Her body feels so incredible against mine that every part of me is burning. It's not a bad feeling, or a good feeling, it's just a feeling. From head to toe, my whole body feels like my foot does when I sit on it, tingling all over.
Except I haven't been sitting on it, I've just been lying here. Lying with the woman I love beside me, and I don't ever... EVER want to leave this place. She just feels so good right now and I don't wanna lose that.
She shifts slightly under me before I hear her voice.
"You're being kinda quiet there DK, you all right?"
Lifting my head up, I look into her eyes and get a little overwhelmed by the simple look of concern in them.
I can't believe I almost never got to see that look again.
"Dawn?"
"Oh, uh, yeah... I'm fine. I'm just... happy. That's all. I'm happy you're awake and gonna be okay."
Faith smiles at me gently.
"No one's more happy about that then me babe. But if there's something else going on, you know you can tell me."
Other than the fact that there used to be a demon out there that was searching for The Key? Which just so happens to be me?
"Nothing's going on. Really Faith, I'm just happy, that's it."
"Okay, cause I was getting this strange feeling."
I pull myself up almost to a full sitting position next to Faith.
"Well I don't know where that feeling came from because everything's fine."
The concern on her face suddenly turns to one of confusion.
"Whoa, okay, sorry... I wasn't looking to fight about it or anything. I was just wondering. Being out of commission for eight weeks will make a girl kinda curious. I'm sorry I asked."
Geez, what the heck is wrong with me?
"No, I'm sorry I... I guess I'm just a little emotional because of everything that's been happening."
There's a moment where I close my eyes and take a shaky deep breath.
"You just... those eight weeks you were in a coma. Kinda felt a lot like eight months to me."
My girlfriend reaches out and touches my face, caressing my cheek, only a little bit of a smile appearing on her own.
"Trust me, I know what eight months in a coma feels like, and this isn't it."
That gives me a reason to try for a smile, not that I succeed so much. It isn't long before the overwhelming feeling of happiness of having Faith back goes into overdrive again, making me wanna cry again. Every instinct in me forces me to fall into her arms, wrapping my arms around her and hugging her tightly.
"I'm so glad you're all right."
She holds me just as tightly while I try and hold back the tears in me.
"Me too DK, me too..."
After a few short moments, there's a knock at the door before a pair of nurses walk in. We pull apart to look at them.
"Sorry to interrupt, but that bed is not designed to support two people. And we have to check Ms Lehane's vitals now."
Check her vitals?
"I thought she was fine."
One of the nurses smiles at me.
"She is, but we still need to monitor her recovery to ensure everything is back to normal. It's simply standard procedure."
Oh...
"Well, okay..."
I get down off the bed and straighten myself out.
"Will you...?"
Faith doesn't even let me finish.
"I'll get them to come find you when it's all over."
Her words put a smile on my face that's a little less faked then before.
"Thanks..."
"Anything for my girl..."
There's a moment where we just look into each other's eyes and I know exactly how much she loves me.
I can only hope that she knows I feel the same way times ten.
"I'll see ya soon."
Oh, right...
"Okay..."
Then I turn and head out of Faith's hospital room, this time knowing that when I come back she'll still be awake.
I'm so glad that she's awake. It's all going to be all right now that she's awake.
Walking back into the hallway, I see Buffy and Willow stand up to meet me, both with concerned looks on their faces.
Whether they like it or not...
Naturally, Buffy is the first to speak up.
"Hey Dawn, how's Faith doing?"
Well, at least she's trying to act like she cares right now.
"She's fine. The doctors are giving her a check up right now. Otherwise I'd still be in there with her."
"That's good, I'm glad."
Willow decides to chime in at this point.
"Yeah me too, I was kinda worried about her for a while."
Is that so?
"So that's why you decided to visit her all of never until now."
My sister tries to scold me.
"Dawn!"
I saw that coming.
"What? I'm right aren't I?"
The look on Willow's face tells me she's not about to argue the point.
"I'm sorry Dawn, I didn't mean to not visit. I've just been a little busy lately, that's all. What with the demon out there and organizing the slayers against it. I would've been here sooner..."
"But you've been too busy to care. I get it."
My sister's best friend doesn't respond right away.
"Dawn, I came because you're my friend, and so is Faith. I care about both of you."
Of course she does.
"Just not enough to return any of my phone calls for the last six months."
I've called her at least a hundred times over the past couple of months, looking for her advice on being with Faith, and how to handle certain situations, and I ended up getting it from her voicemail. Now she just expects me to pretend like everything's all right with us? It's not, and I'm not gonna act like it.
Buffy isn't about to let me be honest though.
"What's gotten into you Dawn? It's not like you don't know how busy Willow is. You've been to Cleveland more than a few times, that place can be like a zoo sometimes. Why are you jumping all over Willow like that?"
Before I can respond, Willow interjects.
"Hey, you know what? It's all right Buff. I've seen the signs enough times to know when I'm not wanted. I wasn't really looking for a flashback to my high school years, but it's fine. I'll go."
She tilts her head backwards to show she's leaving before she starts heading that way.
"No, Will, wait..."
"Don't worry, I'll call ya later, give you an update on how the clean up effort is going."
Then Willow turns and heads down the hall.
It's not like I'm gonna stop her.
"What the heck was that?"
Apparently I'm the only one.
I turn to Buffy at her words.
"What? It's not like she really NEEDS to be here. Is it?"
My slayer sister gets a confused look on her face.
"She was concerned about Faith, and you."
Yeah, right...
"So she says. I'm not so sure I believe her."
"Why not... and when did you start calling her for advice? I didn't hear about this."
"Well, there are a lot of things I don't tell you about, Buffy."
Her confused look doesn't exactly go away.
"Okay, but... we still need Willow."
For what?
"Why?"
"We need a plan."
"What kind of plan?"
"For the demon that's coming after us..."
"There's no demon coming after anyone Buffy. You killed that one. You and the other slayers, remember?"
"Dawn, that... that demon called you The Key."
"Yeah, and it's dead now. The problem is solved."
Buffy takes a deep breath.
"Things are never that simple Dawn and you know it. Giles said that sometimes the Faraquad demons are known to work for other demons and things. What if this demon was working for something else... something worse?"
"And what if it wasn't? Maybe it was after me for itself for some reason. Now it's dead and there's nothing left to worry about. You're being paranoid Buffy."
"What if I'm not? What if I'm right? We're gonna need some kind of plan, and Willow's gonna need to be in on that plan."
God, why does she always have to be so nuts?
"I have a plan Buffy."
The confused look on her face turns to one that's a little angry.
"What plan? When did you come up with this?"
Crossing my arms over my chest, I stare Buffy down.
"Faith's going to protect me. Now that she's awake, I'm going to help her recover completely and then she'll protect me. So IF anything does come, we'll be ready."
"Dawn, that's not a plan, that's..."
"Just... stop trying to protect me Buffy. I don't need you to watch over my shoulder anymore. I have Faith for that."
Instead of letting her respond to that, I turn back to where Faith's room is and head down the hall. All I hear is Buffy's voice calling out while I go.
"Dawn..."
That doesn't stop me as I just keep on going.
I hope they're done with Faith's tests. I need to see her.