Mulder sat up with a slight groan, rubbing his neck. Soft early morning sunlight was streaming through the blinds, giving the room a soft glow. Scully was lying with her eyes open, watching him silently, her eyes looking startlingly blue compared to her pale skin. Mulder smiled gently, reaching over to take her frail hand.

"Hey there, beautiful. Sleep alright?" Mulder kissed Scully's hand softly.

"I feel like someone dropped a load of bricks on my head," Scully replied in a raspy voice. She smiled weakly and brought her hand up to stroke Mulder's cheek. "What are you doing here?"

Handing Scully a glass of water, Mulder sighed, "Well I came here to see how you were doing last night and must have fell asleep." Mulder decided not to tell her about his meeting with CSM or what they had agreed to do. Sitting back down, Mulder fingered the small vial in his pocket. "How's your chemo going?"

"Not good. The doctors say that, though it has shown some signs of normal success, the cancer is not getting any weaker." Scully sighed quietly. "They might stop chemo, Mulder. I'm not getting better..." A small sob escaped from Scully's frail body, and she buried her face into her hands. "I don't want to die, Mulder."

Gathering Scully into his arms, Mulder rocked her gently. She cried quietly for a few minutes, before looking up at Mulder with red eyes. Getting lost in her deep azure eyes, Mulder leaned forward, placing a delicate kiss on Scully's lips. She sighed and returned the kiss, bringing her hand up to cup Mulder's cheek. Pulling away, Mulder wiped the tears away from her cheeks with his thumbs, smiling shyly at her. Scully brushed a lock of hair that had fallen across his forehead and leaned in for another kiss.

With a squeak, the door swung open, interrupting the intimate moment the two agents were sharing. Margaret Scully stood in the doorway, stern look on her face. Mulder quietly stood and placed a gentle kiss on Scully's cheek. She smiled weakly and gripped his hand for a moment. As he passed Mrs. Scully in the doorway, he gave her a small smile. She gave him a harsh look in return before shutting the hospital door in his face. Shaking his head, Mulder gripped the vial in his hand. He would come back tonight and do it. He would save Scully's life and condemn his.

X

Scully wasn't listening to what her mother was saying. She was staring silently at the end of her last journal entry, at the scribbled words that were now there, in Mulder's handwriting. A single tear fell from Scully's eye as she read:

There will never come a day,
You will never hear me say,
That I want,
Or need to be without you;
I want to give my all.

Baby just hold me,
Simply control me
Because your arms,
They keep away the lonely,
When I look into your eyes,
Then I realize,
All I need is you in my life,
All I need is you in my life,

Cause I never felt this way about loving,
No, never felt so good,
Baby never felt this way about love,
And it feels so good.

XXXXXX

Author's Note: I've had major writer's block lately, so I apologize for the extensive amounts of time it is taking me to update this, and for the shortness of it. I am hoping to get some more added on this weekend and perhaps next week. Regarding Scully's mother being so cold towards Mulder, that is my own little addition. In Memento Mori I always get the impression that she sort of feels that it is Mulder's fault for her daughter's sickness. And to me, it just seems like she wouldn't approve of Scully and Mulder's relationship. Hate it if you will, but that is just the way I interpreted things. As for the beautiful poem Mulder wrote, it is Alicia Key's "Never Felt This Way". Such a beautiful song...