[A/N] Yes, another chapter. This is going to be a long story, so don't worry. In this chapter, more is revealed about Rochester Diplobacilli, so it's more of an explanatory chapter. Do you think I should do a lot of shorter chapters, like these, or a few large chapters? =D
Previously: "Alright," Rory cried. "We are going to sit down and figure out everything we know about this, because, according to him, this bacteria has never existed before in all of time and space and is probably manufactured."
"The virus has three stages, each of which lasting two to three hours. The first and shortest stage is mostly flu-like symptoms, mild ones. Headache, fatigue, mild body aches and nausea, sometimes a low grade fever. According to Molly – she's the nurse from earlier – if antibiotics are administered within the first stage, they'll probably work. But the first stage is mild. We need to alert people that they need to watch out for even the mildest of symptoms," Ellie explained. They were sitting around a circular table, discussing everything they knew about the disease. A guy named Ryan had started going around the hospital with surgical masks, which came as a relief to the Ponds. But the Doctor didn't seem too relieved. In fact, they noticed, he remained unfazed by the entire situation.
"Okay," Rory said. "How do we do that?"
"An announcement," Kyle suggested. He got up from the table. "I'll go take care of that right now." He strode out of the room quickly.
"Then there's the second stage, the longest. Nausea, vomiting, and unfocused abdominal pain. Severe headache and fever ranging from one hundred to one hundred and three degrees Fahrenheit. Small traces of blood can be found in the victim's vomit and stools," she continued, then paused, letting them take it all in and giving Rory a chance to jot it all down on paper. "Then the third stage hits. It's characterized by massive internal bleeding. There's a lot more blood. Victims just spit up blood. There's not even always bloody vomit. Just straight up blood. Usually, all other symptoms remain. The abdominal pain grows more pronounced and sharp. Their temperature does not seem to waver at all. They suffer from extreme exhaustion and usually collapse and slip into a coma, then die." Rory cleared his throat.
"How… how does it spread?" he asked hesitantly.
"Contact with bodily fluids. And it seems to be airborne, too, hence the masks," Ellie replied. She slipped out her cellphone and scanned through her text messages. "Here's one from Molly," she announced. "Total of thirty-one infected, twelve dead, two survivals." She rose from her seat. "Now that we're done here, I have patients to help." She left, leaving the Ponds and the Doctor sitting there, surprised.
"Doctor, you're not wearing your mask," Amy pointed out, and the Time Lord smiled.
"I'm a Time Lord, Pond. I can't catch a human disease. And you can't catch a Time Lord disease," he replied. "But if it makes you feel better, I'll put it on." He slipped the mask back up over his mouth and nose.
"But you tell me if you feel sick, Doctor," Rory insisted.
"Yeah," Amy seconded. "If you die because you're too stubborn to admit you're sick, I'm going to kill you when we get out of here." The three giggled at the obvious logical fallacy in Amy's statement.
"You too, Amelia," the Doctor said. He called her Amelia. That was never a good sign. It meant he was concerned for her. "If you feel sick or anything, tell Rory." She nodded.
"If she is sick, even if it's just a cold, you will never hear the end of it!" Rory cried, and they erupted in laughter again.
"What're you saying, Williams!?" Amy retorted.
"That you'd complain about it for ages." Suddenly, the Doctor popped up.
"We should be helping. Helping's good," he suggested.
"How?" Amy asked.
"Good question!" the Doctor replied, rushing out of the room. Amy and Rory exchanged a bemused glance.
"I guess we're helping," Rory said. "At least now we know what to look for." Amy gave him a quick kiss, and they hurried off to help.