Mulder is one of very few people she can let her guard down around-- but the other edge of that is, once she's let herself be vulnerable and open, it's not so easy to button back up in his presence. That doesn't mean it's easy for her to tear herself away-- and her fingers itch to take the picture back and study it more, looking for traces of one or the other of them in his pudgy features.

And it's strange to be apart from him, after finally getting close to him. But once she's out of the room-- once she figures out how to let the refrigerator give her the drink it so desperately wants her to have-- it's easier to catch her breath. She can't talk to Skinner as Future Bereaved Mother; she has to get back to responsible time-traveling Agent Scully mode.

Might as well get it over with-- Skinner is businesslike but clearly glad to hear from her, asking in carefully vague terms about their investigations. She fills him in on their plan, and he grudgingly agrees to back them up if the hospital needs proof. They hang up-- she promise to send updates if they find anything-- and she goes off to find Mulder again.

"Skinner's on board." So that's good news.