CHAPTER 4 --Scully POV--
St Jude's Hospital
How dare he? How dare he assume to know me so well? My head is spinning with anger and frustration. I watch him walk slowly down the corridor and while part of me wants to leave the building, the whole goddamned state of Tennessee if I'm honest. The rest of me, the loyal part that is constantly being battered and interrogated on his behalf, is forcing my legs to move and follow him.
His outburst was unexpected. I have seen him follow hunches and ideas on a whim and end up in hospital for his troubles but this is different. This is an urge he isn't able to resist or comprehend. There is no logic to his actions here and he knows it. Perhaps, I ponder, that is why he is so affected. So annoyed.
When he finds the door he turns and waits for me to join him before he enters. Melissa is lying on her side facing away from us and she appears to be sleeping. We walk further into the room and Mulder circles her bed. He looks up at me, and nods but before I understand fully I hear a faint sob coming from the small curled figure on the bed.
"It's you. You came for me."
Melissa's arms reach up towards him and Mulder bends down so she can join her hands behind his neck. She hugs him tightly to her and he snakes his own arms around her as she cries openly and softly into his shoulder.
Taken back by the open emotion I step away from the bed and avert my eyes. Like a movie scene orchestrated for full effect the sun chooses that moment to break through the clouds casting colour into the drab room and I shake my head. Surely it can't be a conspiracy of nature, I wonder as my eyes follow the sunrays to them both on the bed.
I notice Mulder manages to perch himself onto the bed and Melissa sits up almost onto his lap to hug him comfortably. She is crying more now. His dark suit jacket is wet with her falling tears. I want to see if Mulder is crying but I am afraid to move in case I break their trance. Then I see the tell tale shudder along his back as he takes a shaky breath. Slipping easily from the room, I find an empty chair in the corridor where I sit and wait.
CHAPTER 5 --Mulder POV--
St Jude's Hospital
My arms are holding her close and her shuddering body is matching my own emotion. Her cries mingle with my tears and her sigh with my breath. Never before have I felt so at home and safe like I do in this woman's arms. The torrent of emotion pouring from my very being is unstoppable, not that I could even try.
When her tears subside and my own have dried I sit up and hold her away from me. Her deep, brown eyes are glassy with even more tears as I imagine my own are, but her lips are curving into a nervous smile as she travels my face and absorbs my features. I smile back openly and let her take in as much as she wants without disturbing her gentle exploration.
Then suddenly her face falls into a frown with her eyes screwed tightly shut. She pushes away from me and two fingers from her right hand start tapping the top of her forehead rhythmically, the slapping sound echoing loudly in the large room.
"Look, I don't know what you're game is here but it aint gonna work!" she says her voice low and twisted. It's Sidney, I realise in horror as I move off the bed and back away.
"Sidney?" I ask cautiously, not really wanting her to confirm what I already know.
"Who did you expect? Truman?"
"Sidney, can I speak with Melissa?" My voice is low and steady as I try to sound calm and in control while my insides are churning from the pit of my stomach to the boiling blood at my temples.
"Melissa? No. She's done enough. You gots me or you gots nothing!" Her voice is so startlingly different I am half expecting someone to climb out from beneath the bed or wander in from the bathroom but it doesn't happen. It is only then that I notice Scully is no longer in the room.
Walking slowly to the door, I step outside and spot her sitting on a chair a couple of feet away. She hasn't noticed me yet so her head remains low in thought and I take the opportunity to soak in her image. Her red hair and black suit jacket are a direct contrast to the magnolia paint behind her, making her stand out beautifully.
"Scully?" I say softly, unsure if I want to disturb her. She turns to look at me, her hair straying across her face disguising her expression but I don't need to see it all to see the sadness in her eyes. I stammer for a moment unsure what has brought this on, but Sidney's harsh cackle of laughter behind me pushes the quick introspection away from my mind. "You okay?" I step over to her and hunch by her side. My hand rests on her thigh and I apply a little pressure.
"Yes, Mulder. I'm fine. How is Melissa?" she asks curtly.
"She's...its Sidney."
"Sidney?" Scully stands and my hand falls away from her. I follow her into the room and Sidney confronts us both with a sneer.
"Come back for more? Well I can't help ya," she says. Gruffly she pulls her legs off the bed and levers herself up. With only a little stagger that propels me forward to catch her, she brushes my hands away and makes her way into the bathroom.
When the sound of the latch clicks closed, I turn to see Scully frowning at me openly. Her eyes are slits beneath a deep furrow and her arms are folded across her chest.
"Mulder, what are you doing?"
"The same thing anyone would do."
"You have no right to mess with her like this."
Her words sting me and maybe it's because I know she's right but I can't help it. I have to talk to Melissa. Sarah. The name floats into my mind and for a moment I am Sullivan. Saying goodbye to her before I leave for good.
"No, I can't leave her again." I falter over the words pulling my eyes away from Scully and glancing towards the bathroom door. "It is so heartbreaking to wait."
"Mulder...listen to yourself!" Scully is gripping my arm with a ferocity I have rarely experienced from her. "You are feeding her psychosis and from what I can see maybe you are feeding one of your own!"
"Don't be ridiculous!" I say, pulling my arm free and walking towards the window.
"You know I'm right. Have you seen any evidence that she has been telling the truth? That her illness is stemmed from a string of passed lives that she and you have spent together?"
She is watching me, waiting for an answer but for once in my sorry life I have nothing to say.
"No Mulder, you haven't. You know I don't believe it and if you do, fine. But I won't stand by and let you jeopardise her mental recovery."
"Scully," I begin, but she is on a roll and cuts me off.
"Her family will be located in the next hour or so and she will be going home."
My heart does a flip flop in my chest at the thought of loosing her.
"We need to get back to DC.
"And leave it at that?" My voice is raised beyond my control. "Just walk away?"
"Yes, Mulder." Her calm, soft words irritate me so much it's all I can do not to bellow out as if in pain.
"I can't do that, Scully, I can't walk away, and I can't say goodbye, not again." Not when it hurts so much! I add silently not ready to illustrate the full extent of my emotions.
"Mulder, you need to walk away from this right now. Before...before..."
"Before what?" I can see she is struggling to argue with me and I'm not sure why. She usually feeds off this interaction between us but this time something is different. As if the fight is gone from her.
"Before it's too late," she whispers her face ducking below my gaze, hidden from view and I look up as Melissa returns from the bathroom. There is no trace of Sidney left on her as she demurely climbs onto the bed and watches me under hooded eyes. Looking between Scully and Melissa, I am torn between them both, but my loyalty makes me escort Scully out to the corridor.
"Look, Scully." She is looking up at me with her eyes clear as day. I can't read them and I know she is hiding something from me, but it's eluding me as to what it could be. "I know you just want to make sure I'm okay but you have to understand that I need to do this. I need to talk to her, to understand these feelings." I grab her shoulders and let my hands wander up to her neck beneath her hair. "Do you understand?"
For a moment she doesn't move and her eyes are searching mine, then, with a few blinks to hide the tears that brim to the surface, she nods slowly.
"Thank you." I know she doesn't understand the reason but she does understand the urge. I am about to pull her into my arms for a full hug but then decide against it, getting the sudden vibe that she wants to be alone. So with a final glance at her glistening eyes, I go back to Melissa.
A/N: I added two chapters here because the first one is only wee one.!