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Title: Skin Deep Summary: Post ep for DeadAlive. Note: Huge thanks to Keleka and Sallie for beta reading! Twelve hours after
Mulder wakes up in the hospital Mulder opened his eyes the minute Scully walked through the door. He'd been sleeping most of the time since she'd finally made good on her promise to get some rest. It didn't take much to alert him to her presence now. Medical personnel had scurried around him all night, taking his vitals, making little notes on his chart. A young orderly had come in a couple hours ago to bathe him with deliberate ease. The man had offered him a shave and he had taken him up on it, half-awake throughout the process. When Mulder had asked for a mirror to inspect his handiwork, the caretaker lost his painted-on smile, stammering out quickly that he thought Dr. Scully ought to be consulted first. His patient, curious how 'Dr. Scully' could dictate hospital policy, had given him a weary nod and drifted back to welcome sleep. It was the first thing on his mind when he woke to Scully's soft footsteps, hours later. Well, maybe not quite--the first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes was how radiantly beautiful his partner was today. He couldn't contain his joy, at being alive, at witnessing the graceful swell of her pregnant belly. Yesterday he hadn't believed his eyes, softly gasping with sudden apprehension. Scully had crossed the room to retrieve a container of ice chips and revealed her form to him. She'd rushed back to his side, tears welling in her eyes, then falling freely down her cheeks as she'd resumed her seat beside him. 'Is this real?' Mulder had asked, not certain what to say. Her affirmative response brought a grin to his ashen face, a sparkle to his tired eyes. He'd had so many questions; yet he'd suppressed them all, content merely to hold her hand, to share her obvious jubilation. However this had happened, whatever had happened, he didn't have the energy to question this possibility. Silently, she had pulled his hand down to her stomach, placing it there until the baby kicked against their joined hands. He'd been lost for words, before he'd been abducted he'd thought she couldn't conceive--but then, he must have been wrong, something must have been wrong. Shaking off thoughts of last night, Mulder motioned for Scully to sit beside him. She smiled and did just that. "Hi. Get some rest?" he queried. A soft chuckle. "Yeah, they've been treating me really well here," she responded. "What?! You didn't go home?" he rasped, vocal chords unaccustomed to speech. "I meant to, but--" "You fell asleep in the lounge--" he guessed, knowing her all too well. "Yeah. I did. No one had the heart to wake me. The doctor said you're doing well." "Oh? Does Dr. Scully agree?" She lowered her eyes to their joined hands and managed a little shrug of her shoulders, "I don't want you to get your hopes up for an early release--" Mulder smiled widely. "For once, Scully, I'm happy where I am. As long as you're around, that is." Scully lifted her head to meet his gaze, eyes crinkled in a smile that matched his. She moistened her lips nervously before saying, "Good, that's good. You need some more rest." Mulder relaxed his head against his pillow and almost drifted off as she smoothed stray hair off his forehead. He might have fallen asleep, if not for the burning speculation in his mind. He was pretty sure of the answer now; he'd run his hand over his cheek experimentally since the orderly's hasty retreat. It was no wonder the young man had difficulty giving him a shave-- there were scars, raised bumps all along his cheeks. He'd thought it was due to the man's inexperience and youth, not any previous condition he could remember. Realization was swift and disconcerting--how could he have forgotten? His mind was so muddled, so vague on so much that had happened to him. "Hey, Scully," he asked, eyes still closed, tone as casual as possible. "Yes?" she replied, leaning close to his side. "Did you leave any additional instructions before you took that nap of yours?" he asked, cracking one eye open. Scully took a good look at him, searching for any change in his appearance. Yes, they had cleaned him up, allowed him a shave. Scully pursed her lips in consternation. Dammit, she thought, he hates to be protected from anything, no matter how hard I try. "I guess I can't keep anything from you, can I?" she told him. "No more than I can from you, Scully," he responded. He caressed the palm of her hand with the pad of his thumb, revelling in the tiny specks of perspiration there. "Are they bad?" he asked. "Am I out of the running for the cover of GQ?" Scully closed her eyes and laughed, smiling fondly. She shook her head, amazed at his lightheartedness. Reopening her eyes, she tilted her head to one side, then lifted her hand to his altered cheek. "You look fine to me," she told him, running her fingers lightly across his cheekbone, then settling on his freshly shaven jaw. A grin spread across his face, erasing any doubt, any real need, for that mirror. Mulder leaned his cheek into the palm of her hand, then gently drew the delicate skin just inside her wrist to his lips. He rested his mouth against the pulse of her being for long seconds, then closed his eyes in content exhaustion. Scully lowered their hands to his chest, then stroked the length of his arm from elbow to fingertips. She encircled his larger hand as well as she could, smoothing her thumb over his knuckles. "I'll be right here when you wake up, Mulder," she whispered, lowering her head to his chest. "I know," he replied before drifting back to sleep. fin Please visit my web page at: http://www.reocities.com/shoshana1013/
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