Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for Kersey and a few other little add-ons. Buffy and Co. belong to Joss Whedon, the WB network, and Mutant Enemy.
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Part Three
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"Okay..burning question. Been meaning to ask this. I thought hospitals were open domain...why do you have to be invited in?" Xander asked.
"Public domain yes but also a place of healing and people do sleep and eat in a hospital. If it were completely open area my kind would just prey on the people here with broken legs and such. Unfortunately it's still rather easy to get into the hospital but most vampires choose the thrill of the chase and capture over the ease of the hospital which is still more difficult than simply grabbing a jogger in the park."
"However, I doubt they would offer up any qualms about taking out Buffy. She is the Slayer." Giles said gravely.
Xander turned away, "Okay, I get it..Buffy's in danger. What if she can't leave?"
"We'll cross that and the how do we get her out of her bridge when we come to it. Right now..we wait." Giles told the boy softly. His voice was calm but inside the Watcher was shaking. How could he have allowed this to happen to her? He'd known that she would go out. She never listened. It was like, "Hey, Giles said that..I guess we can ignore it." But it was more than that..true enough, the Slayer was a stubborn sixteen year old girl who wasn't exactly fond of being told what to do but she was also a very duty-bound young woman. Ever since Buffy had reluctantly reaccepted her birthright, the literal weight of the world had crashed down onto her shoulders and she'd carried it. She believed that it was her responsibility to safe-guard Sunnydale and he somewhat suspected that she took each murder in the little town personally. Like she should have been able to stop it. And of course that was where her youth and innocence came in. She was too young and naive to grasp the concept that no matter how strong she was, she could never prevent all of the evil. She could never fully realize just how many lives she had touched with every save she had accomplished.
"Quarter for your thoughts?" Xander asked.
"Hm? Huh..um..isn't 'penny for your thoughts'?"
Xander shrugged, "Sure but you looked pretty involved so I figured it was worth more."
"Right..where's Willow?" Giles queried, not wanting to place his burden on Xander. The boy was already hurting enough because of Buffy's injury.
"She went down to the cafeteria," Xander replied. He gazed over at Angel who was talking very softly to the receptionist and said, "And I guess that he's acting like the loving boyfriend."
"Xander.."
"I know, below the belt. I get it." He nodded. Suddenly his face sombered up, "Truth is, he saved Buffy's life and that's enough to at least get my respect."
"I'm glad to hear you say that because I fear that now more than ever, we are truly going to have to work together. Buffy has never been in more mortal danger than she is now and unfortunately she's far from out of the woods."
"He's right," Angel said, walking up behind them. "I was uh, talking to the receptionist." He cleared his throat, "After you get past the tough exterior, she's really quite nice."
Xander and Giles excahnged looks. "Uh, what did you find out?"
"They just finished the surgery."
"Already?" Giles exclaimed in astonishment.
"Already?" Xander repeated, "Giles, we've been here all night..I know you were off in la la land and all but welcome back to our dimension where things still suck."
Giles favored the boy with an irritated glance and then said, "Well?"
"Internal bleeding but they say she'll be alright..after a week in the ICU and then maybe a week more after that." Angel replied.
"Damn," Giles cursed. "And her head injuries?"
"A concussion. She should stay off her feet," Angel said dryly.
"And how do you propose we keep this from her mother?" Xander asked softly.
"Right now her mother is the very least of our concerns. She's not safe here. It's inconceiveable that we could keep a twenty-four watch over her even if we tried..they wouldn't let us anyways." Giles said.
"How safe is it to move her at all?" Willow asked coming up from behind them with a full tray of food and drinks. She set it down on the tabel and then proceded to pass out the cups of coffee and soda. She frowned at Angel and offered him coffee. With a small smile he accepted.
"Probably not wise at all. Acutually Sheila..um..that's the receptionist' name, and I were conversing about that. She said that without proper continuous care Buffy could suffer from infections."
"Couldn't Shawn watch over her?"
"He's a med-student and somehow I don't get the impression that he's too hot on the idea." Angel replied.
"He's my cousin and I could convince him. Look,maybe I went blind but I don't see that we're exactly flowing with ideas here!"
"Xander," Willow said softly, placing a hand on his arm. "Let's find out if first we can have someone go into see her."
Xander cleared his throat,"That should be pa and me."
"Pa?" Giles queried.
"Well you were out of it so Willow and I filled out the paperwork..pa."
Giles shook his head, "Not hearing this. So you're both my children?"
"No...um, Xander is your oldest..at um..23 and Buffy is your youngest and I'm..Xanders' husband..um wife." Willow said blushing. Xander gave her a strange indecipherable look.
Giles sat down, "I'm going to get arrested, sent to jail..."
If not for the seriousness of the situation, the others would have laughed.
"Mr. Giles?" An authortive voice said from his side. Giles looked up and saw a tall dark haired woman in a white coat. Presumably a doctor.
"Um..yes, that's me..what can you tell me about my daughter?"
"She made it through surgery and we've taken her into recovery." The woman took a deep breath. "Your daughter suffered some very serious injuries. She's got some internal bleeding..we stopped that. She also suffered a pretty serious concussion and a couple of broken ribs. There was something I wanted to ask you about."
"Oh?" Giles replied, less than enthusiastically. "Pray tell what is that?"
"Buffy seems to have two bumps on her head..like she suffered one earlier. Can you tell me how she got that?"
"She walked into a drainage pipe," Xander said suddenly. Giles blinked and then turned with the others to gaze at the boy. "Um, I mean..she was with me..and I guess she didn't see it."
The doctos gave him a strange expression but then decided that his story was just too weird to not be true. "Oh...kay."
"Um, when can we take her home?"Angel asked.
"Who are you?"
"I'm her boyfriend."
"Oh..um, well not for..I'd have to estimate maybe a week and a half to two and that's being optimistic. Look, Mr. Giles..your daughter is not in good shape. At all. I would be suprised if she regains any amount of long-term lucidity over the next few days. That was quite a vicious hit she took to the head..may I ask what happened?"
"She was attacked in the park on the way home from a date." Willow said.
The doctor looked at Angel, "A date with you."
"Right. With me."
"Should have walked her home. Weird, that kinda stuff only happens in Sunnydale."
"Sunnydale, right..glad we don't live there, right pa?" Xander said dryly. Giles shot him an annoyed look.
"Um, yes, son. Um..doctor..when would it be possible for me to see my daughter. I'm really quite worried."
"I know..well she's sleeping now...but I really don't see a problem with you going in. I'm going to have insist however that you do so only one at a time. If she does wake up, you need to keep in mind that she's still quite fragile and any amount of physical exertion could reinjure her and break open the stitching."
"Stitching?" Xander asked, puzzled.
Willow smacked his harm, "Yes, honey..the stitching..to stop the internal bleeding."
"Oh, right."
"Well then, I'll be on my way to see her then," Giles said softly. He nodded to the others and took his leave. The doctor walked away from the group and leaned over to the receptionist who was still staring entranced at Angel.
"What a strange family," the doctor said.
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