You Know The Drill
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Part Thirteen
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Giles had gone to speak with the others after he had noticed Angel hovering over his Slayer’s bed. He knew that he would need a moment to compose himself before the others came in. He remembered, too, that he would have to call her mother. It was already almost 2:00 in the morning. She had to be worried....very worried.
“Giles, thank God, is she awake? Is she okay?” They were all asking him a hundred questions at the same time. Finally when he calmed them down, he explained everything to them and told them that, if by chance, she should wake up, they weren’t to mention why she was really there, and told them why they shouldn’t. The first to go in were Oz, Willow, and Faith. Willow didn’t know what to expect, so when she saw her friend lying there, she was surprised to see that she couldn’t really tell that anything bad had happened, other than the fact that she was lying in a hospital bed. They talked to Angel for a few minutes, but no one really knew what to say.
Outside the room, just down the hall, Xander could see Giles talking on the phone with someone. Probably Buffy’s mother. She was supposed to have been home at eleven, but never made it there.
“Yes...yes Ms. Summers. Yes. Your daughter is going to be okay, but I..I believe, it would be in your best interest to get down here as quickly as possible. I....” Giles was saying.
“Mr. Giles. Will you just tell me what’s wrong with my daughter. I need to....” Joyce was interrupted by Giles.
“Ms. Summers!” Giles yelled. “Just come down here. She’s in room 333. Now hurry...” then he hung up on her.
Xander watched as Giles hung up the phone and frustratingly ran his hands through his hair. By the time he got back to where Xander and Cordelia were standing, the other three had come out of the room.
“Xander, you guys can go in now.” Willow said. Before they did, Willow gave Xander a look that said watch it. She knew that most of the time his brain wasn’t connected to his mouth, therefore allowing himself to say things that provoked Angel and made him mad.
“How’s she doing?” Cordy asked. “It doesn’t look nearly as bad as it sounded....” She was trying to be subtle, but it was coming out all wrong.
“Cordy...” Xander started.
“No. Xander, it’s okay.” Angel said. He never looked at either of them, but spoke anyway. “She’s the same. No worse...no better. The doctor said it’d be a while before she’ll wake up. Do you guys know if Giles called her mother, she doesn’t know about this, I.....” he was starting to get upset and his sentences were starting to run together, making little sense.
“Angel man. Calm down...it’s okay. Giles was just on the phone with her. I’m assuming she’s on her way as we speak.” Xander told him. Angel just nodded. Xander could tell that they should probably leave him alone. He nudged Cordy and nodded toward the door. As quietly as they could, they went back into the hallway with the others. Everyone was just kind of standing around. A couple of minutes later, Joyce showed up. They all saw the grief stricken look on her face.
“Can I go in? Is she okay?” Joyce asked. Before anyone could answer, she barged into the room. They had forgotten that she didn’t know about Angel. So when it came to Giles, he ran in after her. He knew he’d have to explain, but first stop Buffy’s mother from attacking Angel.
“Omigod! You!! What are you doing here. Get away from my daughter.” She yelled. Angel hadn’t expected her to come running in there, so he stood up and back away. He walked over to where Giles was standing, hoping that he’d do the explaining.
“Ms. Summers. It’s quite alright. A long story, yes. But it’s alright. Angel isn’t going to hurt anyone. He...he’s the one who brought Buffy here and called all of us.” Giles told her.
“You! What have you done? What did you do to my daughter?” She asked. By then, Angel had stepped completely behind Giles. He didn’t know what Joyce was going to do.
“Please. Ms. Summers. You must be quiet, or we’re all going to get in trouble.” Giles said, trying to calm her down. “Now. If you would like to know what happened, I’ll let Angel tell you the first part.” He started with when he heard the noise and told her everything that happened up until the point where the doctor came into the waiting room. When he stopped, he looked at Giles, hoping he would finish up the story, and he did. He told her everything about the prophecy, to begin with, then explained everything the doctor had told them. When he finished, all Joyce did was sit down next to the bed and grab her daughters hand.
“Ms. Summers...I......I’m sorry. I...” Angel started.
“It’s okay. I’m not clear on where you came from. But my daughter...I know she loves you. I just don’t understand why all of this happened?” Joyce said.
“Apparently, according to my books. The prophecy said that, they were to wait until the second night, after the birth of the child, and they were going to take the baby as a sacrifice to this demon, but without the child the demon would die.” Giles explained.
“But why did it have to be Buffy? Why her?” Joyce questioned. Then it came to her. “Angel. If you are a vampire, I remember Buffy saying something about vampires not being able to have children. What’s going on? I mean, you must really care about her if you’re still here, if...”
“Ah, Ms. Summers. That’s the catch. See, because Angel has a soul, ummm. See, the prophecy read, ‘and the spawn of hell will be born...’ That means, it would have had the strengths of the Slayer and the vampire, only, none of the vampires weaknesses. The child would have been a creation that no other vampire could stand against. Their race was sure to be doomed to extinction. But, the one that Buffy was attacked by tonight, evidently wasn’t aware of the situation. Had Angel not killed him, his elders would have. You see?” Giles explained. She only nodded.
“Ms. Summers. Buffy...well, we were told by the doctors that, well, she doesn’t know what’s going on. I mean, she was unconscious when I brought her in here and when the doctors woke her up, well, they didn’t tell her what was happening because they were afraid she wouldn’t cooperate. She wouldn’t have.” Angel said.
“I just don’t...this is all so hard to believe. Would you mind if I had a minute alone with my daughter?” Joyce asked.
Both Giles and Angel nodded then left the room. Everyone else had gotten tired of standing and had finally sat down on the floor in the hallway. When the two came out of the room, they all stood up.
“There’s no change. She’s still sleeping. It would probably be best if you all went home and got some sleep yourselves.” Giles told them. “Angel, I....” When he turned to speak to him, he was gone. He looked down the hallway and saw Angel going into the private waiting room. Giles started to go down there, but was stopped by someone grabbing his arm.
“Giles...I’ll go talk to him. I think he might need someone of the....of the female gender to talk to right now.” Willow said. Giles nodded then turned back to the others.
“I think I’m going to stay here tonight, but if any of you need a ride home...Faith?” Giles asked.
“That’s okay Giles, I’ll get them home...” Cordy offered. They all said their goodnights and asked Giles to call if there was any change. Oz and Giles were the only two left in the hall.
Willow finally found Angel sitting in the waiting room floor with his knees pulled to his chest and his head in his hands. She didn’t think he was crying, but could tell that everything must have finally gotten to him.
“Angel?” She spoke. “She’s going to be okay. I just know it. I have to believe that.”
“It’s all my fault Will.” Angel whispered. “Because of me......I put her in this situation in the first place. I didn’t see the guy...I swear. God...I just...I couldn’t save her and now she’s down there, completely unconscious and doesn’t have a clue as to what’s going on. Hell, the doctor told us that she didn’t even know....I didn’t know about the....”
“It’s not your fault Angel. It’s nobodies fault...not yours, not hers. You said you didn’t see the guy...if you didn’t see him, you couldn’t stop him. That’s not even the point. If you hadn’t brought her here, then who knows what might have happened.” Willow told him. “You’ve got to be strong right now. You can’t blame yourself. If you do, you’re going to fall apart. As much as you probably want to just let go right now...when Buffy wakes up, if you’re not there to tell hew what happened...it has to be you. If it was me in there, I would rather have my boyfriend in there telling me instead of some stuffy doctor, or even my mother.” He only nodded.
“Is everyone mad at me?” Angel asked curiously.
“Why would they be mad at you? It’s none of their business what happens in your relationship. They’re just worried.” Willow said as she looked out into the hall. She noticed that only Giles and Oz were in the hall now. “Everyone must have gone home to get some sleep or something. I don’t see anybody but Giles and Oz. Come on...let’s go back down there...”
Angel got up and caught Willow before she walked out the door.
“Thank you” was all he said. Then he hugged her. When they got down to the room, Joyce came out.
“She’s still sleeping...Angel. Thank you...you did what you could. I appreciate that. But when my daughter gets through this and I get her home......were all going to sit down and have a talk! An important one!” Joyce said.
“Yes ma’am....” Angel whispered. Sometimes Buffy’s mother could be very authoritative. He was surprised at just how whooped he sounded. Everyone was.
“Oz, I’m going to stay here with Giles and Angel. If you want, you can go home and get some sleep. You look tired.” Willow told him.
“Are you sure? I mean, I can stay if you want...” Oz said.
“I’ll be fine. Besides...Angel may need my help when Buffy wakes up. He told me that the doctor said she didn’t know anything. About anything. Can you believe that?” Willow said.
They stood there talking for a moment then he kissed her on the cheek and left. Giles, Willow, Joyce and Angel were standing just outside the room, the door cracked just in case, so they could hear her if Buffy woke up. They were all standing there talking, trying to pass the time when all of the sudden, Angel thought he heard something. It was really quiet, which made him realize that his heightened vampire senses allowed him to hear what the others couldn’t.
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