But he was covered everywhere but his hands and head and neck in their dojo duel. I'm not sure any part of him touched her, did it?
You misunderstand, I mean when Nic beat up Murphy in the first place in Skin Game, she did have cuts and abrasions from hitting the sidewalk... Who knows what microbes were on the cement, everything from animal poop and urine to what ever anyone passing by had on the soles of their shoes, also the stuff they spread to melt ice.. So in these days of antibiotic resistant microbes, Murphy could have gotten one hell of a drug resistant infection, she might be lucky to have come out of it with all her limbs.. Since frequently doctors are forced to amputate to keep the patient alive.
She may not have developed the infection until after the doctors gave their 90% recovery. Doctors can be wrong, and she wouldn't be the first nor the last patient seemingly doing well suddenly go south..