Chapter 6: Recovery.

TWO DAYS LATER

ST KATHERINE'S HOSPITAL, WASHINGTON DC

Mulder opened his eyes slowly. A bright light covered his vision, and he could see he was in a room of some kind. Part of him thought he was being abducted as the room could be for aliens. He looked around groggily. He was lying in bed, with bandages wrapped round his head. His groaned softly as he reached an arm up to his head and tried to start unwrapping it. If I am being abducted, he decided, then I sure as Hell don't want to be hanging around here for too long.

Just as he was about to reach his head, someone moved to his left and grabbed hold of his arm gently. Mulder could see a silhouette holding his arm. "Hey," a calm, soothing voice said gently. Mulder let the figure pull his arm back down gently. "Easy tiger," the voice added. Mulder blinked and slowly the silhouette came into focus. It was Scully. She smiled at him. She had a big bandage on her forehead and a bruised cheek, but other than that she looked okay as she sat on a wooden chair next to him. "Scully," Mulder said in concern. "Are we abducted? Have they abducted you too?" he asked, somewhat dilariously.

Scully smiled and stroked his hair. "No, Mulder," she said. "You're safe here. We're in St Katherine's hospital," she told him. Mulder sighed. "Well, that's a relief," he said, and smiled back at her. "Mulder, do you remember what happened to you?" Scully asked. Mulder frowned and closed his eyes as he tried to remember. "Yes," he said slowly, as images of the previous night came flashing in his mind. "I remember going with Skinner to your neighbourhood when you didn't turn up for work," Mulder said. "Yes, go on," Scully coaxed him gently.

"We saw some bloody footprints on the ground which lead us to an abandoned warehouse a block from your apartment," Mulder continued. "Then we got into the warehouse. I was just going up the stairs when I heard a noise, like someone bumping into a bin. I was just about to turn a corner and was ready with my gun when a figure came out from nowhere and knocked me to the ground," Mulder recalled, gently touching his head and wincing at the touch.

"You're safe. Did Skinner find you?" Mulder asked. Scully nodded. "Yes. He came and shot the figure," she said. Mulder turned to look at her. "What did the figure look like? The local homeless people thought he looked like a modern day Tarzan. Did the figure look like the Jersey Devil we investigated?" he asked her eagerly.

Scully paused for a moment before saying, "I'm not sure, Mulder. It's possible. But," she began, and bit her lip, not knowing if she should continue or not. "But what?" Mulder asked gently. Scully looked at him. "I don't know, Mulder. I looked at the man in the eye and I got the feeling he wanted to... mate with me," she finished off, sounding a little embarrassed.

Mulder raised an eyebrow. "He wanted to do the wild thang with you?" he asked with a small grin. "Can't say I blame him," he added, and winked at Scully playfully. Scully gently wacked him on the arm with a grin. "Shut up, Mulder," she replied, and they laughed a little.

"So the figure was shot by Skinner and ran off into the darkness before we could catch him," Scully summarized. Mulder winced again as he felt a slight pain in the back of his head. "Did he hit you too?" Mulder asked. "The figure I mean, not Skinner," he added. Scully nodded and gingerly touched her forehead. "Yeah. It's almost as though he hit us with some heavy object. Almost like a ….," she began. "A club?" Mulder finished. Scully nodded. "Yes. More than anything Mulder, I think that man was a cave man," she said. "He probably escaped somewhere and wanted to find a new cave," she explained.

"Well, sounds like we won't be finding Fred Flintstone anytime soon," Mulder added, and Scully nodded. "Well, you just rest up, okay Mulder?" she asked. Mulder smiled and held her hand briefly. "Oh, and did you do some tidying up?" Scully asked.

Mulder gave her a look. "I started to," he said feebly with a grin. Scully shook her head. "All right," she said. "We'll start tidying tomorrow." Mulder sighed in relief and closed his eyes. "Thanks, Scully," he said. "I think I need a few days rest, then I'll tidy the office," he said. He opened his eyes and Scully raised an eyebrow at him before leaving.

THE END