In her time traveling with the Doctor, Amelia Pond had become quite accustomed to surprises.
Between his initial crash-landing in her garden and the consequent string of alien encounters, cyborgs and pirates, Amy had become almost used to the constant impossibilities that seemed to tumble through her life. Yet even all the shocks that came with being a companion could not have prepared her for waking up in her Leadworth home one morning to see the TARDIS parked haphazardly in the backyard.
"Doctor?" Amy said in shock, blinking the sleep from her eyes and reconfirming her sanity with a second glance outside. "Doctor! Rory, the Doctor's here!"
A bleary-eyed Rory shuffled into the living room, catching only a glimpse of his wife's pajamas as she swung out the back door and tore across the lawn. He hastened to follow her, feet scrambling across the dewy grass, whilst Amy knocked furiously on the blue paneled door.
"Doctor!" she yelled, banging a fist on the wood. "Doctor?"
There was a hiss, as if of hydraulics, and the door sprung inwards, swaying on its hinges. Amy raised her eyebrows in surprise, gave Rory a slightly bewildered look, and stepped inside.
The control room of the TARDIS looked the same as ever. The console sat, gleaming in all of its mechanical glory. The space glowed with an ambient, orange light, issuing from fittings in the walls. Scanners, roundels and levers dangled from the main control panel, which gleamed as though (and as was probable in Amy's mind, knowing the Doctor's doting relationship with his vehicle), recently polished. In Amy's eyes, there was only one thing that made the room seem any different to usual - there was no sign of the Doctor.
"Hello?" she called out hesitantly, her voice echoing off the metal wall panels. It met no reply.
Amy glanced back towards the doorway, her concerned features meeting Rory's confused ones.
"Maybe he just stepped out for a second..." the centurion suggested weakly, stepping inside the console room and clasping his wife's hand in what was intended as a reassuring manner.
"I'm up here." he called thinly, and Amy spotted him at last, perched on the stairs of one of the tiered side platforms, hidden partially by the shadows.
"Doctor!" she replied excitedly, beaming up at the stooped figure. "We weren't expecting you for another week! I thought you were headed off for somewhere in the Akhaten system!"
"That was the initial plan. Never quite made it, though." he mumbled, holding his head up with one tweed-sleeved arm.
"Did something, er, happen? Are you alright?" Amy questioned hesitantly, exchanging a concerned look with Rory.
"Me? Oh, I'm fine." the Doctor replied in a falsely cheerful tone, finally raising his head and glancing at his companions. Amy noted immediately that he looked feverish; droplets of sweat covered his brow, and his cheeks were flushed. "Yes, I was planning on dropping in to Akhaten, had a few things to check up on, but as I said, never quite made it there."
The Doctor gave a groan and attempted to stand, but this appeared to be too much - he sufficed for hauling himself upright using the balustrade. He gave a half-hearted grin of satisfaction.
"Er, Doctor, are you sure you're okay?" Rory asked cautiously.
"Of course I am. I'm the king of okay!" he answered breathily, with only a hint of his usual sass. He blinked heavily, as though the effort of opening his eyes again was almost too much.
"Doctor, I-" Amy began.
"Oh, stop worrying, Ponds." the Doctor slurred, eyes losing their focus. Finally he gave a precarious wobble, and toppled down the stairs with a clatter.
"Doctor!" Amy shrieked, dashing forwards and gripping his coat tightly. "Rory, help!"
The centurion leapt to her side, grabbing up the Doctor's wrist.
"He's alive, his pulse is steady." Rory relayed hastily. "He's fainted, that's all."
"Well, make him un-faint!" Amy demanded stubbornly, and totally irrationally. "You were a nurse, weren't you?!"
"A human nurse." Rory corrected her. "But he's not human, is he? He's an alien. His biology is completely different. I mean, if I tried to help him I'd probably end up stopping his second heart or something."
"We can't just leave him there!" Amy spluttered in disbelief. "Surely there's something we can do!"
"What, call 999?" Rory replied sarcastically.
"No, but maybe we could call someone else." Amy stated matter-of-factly, getting to her feet and snatching the phone off its hook.
"Who?" Rory asked, glancing up at his wife in surprise.
Amy dialed hastily, before turning back to the centurion.
"Our daughter." she said simply, bringing the receiver to her ear.
~~~{###}~~~
When he regained consciousness, the Doctor was first aware that he was no longer on the floor of the TARDIS, but on what felt like his bed. The second thing he noticed was that every inch of his body ached like it had been battered. His eyes flittered open slowly, and then widened in surprise.
"River?" he asked croakily, eyes meeting those of his wife.
"Hello, sweetie." she murmured, brushing a strand of hair out of his eyes. "How are you?"
"Not too bad." he answered, attempting to sit up before being shoved back down almost immediately.
"No no, no sitting up for you yet." River apprehended, sitting down on the bed beside him. "And you're a terrible liar. You look awful."
"Thanks, honey." he laughed, coughing dryly. "You don't look too bad yourself."
"Oh, I hate you." she returned, barely containing the smirk that tugged at the corners of her lips. "How do you feel?"
"I've felt better." he admitted with a sigh. "I seem to be having difficulty piecing together the last few hours, though - would you mind giving me a refresher?"
"Mother called, after you fainted." River stated. "And-" "Fainted, did I?" the Doctor interrupted, vaguely amused.
"Yes, you did. And down a flight of stairs, too." River added. "Your theatrics truly know no end."
Ignoring the jibe, the Doctor stretched his limbs out, wincing slightly. "So that explains the aching, then."
"I suppose it does, although it could well be whatever damned disease you've managed to pick up." River commented. "Actually, that reminds me of something."
She swiftly picked up a pillow and threw it, hard, straight into the unprepared face of her husband, who spluttered in shock.
"You idiot! What on earth do you think you're doing to yourself, behaving the way you have been?" she fumed.
"What is that supposed to mean?" the Doctor asked snappily.
"You know full well what it means! You might not be human like the rest of us, but you still can't go jumping through time and space like it's going out of fashion!" she scolded. "Do you ever take a break?"
"I distinctly recall taking one sometime in my fourth regeneration." he replied teasingly. "Oh, come on, River, in 900 years I have never once needed a break, I don't see why is need one now."
"Well I do! You've gone and made yourself ill!" she exclaimed, pulling out her portable scanner. "Your temperature is sky high, you haven't slept in days, and would it kill you to eat once in a while?!"
"Oh, River, that thing again?" he exclaimed tiredly. "I've told you, that scanner isn't reliable, it's just-"
"Look me in the eye and tell me I'm wrong." she cut across sharply, with an expectant stare. The Doctor shifted uncomfortably.
"I've been busy." he mumbled sheepishly.
"Oh, yes, too busy to sleep, I understand." River said sarcastically. "Besides, isn't there something fearfully ironic about the Doctor falling ill?"
The comment earned a very displeased glare.
"I'm not ill, I'm just a little dazed." he replied, ignoring River's protests and sitting up against the bed head.
"Really? Because by my observations, you've got a fever that would rival the heat of a supernova!" River returned sassily. "And at least I'm actually qualified as Dr. Song, unlike other doctors I know..."
"You're an archeologist, not a physician." he complained, rolling his eyes (though with evident effort).
"And you're a Time Lord, not a schoolboy, so stop bickering do what you're told." she snapped. "Now, lie down."
The Doctor gave a small sigh and slid complacently onto his back. River turned to the beside table and picked up a wet cloth, wringing it out before placing it on his forehead.
"You're lucky my mother called. You need someone to look after you, seeing as you refuse to." she stated gently, dabbing at his forehead with the cloth. He gave her grateful but labored smile.
"Rest, my love." River murmured softly, leaning down and kissing him swiftly before standing up and making for the door.
"No, River!" the Doctor croaked feebly, a pained look crossing his face. "Stay."
River smiled crookedly, the corners of her eyes crinkling happily. "I'd hoped you'd ask."
She strode back towards him and lay down on the bed, so close to his side that she could feel his feverish, quickened breaths rise and fall.
"Oh, and River?" he asked, voice weak and sleepy. "Mmm?"
"How did you get here? You're supposed to be in jail."
River laughed softly.
"Spoilers." she whispered.