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Heatwave in Cook County |
Chapter 4 |
Roxanne was surprised at how calm she felt. Maybe part of her had been expecting this to happen. No...she had truly believed that John would be different. That he would be the one that could make her happy. But he had betrayed her like all the others.
She walked stiffly down the hall and entered the ladies' room. Standing in front of one of the sinks, she watched the faucet drip slowly. Her mind wandered again. She had always had this ability...this power to set things on fire. She couldn't recall when it had first started. But she knew exactly when she had stopped it.
She had always hated insects. One summer day, when she was six, a boy from her neighbourhood started teasing her with a beetle between his fingers. She begged him to stop but he wouldn't. Usually, she was able to contain and control her power. But on this day, her terror and anger overwhelmed her. The beetle started to smoke and burst into flames. The boy yelped, his fingers slightly singed, but not badly burned. She would never forget the look on his face, or more precisely, the look he gave her. Like she was a freak. Back then, she had only wanted to be liked and accepted. She vowed never to use her power again.
Growing up, she almost forgot about her suppressed ability. But there was something else that came naturally to her. It sounded cliche, but men were drawn to her like moths to a flame. It had always been that way, so she never questioned it. But on the flip side, women usually disliked her. She had never had a close female friend. Not that it really mattered to her anyway, but it was a fact.
Fast forward to almost two years ago. She had been engaged to the man of her dreams. Or so she had thought. But one night, he came to her apartment to tell her the engagement was off. He was in love with someone else. Just like that, no warning at all. Her initial reaction was shocked silence. Then she remembered ranting and screaming, her rage boiling over, out of her control. She never meant for it to happen. But he was standing there, his clothes started to smoke, and then the next minute...poof! He was gone in a sudden whoosh of flames. Funny that nothing else in her apartment had caught fire. The only thing that had been damaged was her carpet, with a charcoal-like stain. To be honest, she'd felt a small twinge of remorse. But it had felt sooo good to release her anger, to feel the full force of her power again. She didn't realize how much she'd missed it.
She moved on to a different city and quickly found a new boyfriend. But the pattern remained the same. In one way or another, the man in her life found a way to disappoint or betray her. So she uleashed her power upon him and moved on.
And then there was John. Sweet, handsome, caring John. From the first moment she'd seen him, she thought he was special. Thought he might be 'the one' she was searching for. But then Lucy had come into their lives. She suspected that something was going on between John and Lucy and now her suspicion had been confirmed. He was always complaining about something that Lucy had done to annoy him but she could see below the surface. He had feelings for Lucy, even if he didn't know it yet. She wasn't going to wait around for John to realize it. She had work to do.
**********
Scully smacked her lips, trying to rid her mouth of the salty taste. She didn't know what had possessed her to try some of Mulder's sunflower seeds. She knew she didn't like them. But she'd been a little bored sitting in the waiting area. She was on her way now to the admit desk to ask the clerk to inform them when Roxanne arrived.
Randi was back on the computer, humming away.
"Hi." Scully smiled.
Randi looked up. "Oh, hi! Listen, I've been meaning to ask you...is your hair dyed? Do you get it professionally done?"
Scully's friendly smile stiffened a little. "It's natural."
"Oh yeah? You don't even, ya know, get it highlighted? I'm only asking because I really love the colour."
"Well, thanks, I guess. No, no dye. It's just...me."
"Wow, I wish I was born that lucky," Randi said wistfully. "Oh, and I know it's none of my business, but...are you and Agent Mulder seeing each other?"
Scully stared at her. "No, we are not."
"Too bad. You guys would make a cute couple." Randi went back to her computer work.
Scully just stood there for a moment, stunned. She gave her head a quick shake and said, "Randi, could you just let me or Agent Mulder know when Roxanne Please arrives? I understand she'll be meeting Dr. Carter here after his shift is over."
Randi grimaced at the mention of Roxanne's name. "Why do you want to talk to her?"
"Just let us know when she arrives. We're in the waiting room."
"She's already here," Randi informed her.
"What? When?" Scully didn't hide her surprise.
"Maybe ten minutes ago. Last I heard, she went to the lounge."
Scully quickly walked to the lounge and looked in. There were several doctors and nurses sitting around, but Roxanne was not among them. She started down the hall, intending to let Mulder know about this news when she saw a blonde woman coming out of the ladies' room. Taking a chance, she called out "Roxanne?"
The woman turned to look at her. "Yes?"
Scully instantly recognized her from the slide Mulder had shown her this morning. She moved closer and brought out her ID. "My name's Agent Scully. I'm with the FBI. I'd like to ask you a few questions."
Roxanne backed away. "What's this about? I don't have anything to say."
"If you'll just come with me, my partner and I..."
Roxanne turned and bolted down the hall, giving Scully no choice but to start running after her. "Stop! We just want to ask..."
Roxanne ran full tilt into Carter, who was just coming out of an exam room. They crashed into the wall together. He almost fell but managed to stay on his feet. He held his arms around her protectively. "Roxanne! What's wrong?" he asked with obvious concern.
"Don't touch me!" she screamed, knocking his arms away. Breathing heavily and holding both hands on either side of her head, she took a few steps back. *It's now or never* she thought. The FBI must be here to arrest her. She had to do this now. Closing her eyes, she focused on John.
"Mulder!" Scully yelled. "Get out here!"
Since Roxanne wasn't providing any answers, Carter turned to Scully. "What the hell is going on?"
Scully ignored him for now. She was actually growing concerned for Roxanne. She almost appeared to be hyperventilating, and her colour wasn't good. "Roxanne, just calm down. There's no need to be alarmed."
Mulder finally came running down the hall. He watched Roxanne carefully. "Scully, she's doing it! We've gotta stop her!"
"Doing what?" Scully noticed the crowd of ER staff that was gathering around them. "Please, everyone, get back!" she warned.
"Hey, what's going on out there?" Mr. Matthews asked anxiously, craning his neck in an effort to see something.
Lucy was standing in the open doorway, gaping at the scene unfolding before her. She had almost forgotten about the patient. "Don't worry Mr. Matthews. Everything is fine. We'll be with you as soon as we can." With that, she closed the door behind her.
Carter felt his stomach start to churn and his temples began to throb. He was also starting to feel hot. Very hot. "I don't feel very well," he mumbled, swiping at his forehead with the back of his hand.
Lucy looked at him with a worried expression. She could see he was flushed and breaking out in a sweat. She could actually *feel* the heat radiating from him. She suddenly remembered what Carter had told her up on the roof. Agent Mulder with his crazy theory about how Roxanne had killed her boyfriends. But that was impossible! Wasn't it?
Lucy glanced at Mulder in time to see him draw his gun. He held it steadily with both hands, the barrel pointed at Roxanne. Lucy's eyes widened and she gasped.
"Roxanne!" Mulder shouted. "I know what you're doing! Stop it NOW!" He wasn't even sure if Roxanne was hearing him. She almost appeared to be in a trance, her eyes shut tightly.
"Mulder, have you lost your mind!" Scully snapped. "You can't shoot her! She's unarmed and isn't posing a threat."
Mulder nodded his head towards Carter, who was now slightly hunched over and starting to moan. "Tell that to Dr. Carter. He's toast if we don't do something!"
Randi had joined the edge of the crowd and looked over Lydia's shoulder. "What is she doing?" she whispered. Everyone was surprisingly hushed as they watched in fascination.
"Beats the hell out of me," Lydia replied. She suddenly grabbed Randi's arm. "Oh my God!" she whispered fiercely. "Look at her eyes! Please tell me you're seeing the same thing."
Randi's jaw dropped. "Uh huh," was all she could manage.
Roxanne's eyes were open now and they were glowing strangely...a bright orange-red. A few gasps went up among the crowd and one person screamed.
Mulder was torn. He wasn't sure what to do. His instinct told him he was rapidly running out of time. He couldn't stand by and do nothing, yet he loathed to just shoot the woman. He glanced at Carter and saw wisps of smoke curling from the sleeve of his lab coat. It had started.
Lucy noticed the smoke at the same time. "Oh, God, she's really doing it!* she thought incredulously. Carter's face was so red now he looked like he was suffering from a severe sunburn. *I've got to help him!* But how? She backed up a step, the heat surrounding Carter almost unbearable. She bumped into something and turned to find a cart left behind by one of the cleaning staff. There was a bucket of dirty looking water on the bottom shelf.
Without thinking twice, not even knowing if it would help, she heaved the contents of the bucket towards Carter. The only problem was, in her haste, most of the water missed him and drenched Roxanne instead. Roxanne let out a piercing scream, as if she was in agonizing pain. Lucy dropped the bucket, her heart pounding. What had she done? Had she made matters worse?
What happened next is truly unbelievable, but nearly twenty witnesses who were questioned separately later on told the same tale. To put it simply, Roxanne...melted. One second she was there, the next second she was gone. Just like that. Her clothes, jewelry, and shoes were left behind in a puddle of water mixed with brown coloured goo. It would later take a lot of convincing and promises of bonus pay for anyone in the cleaning staff to touch it.
Carter collapsed into a heap on the floor and Lucy rushed to his side. "Dr. Carter! Are you all right? How do you feel?" She placed a hand on his forehead. His skin seemed hot to the touch, but then she could swear she felt the temperature cooling by several degrees. His skin tone was also beginning to return to normal.
"Way to go, Dorothy!" Mulder exclaimed with a grin.
Lucy looked up at him blankly. "My name's Lucy."
"Mulder..." Scully was rolling her eyes, knowing what he was referring to.
"Scully, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," he deadpanned.
Carter was starting to feel better now. Not just physically, but mentally. It was as if a dark cloud had been lifted from his mind. He didn't even want to think about it right now, but maybe Agent Mulder had been right. Maybe Roxanne had been somehow influencing him.
He looked at all that remained of her and felt surprisingly little. He did feel some sadness, some pity. But for the most part, he wondered what he had ever seen in her. Then again, maybe he was just in shock.
"This never happened when we went swimming together," Carter said blandly.
Of course, Mulder had a theory for this too. "I think water normally didn't have any effect on her. It only became her enemy when she was in the process of using her power."
Scully could sense that he was going to continue on so she placed a hand on his arm. "I think we should let Dr. Carter get some rest." She led Mulder away, as Lucy helped Carter into an empty exam room.
Kerry came down the hallway. She had just come from a staff meeting upstairs and found everyone buzzing about something that had happened. "Did I miss something?" she asked no one in particular. She immediately spotted the mess on the floor; dirty coloured liquid and what looked like someone's clothes and shoes. "Randi, get someone to clean this up now, please!" she called out, shaking her head.
**********
"Are you sure you feel well enough?" Lucy asked anxiously. "Maybe you should rest a little longer."
Carter chuckled as he swung his long legs over the edge of the bed. "I'm fine, Lucy. You can stop hovering now." He stood up and twirled around. "See? I'm fine. My shift is over and I need a drink." He paused. "Care to join me?"
"Ok. If you're sure you're up to it."
"Yes, I'm sure." He led the way out. There was a small crowd of people around the admit desk and Carter wondered what was going on. His question was soon answered.
"I'm sorry, but the police are on their way," Mulder explained. "I know you want to go home, but you'll have to wait to be questioned."
There was a chorus of groans and protests. Carter decided to speak up. "Would you have any objection to us waiting in Doc Magoo's? I promise, none of us will run away."
Everyone looked back at him gratefully, and Mulder nodded. "Sure, that would be fine."
Randi stepped out of the crowd and smiled at Carter. "Hey, Doc. I'm glad you're ok. You know, I always thought Roxanne was a bit of a witch, but..." She stopped when Lydia elbowed her in the ribs, giving her a look. "Sorry," she said ruefully.
"It's ok, Randi. Are you two coming to Doc's?" he asked.
"I would rather go to the bar and get a real drink," Lydia stated. "But I guess Doc's will have to do for now." She glanced at Lucy. "By the way, nice work Lucy. I think you saved our Carter."
Lucy laughed. "Thanks. But if you must know, I was actually aiming the water for Dr. Carter, to put out the smoke. I kind of missed and got Roxanne instead."
Carter hated to think what would have become of him if Lucy *hadn't* missed. He shivered and put an arm around Lucy's shoulder, squeezing it gently. They started walking towards the diner and he bent his head down. "I'm glad you have such horrible aim," he joked. "But seriously...thanks, Luce."
Lucy smiled up at him. "You're welcome."
Completed August 1999
Feedback always appreciated!
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