Three Men & a Mom
by Susan Proto  (STPteach@aol.com)

Disclaimers in Part 1

Part 4/4

Frohike was the first to hear it.  "Shit!  Do you hear that?" he asked 
in hopeful amazement.

"Ohmigod, they've plowed through!" Maggie exclaimed in a 
mixture of excitement and relief.

"I'll go point the way," said Byers pragmatically. 

While Byers went to the door, Langly moved over to where 
Maggie had been sitting all this time.  She'd given him another 
sponge bath, but Mulder hadn't been conscious since his seizure.  
"Hey, Mulder Man, they did it!" he said in a quiet, but upbeat tone.  
"The cavalry has arrived, my friend!"

Frohike looked over at Maggie and wondered how she managed to 
keep her composure for this long.  There was no doubt in his mind 
where her daughter got her strength.  "Maggie, he's going to be 
okay, you know.  Mulder is like that watch, you know?  Takes a 
lickin' but keeps on tickin' ?"

"I know, but the parts have to wear out eventually, don't they 
Melvin?  He can't go on like this and expect to live a long life.  The 
parts are just going to give out," she said.  For the first time all 
night, Frohike saw tears pool in Maggie's eyes.  Now that she was 
ready to turn over the baton to the next caregivers, Maggie was 
finally allowing herself to feel something other than stoicism.  

They both looked up to see Byers pointing the way into the house 
to the patient.  The two EMTs came in with as much equipment as 
they could handle, but they'd left the gurney in the ambulance. 
They didn't think they would be able to negotiate it over the snow 
covered paths to the Scully entrance.  They would have to 
improvise something to enable them to carry their charge out to the 
ambulance and place him on the gurney there.

The man, James Honig, and woman, Cathy Murphy, set themselves 
to work right away.  The three men and Maggie stood off to the 
side, wanting to do more, yet knowing the best thing they could do 
for their friend was to let James and Cathy do their job.

As they got their equipment ready, Honig noticed the state of 
Mulder's undress and asked, "High fever?"

"Yes," said Maggie, grateful she could provide some assistance.  
"He was up to 105 about an hour ago.  He had a seizure."

He nodded and proceeded to take his temperature, using a 
thermometer much like the one Maggie used.  Murphy, in the 
meanwhile, set up communications with the base hospital, 
University of Maryland Medical Center.

"103 and a half," he said aloud as Murphy wrote the information 
down on a chart.  Next he took Mulder's blood pressure and found 
it to be on the high side. "BP's 160 over 110, Cath," informed 
Honig.  He watched as she wrote the information down, while he 
took Mulder's pulse.  "It's around a hundred, so it's within normal 
range, but somehow I get the feeling that's a bit high for this guy.  
Ma'am," he said turning to Maggie, "would you know if he's 
athletic?"

"Yes, he runs and swims every chance he gets," she confirmed.

"I figured," Honig nodded.  "Cathy, his normal pulse is probably 
closer to sixty to seventy, so a hundred should be considered as 
rapid."  

"Got it.  Respirations?" she asked.  

"Ten.  Get the O2 ready, okay?" Honig advised.  Murphy nodded in 
agreement as she dialed into the hospital base to receive 
confirmation on treatment.  

The paramedics worked quickly as they confirmed with the 
hospital base team their next acts.  They started IV lines for Saline 
and prepped an area for a possible blood transfusion.  The EMTs 
noted the badly bruised abdominal area and confirmed with 
Maggie there was blood in Mulder's urine earlier.  

Honig and Murphy then encouraged Maggie and the Gunmen to 
enlighten them with any other information they believed would be 
helpful in understanding the patient's condition, as well as anything 
that might help in his course of treatment.

"Get Agent Scully here, STAT," muttered Frohike.  

"Sorry, what was that?" asked Murphy.

"His partner, Agent Scully, is out of town, but he relies upon her a 
lot when he gets hurt," explained Frohike.

"He gets hurt a lot?" asked Honig.

"Nature of the job," interjected Byers, "FBI."

The paramedics nodded their understanding and prompted the 
others to share any other information.  Once that was done, Honig 
and Murphy readied their patient for transport quickly, and before 
Maggie or the Gunmen realized it, Mulder was being carried out 
on a blanket to the awaiting gurney.  

The four of them immediately grabbed their coats in order to 
follow.  Maggie asked if it would be possible to travel with 
Mulder, but the EMT's suggested it might be safer for everyone 
concerned if she traveled separately.

Maggie didn't argue.  She realized it would be a harrowing enough 
drive, plowed streets or no plowed streets.  The snow was still 
coming down rather heavily, and where ever it had been cleared 
was now rapidly becoming covered again.  Maggie looked at the 
VW minivan dubiously, but she had to be at the hospital for Fox.  
As Maggie was never one to enjoy driving in this kind of weather, 
she sucked it up and climbed aboard the Gunmen's VW chariot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amazingly, or perhaps not so amazingly, Walter Skinner had beat 
them all to the hospital.  He'd been in contact with the EMT base 
of operations and had been informed earlier as to which hospital 
Mulder would be brought.  

He stood there and watched Mulder carried in on the gurney.  It 
was all Skinner could do to keep his control.   To coin a phrase, 
Mulder really did look like death warmed over.  The contrast 
between Mulder's dark lashes on his very, pale skin was enough to 
make Skinner shudder and wonder if he was able to do too little 
too late for his agent.

Honig and Murphy basically ignored the tall, balding man with the 
imposing stance, and brought him directly into the first available 
trauma room.  The nurses were about to start cutting away clothing 
when they saw he was already nude.  "He was being cared for 
already and they were treating him for a high fever.  He'd had a 
febrile seizure, or so Mrs. Scully assumed, though he did receive a 
head trauma.  She reported there was slight bleeding from the right 
ear, but that had stopped rather quickly."

They ran through the remaining items in their case history, and 
then it was time for Honig and Murphy to get ready for their next 
run.  As the two of them walked out of the trauma room, Skinner 
leaped to his feet to stop them and gain information.

"How is Mulder?" he asked sternly, though with a slight tremor in 
his voice.

"They're working on him now, Mr. ___."  Cathy stopped and 
looked at the man before her.  She saw him as a very imposing 
figure under normal circumstances, but somehow she saw this 
scenario as anything but par for the course.

"__Skinner.  Assistant Director Walter Skinner, FBI."  

"Ahh, well, Mr. Skinner, I can assure you the trauma team behind 
that door is the best there is.  Don't you worry.  Mr. Mulder seemed 
fairly stable by the time we brought him in.  I know they're going 
to do the very best they can to help your agent."  With that, the pair 
left , and Skinner remained looking towards the trauma room 
which held Mulder.

"Mr. Skinner!" called out a voice.  "How is he?"  

Skinner turned around to see Mrs. Scully, her pallor was chalky 
save for the blush in her cheeks as a result of the cold, snowy 
winds.  Byers, Langly, and Forhike followed right behind her.

"I don't know.  They've only just brought him in.  No one has come 
out to speak with me yet," he said in a voice that was less than his 
normally confident tone.

"Mr. Skinner, why don't we sit down now," suggested Maggie 
gently.  She immediately recognized Skinner's shakiness, and led 
him to one of the many waiting room chairs.  

"Scully.  Gotta call Scully back," he said quickly. 

"Oh, do you have your cell phone handy?" she asked gently.   
When he nodded, she merely reached her hand out and he pulled it 
out of his coat pocket.  He offered it to her, and she gratefully 
accepted it.  Maggie then pulled out a piece of paper that she had 
the foresight to take with her and dialed the Rochester hotel Dana 
was staying at.

"Hello!" she responded after hearing a half a ring.

"Dana, it's Mom.  Fox was just brought into the hospital."

"How is he?  Mom, tell me the truth!"

"Dana, I don't know.  He's hurt, but I don't know how badly.  He 
was just brought into the emergency room, and we haven't spoken 
to a doctor yet.  Sweetheart?  Mr. Skinner is here," Maggie said.  
When she received no response, Maggie said, "He did a fine job of 
getting the help we needed to the house.  We should be very 
grateful to him for that."

"Yes, of course," Dana replied stiffly.

"Dana__," Maggie exhorted.

"__Mom, don't.  I am grateful he was able to do what I was unable 
to do, but please, there's more to this than you are privy to, so 
please, don't.

Just then a nurse came out of the room looking for Mulder's next 
of kin.  "Put her on the phone, Mom.  Please!  I need to hear what's 
going on!" Dana pleaded.

"Fox's next of kin is his partner, who unfortunately is stuck in her 
own snowstorm in Rochester, New York. She's on the phone 
though," Maggie said as she handed the phone to the nurse.

"Oh, very well, then," the nurse responded as she spoke both into 
the phone and to the crowd surrounding her.  "Mr. Mulder is being 
brought up to the operating room right now.  The x-rays indicate 
he's suffered a concussion as well as a ruptured kidney.  They're 
confident they'll be able to save it, if the x-rays are accurate.  

"Between the prep and settling him in with the anesthesiologist, 
the procedure should take a couple of hours," she concluded.  "You 
can wait in the waiting room on the sixth floor near the operating 
rooms."

And with that, she handed the cell phone back to Maggie, who in 
turn handed it to Skinner.  He looked at her questioningly, but then 
put the phone to his ear and said, "Hello?"

"I'm going to try to get a flight home.  I don't know if I'll be able to, 
but I can't just stay here," she said with frustration.

"I understand.  We'll be here waiting for you, Dana.  I'll put your 
mother back on," said Skinner.

"Dana?  Will you be able to get a flight out?" she asked.

"I called the airport.  They've got one runway opened and the snow 
has finally stopped here, so hopefully I'll be able to get out of 
Rochester.  I don't know if I'll be able to get a direct flight, or if I'll 
have to go to New York first.  But when he gets into recovery, tell 
him I'm on my way.  Please, Mom.  Tell him I'm trying to get there 
as quickly as I can."

"I will, Dana.  He'll know you're coming, I promise."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The trip back to Baltimore was a bit of a nightmare, but Scully 
didn't allow the delays and the cancellations to deter her.  The only 
thing she allowed to fill her mind was being at Mulder's bedside as 
soon as possible.  When she walked through the doors of the ICU 
five and a half hours later, she was amazed to find Walter Skinner, 
the Lone Gunmen, and her mother standing vigil in Mulder's room.

She was stopped by the nurse at the desk who asked, "Scully?"  
When she nodded mutely in response, the nurse said with a very 
tired smile, "You're expected."

Scully headed toward the entourage of people and was amazed 
they were all allowed to remain in the room with him. "Mom?" she 
called out as she walked into the room.

"Dana!" Maggie cried out as she ran to hug her in greeting.  "Oh 
Sweetheart, I'm so glad you're here."

"How did you convince them to let you all stay?" Scully asked in 
amazement.

"We simply refused to go until you got here," Skinner said.

"Yeah, and you try to argue with that logic, especially when it's 
offered by an Assistant Director of the FBI," said Frohike with a 
tinge of admiration.  

"Thank you for waiting with him.  How is he?  Did he wake up?  
How long was he in surgery?  What's his prognosis?  Where's his 
chart?  When can he___."

"__Whoa!  Dana!" interrupted the AD.  "Hold on with the 
questions.  One at a time, please.  It's been a long night for all of 
us," Skinner added wearily.

"I'm sorry, I just need to hear he's going to be okay," apologized 
Dana.

"He's going to be fine, Dana," reassured Maggie.  "The doctors 
were able to repair some minor damage to his kidney, and he did 
suffer a concussion, but the doctor said Fox has got a hard head."

"That's an understatement," muttered Skinner in retort.  The 
Gunmen couldn't help but chuckle at the comment, because they 
knew only too well how bullheaded Fox Mulder could be.

"How long was he in surgery?" Dana asked.  

"About three hours total.  He was in the recovery room for the last 
two, so he's only been in the room for the last half hour or so, 
Dana.  I guess he was waiting for you to arrive before he woke up," 
Maggie said.

"I guess.  Look, why don't you all get a cup of coffee or something.  
I need to convince someone it's okay to wake up now," Dana said 
with a smile.

Everyone nodded their agreement, but before they left, Dana called 
out, "Wait."  Everyone stopped and turned back to her.  "I just want 
to say thank you to you all.  For giving him backup when I couldn't 
be here to do it."

Then, she turned specifically to Byers, Langly, and Frohike.  
"Thank you for helping him, guys.  You're amazing friends, to 
Mulder, to both of us.  I want you to know we both value your 
friendship."  The guys stood there, blushing and even shuffling 
their feet a bit, but when Scully walked over to hug each one of 
them, she thought they were going to implode.

Next, she walked over to Skinner, who looked as relieved as 
anyone to see Scully there to take over the vigil.  "Sir, I know you 
and I have had our differences of late, but I want you to know what 
a relief it is to me to know when push comes to shove, I can still 
count on you.  I think I'll always count on you, Sir.  I hope that's 
okay with you."

"It's okay with me, Dana, and I promise to explain myself 
someday.  Just not now.  But soon.  You know, I count on you and 
Mulder too, don't you?  I think I'll always count on the two of you, 
too. You think you'll be all right with that?"  He smiled his weary 
smile and then reached out and pulled her into an embrace.  "I am 
so glad you're here for him."  She returned the embrace and hung 
on to him for an extra moment of security and comfort.

Finally, she went to Maggie and said, "Mom, you and I were 
having a bit of a disagreement before Langly started pounding on 
your door.  Well, I had a lot of time to think about what you said 
while getting back here.  I realized you were right.  It's time to stop 
saying everything but what we really mean in our hearts.  I 
promise, Mom.  I'll tell him what's in my heart before he leaves 
this place."

Maggie didn't say a word.  The gentlemen in the room, however, 
could be heard muttering, "About time," or "Took her long 
enough,"  "Finally waking up and smelling the proverbial roses," as 
well as a very raspy, "Scully?  That you?"

Mulder woke up, but unfortunately his eyes were still quite 
swollen which made it difficult for him to see exactly who was in 
the room.  But he had his ScullyRadar on and he could pick her 
voice out in a room with dozens of people.

"Yes, Mulder, it's me."  Scully could see his throat was very dry, 
and she quickly offered him some ice chips.  He took them 
gratefully.

"You made it. I'm so glad you're here, Scully.  I need you here with 
me." 

"I know, Mulder.  I need you too."

Suddenly, Maggie developed a tickle in her throat and started 
coughing lightly.  Amazingly, the Gunmen developed a similar 
tickle, and they too began coughing.  However, when AD Skinner 
began coughing as well, Scully threw her hands up in surrender.

"Okay!  Okay!  I'll tell him!"

"Tell me what, Scully?" he asked a bit more easily.  "Everything 
okay?"

Scully couldn't help but chuckle at that and the expressions of 
everyone in the room who were apparently determined to be 
present for her declaration of honesty.

"Mulder, what I have to tell you is __.  Well, yes, I need you.  And 
yes, I trust you.  And yes, you're my best friend.  But all that really 
means is that I love you, Mulder.  And it's not every woman who 
gets to make that declaration in front of her mother, her friends, 
and her boss.  So, you better not screw this up, Mulder."

Mulder suddenly felt no pain.  The pounding in his head 
disappeared.  The sharp pain in his abdomen and the soreness in 
his kidney area were a thing of the past.  Even knowing he had the 
dreaded Foley Catheter in place was something he could now 
ignore.

His Scully said she loves him.

"I need you, always, Scully.  And I trust you, forever.  And you are 
my best friend, for life.

"I love you, too, Scully."

A great ruckus came from the room of Fox Mulder which caused 
the ICU nurses to come flying in to make sure their patient was 
still alive.  As it turned out, he'd apparently woke up, and was very 
much alive.  And was seemingly well on his way to mending, as 
they noted the lovely Ms. Scully was gently kissing the bruised, but 
welcoming lips of Mr. Mulder.

Yes, once again  Mulder was under the influence of some very 
good drugs, but it was Scully who said those three amazing words 
first this time.  

Screw it up?  Not in this lifetime.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
End of 4/4

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