Taking Care of You

Part 2

by Trycee

Time-Line: Season 7, after the New Year's Kiss but way before All Things.

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Files, this is written for fun not profit.

An Alternative Universe Story...

Mulder had been awaken four times throughout the night, all by nurses who needed to poke and prod him. But they were careful not to wake Scully, he made sure, but he was amazed at how each nurse would tell him how Scully wouldn't leave his side. How she would take over if she thought the nurses or even the doctors didn't do the job right. He chuckled at that...that was the Scully he knew. They would tell him how much Scully loved him and how fiercely devoted she was to him and how they had never seen a significant other care so much about the other like she had him. Mulder didn't correct them, he instead smiled widely and kissed the top of Scully's fiery red head softly, his lips coming close but never fully touching her head so as not to wake her. And after nurse after nurse shared with him the same story, Mulder knew in his heart that all the doubt he'd had over the years of whether they're feelings were mutual were all for not. Scully's relentless defense of him was because she loved him...the proof was in the way she'd fallen asleep so deeply from exhaustion and worry over him after existing on very little sleep in the past few days.

He watched her sleep until his arm and shoulder would grow numb and then he would shift slightly, praying she didn't wake but instead she would grab him tightly for a second and then her hands would relax. A few times she mumbled 'Mulder' in her sleep and 'U mm' but he was too tired from the drips they were giving him to know if he'd just imagined it or if it were real. Again he would drift into sleep until morning finally came and he awoke just before Scully did as the sun's morning rays filtered into the hospital room. Scully's eyes fluttered until she could attempt to focus.

"Am I still dreaming?", she said, inches from Mulder's lips.

Mulder smiled. He knew she wasn't fully awake yet and this was a glimpse of her he hadn't had yet, despite the millions of times he'd seen her awaken from sleep, she had never awaken in HIS bed next to him.

"Are you real, Mulder?, ", she said, trying to shake herself from her dream.

"I'm real...", he answered.

He waited for her eyes to focus and for her eyes to change from beautiful ocean blue to panicked but instead he saw a recognition register in her eyes and much to his surprise, Scully lay her head back down on his chest.

Cautiously, Mulder let his hand rub her arm up and down as she snuggled in against his neck. He was in utter shock but it just seemed so nature in such an un-natural place. But then Scully sat up as if she were fully awake. She then turned her gaze on him and he expected her to freak out but instead she was staring at his lips as if they were candy. He smiled and then leaned in for a quick kiss. She smiled back but then began to slid off the bed. "Don't go...Scully...", he said, grabbing her arm, already afraid of her reaction to his second kiss on her lips in the past years.

"I'm not going anywhere...", she said, turning to face him, a smile on her lips.

Mulder looked into her eyes and saw something that he now knew was love. "I love you...I really do, Scully..."

Scully leaned in and kissed Mulder lightly on the lips. "I know...I've known a long time, Mulder and... I love you too...", she said, turning to head towards the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Mulder sat back in the bed, his heart began to race as he listened to the beeping of his heart from the monitors. He smiled a wide smile and nodded to himself. "Alright!"

Maggie Scully was standing outside the doorway. In a rush to check on Dana, she had nearly interrupted the two of them as they confessed their love for the first time but instead she had stopped to listen outside the door and was grateful she had. She paced outside trying to make herself look occupied. After pacing back and forth outside the door a few times, she heard Dana's voice, "Mom?"

Maggie smiled just like her daughter and walked in, hugging her tightly for several reasons. Her attention then turned to Mulder. "Fox," she said, walking over and hugging him. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing great...Scully's taking care of me...I always recover well when Scully takes care of me...", he said, with a wide grin.

"Ah!", Maggie said, with a raised eyebrow, which made Scully blush.

Scully turned from her mother and walked over to the table, noticing for the first time the salad that lay untouched. "Oh, you came by last night?", Scully asked surprised.

"I didn't want to interrupt...", Maggie said, with a twinkle in her eyes.

Scully could barely look her mother in the eye. She knew her mother had known all along her feelings for Mulder but having only confessed her love to Mulder a few minutes before, she didn't want to confess them to her mother too, so she kept her eyes down low as she shuffled unnecessarily through the clothes her mother had brought her the day before. "Thanks mom," she said, finally locking eyes with her mother.

Maggie looked pleased, very pleased as Scully knew she would. A doctor though took that moment to enter Mulder's room. "Hi...I'm the doctor that's been treating you," he said, introducing himself for the first time to Mulder. "It was touch and go several times with you...," he said, looking over Mulder's chart. "We still don't know why you kept coding...it had nothing to do with the entry wound of the bullet."

Scully moved over to Mulder's side, her hand sliding into his. "I'm a doctor...I'm his doctor...I'd like to care for him at home..."

"At home?", the doctor said, shocked.

"I normally...", she said, licking her lips. Scully knew how unusual it was for a private physician such as she was to Mulder or any doctor for that matter to treat a patient at home. "That's what we do...He doesn't like hospitals..."

"He seems comfortable here...", the doctor said, defensively.

"Is he clear to be released?", Scully said, a little more authority in her tone.

The doctor looked at her as if she had suddenly grown three heads. "Its your medical license...", he said, shaking his head. "I'll prepare the paper work..."

Scully ignored him. Instead she began packing up his things. Maggie knew that Scully had cared for Mulder numerous times in her apartment, including major surgery, so she didn't question her daughter but instead began to help her pack up. As if Scully could hear the conversation in her mother's head she said, "He heals better at home...", Scully said, glancing up to lock eyes with her mother.

Maggie reached out and touched her daughter's arm. "Dana...Its been a hard few days for you..."

"It has...", Scully said, gripping her mother's arm. Scully glanced over to Mulder who had closed his eyes, pretending to go to sleep. "I nearly lost him three times...", Scully said, as her voice cracked.

Maggie could see the pain in her daughter's eyes and she reached out to hug her equally small daughter. "Its okay, honey...he survived...", she said, trying to comfort her. "He's still here..."

Scully huffed, a smile on her lips as she glanced over to Mulder. But just as quickly as she'd let her guard down, it was raised again and she switched to doctor mode. "We'll need Skinner's help in getting him into the apartment..."

Skinner was standing in the doorway. "Well...good thing I came..."

"Hey there Walter," Mulder said, with a wave of his hand.

Skinner gave Mulder a glare. "Mulder...save the sweet talk for someone else..."

Both Skinner and Maggie turned to glance at Scully who looked at them briefly as she continued to pack up the stuff that had accumulated in the hospital room in such a small amount of time. "Okay," Scully said, her eyes shifting to Mulder. "We're ready to get you home..."

Please Leave A Review: Thanks!