS and then Rose. "It's near the Rift, they've possibly had more odd occurrences than most. It's probably not the first time someone has gotten in between dimensions; it's easier to travel between when someone is nearer the Rift."
Rose looked back at the hospital. "Huh. Odd, that." Then she turned to face the TARDIS and The Doctor. "Well?" She asked, prodding him to start the discussion she knew they were going to have to have.
The Doctor looked down at Rose, his smile growing as his focus turned to Rose. "Weeeeeell, I would say Welcome Home, Rose Tyler!" Then, laughing, he pulled her into a giant hug and swung her around.
Rose couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm. It was a small distraction to what the past two days had held for her. "Oh, it is wonderful to be back." Rose smiled up at him as he set her down.
Then her expression slowly grew more serious, though, as the euphoria decreased and her thoughts ran down a darker path.
The Doctor, always the master of avoiding things, spoke before Rose could say anything. "So," he started as he opened up the TARDIS doors for her, "Where would you like to go? Or should I say when?" He was quite obviously working extra hard to pretend nothing was wrong.
When Rose stepped inside, she no longer had the strength to pretend all was well. Her other Doctor was dead, she would never see her mum, dad, or Tony again. They were all gone. She looked over at The Doctor, desperately working to keep her tears at bay before she broke down once again. "Do I still have a room?"
The Doctor looked at her, surprised, and then his expression turned slightly guilty. Once again he rubbed at the back of his neck. "Yeah... I couldn't ever.. " He swallowed, emotions he had been fighting to keep buried threatened to come to the surface. "It's still there, same as when before... you know."
"Yeah... Do you think I could just... be back in a bit?" Rose asked, itching to escape before she became a sobbing wreck in front of him once again.
"Rose.." The Doctor moved to step towards her, but she was fled his support and raced down the hallway to her room.
He just stood back and watched her fleeting form. He struggled with his own feelings, part of him wanting to leave things as they have always been, and have an easy relationship with Rose. The other part of him knew it wasn't going to be that way.
As soon as Rose got into her room, she collapsed onto the bed, yet she still fought the tears that were falling from her eyes. Hugging a pillow to her chest, she curled up and closed her eyes, causing more tears to spill down her cheeks. She was fighting it, trying to breath slow, but her breath kept getting caught in her throat. And then all if it finally caught up with her, and she broke.
She didn't know how long she had been in there before The Doctor knocked on her door. Her tears had finally ceased, and she was no longer shaking, but she imagined she looked a complete mess. She pulled the blanket up higher, and then called a hoarse "come in."
The door opened, and The Doctor entered. He was holding two cups of tea, and silently offered one to Rose. His eyes were solemn, his face without any of the joyfulness it had held earlier.
Rose silently scooted over on the bed to allow room for The Doctor to sit down. The two of them sat in silence on Rose's bed for some time, just drinking tea.
Rose broke the silence with a question that had been bugging her while she wasn't going through an emotional roller-coaster. Time goes by so differently between the two universes, so she was curious; "How long has it been, for you, since Bad Wolf Bay - the second time through?"
The Doctor's face remained the same as he responded. "Oh, a year or so for me, give or take a few days. You know how time gets so lost on this here ship. It's been two Earth years since that last time at Bad Wolf Bay."
Rose just stared at the wall, downplaying her shock. "Oh. Is that it."
The Doctor looked over at Rose, his face continuing to be rather expressionless. "And you?"
The Doctor could see her throat working as she fought to keep calm. "It's been two days."
The Doctor nodded, half expecting something like that. While part of him didn't want to ask anything more for fear of making her cry, he also knew that he couldn't just sit around and do nothing, not like he used to. "Rose, what happened?"
She was silent for a moment before she responded. "You sent me back." Rose turned to him, her eyes glistening once more with unshed tears. "You keep sending me away when you know you need me."
Rose breathed out and looked up at the ceiling for a moment, The Doctor still said nothing. Then she pushed off the bed and started pacing.
Deep breaths, you can get through saying this, Rose thought to herself. "As soon as you and the TARDIS were gone, The Doctor - your copy - knew something was wrong. We got him to Torchwood as fast as we could, and that's when we found out that he was aging a little over a year for every hour. Then you started giving out all sorts of orders, and you began making this," She reached under her shirt and pulled out the necklace that the half-human Doctor had made.
Had it been any other situation or circumstances, The Doctor would have gotten up immediately to get a closer look at the object and figure out what he had made, but he also know that Rose needed him to listen right now. And The Doctor was also taking note of how Rose kept saying "you" instead of "him". Well, he had wanted her to think that they were the same person. You succeeded, The Doctor accused himself, this is your fault.
Rose paused in her pacing and leaned her head against the wall, not looking at The Doctor. She closed her eyes as tears once again fell. And she finished her story. "You passed out after finishing it, after handing it to me. We got you to the hospital, and you were growing old.. so fast..." Rose paused, gulping in air as she fought to finish. "I was holding your hand. You woke up that last time and pressed that blasted button as I heard the monitors go flat. You died, but you sent me back to you." Rose was, once again, falling to pieces.
The Doctor hissed out a breath as he realized what she'd been through. His copy had sent her away just in time to watch him die. Rassilon, he swore at himself as he silently got off the bed and stepped over to Rose, I'm a bloody moron.
The Doctor reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. "Rose-" He started, but froze as Rose spun around and latched onto him,
"Why did you leave me?" Rose sobbed out as she held onto him. "Doctor.." She said as she fully succumbed to the tears and spoke no more.
The Doctor held a shaking Rose as he condemned himself to whatever Hell was out there. "I'm sorry Rose, I'm so sorry."
They stayed in that position for some time - The Doctor holding Rose as she cried. Once she fell silent and was no longer shaking in his arms, he pulled back slightly and looked down at her, gauging her state. Rose looked back up at him with a shaky smile.
"I know this is just a tad bit hypocritical," The Doctor started, working a smile into his features, "What with all that rubbish about no second chances, but do you think you can forgive me, Rose?" His smile was gone, all seriousness in it's place.
Rose sighed and leaned her head onto his chest. "You just don't get it, do you, Doctor." She shook her head and stepped back.
"Rose, I-" The Doctor stood still, momentarily lost. "I don't know what to say."
For a moment the two of them were silent, just watching each other. Rose then spoke up. "Can I stay?"
The Doctor's eyebrows winged up. Then The Doctor grinned, his smile not completely reaching his eyes. "I thought you'd never ask."
Rose laughed, the earlier emotional waterfall officially over. The first step to being happy is pretending.
The Doctor smiled at her, happy to know that they were, at least partially, on the same page. "Soooo, where would you like to go?" He asked, excitement lacing his voice. "We could go back to, oh, say... the pilgrims! Be there for the first Thanksgiving! Or we could go 50 years into the future, with flying cars and everyone alight with brand new technologies!" He rambled on as he dragged Rose into the console room, and then paused there and looked at her expectantly, eyebrow raised.
Rose's expression hardened slightly when she responded. "Could we go home?" When The Doctor's face clouded, and before he could respond, Rose interrupted. "I just want to see the world in once piece after I left it...I know I can't see Mum or anyone I know, I just..." Her voice trailed off, catching on 'Mum'.
The Doctor nodded silently as he reached out and grabbed her hand as a show of support. He then, one handedly, got the console going and heading to present day Earth. The TARDIS needs a bit of a recharge anyways, so let's just hop in on the Rift. Just in case...