"Oh nothing," Jack said, dismissing it as though it were two weeks in the Algarve.

But then he valued the Doctor more than to ignore what he wanted to know like that, so he took a long breath and sighed against the Doctor's hair.

"I missed you," he said, as though that explained all of it. And maybe it did, in a way.

"I worked," he said. "It's all I knew how to do. I looked after her because I couldn't look after you. And I--" he stopped and sighed. "I think this old thing was all that kept me going."