Another chapter just to set the scene for the next few chapters of Mulder, Scully and little Emily. ^^ Happy families.
He had been rushed into my care after his apartment complex had been set on fire by predicted arsonist, he was pulled out of the rubble unconscious and his lungs were filled with smoke. We doubted whether he would make it through the night, I remember it as though it were yesterday.
It was a fairly busy night in the hospital, although; Friday nights usually were, a place of healing for the drunk walking wounded, those who fell down with half a mind or simply got into the fight with other drunkards... all I know is that the smell of disinfectant masked the smell of alcohol coming from the patients. For the past thirty minutes though, it seemed quiet, a little too quiet. I could hear myself think and I was not rushed off my feet; that is until we get a radio transmission from the EMT's on duty, usually when you start thinking good the world just turns on you, a reminder that it is your job to help the sick. I walk to the radio and pick it up.
"Emergency Department" I speak.
"This is 4001 over." A muffled mans voice speaks, the man being EMT Paul on duty.
"I read you 4001, what is the situation, over." I reply.
"We have an arson in Georgetown, a building complex is on fire and there are six maybe seven unconscious. ETA: ten minutes."
Arson was never pretty, usually in the dead of night so that people were unaware that the fire was happening or that they were being poisoned by carbon monoxide. The culprits usually smashed up smoke detectors as well so that people had no idea what was happening, sick and twisted bastards.
I gather up my team and we prepare for all scenarios such as minor to major burns or smoke inhalation, broken bones or brain damage, we prepare for the worst.
As on cue ten minutes pass and the first wave of patients comes flooding through the doors. The first patient is a Caucasian woman between the age of 30 – 35 she has minor burns on her forearms and minor smoke inhalation, I pass her off to Jane my scrub nurse and wait for any more serious cases. The next patient to be brought in is a Caucasian sixteen year old boy who jumped out of a two story window to avoid the flames; he has a suspected broken left femur and a queried neck injury, he KO'ed for roughly five minutes. I grab this patient and wheel him in the ER keeping a keen ear out for any more majors coming in. It takes roughly half an hour before everyone from the fire is brought in, but so far there are no major injuries and my muscles relax slightly knowing the worst part is over. Finally we get the all clear from the EMT's that everyone is out of the building. I was honestly shocked that no one else was injured but, as usual, you get to thinking the world is in your favour and it turns on you.
"This is 4001, the fire team on site in Georgetown have just pulled a body from the building, I repeat we have another man in need of immediate emergency care, ETA five minutes. Over."
I panic slightly, my heart pumping in my chest as the first major comes in for the night. I gather up my team again and we prepare, by the sound of it this man was lucky to be found, let alone alive. My palms are sweating beneath my gloves as I changed quickly into my scrubs and we await by the entrance. After what feels like years of waiting he finally arrives.
"John Doe, age: late twenties early thirties. KO'ed on scene with a 6.5 blood gas; his lips and fingertips have turned blue."
I stare down at the John Doe, his face blackened with ash and his lips tinted blue, this points to every sign of carbon monoxide poisoning.
"He was found under a metal pillar and he has a suspected fractured pelvis, at least four broken ribs and queried broken ulna and radius of the right arm." Paul finally finished.
"Right, wheel him into the ER and get oxygen on him right away." I reply. John Doe was still unconscious and his breathing was extremely slow. We hitched him up to a heart monitor and a tracheal tube with a medical ventilator because he had trouble breathing on his own and all we could do was just hoped for the best.
I was working on the nightshift as I did every other Friday night since Emily was born; usually Emily stayed with Ethan but now that we had walked out on him Emily stayed with her Grandma and Papa, my mom and dad. The Friday night slowly turned into early Saturday morning and somewhere in the middle of the huge rush many of the drunkards had awaken from the waiting room and wandered off into the dead of night. At this time the waiting room was near enough empty, just the families of those involved in the fire but no body seemed to come and claim John Doe, no family, wife, kids?
I wandered into John Does room, he had a constant drip of fluids being pumped into his body but he still was not conscious. I stood at the far end of his bed staring at his blackened features, it wasn't my job to do so but he was so helpless to himself I just had to. I wrought out a flannel and wiped it over his blackened face taking off the charcoal face paint to reveal the pasty skin beneath. I had placed my hand on the bed next to his for balance so that I could reach over and clean his face but he stirred and gently clasped my hand letting me know that he was awake; and then he opened his eyes. Usually when someone has a tube shoved down their throat they begin to panic, however; John Doe just lay there staring up at me with his calm green eyes and I helplessly stared back, the corners or his mouth around the tube folding into a smile. I step in closer so that I can pull the tube from the mans throat.
"I know that you are calm already, sir but this will feel a little uncomfortable so please try and keep calm as I try and remove the tube." I asked as I begin tugging on the tube which pulls out with ease.
When the tube has been fully pulled out, John Doe mouths 'thank you' to me and as a response I nod back. A job well done.
As the sun begins to rise through the shuttered blinds throughout the hospital I could not shake John Doe's mesmerising green eyes, they enchant me; they have opened a door deep inside of me. That door was John Doe. I want to find more about him. I need to find more about him.
I walk into John Doe's room and he kindly greets me with a beaming smile.
"I wondered where you had gotten to." He pierced me with his eyes, his voice raspy from having a tube down his throat.
"I've been doing my job." I simply replied.
An awkward silence hit the room.
"Anyway, we are glad to see that your blood oxygen levels have evened out and that you have no significant burns except for your forearms. The downside is that you have cracked four ribs and have broken your right femur and fractured your left radius.
"Feels like I've been kicked in the chest by a horse. " John Doe chuckles Mutly style.
"It would do, you had a steel beam fall on you during the fire... Oh and on another note – we don't know your name; or anything about you for that matter, except the fact you were in the building when it was on fire..."
"Oh – My name is Fox Mulder." The corners of his mouth turning out and he smiles at me. "Do you have a name doctor?"
"Dana Scully, but to you it is Dr. Scully." I couldn't help but flash a quick wink at him. What was happening to me? What is it about his masculine charms and gorgeous green eyes that makes my stomach flutter.
He offered me a weak hand. "Pleased to make your acquaintance Dr. Scully."
I clasped my hand with his and his huge hand envelopes my smaller one and I reply. "Likewise Fox."
A pain stricken face of grimace flickers on his face.
"Are you in pain?" I ask as he peers at me through it emerald eyes.
"Yes – Please call me Mulder the only pain is my name. 'Fox'.
"Yes of course Mr. Mulder." I reply. For some reason I felt that it suited him better. Mulder.
"Please drop the Mr. I'm just Mulder plain old Mulder. But – Yes- now you come mention it I am in a little pain.
"Ok Mulder. I'll top you up with a little morphine and came back to check on you before I clock off in half and hour."
"Going home to the husband?" He asks.
I merely tense up and freeze. "Excuse me?" I finally utter in shock.
"I didn't mean to offend of any thing; I just saw the band is all."
"Sorry. It's been a rough couple of week, I'm actually separated." I reply with apologetic eyes.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to resurface and old wound." His green eyes filled with genuine remorse.
"No. No – it's fine" I lie, a topic which is still very tender in my heart as I take the band of and place it into my pocket. "How about you, got a wife, kids?" I move on.
"Nope – I fly solo. I suppose I'm just waiting for the right one to settle down with and start a family." He awkwardly looked down at his hands and began twiddling his thumbs like an anxious school boy.
"You got any kids?" He asks intrigued.
"Yes. Emily. She is seven." I reply with a huge smile on my face. I take out a picture from my work ID and pass it over to Mulder. It was only a few months ago at her birthday party, she was smiling and all happy, now her life is upside down. She seems lost without her father.
"She's beautiful, looks just like her mother, those blue eyes. Wow." Mulder replied, smiling down at the photograph in his hands.
"Yeah, she's my little trooper." I reply as I take the picture off Mulder and place it into my pocket, ignoring the fact that he called me beautiful, well at least I think he did. "I'll see you in half an hour then." I smile.
"Miss you already." He states, scrunching up his face, my heart galloping in my chest.
Really. What was happening to me? What was it about this man, his steamy good looks or his malignant eyes, his witty charisma? I don't know what it is exactly but his charm is the hot knife and I am the butter, I just can't help but melt when he is close to me.
I leave the room with a goodbye and head towards the sixteen year old boy who was brought in earlier from the fire.
"Hello Max, how are you feeling?" The teenage boys eyes meet mine, opening wide as I walk into the room.
" I am much bett'r now that your 'ere, Doc'!" He curls half his mouth into a cunning smile. I know what is on his mind, I just ignore him and walk over to his chart and read.
"What's the verdict Doc', I'm sure I can take it." He dramatically says placing the back of his hand upon his forehead like all those melodramatic actresses on TV when they faint.
I chuckled to myself slightly and then straighten up my composure and turn to him with a serious straight face. "I'm afraid to tell you, Max – that you – are a very lucky boy." I give him a smile and continue. "For all it's worth you have only fractured your femur. You are not aware how serious your condition could have been.
I feel Max exhale slightly in relief. "So when can I get of 'ere?" He asks whim fully.
"Well we need to run a few more texts to see if you're fine and have no abnormalities as such, and run another x-ray screening just in case we missed something. Other then that we need to put a full leg cast on and you will be out of here Monday evening at the earliest." I reply.
"Okay, thanks Doc'." He retorts.
I place his records back at the end of the bed and smile back. "You're welcome, Max." I leave his room and finally clock out for the day.
By now the time is 9:15 and my stomach is growling for food, fearing that it will tear itself lose from my abdomen and go on a rampage. I haven't eaten since before I came to work last in night at 18:00, however; I had said to Mulder that I would go and visit him before I went home, so that is exactly where I am heading. I gather up my jacket and purse from my locker in the staff room and head to Mulder's room.
I didn't care to knock, but really I should have seeing as I am visiting as a 'friend' and not as his doctor. The door stands ajar and so I enter, but when I do I see a balding man with greying hair and deep grey eyes. He is wearing a grey suit with a plain blue tie and wears thin wire framed glasses; he stares dumbfounded at me as I rudely enter.
"I'm sorry. I should have knocked." I apologise as I slowly move out of the room.
"No, don't be silly." Mulder replies from the bed. I helplessly step forward into the room again as if I were magnetised to Mulder. "Dana Scully, this is Walter Skinner, my boss. Walter Skinner this is Dana Scully, my doctor." He seemed to add emphasis on the doctor as he said it, but more sounded as though It rang out throughout the room, it sends shivers down my spine.
I stare over at Skinner and bear half a smile and he curls half a lip at me. I ignore Mulder's introduction and carry on.
"I am sorry, this was a bad time, I shall come back."
"No!" he basically shouts. "I mean – Skinner was just leaving, weren't you sir?" Mulder adds, staring coldly at Skinner.
Skinner rolls his eyes but takes note of what Mulder had just said and was about to leave, he gets to the door and stops, staring back at me.
"Do you know how long it will be before he can come back to work?" He asks.
"Well his condition is stable but still quite severe, he has broken ribs and there is always a possibility of a Pneumothorax occurring. He will need plenty of bed rest and must, repeat must, be away from any strenuous areas. I would have to say 4-5 weeks away from work at the very minimum." I can see Skinner's eyebrows reach higher and higher on his forehead as I talk but when I finally finish talking his eyes brows are ready to burst from the his face.
"4-5 weeks at the minimum? Jesus Mulder, Kersh is going to eat you with his bacon for breakfast!" He begins to raise his voice.
"Well let him, he'd be glad the x-files will be shut down for a few weeks anyway." Mulder replies in pure spite.
It was like watching a tennis match; my heading switching to whomever was talking but eventually they stopped, they shook hands and Skinner finally left. I went over and sat on the visitors chair perched right next to Mulder's bed and he just stared starry eyed back at me.
"Doctor Scully?" He asks.
"I'm off Duty now, please, called me Scully." I reply.
"Okay – Scully, may I say that you have spell-binding eyes?" He moderately blushes.
"Why – thank you Mulder." I try to hold off my own blush though I feel it creeping upon my face.
We merely sit in the silence of each others company, listening to the chirping of the birds outside in the crisp sunlight.
Mulder pulls a pained expression and suddenly yells. "Oh shit!" He soon retains his composure and turns to me. "Excuse my language, but I only just realised that I have no where to live." He slowly places his face into his palms and takes a deep breath, the reality of the fire only hitting him now. "I had everything in my apartment, my bank card, my furniture, my car keys – my gun." He continued.
I must have had a pretty dumbfounded look upon my face because he stares back catching my attention with a wave.
"You see – I work for the FBI." That explains why Skinner was wearing a monkey suit. I think to myself.
"The FBI?" Even my own voice sounds alien to me. It sounds quivery and nervous, shock more then anything I guess.
"I work on this department called the x-files, unsolved cases, unexplained cases." He pauses and takes a look at me; my eyes open wide with anticipation.
"Sound Interesting. " I say sceptically.
"Ah, sceptic are we? Cannot see past the telescope to tell us what possibilities occur out there? Billions and billions of planets and life only chooses to form here, on earth. I think not. Not everything we can explain Scully." He raises and eyebrow in scepticism.
"Everything is 'explainable'. I mock.
"Oh really? Roswell New Mexico 1947. Alien spaceship crash lands in the desert."
I reluctantly release a 'pffft' sound between my teeth. "Please, no where is there actually any evidence that actually accounts for this 'crash landing'. It was merely a government cover up to hide nuclear missiles at the start of the cold war."
He stares at me through pain ridden eyes and only now do I realise that I am standing in the heat of the discussion. I reluctantly release the bottled anger inside of me and sit myself down on the chair once again. The air remains chilled between us, the exact way my heart feels right now for what I had just said to Mulder. I contemplate what to say as he avoids my daggered glance.
"Listen, I'm sorry. It's just that I am very sceptical when it comes to things like this. I never just shut up and listen I need to make my point heard." I sit and twiddle my thumbs anxiously.
"It's okay. I just though – oh – never mind. "He stops mid-way.
"You just though what?" I retort.
"Nothing. It's nothing." He let out an averse sigh and at all costs he still tries to avoid eye contact.
"C'mon Mulder, spill." I demand agitated.
"I just thought you should know what I do before you make judgment on me, and now – you have." He hesitantly met my gaze, finally.
"Mulder, I am not judging you on your occupation or on your beliefs. I want to believe, I just can't accept more then God."
"Isn't the belief in God more then something you can see or feel but more of that which is spiritual, someone to blame when things go wrong with life? I mean, isn't it an excuse for what we do as a person but we blame it on an omnipotent, omniscience, omnipresent spirit. A logical explanation to the planet and solar system, as a scientist, you can surly see that the laws of science overpower the laws of God. For there is more to life then meets the eye."
I can feel tears materialize in my eyes; I cannot stand my faith being contradicted even though it was I who was contradicting him in the first place. I cannot let him see me break down, I have been so strong through my separation but now, one man has changed it all, and my rock hard foundations have come crumbling down. I stand up and walk out of the room without saying another word, retreating from the world into the comfort of the locker room, my heart fractured. I turn off the lights and escape when I enter the locker room.
I feel so fondly of him but now he has deflated me, he has impacted me so fast I do not know what has hit me, dumbfounded towards the events which have happened so quickly. I cry myself till my eyes run dry, sitting alone in the blackened locker room I think deeply to myself, contemplating. Who was he to question my faith? Drawn into his attraction yet two different poles, his eyes a mesmerising sea of warmth, wrapped in his soft comfort, he makes me forget about the evil in the world, I can't help but dissolve in his charm. I'd like to get to know him more, invite him, envelope him into my life, to discover him and possibly myself. I slip further off radar and into the bathroom where I damp paper towels and moisten my eyes, trying to hide the emotion painted upon my face. When I finally know what to say to him I leave the bathroom, walking towards his room, my heart pumping in my mouth. I approach the door and convulse, the sharp intake of cold air opens my lungs, my mind, my heart. I enter reluctantly.
When I step into the room I am not noticed for Mulder's attention is fully onto a man holding a huge bouquet of flowers standing next to his bed.
"They are for a Dana Scully. She is a doctor here. In the card can you please write, 'I am sorry for saying them things, obviously I offended you and for that I am extremely sorry. Please forgive me. From Mulder". He finishes talking but I can see the guilt build in his eyes, his voice severe, my heart weeps.
I step soundlessly out of the room for a moment, waiting for the flower guy to finally leave so that Mulder and I are alone again, so that can talk to him, alone.
The flower guy leaves about a minute later and I step into the room again. Mulder's face is dismal and grey looking until he sees me standing at the door and a smile quickly shines upon his face before it fades again, remembering that we are arguing.
"Look, I'm sorry." We both utter at the same time.
"You first." We mimic again.
"I don't know why I got so upset when you said about my faith, I'm not even sure I believe it myself anymore." I announce first.
"Even if you do, it isn't my place to contradict anyway. I don't need you to believe in what I do. Just try and believe in me." His eyes so innocent and pure, I can feel myself being magnetised towards him, every second the pressure of him pulling my essence closer, I finally give into the strain and enclose the vast gap between us until I am standing next to him. It's like I have known him forever, yet I have only known him a few hours, he has got me entranced.
Mulder grabs my hand and our fingers subconsciously entwine. I blush and he sees, it makes him smile and I stare back at him; our eyes catch a breathless embrace.
"I have a proposition to make." I finally break the silence. "It will change things and it's just temporary."
Mulder watches me in anticipation as though he knows what I am going to say before I say it.
"Would you like you sleep on my couch until you get yourself back on your feet and get some money behind you so you can get another apartment?" I ask. The smile on his face grows ever wider and his clasp upon my hand tightens in joy.
"I'd love to." He simply replies. The smile meeting his eyes
Enjoy the story so far? Please review I really would like to know what you think of this story and chapter.