Author Note: Oh jeez, I keep doing this...forgetting to add a note at the beginning thanking you all for your great reviews...

Well thanks so much, and I'm glad you're liking it. We're now getting onto the really complicatedly interesting bit (did that make sense?)

Well, I hope you enjoy it, and I'm afraid its another cliff hanger ending. So just to recap, the Doctor has said that there is only one thing he can do, but he doesn't want to and Rose has asked why...

The Doctor looked from Rose to Jack, and back to Rose again. "Because I can't garuantee you'll live."

Jack glared at the Doctor, horrified. He couldn't believe the Doctor would risk it, if it cost that much.

"Do it," came a soft, but firm voice from behind him and they turned as Rose grabbed hold of a near by rail and pulled herself up so that she was facing the Doctor. She had to lean heavily on the rail for support, but at the same time she was frighteningly calm and her actions sent a sudden silence around the room. Even the machinery seemed to quieten down for a moment.

"You don't even know what it is!" the Doctor said incredulously.

"I don't care," Rose replied. Jack was holding her up now, because she didn't have the strength, but the look on her face was one of unquestionable calm and trust.

"I could save your life...or I could kill you," the Doctor admitted quietly, as though he didn't dare want to think about the implications of what he'd just said.

There was a long silence as the Doctor and Rose just looked at each other. Then at last, very quietly, Rose looked the Doctor directly in the eye and said "I trust you. Do it."

The Doctor felt so much admiration for Rose at that moment, and he was well aware that Jack was staring at him, but he didn't care. Rose trusted him with her life. That was the greatest honour anyone had ever bestowed upon him.

Jack looked at Rose, as though he was about to protest, but Rose shook her head, and Jack realised that Rose's word had been final. So he nodded instead and turned to the Doctor.

"Do what you have to. But I wanna be there the whole time!"

"Fine," the Doctor said, and there was a hint of his old, familiarly comforting smile on his worried face.

oOo

Half an hour later, Jack, the Doctor and Rose were all in the TARDIS medical bay. Rose was lying on a medical bed, dressed in a pure white silken gown that Jack had picked out of the TARDIS wardrobe. It had no sleeves, just two thin straps to hold it up, showing clearly the almost healed entry wound of the toxic dart. Rose was staring up at the ceiling, trying desperately to think of something to say to calm Jack's nerves as he held her hand now. The Doctor was over at a work bench, fixing a tray of sterelised tools and items that he would need. He came back a moment later, and Jack stepped back a little to allow the Doctor some room.

"Jack, I'll be fine, I promise!" she said to Jack as she saw his worried face. Then her attention was drawn back to the Doctor, who was holding a rather long and dangerous looking needle, filled with a clear liquid. Rose did her best to hide her fear as he turned to her with a gentle smile.

"This will sting a little. But I promise, if you wake up, it'll all be over."

"You mean 'when' I wake up," she corrected stubbornly. She wasn't going to die, if she could help it. The Doctor smiled encouragingly as he lifted her wrist and inserted the needle. Rose winced at the sting, but it soon faded and she relaxed again. Almost immediately she felt sleepy, but there was one more thing she had to say to the Doctor, so she fought for as long as she could.

"Doctor, If I die -"

"No Rose, don't talk like that."

"But If I do, I want you to know, it wasn't your fault. You tried...and thats all I could have asked for..." Her eyelids began to droop. They were too heavy, but still she fought against it. Just a little longer. I have to tell him. "And d'you know what? These past few weeks have been the best of my life."

And then she couldn't hold out any longer. Her eyes closed, and she passed into a deep, drug-induced sleep.

The Doctor paused for a moment and stroked a stray bit of hair away from Rose's eye. Then he seemed to snap into life.

"Right Jack, I'm gonna need your help."

"Right," Jack said. "What do you need me to do?"

"Just hold her arm steady for me."

Jack nodded and obediently took Rose's right arm just below the shoulder, holding it steady. The Doctor winced, muttered "I'm sorry," to Rose, and then sunk the sharp blade into her soft flesh. He drew a neat line, about two inches long, just above the original wound and dabbed at the blood that seeped out of the incission. He could tell the blood was poisoned, because it wasn't the usual crimson colour at all. Infact, Rose's blood was almost black.

The Doctor took a pair of tweezers in one hand, and his sonic screwdriver in the other. He flicked it to a setting and held it just above the cut. Thin white strands of splinters began glowing beneath the skin, and although horrified, Jack found it too fascinating to look away.

"Here, hold this steady," the Doctor said as he handed him the screwdriver. Jack tried, but he couldn't seem to stop shaking. The Doctor seemed to understand, though, because for oncehe didn't snap at him.

"Ok, here goes," he muttered and gently pressed the tweezers inside the wound. A few seconds later he gave a little triumphant cry and pulled out a tiny splinter, dropping it into a metal dish on the tray.

"One down, seven to go," Jack said, as he counted the remaining splinters glowing under the sonic screwdriver's light. It was going to be a long night.