SUMMARY: AU fic. Elizabeth "Buffy" Angel is the young wife of Liam, a womanizer--and an abusive alcoholic. A chance encounter at the emergency room brings her back to her past, and the love she thought she had lost from her past.
AN: Buffy the Vampire Slayer is owned by Joss Whedon, not me. Therefore, I do not claim ownership to anything that is recognized as his work. Quick rule of thumb: if you recognize it; I don't own it. Certain aspects (such as a couple of OC's) I do claim credit for. Also "Just For" is a song of Nickelback's; the lyrics of which will be used later on in the story.
"Just For"
Chapter One
i Thursday, 7:36 P.M.
Summers/Angel home /i
Dawn used her key to unlock the door.
"Buffy? I'm home!" she called up the stairs. After a long day at work, all she'd wanted to do was kick back and relax with a tub full of bubbles. Her replacement for the evening was two hours late, her white lab coat for the pharmacy was covered in three different shades of purply cough syrup, which was quickly staining her favorite shirt, and to top it off (literally), a bottle of Amoxicillin fell from the top shelf, hitting her in the head.
Her sister, nor her sister's husband, Liam, were to be seen.
"Auntie Dawnie?" a tiny voice called from the top of the basement stairs. Dawn's three year old niece Celia stood there, still in her Dora the Explorer nightgown. A tiny smear of blood was on her cheek.
"Are you okay, sweetie?" Dawn asked, kneeling down to her level. She swiped at the smear with her lab coat. The smear came off easily; she wasn't hurt.
"Momma's dere," Celia continued, pointing down the stairs. "Momma was suppos'd ta bwaid Cewia's hair today, but Daddy had to talk to her. Daddy was mean again!"
"Oh my God..." Dawn trailed. She nodded Celia towards the living room and slowly took the stairs down. At the bottom, she pulled the cord on the bare light bulb. The dim amber light filled the dark room, filling Dawn with dread as it covered the broken figure of her big sister.
Buffy was not okay.
i 8:16 P.M.
Sunnydale Memorial Hospital
"Dr. Giles to ER please. Dr. Giles to ER." /i
Dr. Giles stopped; his coffee cup in mid-sip. He sighed and reached into his lab coat for his glasses and got up, jolting for the Emergency Room. A young woman, probably twenty-five, no older, was being pushed in on a gurney, with a younger dark-haired woman in tow. The young woman was carrying a young girl, no bigger than a toddler.
"Dr. Giles, she's got a fractured wrist, possibly a broken collarbone," the female EMT said, handing over a clipboard. Dr. Giles signed it and handed it back over. A female nurse took control of the gurney.
"Room 1059 Doctor," the nurse said, continuing on her way.
"Ms. Summers?" the young nurse called.
The young woman stood up, still cradling the toddler.
"I'm Nurse Veronica. Mrs. Angel is going to be fine. She's got a fractured wrist and she looks a little worse for the wear, but given a night or two in here, she'll be fine."
"Thank God," Dawn said.
"The doctor will tell you more soon," Nurse Veronica said, turning back to the Nurse's Station.
Before Dawn could sit back down, the doctor came over.
"Ms. Summers?"
Dawn nodded.
The young blond doctor squinted his eyes. "Dawnie Summers? Buffy Summers' little sister? I haven't seen you in ages!" he said.
"Doctor... Giles? Sheesh, is it you, Spike? Oh my God, what did Buffy say when she saw you?" Dawn asked.
"She hasn't seen me yet. Good God, Dawnie. What happened to her?"
Dawn sighed, heasitant to tell him the truth. "Her husband. He gets drunk a lot and--"
"Dawnie! Where the Hell is he?" Xander called, running into the waiting room.
"Xander... I don't... I don't know," she said, truthfully.
He fumed. "When I get my hands on him, he's gonna regret it," he claimed, tightening his fists into tight balls. Dawn knew he would; the past six years or so working drywall had left him fairly strong: muscles were no longer an issue. His girlfriend, Anya, was crazy about them.
Dawn sighed. "Xander, do you remember Spike? Spike Giles? He's Buffy's doctor."
Xander calmed down a little.
"Your dad was the school librarian; right?" he asked. He sat down and took Celia from Dawn. "Willow and her roommate are gonna come pick her up."
Dawn nodded; slightly unable to accept the information that was coming to her. She had just sat down when Nurse Veronica flew back into the waiting room.
"Mrs. Angel has awakened!"