First a little Sarah McLachlan to set the mood...
"A glowing ember
burning hot
burning slow
deep within I'm shaken by the violence
of existing for only you."

A THORNLESS ROSE
by TeaL

Scully hated hospitals , true no one liked them , but i ts worse when you are practically forced into one to visit someone who you wish wasn't there…….. but rather 6 feet under…….. and not necessarily dead.
She watched her partner hurry down the hall as she lagged behind.
What was his rush anyway?
It wasn't like Diana was going anywhere.
Entering the hospital room , Scully saw the spawn of Satan in all it's shining glory------ the life support machine.
Mulder was sitting by Diana's bedside staring intensely at the thorn in Scully's side.
Scully took a seat on the opposite side of the bed doing her best to look upset.
There was a long awkward silence as Mulder continued to stare.
A nurse appeared at the door. "Agent Mulder?"
she asked , looking at Scully , then Mulder Mulder looked up , his eyes red rimmed and tired "Phone call for you at reception , said it's urgent." The nurse left , Mulder looked over at Scully "look after her for me" , it wasn't really a question but Scully answered for Mulder's benefit through gritted teeth "Sure."
Mulder left the room , once he was out of ear shot Scully looked at Diana , a violent flare in here eyes.
"Fine," she whispered. "Whatever!!"
Scully stood and walked around the bed like a raptor circling it's prey.
She thought of her perfectly constructed plan and explanation , now all she had to do was execute Diana……..uh the plan... Execute the plan...
'Funny how the wrong words can just slip in like that,' she thought to herself.
Snapping on a latex glove , that just happened to be in her pocket, Scully reached down careful not to get any clothing fibres on the bed, but even if she did she could easily say she had been sitting near the bed praying for Diana. (LMAO!! Told u this was out of character for Scully! ~TeaL)
Her fingers felt for the life support machine plug, she wrapped her hand around it and with a quick tug, Scully removed the thorn.
The room fell silent.
Purely by coincidence, the plug had become tangled around the I.V line , disconnecting that as well.... this would take a few moments to fix... maybe more....
Reception was a good 5 minute walk away, 5 there, 5 back, and of course the actual phone call itself.
She gave herself a safety of 10 minutes.
Scully was a doctor, she knew 10 minutes was sufficient time to inflict serious, permanent damage.
Scully slowly began to untangle the mess of wires and tubes surrounding Diana.

Scully walked to the door and peered down the hall to make sure there was no sign of Mulder, satisfied, she returned to the task at hand.
The plug slipped back into it's socket and the machine started up again with a slight wirring sound.
Scully stared at Diana, her brain wasn't dead, simply damaged.
Reaching above Diana's head, she pressed the buzzer to call for assistance.
A few moments later a nurse appeared with Mulder in tow.
"What happened?" Mulder stared in shock as he stared at the slobbering, twitching mess that had once been a comatose Diana.
Scully turned on the waterworks.
"A man *sob* walked past the room *sniff*……..he had a cellphone……….I guess *sniff* ………it interfered with the machine *sob sob* ……..the machine……… *full blown tears* stopped…….I……….I………tried *Niagara falls*….but……….. …but……." Scully wailed.
The nurse looked pale.
"I'm sorry , there's nothing more we can do for her…….." her voice trailed off.
Scully wiped her eyes and helped Mulder into a chair.
Mulder sat silent for a while, then managed to whisper three words, "Will she survive?"
The nurse looked down.
"If she regains the ability to breath on her own, she'll be……" the nurse paused searching for the right words, but gave up, finally settling on "….this way……. For the rest of her life."
'VEGETABLE', Scully wanted to scream ,' VEGIEVEGIEVEGIE!!!!!!'
The nurse gave them both a sympathetic look, then exited the room, closing the door gently behind her.
Scully had to struggle to keep from grinning.
'Ding Dong the Bitch is…………………………A VEGIE!!!!!!!' Scully thought , her mind crazed from pure joy.
But she kept her emotions hidden as she patted Mulders arm reassuringly.
Mulder, meanwhile, continued to stare at Diana.
The lump on the bed twitched, Mulders face showed a brief look of repulsion but it soon faded as he reminded himself that it was still Diana, she was just a *little* different now.
Scully stood up " You need some time alone with her , I'll return later."
Mulder tilted his head slightly to show he had heard her.
'Much later' Scully thought as she left the room.
Walking down the hospital hall she let the grin escape and hurried into the nearest toilets where she collapsed into a fit of giggles.
'Soon,' she thought, 'when Mulder gets over the jello , he'll see what he has right infront of him……, it's simply a matter of time………….'

THE END
ohmygoodness how warped was that!
The fact that you got this far down is reassuring!
FEEDBACK :< talitha_1121@yahoo.com > , my inbox is standing by.
~no life support machines were harmed during the writing of this fanfic , although one latex glove was scarred for life~

ThanX to everyone on the 'TLDL' and 'CADF' lists whose positive feedback gave me the courage to add this story to my site!