Title:Stumped Toe MT
Author: Mulderache

Summary: We all have stumped our toe but why does Mulder's 
have to be worse than ours? Because he is Mulder.
Disclaimer: They belong to Chris Carter and 1013 Productions.


Mulder's Apartment


He hobbled across the small room and plopped down on his 
comfortable leather couch. His toe was swollen and sore from 
stumping it the night before on the bedpost.A small scratch on 
his toe was all he had to show for all the excruciating pain in 
his foot.

It hurt, the waves of pain had taken on the rhythm of his 
heartbeat. Tylenol and Motrin did not stop the pain. He had 
even resorted to Vicodan but even the stronger drug times two 
had not given him any relief from the constant throbbing.

He slid the white Nike sock off his foot and stared at the 
black and blue skin on his big toe surrounding the small 
scratch. Had he fractured it? He felt unbelievable pain from 
his toe radiating into his mid thigh. Pain that was getting 
no relief even with all the interventions that he had at 
his disposal.

He needed to call Scully but she was at an art sell. She had 
wanted to get a good deal on a painting for her bedroom.It was 
a mother and daughter outing and he was not going to interfere, 
he would wait until tomorrow.

He popped another couple of pills into his mouth and swallowed 
them with a glass of water he had retrieved from the kitchen. 
"Hope I don't overdose before I get Scully to look at it 
tomorrow." He moaned out loud as he lifted the foot up on the 
pillow. He also had made himself an icepack which he carefully 
applied to the foot,trying to avoid anymore pain.

He remembered the word RICE. Rest,ice,compression and elevation. 
'How does one apply an ace wrap to a big toe?', he thought to 
himself as he almost yelled out in pain as the ice pack slipped 
down into the wrong position.

Three hours later

He was staring at his toe, he just knew that it was growing 
bigger and bigger by the moment. It was huge and it was throbbing 
and sleep was not going to come but it was difficult to sleep at 
four o'clock in the evening anyways. Drugs were not helping and he 
just knew that he was now suffering from a broken toe. It hurt 
like a broken toe, it actually hurt like a broken leg.

He again got up to his feet and wavered a second, a probable side 
effect of all the medication and lying down most of the day. He 
then walked back into the bedroom and looked at the bedpost,surely 
he had made a dent in the thing when he had stumbled over it last 
night. It was dentless though. Maybe he was being a wimp,possibly 
even childish but it hurt!

He lay down on the unmade bed and allowed the pain to continue. 
He threw a pillow to the foot of the bed to elevate it but even 
the slightest movement seemed to radiate pain into his leg.

He stared up into the mirror and noticed that he did look a 
little flushed. He was suffering but he did not think that he 
had a fever. Maybe he should check. "Nah, too much energy." He 
spoke to his relection in the mirror and shrugged his shoulders 
and closed his eyes. 

He dozed off after a few hours of suffering through torturous 
pain or maybe he had fainted but when he was awakened 
the throbbing in his foot was unrelentless throbbing. Call Scully 
immediately throbbing. He picked up the phone and ended up 
leaving a message for her to call when hse got home,leaving out 
the details of his injury.

"Maybe I should go to the ER, there at least they can give me 
some stronger drugs.", He mumbled out loud to the mirror again. 
The entire foot was now swollen and so was his lower calf area. 
He had never experienced this much pain before in his life, 
even the gunshot wounds seemed like a walk in the park compared 
to this pain. 

Tears were streaming down his face as he hobbled to gather 
his clothing. Sweat was beading up on his forehead and the 
grimace on his face was straining his facial muscles taunt.

He was unable to put the pantleg across the tender skin and 
finally gave up and put on a pair of sweat shorts instead, he 
pulled his sweater on over his t-shirt and slid his good foot 
into his sandal. He was not about to allow anything to touch 
the swollen foot and leg.

The discoloration in the entire area of the leg and foot was 
taking on a strawberry color and it felt warm to touch.He 
was shivering and he knew that was going to get worse when he 
went out into the thirty degree weather dressed in a coat and 
shorts.

He reached into the closet and found the crutches left from 
when he had been shot in Raleigh, North Carolina several 
years before. He slid them under his armpits and headed for 
the door.

He locked the door behind him and walked out into the hallway. 
His little neighbor was putting her cat out for the night and 
she smiled at him as he hobbled out the door. She was not that 
friendly though, guess he could not blame her after he broke her 
door down chasing that slippery Hella monster a few months ago. 
He was just being a good neighbor though.

He shook as the cold air blew underneath his coat and he was 
about to change his mind when a strong pain almost took him down. 
He became dizzy and almost faint from the rush of pain in his leg.
He braced himself against the cold metal and regained his 
composure and balance.

He barely made it to his car and then he came to another 
realization, he was going to have to use the right foot to drive 
the car. He would not be able to push the gas pedal or even hit 
the brake with the bad foot and leg."When did it also become 
his leg?" He thought to himself as he rested his warm face 
against the cold steering wheel.

"Son of a bitch!" he yelled to nobody but the silence of the car.
If he stayed out in the car he would freeze to death.Shivers were 
racking his body now, with the lack of clothing and the low 
temperatures outside he would die of hypothermia soon.

He opened the car door and made his way to the entrance stairs 
of the building, managing to finally get his shaking hands to fit 
the key into the lock. He almost fell against the door,relief and 
pain engulfing his senses all at once. He looked at the 
'out of order' sign on the elevator doors and inwardly wished that 
he was dead, that was quick because it wasn't there just minutes 
before, he mentally noted. He would have to make it up four flights 
of stairs with crutches. I'll never make it, he thought to himself.

After the first eight steps he was drenched in sweat from effort 
imposed upon his sick body. He just wanted to lie down and sleep,
regardless of the pulsating,throbbing pain that was in his right 
lower extremity.That is what nurses and doctors in the hospitals 
called them, the legs and arms were nothing but extremities. They 
were going to have a field day with his right lower extremity.
"Maybe they might have to cut you off if you keep making me sick."
He spoke to his right leg.

He was now on the edge of delirium with the fever, shivers and 
the uncontrollable urge to puke up nothing. His stomach was empty 
yet he still had the overwhelming urge to upchuck.

He stared up the empty stairwell and guessed it be about midnight,
he had left his watch in the apartment. He decided to sit down and 
take a small break, his body was demanding it and his mind agreed ,
what was still functioning of the gray mater inside of his fevered 
brain.

He leaned against the cold wall and it felt good to place his 
warm cheek against the cold hand rail.He would close his eyes for 
just a few seconds. Sleep or complete exhaustion took over and his 
body went limp on the stairs.

Hours Later

He awakened to a dark room and low,whispering voices in the 
background. His leg was on fire with pain and he could feel 
acid as it tickled his throat. He was about to throw up on the 
clean bedding when his little old neighbor walked into the room.

"Mr. Mulder, here is a bowl if you need to throw up." Her voice 
was low and comforting. 

Was this the little lady that just a couple of months ago had 
tried to have his badge for chasing a Hella Monster through 
her apartment after he had broken down her door? How in the Hell 
did he get here? He had to make sure he was where he thought he 
was and so he decided to ask,"Where am I?"

She smiled and patted his head,"You're next door to your apartment 
honey. You are very sick but I am working on it so go back to sleep 
sugar and I will make you all better."

Something was just not right and he wanted to ask where Scully was 
but his fevered brain wanted to do nothing more than go back to 
sleep. He was definitely sick and he wanted Scully not his 
unfriendly neighbor, Mrs Havershane and her son,what was 
his name? Oh yeah,Horace. It was Horace.Sleep took him back under 
and he went back to fevered dreams of the Hella monster who looked 
a lot like Horace.

Mulder's apartment

Scully knocked on the door and after several minutes of no answer 
from Mulder she took out her key ring and placed Mulder's key 
into the lock and opened door."Mulder!" she called through the 
empty apartment. She started to leave when she noticed that Mulder 
had left out several bottles of pain relievers on the coffee table. 
This was concerning and it was sending up alarms.

She closed the door to Mulder's apartment and locked it behind her. 
She knew that Mulder's car was parked outside of the building. 
She would inquire of his neighbor if an ambulance had come to 
take Mulder to the hospital. 

She remembered Mulder's little neighbor, Mrs. Havershane. She also 
remembered the trauma that Mulder had put the little lady through 
when he knocked down her door a couple of months ago running after 
a Hella Monster that just did not exist and the bureau had to foot 
the bill for a new door due to Mulder's antics. She hated to bother 
the elderly lady but Mulder had not showed up for work this morning 
and she needed to know if she had any idea what had happened. She 
would ask the super but he had a habit of staying up late at night 
watching television and would not even be out of bed before noon.

She walked over and knocked on the heavy wooden door. She almost 
thought that she was not at home when the little old lady showed 
up at the door with a small smile on her face.

"May I help you?" she asked in her kindest voice.

"I don't know if you remember me but my name is Agent Dana 
Scully." She pulled out her badge and held it up,"I hate to 
bother you but I am looking for my partner, Fox Mulder. I was 
wandering if you knew if an ambulance had picked him up last 
night?"

The little old lady shook her head and spoke softly and politely,
"No, is he sick?"

Scully placed her badge back into her coat pocket and shook her 
head,"I really don't know but he is missing and I was just 
wondering if you had seen him or if you heard anything last 
night."

"That poor sweet child. I hope you find him. He is such a sweet 
young man. Though he does have a big imagination, doesn't he?" 
She shook her head as if saddened by the fact that Mulder was 
missing.

"I am sorry that I had to bother you but I appreciate it 
Mrs Havershane."Scully was worried about her partner and 
needed to call a few hospitals. She waved to the little old 
lady and proceeded down the hallway pulling out her cell phone 
to call Skinner. She would need a little help in finding her 
partner.

The little old lady shut the door and started to go back to 
her duties of caring for the monster hunter. She would take 
care of him for only one purpose and that would be to watch 
her son devour him for a delicious dinner. She did hate to feed 
her son such a handsome man but he was a monster hunter and that 
was not a tolerable profession in her part of the country. She 
peaked into the bedroom and saw that her captive was still 
sleeping. She would need to make him some medicine to make 
him better.Her son would need a meal soon. Too bad Mr. Mulder 
had stopped Horace's eating frenzy a couple of months ago or he 
would be in hibernation now instead up at night so hungry that 
it made her very sad. She would take care of the problem though.

She shuffled off into the kitchen to make her potice for the 
Fox.She had to heal him first, she did not want her son to 
get an upset tummy.

J.Edgar Hoover Building
A.D.Skinner's Office
2Days Later

Mulder had officially been listed as 'MISSING' and the FBI office 
was abuzz about what could have happened to Spooky Mulder.
kinner's office was filled with agents gathering information on 
his lost agent. 

They had gathered all the evidence that they could find from 
Mulder's car and apartment. They were at a lost, no evidence 
of blood or semen. There was no evidence of foul play even. 
The apartment was checked 
for bugs and wire taps,even the bedroom lacked any information on 
what had happened to Mulder.No messages on the phone except for 
Scully's and Skinner's. The hospitals had been checked but no 
John Doe's or Fox Mulder.

Scully paced the floor, she had notified their friends, the Lone 
Gunmen but even they could not find any leads to what had 
happened to their friend either.They were as upset as Scully 
over the disappearance of Mulder.

"I'm going back to his apartment. That was the last place he was 
seen and I just can't explain it but that is where I think we 
should look for Mulder." She looked tired and her appearance 
was that of someone who had not slept in a couple of days.

Skinner looked over at his agent and shook his head. "I don't 
know Agent Scully.Maybe the Cigarette Smoking Man had 
something to do with Mulder's appearance. There has been no 
ransom calls or evidence of foul play.I just don't know." 

"I think the clues are there in his apartment. Maybe the pain meds 
were for an illness or a recent injury. His door on the driver's 
side of the car was unlocked and his running shoes and dress shoes 
were still beside of his bed. Something does not make any sense. 
Nobody saw anything yet there are pet owners in the building that 
walk their dogs and cats.I jsut don't accept that this fits the 
picture of a grown man just disappearing, without a clue."

"Maybe the clues are in a recent case.Maybe an act of revenge." 
Skinner paused and walked over to his desk and pulled the recent 
files off and handed them to Scully. Maybe this is where we 
should look first Agent Scully."

She nodded and took the proffered files and walked out of the 
office towards the basement. For some reason she felt a deep 
sense of urgency in finding her partner.She would check out 
Mulder's apartment later.

Horace walked through Mulder's apartment,he took a few moments to 
lean over and watch the small space ship in the fish tank,he was 
mesmerized by the up and down movement. He reached up on the shelf 
and retrieved the fish food and gave the fish a few sprinkles. He 
did not want the fish to die, that would be horrible. He doubted 
very seriosly that the red headed lady even thought about the 
small little guppies.

He placed the fish food back in its place and continued to walk 
around the room. The man needed fresh clothes, he was beginning to 
stink. Why do humans stink after just a few days, he asked himself 
as he gathered underwear and t-shirts and shorts for the sick man.

The man called Mulder had been having high fevers and he had not 
been awake in a couple of days. What would happen if the man died? 
He would need to find something to eat soon or he would die, 
it was simple, he could not live without a meal soon. 
He quickly gathered the clothes and started to exit into the 
hallway when he heard voices 
nearing the locked apartment. He quickly stuffed himself into the 
hall closet and closed the door.

"Langely step back I'm trying to pick the lock." A fustrated 
Byers whispered.

"I am better at picking locks, I have the expertice in this field." 
Langely quipped as he watched down the hallway for anybody that 
might catch them breaking into Mulder's apartment.

"Well it's my lock picker and I am going to pick it this time." 
Byers almost yelled at his friend as he opened the door to the 
apartment.

Frohike entered and looked around trying to detect any presence 
of any intruder. "Coast is clear." He entered with Byers and 
Langely following up the rear.

Langely quickly shut and locked the door,"Scully will kill us if 
she finds us in here." His voice nervous as he walked over and 
started going through Mulder's desk drawer then turning his full 
attention to Mulder's computer.

Each of the men had chosen certain areas that they would check 
prior to getting to Mulder's place. Fingerprint dust still 
stained all of the furniture,the computer and most everything 
else.

Frohike went to the bedroom and Byers to the kitchen.Langely 
continued trying to hack into Mulder's computer but he knew 
that Mulder knew a little bit more than the average Joe on the 
street so he had brought a few extra pieces of equipment with 
him to assist in the job.

Frohike yelled from the bedroom and when Langely and Byers 
entered they almost tripped over him as he squatted on the floor.

"Dammit Hickey what are you doing down there?" Langely belted 
out as he recovered from the near fall.

"Look what I found. It's a dent in the wood."He pointed to the 
area with magnifying glass in hand.

"That could have happened anytime since he got the furniture."
Byers felt exasperated at his friend's finding.

"No. Look at this guys." He took out the can of luminal and 
strayed the area and it turned blue under the flourescent 
lighting that Frohike had provided. "We have blood folks. 
Probably recent."

"He could have stumped his toe.Anything could have happened Hickey." 
Langely snuffed as he exited the room to go back to the computer.

Byers shook his head but he was open to suggestions."I guess he 
could have broken a toe with that kind of impact but with the large 
doses of pain medication I would have to assume that something
worse had occurred. Maybe a head injury or maybe even a concussion."

"That could explain why he hasn't contacted Scully." Frohike 
interjected as he cleaned up the mess that he had made with 
the luminal.

Langely burst into the bedroom with a look of panic, "She's at 
the door. What do we do?" he announced the arrival of Scully in 
total panic. She would surely kill them for messing with a crime 
scene.

"The closet." Byers whispered loudly, "Get into the closet." 
All three men pushed into Mulder's bedroom closet.

"Get off my foot idiot." Frohike almost yelled out in pain.

"Sorry short man,didn't see ya." Langely mumbled in the dark 
of the closet.

Scully opened the door with her spare key and walked across the 
room and sat down on Mulder's sofa.She was exhausted and all she 
wanted to do was find her partner. Where the Hell was he? Wherever 
he was he had better have a good excuse for worrying her so much.

She leaned her head back on the couch and closed her eyes.Sleep 
soon overcame her and she nodded her head down on the soft pillow 
that lay on the arm of the couch.

Mrs Havershane's Apartment

"Where is my little Horace. I hope nothing has happened to my 
precious little boy." She chanted in her sweet little voice. 

Mulder could hear her from the bedroom from which he knew now 
that he was being held captive. Fever or no fever he knew that 
Horace was a monster. He was a Hella monster,a creature from the 
Scandanavian Countryside. It's major source of food was humans,
it would eat then hibernate in the ground for six months.He 
must have interrupted the cycle because according to his 
information Horace should be sleeping.

The door to his bedroom creeked open and the little old woman 
entered with a warm ,wet compress for his leg. She seemed upset 
and did not speak, all she did was exchange the compresses and 
pull two pills from a bottle."You need to take your medicine 
Mr. Mulder,we need you to hurry and get better." She smiled a 
sardonic grin,knowing well her intentions were to prepare her 
captive for a great meal for her wonderful son,Horace.

"How long have I been here?" He asked,not really expecting an 
answer but hoping to get the attention of his captive for just a 
few moments to gather some information.

"Now don't worry about that son, I am taking good care of your leg. 
It was infected and I am making it better." She handed Mulder 
the pills and reached up to fluff his pillow,smiling the whole 
time as she busied herself making him feel comfortable in the 
huge iron rod bed.

"Well, you are taking good care of me but I am concerned about 
my partner, she is probably worrying about me right now." He hoped 
to get her attention for a few moments longer but she shook her head.

"I have taken care of everything and I told her that you were 
in good hands. She is such a sweet young lady. She told me that 
she would see you at work when you started feeling better." She 
handed him a fresh glass of water to take the pills.

Mulder now knew that he was in big trouble, he suddenly realized 
that he was going to be Horace's winter meal.He popped the medicine 
under his tongue and pretended to swallow the bitter pills and 
smiled a thank you to the little old lady.

She smiled and started out of the door,"I will fix you a snack. I 
bet you are getting your appetite back." She turned and shut the 
door behind her.

Mulder pulled the pills from his mouth and threw them behind the 
bed. He had to get the hell out of this little demented woman's 
apartment, who wanted to fatten him up so she could feed him to 
her son. He could make it to his apartment and call for backup. 
He pushed the blanket off and started to stand noting that the 
leg felt worse actually than it had just a couple of days ago. 
The color was now a dark red and it was very warm to touch. 
"This isn't good." He whispered to himself. His fever was also 
still running high but he was not delirious.He knew that he had 
to get out now or he would be the main course for Horace in just 
a few days.

He wobbled over to the door. He did not know where Horace was 
keeping himself but he did know that he was too weak to fight 
such a huge man. He opened  the door and looked out into the 
living room area and when he did not see anybody he ran towards 
the door, his bad leg was in excruciating pain by the time he 
reached the entrance to the apartment.

"Where are you going Mr. Mulder?" The sweet voice was asking 
him as he undid the chains on the door.

"I need to get something from my apartment, if you don't 
mind Mrs Havershane." He lied as his fingers turned the knob 
on the door and his good leg entered the hallway.

"You are too sick to be walking Mr. Mulder. Horace can fetch 
whatever you might need. You need to get back into bed." She 
motioned for him to get back into the apartment but his hands 
were reaching for his apartment door's knob when outstepped Horace 
from his apartment.He seemed to be walking on his tip toes and 
trying hard to be very quiet.

"What are you doing in my apartment?" Mulder almost yelled to the 
large, bulking man who seemed very surprised that Mulder was 
trying to 
escape.

Horace held his fingers to his mouth, shushing Mulder.

"Get the Hell out of my way Horace. I am a federal agent and 
I will press charges if you do not move now." Mulder was leaning 
against the wall, sweat beading up on his face from the exertion 
he had exuded in his escape from the Hella mother's apartment.

Suddenly Scully was standing at the door with gun drawn and pointed 
at the little old woman and Horace."Put your hands up in the air. 
Now!" She yelled at the twosome.She glanced at her partner standing 
against the wall looking like Hell, "Are you okay Mulder?"

Mulder took that as the clue to faint .Scully was in control and 
handling the situation just fine. His body slid down the wall and 
he fell to the floor.

Alexandria Memorial Hospital

He felt a cool hand lying on his warm forehead and he was still 
in pain but he felt actually somewhat better. He was curious 
whose caring hand was touching him and his curiosity made him 
open his matted eyes."Scully?"

"No Mulder, it's me Skinner. I was just checking you for fever. 
The nurse asked me if she should get you something else for your 
fever." Skinner quickly removed his hand and sat back down in 
the chair. 

"Where's Scully?" he asked weakly.

"She's down at the police station getting your two neighbors 
booked on kidnapping charges. She wanted me to come over and 
stay until she could get here." Skinner fidgeted in his chair, 
uncomfortable playing the nursemaid for his agent.

"Oh." Mulder tried to straighten up a little bit in the bed but the 
movement caused him pain. "What the Hell is going on with my leg?" 
The grimace on his face giving away his manly demeanor.

"The doctor said you have cellulitis, an infection around the 
tissue. They are doing blood cultures to determine the cause 
but they are treating it with a broad spectrum antibiotic to 
prevent necrotizing fasciitis, the flesh eating virus. The 
Motrin that you had been taking for the inflammation was 
actually suppressing the normal inflmmatory response to the 
cellulitis. The doctor said that was not a very good judgment 
call Mulder." Skinner recited like a professional.

Mulder looked at Skinner like he had just turned into a 
medical professional,he hesistated for a moment and asked,"Where is 
Scully and what did you do with her?"

Skinner smiled,"Mulder, I need to go back to the office. Scully 
will be back in a while. Just get better." He stood and walked 
to the door and turned around,"A Hella monster Mulder?"

Mulder nodded and watched as Skinner shrugged his shoulders and 
walked out of the room with a look of puzzlement.

The nurse walked into the room with a small cup in hand, "Hey Mr. 
Mulder, my name is Vickie. I have something for your fever. I just 
need you to roll over and let me place it in your rectum." The 
nurse pulled on a pair of latex gloves and was lathering the pill 
with some vaseline, smiling a huge grin.

"Pills please?" He asked knowing that the nurse was going to 
have just too much fun placing it where the sun did not shine.

She shook her head and placed a hand on his hip and assisted 
the turn. 

Mulder'e eyes grew big as the nurse placed the suppository 
securely into position.

Mulder's Apartment

"Do you think she's gone yet?" Langely asked as he tried to 
stretch out in the cramped closet.

"I don't hear her, maybe she left."Byers added as he felt 
Langely's foot slide underneath his butt. He was trying to 
reach down and remove it when Frohike screamed a girly scream.

"I think a spider just crawled into my pants." Frohike's voice was 
so high pitched that it made Byers stop what he was doing and think.

"That's my hand Fro, Sorry." Byers apologized as he pulled his 
hand back.

"I'm getting the Hell out of here. Death from Scully's gun would 
beat getting molested by Byers." Frohike opened the door and looked 
around the room and tried to see into the living room but could not 
get a glimpse of the couch.

"Are you sure Hickey. She would shoot first and ask questions 
later." Langely whispered. The men all looked at each other 
and marched back into the dark closet. 

"Dammit." Frohike muttered as he sat back down in the corner 
of the small room."I really need to go to the bathroom.That chilli 
may have been a bad idea." A loud noise came from the close along 
followed two moaning voices.

The End