From: "formysunshineboy" Date: Thu, 03 Jan 2002 20:55:54 -0000 Subject: xfc: Happiness - Colds, Flu, and Ailments of the Spirit II by shawntaw Source: xfc Title: Happiness - Colds, Flu, and Ailments of the Spirit II Author: shawntaw Category: MSR, Au Rating: G Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. I am making no profit. No harm, no foul. It's after Christmas. To sue me would be a pointless exercise. But if you insist, I suppose you can have that fuzzy stuff at the bottom of my pockets... I don't own NyQuil either, except for that bottle in my medicine cabinet. Summary: Mulder's sick, Scully's taking care of him. Feedback makes me very happy at shawntaw@hotmail.com :) TO DANIELA LABOD WHO HAS MADE A WEBSITE OF MY STORIES: www.geocities.com/corran_14776/shawntaw.html Thank you.:) *************************************************************** For once, Scully had to slow her pace to stay even with Mulder. He was walking deliberately, as though if he didn't concentrate he would fall over. "Your place or mine, Scully?" Mulder said as he stopped in the parking garage and waited for her to choose. "Come on, Mulder," she said, pulling him by the elbow,"I'll stay at your apartment where all your stuff is." He went willingly with her to her car. ********************************************************************* *Ok. New information. Mulder can be a big baby when he's sick.* Scully looked over to where Mulder leaned against the passenger side window, whining. "I'm cold," he said blearily, "Do you have the air conditioner on?" "No, Mulder," she answered again, "For the third time, I do not have the air conditioner on. And before you ask, I'm sure. You have a chill because of your fever." He held his hand over a vent as though he didn't believe her and pulled his coat tighter around him. Scully watched him where he was slumped in his seat out of the corner of her eye. "Mulder, I think I liked you better when you were trying to be brave." "I've given up bravery. Its my New Year's resolution," he cracked wise and then coughed suddenly, clouding up the section of window he leaned against. Scully smirked. Now that Mulder discovered he didn't have to put on a brave face for Scully, he was in full "I'm-sick-and-helpless" mode. "We're almost there, Mulder," she said soothingly and reached over and put her hand on his leg. His hand snaked out of his pocket and held hers lightly. ********************************************************************** **** Since it was early in the day, Scully was able to park right in front of Mulder's building. This was a good thing considering the way Mulder leaned over on her as they trudged their way up the stairs and into the building. On the elevator ride up, Mulder sneezed seven times in a row. "Geez, Mulder! Are you alright?" Mulder was bent in the middle with surprise and pain and Scully hunched over to speak to him, one hand on his back. "Doh. I um not awight," Mulder said stuffily, pulled out some spare tissue he had snagged from Kimberly's office and blew his nose so hard he made a honking sound. "Ah. That's better," he said, standing upright. Scully merely took a deep breath. *I will not smile. I will not laugh. I will not smile...* She didn't want Mulder to think she was making light of his misery. Against her will, a small smile creased her mouth. "It's not funny, Scully. I'm not well," Mulder insisted as he stepped from the elevator. "I've been saying that for years," Scully mumbled under her breath as she followed him. ********************************************************************** ****** The moment they entered his apartment, Mulder launched himself at the couch. He fell with a messy PLOP and sent dust motes and a few papers flying into the faintly sunlit air. "Ahhh," Mulder enthused, "I'm never moving again." Scully was removing her coat and regarding him with a amused look. "Come on, Mulder," she said, throwing her coat over a chair, "at least get up and take off your coat and shoes." She tilted her head in thought. "Actually, you should go change clothes entirely and get into bed." But Mulder was already snoring. "For a man with chronic insomnia, that sure was quick," she said snidely and headed for the bathroom and the medicine cabinet. She navigated through his messy bedroom around a pile of dirty clothes and boxes of papers. Scully paused and pulled a faded newpaper article from the top of one precariously-stacked box. "Half-Lizard, Half-Dog!" - the headline screamed. Mulder had scratched in the margin - "Evid. of alien experimentation of other species?" She sighed, replaced the paper and continued on her way. Scully pulled the towel from the bathroom doorknob and threw it to the floor. *Still damp. Must be from this morning. After all his years as a bachelor, you'd think he'd have to eventually learn how to clean up after himself.* But even as she thought it, she knew he must clean on weekends or his place would look a lot worse. His bathroom sported a humid atmosphere from his shower earlier in the morning, a pair of boxers and yellow pajama bottoms crumpled in the corner, and assorted toiletries set haphazardly around the sink. She paused. It smelled like him. Or rather, it smelled like "first-thing-in-the- morning" Mulder. The Mulder that strode into the basement office in the early mornings, hair combed, suit neat, raring to go. The Mulder that stood so close to her as they got their morning coffee and carried it back to their office to drink over their latest case files. The Mulder that kissed her one last time before they parted and took separate cars to work from her apartment after spending the night together. She inhaled with her eyes closed and sighed. She heard Mulder hack and cough from the other room. "Ow," she heard him say to himself. Scully shook herself free of her reverie and stepped up to the sink to open his medicine cabinet. She found the medicine easily as there wasn't much in it. Scully returned to Mulder's side with a dose of liquid NyQuil. Mulder sat up, shot back the dosage from the small plastic cup, made the requisite "Yick" face - with shiver - and lay back down. "There Mulder, in a little bit that will start to work and you can get some uninterrupted sleep," Scully said, leaning over to stroke his forehead. Mulder's last thought was that he forgot to tell her how quickly NyQuil affected him. He opened his mouth to say something, but the world faded to black. ********************************************************************** continuing... Just a little ordinary life for our heroes...everybody gets sick... (shawntaw blows nose and clutches stomach as she coughs violently) I'll be REALLY glad when I shake this cold.... Next: Happiness - Share and Share Alike Loved ones share EVERYTHING....right?.... Mwa ha ha ha hack hack cough cough....oh nevermind....