I would like to say English isn't my mother tongue and I don't have a beta reader, so all mistakes are mine and I do apologize for all of them. I hope you will be able to enjoy the story anyway.
It became dark even though the time on the watch suggested it should be still light. But the weather did not care about time measured by people. Today's weather simply decided to show humans that Mother Nature won't be subdued. Big clouds hanging dangerously low were heavy with rain that could start any minute. Thanks to these clouds stars, normally visible, couldn't be seen. The wind, that was blowing, threatened people walking in the higher altitudes that could take away more than just a hat. This definitely was the type of weather when you wouldn't even your dog let outside. Yet…
Two figures plodded up the hill were worriedly watching trees that were disturbingly bending to the ground. Spruces that were attacked by pests were threatening to uproot. This definitely wasn't an ideal time for walking up the hills only with the help of two flash lights. Nevertheless the two figures were walking up; with every passing step they were walking further and further away from civilization; instead of walking in the opposite direction, to the safety.
But this couple, man and woman, weren't outside voluntarily and they definitely weren't enjoying this harsh weather. They both worked for the FBI and today they were walking in this weather on a business. Leads in their investigation of the newest case lead them here. Unfortunately they didn't have a choice; they couldn't postpone the search for another day, when the weather would be better. A life of a young woman, barely older than a teenager, was at stake here. She had her entire life in front of her and these two agents intended to do everything they could to make her life to be as long as possible.
The woman agent stumbled, when her food slipped on a damp stone hidden under a pile of wet leaves. She did two quick, but uncertain and tremulous steps, and grasped the nearest tree so she wouldn't fall down. She sighed and massaged her ankle which had a hard time to keep her up. She knew her ankle was fine even though it was obvious to her it will hurt for some time. She glanced back and saw in the light of her flash light that they walked a long way.
"Mulder, are you sure that we are in the right place?" Scully asked her partner for at least a tenth time since they have started to follow the lead that took them deep into the wood.
"Scully, you saw the information yourself. She has to be somewhere here." Mulder answered.
"So why are we the only two plodding up this hill when the others are miles away from here?"
Mulder sighed. They were working together for such a long time, yet it could surprise him, that even though they have gone through so much, Dana still couldn't believe in the same things he did. It wasn't only about a blind faith, Dana have seen many things with her own eyes like he have seen. Nevertheless she was still hiding behind her science, but she still couldn't explain everything with science. Besides, after everything she had been through, Mulder would think, she could believe. He wasn't thinking only about her kidnapping, implanting a chip, but also about her cancer and being cured.
"You know what? Don't answer." She waved a hand over it. She drank water, put her medical bag back on her back and started to walk again. She didn't even look back at her partner; she knew he would follow her. Besides, it was him who insisted on separating from others and going here. She wasn't sure why she was still following him so blindly but deep down she knew she could trust him with her life. She trusted him more than anyone else. That's why she was silently putting one foot in front of the other, being careful not to slip again.
Mulder sighed. She was observing her co-worker for a little longer while she was stubbornly walking up, before he followed her.
The sky suddenly lighted up when a bolt cut through the sky above their heads. The long awaited rain finally started. But it wasn't just an ordinary rain, but downpour. Mulder and Scully were wet to the bones in the matter of minutes. The hoods, they put on when the first raindrops were falling, didn't help them much. The rain was blowing the rain into their faces so they barely could see where they were going. Their slow movement almost stopped thanks to the rain.
Scully would gladly turn around and walked back to the car that would take her to a warm motel with hot shower. But her stubbornness and mainly her desire to help the woman wouldn't allow her to make one step back. She was still walking in front of Mulder, although she had no idea where she was going. But she was sure that even Mulder didn't know where they were going. Nevertheless, if she would walk away from a path, she was sure Mulder would tell her.
She looked over her shoulder to make sure Mulder was still following her, when her foot stepped in empty space. She hadn't had any chance to react in any way; her body followed her foot and Scully fell in uncontrollable fall down the hill. Her body was colliding with trunks of trees, was falling over stones and roots of trees and she was vainly trzing to stop or at least to slow down her uncontrollable fall. But the inertia was against it. Her hands were catching only tufts of leaves and roots of plants that were uprooting under her weight. Her fall was so fast she wasn't even able to hiss with pain every time her body hit some obstacle. In the end a big stone, she couldn't avoid, ended her suffering when she hit it with her head. Luckily her fall was at its end and her body didn't have the speed it has had at the beginning. That probably saved her life. Even though, the collision was very painful sending her into the darkness.
Mulder, who was at the start of Scully's fall almost next to her, helplessly reached after her but he couldn't prevent her fall. He could only watch, with the horror in his eyes, the fall in the light of his flash light. Unfortunately the light wasn't so strong to allow him to see where Scully ended.
"Scully!" He shouted, scared. He was waiting for an answer for a moment. It was to no avail. "Scully!" He shouted again, this time more urgently. But there still wasn't an answer. He saw her fall, which kept him frozen. He didn't want to think about the worst, even though in front of his inner eye flashed briefly the most tragic possible scenario. He shook his head to take his mind off of these thoughts. "Scully!" He shouted one more time but he didn't hear an answer.
He carefully headed down the steep hill. He was trying to watch where he was going, trying to make small steps, although his feet were still slipping on the soaked leaves, wet roots of trees and stones of different sizes. He was grabbing every trunk of a tree he could get his hands on. His descent was slower than he would wish but at the same time faster than it would be reasonable. Nevertheless it took him a few long minutes to reach the place where a limp body of his co-worker was lying.
"Scully." Mulder whispered when he noticed her body. When he saw in what condition she was, for a moment, he thought about the worse. It took him a few long seconds for him to find courage to feel her pulse. He breathed out with relive when he felt a pulse under his fingers. He stroked her hair and felt a sticky fluid on his fingers that he couldn't mistake with rain. Blood. That explained why Dana didn't react at all. She had to have a big concussion and she was unconscious. He looked around but he couldn't see her medical bag.
For a moment he didn't know what to do. He made sure her tongue wasn't sunken and her air passages were clear. Then he carefully palpated her body. He knew he should put her in stable position but he was afraid he would hurt her even more. So he at least turned her head on a side, to be sure her tongue won't fall back when he would be looking for the medical bag. He didn't want to leave Scully alone but he hadn't had a choice. He needed the bag. Luckily while searching for Dana he found her flash light that he now put next to her body in a way he would be sure to see the light from the way he wanted to take. He was glad he didn't see, in the weak light of his flash light, the steep slope, into what he was now climbing.
Mulder had a feeling he had to climb at least to the middle of the slope when he finally noticed the bag. With quick, but still careful, steps he arrived to the bag, picked it up and turned around to walk back down. He put the bag on his back so he would have free hands, but he still had a feeling, that his balance was out of order. He was careful as to where he was stepping, yet his feet were slipping more often than he would like to. He was almost next to Scully when his worries came true. His foot slipped on a wet leaves and he couldn't find his lost balance. He slowed the fall with his hands, nevertheless he felt heavily on his butt. When he felt he saw blackness in front of his eyes. The last couple of meters to Scully he slid on his butt. Luckily he was able to stop before he could hit her body.
As soon as he recovered from the fall, he checked her pulse and he was glad nothing had changed. At least he hoped nothing had changed. It was Scully who was the doctor here; he barely remembered the basis of first aid. But if he wanted to help Scully, he had to clench his teeth and remember really quickly what he should do. In the light of his torch he searched through the bag and he found out two special warm blankets. Although they appeared very thin, they could keep in ninety percent of radiated human warmth.
He unfolded one blanket on the ground and was vainly thinking how to move Scully on the blanket without hurting her more. He looked helplessly once more into the bag, when he saw it, all of a sudden. Neck brace. He wasn't sure if it belonged to the normal equipment of medical bag. Maybe it only belonged to this bag. He didn't know. But he didn't care. He carefully put the neck brace around Scully's neck. Then he took Scully into his arms and very gently moved her on the blanket. He was praying to all saints that he wouldn't make any of her injuries even worse. But he needed to keep her warm.
"Mulder?" Scully mumbled all of a sudden.
"Scully! Thank God!" Mulder breathed out.
"What happened?" She asked, confused.
"You have fallen from steep slope and you hit your head really hard on a stone." Mulder explained.
Scully tried to sit down but her body wasn't listening to her. She was hissing with pain already while she was feeling her head injury.
"You shouldn't be moving. We don't know what your injuries are." Mulder said.
"My leg hurts." Scully mumbled.
Mulder looked at her leg. He palpated it gently but as soon as he reached shin, Scully hissed loudly, almost crying out. Mulder continued palpating even though he didn't want to. But he needed to find out degree of the injury. In the end, Scully stopped him, when she took his hand into hers and silently shook her head. He thought he saw tears in her eyes.
"Your tibia is broken." Mulder stated, needlessly. He knew Scully knew that already.
"You have to immobilize the leg." Scully said through clenched teeth.
"I will give you something against the pain. I think I saw morphine in the bag."
"No." She shook her head. "I don't want morphine. It will cloud my mind and I wouldn't be able to help you. Aspirin for dulling the pain would be enough."
Mulder wanted to protest but Scully simply shook her head and he knew he won't be able to change her mind. So he gave her two aspirins and a bottle of water. He lifted her upper torso a bit. He was holding her in his arms and waiting for her to swallow the pills and drink a bit of water. Then he put her down again. He put the second blanket over her, gave her a flashlight and went searching for two sticks that could help to fix Scully's broken leg. He didn't want to leave his co-worker alone but he had to help her.
While was Mulder gone, Scully was trying to find out the degree of her injuries. She was only praying not to have an internal bleeding because she knew she won't be able to get to the hospital any time soon. She felt pain through her entire body but she needed to keep her mind clear, at least within the bounds, so she would be able telling her co-worker what to do.
Her belly wasn't hard to the touch, which was good. But she suspected one of her ribs was broken or at least cracked. And her left wrist hurt. Besides, she had splitting headache, she was sure she had at least moderate concussion. She knew Mulder would have to take care of her. It wasn't any fun to have a concussion.
Finally, Mulder returned. He was holding in his hands more sticks that were necessary and by the shapes, Scully glimpsed in the light of flashlights, not all of them were good for making a splint. She frowned. For a moment she was taken by a surprise and was trying to come up with any idea why he would need so many sticks. A moment later it dawned on her. A fire. She wanted to make a fire for sure. But everything was wet. The rain stopped, yet it was still threatening to start raining again in any minute. He wouldn't be able to make a fire in this weater.
"I found something." Mulder said with a smile and showed her the sticks. When he noticed her unbelievable look, he showed her two sticks that were more suitable for improvised splint. He kneeled down next to her, moved the medical bag closer to him and took out two bandages. At the same time he was listening to the advices from his colleague about what he was supposed to do. While he was bandaging her leg, he was wondering, how calmly Scully was talking, and although it was obvious she was in a pain. She sounded like she was giving initial training to a new medic, not like an injured person. He hoped it was caused by the painkillers and not by something else.
"You will have to bandage my wrist as well." Scully announced as soon as Mulder was done bandaging her leg.
"What next?" Mulder asked while he was preparing another bandage.
"You will have to keep me conscious. How long I was unconscious?"
Mulder thought for a moment while bandaging her wrist. "Five minutes for sure." He said after a moment. "Well, more like ten minutes but less than fifteen."
"Moderate concussion. I have to stay conscious before I will be admitted to the hospital."
"But Scully." Mulder objected. But he didn't get further than that.
All of a sudden, Scully turned on her side, at least as much as her injured body let her, and threw up. Luckily she has eaten hours ago, so they were just juices from stomach but that wasn't any more pleasant.
"I'm sorry." She apologized and with her shaking hand wiped her mouth. Although she had on wet clothes, her forehead was cowered in sweat.
"That's OK." Mulder was calming her down. He carefully lifted her head and gave her few small sips of water. Then he put the bottle aside and was just holding her in his arms, soothingly stroking her head. He took out a tissue from his pocked and gently wiped her lips. Scully took a breath but a second later she hissed with a pain.
"Do you have broken ribs?" Mulder asked.
"Probably." She replied and was trying to breathe shallowly. "But we can't do anything about that." She added when she noticed he looked at the medical bag.
Mulder sighed. He knew he couldn't do much with broken ribs. He just hoped it won't harm her. And more than that, he was afraid that the broken rib could puncture her lungs. He had heard about it and he didn't like this thought at all. So he at least grabbed disinfection and cleaned a bad looking wound on Scully's forehead.
"You should leave me here and go searching for help." Scully suggested while closing her eyes with pain, when Mulder was cleaning her wound. She had to wait till he was done to hear his answer.
Only after he put plaster on the wound, he looked into her eyes and shook his head. "I won't leave you alone."
"So how do you plan to get away from here?"
He thought for a moment. "I will come up with a plan." He answered finally. "You have to rest now and I'll try to make a fire."
Scully smiled briefly. She had to admit Mulder was taking good care of her. But with the idea of making fire he was like a scout to her. She didn't think he would be able to do it but he definitely looked like he would be trying till he would make it. Scully knew he could be very stubborn when he made up his mind.
Mulder was trying for many long minutes but luck wasn't on his side this time. He had matches, so he didn't have to be striking two stones against each other, still it wasn't any use. He was trying not to be angry so Scully won't notice it's not working but he was almost at the point of swearing or throwing everything away. He wanted to make the fire at any cost. It wasn't only because he wanted to show Scully he was capable of doing it. Now, when the adrenalin was gone, he was cold. He needed to warm up but Scully had all blankets and he didn't intent to take one for himself.
But Scully was eagle-eyed. "You're shivering." She stated all of a sudden.
"That's nothing." Mulder just waved his hand over it.
"That's not good. Not only that you'll have cold but you can be facing hypothermia. One of symptoms is shivering."
Mulder smiled briefly. "You have sharp mind for someone suffering from moderate concussion." He stated and put the matches aside. He finally decided that attempts for making a fire were more than enough. He had to admit he wasn't able to succeed in this weather.
"Come here." Scully said. In that moment, her stomach turned upside down once again. This time it was all but empty and nothing came out.
Mulder came to her and carefully took her in his arms. He gave her few sips of water again and wiped her lips. He was holding her in his arms and allowed her to throw a blanket around his body. He knew what she was trying to do and for once he decided to comply with her wish. He lied down next to her, threw the blanket over both of them and took her in his arms. In that moment he noticed Scully closed her eyes.
"Dana, you can't sleep." Mulder said gently. He didn't even realize he used her first name.
"Hmm." She mumbled, tired.
"Talk to me. Tell me something." He insisted.
"As soon as I'll be feeling better, I'll wring your neck for that stupid idea of yours going different way than others." She said tiredly.
He smiled for a moment. He was sure she was capable of doing just that. He was blaming himself for not following the others. But he has been so sure that this was the right path. His unwavering confidence brought Scully into difficulties and he had no idea how to help her. He needed to take her to hospital but he didn't have signal on his phone. He hoped they would be able to survive the night together and he would be wiser in the morning. That meant to endanger Scully's life and he was afraid about the influence it will have on her health.
"How are you feeling?" Mulder ask only to make her talk.
"Like I felt from steep slope." She answered tiredly but with touch of smile in her voice.
He smiled a little. He was glad she didn't lose sense of humor even though she had to feel terribly. "I will get you out of here." He promised her.
"I know you will." She answered with such certainty it surprised him. He realized she was fully relying on him not only because she didn't have any other choice but because she trusted him and hoped he would keep his promise. If not, it could mean even death for her and he didn't intent to allow that.
Scully wriggled trying to find a better position, when all of a sudden a big pain stroked her leg and Scully cried out in pain. "I think I sprained my left ankle or it could even be broken." She stated as soon as the pain eased away.
"You should take the morphine." Mulder suggested again although he knew her reaction. And he was right. As soon as he voiced his idea, she gave him a sign he won't succeed. She wanted to keep her mind clear at any cost even though it was obvious she had to really suffer. But she could be as stubborn as Mulder was and really didn't want to persuade her.
"When we get away from here I will take vacation." She stated.
"You should wait with the vacation till you are healthy again or you won't enjoy it."
"I intent to spent the vacation in bed with a book." She replied.
He laughed. He wasn't surprised. He himself could imagine vacation in a bed. Or in his case on a couch. But he knew very well he wouldn't be able to do nothing. And Scully wasn't any better in this case.
…
Mulder wasn't sure how many hours went by since Scully have been hurt. Both flashlights were out of order and light wasn't bright enough for him to see his watch. But on the east, there were first signs of dawn. The rain, that sprinkled them many times through the night, finally stopped. Except that a fog was now sprawling around them. That really wasn't a good sign. If someone was looking for them, the fog would only complicate the search.
Scully wriggled and Mulder immediately turned his attention to her. It was getting really difficult for him to keep her awake. He himself was sleepy but he didn't allow himself to close eyes even for a moment. He was afraid he would fall asleep in a second and Scully would follow him. But he couldn't allow it from medical reasons.
"Are we at home yet?" She mumbled sleepily.
He smiled a bit and kissed her in her hair. "Not yet, hold on."
"I can't hold on much longer." She answered.
Mulder realized that she was speaking with more and more difficulties. He was afraid it wasn't only because she was tired. He feared that the broken rib could penetrate lung. But he thought he would recognize it. Nevertheless he couldn't stop worrying. He knew he had to get Scully to the hospital as soon as possible. He didn't intent loosing her.
"You're thinking too much." Scully was teasing him. She was looking at him for some time noticing the look on his face.
"How are you feeling?"
She intended to lie to him but something in his look forced her to tell the truth. "It's getting worse." She admitted after a moment.
He frowned. That was exactly what he was afraid of. But they didn't have a choice. They couldn't stay here, nobody would find them. "I will carry you. Will you manage it?"
"You should go alone." She replied.
"I won't leave you here." He answered with a tone of his voice that didn't allow any objection.
She simply nodded.
Mulder stood up and looked around. The dawn was arriving quickly and he could for the first time to see the slope Scully has fallen from. He unknowingly gasped. Although he was climbing the slope down, only now he realized that he couldn't imagine the slope properly. It was bigger and steeper than he expected. Scully could be glad he ended the way she did. She was lucky to survive the fall. And he was lucky he didn't end up like Scully when he was climbing the slope down. It was sometimes better not knowing where one was going.
But when he looked on the other side, he noticed the hill was more passable. It seemed Scully stopped with the fall on some kind of plateau that was ending the steep slope. If he would be walking alone, he would be down in no time. But even while carrying Scully, it should be relatively passable. It would be definitely more passable than climbing back up.
He looked around thinking what things they should take with. In the end he decided to leave everything there. The medical bag would needlessly weight him down and slowing him down. He didn't need that now; speed was now really important. Scully should have been in hospital ages ago and every delay was only making worse her already bad health. He couldn't hesitate any longer.
He bend down to Scully, shook her gently to make her eyes open again. He knew he won't be able to keep her awake for much longer. He wrapped her in the blanket and lifted her very carefully up. Nevertheless, few painful groans left her lips. Mulder looked into her face and Scully gave him brave smile. In that moment Mulder realized how delicate she looked wrapped in the blanket. He promised himself to do whatever necessary to bring her to safety. He griped her tightly in his arms and set out on the way down.
After few steps he gained more certainty and his walk was faster. He was talking to Scully the entire way insisting on answers. She had her eyes closed but she still responded even though her answers were getting slower and not always were making sense. It was worrying him more and more so his walk was getting faster till he was almost running. When he realized it, he slowed down. He definitely didn't want to fall down. He didn't have any way how to ease his potential fall. Scully would be the one who would be hurt the most and he couldn't risk it.
"Are we there yet?" Scully asked all of a sudden.
It was so sudden it took Mulder aback and he needed a moment to answer. "I'm sorry but not yet." He said finally.
Scully closed her eyes concentrating on calm breathing. After approximately five minutes she asked again. "Are we there yet?"
Mulder paused in a surprise. He started to worry her concussion got worse. In that moment he noticed a glint of a smile on her face. He realized she was joking and smiled at her. He was glad she still had a sense of humor.
"Hold on a moment." He mumbled reassuringly.
Mulder didn't know how long it took him to climb down the hill. But even after that he didn't slow down or stop. He noticed a road; he came to it and took the right turn. He had no idea if he choose rightly but he had to go somewhere.
"You should go left." Scully mumbled.
"Yeah. Sure. Whatever." Mulder replied and they both smiled.
They have been through this once before.
…
Mulder was walking through a long hospital's corridor. He was holding bouquet of roses in his left hand because he had his right wrist bandaged. Besides bruised butt and few bruises different sizes, his contused wrist was the worst injury he had from the ill-fated trip. Scully ended up much worse but according to the doctors she should fully recover; that was something he was really grateful for.
He arrived to the door, knocked and entered.
"Hi." He greeted his colleague and showed her the roses.
"Hi." Scully replied with smile. "They are beautiful."
"Are they taking good care of you?"
She smiled. "You were better caretaker. Thanks to you I'm doing quite well. I could have ended up much worse."
He smiled back. He was glad for her words. He was grateful that she wasn't blaming him; after all it was his fault. If they had been following other agents… He shook his head. Scully was in safety and that was the only thing that really mattered.
THE END