Her head ached, even the low lights hurting as she slowly began to open her eyes. Raising her left hand, she touched the side of her head and grimaced. There was a large bump there and she closed her eyes again, trying to remember what happened and why she felt like her brain was going to throb out of her skull.
A warehouse. Was it a warehouse? Or an alley? A building? They were searching for… shit, she was not able to recall. How hard had she hit her head?
Shifting, she groaned, as pain like thousands of needles pressed into her chest. She drew in a deep harsh breath and then moaned as she let it out, wanting to scream but knowing how badly it would hurt.
A hand touched hers and she forced her eyes open, Mulder's face swimming in front of hers. His eyes were worried and she tried to smile, but it made her head hurt far too much. She closed her eyes again, so very tired.
"Scully?" he whispered and she hummed softly. "I'm sorry. Scully…" She heard his voice break and she squeezed his hand weakly.
"I'm… oh… okay."
"You're not. I'm sorry. It was so fast. I didn't see him. He… came out of nowhere. I saw him see you… I tried to draw his attention, but he had his gun trained on you. I…"
"Mulder," she breathed.
"He shot you. You fell. I shot him, but you were already hit."
"I don't remember."
"You have a huge bump on your head and
awful bruising from the bullet hitting your vest."
"The vest. I remember… the vest. Oh… you, you were…"
"I was fucking terrified. You weren't breathing. Wouldn't respond."
"I remember."
And she did. She remembered his frantic voice calling to her, her inability to answer him, the wind knocked out of her so hard, it felt as though it would never return, her head throbbing. Remembered his gentle hands on her face, brushing his fingers through her hair, eliciting a sharp cry from her.
"Mulder…"
"Scully. It was stupid. You could have died."
"I didn't. I'll be okay. Mulder…"
She forced her eyes open and focused on him again. His eyes were wet, and as she lifted her hand to his face, wanting to reassure him that she was okay, she tried to internalize the pain she felt, but he saw it on her face and stopped her. Moving her hand down onto the bed, holding her fingers loosely in his own, as he shook his head.
"Scully…"
"I'll be okay."
"You could have died!"
"But I didn't."
"It was stupid. This was not part of the plan."
"No, but we were… prepared. Anyone else hurt?"
"There was no one else with us."
"But… there was. It was a man… I think. He was…"
"The suspect."
"No. It was someone else."
"I called for backup, but didn't want to wait. So fucking stupid…"
"No. There was another man there. He… he caught me."
"No, Scully. You fell. You hit your head. You have a bad concussion."
"Yeah," she whispered, closing her eyes as her head throbbed, knowing he had to be right. After all, he was not the one lying in the hospital bed. "Tired."
"Sleep. I'll be right here."
"Hmm. Yes. You keep me safe," she breathed, trying for a small smile. He exhaled a breath and squeezed her fingers gently before she felt a kiss pressed to them, so whisper soft she wondered if it had really happened.
"If only I had," he whispered, his voice catching again.
"I'm here, Mulder. You did." She squeezed his fingers once and fell into a dreamless sleep, knowing he would be there, his hand in hers, until she woke again.