Fictober Day 20, Prompt #2 “that’s the easy part” - Post-Tithonus
ao3 link prompt list @today-in-fic @xffictober
He feeds her ice chips the morning after he arrives in New York. Despite her astoundingly quick recovery, Scully has a long road ahead of her. Like her last extended stay in a hospital, she has good days and bad days.
Thanks to the fact that she had woken up with cracked lips and a dull pain stretching from her torso to the edges of her body, this day is already shaping up to fit into the latter category. Mulder had jolted awake in the plastic chair next to her upon hearing her cough, throat dry as tinder. Now, he sits on the very edge of her bed and brings small spoonfuls of ice to her lips.
It’s still early, and neither of them say much. Scully, at least, has an excuse, slurping up the hydration greedily and letting it slide down her throat, cooling her from the inside out. The act of swallowing is about all that she can handle this morning, and she’s grateful for his help. The idea of bringing a spoon to her mouth repeatedly feels like a near-Herculean task. Mulder watches her, careful not to spill any ice on her standard issue hospital gown or the cream-colored cardigan that he’d brought along from her apartment.
Finally, as she’s crunching on a few bites of ice, he asks her.
“How are you feeling?” His eyes are soft, tired. She could lie to him and say that she feels fine and he’d be none the wiser. Either way, all she’s going to do is lay around. Instead, Scully lets out a slow breath through lips forming an ‘o’.
Mulder nods slowly, offering her another spoonful. She sips at it and swallows, a pensive look on her face.
“There’s something that not many people realize about getting shot. You might understand it, though,” She cracks a piece of ice between her molars and lets the fragments melt on her tongue. Mulder watches, concentrating.
She smiles tiredly and shakes her head when he offers her another spoonful, feeling full. “Almost dying…that’s the easy part. Crawling your way back to health is the challenge,”
Mulder smiles with her, empathizing. Neither of them enjoys spending time in the hospital, but there’s something about this particular arrangement that reminds him of last year, when they both thought she had gone into the hospital to leave in a casket or an urn. Seeing her lying in bed had nearly knocked the wind out of him before he’d remembered.
She’s okay, she’s alive, she’s only going to get better from here on out.
“I’ll help you,” Mulder says resolutely. He means it, but it’s an offer rather than a command. He almost expects her to turn him down as part of their dance.
He watches Scully’s face as he takes one of her hands, dry and red from hospital soap and extended deprivation of her fancy lotions back home. When her face betrays no sign of pain at her arm being slowly moved, he brings the back of her hand to his lips and kisses it, nuzzles against it lightly. She cups his scratchy jaw and smiles at him, life illuminating her features and driving away pain from the forefront of her mind.
Her land lowers slowly, but stays entwined with his.
turnnoffyourmind
kaledo-art
germansingergirl
pixelskylines
izzy806
