Help....bit by cat!!!!?

Yesterday my sisters cat bit me. I'm a cat lover, and I have never been chomped on like a piece of tuna by a cat, it was vicious, it didn't let go either, we had to smack it to release it's bite on my hand. Needless to say it caused 4 deep punctures, we immediatly put alcohol and iodine on it and it swelled up to about half the size of an egg, so much so i couldn't bend my fingers. This morning I went to the doctor cause i know how easily cat bites can get infected, and he said it was very serious due to the positioning in my hand and the close proximity to bones and tendons. He put me on antibiotics and drew a circle around the swelling and redness on my hand and told me if it gets any worse I would have to be HOSPITALIZED and put on an iv drip to stop the potentially fatal??? infection! Thats crazy!!! Anyways my hand hurts like hell, and my question is how long do i have to wait before these infections set in......will it be days? hours? weeks?.