Ravages of Spirit 19

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Disclaimer: Chris Carter has sole ownership of these characters and even
though he's a genius, he could share them with us a little more.

Author's Notes: Sorry to anyone I told this would be out sooner. Not only
did my ISP go down, but I also got in a car accident. Don't worry I'm okay,
you'll all be pleased to know it won't affect my writing. :) Thanks to the
usual crew, Sam, Rachel, Corrine, Laura and everyone who sent me feedback on
the last one.

This is also dedicated to my mother who has the patience and ability to deal
with people like Mulder everyday. Anyone who works in an ER and sees this
kind of stuff all the time and can still come home and take care of her kids
deserves a medal.

Scully returned with Mulder’s soup to find Dr. Tyler standing over a
sleeping Mulder. He
was listening to his heart under the gown, but he slipped the earpieces out
when he saw
Scully.

“Hi, how is he?” Scully whispered back. Tyler opened his mouth to answer,
but Mulder
spoke first.

“I’m already awake. You don’t have to whisper.” He still hadn’t made any
attempt to
open his eyes or look even the slightest bit awake.

“He should know. He woke me up kicking out your mom and Skinner and trying
to look
up my ass again.” He finally graced the two of them with his hazel eyes, but
they were still
only halfway open.

Scully just ignored him and pulled the tray over with his soup on it.
“Here, eat.” She put
the spoon in his hand and turned back to Tyler. “Did you figure out why he
has a fever?”

“He doesn’t have a fever anymore, so all I can guess is that he was slightly
dehydrated. If
its anything serious, the fever will be back tonight. When he’s spiked
fevers, its been at
night. We’ll watch him and I’m going to give him a thorough exam tomorrow
morning
before I release him.”

“Probably around ten. I’m going to take your IV out now though. I want to
get most of
the heavy painkillers out of your system today. I’m sending you home with
Darvocet.
Have you ever taken that before?”

Mulder looked up with a mouthful and a drip of broth running down his chin
and raised
his eyebrows at Scully. He shrugged.

She handed him a napkin and shook her head jokingly. “Yes, he’s had it
before, but he
didn’t take it. He has a habit of dumping painkillers.”

“Well, I think you’re going to want to take it this time around. Between
your nose,
shoulder, ribs, and all the other stuff, your body is going to hurt like
hell after we knock
off the Demerol completely.” Tyler said.

“Oh, I just can’t wait.” he said with a frown, but he didn’t slow down
shoveling the soup
in his mouth.

“Is that soup good?” Scully said with a bemused smile. He’d already
finished off most of
the bowl.

Mulder didn’t even look up from the bowl. “Nag me when I don’t eat, nag me
when I
do.”

“I’m not nagging. I’m just happy that you’re eating and looking so
enthusiastic about it.”

Tyler was putting Mulder’s chart back into the slot on the end of the bed.
“Bye, Mulder.
I hope I don’t have to see you again until tomorrow.” He grinned as he
walked towards
the door.

The corners of Mulder’s mouth raised a little. “Believe me, the feeling is
mutual.”

The hours passed entirely too slow for Mulder, but despite a night of
tossing and turning,
it was finally Thursday morning. He could definitely feel the lack of
painkillers in his
system. His body felt like one big ache. He’d even taken the Darvocet from
the nurse
without so much as an argument. He’d been on Demerol for almost a week and
a half, of
course, he was going to be in pain. It wasn’t his longest hospital stay,
but it was quite
long enough.

He’d just had blood drawn and was now waiting for Miles to grace him with
his presence.
Everyone had absolutely insisted that he set up appointments for twice a
week before he
left the hospital. He had also been threatened by Scully to actually attend
those
appointments. With any luck, he could narrow them down to once a week, but
Miles was
harder to fool than most of the psychologists he’d been to. Right now all
Mulder had to
convince him of was that he was well enough to go home by himself.

“So I guess you’re ready to get the hell outta Dodge, huh?” Miles said with
a grin.
Mulder hadn’t heard him enter.

“Just remember that you aren’t fully recovered yet. You have to take it
easy. Are you
sure you’re gonna be alright at home with your arm in that sling?”

“I’ll be fine.” Mulder said trying not to show his anger. He was fed up
with everyone
doubting his self-judgement. He knew it wasn’t the arm in the sling that
had Miles
worried.

“I’m not going to pull a mental patient routine or anything. I’m going to
go home and do
the same thing I’m doing here. Lay in a bed.”

“Fine, Mulder, but you also know its not a good thing to sit around and
think all the time.
Keep your mind occupied. And not by work.”

“I’ll read the stack of books that’s piled up beside the bed I don’t use.”
Mulder said flatly.

“You’re going to get the lecture about your bed from Dr. Tyler, so I won’t
give it to you.”

Mulder flashed a frown momentarily, but it dissipated as fast as it
appeared. “I’m
supposed to set up appointments with you.”

“Its already done. Tyler organized them with your weekly doctor’s
appointments. He’s
gonna bring the schedule to you later.”

Mulder instantly started grumbling. “I can’t even make my own doctor’s
appointments
anymore.”

“That’s not why we did it, Mulder. We did it so that you wouldn’t have to
spend
everyday at the doctor’s office. All your physical therapy is coordinated
with it so that
you have two completely free days during the week.”

Mulder nodded, but he was still ticked off. He didn’t appreciate people
controlling his life
for him.

It was as if Miles had read his mind. “No one is trying to take over your
life. We’re all
just trying to make things a little easier on you. I’m leaving all my
numbers with you.
Scully has them, too. If you wake up at four in the morning, call me. I
want you to. The
only way I can help you is if you tell me what’s going on.” Miles paused
and looked for
some expression on Mulder’s face, but it was passive. “Mulder, you don’t
have to talk
about the child abuse. I know that’s hard for you and it should be. You’ve
been dealing
with that your whole life in your own way. I won’t push to change that, but
you do need
to talk about the rape. I know how much it hurts, but you can either try to
alleviate some
of that or let it get worse.”

Mulder was back to his favorite pastime of studying the pattern on the
blanket, but Miles
knew his words had some impact. Mulder was thankful that Miles wasn’t going
to force
him to talk about his father. He didn’t really know how to reply.

“Umm..thanks. I know I’ve been a pain in the ass, but I really do appreciate
everything
you’ve done for me.” He then looked up and grinned, “ For a shrink, you’re
not too bad.”

Miles chuckled. “Takes one to know one.” He then handed Mulder a card with
a bunch of numbers on it. He reached to shake Mulder’s hand and said, “I
really mean it, Mulder.
Call me anytime.”

Mulder thanked Miles again and watched as he walked out the door.
Subject: [MTA_Stories] Ravages of Spirit 19b/?

Scully witnessed the tiny display of affection between Mulder and Miles from
outside the
door. She hoped that they’d finally found a psychologist who could get
through to the
core of Mulder’s pain.

She startled, but quickly regained her composure and turned to see Dr. Tyler
with a bag of
prescriptions. She nodded, but he could see that she wasn’t quite sure that
this was the
best thing for Mulder.

“Dana, physically, he’s healing amazingly well. We can’t keep him here any
longer. Miles
really does think he’ll be safe at home. That’s all we can hope for.”

“I know, but I just know how he tends to go off in his own little world at
times and forget
about everything else. Its not pretty.”

Their conversation was interrupted by Miles leaving the room. He
immediately picked up
on the solemn countenance of Scully.

He put his hand on her arm and began to speak softly. “I know you’re
worried, but you
can’t baby him. He’s not used to it and it smothers him. He realizes that
he’s not
completely well and I think that the threat of ending up in the hospital
again is enough to
keep him straight.”

“Let’s hope so.” Scully said and then effectively ended the conversation by
leaving Miles
and Tyler to look at each other as she entered Mulder’s room.

“Hey Scully.” He said, truly happy for the first time in days. “Did you
bring me some
clothes?”

“Yes. I brought your Adidas warm-up suit. I figured it’d be the most
comfortable.” She
noticed that his hair was damp as she sat down on the corner of the bed.
“Did they let you
take a shower alone this morning?”

“Did you think I was gonna let someone else get in there with me?” He gave
her a
doubtful look. “You know, I really hate hospital shampoo. Its like using
dish detergent.”

Scully grinned. “You are so finicky about your hair, Mulder! Did you expect
them to have
Paul Mitchell here?”

He feigned a look of shock. “I’m finicky!? You have no room to talk
Scully! What kind
of dye do you use?” He couldn’t help but grin when she shot him a wicked
look.

“I do NOT dye my hair and you know it!” She swatted him on the arm and stood
up from
the bed when she saw that Tyler was coming in with a nurse. “I’m going down
to get
some coffee while Tyler examines you. I’ll be back.”

“Nice Arnold impression.” He called behind her as she walked out the door.
“Alright, Dr.
Tyler, let’s get this over with.”

“I’m in complete agreement. We’re ready to rid of you.” He smiled as he
pulled a tray
with some instruments on it over. “Can you sit on the edge of the bed for
me?”

Mulder moved to the edge of the bed despite the pain in his ass and his
shoulder. He
didn’t really want Tyler to know how much he was hurting. Tyler quickly
checked all of
the regular stuff and then peeled the bandage back over Mulder’s nose. It
was healing
nicely. He didn’t really know what Mulder’s nose had looked like before,
but the
cosmetic surgeon had been in a couple of times, so he guessed that
everything was looking
good.

He then asked Mulder to lower the gown to his waist and lay back on the bed.
A physical
therapist had already talked to Mulder about his shoulder, so Tyler could
bypass that. He
palpated Mulder’s abdomen thoroughly, so that he could feel the shrinking
contusions on
his liver. He then asked Mulder to shed his boxers.

The nurse turned to Dr. Tyler and he nodded for her to leave. She scurried
out of the
room and Mulder stiffly removed his boxers.

“The pain’s pretty bad, isn’t it?” Tyler asked skeptically. Mulder’s head
jerked up in
surprise. “You’re not hiding it as well as you think.” Tyler gave a slight
shrug. “The rigid
posture gave it away. Did you take the Darvocet this morning?”

“I know. I am sending some Demerol home with you in case it gets really bad.
I also gave
you some Flexeril. I want you to take that with the Darvocet once you get
home. Its a
muscle relaxant.”

“I need you to stand for this part.” Tyler said as he sat on a stool.
Mulder once again
climbed off the bed uncomfortably and stood in front of Tyler.

“Can you hold the gown up around your waist and spread your legs a little
more?”

Mulder shot him a look of disgust, but did as he was told. Dr. Tyler lifted
his penis and
began to examine where the stitches had been.

“Everything looks good here. The swelling has gone down and the lacerations
are almost
healed. You’ve still got some bruising, but it’ll fade in a couple of days.
How’s the pain
here?”

Tyler looked into his urethra and grabbed a swab off the tray. “This is
gonna hurt for a
second.” Tyler said just before he pushed the oversized Q-tip into the small
hole.

“Shit! You weren’t kidding!” Mulder was struggling to stand still, but the
pain went away
as fast as it had come.

“You’ve still got quite a bit of swelling here,” he said as he looked up at
Mulder’s face.
He quickly noticed that Mulder was grimacing, not to mention getting rather
pale. He let
go and pushed Mulder towards the bed.

Dr.Tyler had figured that out. Mulder had broken into a sweat already. “I
can finish while
you sit. Sit on the edge of the bed before you pass out.”

Mulder scowled at him, but sat. Tyler resumed his exam and ran a finger
along where the
stitches had been. He quickly checked for a hernia by asking Mulder to
cough. “Besides
the swelling, these cuts are almost healed as well. I haven’t talked to you
about this yet,
but I think that once the swelling goes down, we should check your sperm
count. That’s
the only true way to tell if something internal was damaged that we didn’t
pick up on.”
He saw the worried look on Mulder’s face. “I don’t think that there are any
problems, but
we just want to be sure.”

“If they hurt that bad, Mulder, you might want to wear an athletic supporter
or regular
underwear.”

“We’re almost done. I need you to lay on your side with your rear close to
the edge of
the bed.”

Mulder gritted his teeth and got into the position. Damn, he couldn’t wait
to get out of
here. He just kept telling himself that he only had to wait a little while
longer. Mulder
was slightly worried about the fact that he was starting to not even think
twice about
showing Tyler his ass. He tensed as he felt Tyler place a gloved hand on
each buttock and
he waited for the pain to come. It didn’t come. He relaxed a little and
listened to Tyler
talk behind him.

“Your anus looks very good considering. You’ve got some fissures here.”
Tyler said as
he pushed on the perineum. “I’m going to do a rectal exam now.”

This was the part Mulder dreaded. He wasn’t going to get upset about it
today though.
He had promised himself that. He heard Tyler squirt the lubricant on his
fingers and
suddenly the cold gel was being spread around his anus. He couldn’t stop
the flinch that
wracked his body.

“Relax and it won’t hurt as much. I want you to bear down and I’m going to
slip my
finger in.” Mulder did and winced as Tyler’s index finger slid into him.
It definitely was
not a picnic, but it didn’t hurt half as bad as it had a couple of days
earlier.

He could feel Tyler rubbing the fissures on the inside. When he hit one
that was
particularly sore, Mulder yelped.

“Sorry. I’m almost done with this.” Tyler finished his exam and pulled his
finger out
slowly.

“Everything feels okay. I’m going to look in real quick with the speculum.
That’s going
to hurt a little more. I’d like to give you a suppository that’s a topical
anesthetic to curb
the pain while I do it, but its up to you.”

Mulder didn’t reply immediately, but finally nodded his head. Tyler had to
admit that he
was in shock. Was Fox Mulder becoming less stubborn and pig-headed? He
didn’t think
about it too long and quickly slipped the suppository in and began to
lubricate the
speculum. It didn’t take long for the little capsule to melt. He waited a
couple more
minutes and then warned Mulder that he was inserting the instrument.
Luckily, it slid in
easily and Tyler was able to open it without causing Mulder too much pain.
He could see
all the fissures and lacerations still, but they looked a hundred percent
better.

“Everything looks so much better here. Its still going to be painful, but
you’re
recuperating very quickly.” He shut the speculum and pulled it out gently.
He then wiped
up the excess lubricant and lowered Mulder’s gown. “All done. I’ve included
some of
those suppositories in your bag. You can use them every 6 hours if you need
to.”

Mulder nodded and climbed off the bed to put his boxers on. He was moving
rigidly, but
not wasting any time. He was already pulling his warm-up pants on.

“I know the rules. No running, no doing anything strenuous, sleep a lot,
take all my
medicines. Blah, blah, blah.” Mulder was now done getting dressed and had
sat himself in
the chair next to the bed.

“All that’s true, Mulder, but with injuries like yours, you have to be even
more careful.
Check for blood when you go to the bathroom. There will be a little, but if
there seems to
be a lot, get yourself in here. I also want you to watch closely for a
fever. You were
running one and we don’t know why, so be careful. No sleeping on the couch
either. I
want you to get a good night’s sleep in your bed. I included some sleeping
pills to if you
need them. There’s a schedule of all your appointments in the bag and in
the prescription
bag, it tells you when to take everything and how close together you can
take anything. I
also gave you my card with my pager and cell phone number on it. Be
careful, Mulder
and don’t be afraid to call if you need anything. I don’t need you messing
up any of my
good work.” He grinned as he shook Mulder’s hand.

“Thanks.” Mulder smiled and watched him walk out the door. Almost
immediately, Scully
entered with a wheelchair.

“You ready? All your papers are signed and your stuff is packed up.” Though
she was
worried about him, the huge grin that came across his face as he got in the
wheelchair
soothed some of her fears.

“Home, driver!” he said as he pointed towards the door. Damn, it was good
to get out of
here.