She's looking out the window when the phone begins to ring. She doesn't want to answer it, because she knows what the other end will say.
She swallows thickly, and stands up on shaky legs. She passes a mirror on her way to the phone, not even bothering to look at her gray hair and wrinkled face. She's seen it enough times, and she knows how she looks.
Her hand is trembling when she lifts the phone to her ear, and her voice cracks when she whispers, "Hello?"
"Amelia Williams?" the voice asks.
Amy closes her eyes, and a tear drips down her face. She's been waiting for this day since his birthday. And now, without even one word, she know that the day has come.
"Yes," she finally says, though her voice is fragile and breaking. "I'm Amy."
"It's your husband," the voice says slowly, remorseful. "He's in the hospital..."
"Is he...?" Amy chokes out.
"He's had a heart attack," the voice informs her softly. "The doctors... He's asking for you, Amelia."
She closes her eyes and takes a shaky breath. "Tell Rory I'm coming for him. Tell him he better wait. He's waited before. Tell him it's...tell him I say together, or not at all."
"I'll tell him, Mrs. Williams," the nurse says, even though she's confused. Amy hangs up at that point, and brings her shaking, ages hands to her face.
"Not yet," she whispers brokenly. "Please not yet, Rory."
She wishes she wasn't so old - and for many reasons. She could get to him quicker if her aged and tired limbs didn't protest.
(if she were younger, then he'd be too. and then this day would have years to come.)
But she's not younger, and he's running out of time, so she tries as hard as she can to reach him. When she finally arrives, a young nurse is waiting for her. The nurse leads Amy to her husband, where she quickly sits next to him and reaches for his hand.
(wrinkled and spotted, their hands still fit together perfectly.)
His eyelashes flutter as he realizes she's there, and she slowly watches him come to his surroundings.
"Hello," she says softly, because she doesn't know what else to say.
"Amy," he whispers out hoarsely. And it hits her that it's real, it's happening. Her husband is truly dying, and she can't stop it.
"I love you, stupid face," she breathes, fighting back her tears. He raises their hands to his lips, gently kissing her knuckles. "I love you so much."
"Amy," he says again, and she smiles.
"I'm not leaving," she tells him, and he sags in relief. "Together or not at all, remember?"
And he knows it's true, because it's more than words said many decades ago. It's their way of reminding each other how much they truly care, when 'I love you' doesn't get the message across.
"Together," he says back, and his voice is shaking, but she knows that he means it. He had enough movement left in his body to scoot over and make room for her. And she lays next to him and holds him while he holds her, and it's easy for them to believe that they are both young again. He presses his lips to her long, gray hair, and he whispers softly, "I will love you always, Amelia Pond."
She takes a deep breath and leans up to kiss his cheek. "Forever, Rory Williams," she says back, and he watches her until she falls asleep.
(he's careful not to speak, because he wants her to remember his last words.)
At 12:37am, Rory Williams passes away. Aged 82.
Amy wakes up at 12:43, when she realizes the monitor is quietly beeping. She glances at her husband, and then at the monitor. Her heart freezes at the sight of the flatline.
She sits up slowly, placing her hand wordlessly on Rory's cheek, and then she shakes him gently.
"Rory?" she whispers, and it is like he has died again. It's inside her. She can feel where his soul has touched hers being pulled away in some places, decaying in others, and simply fading in most. He's dying inside her, and she cannot breathe. "No. Rory, wake up. Don't do this to me. Rory. Rory, please."
She looks up to the doorway, where the nurses and doctors stand helplessly. "Wake him up!" she begs. "Please. Please, wake him up!"
The nurse shakes his head slowly, and Amy chokes. She turns back to her husband, whose cheek is now cold. "Rory. Rory!"
Tears slip down her face rapidly, and there's nothing she can do to stop them.
(she doesn't realize they are the first of the tears that won't stop for five years.)
"Rory. My Centurion," Amy whispers brokenly. "Please come back. You don't die. You never die. You can't die. Please. Please."
The doctors pull her away from him, and she gathers all of her voice to start screaming. "No! Rory! No, please! Rory, come back to me. Come back to me, stupid face! You can't leave. You can't! Not today. Not ever. Just don't be dead. Please, Rory, don't be dead."
And for the first time in several years, sobs shake Amy's fragile frame. She can't breathe, or speak. The only thing she can do is cry.
She thinks she's dying, too.
(she sacrificed herself for him. how is she supposed to live without him?)