Kleenex

A sneezing Mulder battles a cold, and asks Scully for a little favor.

Mulder awoke suddenly, the shriek of his cell phone jerking him out of slumber. He stabbed the "answer" button with one finger, before bringing the reciever up to his ear.

"*snnnrrrkk* 'Bmulder."

"Hey, it's me. How are you doing?"

Mulder shugged, but then realized that no one could see him, so he answered with a stuffy "Ya. *sniff* m'okay. Just really ECHOO! *snrrkk* sdeezy."

Scully grinned to herself- there was something about a sick Mulder that she found very endearing. "You should take a hot shower- it'll help de-congest you."

There was a series of loud wet snorting sounds on the other end of the line, and Scully waited patiently for them to subside.

"Mulder?"

"Ya?"

"You okay?"

Mulder sneezed, blowing his nose sloppily into a kleenex before lobbing it towards the trashcan on the other side of the bedroom. "Like I said. I'b fide, I just cand stop eh...HACHOO! sdeezing for bor thad about two..." Scully could hear his heavy breathing on the other end of the line, and imagined the look on his face as he prepared for the next sneeze.

"*snnnrrrrkkkk* Sorry. I can't stop sdeezing for more then about-keERCHH! KACHHTT!" The sneezes were muffled, but sounded more congested than the last few. Just listening to him sneeze seemed infectious enough, and Scully rummaged through the desk for a bottle of hand sanitizer as she waited. More nose blowing sounds followed, and each sneeze seemed to become wetter and deeper as he became more and more stuffed up.

"...two secnds." Mulder snatched the last tissue from the box on his bedside table, reducing it to a sodden mess.

"*eshhhhhhhtttttttt* *cough* *sniffle*'Dis really sucks Scuwy. I Cand sleep, I cand talk, and I cand even watch ady TV, because I cand stop dis damn sdeezing... *sniff*..." Rapidly a fresh wave of sneezes crept into the back of his nose, and he looked around frantically for more tissues, a napkin, anything.

"Well I hope you don't have a respetory infection. You know, that can happen when-" Face puckering, Mulder sniffed, trying to repress the growing sneezes.

"Well I hop...oH..HASHHO!" Dropping the phone, Mulder cupped his hands over his face in a feeble attempt to contain the sudden fit. "ESHOO!ESHOO!ESHOO!

Scully laughed. "Get some sleep Mulder. Stay warm, drink lots of liquids, and call me if you need anything. Are you sure you're okay? Do you want me to bring you anything from the store?"

Mulder grinned, coughing into a tissue before bringing it up to his streaming nose. " 'Doh thanks. Dall be okay. Dondt hab too bunch fud without be!"

"I'll try my best." Scully spun a little circle in her desk chair, toying with the phone cord as she went. "See you on Monday."

"Scuwly?"

She stopped spinning. "Yeah?"

There was a pause on the line, during which Mulder managed to sneeze a few more times, muffled, into a wad of kleenex.

"KERCHOO! KACHHTT!" Scully heard him curse as he blew his nose.

"Scuwly, would you baybe drop by da store... if you hab a chance... and bring be sub bore-ESHHTT! *sniff* tithues?"

Scully rolled her eyes, sighing audibly. "Sure."

Mulder smiled in releif, and allowed his head to collapse onto the pillow.

"Thank you."

"Sure thing. I'll be at your apartment in half an hour."

"You dow where to find me."

The line went dead, and Mulder couldn't help but chuckle to himself weakly. What would he do without her?