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Mulder, Scully, and the man who called himself Klonikin had been driving for over an hour, with no signs of anyone pursuing them. Mulder didn't recognize where he was, but he didn't ask, as he knew that the threat of CSM's men had been the biggest danger that they had faced…or at least, it had been. Scully had pointed out the body of a man who resembled Klonikin lying between two buildings; she said that the body was hours old…something that would have been "scientifically" impossible in their current predicament.
Klonikin stared straight ahead, not having muttered a word since he told Mulder to get into the car. Mulder remained in the backseat with Scully, who had been unconscious for the last hour. He knew he had to get her to the hospital, but he also recognized how risky that would be…if CSM had sent his men to search for them, that would be the first place they'd look.
Mulder shifted slightly in his seat. Scully was unconscious on his lap; he had been holding her to ensure that if she got sick again, she wouldn't choke. Her pulse was threading and Mulder knew that he needed to act before Klonikin drove any further. He reached in his pocket and took grasp of the letter opener he had held onto since their decent from the building. He slid it up his leg slowly; he didn't want to alert his supposed contact. He lifted Scully's head from his lap and reached around the driver's side of the car. He held the letter opener to the base of Klonikin's neck.
"Time to pull over," Mulder said.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?
"The base of the neck, am I right? Let me guess, there are probably about five or six of you… cloned; in some government conspiracy to conceal the truth of extraterrestrials…" Mulder rambled.
"Mr. Mulder, I would be very careful if I were you. I just saved your life, you should be thanking me." Klonikin said, his voice remaining calm.
Mulder ignored his comment. "Pull over here."
"Mr. Mulder-"
"Now, dammit!"
Klonikin slowed the car and pulled to the side of the road. Mulder didn't know where they were, but he noticed they were on a long stretch of highway surrounded by forest. There were no other cars visible on the road, and dawn was slowly approaching on the horizon.
"Get out of the car," Mulder insisted.
"Mr. Mulder, perhaps you've forgotten your predicament. If I hadn't been there to save your ass_"
"And how do I know that you didn't set us up in the first place?"
"Mr. Mulder, if I were you, I would be very careful. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into."
"Out."
"Mr. Mulder-"
"Now!"
Klonikin glared at Mulder in the rearview mirror and slowly exited the car. Mulder climbed over the console into the driver's seat, refusing to take his eyes off Klonikin.
"You're making a huge mistake." Klonikin said.
Mulder ignored Klonikin and put the car back into drive. He looked in his sideview mirror to see Klonikin standing in the middle of the road with his hands in his pockets.
Mulder continued to drive down the road for a good thirty minutes before he came to a small town called Ashwood, a place so small it probably wasn't even on the map.
Mulder knew going to a hospital was out of the question, but he looked for any sort of clinic that he could bring Scully to. He finally found a small urgent care facility in the center of town and pulled into the parking lot. There were only two cars in the lot and only one dim light from what he could tell, but he didn't have a choice. Mulder was anxious that Scully wasn't doing too well and he knew he would never forgive himself if something happened to her.
He got out of the car and slowly, but carefully pulled Scully out of the backseat. He carried her through the sliding doors and approached the front desk.
The nurse attending the desk gave Mulder a strange look and stood up.
"Sir…we're not open yet…may I ask what's going on?" The nurse said.
"My partner- she need's medical attention."
"Sir-"
"Mam, I'm a federal agent. My partner has been seriously injured and needs-"
"Sir, by the looks of it, she needs a hospital," the nurse said, picking up the phone to dial an ambulance.
Mulder reached over the desk and clicked the call off.
"Sir!"
"Listen to me, dammit! My partner and I are both federal agents and she's been seriously injured. If we go to the hospital, the men who did this to her will find us and kill her. If I could help her on my own I would, and she's a medical doctor herself but incapacitated as you can see. Please."
The nurse went to argue with Mulder when the doctor came out from behind the set of doors next to the nurse's desk.
"Lana, prep an IV and grab me a stretcher. We'll take her in Room 4 and evaluate her situation there."
"Yes, Doctor." The nurse said, as she disappeared behind the doors.
"Thank you, Doctor." Mulder said, still holding Scully.
"What is her condition?" The doctor asked, as the nurse came out with a stretcher. Mulder placed her on the lift as the doctor listened to her heart and checked her vitals.
"She's been cut with a knife to the abdomen and may have a concussion. I don't know if she has injuries beyond that but she's been unconscious for almost two hours and it was difficult to stop the bleeding from her wound.
The doctor lifted Scully's blouse to expose her wound. Mulder's makeshift bandage was soaked in blood, but it had done an okay job at stopping the bleeding. The doctor removed the bandage to reveal the cut. It was irritated and seeped blood, as Scully's breathing had become labored. The doctor looked quizzically at the cut and pressed on it with gloved hands. Though unconscious, Scully gurgled and started breathing heavily.
"Lana, bring me iodine and a blood kit. Let's run a full tox-screen and take care of this wound."
"Doctor Evans-" Lana protested.
"Now, please."
The nurse went into the medical supplies room while Dr. Evans wheeled Scully into Room 4. Mulder followed as the doctor began to grab the supplies he could from the drawers. He began to wire up an IV as the nurse came back to the extra materials.
"So, tell me, Agent-" Dr. Evans began.
"Mulder."
"Agent Mulder. What happened exactly? Why can't you go to the hospital?"
"I'm sorry Doctor, I can't say, for not only our safety but for yours as well. May I use your phone?"
"Use the phone at the end of the hallway. If you don't want people knowing you're here, I wouldn't use the front desk. People will probably be coming in the next hour or so for their ingrown nail emergencies or something of the sort. I'll be working on your partner for a while, when you're done, go in the staff room down the hall. I'll update you when I have more information."
Mulder nodded his head in appreciation and headed down the hallway. He picked the phone up and dialed the number of the only people he could trust. Despite the fact that it was 5:30 in the morning, the familiar voice answered the phone on the third ring.
"O'Connell's Heat and Air Cooling Services," the voice said.
"Frohike it's me," Mulder said.
"Is this a secure line?"
"Frohike listen," Mulder said, as he explained the situation. "And I need you to bring a few change of clothes and supplies. No one can know besides the three of you, understand?"
"Mulder, confidentiality is my middle name. I've located your coordinates on GPS. It will take us about three hours to get to your location." Frohike said.
"Thanks, Frohike. Hurry- we need to be ready to move."
Mulder hung up the phone and made his way over to the couch. It was the first time in hours that he was able to relax. He was pretty sure that he had a slight concussion and had a broken rib or two. He could probably use some medical attention, but he hadn't focused on himself since Scully had been injured.
As Mulder felt himself drifting off, Dr. Evans made his way over to him.
"Agent Mulder, I have some information for you."
Mulder stood up, ignoring the pain in his ribs and head.
"Your partner does seem to have a concussion and her wound is more severe than it looks. She seems to have nicked her left kidney slightly and the biggest threat she faces is infection from sepsis. I've given her a course of antibiotics through an IV and I'll send you on your way with some, but I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't tell you that she needs a hospital." Dr. Evans said.
"We can't-" Mulder began.
"I know. But in my medical opinion, that would be best for her situation. Also, the bleeding wasn't simply caused from just the knife wound. From your partner's tox-screen, it appears she was injected with some sort of agent that could not be identified. The main component of the substance was a mixture of something composed of caffeine. It could not be fully identified, but I can say that the bleeding was exacerbated by the substance; when her heart rate increased, the bleeding got worse."
Mulder bit his lower lip. "How is she now?"
"She's still unconscious, but she's stable. I'm going to pack a medical bag for you with some gauze and antibiotics as well as painkillers for when she wakes up. Also, I'm going to pack three IVs for you as well. The office is going to probably going to fill up, so we're going to need for you to head to the staff room with your partner while we clean up."
"Thank you, Doctor. I don't need to tell you that this needs to remain confidential."
The doctor nodded his head. "Commander James T. Evans, Navy Seals RET." The doctor said. "I know what confidentiality is. Now, Mr. Mulder, do you have any injuries you need me to look at?"
Mulder shook his head as he heard a loud sound coming from the waiting room. He heard a loud scream and a gunshot and looked at Dr. Evans as he ran to check on Scully.
Scully was hooked up to an IV, dressed in a medical gown, still unconscious on the medical gurney. The doctor came in and started unhooking her cables.
"Lana's down. Whoever was after you knows you're here."
Mulder knew the Lone Gunmen wouldn't be there for another few hours, but he knew they needed to get out of there. He grabbed a sheet from the drawer under the sink, wrapped Scully in it, and started making his way towards the back door. With Dr. Evans behind him, he pulled his gun out of his pants and handed him the weapon.
"You're going to need to cover us. Do you have your keys? I don't want to risk that the car I came in is compromised." Mulder said.
Dr. Evans handed Mulder his keys as he cocked the weapon he had given him. The two men exited the back door as they came face to face with the man who had forced Scully and Mulder to need medical assistance in the first place.
TBC.