Her eyes start moving under her eyelids. He sits down in a chair by her bed. A half hour later he checks her temperature, but there's no improvement. He sits back down. He crosses and uncrosses his legs, picks at the fabric of the chair, counts the seconds between each rise and fall of her chest, and checks her temperature until he can't take it anymore. Then another idea pops into his head. He could try to take the energy out of her again like last time. It would cause him to regenerate if he could, but it might not even work. He presses his fingers against his eyes. That option is better than the ultimatum.
He kneels down by the bed and presses the tips of his fingers to her temple, ready in case things go bad. He presses his lips to hers, concentration hard on finding that small strand of energy left in her body. He finds it and pulls on it with his mind, but like a ball of yarn unraveling, but this string only leads to more. It could get dangerous very fast. He can't absorb all of this time energy in Rose. It's as if she's connected to the heart right now. He drops the connection and pulls back, letting his forehead rest against hers as he pushes into her mind.
Something tugs at his mind, something from Rose. It's trying desperately to get his attention. He lets it enter his mind. It's a memory or a vision. He can't tell if it's from the future or the past. He's standing there, with another man and… and previous him. They're standing around a box, around the Moment. If that's past him and present him, then the other man must be future him. Why are they all there and around the Moment? Where did they even find the Moment? Before he can think about it too much, the memory focuses in on present him. There's a sadness about him. He's lost Rose. So that's how it's going to be. He has to erase her memories and lose her forever then? How does Rose know this? The Big Red Button on the Moment raises. The hologram display analog flickers into his mind. Rose! It's Rose! She's there, but… but the him in the memory doesn't register her presence.
It clicks. She's there as Bad Wolf. He's accessing this memory, or he supposes it'd be more of a portal, through her, who is there as Bad Wolf. Relief spreads through him and he lets go of her mind. Which means he lets go of all that is happening right now. The only question left that's of any importance is, is that a future or past him? How much time does he have until she's gone? Or is it all a changed time stream from whatever the other versions of him did with the Moment? He stops everything when Rose gasps awake.
He pulls his fingers off her like he was burned, startled by her sudden movement. Just like that he forgets all he saw, everything except one thing; he's going to lose Rose, who has time vortex stuff still in her.
"Are you ok?" He helps her into sitting position.
She doesn't respond right away, just stares at the wall in front of her, trying to process what she just went through, but what was it exactly? She doesn't quite remember what she just saw, only a few lingering feelings and fleeting trivial details. The Doctor was there… or was he not? He had a peculiar mood about him, sadness, or longing… or had she just imagined it all? A few words drift into her mind.
"-hear me?"
She pushes it away but they just float right back in.
"-me to get you-"
Then she realizes it's the Doctor talking to her. She shakes her head to clear it.
"Sorry, what?"
"Do you want me to get you some tea?" He looks at her concernedly.
"No, no I'm good." She squints her eyes, trying to conjure up some of what she just saw. All she manages is a missing feeling like she forgot something and an image of a man she doesn't know on a planet she's never been. She closes her eyes. "Are you missing something too?"
"I think so… maybe it's best if it stays missing." He's afraid whatever it is will just ruin the time he has left with her.
"I keep seeing this man, I can't picture him well enough to describe him, but he acts like you did when you wore leather. And the planet he's on… it's orange."
He knows she's describing Gallifrey, how she knows that, however, he can't tell. His hearts constrict as he thinks about life without Rose. He has to savor every minute of her. He wants to get to know every different smell, taste, sound, and inch of her. Most of all her wants her to know how he feels.
"Rose Tyler, I have to tell you something…"