“How is he?” Kat asked Doctor Mulder.

Diana Mulder looked up from her PADD containing a patient chart to see the new interim security chief standing next to the old one.  Mulder moved next to Eichmann and took a quick glance over his vitals.  “He is stable. I placed him in a  medically induced coma to let his body heal. I’m planning on reviving him tomorrow morning if his progress continues like it is.”

Kat looked up at the towering Amazon.  Mulder was a good head and shoulder taller than her own 168 centimeters.  “Well, ye are a braw lass. I dinnae think medicine was yer true calling.  Ye would have made a bonnie wee security officer.”

Mulder gave Kat an odd expression.  Standing at over two meters she was used to people making comments  on her height. For a woman it was highly irregular. Those comments were usually amounted to something like, “Do you play basketball?”  They always thought they were so clever like they came up with that one on their own. Now braw, that was a new one.

“I’m sorry, braw?” The doctor asked confusion etched on her face. 

“Och aye,” Kat said with a chuckle,  “it means ‘fine’ or ‘excellent’.”

Mulder decided to take it as a compliment, “Well thank you… I think.  As for security goes. That was never something that interested me. I wasn’t much of an athlete either. I preferred my books, and when I got older I fell in love with science. No, despite my physical appearance,  medicine is exactly the right place for me.”

“Aye well, at least ye know yersel’,” Kat said with a shrug. “Better than most ye ken.”

Mulder only half understood what the Lieutenant was saying,  but she politely nodded.  “Is there anything I can do for you?”

Kat shook her head, “Naw. I was just checking on Eichmann.”

Mulder gave Kat a smile, “I’ll leave you two alone then.”

The Scotswoman smirked, “It seems a wee bit rocket ta be speakin’ ta a man in a coma.”

“Well, studies have shown that it does help to talk to them,” Mulder suggested. 

“Thanks Doc, but I’ve got work ta do. See ye around lass.”

Mulder watched the woman leave. It was a curious encounter.   She didn’t act like a grieving friend or concerned colleague. This interaction had been more… Diana searched for the word and fell on, transactional.

Mulder retreated to her office and was just about to sit down behind her desk with an iced tea and work on a backlog of reports when the crash alarms sounded.   She rushed out of the office a nurse was already attending to Eichmann. 

With the heart monitor blaring a warning the nurse pressed a hypospray to her patient’s neck.  “I administered 40ccs of Ambetravine,  and I have initiated automatic chest compressions.”

Mulder nodded and entered commands and the biobed scanner extended from the sides and arched over the patient.  Mulder frowned at the scans.  “His body is full of blood clots.  I need an I.V. push of 40,000 units per 24 hours of heparin.” 

“Right away Doctor.”

“Computer activate the EMH,” Mulder ordered. 

“Please state the nature of the medical emergency,” the EMH announced in her pleasant voice as the hologram appeared. 

“Patient is experiencing multiple concurrent embolisms.  We need to operate to remove the blockages in the brain and heart and there’s only one of me,” Mulder said already pulling out tools and sterilizing the area.

“Shall I focus on the brain or heart?”

“Remove the clots in the brain,” Mulder said as she started operating.  

Doctor Mulder stood back and wiped her brow with the back of her hand thirty minutes later. Eichmann was once again stable.  She hoped there wasn’t too much brain damage.  At this point she wouldn’t know for sure until pulling him out of the coma.  Either way there was likely going to be some form of physical therapy after this.  

“Mr. Eichmann,” she said to the unconscious man, “if it weren’t for bad luck you’d have none at all.”