Title: LEFT IN THE WOODS 
by: Mulderache

Spoilers: Requiem Rating: pg-13

Category: MT,Angst,X,Msr

Summary: Mulder is found and it takes Scully a
little while to get to his location. Mulder is
having a hard time remembering and that could
mean trouble for our agent

Archive: Yes, just as long as my name is
attached.

Feedback:  What is feedback? Something that I
always give the authors that put so much into
this type of endeavor. Please respond to
TGW080160@AOL.COM

Author's note: This is my first attempt at
writing and actually putting it on the net.
Please be kind but I want honesty. I would
appreciate your comments whether they are good or
bad. Thanks for reading.


Grace Baptist Church Cemetery
Appalachian Mountains Virginia

The young lady stood by her father's grave where
she had buried him only a few days before in the
old cemetery. She had laid him to rest beside her
mother's grave. Her mom had passed away years ago
of cancer. Her father had requested to be buried
under the big oak tree beside his wife. Her heart
ached for the loss of her father. His grave was
very simple; a small wooden cross-marked his
resting-place. Soon she would have to order a
head stone to mark the grave but in her sorrow
she had been unable to do that simple task.
She bent down and placed a bouquet of wild
flowers and then stood and said a prayer. Her
father had not wanted a big fuss made and his
funeral had been very simple, just herself and
his dog Blue. Blue had been her father's best
friend for the past four years and now the dog
sat mostly on the front porch next to her
father's old rocker and could only be persuaded
to move if she was heading down the path to the
old cemetery. Her father had known he was dying
for a long time.  He had written her a letter
three years ago asking her to come and care for
him until his death. She had responded
immediately by giving her notice at St. Mary's
Hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee. When she had
arrived three years ago she did not realize how
much she would fall in love with the mountains.
Many times the loneliness had gotten to her and
many times she was tempted to go back to
Knoxville to her job and her friends. Her
thoughts were quickly changed with a good cry or
a walk along the path that lead from their home
to the cemetery. She had cared for him till his
death with the help of the Hospice team and the
family physician. Now she had a big decision and
that was to stay here on the mountain or go back
to her previous life as a trauma nurse. It would
now be a lot lonelier and she did not if she
could tolerate being so alone and responsible for
a home and a farm. Soon a decision would have to
be made.

She was startled from her thoughts by the sound
of a frantic barking coming from behind the
church. Quickly she walked around the church to
find Blue staring down the path that they had
traveled just a while ago. "Blue, come her now!"
she yelled to the distressed pup. The dog ignored
the plea and continued barking.  She could tell
the pup was agitated at something in the woods
and her first thought was that it was some wild
animal. Blue was a black and white Border collie
and he was a good hunting dog and guard dog.

"What's the matter boy?" her voice now a little
bit louder to overcome the yelping of the dog.
Her father had warned her about the dangers in
the woods on many occasions and had even bought
her a small handgun to carry with her whenever
she went on walks. She reached into her pocket
and felt for the hard metal and was relieved when
she felt the cool handle slide into her grip. The
gun stayed in her pocket.  Patience was running
out for the now frantic animal. "Blue, come here
now!"  Her voice carried a no nonsense tone. The
dog turned and glanced at her briefly then took
off into the woods.

She hesitated briefly then followed him into the
woods being careful not to leave the path.
Unfortunately, she was not as fast as the dog and
soon she was having trouble hearing his barking.
She kept traveling towards the cabin in hopes
that Blue would tire of the chase and start home.
A few minutes later she could hear the frantic
barking again. Soon she was close enough that she
knew that she should be able to see the pup.

"Blue, come here boy!  Blue, come here now!" she
shouted into the thick forest. After a few
minutes she continued walking down the path
hoping to spot her companion. A glimpse of fur
caught her attention and soon she saw the
agitated animal with something cornered in the
brush. "Blue if you have a bear cornered I swear
you will be sleeping in the dog house literally
the rest of the week!"  she spoke loud enough for
the dog to hear the conviction of her words.

She had been told several times by her father to
never leave the path.  The words were going
through her mind as she stepped off the dirt path
to go to the distressed pup. She would not leave
the path's site and she withdrew the gun in case
she ran into a wild animal.  She approached the
frantic pup carefully,  "Blue if this is another
skunk and I get sprayed I will put you outside
for the rest of the year under the dog house",
her voice low but meaning the words she spoke. As
she approached the dog she noted a body lying in
the brush. It appeared to be a man but the body
was without movement or sound. "Good boy!" she
praised the dog and tried to get him to back away
from the still form.

She put the gun into her pocket and reached down
with an ungloved hand and felt for a pulse.  His
body was warm to touch and she felt the faint
pulse and saw the chills that ran through the
man's body.  She then heard the raspy sounds that
were coming from the man's lungs. His nail beds
had a blue tint and the color of his lips was
close to gray.  She did not feel any fear for the
man, evidently someone had brought the man here
to die.  He was covered with many bruises and she
noted what appeared to be needle marks over the
majority of his body. His clothes were hospital
issue but were covered by dirt and mud. She also
noted that he had bloodstains that covered
several spots.  She knew what she had to
accomplish. Very quickly she shed her coat and
draped it over the prostrate form. She then
called for Blue to come to her "Come on boy you
need to keep him warm." She motioned the furry
creature under the coat that covered the man.
Turning around she realized that she was going to
have a hard time getting the man to the cabin.

She started towards the path leaving the dog to
keep the nearly frozen form warm. He had felt
like he was running a fever. She had to think and
think fast. His lungs sounded very congested and
his breathing was labored.

As she stepped up on the dirt path she quickly
gathered some tree branches and piled them up to
mark the spot where she had left the path.  She
then ran back towards the cabin.  Her mind was
racing, basically she wondered how she could get
the very long man back to the cabin.  As she
caught site of the wooden structure she glanced
over to the barn in which her father had stored
the farm equipment. Never a fan of the tractor
she ran to the barn and threw open the door. She
reached into her pocket and pulled out her
father's key ring then walked around and noted
that the hay lift was still attached to the back
of the tractor.  Her father had taken some hay
out to the cattle just a few days before his
condition had taken a turn for the worse. After
climbing aboard she started the engine and popped
the clutch then placed it into gear and drove out
of the barn and down towards the path. She
stopped in front of the cabin and placed the cut
off the machine and ran inside.  Quickly she
gathered some blankets and grabbed a thick floor
rug and rushed back outside.  She spread the
heavy thick rug over the splintering metal on the
hay lift. She then tossed the blankets on top and
remounted the tractor. After starting the tractor
back up she popped the clutch and started back
down the path again as fast as the old tractor
would travel along the dirt path. When she came
across the piled up branches she pulled the
tractor carefully off the path. She carefully
maneuvered the tractor across the uneven terrain
towards the brush.

Soon she spotted her coat with its occupants
underneath.  The wagging of Blue's tail caught
her attention, he seemed to be impatiently
awaiting her return but he had not abandoned his
charge. The small nose came out from under the
coat to sniff he air and make sure that she was
there and not an intruder. "Stay Blue! "she
commanded the pup, "Just a few more minutes. Stay
put and keep him warm." The dog obeyed and stayed
put keeping the man warm. Placing the tractor
into the position to roll the man onto the lift
was going to a little difficult but after several
attempts she did it and then she pushed down the
clutch and lowered the hay lift level to the
ground and dismounted the old tractor. She
reached down and took the coat off the pup and
the unconscious man and placed the coat, with her
gun in the pocket, back on herself and pulled a
blanket from the pile and covered the man. Gently
she turned him noting then that he had a seeping
head wound to the back of the head. It was an old
surgical wound and the hair had been shaven from
the spot. Reaching up to her neck she pulled away
her scarf and tied it gently around his head
taking care not to cause any distress to the man.

Gently she rolled the still form onto the hay
lift, the rug being the only barrier between the
cold metal and the ill man.  She pulled the
blankets around his now shivering body. "Blue,
come her boy. Your job isn't done yet. ", her
voice quiet and gentle. Blue jumped up and slid
under the blanket with the man, knowing that his
job was to help keep the man warm.

She remounted the tractor again, popped the
clutch, lifted the hay lift up above the brush,
and put the tractor into gear. Her motions came
to an abrupt stop when she spotted the glowing
green eyes peering at her from the brush in front
of the tractor approximately one hundred feet
ahead of the tractor. The ungloved hand slid into
the pocket and pulled out the loaded weapon. The
safety was off and she had it pointed at the
intruder. Her father had taught her how to use a
weapon and the most important thing to remember
was that she could not lose her concentration or
take her eye off her target, especially a wild
cat. Soon the cat lost interest and turned and
walked back into the dark forest. She proceeded
to place the sweaty gun back into her pocket,
after replacing the safety. Carefully and
cautiously she pulled the tractor back onto the
path. The terrain was uneven and several times
she thought she might tip out her cargo but soon
she was back on the path headed for the cabin.

She glanced over her shoulder and looked down at
the blanket. The only movement was from the
excited pup's tail. Actually, she thought to her,
Blue was acting awfully possessive of the man.
She turned her thoughts back to her goal and
tried to think of a way to move the man into the
cabin without causing him any harm. Before she
knew it she was in front of the old cabin. She
turned the tractor away from the house and backed
up to the porch and lifted the hay lift even with
the top step to the house. She again placed the
clutch on the tractor, dismounted and ran to the
back of the tractor. "Okay Blue, your job is done
for now.  Come here boy!" she called to the dog
that now was sticking his head out of the blanket
and staring at her. She motioned for him to jump
down and he obeyed and followed her back to the
door.

She opened the door to the cabin and looked down
to the pup, "Blue get inside and get warm, I'll
have him inside in a few minutes, I promise." She
felt very proud of her pup. The pup walked in and
sat down by the fireplace as commanded. She
turned and walked back to the lift and grabbed
onto the thick rug and began to pull. The man was
lighter than she thought and she pulled him
towards the door but found herself short of
breath by the time she reached the entrance. She
stopped for a few seconds then after she had
caught her breath she pulled the wheezing man
inside. After placing the man beside the
fireplace that was little more than a blaze she
reached over and pulled a couple of logs off the
wood pile and placed them on the fire. Within a
few seconds the fire was blazing again.

She shut the door and returned to the man. After
discarding her coat she reached down and pulled
the blanket off the man. In the light of the
cabin she quickly noticed that her patient was
very sick. He was in desperate need of a hospital
but she lived so far up the mountain and she did
not have a phone. The cabin was powered by a
generator and lacked any electrical aide. She
would have to get him settled and go for help at
the ranger station, which were a few miles down
the road.

She ran into her bedroom and grabbed her
stethoscope and the first aide kit. When she
returned she quickly pulled the pillows off the
hospital bed, she had used for her father, which
still stood in the living room. Pulling up his
head she placed the pillows underneath and then
she propped the swollen arms on a couple of
pillows. Placing the bell of the stethoscope on
his chest she could tell he had diminished breath
sounds in his lower bases anteriorly and
scattered rales and rhonchi throughout all his
lung fields. Her hand brushed against something
around his neck and she tugged it around to see
the gold chain. She ignored it and went back to
work. Her father had been on oxygen several times
prior to his death to help aid his breathing. She
stood to get the tank from beside the bed and
placed a fresh nasal cannula on the valve and
placed it around the stranger's face. Hopefully
that would improve his color and help his labored
breathing. The hospital bed would be the ideal
place for the damaged man but she knew that she
could not get him there by herself.

Pulling out the thermometer she gently rolled the
man to his side and placed the thermometer gently
into the rectum. She noted the man had many
bruises, especially on his hip. She had seen many
bone marrow aspirations and the marks appeared to
be just that but why would there be so many? The
beeping of the thermometer interrupted her
thoughts. The digital reading was one hundred and
four point five. Moving quickly to the kitchen
she pumped some water into the kettle and placed
it on the stove to get warm but not hot. The man
needed a tepid bath to decrease the fever. She
returned to the man's side and noted that the
chills had subsided. She pulled back the blanket
then took the acetaminophen suppositories out of
the first aide kit. She gently rubbed the man's
shoulder and spoke softly "Hey I know that we
have not been properly introduced but you are
very sick and I need to give you some medicine to
get your fever down." She then gently rolled him
over again to his side and pushed the suppository
into the man. He did not respond to the
intrusion.

His breathing had seemed to improve with the
oxygen but he continued with the wheezing. She
placed him back flat and proceeded to cut the
white stained scrubs of and then she placed then
into a plastic bag. She knew about evidence and
evidence collecting from working in the emergency
room. After she had removed all of the clothing
she went back into the kitchen and filled the
water basin with warm water and returned to her
patient. She knelt down and picked up the cloth
and wet it then proceeded to wipe his face with
was thick with stubble. When she reached his neck
her hand passed over something rough and then she
noted the chain again. She pulled the chain
forward and for the first time noticed a small
gold cross.  How did I miss that?  She thought
to herself. She did not remove the chain but left
it, she knew that he needed all the help he could
get and whatever this represented to him was
important.

She finished the tepid bath and rechecked the
temperature, and noted the decrease, down to one
hundred point two. Covering her charge with a
thin sheet to prevent further chills, she then
proceeded to the bathroom to empty the filthy
water. She returned with a pair of scissors and a
baggie. "I'm not a beautician but I am going to
have to cut away some of that thick brown hair to
get to that nasty head wound, my apologies in
advance for the bad hair cut? I'm sure you've had
one a day or two in your life," she teased her
unresponsive patient.

Cutting away the bloody hair did not take long
and then she noted the head wound appeared to be
a surgical wound. The edges were not rough or
jagged. They looked as though a surgeon had made
the wound. Her thoughts were racing as she
bandaged the draining wound. Who would do these
things to a man then leave him in the woods to
die? She thought to herself.  She then cleaned
the many scratches, red needle marks and cuts
with soap and water and applied antibiotic cream.
She took the hair and placed it into the baggie
and proceeded back into the kitchen. Blue sat
watch over the still man.

She watched from the doorway as the dog inched
closer to the sick man as if he longed for the
man to speak to him. She hated to leave the sick
man but he was definitely dehydrated and he was
in desperate need of a chest x-ray and head CT
scan. What he needed most were antibiotics and a
hospital and she knew that she needed to hurry if
the man had a chance.

She tossed a few more logs on the fire and
grabbed her coat. Kneeling down next to the man
she gently caressed his face in her hands, noting
his boyish face even though it was covered with a
month of stubble. She then looked up and motioned
for blue to come to her side, "okay boy I need to
go for help. You need to take care of our
patient." The dog listened intently to her words
and sat down by the man with his head propped on
the man's leg.

She arose and started for the door, she grinned
to herself, when had she started thinking of him
as her patient?  She shook her head and proceeded
out the door. Looking up at the sky she noted
that it had started snowing. She would need to
hurry to the ranger's station before the roads
became treacherous.

-----

Part Two

-----

J EDGAR HOOVER BUILDING, WASHINGTON D.C.

"Flukeman? What the hell is a flukeman?" he
asked no one in particular. He thumbed
through the file and wondered what the hell
he was doing in the xfile division. He did
not believe in little green men or vampires.
He felt more like a hindrance that a help on
most of the cases that they had worked
together on in the past five months.

He had been relegated to sitting in the
office of Agent FOX Mulder, who now had been
missing for the past five months. Presumed
dead by most, though not his partner. She
believed that that Fox Mulder was still
floating somewhere in outer space in a
spaceship, abducted by little green aliens.
Not only did she believe this ludicrous story
but the assistant director also believed.
Assistant Director Walter Skinner had filed
the missing report stating that he saw an
unidentified object hovering over the area in
which Agent Mulder had disappeared.

He knew that he had been placed here to keep
tabs on Agent Scully. He was to keep her in
line and make reports to Deputy Director
Kirsh. Somehow though he still felt that he
was being punished, but for the life of him
he could not figure out what he had done to
piss someone off so bad that he be banished
to work in the basement in the 'ghostbuster
division'.

He put his mind back on the file trying to
make sense of Fox Mulder's notes. As a form
of punishment A.D. Skinner and Agent Scully
had banned him from any more cases until he
reviewed previous cases and was able to
define the true meaning of a xfile. He was
told to review the cases and not to quit
reading until he could correctly define what
the xfile department actually dealt with as
far as cases. Evidently, the concept of a
human taking a cat form was an accepted
concept. A man transforming into a cat was a
ridiculous concept he thought and had argued
that to his partner. He was still questioning
the sanity of his partner, who insisted that
Joseph Levy, a serial killer of little old
women turned into a cat and escaped a
warehouse surrounded by federal agents.
Obviously, he was not a Fox Mulder, but he
was a profiler and he definitely profiled his
partner as a bonafide nutcase.

He attempted to put his mind back to the task
of reading about the flukeman. His thoughts
were interrupted by the slamming of a door
and the click of those familiar heels against
the concrete floor. "And 'good morning' to
you Agent Scully," His voice dripping with
sarcasm. He looked up to see her stern
expression and a file gripped in her left
hand. "What did I do this time Agent Scully ?
"he asked pushing his face back towards the
flukeman file. "It's not what you did Agent
Doggett but more what you did not do this
time." Her hands were crossed across her
chest and her stance was a definite do not
mess with me posture. She got his attention
and he looked up at her with a deer caught in
the headlights  expression. He knew exactly
what she was talking about and he knew that
there was going to be hell to pay.

 "Agent Scully I know that you're probably
mad at me but I did what was in your best
interest." He pulled back from the desk and
stood to face his five foot two, very
pregnant partner." You are in no condition
anymore to be running around the globe
searching for a ghost."

  "Agent Doggett you do not tell me what is
or is not good for me. I am a medical doctor
and I will be the judge of what is and what
is not good for me and my child." Her posture
was much more defensive, if that was possible
and the file was now beating against her
thigh. "And let's just get this straight
Agent Doggett I do not chase after a ghost.
My partner, Agent Mulder is still very much
alive and I have proof that he is still alive
and I will not give up on him!" She took the
file that she had been gripping and threw it
on the desk. When did you get this
information Agent Doggett?"

He picked up the file and glanced at its
contents. He looked at his fiery partner;
"This was a routine sighting Agent Scully
and nothing more that another report of
lights in the sky. Actually, just the same
old story just a different location. And I
thought we agreed that your three dubious
friends would follow up on these types of
reports and then report to you the validity
of the report. "He closed the report and
handed it back to her but she did not reach
for the report but instead she stood and
glared at him. He laid the report down on the
edge of the desk and sat back down pulling
the flukeman report a little closer like a
barrier between them.

"It's not the same as the other reports and
you know what I mean. This report includes a
downed aircraft. A military jet fighter that
was downed by another unknown aircraft. Does
that not sound suspicious Agent Doggett?" You
lead the initial investigation on Agent
Mulder's disappearance and this does not
sound familiar to you?" her tone of voice
almost accusing. "This report was given to
you four days ago and no follow up has been
done." She leaned down closer, her pregnant
stomach touching the edge of the desk and her
hands planted firmly on the file, her eyes
meeting his, "Why did you not tell me about
the report Agent Doggett? What is your agenda
and whom are you working for? Are you working
for that black lunged son of a bitch?" she
pushed away from the desk and stared down at
his stunned face.

 "I don't know who or what the hell you are
talking about Agent Scully. It is like I told
you, just another prank call. People's
imagination following a significant event,
it's no different that all the others. Why
can't you accept that your ex partner is dead
and get on with your life?" No sooner that
the statement had left his mouth that he
regretted his harsh words. The look on her
face was one of pure disgust with his being.

"Go to hell!" her voice full of hurt and
pain. She grabbed the file and started
towards the door. She hesitated for a second
and turned facing her new partner with unshed
tears in her eyes. "I'm taking a few days
off. I'll let Skinner know of my plans." She
reached for the door and exited without
another word. He shook his head and went back
to reading the file of the flukeman.

Several hours had passed and he stood to
stretch his legs. He was getting tired of
stories about Jersey she devils, werewolves,
and mothmen. He walked back over to the
filing cabinet and grabbed some more files
and laid them on his desk or  Mulder's desk,
whatever. She would shoot him if she heard
him say the word "my desk" in front of her,
he thought to himself. He sat back down to
read more tales from the crypt when he noted
the name Dana Catherine Scully on the file.
He opened the file and began to read.
When he had finished reading the file he sat
back in his chair and contemplated his
partner's behavior. Missing for three months
and no memory of what had occurred during the
'missing time'. He stood and paused for a
moment then reached down and picked up the
file and placed it back into the filing
cabinet. He then grabbed his coat and jacket
from the coat stand and left the office, he
knew what he had to do for his partner.

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR WALTER SKINNER'S OFFICE

He entered the office and saw Kim sitting at
her desk. "Kim, is the assistant director in
his office? I need to speak to him."

"No he's not and he won't be in for the rest
of the day. The assistant and Agent Scully
have gone out of town for personal business
for a few days." she answered politely and
went back to her work.
"One more question. Do you know where they
went?" he did not want to badger but he
needed to find his partner.

"Sir, like I said it was on personal
business. They did not give their
destination. If you would like to leave a
message I will give it to him when he checks
in with me but I do not know when that will
be sir."

" Never mind I will get in touch with them
myself." His tone of voice dismissing the
secretary. He left the office and pulled out
his cell phone and proceeded to call the
airport to book a flight to Virginia.

-----

Part Three

-----

APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS MORGAN COUNTY

The road was getting slippery and the truck was sliding to 
the right and then back to the left. The snow was really 
beginning to pepper down and the sleet was beating off her 
windshield. As bad as the road was getting she knew that she 
had to get the man some help. The ranger's station was just 
a few miles down the road but she felt that she had already 
traveled a day. Her focus was just maintaining the vehicle 
on the road. She had placed the chains on the tires just the 
week before when the weather had started getting colder and 
the snows had started. The weatherproofed truck just did not 
want to stay on the slippery road.

After what seemed like a lifetime she arrived at her 
destination but the station seemed deserted except for a 
light in the main room office. She turned off the truck and 
opened the door, being careful not to fall on the icy 
ground. She reached the door, which was unlocked and walked 
into the warm office but nobody was there. "Joe, you here?" 
she called through the empty office. Joe was a friend and a 
great paramedic. She picked up the phone to call for an 
ambulance but the phone was dead. This was nothing new in 
the mountains, phones rarely worked due to the mountains and 
bad weather. Joe and the crew were probably out on a call. 
By the way things looked outside they might not be back for 
a while.

She walked to the backroom where the emergency supplies were 
kept and grabbed a box. They were use to her coming and 
grabbing supplies for her father, since she was a licensed 
nurse and sometimes she helped them on emergency calls to 
keep her skills intact. They were well-stocked in medical 
supplies due to the isolated location and they knew that she 
needed medical supplies for her father. She grabbed six bags 
of normal saline and twelve of the D5 1/2 normal saline. She 
knew that he was definitely dehydrated and with the fever he 
was definitely going to need some antibiotics. She took 
several large bore needles, some smaller gauged needles for 
blood collection and several small 100 cc bags of saline to 
mix the drugs for intravenous infusion. Then she knew that 
she would need to get some blood work so she grabbed several 
vials for blood collection and some large syringes and some 
smaller for mixing and giving medicine. After a few minutes 
she had all of the IV supplies that she needed. Doctor 
Hallbaker had given her a key to the medicine room and she 
pulled out her key ring and opened the door, flipping the 
switch on as she entered.

She grabbed enough Rocephin and Zithromax to get him through 
a week. She realized it might take that long to get an 
ambulance or med flight up to the cabin if the weather 
continued to worsen. She just hoped that he made it that 
long. She grabbed some more medical supplies, such as 
several nasal cannuli, foley catheters, sterile water, a 
couple of catheter kits, several boxes of gloves and alcohol 
pads. She knew that she had quite a bit of medical supplies 
at home but did not know his allergies. Now this is putting 
the old license on the line she thought to herself. She 
grabbed several vials of intravenous Benadryl and some 
toradol IV for pain. She picked up her heavy load and 
started for the truck. As she stepped outside she realized 
that she needed to hurry or she would not make it back up 
the mountain. She returned to the office and wrote a quick 
note for Joe, telling him the need for medical assistance 
and that she had taken the supplies. On her way out the door 
she spotted two more oxygen tanks which had been delivered 
for her father earlier that week. She grabbed the tanks and 
placed them into the back of the truck. She got back into 
the truck and started the engine, letting the cool engine 
run for a few minutes before attempting the journey back up 
the steep mountain.

As soon as the chained tires hit the slick road she felt 
some trepidation. The tires did not want to hug the ice but 
instead it wanted to slide and move precariously along the 
treacherous road. The snow had started to pile up along side 
the road and on the main road, the lack of any traffic was 
assisting the snow to accumulate. She concentrated on the 
winding road, keeping her focus on not losing control of the 
truck. She knew the man's life depended upon her getting 
back to the cabin. The truck inched slowly back up the 
mountain towards the cabin occasionally getting close to the 
mountain edge.

Her windshield wipers were freezing to the window and the 
truck frame was covered with ice. The man would die if she 
did not make it back to him. Even Blue on a day like this 
would not survive long with the freezing temperatures. The 
fireplace had probably already died down to a mere flame 
already. It had taken her forever to make the small track to 
the ranger's station. Time was running out and the vehicle 
did not seem to be able to take much more of the severe 
weather. After what seemed like days she finally spotted the 
snow covered driveway to the cabin and slowly maneuvered the 
vehicle off the road. She parked as close to the cabin as 
possible. She had to pause a moment before going back inside 
the cabin, her energy had been wiped from the drive. Now she 
had to collect her thoughts and go to work trying to save 
the man.

Pulling the boxes then the tanks from the truck she sat them 
up on the porch and then cautiously climbed up the ice 
covered wooden steps. Pulling the keys from her pocket she 
proceeded to open the door. A dim light came from the 
darkened room and the sound of ragged breaths and panting 
hit her auditory senses. She quickly made her way over to 
the man on the floor and saw the flushed cheeks. Though the 
room was cool the man definitely was running a fever again. 
Blue was still lying beside the man and watching him as he 
struggled with his breaths. The fire had died down to a mere 
flame. She crossed the room and knelt down beside the still 
form, the heat  was radiating from his body, chills were 
noted and his breathing was much more labored, but he was 
alive. "Good boy Blue, good boy. "she rubbed the pup's head 
and hugged him to her in her knelt down position. Quickly 
she stood and went back out to recover the boxes of medical 
supplies and tanks. When she walked back into the room she 
shed her coat. She went straight to work. First she pulled a 
couple of large logs off the pile and placed them into the 
fireplace and stirred the embers bringing back the flame. 
The generator needed gas and she knew she would need the 
light to start the IV's. She reached over to the tank that 
was delivering the oxygen and raised it up to five liters 
then she donned her coat again and went out the back way. 
She almost slid off the back porch but gripped the wooden 
rail to prevent a fall. She managed to get the gas can that 
she kept near the door and filled the generator. Shaking off 
the snow she reentered the house and stopped in the kitchen 
to fill a pot of water to give the man another tepid bath.

Tossing her coat off to the chair and pulling the cord to 
the overhead light she shed enough light on her patient. 
"Blue, come here." She motioned the pup over to the 
fireplace." I need to work on him Blue. You need to sit over 
here near the fireplace boy." the pup moved slowly towards 
the fireplace reluctantly leaving his charge. She pulled out 
a notepad and started to write down the date and time,and a 
record of his treatment. She pulled out her IV paraphernalia 
and spiked the bag of normal saline. Pulling the IV pump 
over that still sat beside her father's hospital bed she 
threaded the IV tubing into the machine and primed the 
tubing. The syringes for the blood samples were placed on 
the table; they would need to be refrigerated or placed on 
ice until they reached a medical facility. The blood work 
would be important to have since she would be giving him 
antibiotics that could alter the tests that would be needed 
for an accurate diagnosis. She reached over to get the 
thermometer and regloved. Gently she rolled him over to his 
side; the heat from his skin was worrisome. Inserting the 
thermometer she noted that the head dressing was soaked with 
a yellowish serous drainage and would need to be changed 
again. The thermometer signaled that the temp was done and 
she read the numbers, one hundred five point two. "Your temp 
is way too high for an adult. I need to get your antibiotics 
started." she rolled him back to his back and restacked the 
pillows under his head and shoulders, stood and then hurried 
to the kitchen. His risk for a seizure was very high due to 
the fever and he needed the tepid bath now and he also 
needed an IV to rehydrate. She grabbed a couple of towels 
and proceeded back to her patient. She soaked the towels in 
the warm water and laid them across his chest and lower 
torso.

Pulling the left arm out away from his body she started to 
feel for a vein to stick. He was so dehydrated that a vein 
was difficult to find but after several attempts of placing 
the sharp object under the skin she received a blood return. 
The vials were filled and the IV normal saline was started 
wide open. "Hey, sorry for the pain. I need to do a couple 
more things and then I will let you rest." She pulled back 
the towel and pulled out the foley catheter insertion kit 
and the foley bag. Gently inserting the catheter she noted 
that she did not get any urine return." Okay you need to 
give me some urine but I will give you a little while." She 
then patted her patient's leg. Again she pulled out the 
Tylenol suppositories and rolled the man over and with 
gloved hands she placed it into the man without any response 
from the intrusion. Again she resoaked the towels and placed 
them over the man's body and repositioned his head. Flipping 
the cap off the Rocephin bottle she reconstituted the powder 
with sterile water and drew the solution up into a syringe. 
"Okay another stick and then I will be done, I promise." 
Again she rolled him over and rubbed the hip with an alcohol 
pad and then pushed the needle into his skin. After 
withdrawing the needle she rubbed the area again and placed 
him on his side. She took the pillows and placed them behind 
him and then some underneath his head elevating it to help 
improve his breathing. The chest congestion and wheezing 
were audible even without a stethoscope.

Blue sat in his spot near the fireplace observing and 
wagging his tail. She could tell that he wanted to get close 
to the man and he wanted to badly. "Come on Blue. I know you 
want to be by your new friend." The dog jumped up and walked 
quickly to the man's side lying down beside the struggling 
form. Reaching down she patted the pup on the head," I don't 
know boy. He's pretty bad off but I have seen worse." She 
stood and picked up the discarded syringes and paper and 
tossed them into the trash can. She then picked up the 
syringes with blood and placed the blood into the vials and 
labeled them with times and dates. She took some ice out of 
the refrigerator and placed it in a cup and then placed the 
vials into the cup. She turned to the prostrate form and 
wished that she could lift him into the soft bed. Hopefully 
help would arrive soon. She replaced the almost empty bag of 
IV fluid with another bag of normal saline but the foley 
catheter remained empty. She would wait a little longer 
before she let the thought of acute renal failure be a part 
of her thoughts.

After reassessing his lung sounds she felt that he probably 
needed to get the second antibiotic started. Again she 
placed the sterile water into the Zithromax bottle, 
reconstituting the medicine and drawing it up into a 
syringe. This time she placed the medicine into one of the 
saline bags of fluid to let it run slowly intravenously. She 
spiked the small 100cc bag letting the tube fill with the 
amber fluid. Taking the alcohol swab and cleaning the IV 
port she inserted the needle and turned on the antibiotic. 
"Please Lord, don't let him have any allergic response." she 
prayed out loud. She took the old blood pressure cuff that 
was in the first aide kit and checked his pressure, one 
hundred over fifty, decent but low for a man of his stature. 
His pulse rated was a little rapid at a hundred twenty and 
his respiration rate was thirty-six a minute. The pup 
watched her with an intense gaze as she removed the gauze 
from his head and washed the wound again with soap and 
water. Afterwards she applied the triple antibiotic cream. 
After digging through the first aide kit she found what she 
needed and wrapped the head with gauze and taped it securely 
again. "I need to recheck your fever, sorry." Again she 
rolled the still body over and placed her gloves on her 
hands and reinserted the thermometer. After a few minutes 
she read the temperature and it was slightly down to one 
hundred three point four. She took the remainder of the 
tepid water and bathed him again. She replaced the sheet 
over his now cooler body and went to the kitchen to fix some 
soup, "Where has this day gone to?" she asked herself out 
loud.

She was placing the metal kettle on the stove when she heard 
a groan coming from the other room and when she turned she 
could see movement from the sheet that she had laid on the 
man. She hurried into the living room to see the frightened 
man trying to back away from Blue. He was extremely weak and 
the effort to move had exhausted him and he lay sweaty on 
the rug-covered floor. "Hey it's fine. You're safe." She 
kept her voice low and calm. "Nobody is going to hurt you, I 
promise." She knelt down to check the tubes and IV lines to 
make sure that they have not been disconnected with his 
frantic movements. Blue had backed up but had not abandoned 
his charge. She looked up at the IV and noted that it was 
dripping its last drop. Reaching around she grabbed another 
bag of normal saline and hung it up on the pump. Again she 
glanced down to the foley and started to see a trickle of 
pink urine, 'that's a little better', she thought to 
herself. She then looked at her frightened patient and 
smiled a small grin, "I know this is scary. You are very 
sick and unfortunately because of the weather I can't get 
you to a hospital but I am a nurse. My dog, Blue, found you 
in the woods. Don't be frightened. "Her voice soft and low. 
She knew that he was probably confused due to the illness 
and fever. He looked at her with frightened eyes. She could 
tell that he was not quite sure of her intentions. He had 
the sheet pulled up to his neck and his posture was 
defensive. Blue looked up at his master and moaned and then 
he walked over to the ill man and lay down beside him. The 
man looked at the dog and lay back down on the pillow and 
calmed down, "Dog.", his voice weak and gravelly.

"Yes he is a dog but sometimes I think he is almost human." 
The man nodded and closed his eyes and within minutes he was 
sleeping again. She reached over and pushed away the sweaty 
hair from his forehead. Again she restacked the pillow to 
elevate his head and got him repositioned. "Okay blue let me 
get you something to eat. You have worked hard today." The 
pup did not budge but remained at the man's side. She shook 
her head and smiled, "Okay I'll let you eat in here tonight 
but tomorrow you eat in the kitchen." The pup wagged his 
tail and settled down beside the man.

It had been several hours since the man had awakened and his 
temperature had risen and she had given him another tepid 
bath and Tylenol. The floor was cold despite the rug and the 
fireplace and her desire to get him into the hospital bed 
was getting stronger. As soon as he awakens again maybe we 
can get him into the bed. Together we might be able to 
manage, hopefully. He was so weak and Joe had not shown up 
yet with any kind of help. She glanced out the window and 
saw the snow still coming down heavily. She had tried using 
the portable radio earlier but all she got was static. She 
settled down beside the man and rolled her old sleeping bag 
out. Placing the man on his side she rolled the thick bag 
underneath him and hoped that the extra padding would help 
prevent chills. Blue stood and stretched his legs and walked 
over to the door and stood. " Hey blue, I'll be there in 
second." Knowing that the pup had not went out all day, she 
quickly placed the sheet back over her patient and stood. 
She pulled her coat on and opened the door, walking out with 
the pup. "Hurry Blue, it's freezing out here!" she called to 
the dog who was running off to find a good tree. She pulled 
her hood up around her head tight, the wind blowing hard 
through her coat. "Gee, it must be at least in the teens out 
here." She said out loud for no one to hear but the sound of 
her own voice was comforting. Within a few minutes the dog 
was at her side and eagerly waiting to enter the warm house. 
When she opened the door she noted that the man's eyes were 
open.

"Hey, we didn't leave you." She spoke softly hoping not to 
startle her fevered patient. She grabbed the towel she kept 
beside the door and dried off Blue. She discarded her coat 
and her shoes and approached the quiet man. Blue followed 
her over and watched as she bent down and started to speak 
to the man. The man pulled back frightened of the close 
contact. "Hey, nobody is going to hurt you sir. I am a nurse 
and I promise that no one will hurt you, okay?" For a few 
minutes the man just stared at her and then he nodded, 
turning his stare towards the dog. She noticed that the man 
might be afraid of Blue but then realized that maybe he 
missed the close contact of the animal. "Blue come her boy!" 
she summoned the animal to her. "Blue, I think your friend 
here missed you." The pup came over and lay down beside the 
man giving her plenty of room to work. The man seemed almost 
relieved at the dog's presence.

"Listen, we need to get you off this cold floor. Do you 
think we could manage?" She asked as she was finished taking 
his blood pressure, noting the pressure and heart rate had 
improved some over the last few hours. He shrugged his 
shoulders; the wheezing still very audible and his breaths 
were still labored. "Let's try but I do all the work." She 
instructed as she pulled back the sheet, turned and pulled 
the bed over as close as she could get it to his body. 
Reaching under his arms she helped him struggle to a 
standing position and pivoted him around to a sitting 
position on the bed. He was breathing heavily and she pushed 
him down on the bed with his head elevated. Yanking the 
covers up over his naked form and then pulling the nasal 
cannuli that had slipped off his face back into place. 
Checking the IV's she made sure that she had not pulled 
anything loose. "You did good." She was out of breath 
herself and she sat down on the chair and started pulling 
medicines up into syringes. He watched carefully as she 
prepared the syringes. Looking up she noticed the frightened 
look had returned and she realized the reason was the 
syringes, remembering the multiple needle marks. "These are 
antibiotics and I promise nothing more. One will go in your 
IV and the other needs to go in your hip. You are very sick 
and you definitely need a hospital but I am the closest 
thing you have at the present." He just continued to stare 
at her and watched her every move. She pushed the needle 
into the IV port and adjusted the flow of the liquid into 
her patient.

With some trepidation she pulled the Rocephin up into the 
syringe and reached down to help the man roll over but as 
she approached her hand was caught by his and he spoke in 
almost a whisper, "Please don't hurt me." The statement 
almost brought tears to her eyes, "I will not hurt you but I 
need to give this med to help you get better, please." With 
tears in his eyes he let go of her hand and tried to roll 
over. She assisted him and rubbed the tense hip with an 
alcohol swab and pushed the sharp object into the muscle. 
After she removed the needle and swabbed the area once more 
she helped him turn on his back and raised his head. His 
facial expression almost broke her heart; he was like a 
little boy, so sad and afraid.

"Okay Blue, get up here and keep our guest company." Blue 
walked over and jumped up at the foot of the bed, the same 
position he had taken so many times with her father. 
"Alright you two it is time to rest. Our patient will need 
some more medicine for fever in a couple hours." The words 
had just slipped out of her mouth when she noted that the 
man was sleeping again. Not only the man but Blue was 
sleeping too. She knew the man would have a hard night due 
to his breathing so she picked up the scattered blankets on 
the floor and pulled over a recliner and threw the sleeping 
bag onto the chair. Before she sat down to take a nap 
herself she threw some more logs on the fire. Securing the 
door and turning off the stove she settled down for the 
night.

She could not have been asleep long when a pounding on the 
door startled her awake. She jumped up and reached for her 
father's rifle that still sat in the corner of the room. 
Blue and the man had been undisturbed by the loud knock. She 
walked over to the door and looked out the small hole in the 
door but did not see anything or anyone. She pulled the gun 
up and in a ready position.

-----

Part Four

-----

Morgan County
Flight to West Virginia

They had drawn straws at the airport terminal in Washington 
D.C. and he had lost. Now his long legs were pushed up 
against the seat and his arms were wrapped around him. He 
stared out the small window. His greatest fear was letting 
his arm down on the armrest. Well, actually he was more 
afraid of ticking off the very pregnant FBI agent, who just 
also packed a very big gun. Hormones did strange things to 
FBI agents that missed their partner very much. Even Skinner 
had participated in the drawing of the straws ritual. He did 
find it very strange that he was always the one to draw the 
short straw. It had to be a conspiracy, he thought to 
himself. He glanced over and saw that she was sitting 
quietly in her seat with her eyes closed. He almost felt 
brave enough to readjust the air vents, surely she would not 
mind if he got just a little air. His arm went up to adjust 
the vent and from out of nowhere her arm grabbed him. "What 
are you doing Langley? He stumbled for words for a minute 
then answered, "Just making sure you were comfortable, 
wouldn't want the little tyke to get hot." She let go of his 
arm and nodded.

Frohike turned around and gave Langley a quick glance. His 
friend was definitely uncomfortable but better Langley than 
me, he thought to himself. Beyers was sitting engrossed in 
the papers spread out on the table and on his lap. He turned 
back towards Byers and shook his head, "You know that he 
will get us back." he whispered to where only Byers could 
hear him. Byers looked up and smiled, "You mean that he will 
figure it out that you are cheating?"

Frohike grinned, "Well, it's not exactly cheating when you 
consider the consequences." They both nodded in agreement. 
Byers continued to look at the readings that appeared to be 
similar to the ones they had in Oregon. The shifting in the 
seat behind him startled Frohike and he glanced up in time 
to see Scully stand and waddle down the isle. She turned and 
looked at a very contrite Langley, "Do not touch that air 
vent." she warned and then turned and went on down the isle 
towards the bathroom.

Langley visibly slumped in his seat as if he had been 
holding his breath. He stretched out his arms and turned to 
see Skinner smirking. Skinner was trying to look as if he 
was engrossed in an article. Maybe he would have bought it 
if the magazine wasn't 'Good Housekeeping'. "Okay Walter, 
you can relax now, she's in the toilet. The magazine was 
laid in his lap and he looked up at the three men staring at 
him. " Sorry about the air Langely. "Skinner apologized, 
knowing that it was not easy sitting beside the pregnant 
Dana Scully. 

Langley shrugged," It's not too bad, at least I get her 
snack."

Skinner nodded then looked up at Byers, "Does it look 
promising this time?" Byers pulled out a sheet with a lot of 
lines and dots and then passed it back to Skinner." The 
information looks almost identical to the readings in Oregon 
except they are much weaker. I don't know what that means 
but if I had to make a guess I would say that this is the 
most promising lead we have had in the past five months."

Frohike, who had been quiet, looked across the seat, "You 
know she shouldn't be travelling in her condition. I'm 
worried about her." Skinner nodded in agreement, 
"Unfortunately I have no control over her personal life. But 
I really don't think she would put her baby in any jeopardy, 
she is a medical doctor."

Langley shook his head, "Yeah but when it comes to Mulder 
can she make good judgment?" Skinner nodded in agreement, he 
knew that they   had put their lives on the line many times 
for each other. "That's why we are here boys. "Skinner spoke 
softly and then noticed that she was coming back down the 
isle. The boys quickly turned and faced forward in their 
seats and Langley went back into his tucked in position.

Scully sat down quietly. Her hand automatically reached up 
and touched her pregnant stomach. Langley watched as 
Scully's hand moved, the child within her moving about 
excitedly. Hopefully this was a sign of something good. He 
hesitated for a few minutes and then asked, " Agent Scully, 
you okay? " She turned towards her friend, the evidence of 
tears still on her face, then nodded, "Yes, we're both 
fine," her voice low and raspy. She then closed her eyes and 
laid her head against the headrest.

  Morgan County
  Airport Terminal

The boys had stashed their luggage in the overhead; they did 
not trust the airlines. Byers had stated something about a 
federal conspiracy and Langley had mentioned something about 
the government placing monitoring devices in the luggage. 
Skinner just shook his head and retrieved his and Scully's 
luggage. She had also packed an extra suitcase for Mulder. 
The last time they had seen the alien bounty hunter he had 
shot several holes into Mulder's clothing, right before he 
was exposed to the retrovirus. If it hadn't been for Scully 
he would have died, he owed her his life. He turned to walk 
back where he had left her, the newspaper shop when he saw 
her standing reading an article outside of the store. He 
approached her with both arms and hands full. She glanced up 
to see him standing next to her." Anything interesting?" he 
asked as he sat the heavy luggage down. Scully shook her 
head and continued to look at the paper. "Where are the 
boys?"  She asked as she flipped the newspaper over. Skinner 
looked towards the rental area and pointed, "I put them in 
charge of renting a van and a car. I figured that we could 
split up and check out the hospital and if possible go to 
the downed aircraft sight." Scully nodded, "Have you 
contacted any of the local offices yet?" He shook his head," 
Not yet but I will as soon as we get a motel room and some 
sleep. It's two o'clock in the morning and you need to 
sleep. The boys and I can get some things started tonight." 
She looked up at him ready to disagree but then decided that 
she was really tired and that she would need all the 
strength she could get for tomorrow. She could not explain 
it but the closeness she had felt in the desert was there 
again and she would not lose him this time.  The boys 
returned with the keys and gave the car keys to Skinner and 
they took the van. The airport clerk pointed out that the 
bad weather was making travel difficult and that a close 
motel would be wise. They decided on the hotel across from 
the airport due to the bad roads and icy weather. They 
checked into their rooms and unpacked, they could be here a 
day or a week.

Agent Doggett stood in the airport terminal. He had sat in 
the back of the plane and watched the interaction of his 
partner and her three friends and A. D. Skinner. They had 
not seen him and he had not approached them but instead he 
opted to wait until the morning. He wanted to help with the 
search for her partner. He didn't believe in little green 
aliens but he felt that Agent Mulder had been taken against 
his will. Possibly the disappearance of Agent Scully and the 
disappearance of Agent Mulder were somehow connected. He 
picked up his luggage and started towards the car rental 
area. He had already called a friend that had given him some 
inside information on the downed military craft. The craft 
was a mig jet fighter that had not reported any 
difficulties. The last communication that was made with the 
fighter craft was a request for help. The craft had been hit 
by an unidentified aircraft and had gone down in a 
mountainous area approximately fifty miles from the airport. 
Unfortunately the weather was creating problems with search 
and rescue efforts. Though after four days they had given up 
on finding anyone alive. He signed the rental agreement and 
proceeded out into the snowy, icy weather. He decided that 
he would stay at a nearby hotel and start again fresh in the 
morning. He found the rental car and left for the hotel 
across the street.

-----

Part Five

-----

MORGAN COUNTY
APPALACHIAN Mountains

She was poised by the door with the rifle but now there was 
only silence. Maybe she had dreamed the noise or even 
imagined the noise. She was tired. Caring for the man was 
not only making her tired but also edgy. She feared that the 
man's captors would come back looking for him, especially if 
he had escaped from them.

She glanced over to her patient and saw that he was now 
conscious and staring at her and the gun. "Hey, thought I 
heard something. It was probably just a wild animal, nothing 
new around here to see a bobcat or wild boar looking for 
food. They are notorious for rummaging around at night." She 
laid the rifle down on the table and walked over to her very 
scared patient. He stared up at her with glassy, fevered 
eyes. His breathing was labored and he seemed to almost be 
hyperventilating. "Don't ..let ..them take..me back." His 
voice was weak and raspy.

She sat down beside her distraught patient and stroked his 
arm." You are safe. I promise." Her voice was low and calm. 
 She knew that she had to calm him down or he would start 
having bronchospasms. She placed her hand on his forehead 
and felt the heat radiating off his skin." I need to take 
your temp, unfortunately I need to take it rectally." The 
man looked up at the woman with a surprised look on his 
face. She stood and walked around the bed and started to 
gather her supplies. Blue took that moment to awaken and 
jump down off the bed. He stretched and yawned letting out a 
small noise. He slowly left the man's side and walked over 
to the fireplace and lay down. He placed his head down on 
his front paws and stared at the man in the bed.

He watched her with his eyes at half-mast. He felt the woman 
was sincere and he felt that he needed to warn her of the 
possibility of danger. "They're here. They're looking for 
me. He wheezed. He tried to push up on the bed but was met 
with a hand on his chest, "Lie down. You are too weak to go 
anywhere. You are very sick."

Her voice was low and gentle. He was too weak to fight and 
her hand gently pushed him back down on the bed. He took a 
deep breath and stared at his caretaker. She smiled at him 
and started preparing the IV antibiotic. He continued to 
watch and concentrate on just getting air into his lungs, 
they felt full and heavy. She hung the antibiotic and 
adjusted the drip. After donning gloves she picked up a 
thermometer and placed some gel on the end. "Okay I need to 
roll you over and take your temp. "She gently rolled him 
over and placed the thermometer into the man.

"I could hold  it in my mouth." He let out a series of 
coughs. He felt much more short of breath on his side and he 
had to try to concentrate more on breathing. "No sir. You 
are too short of breath and besides I don't think you would 
want this thermometer in your mouth considering where it has 
been." He nodded, too short of breath to talk in his 
position. The beeper sounded and startled the man. "Hey it's 
fine, your temperature is back up to one hundred and four. 
I'm going to give you a Tylenol suppository and then give 
you a tepid bath." She noticed his quiet demeanor, "Are you 
okay?" she asked as she inserted the medicine into the man. 
He nodded but did not speak. She helped him reposition 
himself on his back noting that his labored breathing 
improved somewhat when lying down with his head elevated. 
She went to put water on the stove and then returned noting 
that he was resting quietly and his breathing was less 
labored. Quietly she moved around taking extra care not to 
make any noise. She went through her father's medicines and 
found a vial of Ativan and a vial of Valium, she had used 
both when he had had seizures due to metastasis of his 
cancer. She drew up five milligrams of the Valium and laid 
it on the table, she would give it to him so that he could 
rest better. She was use to giving her patients medicine to 
calm them when they struggled with their breathing. Always 
careful not to give them too much to suppress their 
respirations.

She went back to the kitchen and fixed the bath water and 
returned to her patient. His eyes were still closed and his 
breathing was labored but not as much as it was a few 
minutes before. She started with gentle strokes of the 
washcloth against his fevered body. She was reminded of her 
clinical experience in nursing school. She missed the one to 
one patient care that she could give on the floors, getting 
to know the patient had been very rewarding. The emergency 
room was more treat and street. His eyes fluttered open and 
she smiled down at him. He returned the smile and watched 
her as she helped take the fever away. "Hey, you doing okay? 
she asked the quiet form. Again he nodded and looked over to 
see if Blue was still in his place at the hearth. She 
reached up and touched his bearded face and asked quietly," 
You want to loose the facial hair?" his hand reached up to 
feel the thick stubble, "Yeah.Please." he wheezed out. After 
she finished the tepid bath she warmed up a washcloth and 
placed it over the beard. She went to the bathroom and 
retrieved her father's razor and shaving cup. After emptying 
the now cool water she placed some warm water into the basin 
and walked over to his bed. She removed the washcloth and 
placed the razor on his cheek and pulled downward with the 
grain of the beard. He closed his eyes and allowed the 
contact, almost enjoying the feeling of human touch. "Are 
you doing okay?" she asked as she turned and rinsed the 
razor out. His only response was,"hmmm."

Her gentle touches felt so familiar but yet he could not put 
a name to the thought. He could see some images but there 
were no names to connect with the faces. They had taken his 
memories or maybe he was suffering from traumatic shock. He 
had vivid images of the tests. They had invaded every 
orifice of his body. They had taken blood, urine and 
whatever they wanted, which was everything, including his 
human dignity. They had made him stay awake as they probed 
into his brain. They had not let him eat but instead had ran 
tubes into his stomach and fed him through the tubes. The 
clinicians would come in everyday and bathe him then play 
mind games afterwards. He could hear them but they never 
moved their mouths. He was their toy, their play thing. His 
captors were close, he could hear them, 'Maybe I am going 
crazy.' He thought to himself. Insanity would be a vacation 
from where he had been. How long had he been with his 
captors, days, weeks or months, maybe even years? He would 
not let them take him back, he would die first. He had 
escaped before they set up their cloaking device and had 
crawled through the woods, too weak to walk. When he had 
become too weak to crawl he had hid into the bushes. He had 
heard a dog bark it had been Blue. Blue had found him and 
probably saved his life. They were coming to get him and 
this time nothing or no one could save him. His body began 
to shake and his breathing worsened.

She looked down and saw that he was hyperventilating. His 
color was going cyanotic. "Hey, calm down." Her voice was 
soft and her hands were trying to soothe her now distraught 
patient. She toweled off his face and reached for the 
Valium. Placing the needle into the lower port she slowly 
pushed in the medicine. "Calm down. You will be fine, I 
promise. shhh." She finished pushing in the medicine and 
when she had finished she disposed of the needle. She 
reached down and took his face into her hands and spoke 
gently but firmly," Stop it. You are making your breathing 
worse. Calm down. You are fine. "His eyes opened and he 
looked at his caregiver with tear filled eyes. His face was 
sweaty and his respirations were rapid and labored. She 
continued to stroke his face and whisper calming words and 
when the medicine hit he became sleepy. His breathing became 
less labored. Taking the washcloth she cleaned his face and 
wiped the sweat from his body. "Feeling better?" She asked 
as she pulled the sheet around his naked form. "You're safe, 
I promise." She whispered close to his ear. He yawned 
sleepily and snuggled down into his pillow. He opened his 
eyes and looked into a set of pale blue eyes, "Never safe." 
His voice was now raspy from the medication. She shook her 
head; "Listen, Blue and I are a tough pair. We may not look 
like much but we are a good team. Don't worry I carry a big 
gun." He smiled and closed his eyes but now that his 
breathing didn't feel as labored he wanted to talk for a few 
minutes. " Name. Do you have a name?" he opened his eyes to 
half-mast, looking up at his caregiver. She smiled and stood 
and walked over to her chair and retrieved her blanket, 
"Yeah I do. IT'S Abbey, short for Abigail.", She settled 
down in the chair beside his bed and held his hand." How 
about you? Do you have a name?", he squeezed his eyes tight 
and then let out a puff of air, "Can't remember." He was 
quiet for a few seconds and added, "They took it away from 
me. I don't remember." She patted his hand, "It's okay, it's 
normal to experience memory loss after a traumatic event. 
I'm assuming what happened to you was very traumatic. 
Usually it comes back, sometimes slowly and sometimes all at 
once." He let out a big yawn and looked up at her, " What if 
it don't come back?" his face child like and begging for 
some kind of hope. She smiled down at him as she pulled up 
her own blanket, "Don't worry it will, it will just take 
time. Now let that medicine work for you and sleep." He 
nodded and then he turned his head to look for Blue, "What 
are you waiting for an invitation?" the dog stood and walked 
over and jumped up on the bed and lay down at the man's 
feet. Abbey reached down and ran her hand through the pup's 
hair. The pup closed his eyes as did the man and they fell 
back to sleep. She pulled the gun closer to her and laid her 
head on his bed. She glanced once more at his IV's and then 
closed her eyes. The sounds of the man's breathing and the 
popping of the wood in the fireplace filled the cabin.

-----

Part Six

-----

MORGAN COUNTY

HORTON HOTEL

The frantic beating on her door awakened her from her deep
sleep. It had been late in the morning before she could go
to sleep. She had been too nervous about Mulder to be able
to fall asleep. She rolled out of bed and walked over to the
door. She stood up on tiptoes and looked out the peep hole
and then opened the door. "Good morning boys. What time is
it?"

Langley took a step back as he was met with the image of a
very pregnant Agent Scully with bed head. Her gown was like
a flannel tent and no make covered her deep circles under
her eyes. "It's time to get moving." He replied as he
followed the others into her room without an invitation.

"This had better be good." Her voice was flat and
unemotional. She padded back over to her bed and slipped on
a pair of shoes. Byers looked at Langley, Frohike
and Skinner and then spoke up," The readings have increased.
Twenty four hours ago they were very weak but now they are
off the charts, similar to the ones in Oregon. If my
calculations are correct then the ship is rebuilding itself.
If this anything similar to the ship in Oregon it will soon
be able to leave." He looked up from his papers to see a
very fragile Agent Scully. Her face was one of complete
pain.

" Then we had better start looking for him. We don't have
much time left." She picked up the readings from the table
where Byers had left them and glanced at them and then
quietly asked, "Do we have anything
else?"

"Actually that is not all." Frohike interjected. "I checked
the hospital for John Does but came up empty but a call for
assist came in an hour ago from a ranger-paramedic." He
fumbled with some papers then continued." His name is Joe
Lambert, he reported that a local by the name of Abigail
Owens had found an injured man. According to Mr. Lambert she
is a nurse and she is treating the victim at her home. No
mention of injuries but the guy was
asking for a med flight evac."

Her face lit up and she moved quickly across the room to get
the papers out of his hand. "So what is the hold up? Why
haven't they sent someone up yet?" her hands were shaking as
she held the report in her hands and her voice raspy and
full of emotion.

"Hold on Agent Scully. "Skinner's voice being the one of
definite authority." The weather is treacherous and the
roads are impassable. The weather report shows that the
snows should stop around noon. They are already trying to
scrape the snow and ice off the roads but it will take time.
They will be sending a med flight up to the station as soon
as the weather clears but the woman lives another four miles
up the icy mountain." He paused for a moment; "It will take
time to safely get the injured man out and to the hospital.
And let me remind you Agent Scully there is no guarantee
that this is Agent Mulder."

She stood with the report in her hand and then looked up
with a smile, "Sir I am as for certain that this is Mulder
as I am of anything." She spoke the words softly,the tears
welling up in her eyes.

Langley knew that his news would cause her the most worry
but he knew better than try to hide anything from this
woman." There is one other issue that we need to discuss
Agent Scully. We have military involvement due to the
aircraft downing. They are relaying to the hospital that
they feel it is one of their pilots and that they will
airlift him out to their own facility."

"No!" her voice loud and full of raw emotion. "They are not
to touch him. For all we know they had something to do with
his disappearance and we can not allow them to attempt a
rescue. He is evidently very ill and he will not be able to
fight them. Skinner do something, please." Her hand was
brushing away tears. "Please sir, we can't let them near
Mulder."

He had a large lump in his throat and he was on the verge of
tears himself. He had felt guilt over the occurrence in
Oregon and on many occasions he wanted to help in the search
but was afraid for his job. Kersh had made it quiet clear
that anyone attempting to even mention in general the very
notion of alien abduction would be dismissed from the
bureau. "We will find a way to get to him first Dana. If it
is really Mulder then we better be prepared for the alien
bounty hunter to get involved in the search. I can not
imagine that they would let Mulder just up and leave. If he
is ill then it may be because of the collision or the
general health that he was in when he made his escape. This
is all conjecture but it makes sense in a Mulder kind of
way." Frohike jumped up from his chair and headed for the
door," I'll work on transportation. Let's go Langley."
Langley followed him out the door.

Morgan County Airfield

Mansfield Airforce Base

Doggett had met up with his friend Lt. Colonel Anthony Mason 
and had been promised a ride up the mountain where they had 
gotten a report of a man found. He was now waiting for 
official orders for take off in the military aircraft. The 
weather had improved but still the weather on the mountain 
was hazardous. He didn't really have any hopes of finding 
the Agent Mulder but for his partner he would take the trip 
and see what he could find out for her and for his assistant 
director. He pulled his coat around him as he sat in the 
rescue helicopter that was loaded with medical equipment and 
military paraphenalia. He still did not for the life of him 
why so many people were looking for the agent. He had been 
surprised on the initial investigation that so many people 
wanted to know the whereabouts of Scully's partner and the 
continued high interest five months later. Yeah he was a 
federal agent but that usually did not involve military 
forces. His thoughts were interrupted by a call that they 
were clear to take off. He leaned back and buckled himself 
into his small seat.

HORTON HOTEL

Scully had dressed and was standing outside of the hotel
awaiting the gunmen and Skinner. They had used their federal
pull and were given permission to ride up in the evac; well
Skinner and Byers had been given permission. Scully, due to
her condition, was to wait at the hospital and help direct
his care. She felt that Skinner would not let her down and
that he would bring Mulder back or die trying. It would be
what Mulder would do for them; they both knew his passion
and his loyalty to them both. The van pulled up with Frohike
and Langley. Langely got out and helped Scully up into the
passenger seat. "Have they taken off yet?" she asked,
referring to Byers and Skinner. Frohike turned and spoke up
quickly," They were awaiting a clearance due to weather but
they should be airborne by now." Langley shut the side door
to the van and the vehicle pressed forward in his seat " The
local weather reports that the storm is clearing and that
should be there okay to fly." He reported as he pulled out
his computer. She nodded and kept her eyes glued to the icy
road. The baby moved within her and she placed her hand over
the moving form to help calm the baby's and her excitement.

-----

Part Seven

-----

MORGAN COUNTY
APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS

She had been awakened by his coughs that were bringing up
copious amounts of green thick sputum. She was afraid that
he would loose his airway. He had been coughing for the past
few hours with naps in between. This time was the worse and
she had to crawl into the bed with one arm wrapped around
his chest and the other holding his forehead as he brought
up the thick mucus." Hey, will you be alright if I go and
get your medicine?" he nodded and laid his head on the
pillow as she crawled down off the bed. She went to the
bathroom and washed her hands then returned to his bed. She
drew up the Rocephin in the syringe and then she drew up two
milligrams of Ativan. She gloved and pulled out the
thermometer and pushed back the sheet and helped him roll
over." I'm going to take your temperature, okay?" again he
nodded and she proceeded. It beeped a few minutes later with
a reading of one hundred four point eight. " You're climbing
again." She picked up the suppository pack and inserted one
and a half into the man. She then rubbed his hip with the
alcohol pad; "You're going to feel a little stick." He again
just nodded and she proceeded with the injection noting that
he jerked with the insertion of the needle into the muscle.
She knew that he must have been getting tired of being
stuck. She inserted the Ativan into the IV port and injected
the med, hoping that he would relax enough to get some rest.

"Tepid bath time again?" He asked as he rolled back onto his
back. His face was flushed with the fever and he was still
shivering. She shook her head," I need to wait for the
shivers to stop. When the body is shivering then the fever
is still rising and that can be made worse with the bath."
He looked around for Blue, who had vacated his post on the
last round of retching coughs. " Where is Blue?" he wheezed
out. She pointed towards the kitchen, "He is eating right
now but I bet you anything that he will be back as soon as
he is finished." The words had not left her mouth when Blue
walked into the room. He walked over to the man's bed and
jumped up at the foot and lay his head on the man's leg.
"How do you feel?" she asked as she prepared the IV
antibiotic. When no answer came she glanced over and saw
that he was asleep. She finished her task and hung the
antibiotic. The Ativan had kicked in quickly, probably
because he was exhausted from the coughing episodes.

He had slept through the tepid bath and through another
round of antibiotics. When he awakened it was with another
bout of coughing and again she crawled up into the bed and
held him. She held the pan underneath his mouth until his
body went motionless. "It hurts." He moaned. His body was
sweaty and his voice was raspy from the torture that had
been inflicted upon it from the coughing episode. She gently
lay his head down on the pillow and crawled again off the
bed. "Where does it hurt?" she asked as she picked up the
stethoscope and started to listen to his chest. "My chest
really is hurting." He wheezed. She continued to listen to
his chest and when she had finished she looked at him with
sad eyes." I believe you have developed pleurisy, an
inflammation of the lining of the lungs. It can occur when
you have a severe respiratory infection or a lot of
coughing. I'm going to give you a shot of Toradol, an anti-
inflammatory. It should help." She laid down her stethoscope
and pulled up the pain med and brought to the other side of
the bed. She helped him roll over again and rubbed the boney
hip with the alcohol pad. When the needle hit the muscle he
let out a cry. "Hey sorry." He shrugged and rolled back over
when she had finished. "Don't let them take me. I will not
go back again." He wheezed out and then started coughing
again pulling up more thick green mucus. "Shhh. Nobody is
taking you anywhere but a hospital. Help should be here
soon. The storm has let up and if Joe saw my message they
should get a med flight in here soon." She pushed away the
sweaty hair from his face and picked up the washcloth and
washed his face gently, the stubble had grown back since she
shaved him the night before. He looked up at his caretaker
and shook his head; " I hear them. They are close." He
rasped, his voice now no more than a whisper. She shook her
head and spoke softly, "Your fever is making you have some
auditory hallucinations. You are fine. Just try to sleep."
He shook his head; "I hear them. They are coming
back,please." He pushed up off the bed and sat there with
eyes closed, his body visibly shaking from his efforts. She
shook her head and reached over and pushed him back down and
pulled the sheet over his exhausted body. "Listen, the
weather is too bad even for the worst of people to get out.
Just lie still and take it easy." His agitation was
beginning to worry her. His fever was still elevated and she
was beginning to worry that he might start to convulse due
to his increased fevers.
Her nerves were frayed from the constant crying out of the
man. He had begun to cry out for someone to help him and
that someone was hurting him and he could not get away. She
pulled up another dose of the Valium and pushed it into the
IV port and watched as his body relaxed. Again she checked
his fever and it was still elevated at one hundred point
eight. " Blue, what am I going to do, he is getting worse
and I have done all that I possibly can do for him. I don't
want to overdose him on Tylenol but I haven't got any more
ideas at this point." She pulled out the suppositories and
placed another one inside of the man. "Okay fellow it is
time for the big guns." She put on her coat and picked up
the wash basin and went outside. She gathered ice and snow
into the basin as she steadied herself on the frozen wooden
porch. She would need to eat something soon, she thought to
herself. As she stood to go back into the cabin she thought
she saw a figure in the woods, along the same path that she
had found the man. She shook the thought and went back into
the cabin. "Blue, how is he doing?" she asked as she took
off her coat and moved across the room. The pup turned and
looked at Abbey then turned back and looked at the man. "
Evidently not very good." She took the basin and added some
water and started placing the cool cloths under the man's
arms and on the groin area. She then started bathing the man
in the cold water in hopes that she could get his fever
down. It was an extreme measure but it had to be done. She
then placed some of the ice into baggies and laid them on
his groin bilaterally and underneath his armpits. She then
placed one at his sacral area. The catheter was still
showing low amounts of urine output, probably due to the
high fevers. She glanced down at her watch and sighed," Blue
we need help. Where is Joe?"

"Cold. Please, Abbey help me!" he cried out. They're here.
Abbey, please help me, please. "He cried out with his raspy
voice. He was delirious from the fevers. Blue sat up and
stared out the window as if he knew the man was telling the
truth. Abbey took a moment to take a look out the window.
The storm had stopped and the sun had started to peak
through the clouds. She walked over the bed just as the man
started coughing again and this time what he was bringing up
was tinged with blood. She climbed back up on the bed and
helped him through the worse of the coughing spell. Blue
took that moment to vacate his spot on the bed and go to his
place by the hearth but this time he did not stare at the
man but watched the door instead. After a while he quieted
in her arms and lay there with his eyes staring up at her. "
Abbey you must leave and take Blue with you. They are close
and they will come for me. I am their pet project." His
voice low and hoarse from the coughing spells. She shook her
head and rocked him gently." Listen, I will stay with you
until help gets here. You are too sick to understand that
you are safe right now. The fevers are giving you auditory
and visual hallucinations, and that is all. You need to
sleep. I will watch over you and so will Blue. Rest, just
try to sleep." He shook his head and closed his eyes in
frustration. "You don't understand Abbey, they will not let
you or Blue get in their way even if it means killing you
both. Please listen." His body growing tired from the
argument and the coughing spells, "Please run and hide." A
few seconds later she felt his body go limp and his labored
breathing steadied, exhaustion had taken over.

She climbed back down off the bed and motioned the pup over
to the bed. "Listen, he has me pretty spooked now maybe he
knows something we don't know." She picked up the rifle and
checked the bullets and then she pulled the small handgun
out of the coat pocket and checked the bullets and then
replaced it into the pocket of her coat with a box of extra
rounds. "Just in case." She spoke out loud to the pup. Blue
walked over to the door and sat down as if to guard them
from whatever might lurk on the other side. Where is help,
where is Joe? She thought to herself as she readied another
round of IV antibiotics. The man's paranoia was rubbing off
onto her and she was becoming insecure in the thought that
they were all alone. Had she actually seen someone earlier
in the morning when she was gathering ice? She knew that she
had to fill the generator soon or they would be without
light so she pulled on her coat and walked to the front door
of the cabin and secured it with the dead bolt.' Blue get up
on the bed and stay till I get back." The pup obeyed but did
not take his eyes off he door. She placed her hand down into
her pocket and felt for the gun and then proceeded out the
back door. The noon sky was still very cloudy and the air
was biting at her nose and ears as she walked out onto the
back porch. She quickly picked up the gas can and started to
fill the generator, she was almost finished when she heard
the frantic barking of the pup. She placed the can down and
pulled out the gun. She cautiously entered the kitchen area
with the gun extended in front of her and her finger on the
trigger. She had never officially used a gun and she knew
that her aim would be precarious at best but maybe she could
intimidate them, maybe. She entered the living room area but
all that she saw was the empty bed and the door standing
open. Blue and the man were nowhere to be seen.

-----

Part Eight

-----
MORGAN COUNTY

Dammit! She screamed to the empty room. She rushed across
the room and saw the IV was dripping on the floor and that
the foley catheter was lying on the bed. Whoever had removed
the man was definitely not thinking of the man's well being.
She then moved over to the door that she had bolted just
minutes before and there was not sign of damage to either
the lock or the door. She shook her head in frustration and
walked out the door still being cautious due to not knowing
the whereabouts of the intruder. There was no sign of the
man or Blue except for the footprints in the snow leading
towards the path. She knew what she had to do and she went
back inside and pulled on her snow boots and grabbed the
rifle and filled her pockets with ammo. Quickly she ran out
of the house not bothering to shut the door and decided she
would try the tractor. It was still where she had parked it
the day she had found the man. She mounted the tractor and
placed the rifle on the side bar. She then pushed the heavy
snow off the seat with her gloved hands and reached into her
pocket and pulled out the keys. She placed the keys into the
ignition and the engine would not make a sound, she turned
it again and still no response." Okay you have a half a tank
of fuel. You really don't have a good reason not to start."
She yelled at the tractor. "Start dang it!" She screamed at
the old piece of farm machinery. She turned the key again
and the engine turned. She put the tractor in gear and it
slowly moved forward the ice and snow crunching as the tires
broke free of there frozen prison. She eased the tractor
towards the path and followed the footprints in the snow.

"Okay Blue give me something to go on, just bark or
something. "She spoke out loud. The only sounds that she
heard were the sounds of the forest, the ice breaking the
limbs of the trees and the sound of birds chirping in the
trees. "Come on Blue, you love to bark, give me a clue." She
begged nervously, reaching over and touching the rifle. Her
concentration on the footprints was broken by the sound of a
copter passing by overhead. " THANK GOD Joe, finally! She
glanced up through the trees and saw the medflight emblem on
the side of the circling copter. She knew that she had to
get Joe's attention, surely the unit had picked him up to
get directions to the cabin. It was against policy to land
anywhere but the ranger station. She raised the rifle and
fired off a shot. Surely that would get their attention, she
thought to herself.

MORGAN COUNTY MEDFLIGHT UNIT

They were looking for a clear area to land. Yes it was
against procedure and yes it would probably not go with his
administrator but he had orders and now he was following the
assistant director's to land the bird as soon as possible as
close as possible without endangering lives. The silence was
broken by the sound of a gun shooting off. He probably would
have thought it was hunters but for some reason he did not
remember anyone applying for a hunting license in this area
of the woods. Nobody would be out in this type of bad
weather. Mike, the pilot of the bird turned and looked at
his passengers, "Looks like we might have a problem."
Skinner pulled his weapon and Byers pulled out his
binoculars and started searching the ground. "I see a
tractor moving down below. It appears to be a woman but I
can't be for sure. He placed the binoculars down on the seat
and looked towards Joe, who was placing a call in for
backup. He was waiting for a response when a voice came over
the intercom. " This is Lt. Colonel Mason. We are within
three minutes of your location. Please abort medical call
and clear the area. We will follow up." Skinner shook his
head, "Tell Mason you have federal agents on board and we
will proceed with caution and that we will appreciate back
up." Joe nodded and proceeded to tell the Lt. Colonel
Skinner's message. The response was a full-fledged' get the
hell out of our way and let us proceed with our plan.'
Skinner clicked off the radio. "Let's land this bird." Mike
nodded and started looking for a nearby clearing. Joe
started putting the medical equipment together for a fast
response.

Abbey took the rifle and placed it back down by her side and
continued on down the path. Finally she heard the sound of
continuous barking coming form the clearing ahead. She hit
the pedal and the tractor kicked in to it's fastest pace.
She finally saw the intruder and Blue had a hold of his pant
leg. The man's body was lying on the ground with the sheet
wrapped around him, the only barrier to the cold frozen
ground. She got as close as she dared on the tractor. She
placed it in gear and dismounted, leaving its engine
running. She proceeded to grab the rifle and replace the
cartridges and was set to fire the weapon. She pushed
through the frozen, snow covered ground towards the
clearing. She could see the church and the cemetery. She
should wait for backup but she did not the condition of the
man so she slipped down along the tree line watching the pup
get the best of the tall muscular man. When she had reached
the other side of the church she brought the gun up to bare
on the man," Blue come!" She yelled to the tiring pup. The
pup hesitated but obeyed the command and ran to Abbey. When
the pup reached her safely she screamed to the man who had
fallen to the ground within feet of the ill man," Get away
from him or I will shoot. I will shoot to kill." That had
sounded convincing but if had seen her shaking hands then he
would fear nothing. The man stood and looked as the woman
carrying the rifle." I do not come here to harm you. The man
needs to come with me and I will not allow your
interference." He started walking over to the man when he
heard the sound of the gun firing. He fell to the ground and
turned around to face the woman again. "Do you want to die?"
He asked casually, like this was a common place occurrence.
"No but evidently you do and I will oblige." She held up the
rifle again and aimed it towards the man's head. " I will
blow your head off if you move again." She shouted to the
strange man who did not even have a coat on but instead had
a suit on in the dead of winter. I'm not only dealing with a
killer but an idiot too, she thought to herself. She pulled
the gun up and aligned his head in the site and yelled,
"Move it now or loose it!" Abbey stared at the noncompliant
man. The man stood and started towards her but she took that
moment to fire and his head was hit but instead of blood she
saw green oozing from his skull and he continued walking
towards her with a look of disdain for interfering. u

He was getting close when she let out another shot and this
time the man dropped to the ground. His body was still and
she proceeded towards the ill man lying still in the snow.
Blue followed her over and watched as she checked for a
pulse. His skin tone was blue and so were his lips. He must
have gone into respiratory arrest due to the trauma of the
cold air to his lungs. She reached down and checked, no
pulse. Then she pressed her head down to his chest and saw
that he was not breathing. "Help!" she yelled into the cold
air. She bent down over the man and pinched his nose and
blew twice into his mouth and then she moved over to his
unmoving chest and located the sternal notch. She measured
two finger widths and started CPR, as she pushed down on his
chest with arms straight, one hand over the other and elbows
not bending she counted, one and two and three and four and
five and six and seven and eight and nine and ten and eleven
and twelve and thirteen and fourteen and fifteen she stopped
and bent down again and pinched his nose closed and gave the
man two breaths. Again she repeated the compressions, one
and two and three and four and five and six and seven and
eight and nine and ten and eleven and twelve and thirteen
and fourteen and fifteen and again she reached down and
pinched his nose and placed her mouth over his and gave two
quick breaths. She checked for a pulse and felt none. His
body remained still and seemed to be getting colder as the
CPR continued. She knew help was on the way and she would
continue to try to help the man. She glanced quickly behind
her and noted the huge man was still on the ground and Blue
was watching him for her as she worked on his friend. And
seven and eight and nine and ten and eleven and twelve and
thirteen and fourteen and fifteen and again she pinched his
nose and gave the man tow quick breaths. Blue started
barking again but this time in the direction of the path.
She glanced up to see two unfamiliar men running towards her
but she was too busy to get her gun. The tall balding guy
pulled out a badge and was yelling something but her full
concentration was on the man she was trying to bring back to
life. He had his gun pulled and aimed at the intruder but
she was concentrating too fully on bringing the man back to
life. She then started counting the compressions again and
when she had reached fifteen she reached down and gave
another breath. A hand was pulling her away and she glanced
up to see Joe. The two men were yelling at them to get the
ill man out of here and they seemed overjoyed to see the
man.  We can't move him until we get him intubated, Joe give
me a number eight ET tube and a laryngoscope, he turned and
opened the medic box and pulled out the desired items and
handed them to his partner. Abbey went knelt down beside his
head and tilted his head back on the snow covered ground and
inserted the scope and when she had visual of the vocal
cords she slipped the tube down and pulled out the inner
cannula. She taped down the tube and attached the ambu bag
that Joe handed her she began to squeeze the bag and Joe
started two man CPR. Skinner kept his eyes on the alien
bounty hunter and saw that the man was far enough away to
not cause any problems with the green stuff that oozed from
his head. He still had a feeling of panic as he yelled,"
Let's get him loaded, now!" Joe and Byers lifted the man
onto the basket gurney as Abbey continued to give him
breaths. " Blue come here boy, come on now." The pup seemed
very involved in watching the intruders body, which had
started to twitch or spasm. Joe, Abbey, and Byers lifted the
man towards the helicopter with Skinner following behind
them but Blue stood watch over them. It was if he wanted to
make sure the man was safely away from the intruder. They
loaded Mulder's body onto the copter. Joe and Abbey started
to
place cardiac leads on the man's chest and Mike started two
IV lines and started warm fluids wide open. Abbey noted a
bradycardic, irregular rhythm in the monitor but the man
still had not started to take any breaths on his own. Mike
took his seat and placed a radio call to the hospital that
their ETA was twenty minutes and that they were bringing in
a code blue. He then prepared for take off.

Skinner, who had been watching the alien bounty hunter while
they boarded Mulder was almost to the copter when he felt a
hand on his shoulder and turned around to see the
shapeshifter. He was pushed down by the force of the man and
was stunned by a blow to the face. Blue ran towards the
confrontation and was picked up by the muscular man and
thrown. Abbey witnessed the attack on Blue as the copter
started its engine. She could not leave the man but she knew
that they would both be dead if it weren't for the pup. She
handed the ambu bag to Joe and jumped off the copter. How
had this man sustained a blow to the head with a rifle shot
and still be able to function in such a capacity she thought
to herself. She pulled the handgun out of her pocket, her
rifle still lying on the ground where she had found the man.
Skinner got up quickly and moved again towards Abbey. "
Blue, you okay boy?" she called to the pup as she neared his
still body.  She fell down to her knees to check for a pulse
and found none. She stood and turned and pointed the handgun
towards the large man," You killed him you sorry piece of
crap. You killed him." Her full attention focused on the
towering figure. She was so focused that she did not hear
the second copter land behind her and an army of men,
including Agent Doggett jumped out and surrounded the man.
Skinner looked at Doggett with a surprised expression.
Skinner knew that they all were in danger, having
experienced the retrovirus just months before when he was
exposed to the green blood of the shapeshifter. " Doggett
get away. He is very dangerous, we have Mulder." Skinner
yelled from his position a few feet away. Abbey still stood
with her gun pointed at the man and as he moved towards her
she pulled the trigger and the green ooze again flowed from
the man's shoulder. Skinner grabbed Abbey and pushed her
down to the ground covering her eyes but Doggett was not so
lucky and he was down on his knees rubbing at his eyes. The
shapeshifter was heading towards the medflight helicopter
when a barrage of fire started around them but the man was
too far away for the green ooze to effect them. Skinner
moved over to Doggett and pushed the snow around him,
knowing that he needed to lower the man's body temperature
quickly. Abbey did not question the man but instead helped
the agent with the ice and snow. He waved the medflight
copter to take off without them. Instead they would use the
military aircraft to transport Agent Doggett to the
hospital.

Blue lay on the ground, his body motionless. Doggett was
boarded and ready for transport. Abbey knelt down beside her
pup and spoke softly as she stroked his soft fur, " You know
that the man will miss you don't you? You weren't suppose to
die too pup." Her eyes were filled with tears and she found
herself being lifted up with a strong pair of hands. They
will take care of him miss, let's go." His voice was kind
and gentle. She turned to the agent and spoke with a raspy
voice," Tell them to bury him beside my father, Daniel
Owens, his grave is under the big oak tree." Skinner nodded
and helped her aboard the copter and walked over to the Lt.
Colonel Mason and gave him the instructions. Quickly he
boarded to take the agent to Morgan COUNTY Hospital. Abbey
glanced out of the copter once more and spoke quietly, "Good
bye Blue, I will miss you pup." Within seconds the craft was
airborne, the message to the hospital was to have Agent
Scully prepare for two victims.

-----

Part Nine

-----

Scully was standing at the trauma door awaiting the arrival 
of the first copter. They had checked her credentials and 
verified that she was a medical doctor. She had spoken with 
Skinner on the radio and found out that it was definitely 
Mulder but that he was in full arrest. Abbey had also 
communicated to Scully the care he had been given in the day 
and a half that he was at her cabin. She also informed her 
that Mulder was unable to recall his name or anything about 
himself but he had been very ill. So now she stood awaiting 
the father of her baby and her best friend. Would he 
recognize her or would she just be a stranger. The boys were 
finding a way to get to the cabin, because according to 
Abbey she had collected blood, the gown he was wearing when 
she found him and other valuable information. Time was of 
the essence due to the way things tended to disappear when 
it involved the military. Hopefully they would not bother to 
go to Abbey's home but they never left a stone unturned.

She focused her attention back to the matter at hand. The 
intercom announced that medflight had landed and the first 
victim was on the way into the trauma area. Scully stood at 
trauma room one, a code blue was announced and the xray 
technician and lab personnel were standing awaiting their 
orders. The Chief of Emergency Services, Dr Allen Sandler 
would be running the code and Scully would be assisting but 
her services would be more focused on agent John Doggett's 
medical condition since no one had ever heard of a 
retrovirus. She saw the gurney coming down the hallway with 
nurses and a respiratory therapist by his side. The EMT was 
also giving report and she overheard bits and pieces as they 
approached hurriedly. When she saw the gray color to his 
skin she knew that he was having a difficult time. They were 
bagging him and performing compressions. "He had a 
bradycardic rhythm but we lost it approximately one minute 
prior to landing. We gave him one milligram of epinephrine 
and we cardioverted twice with two hundred joules but no 
response. His breath sounds are very diminished on his left 
side and we suctioned up a large amount of green thick 
sputum. Blood pressure is forty palpable. His last oxygen 
sat was eighty two on full oxygen." Joe rattled off as he 
helped set up the patient in the room, monitors attached and 
lines started. The Chief of Emergency took his stethoscope 
and placed it on Mulder's chest. I need a stat chest xray. 
Wanda, set of for a thoracentesis and chest tube placement. 
" The doctor ordered as she walked outside of the room and 
awaited the technician to get the film. Scully looked at the 
man in the green scrubs and then back at her friend," He is 
basically drowning in his own fluid?" The man nodded and 
walked back hurriedly into the room. They had set him up on 
a ventilator when she peered back into the room. "Sandy get 
me a set up for a central line and tell pharmacy he will 
need routine hyperalimentation. Let's get some Vancomycin 
and Erythromycin ordered. He had gloved and gowned and he 
had them turn Mulder over to his side and he pushed the 
thick needle into the left lung. The vacutainer was attached 
and the yellow serous fluid flowed out into the jar. " Let's 
push another milligram of epinephrine and let's do four 
hundred joules. The team stepped back and he hit the chest 
and yelled "Clear!" the patient's body lifted off the table 
and the monitor changed to a tachycardic rhythm. The fluid 
continued to flow from the lung. "Get me another xray. We 
still don't have any spontaneous respirations but his sats 
are up which means the lung has some room to oxygenate. "He 
spoke to the code team. The xray team appeared again and the 
room cleared again. Scully stood transfixed to the window, 
fighting the urge to go to his side. He had the best care 
and she knew that she was too emotional to be any help to 
him at the time. The best thing she could do was to let the 
medical doctor do his job. She watched them as they 
reentered the room and the therapist suctioned more green 
thick mucus from the endotrachial tube. Then she saw the 
briefest of response, he tried to push the tech's arm away 
and get to the tube that snaked down his throat. Almost 
immediately she caught the hand and had them both restrained 
in a matter of seconds. He was awake and fighting with the 
staff. He was exerting his dislike for the tube. She watched 
as they turned him on his side and prepped his left side for 
the chest tube. She hoped that they would numb it well but 
she still knew that  it was going to hurt him. His body was 
bucking the doctor as he attempted the tube placement. " 
Let's get him on a Valium drip and give him something for 
pain, Morphine should do the trick. He turned towards Dr. 
Scully to verify allergies when she felt compelled to enter 
the small cubicle and let them know immediately that Mulder 
reacted to Morphine. The emergency room doctor looked up and 
saw the very pregnant woman enter the room. He knew 
immediately that this man was the father of her baby. She 
looked down on his troubled and pain filled features and 
took her hand and gently cupped his face. " Hey. You may not 
remember me but I promise that you are safe. The doctor 
wants to place a tube into your side. It will help your lung 
to expand and help you breathe better." Mulder appeared very 
scared. She looked up to his attending doctor," He is 
allergic to Morphine but does well with both Valium and 
Demerol. He nodded and proceeded to order the Demerol and 
started to place the tube into the chest. Scully heard the 
announcement that the second copter had arrived and that was 
her cue to go and help Doggett. Before she left she looked 
down on a now very drowsy patient and spoke very softly, "Go 
to sleep Mulder. I will be back in just a little while." He 
looked up at her with sleepy eyes but no recognition was 
there and he seemed nervous at her presence. As she exited 
the room she could not help but to think, "What did they do 
to you Mulder?" she proceeded to trauma room two. Within a 
few minutes Doggett arrived and they placed him on the 
gurney and she started giving orders. Skinner and Abbey were 
directed towards the waiting area.

Abbey was taking turns with Skinner pacing the floor. "What 
is taking so long?" she asked no one in particular. Skinner 
stood and reached over to the young lady and gently led her 
to a seat." Scully will be out as soon as she can give us 
some information on both agents." His voice was calm and 
gentle. Abbey turned and looked at the tall, balding man 
with sad eyes, "He was so sick. I should have listened to 
him when he told me that someone was coming back to get him 
but I thought it was just the fever." Her voice cracking 
with emotion and tears were running down her cheek. Skinner 
shook his head and spoke softly, "He does have a knack of 
getting into some pretty bad situations. I guarantee you 
Miss that you could not have stopped any of this, the man 
would have killed you or anyone else that tried to 
interfere." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a 
handkerchief an handed it to the distressed young lady." 
Mulder will be fine, thanks to your care. He has been 
through worse and survived." She nodded then looked towards 
the waiting room door and saw a very petite red headed, 
pregnant woman. The man jumped up and walked over to her," 
How is Mulder?" he asked anxiously. "They are moving up to 
the CCU now. Walter, he is so weak and his breathing is 
still labored even with the tube. Dr Sandler feels that the 
next twenty- four hours will be critical. They are going to 
do a CT of the head and also a body scan as soon as he is 
stable." Her voice was raspy, evidence of her fatigue. Abbey 
stood and walked over, "My name is Abbey. I found your 
friend in the woods. He has been very ill." Scully 
recognized the voice and reached out her hand to shake the 
young lady's." Thank you for taking such excellent care of 
Mulder. It will probably be the most beneficial factor in 
his recovery." Abbey stared at the door and then back at 
Scully," Can I see him before they take him upstairs?" 
Scully nodded and led the woman and Skinner to Mulder's 
cubicle. Abbey walked over to the man's side and picked up 
his restrained hand, it was warmer and his color was pinker. 
"Hey, can you hear me?" she whispered quietly as to not 
startle the man. He was hooked up to almost every machine 
imaginable. He slowly and sleepily opened his eyes and 
looked at the one person he could recognize but he could not 
say her name due to the tube down his throat. His eyes 
looked around, like he did when he was looking for Blue. 
"You're in the hospital and they are treating your lung 
infection. You are fine." She sat down on the stool by his 
bed and watched as he took in his surroundings with eyes 
half-mast. He looked at her with questioning eyes but she 
could not tell what he was trying to ask. " Listen these 
people are your friends and they are really trying to get 
you better." He shook his head and he pointed to the end of 
the bed. She knew that the man was asking for Blue, she did 
not feel he could handle the death of his friend at this 
time. "You know that animals are not allowed in the 
hospital. They have very strict rules." He shook his head 
weakly and he pointed at the end of the bed again. She felt 
that he might be confused to his location, he probably 
thought he was still at her cabin. "Hey the doctor wants you 
to sleep. They have probably pumped you full of drugs to 
make sure you rest and that is what you are going to do is 
rest." She stood and broke the physical contact with her 
patient. She smiled and reached down once again and stroked 
his stubbled chin. He looked over to the door and stared at 
the familiar woman and man. The images, he still had in his 
dreams, looked like them but he could not remember their 
names. He knew he should remember them but he could remember 
Abbey and Blue. He wanted Blue. Blue was good pup and Abbey 
was a good person, she was his friend. He closed his eyes 
and surrendered to the drug's effects. Abbey stood by his 
bedside for a few more minutes noticing the thick bandage on 
his head and the multiple tubes connected to the man. She 
turned and walked back towards the door," Do you think he is 
safe here in the hospital?" she asked quietly so that the 
man could not hear her voice. Skinner looked at the young 
lady and shook his head," I don't think he will ever be 
safe." Scully nodded and answered in a shaky voice," I don't 
think any of us will ever be safe." She then walked back 
over to Mulder's side and took his hand gently but he did 
not respond he just slept quietly with the tube assisting 
his breathing. A team of nurses and techs walked into the 
cubicle to transfer him up to CCU. Dr. Sandler walked in a 
few seconds later and announced that Doggett was in the ICU 
bed four and they would be placing Mulder in the Coronary 
Intensive Care due to his tachycardia and his cardiac and 
respiratory arrest. They all followed him up to wait in the 
waiting lounge.

TWENTY FOUR HOURS LATER
CORONARY INTENSIVE CARE UNIT

They had gotten Scully a room with a bed. She had been 
exhausted and went to sleep immediately after she lay down. 
Skinner and Abbey were asleep in the lounge. Her head lay 
against his shoulder and their feet were propped up on the 
hard chair. The nurses were constantly suctioning Mulder and 
giving him antibiotics. During the suctioning he had started 
to arouse and try to fight them which had been a sign of 
improvement. The boys had returned without the evidence 
Abbey had gathered, it was gone. They had secured her cabin 
and came back to the hospital and given Skinner and Scully 
the news. Now they were asleep across the lounge from Abbey 
and Skinner. The CCU nurse put her head in the door and 
looked around for Dr. Scully. A soft tap on her shoulder 
awakened Abbey. "Is Mr. Mulder okay?" she asked groggily, 
straightening herself up in the chair. The nodded and waved 
her across the room," Dr. Sandler wants to extubate him. His 
oxygen levels are up .Do you know where Dr. Scully is right 
now." Abbey pulled out a sheet of paper with a room number 
printed on it and handed it to the nurse. "It is alright if 
I go in for a minute and see him. I promise I will not 
disturb him." The nurse again nodded and led Abbey to 
Mulder's bedside. He was sleeping. He did have a better 
color to his face but the white bandage around his head made 
him appear pale. The nurse went to get Scully. Abbey sat 
down on the stool beside his bed and stroked his hand. His 
eyes fluttered open and he tried to talk but the tube 
prevented him from making any sounds. His fevers had come 
down to low grade and his eyes seemed less glassy but still 
he was having difficulty with focusing due to the heavy 
drugs. She glanced up to see the Haldol and Demerol drips, 
which helped to manage his pain and also to help with 
sedation due to the endotracheal tube. He just stared up at 
her and with a weak grip he held her hand. The pregnant 
Agent Scully was definitely more than a friend to the man 
and she would need to help him remember. She was fairly sure 
that it was the trauma of being abducted that had 
traumatized him enough that he had forgotten. She reached 
over and found the necklace still around his neck. Was it a 
symbol of faith, love or both? " The doctor is going to take 
the tube out and see how you can manage. It will be hard 
work and it may feel a little funny at first but you can 
manage it, I'm sure." He looked frightened and he shook his 
head. "Yes you can, you are getting stronger. The doctor 
would not take it out if he thought you could not handle 
breathing on your own." Her voice was low and comforting. He 
squeezed her hand but she could tell that he had pronounced 
weakness. Dr Sandler and Dr. Scully entered the cubicle and 
Abbey turned to get up to leave but he tugged at her blouse 
and he shook his head weakly. "Hey I'm right here, not going 
anywhere." He reluctantly let go of her hand. He then looked 
at the red haired lady again and closed his eyes tiredly. He 
thought he could remember her but he could not reach the 
name and he was getting tired. Where was Abbey? He could not 
see Abbey. Where was Blue? He was so confused. He wanted to 
go back to sleep and let the drugs help keep away the bad 
dreams of ht tests. They wanted to do more tests and he was 
tied down. He felt the panic and then he heard comforting 
noises but he could not listen to them. Where was Abbey and 
Blue?  The man would come back for him and he needed Blue. 
They were close again and this time he would not let then 
take him no matter what, he would not be their lab rat. He 
would not go back to let them cut him open and drill his 
teeth or his head. He began to pull and tug at the 
restraints. The comforting voices could not penetrate the 
panic he had just created and then he felt the soothing 
feeling of numbness and the room went dark.

CORONARY INTENSIVE CARE WAITING ROOM
FIVE HOURS LATER

Skinner walked back into the waiting area with cups of 
coffee and a juice for Scully. " Thank you." Scully took the 
juice and took a sip. Abbey took a cup of coffee and a 
cream. "  He had the panic attacks up at the cabin. I 
thought it was the fevers. I should have known it was from 
the trauma of his abductors. I knew that they had abused him 
because of the marks on his body." Scully stood and slowly 
walked across the waiting room to the distraught girl and 
sat down, "Listen you are the only person that he recognizes 
and he trusts you Abbey." She nodded and looked at Scully, " 
I had a feeling in the room that he recognized you but still 
is unable to place a name to your face. He told me he saw 
images but he could not remember the names." Abbey spoke 
softly. Scully nodded in understanding, she felt that he 
might have panicked due to his eidetic memory trying to 
recollect her face.

Dr Sandler entered the waiting room and sat down beside of 
Scully, "He has slept since you left him but he is starting 
to arouse again. I would like to get the tube out send him 
down to get a head CT. The drainage from his wound is still 
present and I would like to get an idea of what I am dealing 
with. I would like to rule out meningitis or infection due 
to his fevers." He spoke low not to disturb the others 
sleeping in the lounge.  "Maybe we should send in Abbey. He 
recognizes her and he won't be as scared with her presence." 
Scully whispered. Dr Sandler nodded and reached over and got 
Abbey's attention, she stood and followed the doctor into 
the CCU cubicle. He was awake and tugging against the 
restraints. She had assumed that his captors had tied him 
down during his captivity. She walked over to his bed and he 
quit tugging. His eyes stared up at Abbey and his hand was 
reaching and grabbing at the air. "Hey, how is my favorite 
patient." Mulder shook his head and looked down at the 
restraints. Dr Sandler is going to take the tube out of your 
throat but he needs you to calm down." Mulder nodded and 
attempted to calm down but the effects of the Aminophylline 
made him jittery and he extremities still shook. The nurses 
were at his side as was Abbey and Dr Sandler. "Okay Mr. 
Mulder I want you to blow out as hard as you can and I will 
pull out the tube, it will feel uncomfortable and you might 
feel the urge to gag." Mulder prepared for the doctor to 
take out the tube but it seemed familiar, he had done this 
before. The doctor pulled out the tube and Mulder began 
choking and coughing. He started to take a good breath after 
a few seconds and he felt the pain in his throat and started 
retching. They turned him quickly and the green thick mucus 
rolled up and out of his nose and mouth. Abbey stroked his 
head and found herself doing what she had done at the cabin, 
she crawled up on the bed and took him into her arms and 
soon he relaxed and drifted asleep in her lap. The nurse 
wiped his sweaty brow with a washcloth and then followed Dr. 
Sandler out the door. Dr Sandler walked out of the cubicle 
to write orders. Abbey held the man in her arms preparing 
herself to tell the man of the pup's last heroic act. She 
knew he would be sad but she knew that she had to honest. 
Soon he opened his eyes and looked up at Abbey and then down 
to the end of the bed. "bew?" His voice was scratchy and 
low, almost a whisper. She shook her head and spoke low, 
"Listen, I need to tell you something." He looked up at his 
friend and shook his head, "Where is blue?" Tears were now 
spilling down her cheek and she looked down and their eyes 
met, "Blue is dead. The man who tried to take you away 
killed him. He protected us both until the end." The tears 
were now falling from both of them and the man became really 
quiet. "Hey, are you okay." She asked, getting concerned 
about his quiet demeanor. He nodded unable to give her an 
answer but he held the hand that she had wrapped around his 
torso. "Sorry." His voice was quiet and raspy from his 
crying bout and the removal of the tube. "No, don't be 
sorry. That pup would not have had it any other way. He 
wanted to protect you and me from the man. He did his job 
well." Again Mulder nodded and closed his tired eyes. " Go 
to sleep and I will wake you when they want to get some 
tests done." She gently rocked him and soon he was asleep. 
Dr Sandler entered the cubicle again with the respiratory 
therapist who drew some blood from the arterial line and 
then placed him on oxygen by nasal cannula. Abbey quietly 
crawled down from the bed and stood at the doorway as the 
doctor made more assessments and awaited the results of the 
blood gases. Soon the orderly showed up to get the patient 
for the CAT scan. The nurses and techs gently lifted and 
repositioned him on the gurney. Then they were on their way 
to the radiology. Abbey wanted to follow but she felt that 
the Dr Scully should be with him afterwards. Hopefully he 
would be able to remember her soon, she would bet her life 
on the father of that baby, she thought to herself then she 
turned to get the woman.

As Abbey was walking back to the lounge she got an odd 
feeling. The kind that makes the hair on the back of your 
neck stand up and the kind that makes one have that strange 
deja vu feeling. She turned and walked back towards the 
cubicle. Something was wrong and she felt compelled to go 
and check on the man. She walked up to the nurse's desk and 
asked, "Where is xray?" the nurse instructed her that it was 
down the hallway to the left. She started to proceed forward 
but turned and asked the nurse to get Mr Skinner and Dr. 
Scully and ask them to meet her in the radiology department. 
The nurse promptly stood to go and retrieve the two friends 
of the very sick patient. Abbey rounded the corner to see 
the orderly and nurse lying on the floor. Automatically she 
reached into her pocket but she had given her gun to Mr. 
Skinner. Cautiously she walked down the hallway. She had 
rounded the corner and saw the tall bulky man pushing the 
gurney down the hallway hurriedly. She would have to stall 
him until help arrived. She quickly looked around but did 
not find a weapon. She would have to find a different way. A 
few seconds later she noticed that the man was trying to get 
up off the gurney and the large man pushed him back down 
easily. She turned and quickly found the object of her 
desire, the fire alarm. Quickly she pulled the alarm and the 
hallway sounded and the large man stooped and looked around, 
almost as if he was confused. The place was quickly abuzz 
with people carrying fire extinguishers and in the confusion 
Abbey grabbed the gurney and started back towards the CCU. 
The man turned and saw the object of hunt disappearing 
before his eyes and started to run after the woman. Skinner 
appeared in front of the gurney with his gun drawn and Sully 
was following with her gun also drawn. Abbey saw the fight 
begin and knew that her responsibility would be to get the 
man to a safe place. She ran down the hallway with the 
gurney. When she got to the lounge the three friends were 
there. Mulder was missing his IV's and oxygen and he was 
having a difficult time breathing. The clamped chest tube 
and foley catheter were still intact. He looked up at the 
three men and wheezed," Scarecrow, Tinman, Toto." He smiled 
at the three men who were peering at him." Where is Scully. 
I've got to get Scully. The three men and Abbey looked at 
Mulder like he had grown a third eye. Abbey looked back and 
shook her head," He is coming after Mulder. We need to hide 
him now! She yelled at the three men. A voice came from the 
hallway "Abbey! Abbey!" the voice was that of Dr. Scully's." 
We're in here!" yelled Frohike. She entered the waiting 
lounge and looked at the gurney with Mulder, she quickly ran 
over and started assessing the chest tube, placing her gun 
on the lounge chair. "Skinner will need some help. We won't 
be able to stop him." Scully stated sadly as she proceeded 
to check on the man on the gurney. Byers and Frohike ran out 
the door. Abbey reached down and took the gun into her grip 
and then ran out the door. Scully turned and yelled "Abbey!" 
but she was gone. Langley looked up at Scully and spoke 
quietly," He recognized us and he was calling for you 
Scully." She looked down on his face and smiled. He was 
looking at her with sad eyes. "Mulder?" He was quiet for a 
few seconds then he turned his head away and whispered 
softly, "You're swollen. I'm sorry Scully, so sorry." She 
knew immediately what he was thinking, cancer. She reached 
over and turned his head towards her and shook her head, 
"It's not what you think Mulder. I will tell you everything 
when I know that you are safe, I promise." Dr. Sandler 
rushed into the room with the CCU nurse. "What the hell 
happened to his lines and his oxygen?" The doctor asked 
angrily, while staring at Dr. Scully. But just at that time 
they heard a gun shot and they were moving Mulder again.

Abbey had fired off a round towards the man who now was down 
trying to choke the life out of Skinner. She yelled to the 
man but he was not listening to anyone. She then approached 
the man and started beating him on the back but Byers ran 
over and knocked her to the ground. " Abbey, he is crazy and 
he will kill you. You don't understand, he is not human." 
She shook her head and started to get up," Well we just 
can't just let him kill him."  Byers got up with Abbey and 
pushed her into a vacant room. "He is alien and the only way 
to kill him is a bullet or a sharp object to the back of his 
neck." Abbey looked around the acute care unit and found a 
scalpel. " Well this is for Blue." She rushed past Byers 
back out into the hallway and found Frohike trying to get 
the bounty hunter's attention. Byers was unable to stop her 
as she ran towards the man who had focused all his attention 
now on Skinner and she plunged the scalpel into the man's 
neck. The green ooze started to roll down his neck and he 
pushed her back up against the wall. Her eyes were burning 
and she was having trouble breathing. The Alien Bounty 
Hunter picked up the woman and ran down the hallway and was 
soon out of everyone's site. Skinner stood and leaned 
heavily against the wall," We have to get her. Where did 
they go?" he started falling back to the floor and Frohike 
and Byers ran to catch him.

-----

Part Ten

-----



MORGAN COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER

They had placed him in a room in the pediatric ICU. They had 
gotten him a private duty nurse and passwords were used by 
all, including Scully. Dr Sandler had to reintubate Mulder 
due to the low sats and the stress his patient had endured 
at the hands of the abductor. Scully sat by his bed and 
watched the monitors as they showed his vital signs showing 
signs of alertness. His hands had to be restrained due to 
the agitation from the heavy doses of the bronchodialators. 
His hands shook, even in his sleep. He was oblivious to the 
past forty eight hours. She would update him when he was 
alert enough to understand. Mostly he had just opened his 
eyes briefly and then he would go back to sleep. Dr. Sandler 
had finally gotten the cat scan of Mulder finished and they 
found at least twenty tracking devices. The gunmen had 
concluded that the implants were different than hers due to 
his blood work not showing any branched DNA. They were more 
like Duane Barry's. They would be removed and destroyed 
soon. Mulder was too weak from the infected incisions on his 
head and the lung infection for surgery; it would be a few 
more days. She held his hand and could not help but wonder 
how he would react to the news that the Alien Bounty Hunter 
had taken Abbey.

He could hear the low tones of the monitors and he could 
feel the tube down his throat and the one in his chest. He 
knew that the drugs were working because he did not have the 
urge to fight the tube in his throat. He felt relaxed and 
pain free. He slowly opened his eyes to see Scully sitting 
beside him, her head resting on her hand in the chair. He 
tried to lift his restrained hand but he couldn't get it to 
move. He felt himself starting to get agitated. The monitors 
started beeping and humming. The tones awakened Scully and 
she quickly stood to calm him down. He was feeling very 
shaky all of a sudden. The nurse came through the door and 
hit the alarm to halt the bells and tones. "Mulder, calm 
down. You are fine and very safe." Scully assured him. He 
shook his head and pointed to the door. He looked over to 
the nurse and she was drawing up something in a syringe but 
he did not want to go back to sleep. He tried to still the 
effects of the drugs but he felt himself getting more 
agitated and then he felt himself being rolled over and 
soothing voices and then the sharp needle penetrating his 
already sore skin. The tears rolled down his eyes. Dr 
Sandler quickly walked into the room mumbling something 
about having to prove to the guard that he was really who he 
was and that had ticked him off. The effects of the drugs 
soon quieted Mulder and his eyes were getting very heavy. He 
looked up at the smile that only could come from his 
partner. " Shhh. Go back to sleep." She cooed. The doctor 
was listening to his chest and making the sounds only 
doctor's make. He refused to let the drugs pull him under. 
He had questions and he wanted them answered and if he had 
to fight the effects of the drugs then he would fight them. 
The doctor looked down at his patient and quickly realized 
that he wasn't going to sleep. " Mr. Mulder I would like for 
you to rest. Your body is tired and is trying to fight off 
several infections." Mulder's eyes looked to his side trying 
to search for Scully but she was not there anymore, only his 
nurse and his physician. Dr Sandler looked over to Wanda and 
she left and went out the door. Dr Sandler sat down on the 
stool beside the bed. "Hey I know that you are going to 
fight me but I need to get you better and that requires 
sleep. I'm going to have Wanda change your medicine to 
Valium and give you an extra dose now and then we will let 
you sleep a little while." Mulder tugged on the restraints 
and shook his head. He wanted his questions answered and he 
wanted them answered now. What was wrong with Scully and 
where was Abbey and why was he back on the ventilator. 
Within a few seconds the nurse returned and changed out the 
medicines and they rolled him over again and injected a 
large amount of the medicine into his hip. He fought to stay 
awake but the medicine and the amount given was too much to 
fight and he closed his eyes and slept.

Scully walked over to the intensive care unit to see how 
Agent Doggett and Skinner were doing. Skinner had been 
reexposed to the retrovirus during the altercation with the 
Alien Bounty Hunter. He was doing better but they still had 
both men in a drug induced coma due to their symptoms. They 
were both getting transfusions. She had left Langley with 
Mulder. She knew that soon she would have to tell Mulder 
about Abbey but not until he was off the ventilator. Dr 
Sandler agreed that it would not do Mulder any good to get 
such bad news while he was trying to fight off the 
infections. He would keep him sedated a few more days and 
then let him awaken. They would still continue mild sedation 
after they extubated. It would help him cope with everything 
that had happened to him in the past few days and months. 
She walked through the ICU doors to see her patients.

FORTY EIGHT HOURS LATER

He awakened this time with the slow hum of the monitors but 
the tube was no longer down his throat but the restraints 
were still intact. The tubes were still in his chest and the 
Foley catheter was still snaked up into his bladder. 
Something new was causing extreme pressure in his rectum. 
There was so much pressure that he was nauseated. He also 
noted a tube coming out of stomach and a fluid running into 
the tube from a new pump beside of his bed. He looked around 
and saw that he was alone. He reached for the call bell 
someone had placed underneath his hand and pushed. The nurse 
entered and was surprised that her patient was awake. "Hey 
you should be sleeping with all the drugs we have pumping 
into your bloodstream." She was already checking the 
monitors and drainage bags. "Where is Scully?" his voice low 
and very raspy. The nurse turned and readjusted his 
blanket," She is down the hallway sleeping in the guest 
room." He nodded in understanding. "How are you feeling?" 
her eyes were watching his grimaces. " Truthfully Mr. 
Mulder." He looked up and saw those eyes looking down upon 
him and he knew that lying would get him in more trouble. " 
My bottom hurts. Pressure, it is bad." She walked around and 
pulled back the covers and readjusted something but the 
pressure increased and the vomiting started and he thought 
he was going to rip his sore throat apart. Quickly the nurse 
was calling for assistance and holding a pan underneath her 
patient's chin as he vomited up the tube feeding. Dr. 
Sandler entered the room with other nursing personnel and 
reached over and cut off the feeding. Someone was calling 
out orders and then Dr Sandler appeared with a large tube 
and was placing gel on the end. He knew that it was going 
down his nose and that was not going to happening as long as 
he had strength to fight. But the restraints stopped the 
fight and the doctor and nurses pushed the tube down his 
nose and past his raw throat and he tried to scream but the 
vomit just rolled out and gagged him instead. When they 
placed the tube on suction the vomiting stopped and they 
went to work assessing his belly but he was still awake and 
miserable. " Scully! Abbey! Somebody please help me and get 
this tube out, please." He cried out in his low raspy, 
pained voice. The nurse was drawing up more medicine into 
the syringe and he knew that sleep would be coming soon. 
They pushed him over and the needle hit the tight muscle and 
the burning liquid entered painfully. He tried not to cry 
but all of his defenses were shot and the tears flowed and 
soon he felt numb and blackness was welcomed.

FOUR HOURS LATER

Scully sat beside of Mulder's bed and held his hand. They 
were holding the tube feedings and keeping him quiet due to 
the paralytic ileus that he had developed. Dr Sandler 
thought it might have occurred due to the decreased activity 
during his captivity and that he probably was not allowed to 
eat. Basically his stomach was a mess. The doctor had 
consulted a gastroenterologist. They would leave the 
nasogastric tube down and treat with meds. When he was awake 
the pain was too intense and he had to be medicated heavily. 
Now he slept peacefully and the meds kept his pain away. 
Scully had heard from the gunmen who had made it up to the 
cabin, no sign of Abbey. They all felt that they had let her 
down. Telling Mulder was going to be very difficult.

INTENSIVE CARE UNIT

Skinner looked up at Scully and smiled, "Again?" She nodded 
and reached down and squeezed his hand. "You really are 
becoming a lot like Mulder." She tried to hide her smile. He 
nodded,"guilty as charged. How is Mulder?" Her mood changed 
and went serious." He is still very sick but he is off the 
ventilator. Dr.Sandler is keeping him sedated. His stomach 
is swollen and painful." She hesitated a few minutes to get 
her composure. "They did not feed him during his captivity. 
He has developed a paralytic ileus." Skinner looked up from 
his bed," English Scully."  She smiled and nodded," It is 
like a bowel obstruction. Usually there is stomach 
distention and it is very painful. Dr.Sandler feels that 
Mulder's is due to decreased physical activity and that the 
tests are showing that he may have had nothing to eat in the 
five months of his abduction. They probably fed him through 
the veins. His stomach is basically a mess. That is in 
addition to his weight loss, the lung infection and the 
wound infection." Skinner shook his head. "Sounds like he 
may not be able to travel for a while." Scully nodded," 
Neither will you sir or Agent Doggett. I still can't figure 
out why Byers and Frohike didn't get exposed. They carried 
you to the ICU afterwards and paged overhead." Skinner's 
face saddened," Abbey?" Scully shook her head," The Alien 
Bounty Hunter took her and no one has seen her since. The 
boys went to the cabin but it was as they left it a few 
nights ago." She paused." It's as if she had disappeared 
without a trace. She is just gone." Skinner nodded. He knew 
that she was probably abducted and now her residence was 
aboard an alien spacecraft.

Pediatric Intensive Care

Mulder was awakened by the tightness in his gut. He reached 
over with his restrained hand and touched his stomach and 
grimaced. Nothing could hurt this bad, well yes something 
could hurt worse like having someone drill a hole in one's 
head. He tried to roll over to a more comfortable position 
but the tube pulled in his nose and he gasped in pain. The 
nurse must not of heard him because no magic syringes 
appeared. He attempted the move again and he managed to 
shift from his hip. That felt better but he still was 
hurting. He looked around the room for Scully or Abbey, 
visiting hours must be later. The pressure in his rectum 
started again and he tried to shift back to his original 
position but the pain in his gut flared and he let out a 
loud groan. The nurse entered the room quickly and stared 
down at her now awake patient." Are you okay Mr. Mulder?" he 
shook his head and tried to catch his breath. " What is that 
pressure in my behind?" The nurse turned him over and 
checked the rectal tube that had been placed due to the 
watery diarrhea he had been having while on the tube 
feeding. "You should not be having this much discomfort." 
She took a syringe and decreased the bulb and the pressure 
went away. " Better?" he nodded. " Can I loose these?" he 
tugged at the restraints. The nurse shook her head and 
covered her patient with the blanket. She went about 
checking the IV lines and monitors. " Dr. Sandler will be 
coming in a few minutes to check on you, how is your pain." 
Mulder thought for a second and decided he want to stay 
awake a while and talk to Scully. He had not been able to 
talk to her and he needed to talk badly. "I'm fine." He 
whispered, his voice still raw from the endotrachial tube. 
She checked his medicine pump and adjusted the setting but 
he could not tell if she was increasing or decreasing the 
flow of the medicine. " I'm right outside of your cubicle so 
if you need me just push this button." She placed the call 
light under his hand. He nodded and closed his eyes hoping 
that the pain in his gut would at least improve to a 
tolerable level.

Morgan County Hospital

Scully walked down the hallway accompanied by a tall husky 
agent, her bodyguard. She wanted to see Mulder but her 
doctor had ordered to take frequent rest periods and she was 
going to check in on Mulder and then go to sleep. She passed 
the guards and gave the password for the day and entered the 
cubicle. Mulder's nurse was at his bedside along with Dr. 
Sandler. They were assessing his stomach and Mulder was 
moaning loudly in pain. She hurried over and grabbed his 
hand and he gripped it tightly. " Mulder it will be okay." 
She tried to ease his pain but he was now in excruciating 
pain and it would not let up even with the pain medication. 
Dr Sandler looked over to Scully; " I'm calling in a 
surgeon. His stomach is hard and he does not have any bowel 
sounds present. I want an abdominal film and chest xray." 
The nurse went to page the surgeon and the lab was called to 
get a CBC with diff and chem 7. He pushed the IV pump again, 
hoping to get relief for the writhing man in the bed. Scully 
reached down and kissed his forehead and held his hand 
tight. He looked up at her with concern," What is wrong." He 
asked and bit his lip to keep from screaming. Scully looked 
over at the doctor and leaned as close as her pregnant 
stomach would allow, "Mulder, your stomach is really 
distended and Dr.Sandler wants a surgeon to take a look." 
Mulder shook his head and looked at her beautiful blue eyes, 
boy he had missed her so much. " Not me. You. " Her heart 
was set on fire for this man, she wanted to cry and grab him 
and hold him tight." Listen, I am perfect in every way. 
Actually I couldn't be healthier or happier. I found you 
Mulder and that is the best thing that has happened in a 
long time. He looked up with a look of complete confusion 
and pointed at her protruding stomach, "You're more swollen 
than I am Scully." His voice almost a whisper. She smiled 
and laid her hand on his forehead and caressed his bandage 
that was wrapped around his head. "Listen Mulder, I am going 
to let the surgeon take a look at you and let the staff do 
their jobs by getting out of the way. I will be back as soon 
as they are done with your assessment. He shook his head and 
grabbed for her shirt and held on tight. His face showed the 
severe pain that he was feeling in his gut but he held on 
tight. "Where is Abbey and what is wrong with your stomach?" 
his voice louder that he thought he could manage. She shook 
her head and gently removed his hand, "Mulder, I want you to 
let the surgeon take a look at you then we will talk, I 
promise." The surgeon, Dr. Adam Carpenter, entered the 
already crowded room just as Scully had finished her 
sentence. She kissed his bandaged forehead and she exited 
the room with Mulder calling out her name. Dr. Carpenter 
picked up the chart and walked over to the distraught 
patient noting the amount of Valium that was infusing into 
the man. " Mr. Mulder please calm down. I need to assess 
your stomach and then your company can come back to visit. 
He calmed down and looked up at the surgeon and nodded. The 
drugs were still making him feel on edge and he wanted to 
know what they were not telling him. The surgeon began to 
press on the abdomen and Mulder screamed out in pain. Soon 
the xrays were brought into the room and Dr. Carpenter 
decided to take Mulder for an exploratory surgery. They were 
prepping him when Scully reentered the cubicle, "Hey, how 
are you feeling?" he looked over to his partner and best 
friend," Like nobody is telling me anything." He turned his 
head with tears welling up in eyes. "Where is Abbey and what 
the hell is wrong with you Scully?" He felt like the world 
had decided that he really didn't exist and that all anybody 
enjoyed doing to him was drugging him into a catatonic 
state. She picked up his restrained hand and kissed it 
lightly, " Mulder." She whispered but her voice was strong, 
she knew that she had to be strong for him right now," Abbey 
is gone. The bounty hunter took her with him. She was also 
exposed to the retrovirus; she didn't have a chance. He 
refused to believe that she was dead, "No, I don't believe 
that Scully. We need to find her before they cause her 
harm." His hands were still restrained and he tried to move 
forward but the pain in his gut stopped him before he had 
moved too far. " Mulder lie down now." Scully scolded when 
the nurse decided to intervene with her patient and get him 
prepped for surgery. " Dr Scully I need to get him ready for 
surgery." Scully nodded and stood. Mulder watched her 
swollen abdomen as she reached down to kiss his lips gently. 
Then it dawned on him, "Scully are you pregnant?" his voice 
low and obviously in pain. She looked down and nodded. " 
How?" was the only word that would come out of his dry mouth 
as his nurse started pushing meds to help him calm before 
they took him to surgery. " Mulder I can not explain how it 
happened but that it did and we are going to have a baby." 
As the drugs started taking effect he tried to comprehend 
the word 'we' and then he fell to sleep. Scully watched as 
the orderly and nurse rolled Mulder out of the room towards 
surgery.

The gunmen and Scully were waiting for the surgeon to come 
out and talk with Scully. Mulder had been in surgery for the 
past four hours and the nurse had come out twenty minutes 
earlier and told them that Dr carpenter would be out shortly 
to talk to her. Scully was getting tired of no news. She was 
about to rush through the doors to the operating room when 
Dr. Carpenter came out with a worn appearance. He walked 
over to Scully and motioned her to sit. " How is he?" she 
asked worriedly. Dr Carpenter looked over at the very tired 
woman and shook his head; " He is going to recovery soon. 
What did they do to him Dr Scully?" She was shocked by the 
question and did not have a ready answer," What's wrong with 
Mulder. I need to see him now." She stood and started to 
proceed forward but the surgeon stopped her movements with a 
gentle hand. " Wait a few minutes Dr Scully, I need to talk 
to you for a few minutes. Mr. Mulder had a difficult time in 
surgery. We found several unknown devices in his intestinal 
wall, which we removed. He also had a lot of scar tissue so 
we are going to allow the bowel to rest and I made him a 
temporary iliostomy, he'll need the bowel reattached in a 
few months." Scully sat back down in her chair and buried 
her face into her hands. The physician patted her on the 
back. For a few minutes the room was quiet. Then the surgeon 
reached into his lab coat and pulled out a plastic bowl and 
opened it up," We took the films on hand and found the other 
devices as well, a total of thirty-two. We figured that we 
would save him another surgery. Dr Sandler was very 
informative regarding his past medical history and his 
propensity towards the unknown." He looked down to study the 
contents of the bowl and looked over to Scully, who was now 
very attentive to the devices. She took them from his hand 
and stared down at them without saying anything for several 
minutes, she just stared at the devices similar to the one 
that she had run over the scanner at the grocery store years 
ago. She looked up at the bewildered doctor and spoke 
softly," When can I see him?"  The surgeon stood and 
motioned her in through the double doors leaving the three 
men in the waiting room. As they approached they noticed 
movement from the gurney Mulder was positioned, she walked 
up to the gurney and picked up his still restrained hand and 
spoke in a whisper," Shh, it's going to just fine Mulder."  
She placed the bowl into her pocket and took her free now 
free hand and began to stroke his face and soon he settled 
into the gurney and was quiet. He opened his eyes and looked 
up at his best friend," Hey. We are going to have to stop 
meeting like this Scully." His voice was more hoarse than 
before surgery. She smiled at him with tears in her eyes. He 
had bandages over several areas including his arms, legs, 
groin area and chest cavity. His mouth was oozing dark old 
blood and she noted that he was having difficulty talking. 
The physician had gone through the roof of his mouth to 
remove one in the sinus cavity. She had seen the CT scan and 
the xrays but there must have been some shadowing due to the 
fact that she had only counted twenty devices. She was 
worried that they had done so much in one surgical period. 
He was not strong enough for so much to be removed but she 
felt that they had concern that these foreign objects would 
cause infection. He noticed the silence even in his drugged 
haze and smiled at her," We are going to have a baby" 
Really?" She nodded and reached down and placed a gentle 
kiss on his very sore mouth but he did not grimace but 
instead he smiled and closed his eyes, " A baby. Scully is 
having a baby." The drugs pulled him back under and the 
nurses proceeded to give him care and tend to his meds and 
IV's while Scully looked down at the man she loved more than 
life.

TWO DAYS LATER

Skinner had convinced Scully that he could stay in a room on 
the regular floor and Agent Doggett could be his roommate. 
They had discussed how Doggett had gotten involved in the 
search that lead to finding Agent Mulder but Skinner was 
still suspect of the man. Scully entered the room carrying 
two charts. " Good morning." Both Skinner and Doggett 
straightened up in the bed when she entered. "Good morning 
Agent Scully." Skinner returned and Doggett mumbled," What's 
so good about it, when do I get to leave this place." She 
smiled and wrote a quick note on his chart. Doggett noticed 
and spoke up quickly," If that is for another enema then you 
can think again." He pulled he covers up around his neck 
quickly. Skinner laughed," Seriously, how is Mulder?" Scully 
smiled a bigger smile," He is doing better but he has a long 
road to travel. He has a lot of healing to do both mentally 
and physically. He still blames himself for Abbey and Blue. 
Dr Sandler is starting him on some antidepressants for his 
depression and sedatives for his anxiety attacks. He feels 
that Mulder should see a psychiatrist and talk about his 
abduction. He is very quiet about what they did to him 
during his captivity." Doggett sat up and took notice of his 
partner and her devotion to this man, whom he had never met. 
"Not to change the subject but when will we get to go home?" 
She smiled and took a look at his chart and answered," In a 
few days, I want both of your labs to look a little bit 
better." She turned to leave and before she got out the door 
she turned again and smiled," Leave the nurses alone boys or 
I will order a rectal exam." She then turned and left 
leaving the men staring at each other wondering if she was 
serious.

Scully walked slowly down the hallway to the pediatric unit 
when she noticed that someone familiar was standing outside 
the pediatric unit. She had declined the bodyguard after the 
Mulder's surgery. She quickly drew her gun from her jacket 
and aimed it at his head, " Turn around with your hands up 
in the air." She screamed, alerting the medical staff to the 
intruder. He slowly turned and looked at the very pregnant 
Scully, " How is he?" Her face was flushed with anger and 
she held the gun a little bit tighter in her hands. " You 
don't give a damn about him you sorry piece of crap. How 
much did you sell him out for Krycek, thirty pieces of 
silver?" her voice was shakey and so was the finger on the 
trigger and Krycek knew that he was in a lot of trouble." 
You over estimate my position in the Alien race struggle. I 
am but a player just as you, Mulder and your unborn child. 
They control all of us but most people are unaware of their 
presence." She raised the gun to point between his eyes, 
"You sold him out and he has had to spend the last five 
months of his life in hell. I should send you on now." Her 
voice cracking with emotion. He walked away from the door 
and stood within a few feet of Scully. " They want him back 
and are willing to die to accomplish that goal. They were 
not finished with his tests." She felt the trigger move 
under her finger and her aim moved a little bit closer," Go 
to hell. You will not touch one hair on his head and if you 
do I will personally find you and kill you, now leave." He 
walked away and stopped without turning," You can't go to 
hell and back without getting closer to God Agent Scully. 
Mulder should feel very close to Him. He will need all the 
help he can get." He then walked away down the hall and 
disappeared. She finally was able to bring down the gun and 
put it away. After she calmed her nerves she walked to 
Mulder's cubicle and noticed that the guard was gone. Mulder 
was sleeping the drug induced sleep with drool running down 
his cheek. She pulled out a tissue and gently wiped off the 
spit and threw it into the trash and sat down. She knew that 
they were close and her partner would never find true rest 
in this world. Her hand rubbed over the quiet baby inside of 
her belly, " I love you Mulder and I promise they will never 
take you again. Never."

UNKNOWN LOCATION

She sat in the white room, her knees drawn up to her chest. 
She could barely remember her name. They had done terrible 
tests on hr and now she sat alone, unable to move due to 
fear. Her clothing was nothing but a thin white gown. She 
felt scared and alone. Her face was stained with tears and 
her fingernails were no longer able to tolerate her abuse. 
They had informed her that she was pregnant just hours ago. 
This should be the happiest day of her life but she only 
felt horror. They informed her that she would be carrying 
the child to term here in this place. She felt like dying, 
only days ago she was caring for the man who had almost died 
at her tormentors hands. Now here she was and her fate was 
unsure. She placed her hands on her stomach and cried harder 
than she ever knew was possible. She just wanted to go home.

The end (maybe a sequel? You tell me, thanks for reading!