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CHAPTER 141 -
INJURIES
AUGUST 11, 2009
MONDAY
10:30PM
"Buffy, wake up girl, come
on!"
Groggily she opened her eyes. The
first thing she saw was William lying on the floor next to her. He
was violently shivering, and had a sickly, gaunt pallor. Suddenly
she remembered and tears came to her eyes, and her own shoulders
started to quiver.
"Buffy, it's me, it's Clem," said the
soft voice that went along with the hand she felt on her back
then.
"Oh, God!"
"Yeah," Clem said, "but we're okay
now. Right?"
She turned over and looked up at him,
he was now in his more benign demon looking state. "Are you
okay?"
He nodded, "Much. Demon healing and
all that."
She swallowed, her throat parched.
She turned to look at William, who looked terribly pale, and his
breathing was becoming erratic.
"Buffy, we need to get him back to
the house; I think I'm strong enough now to carry
him."
William opened his good eye; looking
at Clem with renewed terror.
"It's okay, it's just Clem," Buffy
said, trying to pat him, but he shook off from her touch as well.
"Maybe if I hold onto you, I can hold
onto him then...I don't think he wants you..."
"I know," Clem said sighing, wishing
William were just unconscious. Then at least, he could have carried
him without him knowing it.
"It's raining out, I'll be back with
some blankets," Clem said.
"Hurry," she
said.
Clem nodded.
Buffy sat up, hugging her knees to
keep herself warm, as she trembled from not only her own pain, but
with fear for William, who was staring straight ahead, motionless,
except for the shivering. Her stomach beginning to clench in panic,
as she anxiously awaited Clem’s return.
"It's gonna be okay, I promise you,"
she whispered, her hand reaching out to touch
him.
Just then Clem bounded up the stairs;
he had grabbed the comforters off of the couch and some jackets as
well.
He knelt down by Buffy, "Here," he
said, holding out the arm of her jacket. He helped her on with it,
steadying her, as she slipped it on.
"That a girl," he said, helping her
with the zipper, when her fingers shook too hard to get it started.
He pulled it up to her neck, then put a hat on her
head.
"Here," he said, handing her a can of
juice he'd found in the back of the
refrigerator.
She shook her head, "I think I'll
throw it up."
"I've got some Sprite back at the
house, but this is all you had left. You'd better take a sip, get
some sugar into you."
He opened the can, and she gagged
back a swallow of Apricot nectar. It made her stomach feel queasy,
but she could feel it helping a bit.
She nodded, and crawled over to
William's side, "I'm going to help you sit up now, then we're going
back to the house. Do you think you can sit up?"
He didn't answer.
She took hold of him under the
shoulders and tried to pull him up. He was like a dead
weight.
"I can't," she said,
frustrated.
"I'll get him," Clem said. As he
neared, William flattened himself against the wall. Clem stopped.
"If you don't want me to help, then I suggest that you let Elizabeth
help you. Otherwise, I'm going to have to throw you over my shoulder
and carry you out."
He looked at Buffy, and she looked at
William, whose eye was on her this time. "Okay, here we go William,"
she said, pulling him into a sitting position this time.
She looked at Clem and he helped pull
her up to her knees, then unsteadily to her feet. She took a couple
of minutes to get use to standing before she felt strong enough to
help William.
"Okay William. I'm going to help you
to stand, but you're going to have to help. Once you're on your feet
you can have as much time as you need, before we start to walk down,
okay. Alright, ready, set, up," she pulled at him under his arms. At
first he didn't budge, but slowly, he put some weight onto his feet,
pushing with his legs, and slid up the wall to a standing
position.
His legs shook and his head felt like
he was going to pass out. "It's okay," he heard her say, and felt
himself being pulled into her, as she put a warm blanket over his
shoulders. She leaned him back against the wall, and he gasped,
trying to catch his breath.
"No, no, no," he heard her say, and
felt himself being pulled up again. He hadn't realized that his feet
had begun to go out from underneath him.
He finally managed to stand against
the wall without help for a couple of minutes.
"Do you think you can walk?" she
asked. "You lean on me, and Clem is going to help me,
okay?"
He didn't say anything, but leaned on
her when she put her arm around him, "Put your arm over my
shoulders," she said, and he did.
She started to lead him away from the
wall, and she felt his weight on her, as his legs trembled, "That's
it baby, that's it. Just take little steps," she encouraged as they
made their way towards the steps of the loft.
Clem had his arm around Buffy from
the other side, his arm right above William's ready to grab onto
him, if he faltered.
"Okay, just let your foot go down one
step, hang on," she said. William took the step, and nearly fell
forward, and would have if Clem hadn't grabbed hold of him by the
shirt, pulling him back upright.
"Okay, you're okay," Buffy murmured,
"I got ya. How about this. Just take one step at a time. Put one
foot on the step, then bring the other one down. That's it," she
coached, as they took each step, like a child
would."
It took them nearly 5 minutes to get
to the bottom, but they finally made it. William sank to the step,
Buffy following, as Clem stood waiting.
"We made it," she said to William.
"That's good. That was the worst of it, now we just have to get out
of the barn, and to the house, okay?"
It took them almost another 15
minutes to make it from the steps, out the barn, and the 30 yards or
so to the back door of the house. Despite the jacket and the
blanket, they were soaked by the time they got
inside.
"As they were passing through the
kitchen, she looked over and saw two of the chairs on the floor, the
table was leaning over part way on its side, the contents spilled
off, and the pan he'd hit Drusilla with laying upside down on the
floor. He followed her gaze, looking too. He started to shiver more
than he already was.
He looked at her, non-comprehension
in his eye; "It's okay. It's over William. She's gone, she's never
coming back," she said, holding his gaze, until he looked down
again.
"I have to get him out of these wet
clothes," Buffy said to Clem.
"Where do you want
him?"
"Bedroom."
"Okay," Clem said, as he helped her
to help William walk towards the bedroom.
She turned him around, then pushed
him gently back until he was sitting on the edge of the bed. She
closed the suitcase that lay open behind him, and put it on the
floor, trying not to think about it or all that had been lost that
night.
"I'll go make some tea," Clem said,
leaving them, closing the door on the way out.
"Thank you," she
said.
She shivered in her own wet things.
She tore off the jacket and threw it off to the side, then stood in
front of him.
He sat there on the edge of the bed
shivering, looking down, in his own world.
"I'm so sorry this happened to you,"
she said, gently reaching down to pull the T-shirt off of his chest.
She bit back a gasp, as she saw the bruises, scratches, and blood
caked on his chest; the bite marks on his neck.
She went to the bathroom, filled a
large bowl with warm water, and brought it to the bedroom. Squatting
down, she took a washcloth and washed his arms and chest, until all
the blood was gone. None of the scratches were too deep, but some
were long, and he winced when she went over them. She got
antibacterial cream from the medicine cabinet, and gauze and tape
from under the sink, bandaging the more serious cuts.
She was glad she had finally bought
those things, after years of being without. It had been her way to
distance herself from being the slayer, and a time when she went
through that stuff like candy, to deciding it was just sensible in
case of a 'normal' accident, which might require first aid.
Next, she bandaged the neck wound,
holding back the nausea seeing his beautiful neck black and blue, a
chunk of flesh missing, and puncture wounds. She wished she could
kill the bitch all over again! His left eye was caked shut with
blood and goo. She was frightened most of all by this, not knowing
if he'd been blinded permanently, or if his pupil had just been
scratched. She suspected the latter, since there was a scratch mark
starting at this forehead, going over his eye, and down his cheek.
She carefully washed the dried mucous and blood off from around his
eye with warm clean water.
"Can you open your eye now?" she
asked softly.
His eyelashes fluttered open, but
shut quickly again.
"Hurts?"
He nodded.
"Try again, just for a minute, I want
to see your eye."
He opened it, and she held up his
eyelid. His eye was red with blood, the pupil possibly scratched,
but it seemed to be intact, but she wasn't sure.
"Can you see out of it, right?" she
asked holding her breath.
He nodded a bit, before she let his
eyelid close again, "Hurts," he said, his voice so low and filled
with pain it brought tears to her eyes, as it did his. She saw a
tear roll down his chest. She didn't think the word was only about
his eye.
"Don't cry baby, please don't. It's
going to be alright," she said, sniffling, trying to be strong for
him. She had to be; she had to take care of him.
She bit her lip so hard she could
taste her own blood, until she finally stopped her own tears. She
wiped at them with the back of her hand.
Buffy took out a sweatshirt out of
the closet and put it over his head, then pushed his arms through
it. She then bent over and took off his shoes and socks. Next, she
undid his belt and started to unzip his pants, when his hand went
over hers. She looked up in surprise at him. He shook his
head.
"It's alright, William. I just want
to get you into something more comfortable, something dry," she
said, and he winced, his tears starting again. She didn't understand
why.
"You're either going to have to stand
up or lay back so I can pull these off," she
said.
He shook his head, "Please," he
croaked, his voice almost unrecognizable,
"don’t."
She looked at him and then down,
seeing that the front of his pants was wet, more than from just
rain. Tears formed in her eyes in understanding. She wished she
could spare him the indignity, but she knew he didn’t have enough
strength to take them off himself, or to attend to any wounds he
might have.
Buffy took his hands, "It’s okay
baby. Please, don’t be ashamed. I think I did, too," she said. He
looked down, then up at her, doubtful. Maybe that hadn’t been the
best thing to say...
"What’s important is that we’ll get
through this together."
She got him to his feet somehow,
covering him up with a blanket, then pulled his pants and underwear
down, and tossing them across the room. He almost fell back down
onto the bed. She had to leave him for a minute to go and get the
towels that had been in the dryer. Clem had the tea ready and she
brought that in to him.
He was still sitting on the edge of
the bed, where she had left him, swaying a bit. "Here, drink a
little," she said, making sure to put down a couple of extra towels
on his lap, in case he spilled.
She held the steaming mug for him,
when his own hands shook too badly to hold onto it. He coughed at
the first couple of sips, but then got about half the cupful down.
"That’s it," she said, encouragingly,
"just drink it slowly."
"Okay?" she asked when he didn’t seem
to want any more.
He nodded.
She put the cup on the beside table
and lay down the bath towels on the bed, she got him to scoot back,
so that they were under his legs, then she went to the bathroom and
got a fresh bowl of warm water and a clean
washcloth.
He had his eyes closed when she came
back, but he held onto the blanket when she tried to pull it back,
"It’s okay," she reassured him. "Let me just take care of you, then
we’ll put on your sweats or pajamas and you can
rest."
"Please, William," she said again,
when he still held tight to the blanket. She put her hands over his,
rubbing them, coaxing them, until he finally released his
hold.
She pulled the blanket down from his
waist and once again bit her lip. From the waist to the knees, he
was covered in bruises, including his genitals, which were also
swollen and discolored.
Silently, her tears fell, "I’m so
sorry, William," she whispered.
He had a few cuts on his lower legs
that she attended to after she’d washed him up, then put his sweat
pants on him, figuring they’d be warmer than his
pajamas.
She pulled the covers up to his neck,
after getting a couple more sips of tea in him, by holding his head
up.
Buffy wearily took the dirty water
and washcloth into the bathroom, then looked at herself. Her hair
was filthy and matted, and the left side of her face was swollen
discolored from where Dru had kicked her. She turned on the water
full blast in the sink and in the shower, before slumping to the
floor and allowing herself a good cry.
About 10 minutes later, she pulled
herself up, stripped down and got into the shower about a minute
before the water ran cold, but long enough to wash off the filth and
to warm herself up, somewhat. She toweled off and put on William’s
robe, before going into the bedroom to check on William find some
clean clothes of her own.
She was glad to see that he appeared
to be sleeping. His eyes were closed and his breath appeared to be
even. She threw on some sweats of her own, then took his teacup and
went out into the living room.
Clem was sitting in the kitchen,
staring at nothing, his own tea, apparently forgotten. She went up
to him and hugged him and he sniffed a few times, before giving into
his own tears.
"I’m sorry, Buffy," he said.
"You don’t have to be ashamed to cry
in front of me," she said, her own tears running
again.
"No, I’m sorry I couldn’t fight them
better. Once I knew...She tricked me..."
"What do you
mean?"
"She asked me if William was there,
at my house, and I told her no...I should have told her I didn’t
even know any William...she didn’t recognize me as a human," he
sniffed.
"No Clem, it’s not your fault. Dru
knew he was here, she was sent," Buffy said.
"By who?"
"Angel," she said, through gritted
teeth, now recalling Dru’s final words to her.
"Oh no...Buffy," Clem said, at a loss
for words.
"I’m going to have to take care of
him once and for all," Buffy said, starting to wobble on her
feet.
Clem sprung up, catching her, before
she collapsed and helped her into a chair.
"Not now, you worry about that
tomorrow, Buffy. You need your rest right now, and some more tea,"
he said, pouring some for her.
"I have to..." she said, tears
running down her face.
"You have to rest and get better so
you can take care of William," Clem said, handing her a
tissue.
Clem held the cup up to her, until
she took it, and stood there until she drank it
all.
Satisfied, he poured her another cup,
adding generous amounts of honey, and when that ran out,
sugar.
Numbly, she drank half of the second
cup, before being allowed to set it down.
Her head ached, but there was
something that she needed to remember. She closed her eyes for a
minute, to help her think.
"The protection spell...Dawn!" she
said, suddenly, trying to get up, but Clem held her
back.
"Where are you going
Buffy?"
"Phone. I need to call Dawn. I need
to tell her...oh..." she said, starting to cry
again.
"Can it wait until tomorrow morning?
I don’t think it’s such a good idea right now. You’re going to scare
her to death."
Buffy nodded, "I know, but I have to
let her know. Please, Clem." Buffy said, beseeching him with her
eyes, "I have to. Could you get me my phone?"
Clem hesitated, then relented, "Where
is it?"
"It's in my...shit, it's in my car.
Could you find William's? It's around here
somewhere."
Clem went off to look for it, hoping
it wasn't in the bedroom. He located it on the table next to the
couch.
"Here," he said, handing it to
her.
"Thank you," she said, looking down
at it. The time read 11:50, and it said there had been 5 missed
calls. It was when she had tried to call him, when Dru...Tears
sprung to her eyes again, unable to stop them. Clem handed her a
tissue, patting her on the back until she was
finished.
"Okay, I'm better now," she said,
taking another drink of her tea. She had to keep it together when
she called Dawn.
Hands shaking, she pressed the preset
number for Dawn she found on William's phone. She listened,
emotionless and drained as the phone rang.
"Hello?" a sleepy male voice
answered, just as she was about to hang up.
"I'm sorry I must have the wrong
number."
"Buffy? Is everything
alright?"
It took her a couple of seconds to
realize it was John on the line.
"What's wrong with Buffy?" she heard
Dawn ask in the background.
"Could I please speak to Dawn?" Buffy
said, her voice beginning to break. Clem sat across from her patting
her hand for support.
"Buffy?"
"Dawn?" Buffy said, and started to
cry.
"Oh God, what's wrong?" Dawn said,
sitting up, as did John.
"Dru. She was here...she attacked
William."
She heard Dawn scream and John in the
background asking what was wrong.
"Is he...? Did she...?
Buffy?"
Buffy realized what Dawn must have
thought immediately, and made herself calm down. "He's alive.
Human...but she came here, Dawn," she whispered, "and he's not in
good shape."
She spent the next 15 minutes telling
her all that had happened.
"We're leaving right now," Dawn
said.
"No, you don't have to...not tonight,
William’s asleep right now, and Clem’s here."
"We're coming!" Dawn
said.
"Please Dawn!"
"Then we’ll be there first thing in
the morning, and I do mean first thing!"
John was in the background saying
something to Dawn about a hospital.
"Buffy, John wants to talk to
you."
"Buffy, it really sounds like you
need to take William to a hospital, especially if his wounds are
severe, or if he's in shock."
Buffy swallowed, "He's asleep right
now. I took care of as much as I could tonight. Could you...could
you please check him over? If you still think I need to take him, I
will, but there's reasons it would be better if we
don't."
"Tell me what his injuries are," John
said.
He listened as Buffy described the
injuries, motioning to Dawn to bring him something to write
with.
"I've got it," he said, "you realize
that although I had medical training before going into psychiatry, I
haven't attended to any patients like this in a couple of years,
right?"
"I understand," Buffy
said.
"I'll stop at the hospital on the way
to your place, and get some things, but only if you agree that if I
don't think I can help him, you'll let me take you to the local
hospital right away."
"Yes, of course. Thank
you."
"Hold on, Buffy."
"Look Dawn, I’m going to run to the
hospital now, it’ll be easier to get some stuff out of there now,
rather than later. I’ll be back in an hour or so," John said to
Dawn, as he pulled his shirt over his head and put his pants
on.
"Thank you, I love you," she mouthed,
gratefully at him.
"Love you, too Dawn," he said,
handing her the phone, then taking the car keys off the
dresser.
"Buffy, is there anything else I can
bring?"
"I don't think so...Dawn, I'm so
sorry to have to involve you and John."
"Oh Buffy," Dawn said, sniffing
through her own tears, unable to say anything else. "We'll be there
as soon as we can."
"Thank you," Buffy said, and flipped
the phone off.
"Okay Buffy, you made your call, now
you go to bed and get some rest. I’ll spend the night on the couch.
As soon as I hear Dawn's car, I'll let you know before taking
off."
"You don't have to take off," she
said, confused.
"Yes, I do. I can’t seem to morph
back to my human features right now, "Clem said, shrugging.
"Probably because I got hurt...it’s a demon thing...and with John
coming with Dawn...John doesn't know, does he?"
Buffy shook her head, too tired to
think of any other implications tonight.
"Let's go," Clem said, rising and
giving Buffy his arm for support.
She didn’t have the energy to fight
him, or any energy for that matter. "Okay," she said. Clem nodded,
then helped her to the bedroom door.
"Thanks," she said, "I can make it
from here."
She took off the robe and climbed
into bed. She turned to look at William, whose face was scrunched up
in some sort of pain.
She put her arm around him lightly
and turned her face into her own pillow, crying herself to
sleep.
END CHAPTER 141
CHAPTER 142 - ASSESSING
AUGUST 12, 2009
TUESDAY
5:30AM
William awoke slowly, and for a half a
second, thought about the fact that they would be in Michigan that
evening, eating ice cream at the little store. He started to smile,
and then the nightmare rushed in. He tried opening his eyes, but
found that he could only open one; the other once again, sealed shut
by goo. Next to him, Elizabeth lay, her face partly concealed by the
pillow, but enough for him to see that her face was black and blue,
dried tears on her cheek.
Guilt and despair shook him, seeing her that
way.
With supreme effort, he rolled over, and
every bone and muscle in his body screamed in pain. He managed after
some effort to get himself sitting up, on the edge of the bed. He
groped for the cup of tea from last night, but it wasn't there.
Holding onto the bedside table, he managed to
stand up. He started to walk towards the bathroom, but his legs
wouldn't support him and he fell.
A loud thud startled Buffy awake. She looked
over to where William was, then heard him moaning.
"William," she croaked out, as she scrambled
out of bed, her own legs still shaky.
She managed to get down on her knees next to
him, before collapsing herself, "What happened? Are you hurt? Are
you okay?" she asked.
He had gone over on his side, and now he
pulled his legs in, and pushed with his arms, trying to sit up.
Buffy put her arms around his back, giving him leverage.
"What happened?" she asked again.
"Bathroom," he croaked out.
"You were trying to make it to the
bathroom?"
He didn't reply.
"Can you get up, if I help you?" she
asked.
He nodded and she got behind him, and rose
from her knees, while he pushed on the floor in front of him. They
wobbled back, the wall preventing them from falling over.
"There, that wasn't so bad," she said, trying
to make a joke, as she helped him over to the bathroom
door.
"Maybe you shouldn't go in alone right now. I
could help you..."
"Bathroom," he said tersely, shaking her off
and managing to get in and close the door on her.
Managing to get his sweatpants pulled down,
wincing in pain he put one hand on the wall behind the toilet to
steady himself, as he tried to relieve himself. Frustrated, he
collapsed onto the toilet, unable to stand any longer. Still unable
to urinate, he shakily stood up, stumbling over to the basin. He
held onto the sink with one hand, and turned on the cold water,
filling a tumbler that was on the sink. He brought it to his lips
and drank it down in one gulp. It hit his stomach, making it queasy,
but he didn’t care. He filled the cup again and was about to drink,
when he caught sight of his reflection. He stopped in shock, at what
he saw. The left side of his face was black and blue, and his eye
was swollen shut, pus caked around it. His lips were parched looking
and cracked and his neck had a large bandage on it.
Shaking he pulled off the tape and looked
under the bandage. Gagging he gripped the sink, as he threw up into
it; water, followed by bile.
"William!" Buffy called from the other side,
trying the handle, but it wouldn’t budge.
"Unlock the door!"
She heard his body hit the door and slide
down it, followed by the sound of his weeping.
"William" she said, her voice breaking along
with her heart, "please, open the door...please!"
There was no response except for the sound of
his sorrow on the other side of the door, and she soon followed it
with her own.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Buffy, what’s going on?" Clem called after
being awakened by the noise coming from the bedroom.
Wearily, Buffy pulled herself up and went
over to the bedroom door, opening it. "He’s locked himself in the
bathroom," she said, barely noticing that Clem was looking human
again.
Clem started to say something, but just then
they heard the crunch of gravel as Dawn and John drove up.
"I’m going to let myself out the back,
Buffy."
"But you look human again...oh, you probably
have things to do, I’m sorry."
"No, it’s not that. I just don’t know how
long I can keep this appearance. It’s been harder than normal this
morning; and I don’t want it to be a problem for Dawn with John.
Plus, I figure it will be easier on William if I’m just not around
right now. I’ll be back later with some food."
"You don’t have to..."
"Yes I do, you don’t have anything, besides,
I want to do something to help," he said, looking
forlorn.
"You are Clem. You did; I don’t know what
would’ve happened if you hadn’t been here last night..."
Clem sniffed, then patted her arm, before
walking out to the kitchen. She heard the back door open and close,
just as Dawn was walking in the front door.
"My God, Buffy!" Dawn said, seeing her
standing there in her pajamas, her face black and blue, looking
lost.
"Dawn," Buffy almost whimpered, as Dawn came
up to her and hugged her tightly.
"It’s okay Buffy, we’re here," Dawn said to
her, letting her cry.
"Where’s William?" John asked, which only
made Buffy cry harder.
"He wouldn’t let me help him into the
bathroom a while ago, now he’s locked himself in, I don’t know
what’s happening!"
"Both doors?" John asked.
"Huh?" Buffy asked, confused.
"Did he lock both doors to the
bathroom?"
"Oh, I don’t know," Buffy said, suddenly
remembering then that the spare bedroom, also had a door. "I didn’t
try it...he was upset, I think he’s sitting on the floor
still..."
"I’ll go see to him," John said, patting her
on the back, while taking a close look at her face. "Then we’ll see
about you, too."
"Thank you," Buffy said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John quietly walked into the spare bedroom
and made his way over to the bathroom door. He heard muffled sobs
coming from the other side. He tried the handle and found it wasn’t
locked. Keeping his hand on it, he said, "William? It’s John. Buffy
called last night and told us you and her had been attacked," he
said.
The crying stopped, but he heard no response.
"I’m going to come in now William," he said, pushing the door open
slowly.
William sat with his back against the other
door; his legs splayed out in front of him like a small child would
sit. His head remained down, as John approached slowly and knelt
down in front of him.
"William, can you hear me?" John asked,
waiting for a reply.
William made a short nod with his head,
letting out a small, shuddering breath he seemed to have been
holding.
"Good. I know you’re in a lot of pain; that’s
why Elizabeth asked me to come with Dawn, and to take a look at
you."
William didn’t say anything, but his head
shook slightly. John correctly interpreted that he was confused. "I
think I told you that time we watched soccer at Dawn’s, that I was
in a medical residency program, before going into psychiatry. That’s
why Elizabeth called me, if I didn’t make myself too clear at first;
I’d like to assess your injuries to see how bad they are, medically
speaking." He then reached out his hand, putting it on William’s
shoulder. "And non-medically speaking; as your friend, I wanted to
be here for you, to do what I can for you and Elizabeth."
William’s eyes filled with tears. John knelt
there, rubbing his shoulder until they subsided.
"Elizabeth?" he managed to croak out,
"how...how is...she’s hurt..."
"Yes, I saw that. Her face is bruised, but
otherwise, she seems to be alright. I promise you that I’ll take a
look at her, as soon as I’m done attending to you, okay?"
William nodded.
"Good," John said, "now lets see if we can’t
get you back to bed."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An hour later Buffy sat quietly across from
Dawn nursing a cup of coffee, which Dawn had made her.
"He’s been in there so long, I think I should
go..." Buffy said, starting to get up.
"No," Dawn said, Buffy by putting her hand
over hers to stop her, "let John do his job, I’m sure..."
Just then they heard the bedroom door open,
and rose as John came into the kitchen.
He nodded to them.
"How is he?" Buffy asked, her face showing
her anxiety.
"He’s in quite a bit of pain, but it doesn’t
appear that anything is broken, or that there are internal injuries.
Of course, the only way to know that, would be to take him to the
hospital for them to check him out," he said, looking at
Buffy.
"You think I should do that?"
John shrugged his shoulders, "I think that we
can watch him carefully over the next 24 hours. If anything were
going to show itself, it would most likely happen in that time
period. But, I think that it’s fairly safe to let him recuperate
here at home."
Dawn had come over to where Buffy was
standing and gave her a hug.
"As for his injuries...Dawn could I bother
you for a cup of that coffee?"
"Oh, sure," she said, leaving Buffy’s
side.
Dawn brought him a cup, and he sat down,
motioning Buffy and Dawn to do the same.
"As for his injuries, I examined his eye the
best I could. From what I could see, his cornea is scratched, but
otherwise intact. I put some antibiotic eye-drops in it, which
should take care of any discharge. I also suggested to him, that he
keep it covered for a few days so it wouldn’t become irritated.
Since I didn’t have a patch, we improvised with some gauze and tape.
You’ll have to put eye-drops in his eye 3 times a day. Just change
the gauze when you do that."
Buffy nodded. "Can I see him?"
"He’s asleep right now. He allowed me to give
him a sedative, so I could..." he looked at the girls. "William was
unable to urinate, due to the groin injury you told me about," he
said, nodding to Buffy. "I told him, that until the swelling went
down, I could help relieve the problem by temporarily catheterizing
him."
"And he agreed?" Buffy asked.
"Well, as I pointed out to him, it was either
that, or he'd need to seek help for that at the
hospital."
She nodded in understanding. After what had
happened to him last summer, she wasn't surprised at all that
William would be afraid of hospitals.
John patted Buffy’s hand, "It’s okay, it’s
quite common in men for something like this to make it temporarily
difficult for them to go."
"Is that it, then?"
"I also started an I.V. on him. Just Ringer’s
Lactate, in order to get some fluid into him; he’s a bit dehydrated.
Oh, and an all-purpose antibiotic I added to it. Plus I’ll be able
to tell...gotta have a good input and output, right?"
Buffy nodded, "Where did
you...how?"
"Got the things I thought I might need from
the hospital last night, after your call. When you mentioned the
severity of the groin injury, I brought the necessary
supplies."
"How long will he have to be...?"
"I’m going to remove it before he awakens, so
he won’t...become upset," John shook his head, not liking to have to
try to be both doctor and friend to them.
"And if he still...can’t?"
"Then I’m afraid he’ll have to go to the
hospital. I only brought one and I can’t reuse it... But let’s cross
that bridge when, rather if, we get to it," he said, seeing her
worried face. "Most times, that’s all it takes. I gave him something
for pain and inflammation, so that should probably take care of the
problem. And we’re applying some ice to the area. Brought some of
those little ice packs with me, too."
"I’m impressed. That’s some full-service
doctoring," Buffy said, almost grinning.
John returned it, wearily, "If it’s just the
same to you Buffy, I’d much rather get back to the full-service
friends part of my relationship with you guys."
"Agreed. I really can’t thank you enough for
doing this."
"It’s alright. I wasn’t fishing for
compliments or suggesting that I’m not glad to be able to help,
because I am. You know how much I care for you and William,
right?"
"I do, and we feel the same about
you."
"Hello, sister right here," Dawn
said.
Buffy managed a grin, "Sorry, and you too, of
course!"
"That’s better."
Buffy stopped grinning suddenly, as if she
had forgotten that she wasn’t supposed to right then. Like how one
catches oneself, almost acting ‘normal,’ at a funeral, before the
reason you’re there, suddenly floods back like a rushing river,
right into your stunned consciousness. It brings you up short,
taking your breath away in its sudden cruelty and
clarity.
"I still want to see him," Buffy said,
turning to John, ‘I promise, I won’t disturb him."
"Under one condition, "John said, once more
putting on his doctor’s persona, "you let me examine you,
first."
"I don’t need..."
"William was concerned about you, and
I promised him I’d take a look at you, after I took care of him. You
don’t want me to break my promise to him now, do you?"
Buffy sighed and shook her head. "Where do
you want me?"
"I think the couch would be best," John said,
rising, holding out his hand to Buffy. She took it and they went to
the other room.
"It would be best if you lay back," he said,
when she sat on the couch.
He examined her, making sure that nothing was
broken.
"I’m sorry," she said to him and
Dawn.
They both assured her that there was nothing
to be sorry for.
"Well, you look pretty good. A bit banged up,
but nothing needing much attention," John said to her, "your face
will probably turn all other lovely colors within the next few days,
but otherwise there doesn’t appear to be any damage; just bruising.
Put cool compresses on it, to keep the swelling down."
She nodded, and started to get up, but he
stopped her.
"One more thing," he said, and his hand went
to the bandage that she had on her neck.
"That’s alright, it’s nothing..."
"Then you won’t mind my looking," John said,
already pulling it back.
Like William’s the skin was ripped, and there
were two puncture marks, the same distance apart as his were. Unlike
his, hers appeared to be healing faster.
He nodded, then replaced the bandage, after
applying some antibiotic ointment, which Dawn brought
him.
Buffy felt his questioning eyes on hers, but
she avoided his look. "Can I go see him now?"
"Of course," John said.
Buffy stood at the door of the bedroom for a
couple of seconds, trying to compose herself, then opened the
door.
John looked over at Dawn, who had been
sitting in the chair next to the couch.
"Dawn," John said, gently.
"What?"
"I have a difficult question to ask you, but
I’d like an honest answer," he said, as he looked into her
eyes.
Dawn swallowed, "What is it?"
"Were William and your sister ever involved
in a cult?"
END CHAPTER 142
CHAPTER 143 - AFTERSHOCKS
Buffy quietly shut the door to the bedroom
behind her and walked over to the bed. She looked down on his
sleeping form, avoiding looking at the bags attached to him, above
and below. She closed her eyes for a moment, as if doing so would
make the last 12 hours go away.
Had it only been that short of time that
their life had been changed irrevocably, by forces she hadn’t even
known were working against them? No, she corrected herself;
she hadn’t wanted to know. She wanted to think they were safe
in their little bubble, and that they could just live happily ever
after, like normal people did or seemed to.
Guiltily, she made herself look at the things
she had been avoiding looking at, from the makeshift patch on his
eye, to the bag that hung off the bed, connected to a catheter. No,
this was the result of her pretending that she had, or could ever
have a normal life; that her and William’s past were truly were just
that - in the past.
She watched as the fingers on the hand, which
didn’t have an I.V. in it, twitched a little. Lightly she traced her
fingers over his. Still asleep, his hand moved, capturing hers, and
squeezing it as though a lifeline. She squeezed back; her heart
constricting at the threat of emotions this mere gesture was about
to unleash, if she didn’t withdraw soon. The last thing William
needed right now, was to be awoken by her bawling her eyes out over
him.
Buffy watched him sleep for a few more
minutes, before bending over and lightly kissing his forehead. "I
love you so much, William. And I’m so sorry that...that this
happened. Just please, please believe that we’ll get through it
together, I promise," she whispered.
As if responding to what she’d said, his hand
squeezed hers a bit more. Relieved, she gently released herself from
his grip and left the bedroom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A what?" Dawn asked.
"A cult," John repeated, "did Buffy and
William ever belong to a..."
"I heard you the first time, John. I just
can’t believe that you would ask..."
He leaned closer to her, "Then how would you
describe that both their necks look like they’ve been mauled and
bitten by some...something, I don’t know exactly what. I’ve never
seen anything like it, but I know one thing. They were both bitten
by the same thing."
"John," Dawn said, torn between fight and
flight, "I can’t..."
"Can’t or won’t?" he challenged.
She sighed, "I can’t; not now."
"Alright," he relented, "not now."
They were staring at each other, at a
standoff, when a phone rang.
"I think that’s mine," Dawn said, running to
the kitchen to grab her purse.
"It’s Xander," she called to John. Somehow,
she had thought to call him on the way to Julian, worried that he
would leave for Michigan, not ever knowing that the plans had been
changed.
"I’m going to check on William," John called.
He met Buffy coming out of the door.
"How is he?"
"Still asleep, but stirring a
bit."
John nodded, "The sedative is probably
starting to wear off. I’ll stay with him now."
"Who’s Dawn on the phone with?"
"It’s Xander."
"God, I forgot all about him," she said,
hurrying to the kitchen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Dawn, listen to me. I talked to Giles and
something happened the same night at the coven that Willow belongs
to. In fact, she was there when it was attacked."
"Attacked? Willow? Did something happen to
Willow?" Dawn said, turning pale.
"Willow?" Buffy said, coming out to the
kitchen, "what’s happened?"
"It’s Xander," Dawn said, holding out the
phone for Buffy to take.
"Xander, it’s Buffy."
"Oh God, Buffy. Dawn told me what happened to
you and William last night. I can’t believe that crazy Dru was
still...I’m just glad you’re okay."
"I know...thank you, but please Xander, Dawn
just said something about Willow. Is she okay?"
"Sorry, there’s so much...okay, here’s what I
know..."
A half-hour later, Buffy was off the phone,
recapping Xander’s side of the conversation.
"Xander said that Giles told him, that last
night Willow and a potential slayer named Sabrina were at the coven,
when around 3:00AM, their time, or about the time that Dru showed up
here, they were attacked by demons. First, there was the making
time-wonky demons, which I came into contact with back when Warren
was playing with me, making me think I had killed Katrina. I can’t
recall their names. Then there was a second wave of much more
malevolent demons. Three of the coven members died, before the rest
of them were able to put up a barrier spell and do something to kill
the other demons."
"How did Giles find out?"
"After you called Xander this morning, he
tried to call Willow. When he couldn’t reach her, he called Giles. I
guess either he called Willow or Willow called him."
"So, she knows about William, then?" Dawn
asked.
"Yes. I think so. Giles said that she’d be
calling me as soon as she possibly can, right now they’re busy with
the injured."
There was a soft tap on the backdoor. Buffy
got up, then motioned for Clem to come in. He was carrying a couple
of bags of groceries in one hand, Buffy’s purse in the other.
"Hey Buffy, hey Dawn."
"Hi, Clem," Dawn said. "How are you? Heard
you had a pretty rough night yourself."
"I’m okay now. Special demon healing powers,"
he said, then looked around quickly, relieved not to see
John.
"He’s in with William," Dawn said.
"Thank you for doing this," Buffy said,
taking the groceries from him.
"You’re welcome," Clem said. "Oh, and I
brought your car back, it’s out front."
"I figured," Buffy said, pointing to the
purse Clem still had over his shoulder.
"Oh yeah," he said, handing it to
her.
Buffy took out her cell phone. The battery
was low, so she took the recharged spare from a drawer and popped it
in, putting the low battery in the charger.
John walked out into the kitchen.
"Hi Clem."
"Hi John, how are you?"
"I’m good, and you look fine, considering
Buffy said you got beat up last night."
"Uh...yeah, well...I’m a fast healer," Clem
said.
"How is he?" Buffy said,
interrupting.
"He’s awake now. He’s a bit disoriented, but
he’s doing better."
"What about the...?"
John looked at her, then nodded. "Removed;
all systems are go, if you know what I mean."
Buffy let out a sigh of relief.
"You should probably try to get him to eat
something. I already told him you would be doing so," he said,
smiling.
"Right," Buffy said, gathering together a few
things from the grocery sacks. She grabbed a snack-size cup of
ready-made Jell-O, a spoon, and a can of Sprite and a straw, and
some graham crackers, before starting towards the
bedroom.
"Buffy?"
"Yeah?"
"He’s still not quite himself."
She stopped and looked at John, "No, I don’t
expect that he would be, but that doesn’t really matter right now,
does it?"
"No, it doesn’t."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy pushed open the door to the bedroom and
went over to the bed. William was lying there staring up at the
ceiling.
"Hey," she said to him.
He didn’t respond.
Buffy sat down on the edge of the bed. "I’ve
brought you something to eat. Just some Jell-O and graham crackers,
and there’s Sprite."
"John says you have to eat something, we both
do," she said, went on coaxing, trying to appeal to his sense of
taking care of her, as well.
She smiled as he slowly turned his head
towards her, but it quickly faded as she saw the unmistakable look
of pain and hurt he fixed her with.
"William," she whispered, as her eyes filled
with tears.
His mouth twitched as he tried to reign in
all the various emotions coursing through him; hurt, pain, fear,
anger, betrayal, and confusion, to name a few. He settled on
sympathy, at seeing her cry.
He brought up his hand, gently cupping the
bruised side of her face, "You’re hurt," he said softly.
She turned her face into his hand, closing
her eyes for a moment and letting herself feel a touch of the
comfort that she so wanted, but didn’t feel she deserved. Buffy
sniffed back her tears, before they engulfed her. She put her hand
over his and kissed his palm, before letting his hand go.
"I’m okay, its not too bad," she said,
opening up a Jell-O container and putting some on a spoon for
him.
They held each other’s gazes for a moment,
the spoon in midair, before silently he relented, allowing her to
feed him.
"Better?" she asked, after he’d finished it
off, had a cracker, and some Sprite.
He nodded.
"You want anything else?"
He shook his head, "Tired."
"Okay, I’ll let you get some rest then," she
said, getting up from the bed and straightening the covers for him,
as he sank back down against the pillows.
She was almost to the door when she heard
him.
"Elizabeth?"
"What?" She asked, turning around and coming
back over to the bed.
He hesitated, then shook his head,
"Nothing."
She looked at him for a minute, "William?"
His eyes closed and he didn’t respond, but
felt her hand softly caress his cheek, then felt her lips kiss the
top of his head. "I’ll be back in a while," she whispered to him,
and he nodded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUGUST 12, 2009
TUESDAY
4:00PM
After the flurry of activity that morning,
the house was now quiet. William slept on; Clem had gone home, and
Buffy had fallen asleep on the couch. John had talked Dawn into
taking a nap in the spare room, intending to stay awake, and then
fallen asleep himself, as he laid on one of the chairs
outside.
Somewhere there was a ringing in Buffy’s
dream, but she couldn’t find where it was coming from, as she
frantically searched. Her eyes opened, and she realized it that the
ringing was real. She sat up and reached her phone, which was on the
table nearest her head.
"Buffy? It’s Willow."
"Willow!" Buffy said.
"Oh God," they both said at once.
"Xander told me what happened to you guys.
Dru came? What did she want?"
Buffy laughed hollowly, "What didn’t she
want?" she said, walking towards the kitchen, and away from within
ear shot of the bedroom, "To kill and turn William again, kill me,
who knows, she’s...she was a vampire. Crazier than a loon, too. One
thing I know for sure is that Angel was behind it. She said he told
her that he’d take care of me, himself."
"But she’s dead? I mean..."
"Dusted," Buffy said, taking a bottle of
water out to the back porch, "William got in the killing blow.
Chopped her head right off."
"Oh God, Buffy. Poor William. How is
he?"
Buffy told her about what had happened
since.
"I’m so sorry, Buffy."
"Me, too. I heard what happened to your
coven. I’m so glad you weren’t...I’m so sorry it happened to people
you know."
"Thanks, I know you are, Buffy."
"I’m sorry to ask you this Willow, but is
what happened to the coven have to do with why the protection spell
failed? Or did it fail earlier?"
"No, I’d bet my membership in the coven that
this was definitely orchestrated to cause the failure of the
protection spell, Buffy."
"God, all those people dead because of us,"
Buffy said.
"No, not because of you; because of Angel,"
Willow said darkly, trying to keep herself in check, "and we’ll most
definitely be dealing with him."
"Good," Buffy said, wondering how she might
deal with him as well.
"There’s something else to consider, Buffy.
There had to have been a locating spell done on you and William, in
order for Dru to be there at the exact time, that the protection
spell would be broken. I don’t think that Angel thought that it
would be broken for long, so he had to have a window of opportunity
in order for her to be there at the exact time."
"So, what does that mean?"
"It means, that he had to have something of
yours and Williams, in order to do the protection spell. Something
personal that would retain some molecular component of yours still
on it; sweat, hair, saliva, tears; that sort of thing."
"Well, maybe he had something of William’s
from the hospital still. Maybe mine, too, though I can’t imagine
what."
"I don’t know. I think it’s more likely that
somewhere you were spotted around where you live and there was an
opportunity to get something of yours."
"I can’t...we haven’t been to a beauty parlor
to take care of my hair in I don’t know how long; and I’ve cut both
of ours. Saliva...where would I leave saliva? Dentists? Evil
dentists? I don’t even have one right now, evil or
otherwise."
"Well, you can leave saliva on lots of
things."
"And to that, a big ewww!"
"No, think about it Buffy. You leave it on
silverware when you eat somewhere, on glasses, cups, those sorts of
things."
Something at the back of Buffy’s mind was
starting to nag at her. "Yeah, I guess so...I don’t know. I can’t
think right now. Oh, sweat...we did probably leave some sweat around
the gyms that we’ve taken classes at recently. You think someone is
going around collecting our sweat?"
"I wouldn’t put it past them, if they were
looking to get it from you."
"But, say there was someone working for Angel
at our gym, if they knew who we were, then they wouldn’t need a
locator spell, right? I mean, around here, we use our names, we go
to school, restaurants, etc. Couldn’t they just have followed us
then?"
"No, the protection spell prevented that. It
also had an immediate dampening effect on anybody trying to recall
your names; it was the way it was set up. However, once someone
located you by other means, say they had a physical description of
you or a picture, all they had to do was somehow get a piece of your
essence, so to speak. Then once the protection spell was broken, it
could be used to pinpoint your exact location and used at the very
moment it was needed."
"What about the protection spell? Right now
Angel could be sending something or someone else..."
"Just hang tight, Buffy," Willow said, "we’re
working on restoring it. As soon as some of the members of the coven
from Inverness come down tomorrow morning, we’ll get it right back
into place. This time it won’t be able to be broken, I promise you
that."
"Thank you. But for tonight, should I...do
you think we’re safe here?"
"I think that Angel must have had very
specific plans to have orchestrated this whole thing on two
continents on once. I doubt he’d have thought he’d need a backup
plan, as well. That’s my opinion."
"In other words, he wouldn’t have had time to
put something else into place."
"I don’t think so, but I can’t be sure. Maybe
you guys could still go to Michigan, or...oh, I guess you missed
your flight already, huh?"
"God, what was I thinking Willow?"
"Buffy? What do you mean? Oh, Buffy," Willow
said, hearing her start to cry.
"Damnit, Willow! I couldn’t even protect him!
I’m the fucking slayer and I couldn’t...I was so stupid to think
that everything was going to be alright, everything was safe," she
said, laughing bitterly. "Not to mention, I don’t seem to be as
strong as I once was... It’s...he’s...I don’t know what I’m going to
do, what I’m going to say to him, Willow? I’m so afraid of what he’s
going to say, how he’s...I should’ve told him; he shouldn’t have had
to find out this way!"
"You just wanted to protect him, Buffy. You
just didn't want him to get hurt."
"You mean I didn't want to be the one to hurt
him with the truth, but instead..." her voice wandered off and she
wiped angrily at her eyes, "instead I left him open like a sitting
duck. At least if he'd known, even if he would've...he might have
been prepared for it."
"Buffy, unless he was chosen to be The Slayer
like you were, I doubt he would've been ready for it anyway. It
still would've been a shock to see Drusilla."
"There's even pictures."
"Pictures? What?"
"Of Drusilla, well, not photos, but drawings
that Spike drew over 100 years ago. If I would have only shown him
those and told him who she was, then he wouldn't have invited her
in; she wouldn't have been able to hurt him."
"No? She could've waited for William to come
outside last night. She wouldn't have needed an invitation then,"
Willow said, sighing as she searched for some words of wisdom or
comfort, anything, which might help her.
"There's nothing you can do now about the
past Buffy; what's done is done. It's what you do to help William
cope with this now, and in the future; that's going to count in the
long run."
"It’s not that easy," Buffy said.
"Who said anything about easy? I haven’t
forgotten who I’m talking to, you know?" Willow said.
She was glad to get a laugh out of Buffy for
that.
"Buffy, it’s going to be okay. Just trust in
yourself. You love each other, and you’ll work it out," Willow
said.
"I hope so," Buffy said.
"You will. You’ll see. Listen, I’ll call
tomorrow to let you know as soon as the protection spell is back in
place."
"Okay," Buffy said, taking a deep breath.
"Good-night Willow. I’m glad you’re safe."
"You, too. Talk to you tomorrow.
Bye."
Trust. It was a little word, but it meant the
world. It was she who couldn’t trust Spike at first and then later,
much later, not her own feelings as they developed for him. Then he
became the only person she could fully trust when her back was
against the wall and it seemed that everyone else was against her.
Trust. A little word, which meant the world.
She trusted him to be a good man now, and he had trusted her to show
him the world, as he believed it was. Trusted her to show him his
place in it, and how he fit.
Trust. A little word, which made the world a
safe place. How would William perceive her, and what she hadn’t told
him, in relation to that word now?
Trust. A little word, which takes so
long to build a world around, but only a moment to tear
apart.
END CHAPTER 143
CHAPTER 144 - WE WOULD HAVE BEEN EATING ICE CREAM
AUGUST 12, 2004
TUESDAY
8:00PM
Buffy stood in the kitchen warming up a can
of noodle soup. John had been in with William for a little while,
and had finally come out saying that he'd gotten him to agree to eat
something.
Although Clem had brought a full selection of
foods, Dawn had made them grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. It
was easy and required no mental energy to perform the
task.
"Think William might want a grilled cheese,
too?" Dawn asked.
"I don't know, what do you think?" Buffy
asked John.
"It probably wouldn't hurt him, but to be on
the safe side, I'd just stick with bland foods until tomorrow. When
something traumatic happens to a person, their body winds up putting
out excessive amounts of hormones, such as adrenaline, to name one.
That can mess with one’s stomach pretty bad for a day or
so."
"Soup it is, then," Buffy said, stirring it
in the pan.
"Think I could turn on the TV out there?"
John asked.
"Sure, help yourself," Buffy said. " I think
the remote is over on the desk."
"Thanks," he called.
"Probably looking for a baseball game," Dawn
said, smiling after him fondly.
Buffy watched her watching him, and
understood that look. "Dawn? I was thinking, why don't you and John
go ahead with your plans to go to Michigan. I know you wanted to go,
and you should. I'll even pay the penalty for you guys, since you
didn't get to use your ticket today."
Dawn looked at Buffy, "No, Buffy. We wanted
to go because of you guys, you know that."
"But Dawn, Xander and his family could still
come and you'd have him all to yourself, then!"
Dawn laughed, "Um...Buffy, I think those days
of wanting him to myself are over. Plus, can you see Xander
comfortable with me sleeping with John in that cabin? I swear; he'd
probably faint. Either that or try to make us sleep in separate
rooms."
Buffy smiled, "Well, Xander has his own two
rug rats to consider now, so you'd probably be in the
clear."
Dawn snorted. "I doubt it. I'll always be
Xander's virginal little sister."
"Mine, too."
"Yeah, but you can't say anything," she said,
sticking out her tongue, "not with all the moaning and groaning
you've subjected me to over the years."
Buffy started to snicker, but abruptly
stopped, shaking her head, as though to clear it. Did any of that
matter now, anyway?
"Buffy, do you think it's possible that you
and William might still be able to go?" Dawn asked, wistfully.
"Might do you guys some good now."
Buffy shook her head, "No, it's not possible
right now. He...we...have to talk, whenever that happens. It will be
better if he's here with what he's most familiar with."
"Well, that would be you, Buffy. He's most
familiar with you, and think; you're portable," Dawn said, with a
small grin.
Buffy let out a little, humorless laugh,
"Besides me. I think he'll be..." she turned to look at Dawn, "I
don't know what's going to happen, Dawn. I'm so scared. Last night I
was so scared when I found Clem in the road and I didn't know if I
was too late or not...and now, I'm scared of how much he's going
to..."
"No," Dawn said, coming around to hug Buffy,
"he's not going to hate you! He'll see that you only wanted
to protect him from knowing something that would hurt
him."
"I don't think so, I really don't think so,
Dawn," Buffy said. She pulled away, and went out to the back porch,
then into the yard, first checking to see if it was 'safe' and vamp
free. Something, she'd never done in all the time she'd been there.
Dawn followed her.
"What time is it in Michigan Dawn?" Buffy
asked, looking up at the darkening skies.
Dawn looked at her watch, "10:00."
Buffy nodded, "We'd have been eating our ice
cream cones right about now, having just gotten there in time for
last call. William and I would share the big swing, overlooking the
lake...where would you be, Dawn?"
"Don't, Buffy!"
"Where would you be, Dawn?"
Dawn sighed, "I guess we'd either be on the
deck, or I think John would've liked to sit on the picnic benches on
the dock. That's where we'd be."
Buffy nodded, "You and John should be
there."
"No, we should all be there, but we're
not. Not because of something you did wrong, but because there's a
rotten, evil bastard in the world named Angel, who just, excuse my
language, fucked with your and William's life. And since I love you
guys, then he fucked with me, too. And John."
"You guys should still go," Buffy intoned
again, sitting down on the grass.
"No, I don't want to go without you," Dawn
said, plopping down next to her, "it would only remind me of why
you're not there. We'll go again sometime, when we can all go and
enjoy it. Okay? John and I will just do something else.
I guess..." she said, her voice trailing
off.
Buffy turned to look at her, "What is it,
Dawn?"
Dawn sighed, "John. He asked me if you and
William had ever been in a cult."
"A cult?" Buffy asked, "why would he ever
think...?"
"Buffy, he saw the bite marks on both your
necks; God only knows what he thought! I think he just concluded
that you guys must have been in some sort of cult a long time ago.
Maybe he thinks you pissed off someone back then, and they came to
pay you back."
Buffy half-snorted, half-laughed, "Not so far
from the truth, is it? Oh God, Dawn. I shouldn't have called and got
you guys involved. I didn't think, I just..."
"Of course you should have! You did exactly
the right thing by calling us! We're family, Buffy. And John is
terribly fond of both of you."
Buffy smiled, thinking how Dawn had just
sounded like Giles.
"I'm glad you came, both of you, I don't know
what I would've done. I would have had to take him to the hospital,
and that would...he’s afraid of them, since the other hospital. Not
to mention, they would've wanted to call the police..."
"...which probably would have made headlines
in this sleepy town," Dawn added.
Buffy shuddered.
"What are you going to tell him? You know,"
Buffy said, thinking, "you actually could tell him that we were in a
cult. I mean, there are those weird people that act like they’re
vampires. I’ve even heard some of them get pointy teeth implants."
"And drink blood, for fun," Dawn said, "and
worship the devil, while they’re at it."
"Idiots! Stupid, risk-taking idiots!" Buffy
said, shaking her head. "If they only knew the truth they
wouldn’t...oh hell forget about them. But seriously Dawn, you could
just tell John that William and I were in a cult when we were
younger. Make that much younger! That way he won’t have to know
about us, about all of it. He won’t have to deal."
Dawn shook her head, "No, Buffy. Listen to
yourself, I can’t do that; I'm going to tell him the truth, and if
he can't accept it, well he can just..."
"No Dawn, don’t say it! John loves you, I can
tell. And you love him just as much. I just wanted to let you know
that it would be alright with me, if you didn’t want to tell him,
that I’d certainly understand."
"I just don’t want to lie," Dawn said, her
voice pensive.
"You mean like me?" Buffy asked,
sadly.
"You didn’t lie Buffy, you just didn’t tell
the whole truth."
"Want to explain the difference to William
right now?"
Dawn didn’t answer, just put her head on
Buffy’s shoulder, as they sat there watching the stars come out in
the night sky.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
8:15PM
"Hey," Buffy said, as she walked into the
bedroom, carrying a bowl of soup, some oyster crackers, and more
Sprite.
She walked over to the bed and waited.
Finally he looked at her without expression. Nodding, she handed him
the bowl of soup, setting a smaller bowl filled with crackers on the
blanket next to him, and setting the drink down next to the clock
radio on the bedside table.
"You hungry?" she asked.
He shrugged, but his left hand searched
around for the cracker bowl.
"Here," she said, pushing it over to where he
could feel it. She’d set it down to the left of him, and he couldn’t
see it without turning his head, due to his eye being covered.
The bowl of soup wobbled, and she steadied
it, until he had put the crackers into it. He ate the soup in
silence, as she sat on the edge of the bed.
"Good?" She asked, when he’d finished it. He
nodded, handing her back the bowl. She handed him his drink and then
put it back for him, when he was finished.
William had only glanced at her briefly as
she had watched him eat, and now that he was finished; it was the
same, except that the silence between them seemed more pronounced.
He had his head partially down, as if there
were something of interest to him on the bed covers. Buffy swallowed
a few times, as she tried to think of something to say to him, or
wait for him to speak to her.
He didn’t.
Finally, she got up. "Guess I’ll go take care
of these," she said. "Do you want anything else?"
He looked up at her then, "Tell them to go
home."
"What? John and Dawn? I think they’re going
to spend the night; they’ll probably leave in the
morning."
"I want them to go now!" William said,
raising his voice. He took a deep breath, and fought for control.
"I’m...better. John’s done all he can and...They should just go home
now," he said quietly, then added, "they shouldn’t be
here."
Buffy stared at him for a minute, trying to
fathom his reasons; reasons other than what he’d stated, but he gave
no indication, and she was afraid to push for them.
Regardless, she’d debated this herself. On
the one hand, she wanted, even needed them here, but on the
other, she wasn’t sure if there was going to be another attack
tonight. If there were, she didn’t want Dawn or John getting hurt,
or worse.
Finally, she nodded to him, "Alright, I’ll
tell them."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
8:45PM
"I’ll go check on him one more time, then we
can be on our way," John said to Dawn and Buffy, as he walked into
the bedroom. She had only told them that she thought that they might
as well leave, not what William had said.
"Are you sure about this?" Dawn asked.
Buffy nodded, "I’m sure. He’s feeling a bit
better and you guys should get back home."
Dawn looked at her, skeptically.
"Really, I’m fine. As fine as I can be, under
the circumstances."
"I’m telling you Buffy, I don’t feel right
leaving you here alone right now. What if something
happens?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, what if he...relapses or
something?"
Buffy let out a silent breath of relief that
Dawn hadn’t thought about the possibility of further attacks. If she
had, she’d never had agreed to leave, even if it put her into
danger. She knew that much about her sister, and loved her for
it.
"I don’t think he will. John did a good job
with him today."
"Thanks, I’ll tell him you said so," Dawn
said, smiling.
"If you need me to talk to John about any of
this, I will," Buffy said.
"I know. I’ll see what happens,
okay?"
Buffy nodded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
9:00
"Well, that’s it. I changed the bandage on
William’s eye, and put in another eyedrop, so he’s set for the
evening. Remember to do that 3 times a day, for the next 4 or 5 days
or so, even up to a week. If his eye is still bothering him after
that time, you should take him to an opthamologist for a
checkup."
"I will."
"Better give him some vitamins with some
iron, too. He seems to be a little anemic right now. Probably due to
the blood loss at the site of the neck wound," John said
pointedly.
Buffy nodded, as she looked into his eyes,
which were curious, but not condemning.
"I think everything else should heal just
fine," he finished.
"Good. I can’t thank you enough John, I don’t
know what I would’ve done...you’re a good person, and a good friend;
to both of us. He may not have told you, but William really needed
you today. Not just as someone to patch him up, but to be there for
him, too. And I know he’s grateful."
John smiled, embarrassed. "I was just glad to
be able to help; to be there for you both."
Dawn cleared her throat, "I want to go say
good-bye to him."
John turned to her, "Dawn, I don’t think he
wants to see you right now."
"Why?"
"I just don’t think he wants you to see him
that way...hey, where are you going?"
"The hell with that," Dawn said, as she
marched determinedly towards the bedroom.
John started after her, but Buffy stopped
him, with a hand on his arm, "You don’t know my sister very well, if
you think that’s going to stop her."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dawn opened the door to the bedroom, just as
William was coming out of the bathroom.
They both looked at each other with shock.
She quickly crossed the distance, and threw herself into his arms,
hugging him tightly. "Stupid!" she cried into his shirt. He was
taken aback, not to mention, she was hurting him by hugging him so
hard.
"You think you can get rid of me this easily
William? You think you have to hide from me, because you’re
embarrassed? Stupid man!" she said, still crying.
William hugged her back, automatically, and
felt his own eyes grow moist, as she woke up something in him that
he had denied himself all day, "Stubborn bi...nt," he whispered to
her, stumbling over the word.
"Damn right! You should know that about me,
as long as you’ve known me!"
He flinched, and she stood back a moment,
looking at him. "That’s right, I’ve known you a long time William.
Even when you were Spike."
He sucked in his cheeks, his lips tight. Her
words had made his heart start pounding, and his breath come faster,
making him sway slightly.
"You listen to me, I may have been only 14
years old, but I always knew you were a good guy. You might
have been a...a different person then, but you were still good! You
may have tried to act like the Big Bad, but you never fooled me.
Even mom liked you, and she had very good instincts. You hear what
I’m saying?"
He didn’t reply, just lowered his head, as he
bit his lower lip to keep it together.
Dawn stood there until he finally looked up
at her. She could see the pain in his eyes and she felt her own eyes
grow moist, "You’ll get through this. You and Buffy, both," Dawn
said, hugging him again.
She withdrew one last time, and took his
hands, squeezing them, "I’ll see you soon, William," Dawn said, with
an encouraging smile, as she let go with a little nod, and walked to
the door.
"Good-bye, Dawn," he said softly, as the door
closed behind her.
END CHAPTER 144
Coming up next: The big talk...
CHAPTER 145 - PATROL
"Bye," Buffy waved, and smiling bravely, as
John and Dawn drove off. Her smile faded as soon as they were out of
sight.
A few minutes later, her phone rang and it
was Clem.
"Hey Buffy, where are Dawn and John
going?"
"I sent them home," she said, taking the
phone and walking out to the back porch. "William's better now, not
competely, but out of the woods as far as injuries go, and there's
another reason, which is why I'm glad you called."
Buffy filled him in on the chance, however
small of another attack. They made plans to stay awake guarding the
house tonight.
"I'll go back up to the loft and, get you a
couple of swords. I've got some weapons of my own, that I had for
emergencies. Just never needed them here before, but sometimes I
take them with me when I go into the city to play poker, and...well,
you know."
Clem said he would come by in about an hour,
if the back porch light was on, he'd come in, otherwise, he'd leave
the weapons against the wall, under a rug by the back door.
"Bring your cell phone, okay?"
"Okey dokey. See you in a while."
She went back inside and looked at the dishes
in the sink. She was going to ignore them, then decided to do them,
before checking on William. When the dishes were finished, she
busied herself by tidying up the rest of the kitchen, and living
room for the next fifteen minutes.
All finished, she stood nervously at the
bedroom door and hesitated. They were alone now for the first time
in over 24 hours; 24 hours which seemed like a lifetime ago now. For
the first time since she'd discovered he was alive again, Buffy was
unsure of herself and frightened for the both of them.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath,
then quietly opened the bedroom door.
William was lying with his back to her, so
she couldn't tell if he were sleeping or not. She walked over to the
far side of the bed to look at him. She thought that she saw his
eyelashes flutter shut, but she wasn’t sure; only that his eyes were
closed.
"They’ve gone," she said softly, not wanting
to disturb him, if he was asleep.
She put her hand lightly on his shoulder and
felt his muscles tighten. Sighing, she removed her hand.
"William, I...I... You sleep now, I’ll be
back later," she said, sighing.
She turned off the lamp, leaving the light on
in the bathroom, and went back out to the living room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10:30PM
Buffy was waiting for Clem, as he appeared
out of the dark, nearing their backdoor. He nodded to her and handed
her a sword, "I think I’ll go and position myself out of sight in
the woods, right up along the first rise on the trail. I can see the
road and the house from there."
"Good. I’ll be watching from the living room
windows. How about we call each other every 20 minutes or so? That
way we’ll keep each other awake. I’ve got my cell phone on low ring,
so I don’t disturb William, but I think you should turn yours on to
vibrate only. That way, if there is something out there, it won’t
hear the ringing."
"Sounds good. I’ll pick up though, to let you
know I’m okay."
"Good," Buffy said, as she went around the
house turning off the lights.
She settled herself on a low footstool in
front of the living room window and looked out into the night, as
she watched for vampires or demons; any threat that might need to be
dealt with. Every half-hour or so, she would take a walk around the
interior of the house, looking out all the windows. Except their
bedroom window; that side of the house could be accessed from the
spare room.
At 12:30AM, Dawn called to tell Buffy that
they’d made it home alright, and that she would call again
tomorrow.
"You just scared the shit out of me!" Clem
answered at 1:50AM.
"Why?"
"While I was taking a leak, I heard a noise,
which turned out to be a racoon, then the phone vibrated.
Jesus!"
Buffy bit back a giggle, imagining the whole
scenario, "I’m sorry, Clem. I’ll try to time my call better next
time, okay?"
"I’ll call you next, Buffy!" he said,
clicking off.
The phone rang 5 minutes later, "Okay, I get
your point!"
"Buffy?"
"Willow? Oh, hey! I thought it was Clem.
We’re on patrol. Well, I’m on ‘patrol’ in the house, and he’s up in
the woods. We’ve been checking on each other and...nevermind. What’s
the word?"
"You can get off patrol now, Buffy. The
protection spell is in place, and stronger than ever. The witches
from Inverness kick ass! The spell they put on you guys has all the
safe-guards in it times three, no make that ten times the ones I
used. You can relax now Buffy! William is safe once more, and so are
you and Dawn. And Clem."
"Safe," Buffy said softly. "Thanks
Willow."
"You’re welcome. I’m so sorry I didn’t check
out my spell when I returned to England to make sure it would hold
against everything," Willow said.
"Don’t Willow. You’re not to blame for this.
If anyone is it’s..."
"No, Buffy! You’re not..."
"I was going to say Angel."
"Uh..hee-hee. Yeah."
"Of course, I’m the one who didn’t tell
William..."
"And around the circle we go..."
"Yeah...around the circle."
"Get some rest Buffy, I’m sure you can use
it, and at least you don’t have to worry now about any
attacks."
"Thanks Willow, I think I’ll take you up on
that."
"Oh, and Giles is going to call sometime
tomorrow."
"Okay. Goodnight Will."
"Goodnight Buffy. Love you."
"Love you, too," she said, hanging
up.
One more phone call.
"Hey, Buffy, it was my turn!"
"Willow called. The protection spell is back
in force, stronger than ever she says, so we can call off the
patrol."
"Whew! I was getting edgy up hear, every time
I heard a small animal, I about jumped out of my skin."
"Your abundant skin."
"Yes, my abundant skin. Okay, listen, why
don’t you put the swords back out on the porch, and I’ll put them
away. You don’t want William to see those right now."
"Thanks for thinking of that, for everything,
Clem. Have I told you I love you lately?" Buffy said, wondering if
she’d ever said it at all.
"I love you guys, too. You’re my family.
Goodnight, Buffy."
Buffy smiled as she got up from the
footstool, and closed the opening in the shades. She walked through
to the backporch and put the swords out where Clem could see
them.
Safe. Safe again. "I guess that’s something,"
she said to herself, as she looked around the house that had been
been hers alone for five years; now a home that she’d shared with
the man she loved, for over a year. A man that she never thought she
would see again in this, or any other lifetime.
It had been a gift; an unbelievable
gift.
A lump formed in her throat and tears fell
freely now. She hugged her arms around herself as she paced the
floors, from the far wall, where the desk was, to the back door.
Back and forth she paced and cried silently, thinking of how she was
going to face William and the inevitable questions he would finally
bring up to her, since she’d not had the courage to tell him.
She tried to play in her mind different ways
he would ask her, different ways she would respond. No matter how
she played it out, it came up short when he would ask her why she
didn’t tell him before. Why she didn’t trust him enough to tell him
the truth, how could he trust her now. On and on and on, her mind
swam with questions and answers; pain and hurt, broken trust and
betrayal.
Exhausted, she finally sank down on the couch
and fell asleep.
END CHAPTER 145
CONT. CH. 146 -
150
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