Date sent: Wed, 25 Jun 1997 13:08:13 -0400 From: silveraven@juno.com Disclaimer: Blah Blah Blah.. you all know the routine. Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, and The X Files all belong to The good Lord Chris Carter. He could sue me if he wanted, but all he would get was my Deep Forest CD and a lot of weird clothes. Summary: Mulder and Scully embark on a rafting trip to hunt for a mysterious beast, but after a rafting accident, they are left in the wilderness to fend for themselves. Mulder is badly hurt, and Scully gets to play hero for awhile. WARNING: LUST up ahead (lotsa unresolved sexual tenstion). I have not decided if this should be a MSR or just a friendship, so you may interpret their actions either way. Please send comments to ME at silveraven@juno.com Constructive critisism is welcome, and virtual sunflower seeds will be gratefully accepted. Flames will be used to roast the seeds. Also, I am looking for someone who would like to write a story with me. Two heads are better than one, right? So if you like the story and are interested, tell me! Braving the Rapids ~`~ By Abductress "Comon' Scully, It'll be fun!" pleaded Mulder, that old familiar sparkle in his eyes. "Mulder, hunting through the woods for some imaginary _beast_ is not my idea of fun. I think I'll sit this one out, thank you very much." "I think they prefer the term 'humanly challenged', Scully. Plus, it'll be like a vacation. We'll be roughing it, sleeping under the stars, braving level 5 rapids....." "Did you say rapids, Mulder?" "Yeah, but don't worry, we'll have a guide so you don't have to-" "Count me in, partner. I always was a sucker for adrenalin." "Scully? Did I hear you right? Id this the same woman who doesn't even like to go over 50 mph in a Volvo?" Scully smiled a mysterious smile at her partner, and, grabbing her purse, walked out of the office, leaving a baffled Mulder behind. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The sun felt delicious on Scully's skin, and Mulder was like-wise enjoying the fair weather. Their guide, Lenord Slerey, was a stocky, well muscled man with a thick black beard. He was quiet, but moved with an accustomed easiness around the raft and river that showed his experience. He seemed to be steering with little trouble, even though the current was increasing. "We'll be coming up on the first run soon, folks." he said, his unidentified accent making the words sound rough, yet lovely in a strange way. Scully smiled back at Mulder, who was looking a little nervous. She had to laugh at him, he looked so anxious. And his life-jacket was far too large for him, making him look like a small child. "Think you can handle it, Mulder?" she yelled back over the increasing volume of the rapids. His only reply was a glare as the boat plunged down the first incline. A fine spray flew up to dampen them, adding to Mulder's discomfort. He was not enjoying this very much. He had forgotten how much he disliked rafting. His train of thought was broken, though, as the raft dropped again, and he clutched for dear life at the flimsy raft. He tried closing his eyes, but it only made it worse. "OH, FUCK!" he screamed as the raft plunged down a small waterfall. Scully laughed in glee, feeling the adrenaline rush through her body. Mulder looked like was going to be sick. Scully laughed harder. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Here we go, folks! This is the big one!" yelled Slerey over the increasing roar of the river. Scully heard Mulder moan beside her. she thought. He had pretty much lost every meal he'd had in the last two weeks. She did feel bad for him, though, and reached out to grab his hand in a reassuring way. He squeezed it thankfully, glad to have something solid to hold on to. Scully opened her mouth to encourage him, but the words never became more than thoughts. The river was a treacherous place to grow, and some trees occasionally fell into the swift currents. One such tree, a Maple to be exact, now smashed into the side of the flimsy raft. In one split second, Scully saw the world tilt, and the water rush up to meet them. She saw Mulder's too-large PFD be torn from his body, and felt his hand torn from her's. Then the water engulfed her. The white and blue swirled around her as she struggled to the surface. "MULDER!!" she screamed, seeing only the foamy water. Nothing. Then, something. For only an instant, she saw his head break the surface, then go under again. She swarm frantically towards the spot she had seen him. she pleaded to herself. She thought she was in the right place, but the water was disorienting, and she began to cry. "DON'T YOU DARE TAKE HIM FROM ME!!" she screamed at the sky, "I NEED HIM!" Suddenly, something thumped into her legs. Something soft, something Mulder-like. Sobbing with relief, Scully reached down as far as her PFD would allow and grabbed for him. Her fingers found purchase in his hair, and she pulled up. she thought. As his body broke the surface, she wrapped her arms around him and held tight. He wasn't breathing. she thought, and began to swim with all her might towards the shore. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dana Scully was exhausted. Somehow, though, she managed to pull Mulder's limp body onto the shore. She dropped beside him, breathing heavily. She never wanted to set foot in water again. Now, instead of thinking of cool, calm, wetness, she would always think of violent, dangerous currents sweeping her from the shore. But she could not afford to stop and think now; Mulder needed her. She quickly pushed herself upright and tipped Mulder's head back. She checked for a pulse. None. Wait! She felt something flutter under her fingertips. It was almost gone, but it was there! Still, he was not breathing, and she was losing him fast. "Mulder, don't you dare..." she murmured, and began mouth-to-mouth. Breathing life into her partner was something she had never wanted to have to do, but here she was. And it better work, damn it.... Just as she was bending down for another breath, and starting to lose hope, Mulder began to choke. Nearly crying with relief, she turned him on his side and watched as the murky river-water streamed from his mouth and he began to cough violently. "Sc-scully?" he gasped, starting to shiver with cold. "Its okay, Mulder, I'm here.." "Scully, s-something's wrong with my legs... I-I can't move my legs.." he whispered as his consciousness faded. "Mulder? Hey, buddy, don't fade on me... Mulder!" Scully slapped his cheeks lightly, trying to disguise the fear in her voice. She did not want him afraid. She wanted him calm. And, awake. But it was too late. He had slipped back into unconsciousness. "Oh, Fuck, what are we going to do now...." she asked his still form. There was no reply. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scully stood back to admire her work, sweat dripping from her, although she shivered with cold. The hut was very primitive, but it seemed sturdy. She had built it directly over Mulder, not willing to risk paralyzing him by moving him if he had a spinal injury. Now they had to get warm. thought Scully, reaching for her fanny pack. she mused. . Unzipping the water-proof pack, she pulled the thankfully dry box of matches from it. Then, piling up the kindling she had gathered, she used her body as a wind shield. After four matches, it lit. She sighed in relief and piled on larger wood slowly, until the fire was bright and healthy. Pausing only a moment to warm herself, she moved on to her next task. Kneeling next to Mulder, she began to slowly and carefully remove his soaked clothing. It was very difficult not to move him too roughly, and it took her nearly 15 minutes to strip him to his boxers. When that was complete, she stripped herself and lowered herself gently next to him. Reaching over his prone body, she retrieved the thermal "space" blanket from her pack. Snuggling close, she tucked the crinkly silver blanket around them. Slowly, her eyes slipped shut as they grew warm together, and she fell into a deep, exhausted sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The first thing he was aware of was the pain. His whole body ached, but that pain was dulled by the fire in his hips and his lower back. The second thing that registered was the fact that he could not move his legs. he thought . He concentrated with all his might on moving his legs, twitching a toe, _anything_. The only thing he got was a bolt of white-hot pain that twisted itself around his hips. He gasped, unable to scream or even moan. Scully had been sleeping, still snuggled up next to Mulder, when she heard him gasp and felt him tense. "Mulder? What is it?" she asked, pushing herself up to look down on him. His eyes, closed from the pain, slowly opened and looked up at her with confusion. he thought to himself. Scully realized the meaning behind his confusion, and blushed. "It-it's not what you think, Mulder. I had to warm you up somehow." Mulder raised an eyebrow at her. "No, that's not what I meant, you hormone driven idiot." she scolded, trying to repress a smile. "Mickey Mouse, Scully? I never knew." he choked out, trying to smile through the pain. "What?" demanded Scully, confused. Mulder weakly lifted a hand and gestured at her chest. Taken aback, she looked down at herself. she screamed inwardly, . She had NEVER been so embarrassed in her life. "Well," she stammered, "They're not as bad as your 'Marvin the Martian' boxers!" Mulder looked shocked at first, then began to turn an interesting shade of pink. "Oh, damn, am I wearing those?" he mumbled to himself, avoiding eye contact. "You mean you actually _have_ 'Marvin' boxers?" exclaimed Scully, staring at him in wonder. "What do you mean 'actually have', Scully?" "Mulder, I was joking! You just have your plain 'ol black boxers on!" "Oh, shit..." moaned Mulder as Scully began to laugh. "I'm glad you find me amusing, Scully" he shot back at her as tears of mirth began to stream down her face. But watching her, he could not help laughing. It was so good to see her laugh! Suddenly, though, he stopped laughing and began to gasp as pain lanced up his body. The amusement went out of Scully's eyes and she kicked into doctor mode. "Mulder, what is it? What hurts?" she demanded, concern flooding her features. "M-my hips, a-and my lower back..." he gasped. "Oh, god, Scully, I can't move my legs!" Scully pushed his hair back off his head gently and waited till the pain had lessened. She was beginning to guess the problem. "Mulder, I've got to examine you, O.K.? This is probably going to hurt like hell, but stay with me, O.K?" she asked, hating herself for the pain she was going to have to put him through. He nodded, bracing himself. Silently asking his forgiveness, she began her examination. First, she pushed gently down on his abdomen. Upon feeling the tell-tale firmness of the usually soft area, she swore. Fortunately, it seemed minor. Mulder seemed to be holding up pretty well, although she could see the pain in his face. Next came the hard part. "Okay, sherlock, now comes the painful part. Are you ready?" Mulder nodded. With regret in her heart she placed her hands on his hips so that the base of her palm rested on the hard protrusion of bone called the iliac crest. Resting her thumbs on his narrow waistline, she thought with concern that he seemed very thin. Then, before she could change her mind, she pushed in and down. Mulder screamed weakly, his hands trying to push her away. Tears of agony were rolling down his pale cheeks, and Scully realized that she was crying also. Relaxing the pressure, she took her hands away and sunk down next to him. Taking him in her arms, she brushed his tears away. And that was how they fell asleep, once more next to each other. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mulder was the first to waken once again. This time it was not pain to bring him back, but a nightmare. It was not the one about flying chocolate fish and singing dwarves that had scared him. It was the one after it. In this particular one, he had been sitting in a wheelchair, shriveled and weak, trying to get the door to his basement office open to no avail. It was locked. Then Scully was there. "Mulder," she had said, "you don't work here anymore. We changed the lock." "Wait! Scully! I _can't_ be paralyzed! You have to help me!" he called as she walked through the door - literally. "SCULLY!" he had screamed, and then promptly awoken. He was drenched in sweat and breathing hard. he pleaded silently. He had to know. Scully was woken by something hard and warm hitting her in the breasts. It was Mulder, of course. He was swiping at her in an attempt to waken her. "I'm awake, I'm awake.." she mumbled. "Scully, I have to know. Am I paralyzed permanently? Why can't I move my legs? My spine is broken, isn't it?" he blurted, seemingly on the edge of tears. This outburst brought Scully wide awake. "Oh, Mulder, I don't know. But I _do_ know that you fractured your pelvis, and that is most likely the reason for the paralisis. I think the swelling and accumulation of fluids is putting pressuure on your spinal cord. I believe that if you had broken your spine there would not be nearly as much pain. But I can't make any promises." "It'll go away then, right, I mean, if it is only a fractured pelvis I'll be able to use my legs again, right?" he pleaded, desperate for her to say it would get better. "I don't know, Mulder," she said softly, choking back tears. "It depends on the amount of pressure exerted on the spine. If the pressure is too great, it can scar the spinal cord and cause irrepairable damage. But, judging by the way your stomache feels, there isn't much fluid accomidation. I would say that you'll be running after little green men again before too long." She smiled weakly. "Grey, Scully. Little _grey_ men. Not green." he said, smiling at her. He was going to be O.K., she thought to herself. He's got to be O.K.