***Chapter Three***
While Mulder sat in the waiting room telling Keesha stories
(I was afraid to find out exactly what he was telling her.
I know I heard "Flukie" at least once.) I examined her
parents thoroughly.
Both were barely functioning. There was no detectable pulse
or blood pressure, but there was a faint and extremely slow
heartbeat, and both were breathing extremely slowly. The
EEG's showed minimal brain activity.
There was no reaction to pain or any other stimulus. Limbs
stayed where they were positioned. Both would have to be
turned regularly to prevent or at least limit bedsores.
I took blood and fluid samples but did not send them out to
the University lab. Instead, I called the Columbus office
and asked them to send me a forensics van with all possible
equipment. It wouldn't have the resources of a university
lab, but it would be here.
By then it was noon, and I was starving. I went to the
waiting room. Mulder and Keesha were on the floor playing
with puppets. Keesha was obviously in charge, because I saw
her point and Mulder obey. I wanted a video camera. I
also wished there had been more for Mulder to do at that
point. He was wasted as a babysitter.
"Dr. Dana! Do you want to see our puppet show?" He held up
a rather dilapidated king puppet.
"Later, Mulder." I was *not* going to call him Mr. Fox.
"Why don't we take Keesha out for lunch? I'll buy."
"Whaddaya say, Keesha? Want something really *bad* for
you?"
"McDonald's? Mommy says it's pure junk."
I considered. This little one had had a very bad day
indeed. No contest. "Happy meals it is. Just don't argue
over the prizes, kids."
"Yaaaay! Thanks, Scully."
We stopped by to tell an increasingly harried Janice where
we were going, and got directions to the nearest McDonald's.
This was emphatically *not* one of the modern hospitals with
fast food built right in. She seemed happy someone was
taking care of Keesha.
Keesha was just tall enough that she could hold Mulder's
hand without forcing him to stoop, although I knew he would
have if he had to. She clutched Mr. Raggs in the other.
We ended up ordering two Happy Meals because they had two
sets of toys, one for boys and one for girls. Keesha, of
course, was perfectly satisfied with her chicken nuggets,
but Mulder had an extra Big Mac and fries. I watched them
play with the prizes as I ate my virtuous salad - and stole
Mulder's fries when he wasn't looking.
"Keesha? Sweetie, can I ask you a few questions?" We had
come down to the frozen yogurt. Keesha was happily getting
fudge sauce all over her face.
"I guess, Dr. Dana."
"Did your mommy or daddy go on a trip recently?"
"We visited Grandma for Easter. I had a new dress."
"Easter's fun. I remember looking for Easter eggs and
getting all dressed up to go to church in my new clothes."
"I had lots of chocolate."
"Did you eat the ears off the bunny first?"
She nodded. Score one for the grown-up in the bunch.
"Sweetie, did mommy or daddy go on a trip without you?"
"No. It's the school year."
"Are your parents teachers?"
"Uh-huh. Mommy's a principal, and Daddy teaches big kids.
I can't go to Mommy's school next year 'cause she's a
principal. Fox said you were going to make Mommy and Daddy
better." I gave Fox a look, but he was too busy holding
Keesha's hand to notice.
"I'll do my best, Keesha. I want to make your Mommy and
Daddy better."
"Look at you, Keesha! Are you eating that ice cream or
wearing it?"
"Daddy says I absorb ice cream through my skin."
"Come on, Keesha. Let's get you cleaned up. And as for
you, Mr. Mulder - you're no better." His tie was a mess of
butterscotch.
We drove back to the hospital - there was no place else to
take Keesha, since she had no family in town. She was
settled in the nurse's lounge in front of cartoons, with a
pile of coloring books. We took over an empty treatment
room with the day's findings.
Janice had found the time to compile the backgrounds of all
the patients as of lunch time.
Mulder took out a pile of index cards and we began to sort
what we had. An hour later, we discovered we had nothing.
The only thing any of the patients had in common, besides
the condition, was that they were all in Barryville. They
were all ages and races, they came from everywhere - from
the Miller's adopted Korean daughter Colby to the late Mr.
Gray, who'd never left Barryville. Keesha's parents were
the only two from the same household, and they had different
blood types.
My cellphone rang.
"Dr. Scully? That lab van you asked for is here. The
driver is coming up to give you the keys."
"The driver?"
"He insisted, Dr. Scully."
Five minutes later, the door behind me opened. Mulder went
through the most remarkable transformation. He'd always
been beautiful, but now he was glowing. I had never seen
such pure happiness in his face. It was dazzling. I turned
around, and sure enough, there was Walter Skinner wearing
decidedly non-regulation jeans and sweater. And he was
dazzling, too, in his own way. One day, I'd meet someone
who would make me look like that, and who would look like
that for me. After seeing this, I could settle for nothing
less.
"Walter. What are you doing here?"
"I'm delivering Dana's van, of course. The request was
sent to Washington for confirmation, since there aren't that
many of these vans available. If Dana needed something like
that, then you two might need an extra investigator, so I
flew to Columbus and drove the van here."
"I'm glad you're here. You may be right. Now, if you two
will excuse me, I have some autopsies to perform.
Mulder..."
"I'll bring him up to date, Scully."
I made sure to close the door as I left. I did manage to
catch a glimpse of a clinch, but I stifled my voyeuristic
impulses and went down to the hospital morgue. They had few
enough moments to be together.
The autopsies were interesting. There was no sign of trauma
anywhere - no heart attacks, no strokes, no signs of disease
other than the normal difficulties of old age, or being out
of shape or, well, it turned out our single young man was
HIV positive, but he had almost no virus in his system.
There was nothing that could have killed those people. It
was as if they'd just stopped.
I had help from a couple of technicians, but three autopsies
take time. When I was finished, it was late in the evening.
That salad and the stolen fries were long gone. I gathered
up my specimens and my notes and cleaned myself off before
going to meet Mulder and Walter, who were trying to find out
from the families where people had traveled and what their
occupations were. I knew Mulder had good interviewing
skills. So did Skinner. If it hadn't been so heartbreaking
and I hadn't been so tired, I might have enjoyed watching
them work around the room, stealing glances at each other
when they could.
Walter looked up after shaking a man's hand and saw me. He
went over and tapped Mulder on the shoulder. When Mulder
responded, Walter gestured to me with his head. I could see
my partner wrap up the interview and gather his notes.
"What did you find out, Scully?"
I was about to tell him when Skinner interrupted.
"Look at her, Fox. She's dead on her feet. I propose we
pick up some dinner and take it over to the motel, and talk
there."
"Thank you. It's been a long day." Mulder nodded. He
looked a little worn himself.
Janice stopped us as we were leaving.
"Dr. Scully, Mr. Mulder, we have a problem. It's Keesha. I
don't know where to put her. I suppose she can stay in a
private room in peds, but that's not really a good place
right now."
"Aren't there social services that can take care of her?"
"Right now, Mr. Skinner, our town's social worker is lying
three feet away from you. Keesha seemed to bond with Mr.
Mulder..."
"There *is* an extra bed in your room, Scully." How could
he turn those puppy-dog eyes on me when my resistance was so
low? Well, I liked Keesha, too.
"Are you certain of this, Dana? I mean, are you ready to
take care of a little girl right now?"
I thought about it. "Yes. Yes, I am. Besides, it's only
for the nights. We'll find something else during the days."
"Days are no problem, Dr. Scully. We have an onsite day
care center. Peter's given you hospital privileges, so you
are entitled to use it. Provided the workers are all right,
I mean. I'll get you directions to her house so you can
pick up some clothes and toys."
Keesha was fast asleep in the nurse's lounge. She stirred
slightly when Mulder picked her up, but then settled down
again. I took her doll. We must have made an odd
procession down the corridor - Mulder in his suit, carrying
Keesha, me still in scrubs, carrying the doll and my data
and Walter in casual clothing, carrying everything else.
She woke up while I was buckling her into the back seat.
"Mommy?"
"No, sweetie. It's me. Mommy's still asleep."
"Dr. Dana? Where's Mr. Raggs?"
"Right here." I gave her the doll.
"Is Fox here?"
Mulder was in the passenger seat. "I'm right in front,
Keesha. Would you like to stay with us until Mommy and
Daddy get better?"
She was silent for a moment. "With you and Dr. Dana?"
"And our friend, Mr. Skinner. That's him right now."
Walter, having deposited our stuff in the trunk, was coming
to the driver's side of the door.
"Hello, Keesha. You're very pretty."
"You're Fox's friend?" I watched them exchange a glance.
"We're very good friends."
"Fox is a policeman. So is Dr. Dana. Are you one?"
"Walter is in charge of policemen like us."
"Okay. I'll stay with you."
"I guess we've passed the interview, guys." We all laughed,
which confused Keesha, but laughter was laughter, so she
joined in.
***Chapter Four***
Keesha lived in a small house a few miles away from the
hospital. Mulder and I went with her to pack - the hospital
gave us the keys from her parents' personal possessions.
It didn't take us long. She filled a pink ballerina duffel
with pajamas and play clothes, and another bag with books
and some carefully selected stuffed toys out of a huge
collection. When I asked about them, she said her mother
and grandmother made most of them.
It took us so little time that we had to wait for Walter to
come back with dinner and pick us up. I got to hear
Mulder's versions of storybooks.
"Once upon a time there were three bears named Langley,
Byers and Frohike..."
"Which one was the mama bear?"
The doorbell interrupted that one, unfortunately. I was
betting on Byers. We gathered up Keesha and her things and
went to the motel.
By the time we got there, Keesha was falling asleep. She
wasn't hungry - the nurses had fed her - so I put her into a
nightgown and tucked her and Mr. Raggs into the other bed in
my room. She looked so tiny in the middle of that double
bed, and so all alone. She wanted to know if I wanted to
hear her prayers.
"Of course, sweetie."
She sat up and folded her hands.
"Now I lay me down to sleep. God bless Mommy and Daddy and
help Dr. Dana make them and everyone else better. God bless
Dr. Dana and Fox and Mr. Skinner and Nurse Janice and Dr.
Peter and Miss Anderson - she's my teacher - and make me a
good girl. Amen."
"Amen, Keesha. Sleep tight." I hesitated for a second,
remembering my daughter and that I'd never been able to do
this with her, and kissed her good night.
"Good night, Dr. Dana." She lied down again. I smiled
at
her.
Walter and Mulder were moving Mulder's things from the room
adjoining mine to Walter's across the corridor. I could
hear them talking and joking through all the open doors. I
went out into the hallway.
"Guys, hold it down."
"Is she asleep, Scully?"
"Not yet."
"Good. I wanted to kiss her goodnight."
We followed him into my room.
He sat down on Keesha's bed.
"Hi, princess."
"Hi."
"If I kiss you good night, you won't turn into a frog, will
you?"
"No!"
"Promise?"
She nodded. He planted a big kiss on her forehead.
"See you in the morning. How do you take your coffee?"
She giggled for a moment, and then, finally, drifted off.
I turned to look at Walter. He looked sad.
"Mulder's good with kids."
"Yeah. I wonder if it's because he's still one himself?"
"I don't know. Bill was no prize at twelve."
"Okay, you two. Let's eat." We took the food into Mulder's
old room. That way we could keep an eye on our charge.
I took my steamed chicken and vegetables to the desk.
"Walter, where are the chopsticks?"
"Chopsticks? Dana, I was lucky they had hot and sour soup."
He was sitting up on the bed with a tub of murky liquid.
"Use the forks like God intended." I shook my head. "Or
you can do what Fox is doing, and ignore utensils entirely."
There was no room on the bed for Mulder, so he sat
cross-legged on the floor next to it, gnawing on an eggroll.
He turned slightly to grin up at Walter.
"Wait till you see me eat my lo mein."
I found a fork.
We talked about the town and the case and what we'd found.
With all the interviews they'd conducted, they still found
very little in common with the victims.
"We've done everything but check their auto insurance
companies. And we might do that tomorrow."
"What would we learn from that, Walter? I just pick
whoever's cheapest."
Walter smiled and touched Mulder's cheek. Mulder leaned
into it slightly, reached up to squeeze Walter's thigh.
"We could tell something. I can guess Dana's insurance
company, for example."
"It wouldn't be much of a guess, Walter. It's probably the
same as yours."
He named it. I was right.
"How did you know that?" I'd never seen Mulder look so
bewildered. Walter just laughed.
"If you don't figure it out by tomorrow, we'll tell you
then. It's a good company. It's a shame you can't use it."
"I can't? Why not?"
"Think of it as a clue, Mulder. And that's the last one
you'll get."
He kept at us the rest of dinner, even after we'd read out
our fortune cookies, but we didn't relent.
I spent a lot of that time watching the two of them. It was
rare that the three of us could be so relaxed in each
other's presence. They had so few moments together outside
of the Hoover, so little time that they could be close. I
didn't want to intrude on what they had.
Perhaps I should have been bothered by their display of affection, and
perhaps I would have been if the circumstances
had been different. This relationship of theirs had truly begun
in a moment of crisis, when Mulder was possessed by the suggestions of
two psychic Pushers, and Mulder had needed all the closeness Walter could
provide. I
never had a chance to be bothered.
I was jealous, though. I watched the two of them. They
didn't hug or kiss around me; they didn't even sit on the
same bed. Instead, Mulder maintained his position on the
floor next to Walter, and they'd exchange gentle touches,
and once I saw Mulder brush his lips against Walter's hand.
It was sweet and tender and spoke volumes that more overt
displays would not. I suppose I just wanted a relationship
like that myself. Or I missed being the central person in
Mulder's life. We were still best friends, and now Walter
was my friend, too, but things had changed. Walter seemed
to be taking my place in his life.
I gathered up the debris and checked on Keesha, who was fast
asleep. Her breathing pattern was normal, so I knew she was
still with us. When I got back to the other room, Mulder
had his head down on the bed next to Walter, who was
stroking his hair. I'd ruffled that hair. I knew how silky
it was.
"Walter, I think maybe it's bedtime."
He checked his watch. "Midnight, huh. Come on, Fox. It's
time for bed."
Mulder looked up. "Yeah. I could go for bed right now.
I'm glad you got a king-size, Walter. I'd hate to have to
spend the night like this." He struggled to his feet.
"I think you'd be more comfortable like that, Mulder.
Anything but a bed." They laughed as they left the room.
Ten minutes later, I was in my own room, fast asleep.
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