A/N: I've been totally sidetracked the past few weeks, so this took a lot longer to get out than I thought it would. Sorry about that – I hope a few of you are still around!

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone who might be living in a big blue box.

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Chapter 7 – A Fair Prognosis

The operation was more difficult than the Doctor had anticipated. The infection was more widespread than he'd originally thought; some of the tissue had gone necrotic and had to be excised. To top it all off, the anesthesia hadn't worked as expected and Rose had been awake for most of the surgery. He had half expected that, given the way the taegu bite had failed to respond to other drugs, but it hadn't been pleasant for any of them. Still, with his skills and some guidance from the TARDIS, he was fairly confident about Rose's recovery.

"Tough little ape," he told her again. "You won't be running from Autons any time soon, but you should be just fine."

Rose smiled faintly and squeezed Jack's hand. Jack had held her hand through the entire surgery, as if to take some of her pain away. He could barely feel his fingers for the bone-crushing grip she'd had on them in the past few hours, but he smiled at her anyway.

"You should try to get some sleep," he suggested.

"Not really tired," she told him lightly. "But you should get some."

"Or at least some ice for that hand," the Doctor joked. Rose looked down at Jack's hand, which was indeed red and swollen.

"Jack! I'm so sorry, why didn't you say something? I would've--"

"Hey, none of that," Jack chided. "Least I can do. Take one fore the team, ya know?"

"Why do I think that phrase generally has a different meaning when you say it?" the Doctor asked.

"Because it generally does," Jack replied with a grin.

"Stop your flirting and get some ice," the Doctor told him, trying not to smile back. "I'll just have a word with my patient." Jack nodded and set off toward the kitchen. The Doctor took a seat beside Rose and reached for her hand.

"Alright then, Rose. Be honest, how much does it hurt?"

"Not much at all," she replied a little too brightly.

"The truth, Rose." He gave her a searching look and her façade crumbled.

"Pretty bad," she mumbled, staring at the ceiling.

"Meaning the worst you've ever felt?" he prodded. "A fifteen on a scale of one to ten?"

"Yeah." She suddenly looked directly at him. "Why didn't the anesthetic work? Nor the sonic screwdriver?"

"It's a side effect of the venom," he told her. "It intensifies the nervous system's natural reaction in order to incapacitate the victim. Most everyone who gets bitten by a taegu reports intense pain, but it's only really debilitating for humans."

"Meaning fatal, right?" she prompted.

"Generally, yeah," he admitted. "We're lucky. Your boot took most of the bite so only a bit of the venom got into your system. What little got into your body moved slowly, and I just took care of it." He indicated her foot.

"Good thing I had a Doctor handy," Rose said, trying to smile but not quite managing it as a spasm went through her. "So how long's the pain going to last?"

He hesitated for a moment, then looked her in the eyes. "I don't know, Rose. Most people, a few days. But you're the first human to survive a taegu bite. There's no telling."

Rose took a deep breath and stuck out her chin determinedly. "Right. So we'll just play it by ear."

He squeezed her hand, once again impressed by her courage. "Yep. But we're gonna be careful. No getting out of bed till I say it's safe, okay? I don't want to risk you, Rose Tyler."

"Don't want to risk a run in with my mum's what you mean," she teased.

"Or that," he agreed with an exaggerated shudder. "In the meantime, if you need to get some of the pain out, squeeze my hand. Time Lords are made of sterner stuff than some pretty boy pilots I could mention."

"I heard that!" Jack protested from the doorway.

"Knew you would, Jack," the Doctor said with a wink at Rose.

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A/N: Anyone interested in being a beta, this is where I'm going to need your help…we're getting to the end of what I already had written out and I might be in over my head. Help?