CHAPTER THREE
She was staring into his eyes in silence, trying to calm her racing heart. He just watched her for a few moments and they sat there together.
"Could you pass me my tea?" She asked softly.
Mulder frowned, seemingly confused or startled by her words, blinking a couple of times, then cleared his throat and handed her the tea off the nightstand which was nearer to him. She took it off him with a small smile.
"Thank you." She said, then blew on it to cool it down.
"Scully I.." He started, then stopped. He looked down at the bedsheets, he seemed upset.
She frowned with concern and held her tea cup to her lips, pausing before drinking due to his change of tone.
"What's up?"
He was still looking at the bedsheets, his shoulders rising and falling with deep breaths. She waited for him to carry on, she could tell he was struggling with whatever he wanted to say.
"I…" he sighed, shaking his head, "never mind." He finished in defeat, and looked up at her again, with a small smile, but clear distress in his eyes.
Scully felt her heart sinking, she knew it must be a question about her illness, but she didn't want to press him. She took a sip of her tea and didn't know what else to do or say.
"Mulder, its very sweet that you're here, but surely you need to be back at work. I'll be all right again after some rest."
Mulder sighed and ran a hand through his hair, a little frustrated now, at himself, as he loved her. He had nearly just told her, he had nearly just said it. And now she wanted him to leave again.
"I already told you, that I'm not leaving." He stood up and placed one hand on his hip. "Unless.. unless you want me to go?"
She was silent, feeling a little awkward now. Then she placed her tea down.
"Mulder, I'm just gonna go to sleep. You can stay if you want, but I'm exhausted, I need to rest, ok?" She said as gently as she could, not to offend him.
He nodded a little and placed both hands in his pockets. He was kind of glad he hadn't said it now, it would have been very inappropriate at such a difficult time in her life. He bit his bottom lip, unable to shake his concern for her.
"All right, I'm gonna stay for a while, but I'll be in the living room if you need me." He said softly, then left her bedroom.
She fell asleep after her tea, she was aware he was in the next room but she didn't mind that much, as long as he gave her some space.
Mulder sat in the living room on her couch, he was a little torn at whether to stay or not, he didn't want her to think he was being weird. He was just really worried, he would never forgive himself if something happened to her, and he hadn't been there to help her. He wondered if she should really be in the hospital, but he was sure that she knew best, being a medical doctor.
He lay down across the couch and tried to relax, he found himself drifting off to sleep eventually...
He woke again to the sound of her voice saying his name.
He jumped awake, his arms moving out from next to him, all curled up, almost falling off the couch but stoping himself as he opened his eyes and looked up at her, still in her pyjamas and with her dressing gown wrapped around her. She looked adorable. "Scully? A-are you ok?"
She nodded and smiled a little, looking at him all curled up on the sofa. "I'm fine Mulder, really. You've been asleep for four hours. We both have." She stifled a yawn then walked into the kitchen to get some water. "You want anything?" She asked.
Mulder sat up then and glanced at his wristwatch in surprise, "No thank you ... Four hours?" He asked in disbelief, he hadn't expected that at all or even to fall asleep in the first place. He ran a hand over his chin and then got up to join her, moving towards the kitchen as well.
When he got there, he noticed she still looked exhausted. "Did I wake you?" He asked quietly, worried he had been snoring or something.
"No, of course not." She said, turning to give him a tired smile, "I woke up myself, I felt a little nauseous."
Mulder moved to clutch onto the back of one of her kitchen chairs, feeling his heart sinking at that. He didn't know what to say, he just gave her a small nod. He also guessed he had outstayed his welcome and may be he should be going now.
"You want me to go?" He asked in a small voice, but if she said yes, he would understand.
She paused for a moment, and he sensed some uneasiness radiating from her as she placed the glass of water back on the kitchen counter and leant against it. She turned and faced him, crossing her arms.
"Actually erm.. there's something I want to talk to you about.."
PLEASE REVIEW
Sorry it's short..
Thanks for all the interest! I'm sorry it's taken so long for an update, but work has been insane since I got back off my vacation, I will try harder to update more regularly now xx
