I don't own anything. I'm not sure where this story is going, but here's the first part.
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The phone rang, jolting Buffy out of the sleep she had finally managed to fall into. She groggily sat up, looking at the clock. It was only 11:30, but still late for a phone call. She reached for the phone, clearing her throat. "Yeah?"
"Buffy!" Willow's tone scared Buffy, "Buffy, oh God, Xander's in the hospital!" "What happened?" Buffy cried, getting up from bed and looking for clothes. "His dad...he beat Xander real bad. You gotta come down here," Willow was crying, barely being able to say the words. Buffy practically dropped the cordless upon hearing that it was by his father's hand he had landed in the hospital. "OK, Will, don't worry. I'll be there in a sec. Bye," she hung up the phone and ran down to the kitchen to write a note for her mom. She tore out of the house, running to the hospital.
When she got there, she found Willow and Giles sitting in the lounge. Willow jumped up when she saw Buffy and ran over to her, encasing her friend in a hug. "How is he, Will?" Buffy asked. Willow pulled away, looking at Buffy with red eyes. "Really bad, Buff. He's unconscious and in critical care," the redhead told the Slayer. "Ohmigod, what exactly happened?" she asked, horrified. Willow led Buffy over to where Cordy was seated.
"I dunno. he was at my house, studying for finals. It was around 10 when he headed home. Around 11:15, I get a call from him, saying he was hurt really badly and needed me to come over. I rushed over to find him alone in the house, bleeding-" she choked back a sob, "He looked horrible. I called 911 and rode with him here. Buffy, I'm so scared. Xander's family has it's problems, but I had no idea it was this bad." "I did," Cordy said softly. "What?" both girls asked.
"I knew about the abuse. We were at my house and he took off his sweater cause he said he was hot. He was wearing a short sleeve shirt, and I could see he had cigar burns on his arms. Just a few. I asked him what they were and he told me they were nothing. I kept on asking, and then he started crying, saying it was his dad. I didn't know what to do. He swore me to silence, saying his dad was just really drunk, but..." she choked back a sob, "I'm so sorry, I should have done something." Buffy took her hand and tried to soothe her.
"I remember," Willow started, "when we were seven, we were at Xander's house. I was sleeping over and it was pretty late at night. I woke up to the sounds of yelling. I looked out his bedroom door and saw Mr. Harris yelling at Xander. He went to hit him when Mrs. Harris tried to stop him. His dad ended up hitting his mom before he could get to Xander. His dad left Mrs. Harris there and Xander went over to his mom, trying to help her up. Mrs. Harris told Xander to go to his room and check on me and to lock the door and not come out till the next day. I ran back to my sleeping bag before Xander could come back. I just wanted to forget that night..."
"This has been going on for over 10 years?" Buffy asked, mortified. "I don't know," Willow admitted, "he never talks about it and I've never seen any bruises or anything...His mom is away on business alot, I haven't seen her in years. his dad, though, I never liked his dad. He wasn't mean to me or anything, but he was never very hospitable. Xander never ever talks about this dad, all I know is that he hates him." Willow sighed and sat sat back in her seat, closing her eyes. "I didn't know it was this bad."
"Wow," was all Buffy could say. She didn't know her best friend's home life was like that. She cringed at the thought of her father ever hitting her. A doctor approached the trio. "Miss Rosenburg?" she asked, looking at Willow. Willow sat up. "Are Xander's parents here? Do you know what happened?" "Um, his mom is out of town, and I have no idea where his dad is or even how to contact him. Um, how it happened? I'm not sure," she lied, "Is he going to be alright?"
"Yes, he'll be alright physically, but maybe not mentally. He has taken quite a beating. Would you like to see him?" The three nodded and the doctor lead them to Xander's room. They walked in to see a broken Xander. His head was bandaged up and had a gash across his cheek. His arms were cut up and needles were sticking out of him, hooking him up to big machines. His eyes were closed and appeared to be sleeping. The doctor left the three in the room to be alone with Xander.
"Hey guys," Xander murmered, hardly audible. The group was shocked that he knew it was them. Willow went over to his bed. "Xander..." she couldn't say anything else. Buffy came up behind her. "Xand, who did this?" she asked softly, "Was it your..." "My father? Yeah is was that sonofabitch," anger lacing the words. "Xander, are you OK?" Cordy whispered, coming toward him. "I feel like the vamps do after Buff's through with em." he joked, "Or so I would think." For his sake, they managed to laughed a little. "Man, I never saw this coming. I didn't-" he stopped and clossed his eyes again.
"Didn't what?" Buffy prodded. "I didn't do anything, not tonight at least. I came home from Willow's house and was watching TV, talking to Cordy on the phone. My dad came home and I could smell the alcohol. So I got off with Cordy and turned off the TV, hoping to get to my room before he saw me. I walked into the kicthen and he was there. He picked up a letter from the table and waved it in my face. He said, 'Look what you did now, Alexander. You seem to be failing English.' I told him I was at Willow's studing English, but that made it worst. He laughed, 'Alexander, she can't help you. No one can, your hopeless.' He saw a picture of the Scooby Gang sitting on the counter and picked it up. He said, 'Who are these little whores? The blonde's cute, Alexander. Isn't the tall one your bitch? How'd you get them to hang around you?' I knew it was mostly the alcohol talking, but I couldn't take it. I slugged him. He dodged it and started hitting me. He actually slammed me into the counter, and I blacked out. When I came to, I hurt like hell but managed to call Will." When he finished his monologue, the three were seething with anger toward Mr. Harris.
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