Ravenclaw

It took a few hours, but after some soup, tea, and a lot of sitting through incoherent babbling, Amy and Rory had finally gotten their sick friends into their own rooms. Rory took the job of watching after River, Amy took the job of watching the Doctor.

Amy stood by the Doctor's bed, tucking her friend in so he'd be warm, and hopefully stop shivering.

"A-Amy," The Doctor said between shivers, "Why are we in my room?"

"Well," Amy said trying hard to keep an upbeat relaxed tone and wishing that she had Rory's nursely expertise in dealing with patients, "You should probably sleep, you're sick after all."

The Doctor sneezed, then rolled his eyes, "I've b, been sleeping all day Amy. I'm fine. Besides, I have superior biology, I don't ge, ge, ahchoo!" He sneezed, "Get sick."

Amy paused and shifted slightly, "I would say that you do get sick. You have the four day flu." She informed.

"Four day flu?" The Doctor's eyes were wide, "Who has that? That disease is dreadful!"

"You do." Amy said again, tying not to get annoyed, she'd been playing this game all day.

"Oh. Well that sucks." The Doctor huffed, then coughed. He flopped down into the cushions around him, hands at his throat, "Ow," he croaked, "My throat hurts!"

"I know." Amy said exasperated.

"Also," The Doctor went on, "I'm really cold, but I'm sweating. Those two things should s, s, s, so not be happening at the same time."

"It's the fever." Amy informed. "Just, try to relax, okay? You'll get through this, I'll be here with you until you do."

"Kay." The Doctor sniffed. Then he fell into a coughing fit, Amy flinched at each cough as her childhood hero writhed in pain. When the Doctor opened his eyes, Amy could see the utter confusion in his gaze. "R, r, r, Rose?" He asked, "Where did Rose go?"

Amy's heart broke, "Doctor," She said carefully, "Rose isn't around."

"Oh." The Doctor got a distant sad smile on his face, "I miss Rose." He said. "Did you know," He giggled and rolled over to better face Amy, "that Rose smelled like sunshine and flowers?"

"I, I didn't know that." Amy said, both interested, and saddened at the Doctor's words.

"Well she did." The Doctor stated, amusement and a strange gloom shining in his eyes "Rose was my sunshine, the reason I was able to keep going." He frowned, "But, but when she had to go," He sucked in a breath that carried an air of despair, "I wasn't really able to take it." The Doctor looked like he may cry. Amy couldn't help herself, she sat on the Doctor's bed and held his hand, feeling the unnatural warmth radiate from the Doctor's touch.

The Doctor didn't try to stop the rare tear from rolling down his face. "I'm," He started, "I'm really, really grateful that the others were there. Donna. Martha. Heh, even Jack. They pulled me out of madness, but they all had to leave too, which put me through more madness. I have Amy now. And Rory. I hope they never leave. But, but I know they have too." He sniffed, coughing a bit. "I just hope that when…when they do leave, they'll be safe. " He grasped onto Amy's hand, squeezing it as if some part of him knew that she was there. He found himself coughing some more. Amy found herself crying.

"You, you can't live in the future Doctor." She whispered the words, "You're here now. I'm here now. And…and you also have River. She'll be around with you for a long, long time.

The Doctor sucked in a painful breath. "No." He said. "River is sad."

"Sad?"

"Yes." He shook his head, "River is…she's my soul mate. She makes me believe in all the good things of the universe. She's interesting, fun, fantastic, and just as wonderfully crazy as I am. I love her. But she is sad. She won't be with me forever. She'll be gone, and I'll be left staring at a hole in my life in my life that will stretch for years. Years without her."

Amy didn't know what to say. "Wha, wha," Her voice was unsteady, "What is going to happen?"

The Doctor had utter sorrow on his face, he sat up and looked Amy in the eyes, "Spoilers." Was his one word. Then he sneezed, falling back to his pillows as he did. When he opened his eyes, he was laughing, "A, Amy! He said when he saw the redhead clutching his hand, "Where did you come from?" He snorted, "Oh, it doesn't matter, I've been thinking," He paused to grin, "what Hogwarts house would you be sorted into if you attended the school? I would be in Ravenclaw myself, on account of my cleverness." He chuckled, coughing as he did, "What about you?"

Amy just stared, tears still running down her face.

The Doctor frowned, "You look like you need a hug," He observed, sitting up as he spoke, "come here." He wrapped his companion in a hug, one which Amy returned. Then, he fell asleep on her shoulder. Amy wheezed in a pained breath, she didn't know how much more of this she could take.

Authors Notes

I was drawing up a blank on what to write for the second chapter, so I went and wrote a little mini story, I tried to make it flow well with the overarching story, I hope it didn't break things up too badly. Tell me what you thought if you'd like. Thanks for reading 3 LiBP