On the drive to their mother's house, Bill Scully noticed a subtle change in his sister. He knew that she was still recovering from her ordeal, but a certain something was missing. The drive was spent mostly in silence, something Dana was not usually known for. Bill tried to bring up something to ignite Scully's vivacity, but he failed horribly. Luckily to drive was not too long, and before Bill dared to bring up Mulder, they arrived at Mrs. Scully's.
She was already waiting outside with Tara. Bill pulled up into the driveway and shut off the engine. Mrs. Scully walked up to the side door, opened it, and greeted her daughter. Scully merely gave her mother a meek smile while waiting for Bill to fold out the wheelchair. Mrs. Scully, too, noticed the change in Dana, but let is pass. She was simply relieved that her daughter was finally home.
Tara went ahead to open the door to the house. Mrs. Scully pushed Dana inside to a supposed pleasant surprise. Though it was already nearly midway through January, Mrs. Scully still kept up the Christmas decorations. The tree was by the fireplace and a pile of presents remained underneath. Tinsel and holly added extra holiday cheer.
"Charlie's sorry he couldn't be here, but he couldn't take off from work too long. He wanted to be here, Dana. We all decided that we should wait for you to celebrate the holidays because it just wouldn't be the same."
Bill went to the tree and retrieved a small box.
"This one's from Uncle Rob. You always liked getting his presents the best."
Scully fiddled with the box for a while, not wanting to open it, but her audience seemed to demand it. She slowly slid off the decorative ribbon and carefully peeled off the wrapping paper. Then Scully took the lid off the small box inside which revealed a gold tennis bracelet.
"He always did give the best presents."
She said this trying to sound enthusiastic, but her family saw right through.
"I'm sorry, Dana. You must be exhausted. We should have waited."
"No, Mom. This … is great. Thank you for waiting, but … I think right now, I just want to sleep."
Mrs. Scully pushed Dana into her temporary room.
"Dad's study."
"It's the only room down here. I didn't want to have you sleep in the living room. See look, Bill brought down some things from your room. I've put a bell here, too, so if you need anything, all you have to do is ring."
Scully took command of the wheelchair and moved herself around the small room.
"Thank you."
Bill lead Tara out of the room, but Mrs. Scully hesitated to leave.
"Dana …"
Scully turned her head to look her mother in the eye.
"Mom, I'm sorry, but I'm just … I'm just so tired."
Mrs. Scully nodded and closed the door behind her. Scully sighed in relief when she was finally alone. She waiting a few minutes before trying to get out of the wheelchair; she wanted to make sure that everyone was far enough way. When Scully was certain, she locked the wheelchair in place and tried to push herself up. The pain in her ribs began to kick in, other sore spots were acting up, and her leg was nearly impossible to move. The cast ran nearly the entire length of her leg.
It was difficult to find her balance as soon as Scully managed to stand up. There was a side table nearby but it wasn't close enough to Scully to easily reach. But she tried to reach for it anyway, hobbling on one leg, while trying to stifle her exclamations of pain. She barely managed to reach it before giving into exhaustion. Scully collapsed to the floor, trying hard not to cry.
She chided herself for not being smarter – for not moving closer to the bed before trying to move. But Scully knew why she didn't do it. She wanted to prove to herself that she was strong enough. Scully could feel it too. Something was different about her and she couldn't explain it. There were a black period in her captivity with Butch in which she couldn't remember anything. He did something to her to change her. Scully just didn't feel right.
After lying on the floor for a while, something caught Scully's eye. She reached out for it and realized that it was the tennis bracelet. It was beautiful, simple and elegant. Uncle Rob always did give the best presents. Scully clutched the bracelet in her hand and brought it closer to her chest. All of the events that lead up to this moment suddenly flashed through Scully's mind. Then she began to cry. Scully had missed Christmas.