The days dragged on by slowly. Each day was the same. Every day Amy and Rory got up, and the morning routine started. It was hard at first, so very hard, but now it was automatic. They wake up, make breakfast, and clean the house. Rory would give her a kiss as he grabbed his scrubs to go to work. Amy would hand him his lunch and a cup of coffee.
This is normal. This is what life on Earth was like. While yes they had their house, they gardened, they loved one another. Something was missing. There was a void in their life. That something special, that spark, they didn't have it. There wasn't anything there, no wonder.
Rory was okay with it. He always did want a normal life. In fact getting that job and their nice house in Manhattan was partially a blessing for him. No more danger, no more dying. He had all that he wanted. He had Amy, the woman of his dreams. The nurse didn't need to compete with a Timelord for her, she was his. They were married. Even so, he knew there was something missing and he knew what it was, but he didn't think about it as much. A comfortable happy life was good enough for him. In fact he always had his life planned out to a T for himself. Now he could have what he wanted.
His only concern was Amy.
Amy wasn't so lucky. Amy checked the window every day. She always checked the phone for messages. She couldn't settle on a job. Each day, she waited. It was hard, so very hard. Every day her heart broke a little more. Even when she made her choice, she still couldn't settle and be happy. At least, she couldn't yet. It wasn't as hard now as it had been. Those first few days she cried and even sat out all night in the garden just as she had done all those many years ago.
Even now, when Christmas comes she sets out that extra plate for him. Sometimes she thinks she can hear the familiar sound of the TARDIS. Amy would rush to the door and fling it open only to be greeted with disappointment. In her heart there is always hope, hope she will see her Raggedy Man just once more. That was impossible and she remembered him telling her way, that the time was too distorted for the TARDIS to fly there.
How could she give up Rory?
But how could she give up The Doctor?
Each day she weighed the choices she made. Was it the right one? Did she make the right choice? It was no secret that she loved The Doctor. She loved Rory as well. She was married to Rory and him to her. Who would hold The Doctor's hand? Who would stop him when he did something stupid? He could be so daft sometimes; she liked to muse to herself. There was River, her daughter, but they hardly saw one another.
Who would keep him company?
Who would fix him fish fingers and custard just the way he liked?
Amy was alone at home now and Rory was off to work. It was a normal day. The house was so very empty. Sometimes, right before their trip to Manhattan, The Doctor would come and stay with her. Sometimes he would just sit, or help her around the house even though it sometimes ended up in chaos. Other times they simply enjoyed each other's embrace on the couch…
Now the house was empty. Amy was so very alone. Again, sometimes she thought she heard the TARDIS. A few times when she was out, alone or with Rory, she would imagine seeing him. At night she dreamed. She dreamed of adventures she had with The Doctor, of adventures she may still have had if they hadn't been torn apart.
They broke her heart so very much. Even so, she chose the life she had now. Everything was her fault. Amy wouldn't change a thing even now. This was her life. Rory was her husband and the Doctor was not. He was a friend and he would live, she knew that. There was one truth she learned in all of this so far. Absence does make the heart grow fonder. Her love for her Raggedy Man only grew. It grew so much and it hurt, but as The Doctor once said, "It hurts because it matters." Oh he mattered to her. He mattered so much. If Amy could, she'd rip Time and Space apart to see him one last time. This was her life now and this is how it will end. She may not always be happy, but this is her life. This was her choice and she'd live with it.
But her love for The Doctor will never go away. That is one thing time and space will never take away or never truly heal.