Chapter 4

"There you are! Come and look at this patient." The Doctor led Rose to a patient that had red skin and was floating in their air. "Marconi's Disease. Should take years to recover. Two days. I've never seen anything like it." He lightly flicked one of the bags that was hanging. "They've invented a cell-washing cascade. It is amazing. Their medical science is way advanced. And this one." He made his way over to a man as white as his bed gown. "Pallidome Pancrosis. Kills you in ten minutes and he's fine. I need to find a terminal. I've got to see how they do this. Because if they've got the best medicine, why is it such a secret?"

"Something isn't right. I can feel it." I said to the Doctor.

"I agree…" He muttered.

"I can't Adam and Eve it." Rose said in an awkward and weird voice.

"What's-what's with the voice?" The Doctor asked as he pointed to her throat and mouth.

"Oh I don't know. Just larking about. New Earth, new me."

"Well, I can talk. New new Doctor." He giggled.

"Oh no. Not the new new thing again." I rolled my eyes and he laughed.

"Mmm…aren't you just." Rose suddenly grabbed the Doctor's face, squishing it to her own and kissed him as if she has not kissed someone in years. Once she broke the kiss, she backed off him and adjusted her shirt. Her shirt was unbuttoned very low. "Terminal's this way…" She said and wiped her lips, walking away.

"Yep, still got it." He said and slicked his hair back. The Doctor looked over at me with a confused look. "Uh, I don't know why that happened."

"Well, you two are dating. So…yeah." I cleared my throat as slight jealousy urged inside me.

He squinted his eyes at me. "Dating? Rose? Me?" He laughed and took my hand in his. "We're not dating. I honestly don't know what got into her."

His hand felt so nice in mine. Why was I jealous over a kiss? I don't know him. I don't know her.

"Well, I hope you're not looking for a kiss from me." I squeezed his hand.

"Here I was, hoping you would." He joked back with me, squeezing my hand in response.

We made it down some old fashioned stairs. The whole place was dark and cells glowed green. There were thousands of cells, like a tomb.

He let go of my hand and used his sonic screwdriver to open a cell. Once he had the door open, we all looked inside. There was a man covered in boils and lumps. One eye was fogged out and his mouth looked like it was rotting away. I felt sorry for him.

"Doctor…" I muttered out. "Is he here because he can't be cured or…"

He slowly shut the door, looking so worn out. "I'm hoping that isn't the case." The Doctor said as he opened another cell.

"What disease is that?" Rose asked in disgust, covering her mouth.

The young woman looked the same as the man, only she didn't have a rotting mouth. Her lips were dried out and her face had a death look to it.

"All of them." The Doctor answered. "Every single disease in the galaxy. They've been infected with everything." As he was shutting the door, he apologized to the woman repeatedly.

"What about us? Are we safe?" Rose asked.

"The air is sterile. Just don't touch them." He said and turned to look at me. "I'm sorry to have shown you this on your first adventure."

I shook my head. "Don't apologize for something that isn't your fault." I put my hand on his arm. "They're not patients are they?"

"No." His eyes turned cold and his gaze looked out to all the cells. "They were born sick. They're meant to be sick."

"So, they are like…lab rats?" My heart broke at the sudden realization.

"No wonder the Sisters have a cure for everything. They've built the ultimate research laboratory. A human farm."

"Why don't they just die then?" Rose asked, still holding her face. What is up with her?

"Plague carriers. The last to go."

"It's for the greater cause." Said a woman's voice from behind us.

We turned around and saw a cat person standing there with their hands together in front of them.

"Novice Hame, when you took your vows, did you agree to this?" He pointed coldly and harshly at the cells.

Hame tried to explain herself. "The Sisterhood has sworn to help."

"What, by killing?"

"This isn't right. This isn't help." I said and my voice rose. "This is Hell."

"But they're not real people" Hame explained more. "They are specially grown. They have no proper existence."

"What's the turnover, hmm?" The Doctor asked, taking a step forward. "Thousand a day? Thousand the next? How many thousands? For how many years? How many!"

I stepped in front of the Doctor. Placing my hand on his chest, I felt the thumping of his heart. Wait two hearts. He has two hearts!

"Doctor, please calm down. Anger isn't going to solve anything. You need a clear head and anger fogs the mind." I told him in a soft tone.

He took a deep breath in and I could tell he was relaxing. "You're right…"

"Mankind needed us. They came to this planet with so many illnesses. We couldn't cope. We did try. We tried everything. We tried using clone meat and bio cattle, but the results were too slow. Therefore, the Sisterhood grew its own flesh. That's all they are. Flesh."

"You're not helping your cause." I muttered to Hame.

"These people are alive." The Doctor said through gritted teeth. "If they live because of this, then life is worthless."

"Who are you to decide that?"

The Doctor lightly pushed me to the side, as if he was trying to protect Rose and I. His vice was strong and powerful. "I'm the Doctor. And if you don't like it, if you want to take it to a higher authority, then there isn't one. It stops with me."

Rose came up to the side of the Doctor and started to speak. "Just to confirm. None of the humans in the city know about this?"

"We thought it best not."

"Hold on." The Doctor said with frustration clear in his voice. "I can understand the bodies. I can understand your vows. One thing I can't understand is what you have done ro Rose."

"I do not know what you mean." Hame said and took a step back.

"I'm being very calm. You want to be aware of that. Very, very calm. The only reason I am very calm is that the brain is a delicate thing. Whatever you've done to Rose's head, I want it reversed. These people are dying and Rose would care."

"Oh, all right clever clogs. Smarty pants. Lady killer." Rose said as she rolled her eyes and backed away from us.

"What's happened to you?" The Doctor asked and put an arm in front of me, protecting me from wild Rose.

"I knew something was going on in this hospital, but I needed this body and our mind to find it out."

"Who are you?" The Doctor asked.

"The last human."

"Cassandra?"

"What?" I asked, hearing my name.

"Wake up and smell the perfume." Rose said quickly and sprayed perfume and my face and the Doctor's face.

Immediately I saw blackness and I knew I fell to the ground right before I passed out.