AM I A GOOD MAN?

Chapter Two

Pete's World

Rose paced back and forth while she looked at the clock for what appeared to be the tenth time in the last three minutes. She thought back to just before she had brought her husband to the A & E and how scared she was.

Two hours ago

"Whatcha watching," Gaz asked as he leaned over the back of the couch and Rose looked at him. When they became stranded in the alternate universe, the human meta-crisis of the Doctor had decided on the name Gary Nicholas Lachlan and she didn't mind calling him "Gaz". She still couldn't get over how open and carefree he was and he always told her he loved her before they went to bed. She was more shocked when he asked her to marry him only two weeks after they had arrived.

"Are you out of your minds?" Jackie had asked then arranged for a near royal wedding for them and they had honeymooned in Scotland. It was there that he had picked out his name and he gave Rose a sweet smile.

"I'm watching Spies of Warsaw," she said and he rolled his eyes.

"Why are you watching that for? You've seen it, oh, at least a million times!"

"I have not," she said and he hopped over the top of the couch and settled next to her.

"You just like it because that guy looks like me," he said, arching his eyebrows up and down.

"Nah, he looks nothing like you," she said and he placed his head on her shoulder. They watched the movie, but he seemed uncomfortable and she noticed his hands were shaking. "Are you ok?"

"I don't know," he said softly when a sharp pain roared through his body and he screamed. Rose quickly got off the couch as Gaz slid to the floor and curled his body into a ball. "It's hurts."

"I'm calling an ambulance," she said as she picked up the handset off the charger and pushed 999. Gaz moaned as she talked with the operator and she knelt on the floor next to him. She pushed the button to end the call then placed the handset on the coffee table and brushed the hair out of his eyes.

"Rose?" Jackie said while she, Tony and Pete walked in the room and Rose ran to her mother, hugging her. Jackie hushed her while rubbing her back and Pete gave her a concerned look. When he found out that Rose and Gaz were stranded in this universe, Pete had gone to the trouble of getting identification for Gaz and even funded him when he decided to go school. Even though he had the Doctor's memories, he felt like he needed to prove he could do the work himself and graduated from four universities in under three years, earning a number of degrees.

"Have the doctors said anything?" Pete finally asked and Rose looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"No," she said, shaking her head.

"Well, I'll go see what I can find out," Pete said as he left the room and Rose held onto Jackie.

A month later

The first thing Gaz heard as his mind came out of the darkness was a soft hissing sound. The second and third thing he heard was a light beeping sound and a clicking noise. Something was covering his mouth and nose and he felt tired. He slowly reached up to touch whatever was over his nose and mouth when he felt someone take his hand and he sighed.

"Leave it," Rose's voice said, but she sounded like she was underwater.

"Rose?" he asked softly and felt her kissing the top of his head.

"Yeah, it's me," she said and he slowly opened his eyes. The chocolate brown eyes looked at little bloodshot and runny as she used a tissue to wipe them and he blinked his eyes a few times. "Hello."

"What happened?" he asked then noticed how rough his voice sounded.

"The doctors aren't sure. All they know is you had a very high fever and some of your organs were failing."

"How long have I been asleep?"

"You've been in a coma for a month," she said and ran her finger over the beard. "Now you look like that Alec Hardy guy."

"You and your tv characters," he said with a weak smile. "Am I going to be alright?"

"That's the thing. The doctors have run numerous tests after your fever broke and there isn't anything wrong with you other than the fact you were still in a coma."

"That's weird," he said then sighed. He thought for a few minutes then looked at her and she saw something in his eyes. "Do you think I regenerated?"

"No, you still look the same."

"I mean internally."

"I don't know," Rose said when the door opened and the nurse walked in the room.

"Why didn't you ring to tell me he was awake?" the nurse asked in a tart tone. She had heard Pete Tyler's son-in-law was in the hospital and had heard rumors on how Jackie was demanding the best care of him.

"I was going to," Rose said as she stepped back and Gaz looked at the nurse.

"Don't talk to my wife like that," he growled and Rose hushed him, brushing the hair from his forehead. After the nurse left the room, Gaz looked at Rose and she sat on the edge of the bed, taking his hand.

"I was thinking," he said and Rose smiled.

"You know that gives you a headache," she teased and he rolled his eyes.

"I'm being serious here," he said and she lightly giggled. "What if I wasn't the one who regenerated?"

"You think the Doctor has regenerated?" she asked and he sighed.

"I think so," he said and pressed his lips together. "If that's true then he is on his next to last life. Time Lords can only regenerate twelve times."

"Oh no," she said and he sighed.

"You're going to be mad at me," he said and she gave him a puzzled look. "I knew I wasn't feeling good."

"Why didn't you say something?" she demanded and he gave her sad puppy eyes.

"I thought it was just that flu that was going around Torchwood," he sighed and she gently smacked his right shoulder. "Ouch."

"Sorry," she said, rubbing his shoulder. "Do you really think he's regenerated?"

"There is only one way to find out," he said. "We need to use my TARDIS."

"She isn't ready."

Using the shortcut Donna had given them, Gaz was able to grown a TARDIS five years ago and Pete had given him a secret lab at Torchwood to use. He handpicked a team to help him and he was thrilled when the TARDIS made contact with him for the very first time.

"She'll have to be," he sighed then closed his eyes and she watched him drift off to sleep.

Three weeks later

"Right, what do you think?" Gaz said as he walked down the ramp that led up to the dressing room and Rose smiled at him. He was wearing a brown pinstripe suit, a white shirt, a blue tie with purple swirls, a tan long coat, black socks and white converse. He had gotten his hair cut and the dark brown hair stood wild on the top of his head. She did miss the beard and she giggled when he placed the fedora on top of his head. "Is it too much?"

"Yeah," she said and he turned, tossing the fedora into the dressing room. She watched him walk down the ramp when he walked to the console and looked at the time rotor moving up and down behind the glass. He had kept the coral control room and the outside liked like a blue police call box. A tattered jump seat was to the right of the console and she watched him moving around the console, pushing buttons, flicking levers, turning dials and looking at the screens. He had put on his dark frame glasses as he held his tongue between his teeth then smiled, placing his hand on the handle of the hand break.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" she asked and he scrunched up his nose.

'Of course I do. Well, maybe. No, I do. Sorta," he said and she giggled. She loved when he rambled and he leaned against the console, folding his arms over his chest. "What's with the giggling? Don't you think I can do it?"

"Of course I do," she said, patting his arm.

"Then take a seat, Miss Smarty Pants," he said as he shooed her away from the console and she sat on the jump seat. Pulling on the hand break, Gaz looked at the screens as he walked around the console and she looked at his bottom. She had forgotten how sexy he looked then mentally slapped herself.

"He isn't the Doctor," she thought and her heart ached. She had wondered if the Doctor had regenerated. Having gone through regeneration before, she hoped he had someone with him for the idea of him not having anyone to hold his hand scared her.

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