"Sweetie, it doesn't work that way."
"Telepathic communication systems haven't been invented yet?" The doctor frowned.
"Spoilers, remember? You've got to use the same means of communication if you want to talk to Amy and Rory."
"But it's annoying!" The doctor wined childishly.
River rolled her eyes.
"It's not that hard sweetie, just type in what you want to say."
"The buttons on this so called 'mobile' phone thingy are quite fiddly…" The doctor stabbed at the buttons with his fingers, fumbling so much with the phone it almost slipped out of his hands.
River sighed. "Fine, I'll do it for you, just this once. What do you want to say?"
"I...I…" The doctor trailed off. "Let's just go see them River!" He jumped up and began madly running, pushing buttons and pulling levers on the console.
"Doctor," River began quietly, grabbing hold of him by the shoulders and steadying him. "You know if you go see them you'll want them to come back with you." She whispered.
"But…I miss them River." He whispered back.
As River looked into his eyes, she felt all he would never say. All the feelings he tried to bury. Guilt for wanting Amy and Rory to come back, regret in leaving them in the first place, his temptation to take them back, his love for them, but above all, his longing to see them again.
But River knew.
River knew if he went to see them again, he would break. She undoubtedly knew he'd pull them back into his wild, unpredictable adventures. And it would be inevitable that Amy and Rory's last trip with the doctor would have a far more horrific end.
"Doctor, you can't. Think about why you left them in the first place."
"But maybe it'll be okay. It's been okay so far." The tone of his voice was a little unsteady. He was trying to convince her as much as he was trying to convince himself.
"Oh, doctor." Came the quiet, broken, whisper from her throat.
She waited for him to grasp ludicrousness of what he was saying. And with that came the tears. She held his head to her chest, stroking his hair gently, occasionally stopping to plant a kiss to the top of his head as his tears wetted her top.
Long after the tears had subsided, they continued to sit wrapped up in each others arms, the time lord seeking comfort in the arms of River as the hours trickled by, bleeding into each other.