The paramedics had placed Mulder on a heart monitor and were 
hanging the second liter of lactated ringers as they pulled 
up to the ambulance bay. They quickly removed him from the 
ambulance and were met at the door by Dr. Andrea Meadows. 
" Hey Mulder. Dana called me and told me that you were coming. 
You been playing with the bad boys again?"

Mulder smiled a small pain filled grin, then replied in a 
low whisper, "Anything to see you Andrea."

" Flattery will get you everywhere Mulder. Keep it up." She 
smiled and called out to the other personnel, "Trauma room 
one!" Then she looked down at her friend's partner and 
grinned, "Only the best for you Mulder."

The paramedics quickly gave their report and as they started 
to leave they patted Mulder on the shoulder and wished him 
luck, "I will need it." He moaned as Dr. Meadows pulled off 
the first sandbag then the second.

Mulder reached up and pulled down the oxygen mask and looked 
around for Dr. Meadows. She noticed and tried to pull the 
mask back up but Mulder had a firm grip. "Andrea, my leg 
hurts. It's killing me." A fine sheen of sweat had developed 
above his lips and across his forehead.

She knew his leg was hurting and called out for the nurse to 
give Demerol 100 milligrams intravenously. She knew Mulder 
had a high tolerance for pain meds due to his multiple 
injuries. After ordering the medicine she looked back down 
at her friend's partner. "Hey we're getting you something 
for pain now. I really need to take a look at that leg." She 
knew that Mulder had to be in a lot of pain to admit that he 
needed some pain medicine.

He was getting more uncomfortable and was starting to beg 
for some relief," Please Andrea make it stop hurting." His 
voice was shaky and his eyes were filled with tears.

Her mood changed from playful to serious," Hey FBI man, let 
me take a look at that leg." She pulled away the pressure 
bandage and a loud moan escaped Mulder's throat. She cut 
away the material covering the wound then loosened the belt 
that Scully had placed earlier. Mulder's eyes slammed shut 
and he was biting his lip now. She assessed the wound and 
noted that the wound was jagged and measured at 
approximately six inches and was very deep. There was 
possible damage to the femur, blood vessels and muscle. She 
was about to roll Mulder over when Dr. Harriman entered the 
cubicle. The nurse was inserting the Demerol into the 
intravenous line. Andrea motioned for the nurse to help roll 
Mulder over to his side. The nurse finished the med and 
together they rolled him.

Dr Harriman walked over and assisted in turning a now 
screaming Mulder over to his side. His eyes were shut 
tightly and sweat was beading up and rolling down his face. 
" What happened Dr. Meadows?" He asked his tone of voice 
conveyed great concern he assessed the wound, it was 
definitely a gunshot wound.

" Evidently it's more than what Scully or I thought. It was 
reported as a tear caused by a falling crate but he 
evidently was shot." They rolled a now almost unconscious 
Mulder on his back and Dr. Harriman started shouting out 
orders. After he made sure he was going to be able to take 
Mulder straight up to surgery due to the nature of the wound 
and the large amount of blood loss he looked down at Mulder, 
who was trying to open his eyes." Mulder, I'm sorry you are 
having so much pain but I need to talk to you for a few 
minutes. We need to take you to surgery. You have a gunshot 
wound and I believe you may have a lot of damage in there. 
We need to see what that bullet did to the nerves and bone. 
Do you understand?"

" Where is Scully? She knows what to do now." he groaned. He 
tried to open his eyes but they were failing him, he had to 
get something else for pain though because his leg was 
killing him. " Please give me something for pain. I am 
hurting. It's bad."

Both Dr. Meadows and Dr. Harriman looked at each other and 
she spoke softly," Mulder we gave you something for pain. 
Did it help any?"

He became quiet, as in thought and then answered," It still 
hurts but it's not as bad as before the medicine. But it 
burns like fire." He answered, the grimace on his face told 
the rest.

Dr Harriman ordered Morphine 10mgs intramuscularly and then 
went out to schedule a surgical suite for Mulder. The nurse 
was hanging a unit of plasma and a unit of blood. She then 
turned and drew up the Morphine. She proceeded to pulled 
down the sheet and rub Mulder's upper thigh and before 
Mulder could say anything he felt the sting of the needle in 
his upper leg and it added to his pain. " Sorry , I'm not 
allowed to move your other leg. Hopefully you will get some 
pain relief in a few minutes." He kept his eyes closed and 
hoped that he could get relief soon.

Dr Harriman reentered the cubicle and Mulder seemed more 
relaxed. He went over with the chart and noted that the leg 
was still oozing. He was ready to take him to surgery. " 
Mulder we need to do a couple of things before we take you 
to surgery."

Mulder nodded but did not open his eyes.

"Is the medicine helping some with the pain?" He asked as he 
and the nurse started gathering his IV's and tubes.

" Some. It doesn't hurt as bad as it did before." His voice 
was slurred and groggy. The effects of the drugs were more 
evident.

"Mulder, when is the last time you ate?" he asked, already 
knowing that Mulder had been working on a case due to the 
fact he could count each one of Mulder's ribs.

Mulder hesitated for a few seconds as in thought, "Maybe 
yesterday. I don't remember." He mumbled.

Dr Harriman nodded, he had guessed correctly. He knew Mulder 
and his propensity to neglect his health when working on a 
stressful case. " Okay we are ready to take you to surgery 
Mulder. I will assist with the surgery so I need to go on 
up. Dr Meadows will bring you up soon." He placed the chart 
on the table beside the bed. Before he could exit the room 
he heard Mulder clear his throat. He looked down at his 
suffering patient and wondered where his partner was at, 
"Mulder, where is Agent Scully?

"Is she not here yet?" His voice sounded childlike and he 
was very groggy from the medicine.

He instinctively knew that if she were here then she would 
be at his side, " No Mulder she's not here yet or we would 
all know, trust me. She is definitely one to make her 
presence known. I'm sure she will be here soon."

The lab tech entered and was soon followed by the xray 
technician. Dr Harriman gently rubbed Mulder's shoulder. " I 
will see you in a few minutes Mulder. They will bring you up 
to surgery once they get what I've ordered."

Mulder nodded and soon afterwards he felt a stick in his arm 
and then they were clearing the room for the xray. The next 
thing he felt was the movement of the gurney down the 
hallway. The lights were bright so he kept his eyes closed. 
A smoothing voice came down over his head," Mr. Mulder we 
are taking you to surgery. Are you doing okay?"

He nodded his head and tried to face the brightness of the 
lights but was unable to open them. He felt heavy with the 
drugs but the pain in his leg was ebbing through the drugged 
haze.

The next awareness that he had was the movement from the 
gurney to the operating table. It was hard and cold and they 
were removing the warm blankets. He could feel the chill of 
the room and the people in the room were quiet but they were 
attaching monitors and clipping something to his finger. A 
voice came from overhead, "Mr. Mulder we are going to give 
you something to help you relax. We also need to start a 
central line that will go into your chest. You will feel a 
small bee sting and then it will feel numb. You may feel a 
little pressure but not much."

An oxygen mask was placed over his nose and mouth and he 
reacted by opening his eyes. A cold liquid was going over 
his collar bone and  the bite of the needle hit his chest. 
He cringed but within a few seconds he was feeling numb. The 
room was filled with masked faces. They had his arms now 
restrained to two arm boards and he felt anxious. The 
familiar feeling of the drugs were hitting his system but he 
knew that he could not go to sleep until Scully arrived. 
"Where is Scully?" His voice sounded frantic even to his own 
ears.

Dr Harriman looked down and saw that his patient was pulling 
against he restraints. He was trying to get to the mask but 
was being stopped by the soft cloth around each wrist. " The 
restraints are to keep you from pulling things out and 
messing up the sterile field Mulder. Lie still and let us do 
our job." He sounded impatient with his tone but it was more 
out of concern for Mulder's increasing agitation.

" The line is in and secured." The voice announced above his 
head.

" Mulder we are going to let you sleep so we can work on 
your leg. Quit fighting the drugs and go to sleep." Dr 
Harriman's voice was more soothing now but Mulder did not 
want to sleep, he needed Scully.

A few seconds later Mulder could feel a heavy pull of drugs 
but even through the drugs he could feel the familiar 
snaking of the foley catheter as it entered his bladder. He 
wanted to try to move away from the torturous device but 
they had him strapped down tight. He could not go to sleep 
without Scully. She would tell him what to do, because she 
was his best friend and his doctor.

The anesthesiologist looked up at Harriman and shrugged his 
shoulders," He's fighting."

" Get Scuwy. Pease get Scuwy." His voice slurry from the 
drugs and muffled by the mask.

The cold liquid was being painted on his open wound and more 
pain was seeping into his drugged mind. What were they 
doing? They were suppose to make the pain go away, not 
making it worse. He needed Scully and nobody was listening 
to him. "Scully. Get Scuwy now!" He begged the doctors.

Dr. Harriman could no longer allow his patient to be in such 
an agitated state. He approached Mulder and bent down close 
to Mulder's face so that he could hear and not the rest of 
the room, "Mulder, I know you want Scully but she is not 
here yet. We need to take care of that leg. I promise that 
she will be in recovery when you wake up." He hesitated a 
second and repeated, "I promise Mulder."

"Noooooo!" He yelled through the mask. The drugs were taking 
away his fight but he needed Scully.

Dr. Harriman looked up to the anesthesiologist," Let's get 
him under. That leg can't wait."

The anesthesiologist nodded and pushed a large dose of 
Valium and soon Mulder was out and being intubated.

Dr Harriman shook his head and started working on the 
injured leg. As he made the initial cut he could tell there 
was a lot of damage. " Looks like this is going to take a 
while." He muttered through his mask. " This is going to 
hurt like Hell when you wake up Mulder." He shook his head 
and continued to work on the damaged leg.

Five hours later Recovery Room Post Surgical

The sounds of low beeps and the constant humming of the 
machines were the first sounds he heard as the drugs began 
to fade from his system.But as the drugs started to fade the 
pain started to edge back into his tired mind. He found that 
he was unable to speak due to a tube in his throat and then 
he was overcome by the need to gag. He wanted the tube out 
of his throat but his wrists were still restrained and he 
started to struggle against the bindings.

He started to gag and sputter. Bells and alarms were 
sounding and the nurse was trying to calm her patient down. 
He wanted to get the tube out of his throat. They were 
trying to tell him something but all he could feel was the 
tube in his throat and the need to expel it.

Dr Harriman entered the recovery unit and saw that his 
patient was in distress. " Hey Mulder. You need to calm 
down." He instructed his now writhing patient.

He wasn't understanding the voices but he was gagging and 
choking on the tube in his throat. He seemed to be in his 
own little world of agony.

Dr Harriman looked around and found the nurse trying to keep 
Mulder from moving the heavy dressing on his leg. "Go and 
get his partner, Dana Scully. She is out in the waiting 
room." The nurse left immediately.

Upon hearing the name of his partner and best friend he 
started trying to gain control over the need to gag. He 
wanted to see Scully. He wanted to hear her voice so he 
attempted to stifle the gagging feeling.

" Mulder, Mulder." Her voice was calm and controlled. She 
gently called his name to let him know that she was there 
and to hopefully calm her partner's struggles.

He continued to fight the tube in his throat and tears were 
flowing from his eyes and down his face. The gagging also 
continued and Scully was getting concerned about his 
agitated state.

Again she tried, "Mulder, its me Scully." She spoke in a 
firmer tone of voice.

That did the trick and Mulder almost immediately stopped 
struggling. He opened his eyes and stared up at her big blue 
eyes. He could feel her hand squeezing his shoulder and her 
eyes spoke a multitude of the concern he had caused his 
partner. She looked tired, more like exhausted. He was 
relieved that she was with him though. She would have them 
remove the damned tube from his tormented throat.

Dr Harriman was saying something now to Scully. He felt 
drugged and was having difficulty understanding what the 
doctor was saying until he started talking about the tube.

" Dr. Scully, I am going to have to keep the tube in 
probably the rest of the day due to low sats. We have turned 
down the respirator but his Oxygen levels drop. He had to 
have a lot of medication for the pain and some heavy duty meds
to keep him under. Probably decreased his respiratory ability 
to a certain extent. We will try later tonight to get the tube 
out."

Scully nodded as in understanding of the fact that Mulder 
would require more medication due to his history. She knew 
as a medical doctor that drugs could suppress the 
respiratory system. She hated this for Mulder. He was not 
able to understand this was for his own good.

Mulder waited for his partner to tell the physician that he 
could not handle the tube but instead she was agreeing to 
let him keep it down. Mulder did not like the idea of the 
tube staying and he was feeling the anxiety build up inside him
due to the doctor's words. Again he started to struggle against 
the restraints but suddenly felt hands on his leg and on his 
upper body. His hands were still restrained and all he 
wanted to do was to reach up and remove the torturous tube 
from his aching throat. He was gagging again and there were 
orders being given and they were trying to talk to him 
through his drugged haze. Scully was also trying but all he 
could do was fight.

' Just take out the damned tube and I will calm down. I will 
be fine.' He thought to himself as he felt the feeling of 
the drugs coursing through his veins. His struggles were 
weakening, as the drugs grew stronger in his system. Within 
minutes he was sleeping with the help of the medicines and 
the soft lull of Scully's voice.

" Go to sleep Mulder." Her voice was soft and comforting. And he 
did.




Part three