The New Girl

            By Caitlin "Jinx" Wasson

Chapter Eight

A Good Night's Sleep

            Rianna could hardly move. She wasn't upset, just shocked that after wondering what the truth about her life was, she finally had an answer. She liked Scully and was glad to have her for a sister but she was still distraught to find that she wasn't an only child.

            Mulder pulled the van up to the front of her building. He unloaded Rianna's suitcases, shouldering three himself, giving two to Scully, and leaving Rianna with just her carry-on. Rianna followed them into the old, nasty building like an obedient child and waited for the elevator.

            The building was awful and dirty but on the short notice that Rianna's move had been, it was the best she could find.

            The elevator came to a creaking halt at the fifth floor. They steeped off. Mulder had taken both Rianna's and Scully's keys, knowing they were in a state of shock and unable to get themselves home. He pulled Rianna's keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door.

            He and Scully were shocked by the sight that greeted their eyes. The drywall was crumbling, exposing the wallboards. Ceiling tiles were falling onto the stained and threadbare blue carpeting and the peeling linoleum in the kitchen. Dirt and grime covered everything that had been there for more than a few days. A lot of boxes, a desk, and a sleeping bag on the floor made up all the furniture in the small two-bedroom apartment. Just then, a rat scurried out of the bathroom and across the floor.

            Scully pulled Mulder to the side and whispered in his ear. "She can't live like this! This is horrible!"

            "What are we supposed to do?" he asked.

            "I'm taking her home with me. She can live in the spare bedroom in my apartment for now," Scully answered. She walked over to Rianna. "You can't live in this rattrap. It's horrible."

            Rianna smiled painfully. "It's the best I can do right now. It'll be better when I get a chance to get some furniture."

            "No," Scully said. "You're moving in with me, at least for now. Let's get your stuff and go. This place is disgusting."

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            It was 7:30 when they got to Scully's apartment in Georgetown. It was too late for Scully to clean out the second bedroom for Rianna. They put all of her stuff in the room and shut the door.

            "I'm staying here tonight," Mulder told Scully. "I'll crash in the chair so she can have the couch."

            "You can sleep with me," Scully offered. She blushed furiously when she realized exactly how that sounded. "That didn't come out right."

            "I know what you meant," Mulder assured her. "I'd like that."

            "I'll dig something up to eat," Scully said.

            She went in the kitchen and dug through the cabinets. There wasn't much, just a few healthy choice meals, some canned soup, a few diet sodas, and a crisper filled with veggies. With a sigh, she began heating a can of chicken soup and making a salad.

            Rianna curled up in a fetal position in the armchair. Mulder sat down beside her on the floor and they began talking. Scully was faintly jealous that he wasn't with her, helping with dinner. She scolded herself for thinking that. After all, Rianna needed someone to talk to more than she did.

            "How are you feeling?" Mulder asked Rianna.

            "More than a little shocked," she replied. "I'm not really upset, I just don't know what to feel. What am I supposed to feel? I have a sister. My parents aren't my real parents. I met the woman who carried me. My other sister died before I even got to meet her."

            "It's got to be hard," Mulder said, just letting her talk.

            "It is," Rianna said. "It's got to be tough for Scully too. She's gone her whole life thinking she only had one older sister and now she's got a younger one too."

            "Yeah," Mulder said.

            Scully listened to their conversation from the kitchen. Rianna was such a beautiful and kind young woman. She'd make a good sister.

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            The clock read 10 o'clock but Mulder and Scully were both already tired. Rianna had long since fallen asleep curled up in the chair.

            Scully turned off the T.V. "She'll be really sore tomorrow if we let her sleep like that. We'll pull out the sofa bed and try to get her on it without waking her up."

            Mulder nodded in agreement and began taking the seat cushions off the couch and pulling the sofa bed out. Scully stacked the cushions and smoothed the sheets that were slightly mussed from the last time Mulder had stayed over with her. She grabbed the afghan and unfolded it, tossing a pillow at the head of the bed.

            Mulder scooped the sleeping agent up to deposit her onto the bed. When doing so, he realized how light she was. Now, Rianna was naturally petite but she couldn't have weighed more than 80 pounds. "Scully, feel how light she is," he whispered.

            Scully took her from Mulder and realized with shock that she could carry the girl in question easily. She set her on the bed and pushed Rianna's shirt up, revealing several ribs and a small expanse of flat, white stomach. The waistband of her pants was doubled over and cinched tightly with a belt to keep them from falling down. Her calves her small enough around that Mulder could get his hand almost all the way around them.

            "She's got to be anorexic," Mulder whispered.

            Scully shook her head. "I don't think so. She ate like a horse yesterday and bulimics don't normally lose this much weight." She pulled Rianna's shoes off and covered the sleeping woman with a blanket. "I don't know what could've made her look like this though."

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Sorry it took so long. I've got a huge Social Studies paper due soon and I lost the disk it's saved on. Not Good! I have to retype the whole thing!

Luv Y'all!

Jinx