They reached a room with a sky roof. The sun was setting. The Doctor and River found a swarm of Vashta Nerada in a corner. It was small, but they knew more would come soon. The team sat to rest and River joined them, breathing heavily and trying to calm her queasy stomach. The team members were starting to ask questions. Too many questions.
She tried to answer calmly, but the stress of the situation and the added sick feeling coming from inside her made it difficult to keep her temper and panic in check.
"You say he's your friend, but he doesn't even know who you are." Anita accused.
It was a painful reminder that she didn't need.
"Listen, all you need to know is this: I trust that man to the end of the universe, and actually, we've been."
"He doesn't act like he trusts you." she said, adding another painful stab into River's wall.
She broke a little. Her words came out a little too harshly as she countered, "Yeah. There's a tiny problem. He hasn't met me yet."
She stood and walked over to him, tired of being questioned. All she wanted was her Doctor. His embrace, his love, his trust.
River offered him her screwdriver, trying to help. He stood, looking suspicious of her. He began to interrogate her and she answered every question as best as she could, which wasn't much help. She even scolded him for being emotional and distant. But she knew it wasn't enough. They began to argue and Mr. Lux stood.
"Oh, for heaven's sake, look at the pair of you! We're all going to die right here and you're just squabbling like an old married couple!"
She froze.
Was it that easy to see, even when no one here knew the truth?
The Doctor looked into her eyes, trying to read them. River shifted uncomfortably, meeting his gaze with equal intensity. In that moment, she decided to do something incredibly stupid.
"Doctor, one day I'm going to be someone that you trust completely, but I can't wait for you to find that out. So I'm going to prove it to you." she paused, swallowing her fear of what she was about to do. "And I'm sorry. I'm really very sorry."
River leaned in to whisper in his ear.
The words she spoke changed him. His face was still full of curiosity, but the mistrust was gone. He was shocked.
The look in her eyes was apologetic as she asked, "Are we good?"
He didn't respond. He was just staring at her, full of wonder.
"Doctor, are we good?" she said again, more forcefully, snapping him out of his trance.
He nodded slightly and swallowed.
"Good." was all she could get to come out of her mouth. River was not one for giving out spoilers, but sometimes it had to happen. She walked away from him and he snapped back into action, turning back into the Doctor she loved, always in charge, always coming up with brilliant ideas and solutions.
She was hardly listening at all until suddenly, a hologram of Donna appeared in front of them.
Suddenly, things were moving quickly again. The Doctor scrambled to try and get Donna back, Anita announced she had two shadows, the Doctor tinted her visor, proper Dave's suit appeared and they began to run again.
The Doctor stopped to chat with the suit as the rest of the team continued on. River left other Dave to look after him. They stopped at the entrance to the main computer and waited.
The physical and emotional pain she was feeling was too much. Words began to spill out of her mouth. She told Anita how much she was wishing for her Doctor. He was always so good to her, always trusting and helpful. She wanted him there.
The Doctor appeared at the top of the stairs, startling her out of her words.
He wasn't in the mood for nice talk. His words hurt her and she retaliated just as hurtfully.
She ignored him as he continued to rant, focusing instead on keeping her face neutral as the baby sent a firm kick to her ribs.
He was excited about something.
"You don't say saved, you say safe." he began, continuing his rant and explaining his theory.
Before he had even finished, it hit her.
The computer core. They were all in the computer core.