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Scully opened her eyes when she heard the door handle click. Mulder's face poked in and he smiled at her when he saw her.

"Scully?" he asked, walking over to her bed.

"Mulder, what are you doing here? I have treatment in a little while, you know that," she said, pretending to scold him. But she was glad he was there, even if she did deny it.

"Sorry. I just wanted to come here and cheer you on. So, 'GO, SCULLY, GO!'"he said with a grin.

"Thanks." She smiled back weakly. He took her hand and gently kissed it.

"Good luck. Be tough."

"I will. I'll be fine, Mulder. But, thank you."

"You're *always* fine, Scully. How could I possibly be worried?"

A doctor pushed open the door suddenly, interrupting their conversation.

"Ready, Dana?" the doctor asked, wheeling a wheelchair over to her bed. She looked at Mulder, and felt him squeeze her fingers. She squeezed back.

"Yeah," she said softly. She sat up carefully and swung her legs to the side of the bed. Mulder helped her climb into the chair. A wheelchair never looked to frightening and threatening to him in his entire life. He fought down the fear and the anger within him, clenching his fist hard for a moment.

"I'll see you later, kay?" he asked, stroking her cheek.

"Bye," she said, as the doctor pushed her out the door in her chair. Mulder watched silently.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours passed, each one feeling like a day. Mulder worried and waited anxiously, feeling sick to his stomach every time he looked at his watch. He wished he could have said more to Scully, but the knot in his throat was too big to even murmur the slightest words of comfort.

She was dying.

And for once, there was nothing he could do to prevent it. He never felt so helpless. There was no warning, no sign or trail of evidence that would even suggest Scully would get brain cancer. He had no say, and there wasn't a cure for her.

He hated it.

He loathed it.

He sat there and stared at the empty hospital bed, disgusted with himself that the one person in his life that he couldn't live without was being taken for him, and he had to sit back and watch it all fall apart. The door opened, and a nurse pushed a wheelchair in, with a weak-looking Scully seated in it.

"Scully?" he asked, alarmed.

"Hi," she mumbled. Before he could respond, the nurse interrupted them.

"Ms. Scully needs her rest now, sir."

"No. I want him here," Scully piped up.

"But, Dana-"

"I want him here. He's staying," she said repeated firmly. The nurse blinked at her.

"Fine. Let's just get you into bed. Sir, could you hit that button on the bed and buzz the other nurses? I need help getting her into bed."

"That's okay, I got her," Mulder replied, going to the side of the chair. He gently lifted her into his arms, and set her limp body delicately on the mattress. He carefully tucked her into bed, pulling the blankets over her weakened body. The nurse stared at him in disbelief.

"That wasn't necessary, you know. We could have easily gotten her."

"Yeah, I know. But I would never drop her. She knows that," he said. The nurse nodded with a smile.

"Rest, Dana," the nurse said. "I'll check up on you in a little while, all right?"

Scully nodded, and the nurse left. Mulder took her hand as he sat on her bed, smoothing back her red hair from her pale ivory skin.

"How ya feeling?" he asked.

"Tired. Weak. Sick," she said. After a moment, "Scared."

Mulder felt his throat close up. He laid next to her and held her against him.

"Me, too," he whispered. She shifted clumsily in his embrace, inhaling his scent, seeking comfort. He pulled back a little, and trailed his fingers down her face.

"I'm slipping, Mulder. I'm gonna die. And I'm....I'm not ready to go yet," she whispered.

" No, you're not going anywhere. Oh, God, Scully....you're staying right here, and I'll be with you." His voice cracked, heavy with emotion as he spoke. Scully's eyes filled with tears.

"Don't make any promises you know you can't keep. Your will alone can't save me, Mulder. If it could, I probably never would have gotten cancer in the first place. But I appreciate it," she said, reaching out, running her hand through his hair. "I need to hear it, Mulder. It builds strength. Mental and spiritual. My heart is relying on you to help me through this. And it's gonna be tough."

He smiled at her.

"I've always liked a challenge, Scully."

She smiled back. Mulder bowed his head forward and gently kissed the soft skin between her eyebrows.

"If I could make your problems go away, I would. I'd trade my life and my health for yours. Anytime. This is tearing me apart, Scully. To know that right now, there's something right here, mere inches behind your beautiful blue eyes of yours, that's hurting you," he said, touching his index finger between her eyes. "I can't stop it. For once, Scully, this isn't just some bad person that I can come and get you from. I feel like I can't save you. So I have to watch. But I have a feeling you're going to be okay. I *can* save you, somehow. I'll do anything if you need it. Just let me know what and when," he whispered.

"All I want from you is you," Scully's voice was low, and she held his face in the palm of her hand. "All I want is for you to stay. Just hold me. For awhile....at least until tomorrow."

He nodded at her and curled up next to her, wrapping his arms around her protectively and tightly.

And there they stayed.

Until morning.