"Well, we'll just be going then. C'mon Rose!" The Doctor flashed Cora his usual disarming smile as he leapt up from the rough wooden bench.

Cora raised an eyebrow at Rose and caught hold of the Doctor's pinstriped coat. "Sit." She smiled at the Doctor's childish pout as he turned back to his seat. Quickly, she held up a finger, as if to shush any protests before they came. "Doctor, Rose, you have to let me listen. There haven't been any cases in this part of town. If you were to infect someone, the entire community would be devastated."

Sitting rather more patiently than she felt, Rose allowed Cora to listen to her breathing. "All clear," said Cora, relief evident on her round face. She turned towards the Doctor. "Alright then, mister- it's your turn."

Rose stifled a giggle as she watched Cora's eyebrows snap together in shock. The other girl's gaze flicked from Rose to the Doctor's bemused expression, to the stethoscope she still held firmly pressed to the Time Lord's chest.

"Well?" Rose asked. Her twinkling eyes held no malice, just a gentle teasing, as if she were holding back a secret that she couldn't wait to reveal. The Doctor caught her eye, and they shared a grin. "What's the diagnosis?"

"Uh…err…" Cora stuttered. She looked up at Rose again, unsure of whether or not she should share her discovery. "Situs Inversus." She glanced up at the Doctor, hoping for approval.

"Nope!" The Doctor beamed at the girl. "Two hearts, actually. But you're close."

Before Cora had a chance to react, Rose stood up and leaned casually of the Doctor's shoulder. "So, when are you going to show us around then? If you're really in the middle of some epidemic, then we want to help, don't we Doctor?"

Now it was Cora's turn to smile, a big grin spreading across her face. "Right now."

--

Cora explained her position as the three of them made their way over to St. Vincent Hospital. "I was studying to be a nurse when the influenza hit. The hospitals were so desperate for healthy staff; they took anyone they could get." She shook her head, a strange look in her eye. "Just think," she added ruefully, "A year ago I would've been desperate for so much experience."

Cora stopped outside the hospital door. She looked like she was about to cry, and suddenly Rose could see that despite her no-nonsense attitude and weary demeanor, the girl was only in her late teens, younger than Rose herself. Gently, deliberately, Rose took her hand.

The two were about to enter together when the Doctor stopped abruptly. "You should wait outside."

"What?"

He looked and her soberly, "Rose, I'm serious. This is extremely dangerous. I'm not susceptible to human disease, but you are. Wait here."

Rose glanced up at him incredulously and snorted. "Fat chance. I'm going to help." And with that she pushed ahead of the Doctor and into the room.

The Doctor watched her enter, a lopsided smile slowly crossing his lips.

--

"Oh my god!" Rose gasped, looking in horror and the masses of bodies lying deathly still on the hundreds of beds. Nurses moved from patient to patient, numbly wiping sweat, cleaning vomit, murmuring comfort. And removing the dead. "They're so young!"

The Doctor nodded. "That was one of the oddest things about the 1918 flu- killed about 100 million people that way. Normally, influenza causes a "U" pattern of mortality," he explained, sketching the graph with his hands, "It caused the most deaths in people under three and over seventy-five, but this year was different for some reason. Young healthy adults were hit the hardest. Strange symptoms, probably caused by cytokine storms. It was misdiagnosed all the time, you know, because of the severity of the symptoms. Hemorrhage from mucous membranes, bleeding from the ears and petechial hemorrhage in the skin, edema in the lungs…"

Cora looked at Rose wearily. "We've done everything we can to stop the contagion. We set up a system of checks –like what I did with you and the Doctor- and we've all got masks. You should've seen it, Rose! We had an entire baseball game where everyone had gauze over their mouth –the umpire, the player, and every single person in the stands- all wearing masks. What a sight!" She brightened at the memory.

"You humans!" The Doctor beamed, "That's exactly what I love about you lot. Always finding clever little ways to carry on, despite the hardships." He ran his fingers through his unruly hair, causing it to spike ever so slightly more than usual. "It didn't work, mind you, but it was clever all the same." He gestured wildly as he spoke, each movement offering an exuberant, if slightly patronizing, testament to the human race.

"Doctor…" Rose murmured, as every physician, nurse and able bodied patient turned to stare. "Might want to pipe down with the 'you humans' bit, yeah?" She cocked her head towards the nearest bed. "Besides, you'll wake everyone up."

The Doctor grinned, as much at the confusion that he caused as at Rose, and swept back the dingy sheet strung drearily around each patient in a sorry attempt to stop the spread of the disease.

But suddenly the Doctor no longer had any pretense of cheer. "I'm sorry," He whispered as he caught sight of the young man, twisting and gasping beneath the sweat-soaked covers, swollen black feet jutting out from under the sheets. His sallow yellow face had turned grey, lit by two red flags of fever, and the boy's florid lips curled back in a grimace above white, somehow dead looking, teeth. Inch by inch he gasped a thread of air into his lungs.

The Doctor reached out and tenderly touched the lad's temple. "I'm so sorry."

Sorry that was so short and disjointed. Like I said, this is my first fanfic, and I'm probably in desperate need of a beta. Which I don't have. sigh If you catch any plot holes, mistakes, of really OOC moments -please- let me know! Constructive criticism is always helpful. Anyway, review review review! And I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible, okay? :D -soubriquet