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Scully blinked, looking
around. Everything seemed blurry. “Where am I?” she murmured.
“Scully? You
awake?” Mulder said. Everything seemed to clear a bit. She was sitting
in the front passenger seat and Mulder was next to her, driving his car
on a freeway. Samantha was sitting behind him. Scully touched her head,
wincing with the headache that was still there.
“How do you feel?”
Samantha asked worriedly.
Scully forced
a faint laugh. “Lousy. What happened?”
Mulder glanced
at her then turned back to stare at the road. “You collapsed just outside
my mother’s house. We’re bringing you to the hospital.”
“Mulder, I’m
sure I’ll be fine in a couple of hours. All I need is a little rest. It’s
really unnecessary.”
He said nothing.
Scully sighed. He could be so stubborn at times.
The car was silent
until they reached the hospital. Scully tried to get out of the car, but
found that her legs could not support her. Utterly embarrassed, she was
helped inside by Mulder and Samantha.
As soon as she
was inside, a nurse pushed a wheelchair over to them and gently placed
her in it. She was wheeled away with Mulder and Samantha looking after.
She sighed.
Many x-rays and
other tests later, Scully walked back into the waiting room. Mulder and
Samantha stood. “So? How’d it go? Feel better?”
“Much better.”
Scully forced a smile. “Mulder, could you come with me for a second?”
Mulder glanced
at Samantha. “Sure, Scully.” He walked with her to an X-ray viewing room.
“What’s wrong?”
Scully took a
deep breath, placed a few X-rays on the viewer, and turned on the lamps.
“Mulder, it’s spreading. See these dark spots?” She gestured to most of
the X-ray. “Those are cancer cells. It has spread from the original area
in the nasal cavity to my brain and other places as well. Blood tests show
that there are quite a few cells in my bloodstream.”
“How much are
‘quite a few?’”
“About 10 million.”
“That’s a few?”
“For blood cells.”
Scully looked at the X-rays again. “Mulder, when my oncologist first studied
it, it seemed it wouldn’t spread. It’s spread in the past 2 months as much
as it should have in 2 years. This is unlike any form of cancer I’ve ever
seen.”
“Isn’t there
any way you could stop it? Slow it down?”
“You know I don’t
want treatment. Chemotherapy only made me feel worse. I could get surgery
on these new areas, but I don’t want to be out for weeks. No chemo, no
surgery. Nothing that would make me stop working.”
“Scully, this
thing might kill you if you don’t get it treated now. Maybe it won’t kill
you today or tomorrow, but isn’t it true that it could be much worse if
you don’t get it treated early? I supported your decision before, but if
it’s spreading that fast you should do something about it. A few weeks
isn’t that long. I can manage without you for a while. If not the one that
can’t be operated, you should get surgery for the ones that can.”
“No. I’ll feel
a lot better with myself when I die if I keep working now than if I stop
working to fight this, but die to it anyway.”
Mulder put a
hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine
now. Who knows in a few months, but now is really all that matters. I can’t
worry about the future.”
He nodded solemnly
and took her back into the waiting room. Samantha stood. “Is everything
okay, Fox?”
“Everything’s
fine, Samantha. Let’s go.” He smiled.
“You can just
drop me off at the motel.” Scully suggested.
“Fox,” Samantha
said in an almost whining voice. “We can’t just leave her all alone! What
if something happens to her? What if she collapses again? We should take
her back to Mom’s house. That way we can look after her.”
Scully did not
like the idea that she needed someone to “look after her.” “Samantha,”
she began gently. “I’ll be fine. If I need anything, I’ll call.”
“You can’t call
if you’re unconscious.” Samantha turned to Mulder. “Fox, please. I’ll never
forgive you if you leave Dana all alone.” She gave Mulder a sad puppy-dog
face. Mulder looked at Scully helplessly.
“Alright,” he
said finally.
Scully nearly
groaned. It worked every time.