From: cybill@pacbell.net   
      
   XXXXXXXXXX   
   CHAPTER 8   
   XXXXXXXXXX   
      
   NEW MILFORD HOSPITAL   
   ROUTE 202   
   NEW MILFORD, CT   
   MAY 29, 1997   
   THURSDAY - 11:30 AM   
      
   Three hours and fifteen interviews later, I was sick of hearing   
   myself talk. The only productive thing I'd accomplished was to   
   confirm how well-loved Christina Fuller had been and that no one   
   could imagine wanting to hurt her.   
      
   I also managed to get a list of hospital employees.  After returning   
   to Kent, I would see if the Town Hall could cough up a list of   
   residents. I had a feeling that although Christina's secret admirer   
   was an employee of the hospital, he was a resident of Kent, just   
   like she had been. Something was happening in that town and it   
   was starting to creep me out. I wanted to find out what it was   
   before more people died. It was just a hunch, but I was sure all our   
   killers were residents of Kent.   
      
   Only one employee had raised a red flag with me. His name was   
   Bernard a/k/a Bernie Schultz. He'd called in sick since the date of   
   Christina's death and no one had seen him in over a week. He was   
   also a resident of Kent. Definitely someone to track down and talk   
   to.   
      
   I considered brainwashing cults, devil worship, and drug problems.   
   None seemed to fit these scenarios. I was stumped and I hated   
   being stumped. It made me really cranky.   
      
   I decided that I would grab a sandwich, realizing we'd skipped   
   breakfast in our haste to get to the crime scene. I had grabbed four   
   of Alice's hot fresh rolls from the table on our way out and put   
   them in a plastic evidence bag. My stomach was rumbling and I   
   imagined that Scully's was too. I went out to the car and retrieved   
   them, and then made my way through the labyrinth of hallways to   
   the cafeteria.   
      
   There I made Scully a hearty salad including cottage cheese and   
   chickpeas. I got myself a gyro stuffed with lamb strips and   
   peppers, and oozing sour cream out the top.   
      
   I licked some sour cream off my finger as I made my way to the   
   elevator, balancing my purchases. The lady had been kind enough   
   to put two iced teas in a bag for me. The bag was dangling off my   
   ring finger precariously as I used my elbow to press the button,   
   which summoned the elevator.   
      
   Somehow I managed to make my way to the morgue in the   
   basement of the hospital without dropping anything.  My arrival   
   was announced by a swishing of the hydraulic doors into the   
   autopsy bay.   
      
   "God, it's cold in here," I said.   
      
   Scully didn't look up from her perusal of the boy's insides. "It's   
   an   
   autopsy bay, Mulder. What do you expect?" she said blandly.   
      
   I chuckled, setting down my parcels on the steel counter next to the   
   washing sink.   
      
   Her head came up and she sniffed the air dramatically. "What is   
   that I smell?"   
      
   "My gyro. I come bearing gifts."   
      
   Just then her stomach rumbled loudly. Her eyes went wide with   
   surprise and then we both laughed. "It wants me to feed it," she   
   said solemnly.   
      
   I grinned. "Well, take a break. Let's feed that monster."   
      
   She peeled off her cap, gown and bloody gloves, disposing of them   
   in a biohazard container. Once stripped of her apron, she came to   
   the counter wearing just her scrubs and paper booties.   
      
   I grinned at her. "You look so cute in scrubs," I said as she washed   
   and dried her hands.   
      
   She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, they're a real fashion statement."   
      
   I just smiled and handed her the salad I'd made.  "Oh, this is great   
   Mulder."   
      
   "It gets better. Guess what I pilfered on the way out of the B&B   
   this morning?"   
      
   "What?" she mumbled around a mouthful of lettuce and cottage   
   cheese.   
      
   I held up the evidence bag.   
      
   "Please tell me that's not confiscated from the scene," she said in   
   a   
   droll voice.   
      
   I gave a bark of laughter. "No, even I'm not that bad. These are   
   fresh from Alice's breakfast table."   
      
   "Oh, yum. Hand it over, you thief," she teased.   
      
   We munched contentedly for several minutes in silence. I'd eaten   
   my gyro and both my rolls by the time Scully finished her salad   
   and started on one of the rolls, dipping it in the ranch dressing   
   floating in the bottom of her salad bowl.   
      
   "So did you get anything from the interviews?" she asked.   
      
   "Not really. Everybody loved her. There is one guy that interests   
   me. He hasn't been in to work since her death and he lives in Kent.   
   Name is Bernie Shultz. I intend to go to the Town Hall when I   
   leave here and get a list of residents and compare it to the list of   
   hospital employees I have here. It will be interesting to see if   
   there   
   are any matches other than Bernie."   
      
   "Sounds like a good plan. I have to finish up here and order the   
   toxicology although I'm not sure what I expect to find."   
      
   "All right, we can meet back at the B&B. I'll go do my gumshoe   
   routine, and you can finish here."   
      
   "You take the high road, and I'll take the low road," she teased.   
      
   "And I'll be in Scotland afore yee!" I teased back. I watched her   
   eat   
   and felt the familiar rise of lust building up in my body. She   
   caught   
   me staring at her as she finished her roll and turned to stare back.   
      
   "Mulder?" she questioned.   
      
   "Do you have any idea what you do to me, Scully?" I said in a low,   
   raspy voice.   
      
   She swallowed noisily.  "Oh God.  Mulder, we're working," she   
   said in automatic protest. She must have detected the lecherous   
   intent in my eyes.   
      
   "We were working yesterday too when you jumped me in the car."   
      
   "That was different, we weren't in a public building."   
      
   "Hypocrite," I accused her gently.   
      
   She looked down, blushing and I reached out, pulling her close by   
   the shoulders. "Mulder, this is very unprofessional."   
      
   "Since when have I ever been concerned with being overly   
   professional?"   
      
   "Just because things have changed doesn't mean we can just go   
   around groping each other whenever we feel like it."   
      
   I didn't bother answering her, I just leaned down and kissed her.  I   
   tipped her head for the perfect angle and began devouring her   
   mouth. I couldn't get enough of her, plain and simple. I'd been   
   wandering in a desert, and Scully was my oasis. I was going to   
   drink my fill, and damn the consequences.   
      
   XXXXXXXXXX   
      
   NEW MILFORD HOSPITAL MORGUE   
   NEW MILFORD, CT   
   MAY 29, 1997   
   THURSDAY - 1:00 PM   
      
   The minute his lips touched mine I was a goner. He expertly turned   
   my head from side to side, ratcheting my desire up a hundred fold.   
      
   I remember thinking how utterly ridiculous we were reacting to   
   each other and out of character our actions were. It was one thing   
   for a relationship to slowly move to another level, but our   
   overwhelming desire for one another coming about so quickly was   
   disconcerting. Nevertheless, I knew I'd wanted the man from the   
   moment I'd laid eyes on him. Who wouldn't? He was gorgeous,   
   and had a way about him that drove women wild with lust; me   
   being no exception. The man was hot. Hot in that, 'Oh my God,   
   how can I be expected to work with such eye candy, day in and   
   day out?' way.   
      
   The one question that could not be ignored was about the   
   recklessness that we were both displaying. It bothered me to   
   extreme proportions. I couldn't understand why we suddenly chose   
   that moment to let our inhibitions run rampant. What was it about   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)