"River, I can't keep helping you like this," the Doctor huffed, his tone angry.
"You always say that," River responded, "And yet you still come every time."
Once they had landed, River practically skipped out of the TARDIS. The Doctor was just behind her, still mad. She needed to understand that one day he might not be there to save her. He knew that one day, she would meet a version of him that never knew her... and he knew that she would feel the worst heartbreak... and he didn't even want to think about breaking her heart.
"Are we on Brus?" she asked, her voice chiming like the bars of a xylophone being hit.
"No," The Doctor replied in almost a growl, "We're on the planet Eremirupes in 2890 AD. And you're trying to change the subject. It won't work."
River walked to the edge of the cliff and smiled as she stared into the distance to see a beautiful planet. This cliff reminded her a little of the Grand Canyon in America on her home planet - Earth. Or... moreso, her lineage was of Earth. She knew, though, that it wasn't really her home. The TARDIS was her true home.
He glared at the back of her head, his stare boring into the gorgeous bouncy curls that fell from the top of her scalp to her shoulders and some were a little past that. His arms crossed against his chest made it apparent that he was incredibly unhappy.
She turned to face the Doctor. "No need to be so grumpy, Sweetie," she said in the way that only River could. It put the Doctor in a mood, that's for sure.
"I am NOT grumpy! You were being foolish," The Doctor yelled, "Going to Xeros to steal exhibits from the museum is NOT the way to keep oneself out of prison, River."
She was surprised he was yelling at her. "I only did it for you, my love..." she whispered.
"I'm NOT going to accept a gift that has been STOLEN, MELODY POND!" He screamed, using her birth name, which he only did when he was incredibly angry. He'd been having a bad week... the worst of weeks... the darkest of weeks. He had managed to keep it bottled but something about River just made him able to take it all out... unfortunately on her.
She gasped and took a step back when his loud and angry scoldings rang in her ears. She lost her footing on the edge of the cliff. She fell, shrieking, to the ledge below. The Doctor's face fell. He was no longer angry at River, but moreso at himself. How could he have let himself do that? No time for scolding. He needed to see if River was okay. He moved quickly and carefully to the edge of the cliff to see his beautiful wife ten metres below him.
"Doctor!" River cried weakly. She was desperate. She was terrified. He noticed her fear and desperation. He had never heard that tone in her voice before. "Please, Doctor, help! It hurts! Oh, it hurts..." She was actually crying... something she didn't do often, especially from physical pain.
The Doctor nodded and pulled his Sonic Screwdriver out of his pocket. He took measurements and such of the ledge and decided that it would be a terrible idea to try and fit the TARDIS on the ledge with River on it. "Okay, River, just wait a moment," he whispered as he ran into the TARDIS, moving it to the edge just above River. He retrieved a couple of harnesses and rope and made a makeshift sonic-reacting puller-upper thing... at least, that's what he would have called it if he had time to think. He made sure the ropes were secured to the puller-upper. He quickly opened the doors to the TARDIS and rappelled down the side of the cliff to his lovely bride.
"Doctor," the tiny and weak voice begged, "Please help me. I can't move anything... but I can feel everything."
He faked a smile and said, "Shhh... I just need to get this harness around you." He attempted to lift her up so that he could buckle the harness, but she let out a shrill cry that pierced the air, and he gently but speedily replaced her. There was an immediate rumble with what seemed to be an earthquake-like shake. The Doctor pulled out his sonic and scanned the area. It wasn't stable. He needed to get River up to the TARDIS and fast.
"How are you so calm?" River asked, before taking a small gasp, "Is... is this where I die?"
The Doctor smiled before chuckling, "No... No, River, this isn't where you die. I saw where you died, and it wasn't here." Now that he was thinking about it, that memory made him sick. His own wife, and he wouldn't even recognize her when she would sacrifice her life for him. Again. He cleared his throat to disrupt the awkward silence.
"Then where do I die, Doctor?" River mumbled. Another chuckle out of the Doctor. "Spoilers," he whispered, before handing her the sonic. He picked her up, and she screamed in a pitch that was purely agonizing. Another rumble and the earth shook again. He had her in his arms bridal style and tears streamed gently down her face. "Now," the Doctor said, "I'm going to count to three, and on three, you're going to activate the sonic screwdriver in order to activate the sonic device that will pull us up. Do you understand?" River nodded carefully. "Is it going to hurt me, Doctor?" she squeaked quietly. He smiled. "It will only hurt a little. A slight pinch, maybe," he responded, "Ready? One... Two... THREE!" She activated everything and they were pulled up quickly onto the top of the cliff, but the shrill and painfilled cries that River made were unmistakable: it wasn't just a pinch. "DOCTOR!" she sobbed. "Rule number one," the Timelord muttered, "The Doctor lies."
He swiftly but gently carried her into the blue telephone box. The Doctor asked the TARDIS to create an antigravity field in the control room big enough for River to float in for a few moments as he unhooked everything. The TARDIS was obedient, and as he was finishing untying the ropes, the voice interface command appeared in front of him. The image showed Idris. She had been the incarnation of the TARDIS, so he felt like she was the one who fit his beautiful time machine best. "I have a question, Doctor," the Voice Interface said. "Yes? What is it... Sexy?" he whispered, trying to be quiet about the nickname he had for his stolen machine. "I heard that," River breathed. The Doctor gave a half smile as the Voice interface continued, "Would you like me to use the antigravity field to take River Song to her room?"
The Doctor glanced at River and shook his head. "No, I think I'll carry my wife to bed myself, thank you," he said regaining his grasp on River. the antigravity field disappeared, gently dropping River fully into the Doctor's arms. He carefully wound his way through the maze of hallways and entered River's room. He laid her down on the bed gently and she whimpered from the pain she was experiencing. She was crying like a child... and from his travels, he had seen her only a little while ago as a child... as a baby, even. His hearts hurt from the thought.
He gave a heavy sigh, "You're not going to like what I'm about to do." She was wailing but seemed mostly motionless on the bed. "Please, Doctor... make the pain go away! It's too much! I ... I can't handle it," she bawled. He could hear the seriousness in her voice. He lifted her shirt slightly, revealing only her stomach, which was covered in bruises. He could see the bottom of her rib cage and could tell that some of her ribs were broken. He would've used the sonic to see what was broken had she not been in so much pain. He definitely knew that her right wrist was broken... again. He put his hands on the side of her waiste and began to use some of his regeneration energy. She squirmed a bit, not liking the fact that he was wasting his energy on her.
"I'm not wasting it," the Doctor said, as if he could read her mind, "It's not being wasted if it's being used on you." He only used the energy for a moment before stopping, and she breathed. "I didn't do much, so you're not completely healed. But enough to stop the pain for right now. The healing process now should only take an hour or so," he informed her as he reached over to carefully take and examine the broken wrist. He gently kissed the back of her hand as another tear fell from her eye.
"Will you lie here with me? Until I'm healed?" the curly-haired professor asked. The Doctor cautiously crawled over her to the middle of the bed and gently pulled her so that her right side was resting on his left shoulder. He buried his face into her curls and took a sniff. He loved the way she smelled. It was fresh, but smelled like danger. Not too much Danger, though, but enough to have a... dare he think... sexy edge to it.
After several minutes of him examining her hand, he asked, "Does it still hurt?" River nodded. "On a scale of 1 to 10, how much does it hurt?" he questioned, trying to understand how much pain she was in. "Twenty," she said hoarsely. There was a pause. "The broken bones and bruises hurt as well," she said, a hint of venom in her words. She wanted to sting the Doctor as he had done to her. But she suddenly noticed that tears were falling from his eyes, silently.
"Doctor? I..." River began, but he interrupted, "I'm sorry, River, about what I said to you. I've not had a pleasant week. Traces of your parents everywhere I turn. I was angry... and you happen to be the only one able to uncork me when I get my feelings and anger bottled up." River winced as she moved her left hand to his face to wipe away the tears. "No, my love, I need to learn to listen," she responded quietly. She felt that moments like these were some of the most intimate with the Doctor she had. She pressed her lips to his carefully and he moved her hand back to a more comfortable position.
He pulled away, half unwillingly, in order to speak. "You need to relax and rest, my dear. My Beautiful Song," the Doctor smiled. He ran his hand through her golden locks to pull them away from her neck. He gently pecked her neck and jaw several times. "How can I relax with you kissing me like that?" she asked with a sigh.
They sat in silence for a moment before the Doctor inquired, "Why do you perform these criminal acts, River? I mean, I will always love you, criminal or not, but I'd like to know what you're stealing and why." His voice was soft and patient, as if trying to relinquish something vital from a child. She didn't say anything for a few moments. It was like she was searching for an explanation or the right words.
"They tried to take it," she murmured. The Doctor was confused. "Take what?" he asked. She moved her left hand to her breast pocket, grimacing at the pain. She pulled out a beautiful silver ring that was designed to look almost like the stars in Van Gogh's "Starry Night" painting. But the only thing that was colored was a gem on the ring that was about 3/4 of a centimetre in diameter. It was a blue gem with specks of white making it truly look like space and the stars within the universe.
The Doctor smirked. "Now why would they want this?" he asked, taking it from her gently. "If it shines, sparkles, or glitters, then someone else is always going to want it," River replied, trying to be cheeky. It sounded less so as she felt the pain in her ribcage... the burning sensation that she knew to be healing. "How did they get a hold of it, honey?" the Doctor tried to make her feel successful by acting flirty in return. "They took it off my finger." she said simply. "Oh, River," The Doctor said, his tone disbelieving but still joking, "I can't imagine them even getting within feet of you. How did they *really* get it?" He couldn't see it, but he definitely knew she was scowling. He kissed her neck once more. She sighed.
"Fine..." she grumbled, "I was fighting off a herd of Nepokretians, y'know, those blokes who apparently can paralyze someone for 16 hours? Well, I didn't quite know that they were those guys. They got me. In what I believe was hour two, the Museum fellas came by and checked me... they thought I was dead. Took nothing but the ring, though. Only interested in the rarity, I suppose. Didn't touch a hair on my head, except the ring... and that pissed me off." River could feel the anger boiling up inside her again. How dare they take something that was so precious to her?! And to think that she almost didn't get it back... the thought brought tears to her eyes and a slight sob that couldn't be held back to her mouth.
The Doctor smiled and slipped the ring back onto her left ring finger, then kissed her left hand. He didn't let go of it. He said, "River, my love, don't cry over this ring. It's on your finger now. And if it ever gets lost again, you know that I will find it. And I will return it to my wife's hand every time. Because you are worth more to me than any gem, any life, any trip, any moment of time. You are River Song, the Wife of the Doctor, the most beautiful and most gorgeous, and bravest, and loveliest woman alive. You are mine, River. You are my most precious Song. I will always be with you. Always. And you don't need a ring to remember that."
She smiled and sighed, leaning more into him as his arm wrapped around her stomach. The Doctor pulled her in for another long and passionate kiss. When they broke apart, the Doctor had a smug look on his face. "What?" River asked, knowing something was up. "Oh, I just remembered that I also forgot to mention that you are also the luckiest woman to have such a marvelous husband," he said with a tone of mock pride. She smacked him with her left hand hard enough to hurt but gently enough for him to know she was playing around.
River was healed in about an hour, just as the Doctor had predicted, but she fell asleep in the arms of her husband, who didn't dare wake her, in fear of losing the moment... and also in fear of her wrath and fury.