The New Girl Part II

            By Caitlin "Jinxd n Cursed" Wasson

Chapter Three

Not Made of Glass But Still Fragile

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            "Careful Rianna!" Mulder told her for the millionth time that day.

            After the fitting, Dana, Fox, David, and Rianna had all gone out to dinner and Rianna had let it slip to Fox that she was pregnant. Since then, he was treating her as if she was made of glass and would break any minute. At that moment, Rianna was standing on her desk, trying to change the light bulb.

            "Fox, I am not made of glass!" Rianna said as she made a final twist on the bulb and began putting the large glass orb over it. Suddenly, she dropped the glass bulb and it shattered onto the desk and the floor.

            "But you and apparently that glass thing are still fragile," Mulder said. "You really need to be careful, Rianna."

            Rianna rolled her eyes and started to climb down but Fox stopped her. "You've got a cut on your leg. Let me help you down," he told her, offering her a hand. Rianna took his hand and climbed carefully off the desk. Just as that happened, Skinner walked in, eyeing the glass on the floor.

            "What happened?" he asked.

            "Rianna dropped the glass sphere when she was changing the light bulb," Mulder told him. "She has a cut on her leg too."

            "And why were you on the desk Rianna?" Skinner demanded. "Why didn't you let Agent Mulder change the light bulb? You're pregnant, Rianna. You need to be careful."

            "I know this," Rianna said, making to sit down in her chair.

            "Wait Rianna," Mulder said. "I'm taking you to the infirmary to get that looked at."

            "What?" she replied incredulously. That was too much to deal with. "You are making me go to a doctor for a scratch on my leg??"

            "Better safe than sorry," Skinner told her. "I'll take you down while Mulder cleans up the glass."

            Grumbling all the way, Rianna made her way down to the office and sat down in one of the uncomfortable blue plastic chairs in the waiting area. Skinner went up to the secretary and talked to her in a low voice. The Rianna was called into the doctor's office ahead of all the agents with old bullet wounds to check and migraines that needed attention.

            "Hello Agent Heart," the doctor greeted her. "What can I do for you?"

            "I dropped a glass ball, it shattered, and scratched me. Agent Mulder and AD Skinner overreacted," she told him.

            "Any particular reason?" he asked.

            "I'm pregnant," she answered. "By their standards, that means I am to be labeled as 'fragile—do not touch' for the next nine months."

            "Well you do need to be careful," he said.

            "I know!" she replied, getting defensive.

            He threw up his hands. "I was just reminding you." He snapped on a pair of latex gloves. "Let's take a look at that cut."

            As it turned out, the cut was a lot more than a scratch. In fact, it was deep enough and long enough to merit stitches.

            "All done," the doctor said as he finished the last of them. "Just put some ice on it tonight and be careful."

            "Alright, thanks doctor," she replied, sliding off the table.

            "No problem," he said with a grin. "Take it easy."

            "What did he say?" Skinner demanded the second she walked out.

            "Stitches," she told him. "And to be more careful."

            "Stitches?" Skinner questioned, frowning. "Why don't you take the day off?" he suggested.

            She shook her head. "But I'm fine."

            "No," he said. "I insist, take the day off and rest."

            Rianna sighed. "Yes sir. I'll go get my things and go home."

            As she walked down the hall, grumbling to herself, she bumped into Scully.

            "Where are you going?" Scully asked.

            "Home," Rianna told her shortly. "Skinner insisted."

            "Oh," she said. "Well, see you later. I'm going to the coffee room."

            "Bye."

            Rianna grabbed her laptop and her purse from the office and went out to her car. She was a little upset that everyone was treating her as if she was made of glass. With the cancer and everything, she thought she'd proven she was tougher than the average person. Guess not.

            Rianna arrived at the apartment and changed from her size-two business suit and into a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. Not wanting to waste the day, she decided to pack up her stuff and move it over to the new house. Just as she was placing her CD collection into a box, the telephone rang.

            "Hello?" she answered.

            "Hello Rianna. Dana has just informed me that you were sent home for a medical reason. Is everything okay?"

            It was Maggie, her biological mother.

            "Well, I had to get stitches and there is another thing too," Rianna told her.

            "Oh?" Maggie asked.

            "Yeah," Rianna answered. "Why don't you come on over and I'll tell you all about it over a nice lunch?"

            "Okay, Sweetie," Maggie told her. "I'll be right over."

            "See you soon," Rianna said, hanging up the phone.

            She went into the kitchen and began making tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Then she realized she'd forgotten to take her folic acid and multi-vitamin that morning. Knowing that it would help improve the help of her growing child, she went to go get them from her medicine cabinet.

            "Shit!" she said as she dropped the pill bottles. She bent over to pick them up and looked at herself in the mirror. Instantly, she realized something was wrong. Her face was unusually pale. Her eyes traveled down to the floor and she saw a trail of blood coming from behind her, staining her jeans. "Oh shit," she repeated.

            She walked carefully to the phone and dialed Scully's number. "Scully…." She said. But that was all she got out before she passed out.

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Mwa ha ha ha!!! How's that for a cliffhanger? Just so you know and so I don't get angry reviewers, the cancer is NOT back and she didn't lose the baby. I haven't decided what the cause for the bleeding is…. I'm thinking anemia due to all the chemo. R&R!