Fox Mulder made his way to the downstairs lobby of the hospital by elevator. He knew when he found this case on his desk this morning, it would entail possible alien abduction. But to explain this to Scully, to explain everything this patient had just recounted, would be more challenging than their usual cases.
The elevator dinged, "ground floor, lobby".
"Mulder. I was just coming up with the coffee. Is everything okay?" Scully said almost bumping into Mulder as he exited the elevator.
"Yes. Yes, everythings fine. She needed a break, I thought I'd come down to find you. I want to run some of the details of this case by you."
"Sure Mulder. Did you get any good leads on what happened?" Scully asked as they walked to a corner of the downstairs lobby.
They sat down at a small table with two chairs. Scully put Mulders coffee down and began to sip on hers.
"What do you have so far?" Scully asked, crossing her legs under the table.
"She definitely let on more than she told the doctors." Mulder said, trying to think of how to not sound crazy himself.
"I mean, it makes sense, they said she reported working in medicine. I'm sure she wouldn't want to be written off as psychotic. There have been times I've held back information." Scully worked on her coffee. It had been a bit of a struggle convincing Scully to come all the way from D.C. to Oregon on such short notice. "But, what we need to find out is where she is really from. Let's start from the beginning of her file and then we can go back upstairs."
"Scully, before I talk about her file, I need to rule out some coincidences. When you go into her room, I need you to be ready."
Scully put down her coffee.
"What do you mean Mulder? This may sound crass, but it's just a run-of-the-mill abduction case."
"Her story, her birthdate, even her parents' story, you should know… they remind me of that case. That case, in December of 1997, with Emily. Th-..."
Scully cut Mulder off…
"Mulder, please…" she looked down.
This was already too much for Scully. Even when she read the file on the flight to Oregon, she knew what Mulder would insinuate with the girl's name and birthdate. Even where she was born and her parents' unfortunate fate, as Mulder reminded her, were similar to that of Emily's. That is how life works however, coincidences and weird happenings. Emily was long dead and this was another one of life's strange coincidences.
"I'm sorry Scully. I shouldn't have even brought it up. You know these cases make my mind run away. Besides everything in her file and what the doctors told us, she opened up to what happened before she lost consciousness." Mulder took a breath before continuing. "She explained how she had a few drinks before going up for another. She noticed the usual bartender was gone and this is where things get strange. She described this new bartender as six feet, dark haired, 30 something and missing his left arm." Mulder trailed off. Now having said that out loud he realized how even more uncanny that sounded to him
"Did she get a name? I know an amputated arm isn't usually normal, but I'm sure in Michigan, or Oregon for that case, there are hundreds of people with missing arms." Scully explained matter-of-factly.
"She did…" Scully looked at Mulder as if wanting to tell him to spit it out. "His name was Alex…"
Scully almost knocked over her coffee. In all her years of working with Mulder she tried to hide when she was shocked. She didn't want his mind to run wild.
"Mulder, please don't jump to conclusions… she died. I watched her die Mulder. And Krycek, you know Skinner shot him! Right between the eyes, he's dead… long dead."
"But what about her casket? She wasn't there. There's no evidence of her body." Mulder was astounded by Scully's skepticism, even in moments like this. He wasn't going to go into how he already had suspicions of shapeshifting syndicates impersonating Alex.
"Did you get any other information? Does she remember anything after blacking out and somehow working in the woods in Oregon?" Scully asked, wanting to change the subject as soon as possible. She tried to forget Emily. The pain of that child's life ending too soon was all too much.
"I told her to think about it while I stepped out for a second." Mulder started to gather his coffee and paper knowing Scully was going to go upstairs no matter how slow he tried to stall her. To warn her. That young woman sitting in that hospital room was a miracle. Walking into that hospital room reminded him of when Scully first made her way into his downstairs office.
… Scully and Mulder make their way upstairs, again by elevator, but in silence. Scully was determined to prove him wrong, that Emily was long dead…
Scully walked ahead of Mulder down the hospital hallway. Her heels clicking in their usual authoritative manner. Scully checked in at the nurses station and the nurse pointed to Emily's room.
Scully stood in the doorway, pausing for a second. There was a glimmer of hope, for just one moment, that Mulder was right.
Scully knocked lightly on the door of the hospital room announcing her presence. A soft voice sounded in the room. The voice of a frightened young woman.
The agent was back, Emily thought, as she heard a knocking on her door. She sat in silence before they came, still trying to piece together the visions of white.
"Come in." Emily's voice came out shaky. The sound of heels followed. This must be the female partner the other agent was talking about.
When the female agent entered the room, Emily thought for a moment that she was looking into a mirror. The agent, although more aged in complexion, had her same deep blue eyes, high arches of her cheeks and even the subtle pout of her lips.
Scully stopped mid-step. For a moment Scully thought she was looking at a younger version of herself. A younger version of herself, with longer hair, but sat in a hospital bed, disheveled, just as she had after Duane Barry had abducted her. However, Emily was able to breathe on her own and was safe.
"Emily, I'm Agent Dana Scully." Scully walked to the bedside, still shocked by the girl's resemblance. She reached a hand out for a handshake.