Disclaimer: Geez, do I have to do this on every chapter? If I was the owner/producer Mulder would have never left in season 9 ...

A/N: Jeeps may be trail rated, but they don't float very well ... (lol ... yeah I can laugh about it now, since its been 10 years) ... Anyway ... thank you for all the reviews.It makes this all worth it...

Chapter 6

Scully splashed a handful of cold water on her face and took a deep breath. Her hands were trembling uncontrollably as she reached for the mouthwash sitting in on sink in her hospital bathroom. She swirled the mint liquid around in her mouth and spat it into the sink as a wave of nausea passed over her again. She put her hand on the wall to steady herself and stared at her reflection in the mirror.

'I look like hell,' she thought. Her hair was a frizzy mess and suffering from a case of bed head, and her face was flushed from a mild case of frostbite. There was dried blood on her forehead, near the stitches that closed the gash that decorated it. Her chest was throbbing from her broken ribs and her breathing a little ragged. She pulled the thin robe tighter around her in an attempt to warm herself and shuffled back over to her bed. A nurse's aide came in the room as she reached it.

"Ms. Scully would you like me to help you take a shower and get cleaned up?" she asked with a comforting smile on her face.

"That would be nice," Scully replied. "I feel kind of …" she paused searching for the right word.

"Scuzzy?" the aide asked.

Scully smiled, "Yeah, that about covers it." She glanced around the room and then turned and sat on the bed watching the aide prepare the shower items.

"Do you know where my friend went?" Scully asked as the aide pulled khakis, a white blouse and a camisole out of a duffle bag that she had carried into the room.

"Agent Mulder? He went to the cafeteria with Jeff, ahh, Agent Driscoll." She stumbled for a second, "I grew up with the Driscoll clan, so I guess I know Jeff a little differently than you." She smiled nervously and shrugged her shoulders.

Scully nodded remembering the small town syndrome that Agent Driscoll often talked about at the office. The warm feelings of home, knowing everyone in town, having great memories to talk about were the good things he had said, everyone knowing your business was not.

"He's so in love with you, " the aide continued. "He stayed at your bedside most of the night holding your hand. The few times he came out and talked to the nurses at the desk, his eyes were sparkling and his face flushedwhen he mentioned your name."

Scully blushed in embarrassment and turned her face, so the woman couldn't see her reaction. Scully had a vague memory of Mulder in the room when she went to sleep, but had no idea that he had stayed all night. He was always there to protect her; always showing up at just the right moment to save the day and even in the mist of danger could put a smile on her face. He was everything to her that Mr. Cramer wasn't or had no idea how to be. She swallowed hard and blinked tears out of her eyes.

"He's a good friend," Scully muttered brushing away a tear.

"He's more than that, I'd say," the aide responded. "Jeff told me he saved your life. I think he is every woman's dream … good looking, caring, heroic, and funny, what else could you want?"

Scully winced as she heard the words. What more could she want? Why was something normal so important to her when it didn't make her happy, she thought quietly. She turned to face the nurse's aide. "Well, he and I are just good friends, that's all."

The woman smiled warmly in Scully's direction and let the conversation about Mulder drop. She assisted Scully remove her gown and the wraparound her chest, then helpedwith her shower and to wash her hair. When she was finished with the shower, the process was reversed, however, this time Scully dressed in the clothing that Agent Driscoll had brought in for her. The aide even surprised her by producingshoes that fit and didn't exaggerate Scully's lack of height. After Scully was settled, the aide left the room until the Doctor signed her release orders.

Scully rested on the bed and closed her eyes, her thoughts drifting to her personal life. She was unhappy, even probably a little depressed and she had no one to blame but herself. For months she convinced herself that she wanted something normal, something other than the 'on the run' life she led with her partner. Then he entered the picture. Agent Rick Cramer.

He seemed to be a nice, normal guy despite that her most of her friends thought he was a geek. She took offense to that considering some of those who had given their opinion were geeks themselves, albeit lovable ones, Mulder, theGunmen, Driscoll and Nester. Cramer was an accountant and kept everything neat and organized in his life, which was something that attracted Scully in the beginning.

He afforded Scully the chance to visit art fairs, museums, Broadway plays and all the cultural indulgences she craved. However, there was a lot that was a miss. He masked the differences well in the beginning, but the signs had become more apparent as their relationship continued. Often he seemed to have two personalities. At work he would stop her on the hallway and engage her in conversation and idle small talk, but when they were alone, he rarely said much of anything which left Scully contemplating what the lesser of two evils were... the man who engaged in normal activities but never talked, or a guy who stimulated her intellectually but was far from normal.

There were other things about Cramer that made her leery. He had the emotional quotient of zero and constantly related every incident to some statistical table. As for intimacy, he had no concept of what the word meant, no inkling on what foreplay was, no understanding that it took mutual attraction and stimulation to interest the opposite sex. Scully had put off his requests for sex because … well, at first he had just asked if they could copulate in the middle of an unrelated conversation. The sheer bluntness of it was a complete turnoff, but she refused to end the relationship because he was feeding her 'normal hunger'.Over the next couple of weeks, she had taught him a few things and he had begun to wear her resistance down. She thought he was beginning to understand her better … but yesterday, she realized he had no clue about her at all.

Mulder was to pick her up at noon to ride-share to the airport. She was packing up some items at her desk when Cramer stuck his head around the corner. An invitation to lunch gave way to his driving her home and watching her pack for her trip.

Things spiraled out of control when he snuck up behind her in the bedroom. She should have seen it coming though, he was persistent in his pursuit of 'taking their relationship to the next level'. Initially he was being somewhat romantic in his pursuit, but that quickly gave away to his real intent.

There was no intimacy in the moment; the pure callousness of his actions left her feeling used and dirty. It was over as quickly as it had begun and ended with his chauvinist remark 'I'll tell our sons someday how great their mother is in the sack'. Scully was paralyzed with emotion in the bathroom after his departure and barely hid her distress from Mulder when he called to inform her he would meet her at the airport instead.

Scully shuddered at the thought of it and sat up with a start. The sudden movement sent a sharp pain through her chest. She grimaced just as Mulder opened the door. She looked in his direction noticing that he had changed out of his scrubs into jeans, t-shirt and gym shoes.

"Hey, good morning," Mulder said. He walked over to her bed and noticed the pain expression on her face. "You ok?" he asked his voice thick with concern. He picked up her hand and automatically laced their fingers together.

"Yeah, I just sat up too quick," she gruntedaware of the warmth generated by his touchand how right it felt to her. "Nice shirt." She looked at his arm, noticing the wrist brace and a vague memory of Mulder in scrubs played in her mind. The t-shirt he was currently wearing was a little snug but completely highlighted his biceps and abdominal muscles. God, he looks great in that, she thought.

"I raided Nester's suitcase. Although I will say women took interest when I was wearing the scrubs, I collected some phone numbers in the cafeteria." He gave her a sly grin.

"Your wrist?" She asked. She knew he was kidding about the phone numbers, but she didn't want to acknowledge his statement because her emotions were a little raw.

"Sprained," he replied holding up his arm.

"We're even now, right?" Scully asked. When she noticed the confused look on Mulder's face she clarified. "The last time one of us was in the hospital it was you."

"Well, since we were both treated and spent the night here, I wouldn't exactly call that even," Mulder replied squeezing her hand. "Did you have something to eat?"

"I had some eggs," she paused, "which promptly came back up."

Mulder made a face, "Ow, did you try something else, like some toast?"

"No Mulder, I'm nauseous," she said with annoyance. She moaned slightlyas she tried to move on the bed, and then laid her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes. "My chest feels like someone dropped an anvil on it."

"Sorry, It's not like I had a lot of choices," Mulder replied quietly.

"I was talking about my close encounter with the steering wheel, Mulder." Scully replied squeezing his fingers. "Although that probably is a contributing factor.

Mulder looked down at the bed for a moment and became serious. "The Assistant Director is booking your flight back to Washington."

"I'm not going back to Washington. Mulder, you need to tell him not to do that," Scully pleaded. Going back would mean she would be forced to deal with the Cramer situation and she wasn't ready for that.

"What do you mean you aren't going back?" Mulder asked.

"I don't want to go back, I want to stay here and help you, and Nester and Driscoll on the case," Scully implored.

In truth, A D Driscoll wasn't arranging a flight for her at all. The doctor had told them this morning she was restricted from air travel until the end of the week. Agent Driscoll was arranging lodging for her while the three of them worked the case. Of course, Mulder wasn't about to let her know that just yet. He could see something in her eyes that troubled him and knew it was behind her protests, but getting her to admit it was going to take some prodding.

"Scully, you nearly drowned; you need to get some rest."

"I did not nearly drown Mulder. You said yourself I was only under water less than a minute and then you got me out."

"You were unconscious and I had to administer CPR to get you breathing again," Mulder argued with her.

"Mulder, I feel fine now. I don't want to go back to Washington because I'll just be sitting in the bull pen alone and end up being Kersh's lackey until you get back." She looked at him for a second and then continued without noticing he was smiling. "I've already asked my doctor to restrict my travel until the end of the week, so I'll check into a hotel and"

She looked at Mulder, who at this point was laughing."What?" she asked annoyed.

He leaned over close to her face and whispered in her ear. "I had you." He sat back with a smug look of satisfaction on his face.

Scully stuck her lip out in a pout and barely held back her tears. She was relived that he was just kidding about going home.

Mulder continued still smiling, but could see the emotion in her face. "Your doctor had told me this morning that he had restricted your travel, although I hadn't realized you had requested it. AD Driscoll's brother owns a bed & breakfast in town and they are going to let you stay there."

"A.D. Driscoll?" she questioned.

"The reason we were personally requested for this case, Agent Driscoll's father is the Assistant Director for the Iowa/Illinois field office." Mulder replied tilting his head.

"That's convenient," replied Scully.

"Well, yeah and there seems there is no love loss between he and Kersh. I may even consider transferring here at the end of the case." Mulder winked at her.

Mulder was quiet for a moment and then became serious again. "You know Scully, there was a moment last night when I wasn't sure either of us was going to make it and I realized that I only had two regrets."

"Your sister," she muttered quietly.

He pursed his lips and nodded. "And my feelings about you." He reached out and ran a fngerdown her cheek. "I know we have an unspoken understanding, but I think it is time we verbalized it, so there is no confusion between us." Her head was tilted downward and he gently pulled her face up with his hand to meet his eyes, catching a tear running down her face with his thumb.

"What are you saying, Mulder" she whispered barely audible, her breath caught in her throat, her eyes searching for an answer in his gaze. His eyes being the windows to his soul, she saw the intense emotions and the love behind them.

"I'm saying I can't imagine, nor do I want to live my life without …"

"Hey, are you two ready to go? The bus is leaving!" exclaimed Nester as he burst through the door. He scanned their stunned expressions. 'Did I interrupt something?" he stammered sheepishly.

Mulder chuckled as he glanced back at Nester. Fate always seemed to be against him when he tried to express his feelings to Scully. The last time he tried to make his point, she was stung by a bee, another time he was loopy on pain medication. Timing was never on his side.

"We'll be out in a minute, Nester," Mulder commented over his shoulder and waited for Nester to shut the door. He turned back to Scully and they shared a moment of silence, their understanding for each other evident in their stare.

He stood and helped her up. As she climbed out of the bed, she lost her balance and he caught her in his arms. He held her securely, yet gently not to put pressure on her ribs.

"I love you," he said quickly, not wanting to let go of this opportunity. Some higher power had given them a second chance and he was not going to let it pass unnoticed.

He locked eyes with her and watched her tough exterior melt in his gaze. Tears filled her eyes, and ran over the brim. He put his hand to her face and wiped them away, then leaned over and kissed her forehead.

Scully felt her heart beating wildly in her chest. Mulder was right, there was always the unspoken connection between them, but hearing those words was so comforting to her. Why couldn't she just give into it? The electricity between them whenever they were together sparked energy in her soul. His gentle touch and concern comforted her turbulent emotions. She relaxed into his embrace, feeling like she was at home.

Mulder backed out of their embrace first sliding his left hand to the back of her neck, cupping her head. He put his right arm around her protectively when he felt her legs buckle slightly. "Are you ok?" he asked his voice still full of concern.

"Yeah," she stammered looking down at his chest to regain her balance. She felt light-headed. "You took my breath away for a second," she replied and finally looked back into his face.

He smiled widely and pulled her close. "I'll take that as a good sign." They held the embrace for a moment, and then Mulder pulled out of it again. "We better get going before A.D. Driscoll comes in here and thinks we've been making out."


Mulder and Scully left the hospital in the same vehicle with Driscoll and Nester. They drove to the accident scene to meet with A.D. Driscoll who was supervising the removal of the vehicle from the pond.

When Scully stepped out of the Suburban, the magnitude of last night's plight became as crystal clear as the pond water in front of her. The cliff the vehicle had plunged from was straight up at least 50 feet from the rocky edge of the shoreline. The car rested on its roof at the bottom of the pond, nearly 40 feet from the surface.

She stood stoically at the pond's edge next to her partner, cube-mates and A.D. Driscoll watching as the rescue divers descended to the vehicle and attached the tow cables to its frame. When the divers signaled all clear, the crane began to pull the vehicle upward; she started feeling nauseous and swallowed a lump in her throat.

The crane hoisted the vehicle from the pond and water ran freely from every available opening. Scully spotted the broken passenger window and suddenly felt light headed. She turned from the pond and her co-workers and stepped gingerly to the back of the truck, running her hand along the side for balance.

Scully stood there fighting the nausea building in her stomach. The sound of the water cascading from their rental car was roaring in her ears like an over amplified sea shell. After a second, she lost the battle to her queasy stomach and knelt down on the ground to vomit.

Mulder was joking with Nester and Driscoll when he realized that Scully was no longer standing at his side. He looked around behind him and heard her wretched vocalizations from the back of the Suburban. He walked toward the sound and then waited patiently until it subsided, affording Scully her dignity in private.

He stepped around the back of the vehicle just as Scully was struggling to stand.He put his hand on her arm to steady her as she lost her balance. He pulled a packet of tissues from his coat pocket and handed her one.

"I could have done without seeing that," she muttered wiping her face with the tissue. She turned to look at him, and started coughing uncontrollably as she felt her stomach spasm. She put her hand over her mouth and leaned over regurgitating her remaining stomach contents. Mulder squatted next to her, and rubbed her back as a comforting gesture. When the coughing subsided, he helped her to her feet.

"Let's get you out of here," Mulder commented as he guided her to the backseat of the truck. He motioned to Driscoll and nodded in Scully's direction.

"Dad, we're going to run Scully over to Joe's. Mulder and I'll meet up with you and Nester at the office this afternoon," Driscoll commented as he walked over to the driver's side of the truck.

TBC

A/N: Guys say some dumb stuff when they are "passing out the good stuff" (thanks for the line 2Shy! It's great!) ... I have yet to figure out why, although my significant other claims it makes them feel "tough". ...Lines like I'll tell our kids bla bla bla, or whose your daddy aredisgusting in my book. They conjure up imaginesabout my parents that I truly don't want to think about it. (I want to stick with the idea that the stork brought me ...not that my parents were knocking boots somewhere in our house).(sick - I shudder just thinking about it). Anyway, my friendgave me"the" line for the story ... her former boyfriend said it to herat the height of their activities ...(hence why he is a former).

Cramer says this line thinking it willbe a turn on forhis woman and is clueless that it is not, because based on Scully's admissions about him, the guy is a little inept in the romance department. I would venture to say that his only real experience is probably that 'Kimber' blow up doll (oh, sorry, Nip Tuck wasn't around in 1999) and/or dialogue from one of the hundreds of porno tapes he watches. (yea, Mulder watches them too...but Mulder has class & has slept with a real woman at somepoint) He (Cramer) and Scully have only been dating about 6 weeks and she hasn't told him that she can't have children yet ... which is pretty realistic because she knew in season 2and never got around to telling her mom until season 5.

The other thing I want to clarify ... "the incident" ... because I do not want my readers to think it was date rape or forced. Cramer wanted to spend time with Scully before she went out of town, which some could argue was romantic. While he was in her apartment, he saw the opportunity for a quickie and took it. She was willing and allowed it to happen. He thought it great ... she wasn't very happy about how it played out. In my experience with quickies ... (and talking to my friends) it is inevitable that someone's feelings are going to get hurt because both players are usually not on the same page, or someone doesn't get the relief they need.