Dreamcatcher 6
Ally

Dreamcatcher 6

St Mary's Hospital. May 4th 1999 1:07a.m. Visitor's room.

"You look tired."

Scully raised her arms wearily and stretched them above her head, wincing at the audible cracking sound that came from deep within her shoulders.

"I'm fine," she offered by way of reassurance. "Just been a long day, that's all..."

As if to contradict her words, she trailed off as the end of the sentence was swallowed up by a yawn that she just couldn't suppress.

Mulder grinned across at her. "Want some caffeine, Agent Scully? You look like you could use some."

"No, it's OK." She got to her feet. "I'll get it. I could use the walk. Baseball lessons aside, my muscles are still protesting from too much inactivity. I'll see if I can find anything out while I'm gone."

On leaving the relative peace and quiet of the room, Scully was surprised to see the corridor beyond teeming with activity. She had spent a lot of time around hospitals, both as a doctor and as a patient, and in her experience even hospitals slept sometimes.

Not so here apparently. But then, she reminded herself, it was a small hospital, probably serving an area far bigger than its capabilities. Thankfully, though, its lack of facilities hadn't seemed to detract from the care given to little Gina Robik when she was brought through to the ER. She had been assessed, treated and found a bed up in the children's ward within an hour.

But then again, maybe the presence of two FBI Agents had speeded up the process somewhat, Scully reflected. Or maybe it was because it was such an unusual case.

By the time the ambulance had arrived at Brackenhurst, Gina had lapsed into what Scully could only guess was some kind of catatonic shock. In the space of ten minutes, the child's breathing had become shallow, her pulse rate sluggish. Despite everyone's best efforts she had remained totally unresponsive to external stimuli, although her eyes had remained open in an expression of sheer terror.

Scully had never seen anything like it before, although in medical school she had read about cases of so-called waking comas, where the mind shuts down to avoid facing up to events beyond its normal rational capabilities. Usually, though, a clear cause could be found, especially in children. She'd read about children who had witnessed the death of a parent withdraw into themselves, shutting out the world around them until some inner voice told them it was OK to come out again.

But there were usually tangible reasons.

Scully frowned.

What was Gina's reason? What had she seen in that room that would cause her to close down like this? Obviously it was tied in with the disappearance of Felicia Slabbert, but Mulder had ordered a thorough search of the building. Forensics teams had been called in, their investigation centering around the area where Gina had been found. Their best efforts, though, had revealed nothing aside from the obvious - that the girl was gone.

There was no evidence of any kind to suggest that a third party had been involved, and Scully knew that her partner had already ruled out any misplaced kidnapping theories.

But if not kidnapping, then what?

The child had seen *something*. Of that there was no doubt, but until the girl decided to join them back in the real world, Scully suspected that the answers would remain just out of their reach. It was anyone's guess how long that might take. Hours, days, months, years even. There was just no way of knowing.

Deep in thought, Scully didn't notice the figure coming toward her until it was too late, and before she could stop her forward momentum, they collided.

"Shit!"

She recognized the voice as belonging to the young doctor who had ministered to Gina hours before. He had been harried then. Now he seemed on the verge of hysteria.

Scully understood only too well the pressures heaped upon medical professionals and she didn't even flinch at his choice of greeting. Besides, she *had* collided with the man after all.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." She held out her hand in apology. "Special Agent Dana Scully. You met my partner earlier, I believe."

Recognition washed over the man's features, softening them slightly. "Yes, Agent Scully. I remember. You and your partner brought the little girl in, right? I'm sorry for seeming a little brusque. It's been kinda crazy here tonight."

Scully waved away his apologies. "It's fine, really. I understand how busy you must be. But since you're here, can you tell me, is there any change?"

He shook his head. "I wish I could give you some good news, Agent Scully. But no. I've just been up there, in fact. I've seen this kind of thing before. Only thing we can do is keep her as comfortable as possible and hope that she'll come out of it. We've called her parents. They'll be here tomorrow. Often just the sound of familiar voices can help break through the barriers. For now, though, the best thing we can do is allow her to rest. She's finally sleeping. I don't expect her to wake before morning."

He cocked his head on one side, contemplating the woman before him. "Speaking of which, you look like you could use some yourself."

"Excuse me?"

"Some sleep. To be perfectly honest, if I'd realized you were still here I'd have had one of the nurses send you home hours ago. But like I said, it's been kinda crazy. Best thing you could do would be to go check into a motel somewhere and call us in the morning. I have numbers of a couple of decent places if you need them."

Scully summoned up a tired smile, recognizing that he was just being polite. That he had better things to do than make small talk with her about local motels.

"No. Thank you. It's fine. My partner has it all arranged already. But I do think I'll take your advice. You have our numbers, right?"

He nodded curtly. "Of course. I'll ensure someone calls you if there's the slightest change. Goodnight, Agent Scully."

She watched as he continued down the hallway, his white coat billowing behind him until he was swallowed up by the dozens of other medical personnel and patients milling around the enclosed space. It suddenly felt too hot, and for a second everything seemed to turn liquid as she swayed slightly on her feet, the figures before her seeming to meld into one as they blurred and tumbled together. Clutching blindly at a convenient vending machine, Scully opened and closed her eyes rapidly, blinking until her vision returned to normal.

{God, I must be tired.}

Time to collect her partner and call it a night.

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