See disclaimers in Chapter 1.
Too Few Words, Not Enough Time
Chapter 2
By Kimberly Warner
Saturday, 7:00 PM
Mulder paced his apartment like a trapped cat.
It had been almost three hours since he'd called Scully, pleading with her to come over, and she had said that she would be there shortly. Shortly. Three hours was not short and Mulder had begun to worry.
After about an hour he'd called her home and gotten no answer. Okay, that was no surprise...at least she'd left already. Next he'd tried her cell phone. No answer. A little knot of fear formed in his stomach; Scully rarely ever turned off her cell phone.
Maybe she just left it at home, he thought hopefully. Rare occurrence, but it could happen. Of course.
And then, behind that thought, another one crept up and wrapped its fingers around Mulder's soul. Maybe, she didn't have a choice. Something could've happened to her...
He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to count the number of times Scully had been taken from him, the number of times she had been hurt because of him. Each time he did, a great sadness would well up inside him, a pain so strong that it made him want to die. All because of one thing--Scully. He loved her.
Mulder had known he was in love with Scully for some time now. The realization had come to him suddenly one day. It was as if the skies had opened up above him. He just watched her walk into the office one morning and he knew. Perhaps it was the way she smiled at him in greeting, or the way her soft red hair fell around her face. Whatever it was, Mulder could suddenly imagine himself spending the rest of his life with this woman. It was the greatest feeling in the world.
The only problem was that he had neglected to tell the object of his affection that he was in love with her. Underlying his love was a fear that Scully wouldn't share his feelings.
He had never, ever doubted her love for him as a friend. And really, if he searched his soul deep enough, he knew that she loved him the same way he loved her, there was no denying it, was there? However, the great Fox Mulder was afraid of rejection nonetheless.
Every time he thought he'd worked up enough courage to finally say something to her, he would take one look into her beautiful eyes and all his ability to think and speak would leave him. He could tell her all she meant to him, he could bare to her everything in his soul, but he could not say the three words that mattered most, the three words that Scully needed to hear above everything else in the world; I love you.
It was strange that today was the day that he decided to tell her, finally, what he'd meant to say for the longest time. There was nothing particularly special about this Saturday. He just could not put it off any longer. It was killing Mulder to keep his true feelings bottled up inside. So he made the resolution and called her up, inviting her over. She'd said that she was on her way. Now it was a different sort of worry that was eating him up inside.
Impatiently, he stepped over to the phone preparing to dial Scully's number just one more time, but stopped himself from picking up the receiver. She's on her way, he repeated over and over to himself. When the phone rang suddenly, however, nothing could stop him from practically ripping the phone from the wall in his effort to answer it.
"Scully?" He questioned the other line desperately.
"Sir?" A pleasant female voice answered; it was not Scully. "Is this a Mr. Fox Mulder?"
Mulder closed his eyes, trying to ward off his disappointment. "This is he..."
"Mr. Mulder, my name is Rita, I'm a nurse at the county General Hospital, I'm calling about a Ms. Dana Scully. She wanted us to call you. I'm sorry sir, she was admitted this evening after being in a severe car crash...."
Mulder could not hear the rest of her words. He could not breath, he could not speak. Dark spots danced in front of his eyes and it felt as if a black hole had opened up in his heart. Not again! He cried out silently. This couldn't be happening to Scully, not his Scully.
