A/N: Here's Chapter 5, I'm really enjoying writing this story. I hope it's flowing nicely. Anyways, I don't own X-Files!
Scully hated this feeling; illness not only that but deception. The day after she met Mulder she was plagued with an illness that wouldn't shake. It started with a fever, chills and a sore throat. As the days progressed, her overall health declined drastically and showed no sign of dissipating. Maybe she was dying from an incurable disease or the flu is just kicking her ass. She heard a knock at the door and hoarsely tried speaking but, alas, no luck. She was dreading the next moment. The body aches were excruciating to the point where she'd cry out in agony. The knocking came again but with a little more force and a quiet voice penetrated the door. "Scully?" Mulder. She was surprised and relieved that he showed up here.
The journey to her door felt like she was running a never ending marathon. The pain was unbearable, she wanted to collapsed to the floor. Scully sensed all the energy being sucked out of her like a vampire sucking the life out of their victims. Every step she took sent a shooting pain throughout her entire body, like she had tasers attached to her feet. Scully swallowed the tears threatening to spill.
Once she finally reached the door, Scully grabbed the handle and paused for a moment to catch her breath. 'Why is it so hard to breathe?' She pondered. When she opened the door she expected Mulder to scream at her and accuse her of cheating or purposely avoiding him but he looked almost sad.
"Oh thank god. I thought something terrible happened. May I come in?" She nodded, while slowly moving out of his way. When she stepped into the light, he noticed sweat beating across her forehead, her eyes were sunken back and she looked like she'd lost a considerable amount of weight. "Where's your bathroom?" She lifted her arm and pointed to the door. Mulder took note of how her arm shook when she lifted it. He went to the bathroom quickly. Dana heard him fumbling in the cabinets and then he heard the faucet turn on. Mulder walked out, wet washcloth in hand, and pressed the cold, wet cloth to her forehead.
"Are you feeling okay, Dana?" He whispered and she nodded her head no. He lead her to her bed and helped her get under the sheet, throwing the comforter off the bed. "Keep this to your forehead. Do you have a thermometer?"
"Yes" she croaked. She tried telling him exactly where but instead she placed her hand to her throat.
"Bathroom?" Mulder inquired. She nodded yes. He ran back into the bathroom and rummaged through her cabinets again. He emerged shortly with the thermometer in hand. "Open" He didn't mean to sound demanding. He placed the thermometer under tongue. Scully's eyes began to droop, like she was about to fall asleep. She looked exhausted. The thermometer beeping indicating the reading was finished. 104.1 it read. 'Change of plans, she's not gonna like this' He thought.
Scully experienced a floating sensation, she momentarily opened her eyes to see Mulder had picked her up.. "Where?" She tried speaking again.
"Shh, don't strain your throat anymore. I'm taking you to the bathroom for a shower to reduce your fever." Mulder knew that she was athletic but she felt ridiculously light.
When he entered the bathroom he started to draw a lukewarm bath to soothe her fever. He placed her on the ground and leaned her against the tub. 'Lavender bath salts' He thought, he delved under the sink. He was in luck, he dumped an immense amount into the tub.
Mulder took off shirt and pants, leaving his underwear on, grabbed Scully and undressed her quickly apologizing, and got them both into the tub. He shivered slightly. Mulder leaned back and let Scully lay against his chest. She tensed and shivered for a moment then she relaxed and leaned into the embrace. He scooped up a handful of water and brought it to her head, letting the water slowly fall from his hand. The water ran from her hair and onto her face. She scrunched her face and gave a small whimper, "I know, I'm sorry Scully." Mulder rubbed her arm and kissed her temple.
After sitting in the tub for nearly a half an hour, Scully still felt hot. He took her temperature again, 104.5. 'Plan B' He told himself. Mulder propped her up onto his knees in order to drain the tub. Once all the water drained, Mulder grabbed a towel from the rack next to the tub and wrapped Scully up and took her to the bedroom. He laid her down on the bed and fetched a slightly oversized t-shirt and sweatpants, he didn't bother with undergarments considering they were just put her in a gown later anyway. Mulder rushed back into the bathroom and swiftly threw his clothes back on. He came back and scooped up Scully and they set off for the university medical center.
On his way to the hospital, Mulder called a friend of his who worked at another hospital but he wanted this doctor's opinion. "This is Dr. Walter Bishop"
"Walter it's me."
"Fox Mulder, how are-"
"Walter I don't have time to play catch up. I'm bringing someone into the hospital and I need to know what I'm dealing with."
"Symptoms, list them go. I need them to try and make an accurate diagnosis and I'll fly down as soon as I can."
Mulder tried racking his brain, "High fever, it started at 104.1 and climbed to 104.5 even after soaking in a cold tub, sore throat, trouble speaking, by the way she was walking I'd say she has joint pain associated with it. She had trouble breathing, she was winded when she got to her door and her bed is maybe twenty feet away."
"Jesus Diana." Dr. Bishop let out a breath.
"It's not Diana, we split. Her name is Scully. Dana Scully."
"Oh the Olympic figure skater?"
Mulder rolled his eyes. "Jesus how do I not know about her."
"Quite a magnificent skater if you ask me. Anyway, you said 104.5 fever and rising?"
"Yes"
"You mentioned body aches. Has she had a blood nose?" Mulder looked over at Scully as soon
as he asked that. How did he know her nose started bleeding?
"It just started bleeding. How did you-"
"There's no time for explanations. I'll see you in approximately five hours."
"What no Walter-" The line went dead.
University of Maryland Medical Center 10 Minutes Later
"I need some help over here!" Three nurses and a doctor rush towards them.
"What seems to be the problem?"
"My girlfriend Dana Scully has a 104.5 fever and climbing and her nose started bleeding."
"The Dana Scully? Bring her over here." Another doctor shouted at the group.
"A friend of mine is flying down from Boston and help you guys. His name is Dr. Walter Bishop."
"Doctor Bishop? The one who specializes in Fringe Science?"
"That's the one." He replied nervously.
"We'd love his help. We're going to get her into an ice bath to try and get her fever down. Did you give her any medication prior to coming here?"
"No I didn't even think about that."
"Do you know of any medical conditions or procedures she's ever had?"
Mulder's mind was going a hundred miles an hour. He was about to say not that he knew of but then he remember about her accident. "She had surgery to repair her ankle. There's pins and screws and I think she mentioned a metal plate."
"Okay MRI is out of the question. Do you know anything else about her medical history?"
"None."
"We're going to order a full body X-Ray and we'll go from there."
"Wait why can't you do an MRI?" Mulder was slightly confused.
"You mentioned she had ankle repair with pins and screws just mentioned. The MRI machine is like a giant magnet. The screws and plate would magnetize and essentially tear her ankle apart."
"Yeah, let's avoid that. Based on what I just told you, do you have a guess on what could be wrong with her?" Mulder could feel bile rising.
"It may be just a severe flu or it could be... something else."
"Something else?" Now Mulder was worried.
"I don't wish to scare you Mr..?"
"Mulder. Fox Mulder." He held out his hand to shake the doctors'.
"You're Bill Mulder's son?" The doctor questioned.
"Guilty" Mulder voiced sheepishly.
"Tell him hello next time you see him."
"Will do. You said that you didn't wish to scare me. What did you mean by that?"
"It may be nothing, Mr. Mulder but wait here and a nurse will be out in an hour to inform you of "
"What, no, wait..." The doctor got up and walked away leaving Mulder befuddled. He decided to head back to his dorm and grab himself an overnight bag and thought he should grab one for Scully as well.
When Mulder arrived at his dorm, he frantically searched for a duffel bag. He knew he had one, it was just a matter of finding it. It was a wonder how he managed to find anything in his dorm. You couldn't even see the floor. His shit was scattered everywhere, he lived like a true bachelor, he lived in a single dorm and was thankful that he did. Mulder moved out of his girlfriend's dorm after he caught her in bed with dickhead, John Doggett.
Successfully finding his duffel, he shoved a week's worth of clothes into it, ran out the door and hurried to Dana's dorm. When he entered her dorm he grabbed whatever his brain could remember that a woman would need. He grabbed essentials; pants, shirts, underwear, a bra and a pair of socks, and toiletries. Mulder was about to run out of the dorm when something caught his eye.
University of Maryland Medical Center, it was addressed to Dana. It was already opened. 'Do I open it or do I leave it.' He pulled out the document, these were test results dated Tuesday of that week. The document contained a complete blood count; red blood cells, white blood cells as well as platelets.
Mulder surveyed the room, he found her computer already open. He opened up the web browser and looked up normal blood cell counts. He read out loud, "A normal red blood cell count for women is 4.2 to 5.4 million cells per microliter, Dana's was 5.2 million per microliter. Normal white blood cell count, 4,000-11,000, hers 1100 and her platelets are normal. Mulder knew exactly what a low leukocyte count meant; cancer.
Let me know what you guys think! :)