Time throughout the day simply dragged. El had been in surgery for almost 12 hours. Jo and Ruby sat in the corridor in the hospital waiting on any news. Everything looked incredibly bleak. A surgeon updated them every two hours, but both Ruby and Jo were starting to lose faith. Perhaps El wouldn't make it out of this one, and that was a very real reality that they were facing.

It was now 3am in the morning, Ruby was falling asleep on Jo's shoulder. The corridor they were in was incredibly quiet. Jo couldn't find it in herself to sleep, she was far too worried about El. She had been fidgeting with her car keys the entire time she had been sitting. Of course, they both had toilet and snack breaks, but other than that, they were both in silence.

A door opened down the corridor. Almost silent footsteps came their way. When Jo looked up, she saw that it was Kate. The blood from injuries that had been bleeding earlier had now dried into her shirt. Of course, Kate looked exhausted, she'd been using her powers to try and find Olivia and she had no luck. Then she turned to practical detective work, where she had a little luck but not much.

Jo scoffed quietly, 'You have a nerve.'

Kate felt as exhausted as she looked. She was pale and needed sleep. Any hope she had was merely a tiny spark, 'Jo…' Her voice trembled. Losing another child was unthinkable, and it being her fault first hand this time would destroy her. That reality, she couldn't face, 'Where is she?'

'Still in surgery. They're closing her up now, but they still don't know if she's going to make it.' Jo was cold and blunt, but speaking quietly so she wouldn't disturb Ruby, who was now sleeping on her lap. Jo was incredibly angry with her and when she looked at Kate, the hatred in her eyes was something that Kate had never seen before, 'She is going to be incredibly poorly for a long time.'

Kate's chin wobbled and she put her hands on her hips, quickly dropping them, 'I can help her, I could use my own artron energy-'

'You and I both know that would launch a full regeneration, and you don't want that. Losing this face has been the one thing that scares the living shit out of you, so it's not happening.' Jo sneered, 'What were you thinking? She mentions a lover from two centuries ago and you lose your temper? How special was Isabella? Really? Is she special enough to have El lose her life over her?'

'No.' Kate said quietly, looking down at the floor, 'She…She isn't.'

'God forbid El doesn't make it through this-'

'She will. El is strong as nails. She has been through worse. You almost bludgeoned her to death!'

'That's not the same as this and you know it, don't you dare!' Jo hissed. She went quiet for a moment, 'Why aren't you locked up right now?'

'Because I'm the only one who can find Olivia. Carmichael-'

'Has a special spot for you. That woman would bend over backwards if asked for you.' She noticed how Kate looked away. She found something bitterly sweet in this, 'Oh? She isn't standing by you for this?'

'She wants me to find Olivia. After that, she wants me to leave for a while. She thinks that being here isn't a good idea because…' A tear fell down her face, 'I'm too much like the Doctor. I…I can't control my anger and look where it has gotten us! Here! She's fighting for her life and I…I can't do anything.'

'This is another prime example of your actions having consequences Kate. Maybe you should go elsewhere for a while…After you've found Olivia that is.'

Just as Kate was about to reply, the surgeon from earlier appeared and approached Jo. Jo gently shook Ruby awake to get her attention. Realisng what was happening, Ruby sat up and waited to hear the news.

The surgeon approached Jo with a gentle tone, 'Miss Davidson? El is now out of surgery…I will have to warn you…Given the extent of her injuries, she will have to be on life support for a while yet. The injuries to her lungs needed a lot of work to fix…For the moment, she is on a ventilator and we don't know how long she will have to be on this for.'

Kate jumped in, 'What about her brain? She…She came out of the window screen…I assume it was head first, so what…What will her brain be like? What is it like? I'm…I'm El's sister…'

The surgeon couldn't look more uncertain if he tried. He took a breath and looked between them, 'There are signals in the brain, the brain is still working. We…' He took a breath, 'I think that you have to prepare yourselves for the possibility of her never regaining consciousness.'

The devastation was palpable. All three women were shocked by the news.

'I will have to emphasize, there is a chance that she could regain consciousness. How her brain will be, we won't know until and if she does regain consciousness.'

Ruby was incredibly torn, 'What are the chances of both? What are the chances of her waking up and what are the chances of the opposite?'

'At this stage it is too early to tell. We will have to watch and monitor her for the next few days for any signs of improvement or otherwise. You can all go and see her, but I have to warn you, she is still swollen from the surgery and might not look like how you're used to.'

Jo nodded, 'Thank you doctor.'

Once the surgeon had gone, Jo looked back at Kate with daggers, 'If she doesn't make it out of this, let's make one thing incredibly clear.' She stood up now and walked over to her, getting into her face, 'I will kill you, and I don't just mean this version of you, I mean that I will push you past regenerating to the point that there is no way that you can come back. If she dies, you'd better take a leaf out of your mum and Dad's book, and run and never look back. If you do, I have my ways. Do you understand me Kate?'

'I have a daughter to look after, I'm not abandoning her.'

'You abandoned all of your other children. You don't deserve them.' Jo sneered, 'You're immortal, go and make another family elsewhere, because if El dies, that's what you're doing.'

Without another word, Jo left Kate standing there in the middle of the corridor. While Ruby looked back at her, she couldn't think of anything nice to say. She was too hurt right now to say anything.

…

Walking into El's hospital room was like walking into a coldness. Here Ruby and Jo were side by side, but Kate could only stand outside and observe through the blinded window outside. She saw the tubes and wires, the bandage around her sister's skull. She saw the bruises and heard the ventilator doing her breathing for her. There was no doubt that this was her fault, again. Kate blamed herself, of course she did, but she couldn't think of a way to fix it.

Jo and Ruby took seats on either side of El's bed. Each of them took one of her cold hands. They couldn't find the words to say anything. Given how early in the morning it was, they both simply wanted sleep. That being said, Ruby was asleep twenty minutes later, but she kept a hold of El's hand the entire time.

Jo merely spent her time thinking about the one person who didn't deserve any of this, kept getting caught in every crossfire conceivable. Jo took in everything she saw, the casted pots on both of El's arms, the many rods that were keeping her legs together. It was a tragic sight to behold. Twenty years old and barely a life lived without a terrible shadow following her.

As a mother, Jo wanted the best for El, and if that meant taking her children away from the danger of Kate, she would do it. Despite her own devious intentions to get Kate back, if they had to move somewhere else in the country to start again, she would.

…

Kate looked on, feeling nothing but shame and guilt. She was so focused on her own thoughts that she didn't see her dad, the Doctor, standing beside her, looking in the same direction. His voice startled her, 'You have a lot of explaining to do.'

Kate sniffed and wiped her eyes, 'Why are you here?'

'For you, all of you. I'm here for you all.' He looked down briefly, 'You need to find olivia.'

'I will…once I figure it out.' Kate was stubborn, but she didn't look at him, 'I could scan her, but I can't bring myself to do it.'

'You have to start taking responsibility for your actions Kate. I'm not going to stand here and feed you lies or a truth you want to hear, I've done that for far too long.' He sighed, 'You need to figure things out for yourself.'

Kate swallowed, 'In other words, you're done with my shit? I'm as bad as the Master?'

'I never said you were as bad as him. You're not cold and callous like him, that would be a stretch…But I do feel like you need to grow up.' They met each other's gaze then, 'Isabella died two hundred years ago. She wouldn't want this. She wouldn't want you to act so destructive when someone mentions her name. That's dragging her name and memory through the dirt. She would be angry that you act so awfully without another thought when her name is mentioned in an argument. El might not even make it through this! That would be on you!'

Kate ground her jaw, but she could see what he was saying.

Reluctantly, despite his own anger at her, the Doctor scanned El through the hospital room window. He looked back at Kate with what could only be described as disappointment and shame before he read the screwdriver, 'Her internal injuries were massive. Her skull was cracked in several places. Luckily, her spinal cord is fine, so she will still be able to walk, but she will be on some strong pain meds for the rest of her life. Morphine to name but one. Who knows? The knock on the head might have cured the schizophrenia.' The last comment was sarcastic, 'I don't know how I'm looking at you!'

'Help me find Olivia. I won't ask you to help me with anything again. He could be doing anything to her, and I don't need this on my conscience as well. Dad, please!' She pleaded with him.

'You have a conscience when it suits you.' The Doctor hissed, 'But yes, I will help you. This is for her, not you. After this, you are on your own.' He looked down, feeling nothing but shame that they were at this point. It hit him, 'It's always El! She is the one that gets caught in the crossfire every time! The only one of your children who has a chance at life! Each and every time, it's either you, Jo or some monster that does something to her.'

'I may as well be a monster too.' Kate shrugged.

'No, no, you're not a monster. I've seen worse, I've seen you do worse. You just keep making the same mistakes and it is costing you and those around you.' The Doctor warned, 'If you want a normal life, stop letting your alien side become of you. You've been on Earth longer than you were ever on Gallifrey. You have a woman who loves you, and two daughters. Put your life right now into perspective and stop throwing it away for someone who has been beneath the ground for centuries now. You need to grow up before you lose everything.'

The Doctor looked down and put his hands in his pockets, 'Outskirts of Manchester.'

Kate frowned at him, 'Sorry?'

'Olivia is being held somewhere on the outskirts of Manchester, and you need to get to her, fast or she will end up dead.'

Kate's thoughts were frantic now, 'Can't we use the TARDIS?'

'The lunatic knows we exist, we aren't going to help encourage his narrative. You.' He turned to face her, 'You have to do this yourself. Put your detective hat on, sort your priorities and prove to everyone that you are the detective that you were before all hell broke loose. You can do this, you can win your family back and live the life you want. Start taking control Kate, please.' He was pleading with her, whether the message would get through or not, he would wait and see.

Kate nodded slowly, 'Okay…Do you have an address? I need to get back-up teams, possibly an armed response unit. Max is dangerous, and we need to approach this tactically.' Her gut turned at the thought of what Olivia might be going through right now, 'He could have done anything to her, and that's what frightened her.

'Give me your phone.'

Kate went into her pocket and grabbed out her phone, giving it to the Doctor, who already had his sonic screwdriver at the ready.

'What are you doing?'

'Transferring data. This will all automatically go into the police systems and notify Carmichael and all the people that need to know about this. You get off, go to the station and do the right procedures. El and everyone else needs you alive, so please don't take risks that could endanger your life.'

Kate laughed emptily, 'I doubt my family will want anything to do with me now.'

'And they might still find forgiveness somewhere within themselves.' The Doctor said bluntly, 'If you end up dead, none of them will forgive you.' He passed her phone back, 'Go now. I'll let you know if there is any change with El.'

Kate took her phone back, giving the Doctor a small smile, 'Thank you.' She looked back at El, giving merely a solemn gaze. Regret hung heavily in her chest, but there was nothing more she could do. Her only job now was to save Olivia from a monster.