Bill Scully made his way up the hospital corridor, whistling happily, and came to a halt outside his sister's room. He knocked lightly on the door before pushing it open, expecting to find his mom and his sister inside. His mom hadn't come back to her house last night and he presumed that she had stayed at the hospital with Dana but one look in the room told him that they were not there. Coming back out of the room he went in search of a nurse to ask where they had gone. He walked to the nurse's station at the other end of the corridor and stood waiting at the desk for the nurse to finish on the phone. After a couple of minutes wait, Bill impatiently he interrupted her conversation to ask about Scully. Unfortunately for him, the nurse he was addressing was Susie who knew all about what he had said to Mulder and was not very impressed with his attitude so she ignored him.

"Excuse me...I asked you a question. Excuse me!"

"I'm sorry sir. You'll have to hold on a minute. I'm very busy at the moment."

"What? ...I don't believe this..."

"Sir, can I help you?"

Bill turned away from Susie, frustrated by her unhelpful demeanour, to find Ken standing behind him. Ken's face was stony as he repeated his question, since he also knew the content of Bill's conversation with Mulder, but he concealed his annoyance in order to do his job. He caught sight of Susie's glare out of the corner of his eye and shook his head almost imperceptibly at her, telling her silently to calm down.

"Sir?"

"Yes you can help me...where the hell is my sister? She's not in her room like she's supposed to be."

"And your sister is...?"

"Dana...Dana Scully. Now tell me where she is!"

"If you could calm down sir, please. There are patients trying to get some rest."

"No, I will not calm down. I want to know where my sister is NOW so I suggest you start being a bit more helpful before I make an official complaint to your boss."

"Sir, I can have security remove you if you don't lower your voice. This IS a hospital ward after all."

"Fine!"

"Now, your sister's on a different floor at the moment..."

"Why...she's getting better. She doesn't need to be moved anywhere."

"Oh, so you DO know her cancer's in remission."

"Of course I do."

"We weren't sure that you did - considering what you told her partner yesterday."

"How did you? ...Never mind. I just said what needed to be said; otherwise he would never have left her alone so that she could recuperate in peace. How is it any of your business what I said to that bastard?"

"It becomes our business when it means that he's a patient in our hospital and also when it causes one of our own patients to have more stress and worry than she should be having to deal with right now."

"What are you talking about?"

"That 'bastard' - as you so politely referred to him - is currently a patient in the Intensive Care Unit of this hospital."

"What? ...No, he was fine yesterday."

"Yes, he WAS fine yesterday, until he got ran over and sustained severe injuries causing him to now be in a coma."

"Oh. ...So where's Dana?"

"She's down in his room with him, as was your mother the last I heard."

"They're in HIS room? - Dana should still be resting; the doctor said she shouldn't be out of her bed until tomorrow. Is that why my mother didn't come home last night?"

"Yes, she sat with him all night until Dana was told about the accident this morning. Then Maggie came back down here with the intention of going home to get some rest but we told her she could stay in Dana's room. Since she didn't particularly want to leave for too long and she was far too tired to be driving anyway, she accepted our offer."

"What room is he in?"

"Mr Scully..."

"What.Room.Is.He.In?!"

"I'm afraid I don't know sir."

"I need to go and get my sister out of there, so I suggest you tell me which room he's in so that I can do that."

"Why would you need to take your sister out? She's resting fine down there, it's not as if she's running about anywhere. Anyway, she won't leave."

"Yes she will. She needs to come back to her room to rest - she doesn't need to be sitting around waiting for him to stop sleeping."

"Mr Scully...Mr Mulder is not just sleeping. He's in a coma."

"I know, you told me already but that's still no reason for Dana to have to stay there. Now...where's ICU?"

"It's on the fourth floor. You'll need to ask at the admittance desk for his room number."

"..."

"Your welcome!"

Bill stalked away from the two nurses without a word and Ken called after him, causing him to turn back round and sneer at them. They shook their heads as they watched him get onto the elevator, his face set in a determined grimace, both glad that they were not going to be on the receiving end of his rage any longer. Susie hung up the phone that she had been talking into although the person on the other end had hung up soon after Bill had begun to speak. Ken smiled knowingly and then handed over the chart of one of their other patients, getting back to work after the brief interlude.

Bill meanwhile was on the elevator headed to the fourth floor, his anger still bubbling only just under the surface. He barrelled into an orderly as he left the elevator but did not take the time to apologise, instead glaring back at him for a second and then continuing on his way. Reaching the admitting desk, he immediately started questioning every nurse for information on Mulder and his room number. He was told the room but they mentioned that he may not be allowed in considering he was not family and there was already a visitor in with Mulder. He nodded n agreement and went to stand outside Mulder's room, waiting until there were no nurses around before entering. He saw Scully sitting by Mulder's bedside with her head resting on the edge of the bed and her eyes closed.

"Dana? ...Dana?"

"Mulder?"

"No, Dana. It's Bill."

"Has he? ...he's still in the coma."

"Yes he is. Come on Dana, let's get you out of here."

"What? I'm not going anywhere Bill."

"Dana, you need to get back to your room so you can rest."

"I'm fine Bill."

Bill had put his arm around his sister's shoulders to try and coax her out of the chair but, hearing what he was saying, Scully shrugged her way out of his grasp. She moved her chair nearer to the head of the bed and further away from Bill, taking Mulder's uninjured hand in hers again. She gently stroked the back of his hand with her thumb as she reached up with her other hand to touch his face. A tear slipped from her eye as she realised that there had been no change in his condition since her mother had woken her earlier. Forgetting that her brother was standing next to her, she half stood and leant over his still form, careful not to bump any of the numerous wires and tubes connected to him, and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. She lingered there for a long moment, a few more tears running from her eyes to land on him, wetting his cheek beneath her lips. Her shoulders began to shake as once again grief and fear for his life overcame her. Bill pulled her away from Mulder and again tried to pressurize her into leaving but she resisted and swiftly pulled away from his hold.

"Bill, stop trying to make me leave - I'm not going to go."

"You need to rest otherwise you'll make yourself ill."

"I need to stay with him Bill. I can't leave him here - I won't. He wouldn't leave me and I'm not going to desert him."

"He left you earlier didn't he?"

"Yes but..."

"But what, Dana? He left you just when you were getting better - how is that supportive? Anyway, you can't do anything for him Dana."

"You don't know that. You're not a doctor. Maybe he can hear me and if I keep talking to him I can get him to fight."

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Excuse me?!"

"Come on Dana. You know that he's only going to cause you and our family more pain than he already has."

"What?!!"

"Dana, that man has caused so much hurt I'm surprised you've stayed with him this long. Now's your chance to get out - to be rid of him for good, so take it. You don't owe him anything, just get up and leave and you'll never have to see him again."

"I don't believe you just said that. Why the hell would you say that? ...if I weren't concentrating so hard to try to get Mulder to fight I'd kick your ass from here to next Sunday."

"Dana. You'd be better off - we all would - if he didn't try and fight."

"William James Scully!! Get out here this instant!"