THE HIVE
Chapter Twenty One The Doctor busied himself in the lab while Rose continued to help him. By now, his skin had a yellowish tinge to it and he no longer could sit on the stool because a large bump was coming out of his tailbone. Rose was not only terrified about the new changes happening to him but also the fact that he was denying himself any sedatives in order to keep his mind lucid. He was trying to hide his pain and discomfort from her but she could see he was in severe pain. Finally, she couldn't take it any longer and she stopped him while he was trying to combine a chemical with a sample of his blood. "Doctor, please, you can't go on like this. I know you're in pain," Rose said to him. "Please let Jack give you a sedative." He shook his head. "I can't Rose; I need to keep my mind clear now so I won't make a mistake. I'll be alright. I'm mentally controlling the pain to the point I can function." Rose felt helpless as she stared at his rapidly yellowing skin. His eye sockets also seemed to be widening and she thought she saw the start of mandibles growing out of the sides of his mouth. For the first time since they started, hopelessness began to creep in and she feared that the Doctor would become a mindless wasp before he was finished with a cure. The Doctor gazed into his lover's eyes, reading them like a book. Realizing how much fear was there; he put his hands to her cheeks and leaned in to give her a kiss on the lips. Rose returned the kiss as her eyes misted over. "I won't lose, Rose," he said when he finished the kiss. "This gorgeous body isn't going to turn into a big ol' wasp, do you hear me?" Rose swallowed and nodded. "But…what if you're wrong?" she said. "Then I'll fight the queen myself," he said. "I'll fight her or die trying. She may take my body but my mind is far more powerful and she'll never have that." He kissed her forehead. "And I will always know who you are, no matter what happens. Even if I become a wasp, I will still remember you and I will never, never hurt you or give you up to the queen, okay?" "Yeah," Rose said, nodding. The Doctor gave her another kiss on the forehead and went back to his experiment while Rose stood nearby and watched him silently. Jack glanced up when Owen entered his office. "Hey, how's everything going? How's the Doctor? Is he alright?" Jack asked him. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Owen said. "Yes?" Jack said. Owen sighed and grabbed a chair. "Look," he said, sitting down in front of Jack's desk, "I don't claim to be an expert on these wasp creatures but I know enough about them now to know that the Doctor isn't going to last much longer before he becomes one and not only is letting him continue to work in that lab unwise but we're putting Rose in jeopardy by letting her stay in there with him." "The Doctor knows what he's doing," Jack said to him. "Are you sure about that?" Owen said, cocking an eyebrow. "I admit he's managed to stay himself longer than anyone else has but are you sure he's not ignoring the change while he's racing to come up with a cure? I've been watching him, Jack, and listening. He's denying himself sedatives now so he can keep a clear head and keep going with his experiments. His skin is now yellow and it's gonna start turning into a hard exoskeleton before too long. His extra legs are now fully formed and from what I heard of his and Rose's conversation, the stinger is starting to emerge. I realize I'm not the Doctor's doctor but he is in this building putting us and Rose at risk and if I think he's a danger then I'm going to order him back into his cell before we all end up stung." Jack sighed and folded his hands in his lap while he thought that over. "I agree with you about taking precautions but this is the Doctor we're talking about and good luck getting him to do anything he doesn't want to do." "Then I'll shoot him with the tranquilizing gun," Owen said. "I'm not gonna spare yours or Rose's feelings because personally I don't wanna turn into a big, bleedin' wasp and start terrorizing the countryside. If the Doctor won't listen then I'll knock him out and if I have to knock Rose out to prevent her from stopping me, I'll do that as well." Jack sighed and nodded. "Just keep an eye on him, Owen, and make sure he doesn't become a danger to himself or Rose or to us," he said. Owen nodded. Jack watched as he rose from his chair. The moment he left the office, Jack put his elbows on his desk and lowered his head into his hands. Rose was worried. She could tell that the Doctor was in extreme pain. Sweat beads were forming on his brow and his jaw was tight while he tried another chemical on his blood. Occasionally he would stop to write his findings down on a pad of paper before going back to the blood sample. Finally Rose couldn't bear it any longer. The Doctor had a sheet tied around his waist like a loincloth. It was the only thing he had on him and Rose knew that stinger was slowly working its way out of his tailbone. While he looked at his blood sample through the microscope she went around him, bent down and looked. She gasped when she saw the sharp end of the stinger had broken through the skin and was now jutting out about five inches from his body. "Don't touch it, Rose, whatever you do," the Doctor said, glancing at her. Rose dropped the sheet and let out a sob when she realized that there wasn't much time left. The Doctor took her by the arms and forced her to look into his eyes which were now unnaturally large and were starting to segment into compound eyes. "No, you mustn't lose hope, do you hear me?" he said to her. "But the change is coming faster now and you're still no closer to finding a cure," Rose said. The Doctor stared at her intently as his antenna brushed over her face. "You're right, it is speeding up," he conceded. "I've tried not to think about that but I can't deny it any longer." "Then what are we going to do?" Rose said as he stroked her cheek. The Doctor lost himself in thought for a moment while Rose gazed at him. She ran her hand down his chest and shuddered when she felt the smooth skin starting to harden into an exoskeleton. "No, it can't end this way. It can't," she murmured to herself. The Doctor's eyes settled on her and he ached when he saw her distress. "I'm sorry, Rose, I'm not able to work fast enough, especially if the process is speeding up now," he said. Rose shook her head, not wanting to accept the truth that she was about to lose the man she loved forever. The Doctor pulled her close and Rose carefully wrapped her arms around him, making sure to go up under his delicate wings. The Doctor lowered his head to her scalp and Rose shuddered when she felt the ends of the new mandibles brushing against her hair. "Rose, do you trust me?" the Doctor asked her. Rose let out a shuddering laugh. "I'm in here with ya, aren't I?" she said. The Doctor smiled at that. "Yes, you are. You've been faithful to me all this time and never doubted me and that's why I need you to trust me now." "I do. I trust you completely," Rose said softly. "Then come with me. We need to get away from here before the wasps find me," he said. "We need to find a way to fight back and finish the queen off once and for all." "But…your cure…" "I won't be able to finish it in time, Rose. I wrote down my findings while I was doing it in the hopes that Jack or someone else might be able to finish what I started. All I know is we can't be here when the wasps catch up to me or all of you will end up stung to death. I want you to come with me so I can hide you since the queen will most likely try to have you kidnapped to lure me out of hiding. But you have to trust that I won't hurt you and I won't. I'll always know who you are, no matter what." "I trust you," Rose murmured. "Please take me with you, wherever you go." The Doctor nodded. "Then come, angel. There's not a moment to lose," the Doctor said as he took her hand and they headed towards the lab door.
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