untitled
'PROMISE'
By: Waddles52
Mulder
had slept almost the entire time since he'd been rescued. He had
been awake long enough to ramble on about Scully saving the world
and to profess his love for her, then he slept again.
Scully was once again at his side. Skinner and the Lone Gunmen
had already headed back to D.C. and she had requested some
personal time to stay with a sick friend. Mulder was on vacation
so Kersh was glad he wouldn't have to bother with either of them
for a while.
Mulder moaned softly as he attempted to turn over. The soft moan
turned into a loud groan as he opened his eyes. The pain in his
chest was beginning to be quite bothersome.
"Mulder, are you okay?" Scully questioned.
"I guess all of those drugs you thought they'd given me have
worn off," he answered sarcastically.
"Mulder, I read your chart. You had enough drugs in you to
stock a small drugstore. That's why you've been having such crazy
dreams."
"Dreams?" he asked, a confused look on his face.
"Yes, dreams," Scully replied. "About Nazis and
scientists. Remember?"
"Of course I remember. I was there. It wasn't a dream. I
really did travel back in time, Scully. You were there too."
"Mulder, you weren't breathing when we found you. Your brain
probably created those images as a result of oxygen deprivation
and the drugs just intensified them."
"No, Scully," he insisted. "I was not dreaming.
How do you explain this bruise on my face? You hit me."
"Mulder, you're covered with bruises. Even your bruises have
bruises. It's just one of many."
"You really packed a wallop."
"Your boat looked like little pieces of kindling when we
found you. The explosion caused your bruises, not me. By the way,
in your dream," Scully emphasized, "Why did I hit
you?"
"I sort of kissed you without your permission."
"That must have been some kiss."
"Only the best kiss I've ever had," Mulder smiled
broadly. "Ow!"
"Mulder, what is it?" Scully asked, concern evident in
her voice.
"The place you hit me is really sore."
Scully sighed loudly.
Mulder attempted to change his position again with the same
painful results as before.
Scully pushed the call button and asked the nurse to bring
something for pain.
"Scully, I want to tell you something before they shoot me
full of drugs. When I was awake before, I told you I loved you.
Although it's not exactly the way I wanted to tell you, I meant
it. I'm not high on drugs now, or deprived of oxygen. I hope
you'll believe me. I. Love. You."
"Mulder, I don't know what to say."
"How about 'I love you too'?" he answered hopefully.
The nurse chose that time to bring Mulder's pain medication.
Scully gave a quiet sigh of relief. Truth was, she didn't know
how to answer him. Did he really mean it? He still wasn't making
a lot of sense and she didn't want to encourage him if it was the
medication talking. On the other hand, she didn't want to hurt
his feelings by making light of what he said, as she had earlier.
The nurse injected the medication and disposed of the syringes.
"Let me know if you need anything else," she said, then
left the room.
"Scully, we need to talk," Mulder told her.
"Yes, we do, but not now. Rest, and when you're feeling
better we'll talk about everything."
"Promise?"
"I promise." Scully adjusted the covers and
straightened out the IV tubing. When she looked back at Mulder he
was sleeping.
Mulder woke with excruciating chest pain and shortness of breath.
More blood tests and x-rays were performed and by the time the
results were known Mulder was intubated and in the ICU, heavily
sedated. As happens with many near drownings, he had developed a
nasty case of pneumonia. The only thing to do was to support his
breathing and bombard his system with heavy-duty antibiotics and
other drugs.
Scully sighed as she sat by his bed. Their talk had been
postponed, temporarily, she prayed. If he would get well she was
willing to face her fears and profess her love for him. She had
finally decided that Mulder needed to know of her feelings for
him too. He had to come out of this. Too much had been left
unsaid on her part.
Yes, she loved him more than life itself. Had loved him for years
she admitted to herself as the ventilator helped him take another
breath. Why hadn't she been able to tell him? One after another
excuses began to form.
The timing wasn't right. She wasn't sure he really felt the same
way. She wasn't worthy of his love. A romantic relationship could
ruin their work relationship. They would never get the X-Files
back if they were romantically involved. The list seemed endless.
On the other hand, they both deserved some happiness. They'd both
been through hell during the course of their partnership,
emotionally and physically. Mulder blamed himself for most of her
hurt, but it wasn't his fault. She could have walked away from
him and the danger he seemed to attract, but she realized she
wanted to be a part of his work. Another argument for staying
with him.
"Come on, Mulder. Fight this. We have some unfinished
business," she pleaded.
The only response was the sound of the ventilator and monitors.
Slow but steady progress was made over the next three days. The
antibiotics were doing their job and the respiratory therapists
on his case thought it was time to come off the ventilator.
Scully was there when they pulled the tube. Mulder was still
attached to what seemed like one hundred other tubes and wires,
but the sound of his unassisted breathing was music to her ears.
The sedation had been stopped and it was only a matter of time
until he woke up.
She waited several hours and observed Mulder as he began to
awaken. There were small movements at first. Then he began to
move his limbs. At last she heard a soft moan, then a gasp as he
suddenly opened his eyes.
"Hey," he said weakly, trying to clear his throat to
get rid of the hoarseness. "Ow."
"Take it easy. You've been intubated for the past few
days," Scully informed him.
He cleared his throat again. "Thought I recognized that
wonderful, plastic taste. Water?" Mulder asked, making a
face.
"Just a bit," she warned as she brought the straw to
his lips.
Mulder took a couple of sips before she withdrew the straw.
"Better?"
"Yes." He coughed and held his ribs. "Sore."
"Pneumonia will do that to you."
"Aw, shit. Respiratory therapy?" he groaned. He'd been
down that road before.
"For the next few days at least," she answered.
"Torture."
"But it will help you get out of here faster," Scully
reminded him.
Mulder rolled his eyes.
"Mulder, you need to rest. You've been quite ill."
"Figured that. ICU, right?"
"This is your fourth day. They'll probably transfer you
pretty quickly," Scully smiled. "You're much
better."
"Our talk?"
"Mulder . . ."
"You promised." He coughed again and Scully gave him a
few more sips of water.
"You're right. Why don't you listen while I talk?"
Mulder suddenly realized he wasn't at all sure he was ready to
hear what Scully had to say, but he nodded his head in agreement
anyway.
Before Scully could start talking a doctor and two nurses came in
for rounds. That led to a rather thorough examination. A transfer
to a room on the med/surg floor was ordered along with frequent
visits from respiratory therapy.
By the time Mulder was settled in his new room he was fighting
sleep. "We were going to talk," he reminded Scully,
struggling to keep his eyes open.
"Yes, Mulder. I have some things to say, but you need to
sleep first."
"Talk now," he yawned.
"After you wake up."
"Promise?"
"Promise," Scully vowed.
Respiratory therapy woke him fifteen minutes later. After his
treatment he again sleepily asked for Scully to talk to him. Once
again she promised him a nice, long talk after he napped.
Mulder drifted off to sleep quickly only to be awakened in half
an hour for blood work, then forty-five minutes later for a
vitals check and bath.
Scully was glad for the added time. She was still unsure of
exactly how she wanted to phrase her statement and was using the
time to prepare her speech.
Mulder drifted off again, dreaming of Nazis with huge needles and
other medical devices of torture. Scully was wearing a ball gown
and fighting them off with her wrist corsage. As he struggled to
help her he became short of breath. He awoke with a gasp and
wheezed as he tried to catch his breath.
"Mulder? Are you all right?"
"Dreaming," he answered. "Nazis had needles. You
were fighting them with your corsage."
Scully noticed that he was still short of breath. She pulled the
oxygen mask down from its place on the wall. "Try to take
some deep breaths."
Mulder complied. "Ready to talk?" he asked, then
proceeded to cough for several minutes.
"Maybe after respiratory therapy comes back. You're not in
any shape for conversation right now."
"You promised," Mulder wheezed then began to cough
again.
"You need to cough up some of that gunk so you can breath
more easily," she explained as she pushed the call button
for assistance.
Mulder was exhausted after his treatment and went straight to
sleep as soon as the therapists left the room.
Mulder woke sometime later feeling a little better. He looked for
Scully and found her sitting beside his bed, sleeping soundly. He
noticed how tired she looked and didn't disturb her. As much as
he wanted to hear what she had to say, her rest was more
important. He felt like he could sleep a little more himself, so
he closed his eyes and did just that.
When Scully woke, Mulder was sleeping peacefully. She breathed a
sigh of relief. His color was much better and his breathing less
labored.
Mulder sensed that she was awake, looking at him. He opened his
eyes and smiled at her.
"How are you?" she asked.
"Better." He stretched and took a deep breath. When he
didn't cough he decided to go for broke. "Scully, can we
have that conversation now?"
"Yes. I think it's time."
They hesitated for a moment then Mulder took the iniative.
"Scully, I've already told you how I feel. Now I need to
know what you think, how you feel."
Scully paused to gather her thoughts, then sighed. "Mulder,
I don't want to tell you what I think. That's the biggest problem
I've had. I've been thinking too much.
"Then tell me what you feel."
"I feel like the luckiest woman in the world because I'm in
love with a wonderful man, and I've just recently found out that
he loves me too."
Mulder held out his arms to her and she sat beside him on the
bed, encircled in his arms. He moved over a bit and soon she was
lying beside him.
"I feel like the luckiest man in the world because I'm in
love with a wonderful woman and I just found out she loves me
too." Mulder kissed her softly.
Scully smiled. "So, now what?"
"So, now we love each other and face what comes together.
I'd like to get on the hospital PA system and announce to the
world the Fox William Mulder and Dana Katherine Scully are in
love and ready to take on the world but realistically . . ."
"What is our reality, Mulder? Do we go back to the way we
were?"
"No, Scully," he stopped her. "We don't go back.
Ever."
"Then what? Our chances of getting the X-Files back are slim
at best. If it's known we have a relationship outside of work our
chances are non-existant."
"Then we'll be discreet. I want to spend every minute with
you, Scully, but if we have to play their game for a while then
so be it. We will be together as often as possible."
"That brings up another question, Mulder. What do you mean
by together? Do you want us to live together? Do we meet at an
out-of-the-way motel for a few hours? What do you have in
mind?"
"Scully, I want it all. I would like for us to get married,
grow old together, the whole nine yards, but for right now we
need to take it slow. I'd like to live with you but I don't think
that's practical right now. I just want you to know that I want
more than a physical relationship."
"I think I know that, Mulder, but a physical relationship is
important too. Once we become lovers . . ."
"Soon, Scully," Mulder whispered. He stroked her jaw
and placed a kiss behind her left ear.
Scully cleared her throat. "Once we become lovers will we be
able to keep apart at work?"
"It will be difficult but I think we can manage it. We'll
just have to spend every non-working moment together. I can't
wait to make love to you, Scully. If you only knew the dreams,
the fantasies I've had about you."
"I've had a few myself, Mulder," Scully blushed.
"Some of them dealing with the basement office."
"The desk," Mulder joined in. "I know what you
mean."
"We can't let that get in the way of our work," Scully
said firmly.
"Then we'll just have to be sure we're satisfied at
home."
"I'm looking forward to that," Scully smiled then
kissed him, lightly at first then deeper and harder.
Mulder joined in heartily until he needed to get a breath.
"Damn, do you know what you do to me?" he asked as he
began to cough.
"I think I have an idea. We'll have to explore that when
your lungs are more cooperative." She raised up to pour him
some water. "Here, drink this."
Mulder took a few sips and settled back into the pillows.
"Thank you. Thank you for loving me."
"Same here, Mulder." She put the cup back on the
bedside table. "You're getting tired. Why don't you rest for
a while?"
"Scullee," Mulder whined.
"I know. We have a lot more to talk about, but you need to
get well so we can put our plans into action. Rest now. I'll be
right here beside you."
"Forever, Scully?"
"Yes, Mulder. I'll be at your side always and forever."
Mulder dozed off with a huge smile on his face. Scully loved him
too! They both wanted to get the X-Files back so they couldn't
take a chance on declaring their love publicly just yet. They
still had a lot of things to work out, but he was happy to have a
future with Scully, a future filled with love and promise.
THE END
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