“She
needs to be in a hospital.”
He nodded and
moved on into the building. This was no place
to give birth. His fear, which had subsided
slightly when he’d seen Reyes, was back in full force as he saw her pale face, eyes
closed, clutching the bundle in her arms. Blood,
Scully’s blood, so much of it.
He was at her
side now. “Scully?”
She opened
tired eyes and he glimpsed a tiny bit of what she had endured in them. “Mulder.”
She closed them again. “Thank
God.”
Thank God? For him? He
should have been here. He didn’t think
he could have been of any practical help, but he should have been here.
“I’ve
got a helicopter outside. I’m taking you
to a hospital.”
She nodded
and he realized Reyes was beside him. “Dana,
I’ll take the baby.”
Scully’s
arms tightened instinctively around the bundle in her arms.
“Scully,
it’s okay. Let Reyes carry the baby. I’ll carry you.” She looked into his eyes then and after a moment,
nodded. He watched as Reyes bundled the baby
and a lot of bloody . . . stuff into her arms. Placenta. Well, his cram course in emergency childbirth
hadn’t been completely wasted.
He lifted her
as gently as he could, but she couldn’t quite stifle the moan. He kissed her forehead. “I’m sorry Scully.”
“S’okay. I’m just glad you’re here.”
He absorbed
that in silence, then moved toward the door. Scully’s
eyes were following Reyes and he knew if Reyes were to make any suspicious moves, despite
her physical condition, Scully would be after her.
“It’s
okay, Scully.” She glanced up at him and
relaxed another notch. Now he watched Reyes as she held the baby tightly
against her chest with one arm and allowed the pilot to help her on board with the other. She took the co-pilot seat, leaving the rear,
which had more room, to Mulder and his own precious burden.
He started to
place Scully in one of the seats, but she clutched at him and he changed his mind, seating
himself with her cradled against him.
The pilot
glanced around, saw that they were settled and lifted off.
There was too much noise for a conversation and there were no words he could
say now - not in front of the others. He
pressed his lips against her forehead again and she looked up at him, then she snuggled
into his chest and finally closed her eyes.
Reyes turned
to look at them and for the first time tears formed in her own eyes. She couldn’t remember ever being as scared in
her life as in the past twenty-four hours. The
baby moved slightly in her arms, and she cuddled him closer. She couldn’t think about all of this now. She just couldn’t.
Mulder could
tell the pilot was on the radio, but he couldn’t hear him. Just let him get them to the nearest hospital. She was still in pain and pale and it seemed to
him she’d lost a lot of blood. His arms
tightened around her involuntarily. He should
have been here.
Shortly he
saw the light from a landing pad of a tall building.
Reyes turned to him and mouthed the name of the hospital, but he
couldn’t make it out. He looked down
again and saw a team assembled at the door, away from the landing area.
Then they
were down and a man in a white coat stuck his head in the door as the sound finally
diminished. “Gurney or wheelchair?”
“Wheelchair.” Scully answered before he could. After a second he nodded and climbed from the
helicopter with her still in his arms. He
placed her gently in the chair, though he would have felt better carrying her personally.
When she was
seated, she reached for the bundle in Reyes’ arms, checking the child out as soon as
she touched him. They were all moving now,
toward the elevator; Mulder’s hand on her shoulder after she’d looked up to
locate him.
Once in the
labor and delivery room, much too late in Mulder’s opinion, a nurse reached for the
child. Scully’s grip tightened. “It’s okay. We just need to check the baby out. We’ll bring it right back.”
She looked up
at Mulder, her fear plain on her face. “Stay
with him Mulder.”
“Uh,
listen.” Mulder spoke finally,
“couldn’t you examine him here, with her? She’s
had a rough time.”
The doctor
nodded, the anguish on this man’s face was impossible to miss.
“Yes, we
can do a prelim here. But if more is needed .
. . “
Mulder nodded
and Scully gave him a tired smile. She seemed
willing to let him handle things. She must be
completely exhausted.
She finally
surrendered the child to the waiting nurse and watched her move to the far side of the
room. Scully glanced at Mulder and he moved
in that direction as well.
He stood
obviously on guard where he could see them both easily.
He wasn’t armed, but if anyone made a wrong move, he knew he would kill
them easily to keep these two safe. The nurse
unwrapped the baby and saw that, though the cord had been tied off, it had not been cut. She quickly applied clamps and Mulder found a pair
of scissors in his hand. What?
“Cut
right here.”
“What?” His eyes widened.
“Cut the
cord, right here.”
He looked
over at Scully. She was watching him, but he
couldn’t read her expression. “Yes,
there.” He did as she bade; then laid
the scissors aside. He didn’t know how
to feel about that.
The nurse was
talking again. “Seven pounds, one ounce,
18 ¼ inches long.” She was swaddling
the baby tightly now. “Good strong
heartbeat; strong lungs. A fine big boy. Here you go, Dad.”
The nursed
placed the baby in his arms. He again looked
over at Scully. There was a slight smile on
her face, but she didn’t speak. At least
she hadn’t corrected the woman. He
cuddled the tiny boy to his chest and the child seemed to look up at him.
“He
seems very alert.” The nurse said as she
glanced down at him in Mulder’s arms. Mulder
nodded, and moved toward Scully. She reached
for the child and he put him gently in her arms. She
looked so natural holding this baby.
He was safe
with his mother now, so Mulder stepped over to the doctor.
“Is she okay?”
The doctor
glanced over at Scully, “Her temperature is slightly raised; probably from the
trauma. I’d like to keep her here for a
few hours, give her some antibiotics, make sure she doesn’t start to bleed.”
He looked up
at Mulder then and saw the near terror in his eyes.
“Hey,
it’s not . . . I didn’t mean to upset you.
She’s doing very well considering what she’s been through. She didn’t even need any stitches. I’d just feel better if she stayed here a
little while; let us keep an eye on her.” He
patted Mulder’s shoulder. “Don’t
you worry about your family; they’re in good hands.”
The doctor
left the room then and Mulder moved back toward the bed.
The nurse was helping her position the baby to breastfeed. He found he couldn’t look away. She looked up, her cheeks coloring slightly.
“Scully,
do you want me to . . .” He gestured vaguely toward the door.
She shook her
head, “Stay with us, please.”
He nodded. He didn’t want to talk in front of the nurse
anyway. After a moment, the nurse smiled and
left to give them some privacy. He still
didn’t speak, sitting quietly beside her and savored the intimacy of their
togetherness. When she moved the baby to her
other breast she shyly asked for a washcloth, which he got for her immediately. It was shortly after that, that she looked up at
Mulder. “I think he’s fallen
asleep.”
“Kids
today, they don’t know when they have it good.”
He grinned at her and she smiled back.
As he
watched, she moved to leave the bed. “Whoa,
hold it. What do you think you’re
doing?”
“He
needs to be changed.”
“I’ll
. . . I’ll do it.” Her eyebrow
rose. “Well, I’ll try.”
She allowed
him to take the baby from her arms, and offered no directions or warnings, trusting him
with this child as she trusted no other.
She
didn’t allow the smile in her eyes to reach her lips.
When he was finished, he brought the sleeping child back to her. She kissed the infant’s forehead, “Go
ahead and put him down; let him sleep.”
He did as she
bade, moving the bassinet closer to the bed. “You
should sleep now too.” He lowered the
head of the bed.
“Will
you stay?”
That brought
a smile to his face, “Of course.” He
moved to the other side of the bed and took the chair.
She let her eyes drift closed finally, even as she reached for his hand. He took it, cradling it in his own tenderly as she
slept.
When the baby
stirred, he lay her hand on the bed and rose, not wanting him to wake her. He carefully scooped the boy into his arms and he
quieted immediately. Mulder returned to the
chair, and sat holding him, watching him sleep.
When he felt
her eyes on him he looked up, and grinned sheepishly.
“Hope you don’t mind.”
“No.” She shook her head, “I don’t mind. Mulder, I want to get out of here. I want to go home.”
Concern
immediately clouded his face; he placed the child in her arms and kissed her forehead. She knew the reason for this was two-fold. One reason was to check for fever, but Scully
didn’t call him on it.
He tried to
hide his relief that her temperature seemed normal.
*****
He opened the
door to her apartment and let her in. She
stopped just inside the door and looked around. “Scully?”
“It’s
just good to see this place again.”
The thought
sobered him. He hadn’t allowed any other
possibility to completely form in his mind. “You
should be in bed.”
“No, I
need to take a shower and get into my own clothes again.
You know, you could use a shower too.”
“Are you
saying I’m offensive?”
“Well,
yes. Go on home Mulder, get cleaned up. I know you’ll be back in a little
while.” She smiled at him.
“I . . .
you shouldn’t be alone.”
“Mulder,
it’ll be okay. I’ll take him into
the bathroom with me. Go on, then you can
come back.”
The
indecision tore at him. She pulled him down
with her free arm and kissed his forehead. “Go.”
He took a
deep breath and finally nodded, then let himself out.
He stood in the hall until he heard the deadbolt engage then moved on to his
car. Maybe he should get the guys over here,
just to keep an eye on the place.
*****
She had been
right; he had taken very little time to make his way back to her. His overnight bag was in his trunk, awaiting her
permission.
He watched
their three friends leave her apartment, then centered himself and moved into her bedroom. Her smile broadened when she saw him. She looked like a goddess, as though the trauma
she had been through had never happened, except of course, for the precious child in her
arms.
“How’s
everybody doing?” He asked. She rose from the bed and approached him smiling.
“We’re
doing just fine.”
The baby
fussed mildly at the movement. “Now,
now, none of that.” She placed him, all
clean and wearing one of the outfits she’s picked out for him, into Mulder’s
arms. “Hi.” He seemed to hum to the baby for an instant. “What are you going to call him?” He hadn’t even thought to ask that until he
had left her apartment. It had worried him
the whole time he’d been away, that somehow she would think he didn’t care. But then neither had asked any questions of the
other for some time.
“William
. . . after your father.” His smile
grew.
“Um, I
don’t know. He’s got your coloring,
your eyes, but he looks suspiciously like Assistant Director Skinner.”
They both
laughed at that, the tension evaporating.
She shook her
head, her smile fading. “I don’t
understand Mulder. They came to take him from
us. Why they didn’t . . . “
“I
don’t quite understand that either, except that maybe he isn’t what they thought
he was. That doesn’t make him any less
of a miracle though, does it?”
Scully smiled
again. “From the moment I became
pregnant, I feared the truth about how and why, and I know that you feared it too.”
“I think
that what we feared were the possibilities. The
truth we both know.”
“Which
is what?” She asked as he leaned down
and took possession of her lips.
When the kiss
ended, he looked deep into her eyes. “Scully,
I . . . I don’t want to be away from you. I
want to stay here tonight. Please. I can sleep on the couch and - “
“Mulder. I’d appreciate you being here and you
don’t have to sleep on the couch. We
both know the bed has plenty of room.”
His smile was the brightest, the happiest she ever remembered seeing on his face in all the years she had known him. He pulled her close to him again for another kiss.
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