Title: Waltzing Down the Fair Weather Highway (2 of ?)
Author: phoenix99 (xphoenix99@hotmail.com)
Category: MSR Angst angst ummm... angst. yes, this is a WIP 
Rating: R for stuff
Spoilers: Tithonus 
Summary: Mulder's in the hospital, Scully tries to explain 
to herself what happened, she also discovers that there are 
a few other people interested in what exactly happened in that 
factory.
Archive: sure, if you want to. Just tell where.  
Feedback:  uh yeah. love it. need it. gets me motivated
Disclaimer: The X-Files and everything related to it 
belong to Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen Productions and 
Fox, and is used without permission. No copyright 
infringement intended, and no profit will be made.

*this is part 2 in a series.

NOTE: this is something that can't be avoided. The hospital 
scene. It may be boring, but it's necessary for the story 
to continue smoothly.

Special thanks to 'iga58' for being my..uhhh... editor and 
being the inspiration for 'The Corpse' who will appear in the 
third part of this story.

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I could tell it was a hospital even before I opened my 
eyes. 
It's the smell. 

Someone had changed my clothes. The stickiness from 
before had turned to stale, thin fabric. 

Also another indication of a hospital.

Opening my eyes confirmed my suspicions. 

I was laying on an examining table. I wore a hospital 
gown, my clothes discarded in a bag by the door marked 
'soiled linen'.  

The clock on the wall indicated it was 4:12.
I've been out for almost two hours.


Memories of the incident return with a vengeance. 
Agonizing clarity of the moments that made up one of 
the worst days of my life.

Why had I said it?

The Fellig case had happened almost a year ago. It had 
rattled me, but I brushed it off. I never told Mulder 
what he said to me; that I may live the same life he did.

I never told anyone. 

Because immortality isn't scientifically possible, right?

When Fellig looked away from death he never told the 
nurse who was holding his hand to look away.

When I was dying, and Fellig was holding my hand , he 
didn't look away.

When Mulder was dying, Diana was holding his hand, 
and I didn't tell her to look away.

Maybe it was just her time.

No.

It wasn't her time; I made it her time. 

Anything could have caused her death. I'm sure the 
autopsy will show what happened.

If I had been the one holding Mulder's hand would I have 
died in that factory?


I noticed someone had deposited my overnight bag 
on a chair near the door. I quickly got dressed. The 
familiar anxiety of needing to find out Mulder's 
condition was slowly making it's way into my already 
agitated mood.

I practically came running out of the room, but I 
didn't have to look far for a source of information. 
Skinner was only two metres away talking with 
Mulder's mom. I tried not to make my surprise 
evident. She wasn't usually here this quickly if she 
even came at all.

They looked up at me and Skinner waved me over.

"How are you feeling Agent Scully?"

"Fine. How's Mulder?"

Skinner glanced over at Teena, then back at me.

"We don't know any details yet, but the nurse said 
that it looks really promising; that it's not as 
bad as what they originally thought when they 
examined him at the crime scene."

Not as bad. Not as bad? It had been terrible. 
I saw the wound. If was fatal. I saw it.
 
"Mrs. Mulder, would you excuse us for a second?"

She nodded and began to walk down the hall. The 
click of her heels on the cool linoleum made the 
hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

I'm not sure why.

"Sir, I need to perform an autopsy on Diana 
Fowley."

Skinner's face was unreadable at first. He looked 
down at the floor, as if to compose himself, then 
lifted his gaze back up in my direction.

"I can't let you do that Scully."

"Why not?"

"that's what I have to talk to you about."

"What?"

"An OPR panel has been assembled to investigate her 
death. Since you were the only coherent witness 
when she died, they need you to testify at the 
hearing. You can't be in contact with any of the... 
evidence. Besides, an autopsy has already been done."

"And what did they find?"

He sighed. "I don't know."

"What?"

"Look, Scully. Mulder probably isn't going to be out 
of surgery for another hour, hour and a half. Let me 
drive you home. You should get some rest."

"What do you mean 'you don't know'?"

I was become increasingly wired and angry. Skinner 
was avoiding the subject.

He wasn't usually as easy to read as an open 
book, but for some reason his emotions were obvious 
by just glancing at him. And in this case he had 
liar written all over his face. 
 
"Scully, calm down."

"Tell me what they found."

"I'm not suppose to be discussing this with you..."

I locked gazes with him and proceeded to stare him 
down. 

He sighed, walked over to a chair set outside 
someone's room and sat down. I walked over to stand 
in front of him, crossing my arms infront of my chest. 

Intimidation was about the only thing I had going for 
me at the moment.

"They found no cause of death."

I couldn't respond... No cause of death?

"I don't know anything concrete yet, but you and 
Mulder's conduct might be questioned as well. 
Specifically you, since you were the only one 
there who was actually conscious during the 
incident... Agent Manson said he didn't see 
anything; that when he left to get help she was 
still alive. What the hell happened up there?" 

I didn't answer his question, and found myself 
thinking outloud instead.  

"They're going to blame me for her death..."

This was fitting...

"We don't know that. They may not want you 
in contact with the evidence so that it won't 
effect your testimony."

...the woman I despise the most is killed under 
mysterious circumstances and I was the only 
conscious person in the room with her when she 
died. 

No cause of death. She just dropped dead right there.

That isn't possible. They must have messed up the 
autopsy, missed something, overlooked important 
information. She could have had a heart condition, 
maybe she was poisoned and they missed it in the 
tox screen...it could be anything.

No cause of death.

How the hell is that possible?

With the amount of screaming and obvious pain she 
was going through, there must have been some evidence. 
People don't just drop dead like she did. Some people 
die mysteriously, but not like that. That was violent, 
painful... 

"Excuse me?"

Skinner and I both turned to see a young nurse in 
scrubs coming down the hall. She smiled at us then 
focused her attention on Skinner.

"Are you Mr. Skinner?" 

"Yes?"

"I came out to update you on Agent Mulder's condition. 
He's doing great, well, for someone who was just shot 
in the stomach..."

From the looks we were giving her she must have 
realized we were in no mood for small talk, and she 
got right to the point.

"...anyway, it doesn't seem to be the life threatening 
injury we originally thought it was. He'll be out of 
surgery in half an hour. The drugs we gave him should 
wear off in about three hours, he can have some visitors 
then."

"I'm a doctor, and I was there when he was shot. I saw 
the wound and it was definitely life threatening. How 
could he be out of surgery so quickly and how come I'm 
being told that it wasn't life threatening?"

The nurse glanced nervously down at the chart she was 
holding then back up at me.

"You must have missed diagnosed... the surgeon is saying 
that the original diagnosis of his injury by the paramedics 
was too sever for it be correct... sorry I can't help to 
further, maybe you can talk to the emergency people who 
first saw him when he came in."   

She smiled again and walked away in the other direction.

Skinner turned to look at me, worry etched into his stern 
feature. 

"Scully, I'm going to take you home. You're in no shape 
to drive, and I think you should get some rest... I'll 
come pick you up at seven so you can be here when he 
wakes up."

I nodded.

Skinner eyed me suspiciously. I gave up trying to argue 
with him about it. He wasn't use to me agreeing with him
this easily, but I was exhausted and I needed time to 
think. Maybe a few hours at home would help me relax. I 
needed to get control before I had to face Mulder. I had 
to be prepared for his inevitable interrogation of what 
happened. 

Something I'm not sure how to deal with. 


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to be continued...
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