Faith's POV
She has to be okay, she just has to be. Joyce is a good person, she doesn't deserve to suffer. She has nothing to suffer for. She only ever does good things. She's the best person I've ever known and she treats me like one of her own. You couldn't find a better person than her. So why is this happening to her? Why does she have to go through this?
I look down at B's hand in my own, holding on tight, before turning my gaze to her sister whose arms are wrapped around B's stomach.
Why do THEY have to go through this? I can deal. I've had this happen before, but them? Joyce raised them, nurtured them, she helped them become the incredible people they are today. This has got to be 100 times worse than it was for me.
A doctor comes walking down the hall in front of us and B's hand seriously tense up, as does the rest of her. I hear Dawn take in a deep breath and hold it. The doctor passes us by and neither of them relaxes. I squeeze B's hand back before pulling it to my lips and kissing her knuckles gently. She looks in my eyes, pain and misery written all over her face.
God if only I could take it away from her.
"It's all gonna be okay. The doctors said your mom was gonna be fine, she's not gonna die."
That breath Dawn was holding in is let out in the form of a question.
"But why?"
I can't help but feel my heart break for her as she sits up on the couch we're sitting on.
"Why would this happen? Why would this happen to..."
"Mom?"
Dawn starts crying again and Buffy puts an arm around her, hugging her tight but never letting go of my hand.
It happens again, our connection goes into overdrive, intense as it is. Somewhere beneath all the sadness, beneath all the constant fear that this event will lead to more bad things to come, I have hope. Hope that we can make it through this and whatever else comes our way.
"Faith is right Dawnie. Mom's gonna be fine, and as soon as the doctors let her go we'll take her home and we can get things back to normal."
Dawn lets out a deep sigh as the tears start to fade.
"I just... hate hospitals."
I reach across B and tuck a few strands of hair behind Dawn's ear before wiping a tear from her cheek with my thumb.
"Gotta agree with ya there kid."
She just barely smiles at me.
"First you, then Buffy and now Mom... who's gonna be next?"
"No one, not if your sister and I have anything to say about it. Ain't that right B?"
Buffy turns to me, forcing a smile.
"That's right..."
She goes back to consoling Dawn.
"No one else is going to be in the hospital because we're not gonna let it happen. We're gonna save the world and you and no one is gonna get hurt."
And her?
"And me?"
"What?"
You took the words right out of my mouth kid.
"You said you were going to save the world AND me. What do I have to do with saving the world?"
Buffy just kinda freezes for a second.
"I meant to say you too. We're gonna save the world and you too cause you're part of the world."
Dawn just kinda looks at her funny. It's a similar look to the one she gives me when I get mom-ish with her.
"Dawnie you haven't eaten anything all day..."
I dig into my pocket and pull out a 5 dollar bill. I hand it to her.
"Go get something food related from the vending machine why don't you?"
That weird look she gave B shifts to my direction before she gets up.
"What about Mom?"
"We'll come find you if the doctor has any news okay? We promise not to let the doctor say anything until you're around."
"Okay..."
She takes another few seconds to stare at us, the pain of the situation written all over her face. She turns to head to the vending machine and walks off. Buffy turns to me and squeezes my hand.
"I nearly gave it all away didn't I? If I had said any more we might have had to tell her everything."
"It's all right B."
"It can't be all right Faith. It would kill her if she found out the truth on top of everything else. It would just..."
I hold her head to look in her eyes.
"B, listen to me..."
She stares into my eyes and I can see a deep well of sadness and fear in them.
"Things are crazy right now, anything you say she's just gonna take as you being nuts on account of what's happening with M... with your mom. Don't beat yourself up."
She takes a deep breath.
"I just, I don't want to cause anyone any more pain..."
She closes her eyes to hold back her tears.
"Especially you."
I take her in my arms and hold her tight.
"It's all right B, it's all gonna be all right."
I can feel the way she relaxes in my arms, takes comfort in them and it makes me feel better to know she'll open up to me. It makes what is happening now feel less out of control knowing that we have each other to turn to when things get bad.
Not that I want things to get bad, but they always seem to whether I want it or not. We have each other to depend on now for support. And we have Dawn, a reason to support each other and make it through it all.
"How is she?"
I pull away from our embrace to see Xander, Giles and Anya coming up to us. Buffy wipes the nearly fallen tears from her eyes before facing them.
"They won't tell us much, just that she's not in any danger of anything serious as far as they can see."
"That's good..."
B's head drops and I put my arm around her.
"Well I'm sure whatever it may be the doctors shall do all they can."
"Yeah Buffy, and these are Sunnydale doctors. They see some weird stuff, I'm sure whatever it is they'll figure it out and fix it like a walk in the park."
We all smile at the completely stupid comment he just made.
I kinda hope he's right though.
B looks at her friends.
"Where's Willow?"
"We... we don't know Buff. We tried calling her after we found you but she didn't pick up, and there was someone else on the other end. So we went over to her dorm and her things were gone. The registrars' office said she was officially unenrolled 3 days ago."
"And her parents?"
"They said she came by about a week ago, borrowed some money and then in no uncertain terms said goodbye."
"She's gone?"
"The way they said she put it she told them she couldn't stay in this town anymore... with these people."
"She said that?"
"Her parents said those were her exact words, that she wanted them to say it just like that."
Buffy puts her head in her hands, so close to crying.
"Where did Dawn go off to?"
"She went to get something to eat. She's been gone for a few minutes. Would one of you...?"
"We'll go and find her Buff."
She lifts her head and smiles weakly at them.
"Thanks... guys..."
"No problem..."
They smile back at her before heading off in the direction of the nearest vending machine. Giles comes and sits down next to us.
"And how is Dawn?"
Buffy doesn't answer so I step in.
"She's doing all right, dealing at the very least. She's been through a little too much lately but I think she'll be okay."
Giles takes a deep breath.
"I'm sure she will, with the two of you looking after her."
B turns and throws her arms around me and buries her face in my shoulder.
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
Buffy just holds me a little tighter.
"Did you get in touch with The Council? Are they going to help us?"
"They've agreed to help, and to contact us should they learn anything of value."
"Hear that B? The Council's gonna help us protect Dawn. At least things can't get any worse right?"
She chuckles a bit and pulls back, a less pain filled smile on her face.
"I guess not..."
"Yes, quite..."
Giles puts his hand on B's shoulder.
"The Council has much at their disposal, far greater resources than I can hope to achieve even with my recent acquisition of the magic shop. I'm sure we'll hear from them soon."
"See? Everything is gonna work out B, just like I said it will."
We just sit there on the couch for a few moments in silence.
"I'll go see if the doctors have any news..."
"Thanks..."
B and I are left alone on the hospital couch.