Rating: PG

Summary: A setback for Byers-told you we'd make him suffer.

Spoilers: None.
 

Episphales
 

"We are, we are, we are just children
Finding our way around indecision
We are, we are, we are rather helpless
Take us forever
Whisper to the scream..."

Theme from the movie "Scream." Copyright 1996 Dimension Films and used without permission.
 

February 7, 2000

"He asked for Juliet. What'd you tell him?"

"I told him she was here, but she was sick. She couldn't come see him. But he did get a visit from Ma and Pa Parker."

"They're nice people."

"Yeah, seem to be. They introduced themselves. Seemed to take Byers a little while to form the connection. Telling ya, I'm sure glad I wasn't in that kinda shape when I met my future mother-in-law."

"Oh, God. What's Juliet been telling them?"

"Ah, I think basically...she's told them she's like head over heels in love with this guy and she's talked him up like crazy. Tell ya, they were looking at him like possession."

"Well, Byers generally is what most parents want in a son-in-law." I giggled.

"Yeah, but could he make Eleanor laugh?"

"Well, I said most parents."

"How's he holding up?"

"The electronic display currently reads...let's see, gotta put my glasses on...temp 102.1, BP 140/90...can't read the rest. Looks like he's breathing a little hard still."

"Well, he is getting over pneumonia still."

"Looks pretty quiet on the western front, overall. He's sleeping pretty comfortably right now. At least he's not asking 'bout Susanne right now."

"You gonna spend the night?"

"Yeah, I seem to be the only one on his dance card right now."

"How's Juliet? Did you stop by and see her?"

"For a couple minutes. She's doing okay. She's not so feverish. Dr. Ying stopped in. Y'know what's weird, Ally?"

"What?"

"It's like, okay, I had this, and Byers, and Juliet, and you. And Skulk, I bet. You notice something?"

"We all recovered except Skulk?"

"Sorta. The women didn't get nearly as sick as the guys did. And you kicked it faster. So's Juliet. She's down below 100 now."

"I'm going to stop in and see her tomorrow. I'm glad she's better." I'd seen her the day before, and she was sleeping. "Did you mention this to Dr. Ying?"

"Yeah. Said she'd noticed that, but doesn't have enough data to draw conclusions yet."

"I haven't talked to Dana in a few. You seen her?"

"Nah, but Mulder stopped by for a little bit. Think he was really disappointed Gizzie was off tonight. He loves hassling her."

"I suspect she can dish it out at least as well as he can take it."

"Think that's why he likes flirting with her."

"Dana'll kill him."

"No, she won't. She knows Mulder. She's got nothing to worry about. There's nobody in the world but Scully for him. Except Becca."

"I'm surprised he pulled himself away from her that long."

"I think Scully told him to give her up or he'd get shot again."

"Y'know, Dana's made me rethink my position on gun control. Somehow she seems to be able to keep Mulder in line by threatening to shoot him."

"Only 'cause she's a better shot."

"I think it's more than that. She just seems to have this...power over him. I have no idea how to explain it."

"Oh, I think I do."
 

February 8, 2000

"Julie! How're you hanging there?"

A tired but healthier-looking Juliet greeted me with a smile. "Check the readouts, girl."

"98.7...all right! You're almost outta here!" I high-fived her on her non-IV'd hand. "You feeling all right?"

"Yeah. Just unbelievably tired. I feel like I could sleep for a month."

"I remember that."

"Did you see John yet?" Her expression became anxious.

"Thought I'd see you first. I'm heading down there soon."

She was still exhausted, emotionally as well as physically. I could see tears welling up in her eyes. "God, I've been so worried about him. My parents have been checking up on him for me. I can't wait till I'm out of here so I can see him."

"You know he's conscious, then. Still pretty out of it, but he's not in a coma anymore."

"How does he look?"

"Well...he's got a lot thicker beard." We both laughed. "He doesn't look all that great, Julie. Sorry."

"Well, what was I expecting?" She wiped a tear from her face with her non-IV'd palm. "I don't care. I just want to see him...I don't care how he looks." Her dark eyes were longing. "Has he asked for me?"

"Yeah, he has."

She was trying very hard to maintain control, and not succeeding very well.

"The days we were in quarantine...those were hard...but at least we were together. I was near him. I was actually pretty upset when we were moved because we got separated..." She stopped fighting the tears, and turned her head into the pillow. I couldn't hear her sobs, but her slender frame shook slightly. I patted her shoulder gently until she calmed.

"I can't believe I'm acting this way-over a guy," she laughed as she sniffed away some of her tears. "Ally, I've NEVER acted like this over any man. Not ever. I've felt bad when it ended, sure, but this...God."

"You love him." I managed to state the obvious.

"I can't even begin to describe what happened to me when he looked at me in Vegas-"

"When we were in Vegas. Julie, we were all in Vegas together..."

"Well, duh, girl!"

"No. I mean, those of us that got sick...we all went to Black Hat. Did you stay at Caesar's?"

"Yep. It's no tackier than any other place in Vegas, and a fair sight better on service than a lot of them. Why not?"

"It's probably a stretch...but Langly's been having me comb through all his e-mails for the last six months. One of his friends who was at Black Hat died. I think he's trying to find out if anybody else who went to Black Hat got sick."

"Somebody died from this?!" Wrong thing to say. Juliet started to cry afresh.

"Whoa. We don't know that. It's just...Langly tried to hack into his medical records at his HMO-and set off alarms worse than if he'd hacked into the CIA." He was still agonizing over that hack. "He and Michael finally got in, and when they did...it was as if Skulk had never even existed. Which, of course, being Langly, he's paranoid as hell that something's being hidden."

"Well, you have to admit, this is mighty fucking weird, Ally. We all come down with a virus that nobody's ever seen before...don't understand how it was transmitted...don't know how we got it in the first place!" Juliet was angry now. I watched her temperature monitor rise up to 99.

"Julie, cool it. You want out of here, remember?"

"And I'm getting out right now." She swung her legs over the side of the bed, but when she attempted to go upright, she swooned and began to sink towards the floor. I grabbed her under the armpits; Juliet is a lot taller and somewhat heavier than me, and it was a chore.

"Ally. Get my clothes."

"Julie, you're going out AMA."

"Yeah, and I got work to do."

"Julie, you're almost well. You could get out of here within the next two days in all likelihood."

"I'm not waiting, Ally. Now are you going to help me or not? Because if you're not, I suggest you leave now."

I didn't leave.
 

"Where are your parents staying?"

"Days Inn, Georgetown."

"You better call them and let them know you let yourself out."

"I guess I have to. They're going to freak seven ways till Sunday if I'm not there and they come in." She grinned weakly. "Don't worry about the hospital. They have my Blue Cross number. Anything else to them is strictly superficial."

More truth than fiction in that statement, I thought.

I suggested that maybe wandering right down to John's room might not be the best plan we could come up with, so we left the hospital via the housekeeping elevator and walked to Starbucks. I tried to convince Juliet that getting something to eat would be good for her, but she said she wasn't hungry. I didn't push; I'd already done more than enough damage by aiding and abetting her escape. I'd done a botched job of pulling her IV, and left her with a monstrous bruise that would require long sleeves for weeks to come. At least it wasn't warm weather yet.

I really debated whether I'd done the right thing. She looked exhausted and weak, far younger than her 32 years. Her sleek hair was rumpled from being in bed for so long. Always slender and shapely, she was now a shadow of her former self; Kate Moss might envy her, but no one else would. Her eyes were dull and her skin was pasty. Even so, you would still have to consider her a beauty.

"You almost done, Ally? Because I've wasted enough time, and sooner or later, everyone's going to know I've gone AMA. And I've waited long enough to see John. Let's go."

"You mean you don't feel like going out for margaritas?" I feigned innocence.

"Okay, Ally, normally I'd never turn you down on that one. But these are not normal times."
 

Juliet rapidly dialed her parents as we walked back and, without giving them any particular details, told them to meet her in John's room, not her own, when they came by.

The short trip and the phone call had worn her out totally. She had to stop and lean against the wall when we got to the intensive care unit.

"I felt a hell of a lot better lying down, that much I'll admit," she said in a small voice. "C'mon, I want to see him NOW." We entered through the automatic doors and led her back to Byers's room. I was alarmed to see Kat and Frohike standing in the hallway, and even more so when I saw their expressions.

"What's going on?" Juliet demanded. I could hear a great deal of commotion emanating from Byers's room.

Kat tried to speak, but the words wouldn't reach her mouth.

"He lost consciousness again," Frohike told us very softly. "They think he might have had a brain hemorrhage."

"NO!" Juliet screamed. "No, no, no!" She burst past Frohike, who'd been standing half in the doorway.

"Dear, you can't go in there-" She'd already barged in.

"Ma'am, you have to leave," I heard a woman's voice call out to her.

"No way in hell!" Juliet screamed, or what passed for screaming right now.

"Then stand the hell back and stay out of the way!" Gizzie shouted to her. "C'mon, Byers, stay with us. C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!"

"Pulse weak and thready," another female voice called. "Temperature 101.3. BP 150 over 100 and irritable." We could hear the monitors doing an electronic freakout.

"John Fitzgerald Byers, you listen to me!" I could hear Juliet's voice trying to be strong, but laced with tears. "You are going to survive, and you are going to get well, because when you are, I'm marrying you and that's that!"

"Like that'll motivate him," I heard a male voice quip, and some laughter.

Juliet ignored him, which proved how horribly stressed she was-normally she'd brook no comments of such a nature. "I mean it, John. I'm marrying you, so you damn better get well and get well quick!"

Gizzie yelled out to the hallway. "Can somebody get this poor woman outta here? We're trying to work in here already!"

I quietly walked in and took Juliet softly by the arm and led her into the hallway. She totally broke down at this point, leaning up against the wall, eyes closed in agony. Frohike put his arm around her and just let her wail, patting her back gently.

"We should probably sit down," Kat finally choked out. "We're probably in the way here."

"I'm not moving," I could hear Juliet mumble into Frohike's shoulder.

"C'mon people, get outta the way, we've gotta get this boy to surgery." Gizzie swept her hand to indicate that we needed to move our asses post-haste.

"Is he-" Kat began.

"When we know, you'll know." Gizzie assured her.

We watched in horror as Byers was taken away.
 

I called Langly, who was at home with the kids, and told him what happened. He said he'd bundle up the girls and drag them out.

"Call Michael. He's in the office," Frohike said quietly. "Don't drag the girls out tonight."

"He's going to love that."

"He'll do it." Frohike indicated from his tone that he'd make certain Michael would do it.

I dialed the offices.

"Lone Gunmen, free delivery with minimum purchase." The voice of Frohike Junior came over the line-if Frohike hadn't been standing next to me, I might have thought it was him.

"Michael, it's Allison."

"Hey, Al'son. How's the professor?"

"Not too good. He's in surgery."

"Fuck no!"

"Michael, I have a favor to ask you...and I'll pay you-"

"You want me to stay with the girls so your old man can get over there."

"You got it. And I will pay you."

"Fuck it, Al'son. I'll watch 'em. Long as you got some decent beer."

"Leftover honey lemon chicken, too."

"You're on, pretty lady." I laughed. "I gotta tell ya, my dad's cooking, it's not like yours." I laughed again.
 

Frohike had called Joanna, who showed up with Langly; they must have left at about the same time. Langly'd been drinking a fair amount, and there was exhaustion all over his face. Joanna looked impassive except for her eyes; you could see the worry there. She did, however, try to reassure us.

"If the bleeding occurred in a certain area of the brain, and they can contain it, he'll be fine. They're probably doing a craniotomy to relieve some of the pressure."

I wrapped my arms tightly around Langly, and he just held on for dear life. I smoothed the blonde hair, and noticed a few more gray streaks sneaking in.

Frohike sat next to Juliet and put her head on his shoulder; she was still exhausted, and she fell into a fitful sleep.

"She's warm," Frohike said to Joanna.

"Let me check her." Joanna felt her forehead. "When was she released?"

"She wasn't. She went AMA," I told her.

"Oh, boy," Jo shook her head. "Not what I wanted to hear. Do you know when?"

"About an hour ago."

"You were with her, weren't you?" Frohike looked at me, his eyes mildly accusing.

"She told me I could either help her or get lost." I shrugged. "She was really worried about Byers, and I couldn't make her stay.

Jo studied the dozing figure against Frohike. "Ally, I'm not going to be in tomorrow. I have a staff meeting you'll have to cover for me."

"What time?"

"1."

"All right." I could probably zone out during it. "I have to leave at 2 to do a seminar, though."

"Good enough. I think I'm going to have to give my nursing skills a workout tomorrow."

"God, is it Monday tomorrow already?" Langly groaned audibly. "I don't feel like I even had a weekend."

"That's because you didn't," I reminded him.

"I'm tired, Ally."

"I know." We were on one of the sofas. "Stretch out and rest a bit, babe."

"'Kay." He put his impossibly long legs on the sofa, boots hanging over the edge, and placed his head in my lap. I stroked the vanilla locks. In the small amount of sign he knew, he said to me manually, "what's taking so long?"

I signed back. "I don't know."

"Is there room at the inn, or do I have to sleep in the stables?" The voice of Mulder filled the doorway. Frohike had called him. "Sorry, had to wait for Scully to get back from the library. She knows." He looked around the room. "Langly, nothing like hogging the sofa."

"Nothing like it," Langly agreed, not moving.

"Does this mean you're not moving?" Mulder lifted an eyebrow, a habit he'd picked up from his wife. It was hilarious sometimes how much they unconsciously mirrored one another.

"Wow, he can be taught!" Langly actually smirked. "Sorry. Got here first. 'Sides, you don't get Ally's lap."

"I don't want Ally's lap. Gizzie's, maybe." We all actually laughed. He and Gizzie spent much of their time in spirited banter with one another. I nominated Mulder for most likely to be sat on by Gizzie.

"And how is the lovely Dana Scully?" Frohike inquired of him.

"She's been pretty busy, trying to figure out what the hell made all you losers sick." He lost the sarcastic expression pretty fast, though. "Seriously, any word on Byers?"

"Not yet." Frohike moved, which awakened Juliet.

"I gotta get to a computer," she mumbled.

"Young lady, you need to rest," Frohike informed her in his best paternal tone.

"Where's John?" Her eyes were red-rimmed but open.

"He's still in surgery," Frohike said gently. "They'll see us soon."

"I think I should take her home," Jo said to Frohike.

"No." Juliet's eyes filled up again.

"All right. When we find out how he's doing, we have to leave. You're still sick, Juliet." Jo knelt next to her. "I know you're worried, but you won't help him by not getting well."

"I'm cold," she complained.

"Let me find you a blanket," Jo walked over to the nurses's station.

Kat had been pacing the floor, unable to sit still, and she'd said nearly nothing the entire time. She looked as if the last week had aged her ten years.

"Katherine." Frohike spoke. "Why don't you go to your brother's apartment and get some rest?"

"Not until I know how he is," she hissed through clenched teeth. She lost her cool now; and I could see tears streaming down her pretty features.

"You call your husband?" Langly asked.

"Oh, God-I have to! Oh, God, how could I forget?" She looked about, confused. "I'll be at the phones."

"Use Ally's," Langly offered. I handed her my cell out of my purse. That little phone was getting a workout. When Langly had insisted I get a PCS, I balked; I felt it was simply an indulgence. Not anymore.
 

Time passes slowly in hospitals. Juliet dozed restlessly on and off, tucked under the blanket Jo had procured for her (a heated one, no less-Jo knew how to ask for things in hospitals, having done her time in them). Langly tried to sleep, but he settled for closing his eyes and letting me rub his hair and shoulders. I actually dozed at one point, but Langly was like a cat
whose owner had fallen asleep and stopped petting-he tapped me on the hand, a bit sharply.

"That felt good," he whined. "Why'd you stop?"

A tired Langly is a crabby Langly. It had become a mantra for me. The corollary of it was, a tired Ally is a bitchy Ally. So I bit my tongue.

"Okay, people, you can all get outta here now," Gizzie reappeared in the waiting area.

"How is he?" We all chorused unevenly.

"He's okay. Still unconscious, but we relieved a lot of pressure on the brain, and the bleed was limited. He might have some difficulties with speech for a while. Too soon to tell much."

"Can I see him?" Juliet moaned.

"No, not yet. He's in recovery. You can see him in the morning."

"I want to see him NOW!" Juliet was starting to cry again.

"Honey, you can't. I'm sorry. And-hey, you were in quarantine. Were you released?"

"Yeah. I released myself."

"Jesus Christ." Gizzie rolled her eyes in disgust. She looked sharply at Mulder. "And I thought you were bad news."

"Gizzie, I'm wounded!" Mulder tried to look like the hurt puppy dog he was so good at portraying.

"Mulder, you're gonna be a lot more wounded if you don't move your useless white ass out of my waiting area and go home to that lovely wife who must have done something very bad in a former life to deserve you!"

"Now, Gizzie? How can you say that? To your favorite patient, of all people?" Apparently Mulder had been in Gizzie's care before.

"Mulder, if you're my favorite patient, I'm Kate Moss."

"Oh, Giz, you're way more beautiful than Kate Moss." Mulder was teasing.

"Mulder, you're such a liar." She looked severely at all of us. "All of you, out. Now!"

"If anything happens-"

"Believe me, if he's going south, you'll all be the first to know. Now LEAVE already!"

We left. It was Gizzie, after all.

END OF PART 66