From: susanf34@comcast.net   
      
   *NO ARCHIVE*   
      
      
      
   Title: One in Five   
   Author: Susan   
   E-mail: susanf34@comcast.net   
   Classification: a moment-in-time vignette   
   Spoiler: Folie a Deux   
   Archive: After the Fact site.   
   Disclaimer: These characters belong to each other,   
   not me.   
      
   Summary: More than anything, I have to know that   
   she believes me.   
   *******************************************************   
      
   One in Five   
   by Susan   
   ~~~~   
      
   Chicago, Illinois   
   9:50 am   
      
      
   "You sure you want to drive me to the airport?  I am   
   considered mentally unstable, you know," I say as we   
   enter the ramp onto the highway.   
      
   "Well, I'll take my chances," she replies, the slightest   
   of smiles crossing her face.   
      
   There's a quiet lull then, and though usually these   
   moments of silence between us are comfortable ones,   
   this one was not.   
      
   "Looks like it might rain," I say several minutes   
   later, staring out the window at the patch of gray   
   clouds beginning to form to the west of us.   
      
   "We're scheduled to take off at 11:00, but we should   
   be out of O'Hare by then, that is, if our flight's on   
   time."   
      
   She doesn't look at me as she speaks, and though I   
   know the traffic is heavy, I can't help wondering if   
   she simply doesn't want to look at me.   
      
   After all, the doctors did say I was delusional, and   
   though she'd never come out and say it to me, maybe   
   she thinks I am too.   
      
   I look down at my feet, tap my fingers on my thigh.   
   "Thanks for getting the plane tickets and making all   
   the arrangements."   
      
   "You'd do the same for me," she says, still looking   
   straight ahead.   
      
   She's right, I would.   
      
   Then again, sometimes I wonder if she really knows just   
   how far I'd go for her.   
      
   And sometimes I wonder about just how far I'd go for   
   myself.   
      
   Apparently pretty far, considering what I've just been   
   through.   
      
   Claiming to see a man turn into a giant insect when no   
   one else could see it. Claiming that people were being   
   turned into zombies by this same man.   
      
   And risking both my job and my partner's belief in me   
   just to get someone to acknowledge that my claims were   
   true.   
      
   Yeah, I'd say I pretty much pushed the limit this time.   
      
   "Scully?"   
      
   "Hmm?" she says, finally looking over at me, but only   
   for a moment.   
      
   I rest my arm on the window ledge, nervously brush my   
   thumb back and forth on the fabric right below it. "I   
   have to know something, and I want you to be honest   
   with me."   
      
   Out of the corner of my eye, I can see her body tense,   
   her hands grip the steering wheel, and all of a sudden   
   I'm not so sure I should ask her anything.   
      
   But I have to ask her, and I have to know.   
      
   I have to know that I'm really not crazy, that I really   
   did see what I thought I saw.   
      
   But more than anything, I have to know that she believes   
   me.   
      
   I swallow and move my thumb back and forth even faster.   
   "What did you *really* see in my hospital room last   
   night, Scully?"   
      
   I turn to look at her then, and I can see that she's   
   really thinking about her answer, which of course, makes   
   me feel even more nervous.   
      
   Pulling onto the exit ramp, she drives up to the stoplight.   
   Then she licks the corner of her mouth, looks right at me,   
   and quietly replies, "I saw the same thing you did."   
      
   Just then the light turns green again, and she turns her   
   attention back to the road, leaving me to consider what   
   she just said.   
      
   I know how difficult it was for her to admit that to me,   
   let alone say it with such certainty.   
      
   And yet she did.   
      
   My one in five billion believes me.   
      
   And for right now, that's all I need to know.   
      
   I reach over, gently squeeze her arm, then lean back in   
   my seat and look out at the sky again.   
      
   The gray clouds are gone.   
      
      
   ~end~   
      
      
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