Amorem Animalem

Pink Looks Good on You, Mulder

"Mulder, are you sure that you're alright?" Scully asked as she stood against the wall to their hotel room, staring at her soaking wet partner sitting pathetically on his bed.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." He said, wincing in pain with every word that came out of his mouth.

"Mulder, how many times do I have to remind you that I'm a doctor. Your doctor, of all people. Let me at least check you for a concussion."

"Fine, alright." He grumbled.

Scully loved being a doctor, and it wasn't very often that she had a chance to be one. She was either using her degree to dissect dead people or take Mulder's temperature when he had a cold. It was nice to have a patient; someone to let her indulge in her passion.

"I'm going to ask a few questions and all you have to do is answer them truthfully, alright?"
Mulder nodded like a child. "Do you have a headache?" She asked.

"Yeah, but it's nothing too bad."

"Are you nauseous? Dizzy? Do you feel foggy or fatigued?"

Mulder shook his head.

"Do you feel anxious, or irritable?"

"No, Scully, I told you that I'm fine." He replied with a smile.

"I just want to make sure, Mulder. You don't seem to have any symptoms of a concussion, which is good. To be safe, however, I do want to do one last thing."  Scully grabbed a small flashlight from her purse and held it up to her partner's eyes. As she gazed into his eyes, analytically, of course, she noticed something strange, very strange, actually.

"Mulder, one of your pupils is much larger than the other. It's as if one is dilated and the other is not. I've never seen anything like this before." She said as she continued to stare.

"Oh. That," he sighed,"I got that from a basketball accident in high school." He mumbled as if he didn't want to be reminded of the day he got creamed in front of the whole school.

"Oh, thank God," Scully whispered as she collapsed to her knees.

"Scully, what's wrong?" Mulder asked as he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

She rubbed her distressed eyes and looked up at her partner. "Pupil dilation is a symptom of drug use."

"Scully, it's only two o'clock. 'Way too early to be passing the old peace pipe around, don't ya think?" He joked.

"I'm serious, Mulder. The victims all had high traces of ecstasy in their blood, remember? I'm just worried." She confessed. The small woman seemed as if she wanted to cry.

"Worried about what?" Mulder asked as he got down on the floor and sat next to his partner, pulling her into his chest. The two sat there, holding one another. They both were thinking the same thing, but both too terrified to admit it.

It had been a long time since the agents had dealt with a case so devastating and personal. There was nothing that they feared more than the other getting hurt. Never in their lives had they known someone so intimately and realistically. Dana Scully and Fox Mulder were not two separate people, but rather one. They could practically read each other's minds and that was when Mulder spoke up.

"Scully, it's not worth it, bottling this all up. I know that you're scared. I can feel it. I am too. Tell me what's been bothering you." He spoke softly, his chin resting on Scully's head.