Emergency Day by Lolabeegood E-mail: lolabeegood@gmail.com Distribution: Archive freely with my name attached. Rating: PG Categories: S, R Keywords: Mulder/Scully romance Spoilers: Up to and including IWTB, but this takes place before it. Summary: A day in the life of Fox Mulder while living in long-term isolation. Author's Notes: Just a little something that has been working itself out in my head and I thought I'd write it out. I do not own the characters. I do not make any money from this. Enjoy! ************************************* Mulder was out in the yard chopping wood on a crisp spring day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and it was cool enough that he was only sweating slightly as he raised the ax and brought it down time and time again. Scully was, surprisingly, off today. She had been working like a dog since she was appointed to the hospital and it had seemed like months since she had a full day off. He didn't begrudge her that time of adjustment at work; he just missed having her around. Before they had moved to this house they had been with each other almost constantly, and her going back to work had woken him up to a harsh reality of loneliness. He had learned to fill his time with books, research, home repairs and some cooking but, it wasn't the same as lazy evenings spent with her form huddled up against him on a couch watching bad TV. Or, afternoons spent reading books in silence together as they ate from a pile of grapes and he rubbed her feet. 'I sound like a god damn lap dog' he thought to himself as he grabbed a pile of wood. He walked through the back door and into the living room. He had every intention of starting a fire and watching bad reality shows with her tonight come hell or high water. As he bent down to start a wood pile he heard a loud crash and scream from upstairs. He dropped the wood and raced up the stairs madly looking around for the source of the noise. He walked past the guest washroom only to turn quickly when he spotted the flash of red hair behind the door. He slipped through the pinned door and found her lying on the floor with her leg unnaturally bent between the tub and the toilet and a shower curtain lying on top of her. "Scully!" he yelled as he bent next to her. She was unconscious either because she banged her head against the tub, or because she passed out from pain. He looked at her leg and noted that it was broken and a bone was jutting out of the skin. He slid her body into a lying position and noted that she was breathing fine and actually winced when he tried to adjust her leg. "Mulder...I..."she said softly. "Scully, you broke your leg, the bone..." "Broke the skin, I know." She winced as she tried to shift. "Ahhhh!" "Did you hit your head?" he asked panicking as he ripped her jeans open up the leg. "No, I passed out from the pain," she said and he let out the breath he was holding. The bare leg was bleeding badly and the bone was snapped outside of the skin. He cringed at all the blood and bone but pulled himself together quickly. "I'm going to stabilize your leg and then we're going to the hospital." He said getting up to find materials. "Mulder, just call an ambulance, you can't take me to the hospital, no one can see you," she said as she breathed heavily and started to sweat. "It'll be fine," he said as he walked out the door and bolted down the stairs. He grabbed the wooden broom from the closet and went outside to his chopping block. With one swift movement the bristles were cut off and on his second swing the broom was cut in half. He ran upstairs and grabbed Scully's medical bag from their bedroom and walked back towards the guest washroom. She was panting as she attempted to crawl into the hallway. His eyes scanned for her destination and realized she was trying to make her way to the phone to call 911. She didn't want him taking the chance of getting her to the hospital. "Scully, damn it!" he said as he went to halt her movement. "You're going to injure yourself more." "Just call an ambulance, Mulder!" she demanded as she stopped all forward motion, "It'll take them an hour to get here and an hour to get back to the hospital; I can have you there in half the time." "Mulder, it's just a break, if you stabilize it, two hours isn't...ahhh!" she yelled as he gently straightened the leg. "I'm sorry," he apologized as he braced the leg and started to wrap the gauze. "Just do it," she winced in pain as she leaned her head back onto the floor. He had the leg stabilized when he looked down at her. She was unconscious again, probably from the pain. He gingerly picked up her limp body, being careful not to further damage the leg, and carried her downstairs. He slid her carefully into the back seat of the car and ran inside to get her keys. Falling into the driver's seat he felt very unnatural; it had been almost a year since he'd driven a car. Turning on the car and the GPS system he found Our Lady of Sorrows Hospital on a list of destinations and started to drive. He hadn't ever visited her place of work but from the stories she told him, he understood that it was the best hospital in the area. She had long relayed stories of patients being admitted to their hospital after botched surgeries at another local hospital. Halfway there she gained consciousness. "How are you feeling?" he asked. "Like an invalid who has been kidnapped," she groaned from the backseat. "Don't you remember? You agreed I could take you to the hospital right before you passed out last time?" he joked. "Mulder, I have a broken leg, but my memory is in tact." She replied. He drove in silence carefully obeying all traffic laws into town. As they approached the hospital she started to shift in the back seat. "Mulder, you can just drop me off at the doors and I'll take a cab..." "Hey, maybe I can just slow down and you can jump out?" he asked her angrily. "If you get caught..." "I won't." he said as he pulled into the emergency parking. "You work here Scully, they won't care one bit about me." "I'm starting to feel sick," she said softly. "Are you going to throw up?" he asked concerned as he launched the car into a spot and undid his belt. "Mulder, I have a really bad feeling about this..." He went around to her side and opened the door. Leaning down he carefully slid his arms under her frame and gingerly lifted her from the seat. He kicked the door shut and walked with her toward the emergency room doors. "Just let me do the talking," she said as they walked inside. He walked right up to the desk where a receptionist looked up at them bug eyed. "Uh, I'm Dr. Dana Scully," she began "I work in the surgical unit and I..." "Dr. Scully!" a nurse yelled from the other side of the counter. "Anita," Scully sighed when she spotted the source. "Oh my god, what did you do?" "I, uh...fell hanging up a shower curtain." She said blushing as Mulder placed her in a wheel chair Anita held out for him. "It looks like it pierced right through," Anita said bending down to take a closer look. "Yeah, it's pretty grizzly," Scully agreed. "Let me get you into a room and I'll call Dr. Kilbride to come and take a look." "He's on tonight?" Scully asked. "Yeah, once he hears it's you, he'll be here in a jiff." Anita said as she started to guide Scully's chair down a hall. Mulder walked next to them and Scully turned pleading with her eyes for him to just leave. "I'm sorry, where are my manners..." Anita said holding out her hand "I'm Anita Milton." "I'm..." Mulder started. "My brother Bill," Scully finished. "From the navy?" Anita asked. "The one and only," Mulder smiled down at her. "Are you visiting?" "Uh, yeah. My little sis needed some repairs done at her house, and I had some free time so..." "That's so nice," Anita smiled up at him. "That's me." Mulder said sarcastically. Scully was placed in a triage room and Anita took off the brace Mulder had made and set Scully up on a bed. She told Bill how smart he'd been to use the broom and wrap it so tightly. Mulder kidded that he had learned a few things from his little sister over the years. Anita then left to find Dr. Kilbride. "Bill?" he snapped as soon as the door shut. "What would you prefer Mulder? Here's my common-law partner who is, by the way, wanted on a Federal warrant and will face the death penalty if apprehended?" she hissed. "Maybe Charlie," he muttered. "Mulder, you need to leave. I can get a ride back home or take a cab. I'll say you had to...pack because you were leaving tomorrow." "Scully, I..." Just then the door opened and in swooped a handsome, blonde, well-built doctor in his early forties. He looked immediately at Scully and winced. "Dana you look awful," he said in an Australian accent. "Thanks K" she said with a faded smile. He bent down and gingerly ran his hand up and down her leg several times. Mulder thought it seemed a little seductive but he couldn't be sure. Then, when he planted his hand on her bare knee before he started to talk with her, Mulder definitely felt the air in the room get stifling. "Dana, we're going to have to splint it until the swelling is down then we'll cast it in a few days. We can stitch it right away to keep out infection. You're looking at a few weeks off your feet and light duty after that." "I thought that was what you were going to say," she groaned. "I'll get some supplies and be right back," he said rising and finally taking his hand off her knee. "Her big brother Bill, right?" he said offering his hand. "Nice to meet you, K" Mulder said as he pumped the man's hand. "How long are you in town? Maybe we can all have dinner together?" "I'd really like..." Mulder started. "Bill has to get back to Tara and the kids, don't you Bill?" "Can't ignore the wife," Mulder smirked. "Well, maybe another time." Dr. Kilbride said as he left the room. The door shut and Scully turned to Mulder with rage in her eyes. "I can't believe you almost agreed to have din..." "So, he's K?" Mulder asked pointedly. "Oh, for god sakes Mulder," she said shaking her head "you can't possibly think..." "I think he wants to take you to dinner, Dana. Your big brother Bill is just a means to an end." "Mulder he's..." "Obviously interested in you, and doesn't even try to hide making a pass at you in front of your brother." "Mulder, I know he has a thing for me." "But you told me that this 'K' who had a crush on you, was a geeky weasel who..." "I lied," she answered honestly. "That Australian blonde piece of beef I saw just now, is far from..." he said pointing toward the shut door. "I lied because I thought you would never meet him and... with you stuck in the house all the time, I didn't want your imagination..." "I'm not worried about you," Mulder pointed out "it's him and his roaming hands." "He was examining me." "Oh, he was, all right." "If you are going to be like..." "Okay, let's get this done so you can get home," Dr. Kilbride said happily as he entered the room. "Sounds great," Scully said softly as she lay back on the bed. He gave her a local and started to clean the wound. "You know, Dana, I can come by your house to check up on you if Bill isn't going to be around after tomorrow." Dr. Kilbride offered. "No, that's okay," Scully answered uneasily. "I'm going to see if my mother can come down and stay with me." "Are you sure? Because it's no trouble." He said nicely as he started to stitch. Scully grabbed Mulder's hand and squeezed it tightly. "I'm sure," she said definitively. "So, Bill...got any great sea stories you want to share?" Dr. Kilbride asked Mulder. "Sorry, most of my work is Top Secret," Mulder said with authority "can't share with you civilians." "That's too bad," Dr. Kilbride said softly, paying more attention to his work then Mulder. A half hour later Scully was being discharged and Mulder was wheeling her to their car. "Mulder, I'm sorry I lied about him," she said softly as he helped her into the passenger seat. "No sweat, Scully." He said as he shut her door. "No really," she started as he plopped into the driver's seat, "I want you to be okay with this. You know I would never..." "Scully, I know," he said taking her hand in his "I guess I was just caught a little off guard by his forwardness and good looks." "He's usually not that bad," she muttered. "Scully, you are a beautiful, smart, vibrant, woman and you are out there in the world. I shouldn't be surprised that other men find you very attractive. I do." He smiled at her. "Thank you," she smiled back. "The difference is," he said smiling at her conspiratorially "they can try to get into your heart, but I'm already there. And, I'm not sharing that with anyone." "You won't ever have to," she said as she reached over and palmed his cheek with her soft hand. *********************************************** The end.