Ch 7

May 11th 2005 9:00 am

Telluride, Co

Mulder stood outside the window to Scully's room watching her sleep. He hadn't even returned to the hotel that night, and opted to sleep in the waiting room at the end of the hall just in case she woke up for some reason overnight. 'I could spend all day watching her sleep', he thought to himself. 'At least she looks like she's not in pain this way.' She started to awaken, so Mulder quickly moved away from the window as not to be seen. It would be a rough day if he was caught, and he didn't want to add that anguish to her.

Skinner came up behind him and put his hand on Mulder's shoulder. "You know you could go in there and be with her," he said. "I think it would be better than stalking the halls. Nurses might get a little suspicious."

"I can't do it yet, Sir," Mulder replied, watching her still. "I don't know how she'll take it. She hasn't seen me in three years. And the last thing she knew was that I was dead. Now for me to all of a sudden reappear, that would be too much to handle. And then once I tell her that Will is mine, I don't know what she'll do."

"There's only one way to find out, you know that right. Will must have mellowed you. The Mulder I know would never have the patience to sit outside the hospital room while Scully was in there. No matter who told him to stay out, even me." Mulder smiled slightly at the statement. "Now, I'm going in there to talk to her some. You can follow me when you see fit. And I suggest you do so." With that, Skinner opened the door and went inside the room, leaving the door open. Mulder watched as he sat on the edge of the bed listening to the conversation that was being had inside.

"How are you feeling today, Dana?" asked Skinner. "You look like you slept some last night."

"Yeah, I guess I did," she replied. "It's weird though, when I'm in here I still wake up in the morning and swear that I see his face watching me sleep. It's like he looks out for me, I guess sometimes you just can't shake a memory when it's been ingrained in you for so long its hard to let go."

"Dana," he replied taking her hand. "You never have to let him go, you know that. He's always there for you, worried about you in whatever way he can be. Don't try to… shake… his memory. I know you don't want to do that, and he wouldn't want you to either."

"I just wish he could be there for me like he used to. He made me feel safe when no one else could, no matter the situation. I haven't felt that safeness since he's been gone."

With that Mulder rustled the blinds on the outside of the window to get Skinner's attention. He knew that this was the time that he should go and be there for her. He wanted to save her the anguish of having to deal with his 'resurrection' of sorts. But by seeing what happened when we wasn't there for her, he couldn't put her through that either. "Scully, you will feel safe again I promise," said Skinner, getting Mulder's message. "The good thing about memories is, that when you close your eyes you can go to them anytime you want to. I know you're scared and in pain right now, so why don't you go there to him." Scully looked at him skeptically. "Okay, so humor me at least, Dana."

Rolling her eyes, she leaned back onto the pillow and closed her eyes. Taking this as a cue to enter, Mulder came into the room and went straight to her side. "You know what I miss the most," she said to Skinner, trying to humor him. "The way he used to run his fingers through my hair when I thought I was asleep. Even though I knew he was doing it. He would kiss me on the forehead before falling asleep in the chair next to my bed. I let me sleep normally."

As soon as she finished saying this, Mulder moved the stray pieces of red hair away from her face, and kissed her on the forehead. "You know, it helped me sleep to," he said before sitting down in the chair next to her bed.

Her eyes opened with a start, not quite frightened but more disappointed. "That's the one thing I hate about my memories, they seem so real." She couldn't see Mulder out of the corner of her eye sitting in the chair next to her. "I can't keep letting myself feel him here. It just hurts more."

Mulder kept quite and nodded to Skinner. "Dana, honey. Dreams are prayers that can't be made aloud. Dream!"

"I never knew you to be into dreams and prayers, sir."

"I'm usually not, but every now and then something changes your mind," he replied using the same words he used to Mulder just the day before.

"That's nice to hear, sir. But I don't think this one is feasible. That is one miracle I don't think will ever happen." She laid back down and closed her eyes retreating once again into her memory.

At this Mulder stood up and knelt next to her bed. "Always the skeptic, Scully. I knew I kept you around for a reason," he said with a small laugh while a tear came to his eye. Scully's eyes jolted open at the sounds of his voice and starred straight into his face.

To Be Continued