Riley lay in his hospital bed, not moving, just thinking. He’d had his own room for a week, since Adam had skewered him, but yesterday the Doctors had said that he was well enough to go onto a general ward. All around him, people were busy. Nurses were bustling around, going about their jobs. Those patients who couldn’t get out of bed were sitting up, talking to patients who could get up, who had joined them.

But no one talked to Riley. A couple of people had tried, but he’d told them politely that he just wanted to be alone. No one had came over to him after that.

He wanted to be alone. It was funny really, all he’d done for the past eight days was think, yet all he wanted to do know was think some more. He was thinking about the only thing that he had thought of for the past week. The thing that dominated his every waking and sleeping thought. He thought of Buffy.

He missed her so much. He would do anything to be near her, even for just a few seconds. But he knew that by now, her security access would have been revoked, and there was no way the Initiative would allow her to visit him. He’d considered several times trying to get out of this place, but had given up on that idea, at least for the time being, on discovering that he collapsed as soon as he got out of bed. The Doctors had said that he should be up, about, and out of here in about seven to ten days. He tried to concentrate on that fact. He could see Buffy in seven to ten days. He liked to think ‘I can see Buffy in a week’ though. It seemed like a shorter period of time than seven days. He tried not to think that it could be ten days.

He didn’t know exactly what was wrong with him. He figured it was just the skewer wound healing. He hadn’t thought to ask. He never thought to ask anything. He’d been trained not to. He smiled as he thought of Buffy before she’d gone out with the Initiative a little over a week ago. Angleman and Walsh had no idea what to do when she had started asking questions. The other guys found it funny. He’s seen most of them trying to hold in eruptions of laughter, at the small blond girl in the orange halter completely confusing the two renowned scientists.

His smile faded as he started to think of the two. He hadn’t known Angleman well. Just one of the people that gave briefings every now and again. But Walsh. She had been his mentor, his teacher, his mother away from home, for the past three years. He’d admired her, and looked up to her. But know he wasn’t sure what to think of her. It kept coming back to him that it was possible that everything she had taught him was wrong. She had told him that they were doing good, but what had really been happening was they were helping her with research to build a possibly unstoppable force. He had seen, and felt, how strong Buffy was, but Adam hadn’t even had to stop to think about Buffy, he was so powerful.

Riley’s mind drifted back to Buffy. He smiled to himself, as he began working out the number of minutes until he could see her again. He slowly closed his eyes, as he drifted to sleep, his dreams scattered with Buffy thoughts.

"Will, I cannot stand this any longer. I want you to try the spell," Buffy whispered to her best friend. They had spent the past hour eating ice cream together, Willow trying to help Buffy stop thinking of Riley. But she didn’t know why. She knew that the only thing that would stop her worrying about her boyfriend was seeing him, and him being all right.

They hadn’t heard anything about Riley for over a week now, and eventually Willow had told Buffy about a healing spell she could do, to try to get Riley better.

"I’m not totally sure if it’ll work though. If he’s to far away, or I’m not powerful enough, it won’t work. I’ll try though, if you want me too." Buffy nodded, tears starting to fall down her face again. Willow hated to see Buffy cry, she hardly ever did, and she wasn’t used to it. But it was a sign that Buffy cared for Riley in more than just an ‘Have you seen his arms. Those are good arms to have’ way, and Willow was pleased that she had found someone to be happy with. For deep down, Willow knew that when all this was over, Buffy and Riley would be happy. Buffy deserved some happiness, after Parker and Angel.

"I can get Tara to help me. Can I have one of those photos of him that you got a few weeks ago please? It’ll help a lot," Willow smiled at her friend, who smiled back, for the first time in a week, feeling more secure that they were doing something.

Riley awoke with a start. He’d felt something electric go through him, and it woke him from a dream he was having. He looked around at the rest of the ward, but everyone was going about their usual business, and no one seemed to notice that he was even awake. Then it hit him. He didn’t hurt. Ever since he’d been hurt, they’d always been a throbbing pain in his stomach area, no matter how mach painkillers they’d given him. But there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. He gingerly pulled back the covers, and looked at his chest. The dressing was still there. He reached to take the dressing off, wincing at the pain, when the tape came away. The skin was perfect. There was no dark mass where the skewer had penetrated his body. Not even a scar. The skin was perfect.

He quickly tore the rest of the dressing off, the pain that followed quickly going. He got up, and started packing the few belongings Forrest and Graham had bought down for him into the duffel in the cabinet beside his bed. He quickly changed into a pair of jeans, and t-shirt, and pulled the covers up to the top of the bed. A nurse came rushing over to him.

"Agent Finn, where are you going? You’ve got at least another seven days in here. You may not like that, but you’ve got quite a nasty little wound there."

"It’s better. Look," he pulled up his t-shirt, to reveal the healed wound. "It doesn’t hurt or anything." The nurse simply looked at him. "Get a doctor or someone, if you have to. I just want to get out of here, and I know I can now."

"Did it work? Willow? Tara? Can someone say something, I’m getting worried." Buffy stopped her pacing, as Willow looked up.

"I don’t know if it worked, but I felt something. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if he comes to find you anytime soon. Sorry, can’t do much better than that Buffy." Willow smiled at Buffy, hoping to reassure her that it would be okay.

"Coming!" Buffy cried, bleary eyed due to the fact that it was 4 am, ad she’d just been woken up by an urgent knock on their door. She opened the door to find her boyfriend there. Her bleary eyed ness quickly turned to tears, as she threw herself into towards his arms, before using her slayer reflexes to stop herself. "You’re better right? I won’t hurt you if I go careering into you?"

He shook his head, and started to laugh. "I guess you had a little something to do with that, huh?" He smiled, as she nodded, and he pulled her towards him.

As he held her, and breathed in her smell, he knew that no matter what had happened, or what was going to happen, everything would be all right, because he had Buffy. He didn’t need anything else.