The Doctor's sonic screwdriver was the first sound that filled River's ears as CAL finished stacking her DNA in the correct order. She prayed that everything was all right, even as she knew that it really wasn't.

As usual, the Doctor didn't skip a beat. River watched him with a mix of awe and impatience. She did like his new face though. It just seemed right on him. River's curls bounced merrily as she shook her head and grinned at the man circling her, taking readings with the sonic.

"What," he asked in passing, glancing into her eyes, but never stopping.

"Only you could break the rules of Time Lord genetics and win yourself a new regeneration cycle."

River caught the smallest of smiles turning up the corners of his thin lips as he circled her again. There was a twinkle in his green eyes as well. She had no idea how long it had been for him, but because of how time moved in virtual reality, River felt like very little had passed at all between them.

The Library crowd of onlookers were keeping a respectful distance, sensing that River and The Doctor did not want any intrusions into their reunion.

River was suddenly light headed. She caught the dark blue cloth of the Doctor's coat sleeve. He jerked to a stop and his intensely scowling face came in line with hers, softening only a little when he saw the look on River's.

"You're making me dizzy, sweetie," she said and her eyelids drooped. Perhaps she was exhausted from the materialization?

The Doctor's warm fingers, suddenly encircling the wrist on her right hand, made her eyes come open again. He was taking her pulse.

"Question: What exactly were you up to in there, River," the Doctor asked in a quiet tone. River wasn't sure if it was her quickly deteriorating health, or the the way he rolled the 'R' in her name that made shivers run across her flesh.

"Answer: I suspect that CAL is infected."

River wasn't sure how he accomplished it, but the Doctor managed to look even more stern. His maniacal eyebrows lowered and his eyes bore into her. She did not flinch away from him.

"Am I to understand, that you allowed a possibly faulty computer to put all the pieces of you, back together?"

"It wasn't what I originally had in mind," River said.

"No, no, no, no, no," The Doctor said and wagged his long index finger back and forth in front of her face, "This is not my fault." He stepped away from her, physically agitated.

"I didn't say that it was," River replied softly.

The Doctor spun on the heels of his shiny black Doc Martens and charged back at her like a knight jousting. His pointed finger stopped inches from her nose.

"You implied it," he growled. The Doctor was really, truly angry and River immediately recognized it as a cover for his fear. "You used seeing me as reason to make an irrational decision to come back to life!"

"Yes."

The Doctor flinched. He dropped the accusing finger to his side. He had not expected her to give in that easily.

Small beads of sweat had popped out across River's forehead. She was having a harder time pulling breath into her lungs. The pain in her chest was becoming too much for her to hide from the Doctor.

"River," he said, "you're not well." His fingers touched her elbow as he came closer once again.

"I believe that it is a bit more serious than that, my love," she whispered, short of breath. Her hand involuntarily came up to touch where the pain was radiating in her chest.

"Shut up," he replied. His voice was becoming thicker with emotion. He turned his back on her. River hadn't moved the entire time. She was afraid to trust her legs after being disembodied for so long. Besides, the Doctor was doing enough pacing for the both of them.

"You soniced me, Doctor. What were your findings?"

Without turning around, the Doctor held the sonic screwdriver up. He closed his eyes a moment in frustration. He smacked the sonic against the palm of his other hand and opened his eyes again.

"It needs calibrating," he lied, "or replacing. Or thrown into the vortex!"

"That bad..."

The Doctor's hands were flailing about as he paced back to her, speaking quickly.

"What kind of infection?"

"I don't know."

"Well, what about the moon, the moon," he stammered, "Doctor Moon? Wasn't that supposed to be the, the, the, firewall? The virus checker, or something. What happened to that?"

"Doctor Moon's disappearance was the reason I started looking into it," River explained. She was sweating more now and was quite pale. "Doctor," she managed, "I don't think I can't stand up any longer." The words had barely left her lips when River swooned. The Doctor's long, strong arms were around her immediately, holding her close to his chest.

"One of my hearts are failing. If I am to die today, Doctor," she said into the side of his neck, "may I be granted one favor?"

Tears threatened the rebel Time Lord's eyes. He spoke through clenched teeth.

"One, shut up. You're not going anywhere. And two," he swallowed hard before answering, "Anything."

River pulled away enough to look up at him. Their eyes met.

"Take me home," she said simply.