AN: Thank you for the reviews & the subscriptions. This is a sort of short chapter and I'm not too keen on it ;-; I hope you enjoy it anyway!

The air had been tense between Amy and the Doctor since then. He hadn't scolded her for it but he was unsure, so unsure about ever opening up and actually sharing his feelings with the world for fear of what would happen if he did one day.

He still hadn't left Rose's side and under any other circumstances, he probably would have died of boredom but he couldn't bring himself to tear away from her tired face or her thin limbs. Too thin.

Rory had been an absolute dream, oddly. Since he'd regained his memory of Amy he had been helping the Doctor as much as possible, unable to watch the strong man fall into a pit of heartbroken sorrow over the small human girl who was apparently so significant. He told Rory stories as he worked, absent-minded dreamy words about how they'd saved the world so many times and how amazing Rose was, what she'd done to save the universe that one time with the time vortex and how scared he'd been of losing her, so he sacrificed his life then and there because he l-

And then he stopped. He could never say it. Rory knew what he wanted to say and he knew it because when he described Rose's hair and Rose's eyes, he saw Amy in his words and how much he adored the way her hair would glisten under the sun and the way her eyes would take on that faraway dreamy look when she talked of foreign lands and alien worlds, her beautiful hands dancing in front of her as she tried to explain things she'd never seen before with words that didn't exist. He was in love with Amy and he knew the Doctor loved Rose, he just couldn't say it.

It was a tough couple of days as Rose battled through her medically induced coma, her eyelids occasionally fluttering as her eyes moved and her fingers twitched, each movement watched intently by the Doctor to ensure her safety. He talked to her as she slept, he talked and talked about nothing and everything and each day he seemed to get weaker and more downheartened by the situation and it was something that the trio of Amy, Jack and Rory couldn't stand watching for much longer. This wasn't the Doctor that they knew and it was frightening at how much this was affecting him. He'd lost people before, of course he had, but this was somehow different. He couldn't go through it again, he'd lost loves before and he just couldn't do it.

He never stopped talking, though. He told her everything, everything he knew and he relayed their stories back to her, reminding her of times they'd had and times they'd missed, times they thought they'd lost it all on an impossible planet and the time they lost each other, but now they were found.

It took three weeks, 5 days, 2 hours and 42 minutes for Rose to open her eyes again. Jack had been counting. She sat up slowly after a drink and looked at the Doctor and her friends stood in the room, Jack, Amy and Rory, who now knew as much about her as the Doctor had told them. She had lived a similar life to them and the room was full of people who had loved and lost so this was a happy day, when the Doctor reached out and traced gentle circles on Rose's cheek, the ancient language of his people with a sad grin on his face, tears brimming in his eyes.

Rose looked back up at him with tired eyes and she reached up to touch him too, his cheek, his nose, his not-ginger hair and even his ears, sleepily exploring his new face. She finally brought herself to stare into those old, old eyes and she saw her Doctor again. "Of course it's you." She whispered, gripping his hand. It felt different but familiar. "It's always you, Doctor." She smiled and pulled herself up. The action cost a lot of effort and a slight amount of help from Rory the nurse, who let her have a sip of cool water to help with her dry throat.

"What happened?" she asked him and of course he knew what she was talking about so he told her in gentle words, trying to hide the pain behind the words when he explained everything from when he had to save Donna to when the Master saved his life. She listened intently, hanging on his every word with tears in her eyes at Donna's fate and pain in her heart when she heard his. He carried on and told her about meeting Amy and how she'd waited, how Rory and Amy were due to be Mr and Mrs. Pond (WILLIAMS) and he talked to her in foreign languages to put her to sleep again, gently stroking the dirty locks of hair from her face.

When Rose was strong enough, Amy helped her feel normal again. It was a slightly awkward and embarrassing moment when she had to assist with giving Rose a bath (who really didn't like the idea either, but could hardly move and she didn't particularly want Jack or Rory doing it) and she helped the girl wash her hair, humming absent-mindedly.

"Amy?" Rose asked. The sound of her voice shocked Amy out of the action for a moment before she carried on, careful not to catch the neck-straps of Rose's bikini that she wore for decency as she carried on lathering up her hair.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." She had a smile on her pale lips and her eyes were starting to regain the look they had before. "You saved him, I know you did. You'll know this by now, but he needs somebody." Amy nodded in agreement, letting Rose continue. "I just…it isn't really my place to say it, but thanks, Amy…and thanks from me only for everything you've done for me. I don't deserve it." She laughed softly, but it was sad.
Amy frowned slightly, rinsing Rose's hair with a jug of warm water. "Rose, I don't know you, but he does. If you're that important to the Doctor and Jack, you're that important to me as well."