When the Doctor woke up, Tony was gone. Someone, he guessed Jackie, had adjusted the throw, covering his shoulders, and placed a pillow under his head. He stretched and yawned, letting the top of the throw fall to his lap. He really didn't want to sleep this day away; his failing body was apparently having other ideas.

The rain had stopped and the sun was out in full force, burning away the residual fog. The windows were open, letting in a soft breeze. That explained why the throw had been pulled up. Jackie must have wanted him to have the fresh air, but not catch a chill. He was lucky he hadn't woken up with four quilts on top of him.

He looked around and discovered a pot of hot tea on the end table and a cup already poured for him. The steam rising from the cup told him it couldn't have been there more than five minutes. He shook his head and smiled. This was happening quite a bit now. He would doze off and wake up to a pot of hot tea within reach.

He wondered how she managed it. Was she that observant and had figured out when he was close to waking up? Or was she just putting a fresh pot out at intervals? As hot as the tea always was, he really hoped it was the former. Otherwise there was a lot of tea being wasted, that special blend she had made for him had to cost a pretty penny.

On the tray with the tea, he noticed a scone, some biscuits, jam and clotted cream. She was going all out in her efforts to put some weight on him. Though fruitless, he did appreciate parade of culinary accomplishments that kept coming his way. Except for the tea and the nightly soup, she always made sure to not let his diet get in a rut, apparently afraid he might lose interest in eating.

"Well, no fear of that," He thought as he bit into the scone, orange with pecans, interesting combination, the clotted cream would definitely go well with it. He put the scone down and sipped some of the tea, feeling its warmth spread throughout his body. He held the cup with both hands and let the heat sink into them as he observed the pattern of the steam that rose from it. He was sure it was warm in the house, but he always felt a bit chilled now. A sure sign he hadn't long now.

He had no problem accepting that, so long as he could accomplish what he needed to. Jackie, on the other hand, would brook no talk of his eminent demise and persisted in acting as if he would be there for years to come.

She did however understand and act on his increasing disability, which he tried to ignore. She was always thinking ahead, trying to find ways to make his life easier. The shower chair, later grab rails, discrete entrance ramps, looking more like creative landscaping than handicapped access and of course the lift. Jackie generally did this quietly, in the background so as not to embarrass him, but the accommodations were always there when he needed them, the grab rails once saving him from what could have been a particularly nasty crack on the head.

The latest additions were almost comical. She had gone out and bought a fairly large collection of fancy gentleman's canes that she had placed around the house as objects 'd art. Coincidentally the places he enjoyed sitting all seemed have an ideal 'artistic' spot to put a cane nearby. His room had been 'decorated' with two of them.

The one near the couch was mahogany with a stag horn handle and a silver collar where the horn joined the wood. He put the tea down. He reached over and picked it up to examine it. The handle fit his hand perfectly, not a mean feat considering the shape of his hand. The tip was covered with a sturdy rubber foot to prevent slipping, stylish and practical, very nice and thoughtful of her. He put it back in its place. He wasn't quite ready for it yet. Maybe tomorrow, he wouldn't want all her work to go to waste.

He finished the rest of his tea, draining the pot and polishing off the scone and most of the clotted cream. He saved the biscuits for last: ginger with little bits of the crystallized root to give them an extra bite.

He threw off the throw and sat up, stretching his arms over his head. He looked down at his feet. The magazines he had selected were gone. A quick glance showed them to be on the couch, within reach. Apparently Jackie didn't want him slipping on them. She was trying very hard to take care of him, while at the same time giving him his space. So long as he wasn't doing something stupid, like walking in a thunderstorm.

He checked the coral as he thought about the incident with the lightning. It had barely made a peep when he hit the ground. It mostly rested these days, trying to help conserve what little energy they had between the two of them. Last night it had tried to refuse the balancing as it realized it was the Doctor who was doing most of the giving, keeping the coral alive past when it would have perished.

The Doctor had finally convinced it to take the energy by telling it he was going to give it anyway and if it didn't take it, it would spill away and be of no use to either of them. The coral had reluctantly acquiesced. Now it was sleeping fitfully, its thoughts filled with worry and sadness. He sent it reassurance and calmness, quieting his own mind as he linked with it, sending it into a deeper more peaceful sleep.

He tried to think of what he wanted to do next. He thought about the lab in the basement. He hadn't checked the equipment in weeks since Pete took it over. There were a few more modifications he could make to the equipment and he wanted to see if his weather models were still holding. It would be exactly the kind of thing that would keep him occupied and feeling useful. Just what he needed.

Unfortunately, when they put the lift in, Pete hadn't wanted to waste time to do the excavation needed for it to go all the way to the basement. So it stopped on the first floor. The lab may as well have been on the moon as far as he was concerned. Funny, there was a time when something being on the moon wouldn't have mattered.

He looked at the tray that had held the now empty tea pot and decided to carry it back to the kitchen. If Jackie was there, that should at least provide some entertainment.

He used his back to push open the door to the kitchen as he carried the tray. He turned around and saw Jackie, holding Tony on her hip as she supervised the making of that night's soup. She looked up, her eyes going wide when she saw the Doctor.

"What do you think you are doing?" she exclaimed as she put Tony down and hurried over to the Doctor, taking the tray away from him.

"Carrying a tray of dishes?" the Doctor quipped. "Well, not now, that is, they seem to have been confiscated." He made a show of looking at his now empty hands.

Jackie gave him a smile while shaking her head. "You are supposed to be resting, taking it easy. It's your day off. We have plenty of staff to carry trays."

"I did rest, and now I am restless. Anything I can do in here to help keep me out of trouble?"

"I don't think anything could keep you out of trouble. Thank you, but we have a routine, plus if you help with dinner, how can I surprise you with it? Why don't you go see if there is something you can tinker with in that lab?"

The Doctor frowned. "I would love to, but, you know… stairs."

"Oh that, come on I have something to show you."

Tony followed along as she led the Doctor to the entrance of the basement. She opened the door with a grand flourish. "Look, just for you."

There was a stair lift. A chair he could sit in that would take him up and down the stairway.

The Doctor couldn't believe his good fortune. "When did you put this in?"

"A few days after you started using the lift, it had been back ordered. We knew you weren't happy about having to use the lift, so Pete and I decided to hold off telling you about this till the time was right. I hope you don't mind. Pete knew he would need your help in the lab at some point and didn't want getting you down there to be a big deal."

"Oh, it's brilliant, I really do have some things I want to check in the lab," He took Jackie's head between his hands and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Thank you!"

The Doctor's exuberant thanks flustered Jackie who tried to cover it by patting her hair back in place. "That's good then, because I know Pete has been getting anxious, there's something he wants to show you."

Tony piped up. "Dockor go for ride?"

The Doctor looked at him quizzically. Jackie explained, "Tony's been using it as a kind of carnival ride. He thinks it's fun."

The Doctor nodded and told Tony, "Yes, I am going for a ride. Do you want to show me how?"

Tony smiled and climbed on the chair. He put on a serious face as he buckled the seat belt. "Must have belt, Mum says, or no ride again."

He picked up the control box that was dangling from the chair. "This go down," he said as he pushed a button marked with a down arrow. The chair glided down the stairway. At the bottom he held up the box and looked at the doctor. "This go up." The Doctor couldn't see the button from that distance, but he was pretty sure it was the one with the up arrow.

When Tony arrived at the top of the stair, he unbuckled the belt and climbed down. "Dockor ride now?"

"Thank you, Tony, that was very good. I'll try a ride now."

"I go with Dockor? I go with Dad."

The Doctor looked at Jackie. "I could use his company. I'll keep an eye on him."

Jackie looked dubious as her eyes went from Tony to the Doctor and back. "It's not the lab, he's with Pete down there all the time. It's…"

"It's the stair lift, isn't it? He's used to riding down on Pete's lap and you don't trust me to hold him. You're afraid I might drop him. I understand. We'll do separate trips. It's not a problem."

Jackie smiled, relief showing on her face. "Well, if you're sure he's not a bother. I'd actually feel better if he was with you."

The Doctor looked down briefly at the last comment. Jackie wanted someone who could tell her if the Doctor needed help. Tony in the lab was less obvious than a maid stationed outside of it. He grinned at Jackie, letting her know he didn't mind. "He won't be a bother, every scientist needs an assistant. Don't they Tony?" He ruffled the boy's hair, who looked up, pleased he was being included.

Jackie appeared satisfied. "Good then, once you two are safely at the bottom, I'll get back to supervising supper. I'll send Pete down as soon as he gets home."

"Good," said the Doctor. "Tony, I have to go by myself, so you want to go first and show me how it's done again?"

As Tony went down the stairs the Doctor asked Jackie. "How did he get so good at working seat belts?"

"Oh, he was getting out of the car seat before he was a year old. I would get so mad at him when he did that he figured he had better learn how to get back in it also. He's been buckling and unbuckling himself since before he was two."

Tony was at the bottom of the stair and out of the chair. The Doctor looked at the control box dangling from the arm of the chair. "Jackie, do you have to go down now and ride the chair back?

Jackie laughed. "No, we had a recall circuit put in," She went to a control panel above the light switch on the wall. "Tony," she called down. "Now you get away from the chair." She lowered her voice as she spoke to the Doctor. "We didn't want you getting stranded if Tony decided to go for a ride and not tell anyone. There are controls at the bottom of the stair also, you don't have to worry."

The chair arrived at the top of the steps. "Well, it looks like my ride's here, thank you, Jackie. I'll keep an eye on him, don't worry."

It was the first time the Doctor had seen the lab since Pete had set it up. He was a bit taken aback by how much space it used. It was all the same equipment from his room, maybe one or two more computers added, nothing more than that, but it took up twice as much space as it did in when he had it. Pete apparently didn't share his penchant for piling pieces of equipment on top of each other. Everything was almost uncomfortably organized. It looked more like a showcase than a working lab.

It was apparent Tony had been here before. His lab manners were very good; keeping his hands behind his back when he went near the equipment. In a corner was a child's desk, a stack of paper and a big box of crayons. Around the room, various crayon drawings were up on the walls. It appeared Tony's usual job in the lab was draftsman. The Doctor had some data he wanted to check over, so he set Tony to work on drawing a locktight wrench, wire strippers and a c clamp.

The data was cause for concern, his models were holding, but their predictions were not good. The failing ice dam in Greenland was the biggest worry. He pulled up the CAD package on the computer and checked his plans for shoring up the dam until the radiation reflectors and other projects had a chance to lower the global temperature. He saw a few areas where some design changes could be made speed its construction.

He then ran the new designs through the models. One of the changes caused a failure so he'd have to scrap that. He pulled his lip and considered how much time would be lost without that modification. He set up the model with all but that one modification and the dam held, still not enough of a safety margin to satisfy him. A day's labor dispute would do them in.

He then realized Tony was at his elbow holding several drawings, very vague abstractions of the subject of each picture, but it was possible to discern the c clamp from the locktight wrench. The Doctor looked at them and nodded in approval. "Very good, Tony. Do you want to help me here?"

Tony nodded enthusiastically. The Doctor printed out several pictures of the ice dam and showed them to Tony. "Could you draw on these where that water there will go over that snow?"

"Draw on picture?" Tony asked, clearly confused that he would be allowed to do such a thing, much less be asked to do it.

"Yes, Tony, I want you to draw where the water would go over on each of those pictures. Can you do that?"

Tony nodded. "I do."

"Good, let me know when you are done."

Tony took the pictures back to his desk. The Doctor doubted much would come from Tony's drawings. But there was a chance they might cause the Doctor to notice something he had been ignoring. If nothing else, they gave Tony the feeling that he was helping and that was important too.

He looked at his proposed construction schedule, trying to see if there was a way to optimize it, shorten the critical path to a finished product. Right now there was only a day of safety margin between the completion of a back up dam and the ice dam's failure. With the way construction on earth went, he would feel much happier with a month.

He heard the lab door close, looked up from the computer to see tea, milk and biscuits had been delivered while he'd been deep in thought. Tony already had his milk and biscuits at his desk, eating happily while he drew.

The Doctor turned his attention back to the computer. If he couldn't speed up construction, maybe he could slow down the failing of the dam. Perhaps some radiation reflectors to mitigate the impact of the sun on the dam, though with the ice dam already being white they wouldn't have that much effect.

He was frustrated and angry with himself. The plan had been to use the resources that were being spent on the dimension cannon and divert them to the backup dam and other projects to reverse the global warming. Once he had finished with the dimension cannon, work on the back up dam could begin. His pushing back firing the modified dimension cannon, so he could live a little longer had been stupid and selfish. This planet could face a global disaster all because he had wanted a few extra days.

He stood up wanting to get some tea to calm himself. After he took a few steps the room started spinning. He quickly sat down on the floor before he fell down or maybe he fell down and just happened to wind up sitting, it was hard to tell. Soon he felt a small hand on his forehead and heard a worried voice. "Dockor sick? I s'posed get mum Dockor sick."

"No don't get mum. I'm fine, just a little tired. Here watch, I'll lie down and feel better." The Doctor lay down hoping having full contact with the floor would make the room stop spinning. He could feel the coral's worry but couldn't help it now. Tony patted his shoulder and put his hand back on his forehead.

"Tony, why is your hand on my forehead?"

"Makes better. I sick, Mum puts hand on head, I better."

The Doctor chuckled at that despite the dizziness. He loved the cause and effect reasoning of Tony. The dizziness faded. It was just a spell. He was afraid for moment he had left it too long. He was relieved that apparently it had just been caused by his aggravation with himself.

He reassured the coral that everything was alright, nothing to worry about. It wasn't convinced, it insisted something was wrong. He asked it to rest anyway, telling it if something was wrong, he would need it ready to help, not tired out from worry. The coral accepted the reasoning and reluctantly went back to sleep.

The Doctor sat up and winced, he had a slight headache and was feeling nauseous. Well he knew the cure for that. Unfortunately the tea was at the other end of the lab on the one free table by the door. He could ask Tony to get it for him, he wasn't going to have the youngster attempt to handle the hot liquid. But there was another way Tony could help.

"Tony can you bring me the chair?" Tony nodded and brought the chair over. "Thank you Tony, you are a big help." Tony's face lit up at the praise. The Doctor pulled himself up into the chair. It was your standard office furniture type with casters. He used it to maneuver over to the tea and poured himself a cup. As he drank it the nausea and headache faded, much to his relief.

He thought about that and began to wonder if it was just a spell he had suffered. He heard Jackie's mobile ring with the distinctive tone that indicated it was Pete calling. "No, no, no" he thought. "It can't be… she wouldn't… she couldn't…" He'd locked it down, only he could operate it. He heard someone hurrying down the stairs, then Jackie was at the door, a concerned look on her face.

There could only be one explanation. Rose had built a duplicate dimension cannon and fired it.