One week later.

Mulder walked down the corridor of Saint Katherine's Hospital a few days after he had been discharged. He had only suffered minor burns and smoke inhalation during the fire but the doctors had wanted to keep him in for a little for observation. He still had a bandage on his arm, covering the worst of the burns. When he reached her room he rapped lightly on the door before entering without waiting for a reply. He closed the door behind him and moved to sit on the edge of her bed. She was sleeping but stirred as he sat on the bed. After a moment she opened her eyes to see him and smiled wearily.

"Hey." Mulder was the first to speak.

"Hi." Her voice was slightly raspy, still not quite recovered from the tube that had been there to aid her breathing when she had first been brought in.

"How are you feeling?"

"Not too bad. I've definitely been better though." That statement was true enough. She didn't look too bad; she had just suffered some minor burns to her face and arms and there had been minimal smoke inhalation due to the Chloroform. There were a few beats of silence before the question was returned.

"How are you doing? Have they discharged you yet?"

"Yea, I got sprung a few days ago. I don't think the nurses could stand me any longer." She smiled and he gently took her hand in his.

"I spoke with someone from the fire department yesterday. They said it would be a while before you could move back in." He paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully before he delivered the other piece of news. "They also recovered Evan's body. They ran a DNA test to confirm that it was him. He's dead Scully." She nodded slightly, taking in what he had just said. She wasn't entirely sure how she felt about it. Mulder's voice broke her thoughts. "Are you ok?"

"I'll be fine," she replied, none too convincingly. He looked at her, communicating his skepticism and she turned her head downward. His knee jerk reaction to this movement kicked in and he cupped her cheek gently before tilting her head back up so she looked him in the eye again. She smiled slightly but could not hide the tears that brimmed her eyes. She held them back though, determined not to let them fall. Wordlessly he lent forward and wrapped his arms around her small frame, pulling her to him. She sank into his embrace gratefully, burying her head against his shoulder, and she could contain her tears no longer. They flowed freely down her cheeks, landing on the material of his t-shirt and darkening it. Small sobs emanated from her and her held her tighter, smoothing her hair and soothing her. After a few minutes of silence he spoke.

"Everything's ok now Scully. He's gone. He can't hurt you anymore."
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Sorry about the massive delay in posting but I've computer trouble and been doing A-Levels. I am going to post the next (and final!!) chapter straight away though so you won't have long to wait.
Don't forget - feedback makes for a very happy writer!!!!
Lily
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