Chapter 8: Truth

The Doctor poked his head into Rose's room, and with a sigh found her to be asleep. Her rhythmic breathing was deceptive; he wasn't sure what was going on beneath her eyelids, and it was driving him insane. What was happening to her? Did she need him?

"I just checked on her a second ago." Jack's strong American voice interrupted the Doctor's thoughts.

The Doctor whipped his head around and found Jack leaning against the door jamb of Rose's room.

Jack crossed his arms, his eyes on Rose. "This has to be killing you. I know it's pissing me off."

The Doctor sighed and rubbed both hands through his hair. "I just keep asking myself why I brought her with me."

"She wanted to come."

"We can't get everything we want, Jack."

"Don't do this, Doctor. Don't make her out to be the child who touches the hot stove. Rose did nothing wrong. Sometimes things like this just happen from no fault of our own." Jack said, "All we can do is deal with the here and now."

The Doctor sighed once again.

"What are her chances?" Jack asked.

The Doctor shook his head. "I try not to think about it."

"A buddy of mine was taken over by a Limidien. He died in three days. He jumped off of a building. I saw it with my own eyes. The next day he was walking and talking, and he grew over seven feet tall. His eyes were huge and black, and he talked in this language that pierced my eyes. My friend was dead, and this thing was living in his place. I had to… to finish him off. And I did so, with a big friggin smile on my face."

There was a silence between them, and only the steady beep of Rose's monitors filled the silence.

"The Limidiens do not have physical bodies of their own. That's why they want humans, it's easier to mold human bones, and your organs are pretty much the same…" The Doctor cut himself off, it was making him sick thinking they were hurting her right beneath his nose.

"Get some sleep. I'll watch her." Jack said.

"No, no, I'll do it…"

"You're no use to either of us exhausted." Jack said.

The Doctor frowned. "The millisecond her hear rate increases, get me. Understood?"

Jack nodded.

Jack had fallen asleep at Rose's bedside when her voice woke him. It was barely audible, but she was speaking. "Doctor…" She whispered. "Doctor…" Something was definitely happening to her. Jack got to his feet, and the Doctor was already in the room, racing over to her.

"Doctor…"

"How long has she been like this?"

"Just now."

"Doctor!" It was a scream now, and Rose's eyes flashed open. She sat straight up in bed. "DOCTOR!"

"Rose!" The Doctor yelled, "I'm right here!"

"Should we wake her?"

The Doctor didn't respond. He walked to the bookshelf, and threw all of the books onto the floor. He couldn't believe this was happening. Not now, and especially not to Rose. She didn't deserve this.

"Take me," He whispered. "TAKE ME!"

"Doctor." Jack interrupted him.

The Doctor turned and found Rose rubbing her face. She turned to him, fully awake. "I know what to do."

"No, you don't, Rose, you're not thinking clearly. Whatever you saw, whatever they said, it's a lie."

"Why would they want to hurt me if I'm their host?" She asked.

"They want you for a host, alright. They want you dead so the egg inside of you can hatch and have a home."

"If I cut this thing out of my uterus…"

"It's not in your uterus." The Doctor explained, "It's attached to your skeletal structure. That's why your muscles ache. They're expanding to meet the genetics of the being."

Rose stared down at her hands, "There was never any hope for me, was there? Once these beings choose you, that's it. Isn't that right, Doctor?"

She looked to him, and for the first time, saw tears in his eyes.