Disclaimer: Angel belongs to Joss, 20th Century Fox & the other companies who help out. I don't own any of the characters. "Never let You Go" belongs to Third Eye Blind.
Feedback: yes please! (No flames please)
Summary: This is a lighter "Angel" fan-fic set at Chistmas time It is Cordy, Doyle, & Angel's 1st Christmas together. :)
Pt. 1
Cordy came bustling into the office, her arms laden with packages, the papers that Angel had been going over dropped from his hands and onto the desktop, as he stared at the figure rushing towards him.
"Um, Angel, could you like take these for me," she asked, peeking her head around the boxes. "Thanks," she said as she dumped the boxes into his arms.
"Uh, you're welcome," he answered uncertainly, still staring after her.
"Oh, Doyle," Cordelia said in a sing-song voice, and Doyle's head popped out from around the corner.
"Yeah, what's up darlin?" he asked, his interest piqued.
"Could you help me with something on I mean in the car?" Cordy asked sweetly. Doyle's face changed from one of interest to wariness.
"Yeah, I guess," he said reluctantly.
"Whoa, wait a minute, what did you buy that's on my car?" Angel asked heatedly.
"Relax Angel," Cordy said, rolling her eyes, "your car is fine."
She grinned and her hair bounced a little as she turned to Doyle with excited eyes, then grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the front door. A minute later Cordelia came through the door lugging an oversized Christmas tree, her arms hugging the upper half of the tree, while Doyle struggled with the lower half of the tree.
"This thing is heavy, " Doyle grunted, as beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
"Aw, come on Doyle, a little bit of exercise won't hurt you any," Angel grinned.
"Yeah, sure, just like a little bit of sun won't hurt you any, now will it," Doyle shot back.
*That sure wiped the grin off of Angel's face real quick,* Doyle was pleased to see.
"I'd better go see what damage you did to my car," he said gruffly, looking pointedly at Cordy.
Cordelia ignored him and shrugged her shoulders, then she and Doyle leaned the tree against the wall.
"Uh, you did buy a stand, didn't ya darlin?" Doyle asked.
"Of course silly, Cordy said. "Duh!"
Angel could still make out the sillouhette of his car even though twilight was settling over the city. He scowled as see took in the damage to his car. "I'm never letting her drive my car again!" Angel muttered, as he inspected the big gash on his trunk and the black paint that was scraped off with it. "Cordelia!" Angel growled, as he closed the front door. "What did you do, drop the tree on my car!"
"What's wrong?" she asked innocently. "I'm sure a little black nail polish can fix the paint."
Angel sighed and rolled his eyes, "And what about the gash on my trunk , how do you plan on fixing that!" he said sarcastically.
Cordelia shrugged, "It's just a little dent, I figured you could fix it?" she said. She looked at him with hopeful eyes.
He threw up his hands, "Why is it I can't stay mad at you," he said grinning slightly.
"Because I'm just too darn cute," she said with a saucy grin. She heard Doyle yelling for her again, and rushed back into Angel's office.
"Come on, let's get this thing downstairs," Doyle puffed.
"You could have left the tree against the wall like we had it," Cordelia said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, well, I wanted to be prepared for when you came back. I thought it was going to be less than 10 minutes," he said sarcastically.
Before she could retort back, a third voice entered into the conversation, "Come on, let me help you guys with that." Angel grabbed the upper half of the tree and he and Doyle started out of the room. "I hope there's room for this in the elevator," Angel muttered. Cordy and Doyle didn't see his smile though, as they all made there way to the elevator.
"Okay," Cordy said, "All these boxes have Christmas decorations for the tree in them," she explained as she gingerly sat the boxes on the floor.
"Hey man, I can see your face now," Doyle joked, as Cordy continued taking the boxes out of Angel's waiting arms. Angel growled in response.
"It wasn't that hard, all I had to do was peek my head over or around the boxes a couple of times, that's all. Nothing to it," he said sarcastically.
"Hey, well someone had to direct you around," Cordelia protested. Angel just rolled his eyes.
Cordelia unceremoniously plopped herself down on the floor and started opening the packages.
"Don't you guys want to help me set the tree up?" Cordelia looked up at them imploringly.
"Uh, Uh, no not me," Angel replied, "I think I've done enough for today." Cordy turned her head to look at Doyle.
"What about you?" Cordy asked Doyle. Cordelia could see the uncertainty in Doyle's eyes, as he looked from her to Angel and back again. "Come on Doyle, it'll be fun," Cordelia coaxed. Besides, I'll bet it's been awhile since you did this with friends or family." As soon as she said that, she could see thee old Irish smile light up his eyes. "Good, it's settled then," Cordelia said.
Angel shrugged and walked towards the elevator. Cordelia got up angrily, from her position on the floor. "What are you going to do Angel, go brood." Angel stopped short as Cordy continued her tirade, "Just wouldn't be the same without another broodfest, would it Angel," Cordelia said, a challenging note in her voice. Angel slowly turned towards her, his head down, and his voice low, but the anger building in it was unmistakable.
"Cordy, he growled, "Quit while your ahead."
"Angel," Cordy continued, her voice soft yet pleading, said quietly, "You need to let her go."
"No!" his head came up and his eyes flashed. I won't let her go, I'll never let her go! I can't let her go," he said brokenly. Angel stormed off towards the elevator.
Pt. 2
Cordy turned to face Doyle, "Let's get started," she said quietly.
Doyle was impressed with Cordy's use of color and design in decorating the tree. The tree lights she bought were all blue, but with the white snow flakes hanging from the tree and the soft, white tinsel nestled among the branches, the lights looked almost aqua. Finally Cordy stepped back, and took a deep breath, "There, it's done," she said. She was smiling broadly. Doyle found himself staring at the tree, he had never seen a tree look that good!
"Did you ever think about taking up designing Cordy? The tree looks great," Doyle commented.
Cordelia shrugged, "I don't know, I never thought about it really." She looked lost in thought as she continued to stare at the tree. She gasped and clapped a hand to her mouth, "Oh my gosh, I forgot the most important part!" She turned to Doyle, "I forgot the Angel!"
Doyle cocked his head to one side and gave her a funny look. "Well, I can call Angel if you need him," Doyle said.
"No, silly," Cordelia said, hitting him lightly on the arm, "not our Angel, a little Angel for the tree."
"Oh, oh yeah," he said knowingly. "It's been awhile since I've had anyone to celebrate Christmas with," he said quietly.
Cordy gave him a quick hug. "Come on, want to go with me to get an Angel for the tree?
Besides, Angel will probably have a cow if I go by myself, afraid I'll dent up his car again or something. I wonder where Angel is anyway, I hope he's okay. Doyle, do you think what I said to Angel was out of line?"
"Well, Darlin, Angel is taking it step-by-step, day by day, and he's trying to adjust. Just have patience and give him some time. However, I do feel he needs to get out more and get involved in more things than just his work. That will get his mind of off Buffy some."
"That's exactly how I feel Doyle!" Cordy said in an exasperated tone. "Though I suppose I was a little too forward," she said slowly. He's probably roaming the streets, thinking about Buffy or taking his anger out on some poor, unsuspecting vamp. Otherwise, he's upstairs thinking about her right now."
On her last statement, Doyle saw a flash of pain in her eyes. He almost did a double-take. *Was she?* He shook his head to clear it. Now, he was beginning to wonder
Cordy's voice brought him back to reality. "Anyway, I'll make it up to him," she said excitedly. "You can drive me to the mall, that way his car will be a-okay." She gave Doyle the thumbs-up signal, and beamed her 1000 watt smile at him.
They took the elevator up to the office and they didn't see Angel anywhere, so they figured he was out roaming the streets, thinking. Cordy hoped that's what he was doing anyway. She didn't want him out fighting vamps without them, it was too dangerous. "Think we should look for Angel before we go shopping?" Cordy asked Doyle.
"Angel can take care of himself, besides I'm sure he's fine," Doyle assured Cordy as they walked out the office door.
Angel decided a walk in the park might help him calm down a little. Cordy was right though, he needed to move on. The idea of letting Buffy go was very painful, and he just wasn't sure if he could do it.
Cordy and Doyle walked into the overly crowded mall in search of their "Angel." That's when Cordy saw it, the perfect little Angel to go atop their tree. It was dressed in a velvet, white gown, with a little halo on top it's head. The oversized wings were made from a satin-like material and were pure white. "It's beautiful," Cordelia breathed. Doyle nodded his agreement. Cordelia reached up on her tip-toes and pulled the doll off the top shelf. She hugged it to her chest as a child would a doll. She turned to Doyle, her smile reaching her eyes. "This is perfect, Angel will love this!" she said excitedly. A few minutes later, they were waiting in line, with 10 people in front of them, but she didn't care. After all, she had her Angel, and her favorite song, "Never Let You Go," by Third Eye Blind , was playing over the loud speakers.
It was quite chilly after they got out of the mall. Cordy realized she had forgotten to bring her jacket, but Doyle noticed her shivering, so he pulled off his jacket and put it around her shoulders.
"Better?" he asked.
"Yes, much better," she replied. Doyle could see her smile at him in the darkness.
"Doyle, I still need to get my family presents. Do you want to help me pick out gifts for them tomorrow? Do you think Angel might want to come and help too?" She asked hopefully.
After he braked at a stoplight, he turned to face her, "Sure, I'd like to, tonight's been fun. I'm not sure about Angel though, but we can try darlin," he said encouragingly to her. She turned around in her seat again and hugged the Angel tightly to her chest. *I can't wait for tomorrow!* she thought.
Doyle saw a pair of headlights coming towards them from around the bend. He fumed, "Stupid jerk has his brights on!" he muttered under his breath. Almost automatically he slowed down, but as the guy got closer, Doyle realized the guy was in the same lane they were, heading straight for them! "Doyle," Cordy said in a frightened voice, and she reached out to grab his sleeve. "I know darlin, I know!" he responded in a frantic tone of voice. Doyle and Cordy were alarmingly aware that the guy was to fast and close for Doyle to slow down and veer onto the shoulder. There was no way they could veer off to the right either, unless they wanted to fall off the cliff.
"Hang on darlin, we're gonna make a sharp turn!" Doyle veered sharply to the left, but due to the speed, the car slammed into the embankment and kept going! It veered off sharply to the right and flipped over, coming to a spinning halt in the middle of the road. Inside Cordy and Doyle were unconscious, with Cordy's arms still wrapped around her Angel.
Pt. 3
By the time Angel got back to the office it was pitch black outside, except for the moon shining brightly overhead. He opened the door and flipped on the light switch, expecting to find Cordelia and Doyle there. "Doyle, Cordy," he called, nothing but silence. He shook his head, *that's odd,* he thought. Angel went downstairs to see if they were decorating the tree, but no such luck. Just then the telephone rang. The voice that greeted him on the telephone was the last person he expected to hear from. Unfortunately, the call was unwelcome. As soon as the conversation ended, his breath came out in a rush and the phone dropped from his hands. He grabbed his leather jacket, rushed up the hidden spiral staircase, and dashed out the front door.
Within 5 minutes the cab screeched to a halt in front of the hospital. Angel thrust a $20 bill toward the cab driver and said gruffly, "Keep the change." Angel rushed through the emergency room sliding doors, stopping only when he came to the nurses station. "Look, my name is Angel , I came to see.."
The nurse cut him off, "Cordelia Chase and Doyle O'Brian." she finished.
"Yes," he said gratefully. He took a deep breath. "May I see them now?" he asked.
She smiled softly at him. She could see the distraught look in his eyes, and nodded.
"Straight down the hall on the right, rooms 203 and 204." In no time at all he spotted door #203, and he opened the door softly. He was surprised to see Doyle buttoning his shirt up.
"What are you doing?" Angel whispered sharply.
"I'm getting dressed," Doyle said simply. Angel opened his mouth to say something, but Doyle beat him to it. "The doctor said if I felt up to it, I could leave tonight."
Angel's jaw dropped, "You don't look up to it," he stated flatly.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence Angel," Doyle replied drolly.
"Well, your face is pale and bruised. Are you okay man? I've never seen you look like this." Angel rambled on.
"Whoa, Angel I'll be okay. I know I don't look so hot, but I'll heal. My ribs are bruised and I have a slight concussion, but the doctor said I'll be fine."
Angel's concerned face broke into a smile, "If you say so buddy." Angel's jaw muscle tightened. "How is Cordelia?"
Doyle's eyes clouded over for an instant. "She, she'll, she's spending the night." Doyle replied. He was unsure of what to say next.
"What's wrong, what happened to her?" he asked, his voice rough with emotion.
"She has a serious concussion and a broken arm. They want to keep her here for at least tonight, so they can monitor her concussion. If it improves enough, they'll release her tomorrow."
Before Angel could say anything, Doyle rushed on, they had to operate on her arm though, due to the severity of the break. Doyle couldn't help but grin slightly because even though Angel's face had concern written all over it, he was also turning a slight shade of green.
"Did the bone poke through the skin?" Angel asked weakly." Doyle shook his head.
"No, but it was broken in three places. In surgery they had to use strong surgical pins to hold the bones in place."
*So, the bones will heal that way* Angel thought. "Can the pins be taken out after her arm heals?" Angel asked slowly. Doyle shook his head no. "Well, won't she feel them in her arm?" Angel questioned.
Doyle sighed, "I don't know man. Haven't you ever broken any bones before?" Angel shook his head no. Doyle looked at him in surprise.
"I was careful as a kid, so sue me," Angel retorted.
"More like a wuss," Doyle shot back, and he gave Angel a sly grin. Angel just shrugged, but he couldn't help but smile. Then he headed to Cordy's room. He opened the door slowly and peeked his head inside. He was relieved to see Cordy's chest rise and fall. He realized that she was just sleeping, not unconscious. He breathed a sigh of relief. He sat down in the chair next to her bed, and gently took her hand in his. He caressed the top of her hand lightly with his thumb. With his other hand he gently brushed a lock of hair off her forehead. In her sleep she felt something soft, lightly brush her forehead, so she slowly opened her eyes.
"It's going to take a lot more than black nail polish to fix your car now," she chuckled
softly.
Angel shook his head, "It's not important, I can always have it fixed or replaced. I don't know of any people that I can have fixed or replaced do you," he asked rhetorically. She shook her head no, then winced. "Hey, you okay?" he asked worriedly.
"Yea, I'll be okay. My head just aches some."
"Yea, Doyle told me about your concussion, and that you'll be staying overnight, so the doctors can monitor you."
Her eyes widened in panic. "What, no, uh uh, I'm not staying overnight," and she struggled to sit up. When she didn't feel herself going anywhere she opened her eyes again, only to feel a slight pressure on her shoulders. She realized then how truly weak she was, when it didn't take much for Angel to hold her down. Meanwhile, Angel wanted to kick himself for telling her the seriousness of her condition.
"I don't like hospitals, she reaffirmed. When I was a kid we had to come to the hospital because Dad had sprained his ankle. Well, Mom told us to wait in the waiting room. She paused and took a deep breath and glanced over at Angel, who was watching her intently. With me being
hyperactive and my sister being the practical jokester, we decided to explore the hospital. Cordy glanced over at Angel again, only to see him futilely attempting to suppress a smile. It's not funny she protested. She tried hard not to, but a grin split her face anyway. Anyway, we made our way down to the hospital's morgue, and I asked my sister, Lisa what the little drawers were for. And she said "Oh they're to take naps in silly." Well, my sister was 5 and thought she knew it all, but I was only 2 , so I trusted her fully. She wanted me to get in the sliding drawer, but I was not about to take a nap. She persuaded me by saying it would only be a few minutes. Well, I climbed in and she shut the drawer. Then Lisa took off. She left me there for ½ hour. When my Mom found me, I was bawling my eyes out.
"Angel looked at her in disbelief , his mouth hanging open in shock. She ignored him, barely stifling a laugh, and continued on. Anyway, my sister got the scolding of her life. After Dad got out of the hospital she explained to me what really happened. Lisa told me after she left the hospital morgue she headed straight to the bathrooms, and accidentally forgot all about me. To this day I still don't quite believe her." She had barely finished when Angel just started cracking up, in fact Cordy had never seen him laugh this hard. She rarely even saw him smile. She wanted to say *I didn't think it was that funny,* but she refrained. She was speechless, plus it was endearing to see him like this: laughing so hard till he cried. He looked so young, so carefree, not bearing the pain and guilt of the past. This was truly a rarity. *Okay, I've done my deep thinking for the day, she thought. Now I'll just sit back and watch.*
Finally, Angel opened his eyes and wiped the tears off his face. "I couldn't help myself," he said, burying his face in his hands, "it was just so ridiculously funny." He looked up at her then, "What's wrong, why aren't you yelling at me?" He asked, his eyes wary. He noticed that she was calm and wore a slight smile on her lips.
"I enjoyed seeing you be a kid," she said simply.
"Oh, so did I," he said softly.
Feedback: yes please! (No flames please)
Summary: This is a lighter "Angel" fan-fic set at Chistmas time It is Cordy, Doyle, & Angel's 1st Christmas together. :)
Pt. 1
Cordy came bustling into the office, her arms laden with packages, the papers that Angel had been going over dropped from his hands and onto the desktop, as he stared at the figure rushing towards him.
"Um, Angel, could you like take these for me," she asked, peeking her head around the boxes. "Thanks," she said as she dumped the boxes into his arms.
"Uh, you're welcome," he answered uncertainly, still staring after her.
"Oh, Doyle," Cordelia said in a sing-song voice, and Doyle's head popped out from around the corner.
"Yeah, what's up darlin?" he asked, his interest piqued.
"Could you help me with something on I mean in the car?" Cordy asked sweetly. Doyle's face changed from one of interest to wariness.
"Yeah, I guess," he said reluctantly.
"Whoa, wait a minute, what did you buy that's on my car?" Angel asked heatedly.
"Relax Angel," Cordy said, rolling her eyes, "your car is fine."
She grinned and her hair bounced a little as she turned to Doyle with excited eyes, then grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the front door. A minute later Cordelia came through the door lugging an oversized Christmas tree, her arms hugging the upper half of the tree, while Doyle struggled with the lower half of the tree.
"This thing is heavy, " Doyle grunted, as beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
"Aw, come on Doyle, a little bit of exercise won't hurt you any," Angel grinned.
"Yeah, sure, just like a little bit of sun won't hurt you any, now will it," Doyle shot back.
*That sure wiped the grin off of Angel's face real quick,* Doyle was pleased to see.
"I'd better go see what damage you did to my car," he said gruffly, looking pointedly at Cordy.
Cordelia ignored him and shrugged her shoulders, then she and Doyle leaned the tree against the wall.
"Uh, you did buy a stand, didn't ya darlin?" Doyle asked.
"Of course silly, Cordy said. "Duh!"
Angel could still make out the sillouhette of his car even though twilight was settling over the city. He scowled as see took in the damage to his car. "I'm never letting her drive my car again!" Angel muttered, as he inspected the big gash on his trunk and the black paint that was scraped off with it. "Cordelia!" Angel growled, as he closed the front door. "What did you do, drop the tree on my car!"
"What's wrong?" she asked innocently. "I'm sure a little black nail polish can fix the paint."
Angel sighed and rolled his eyes, "And what about the gash on my trunk , how do you plan on fixing that!" he said sarcastically.
Cordelia shrugged, "It's just a little dent, I figured you could fix it?" she said. She looked at him with hopeful eyes.
He threw up his hands, "Why is it I can't stay mad at you," he said grinning slightly.
"Because I'm just too darn cute," she said with a saucy grin. She heard Doyle yelling for her again, and rushed back into Angel's office.
"Come on, let's get this thing downstairs," Doyle puffed.
"You could have left the tree against the wall like we had it," Cordelia said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, well, I wanted to be prepared for when you came back. I thought it was going to be less than 10 minutes," he said sarcastically.
Before she could retort back, a third voice entered into the conversation, "Come on, let me help you guys with that." Angel grabbed the upper half of the tree and he and Doyle started out of the room. "I hope there's room for this in the elevator," Angel muttered. Cordy and Doyle didn't see his smile though, as they all made there way to the elevator.
"Okay," Cordy said, "All these boxes have Christmas decorations for the tree in them," she explained as she gingerly sat the boxes on the floor.
"Hey man, I can see your face now," Doyle joked, as Cordy continued taking the boxes out of Angel's waiting arms. Angel growled in response.
"It wasn't that hard, all I had to do was peek my head over or around the boxes a couple of times, that's all. Nothing to it," he said sarcastically.
"Hey, well someone had to direct you around," Cordelia protested. Angel just rolled his eyes.
Cordelia unceremoniously plopped herself down on the floor and started opening the packages.
"Don't you guys want to help me set the tree up?" Cordelia looked up at them imploringly.
"Uh, Uh, no not me," Angel replied, "I think I've done enough for today." Cordy turned her head to look at Doyle.
"What about you?" Cordy asked Doyle. Cordelia could see the uncertainty in Doyle's eyes, as he looked from her to Angel and back again. "Come on Doyle, it'll be fun," Cordelia coaxed. Besides, I'll bet it's been awhile since you did this with friends or family." As soon as she said that, she could see thee old Irish smile light up his eyes. "Good, it's settled then," Cordelia said.
Angel shrugged and walked towards the elevator. Cordelia got up angrily, from her position on the floor. "What are you going to do Angel, go brood." Angel stopped short as Cordy continued her tirade, "Just wouldn't be the same without another broodfest, would it Angel," Cordelia said, a challenging note in her voice. Angel slowly turned towards her, his head down, and his voice low, but the anger building in it was unmistakable.
"Cordy, he growled, "Quit while your ahead."
"Angel," Cordy continued, her voice soft yet pleading, said quietly, "You need to let her go."
"No!" his head came up and his eyes flashed. I won't let her go, I'll never let her go! I can't let her go," he said brokenly. Angel stormed off towards the elevator.
Pt. 2
Cordy turned to face Doyle, "Let's get started," she said quietly.
Doyle was impressed with Cordy's use of color and design in decorating the tree. The tree lights she bought were all blue, but with the white snow flakes hanging from the tree and the soft, white tinsel nestled among the branches, the lights looked almost aqua. Finally Cordy stepped back, and took a deep breath, "There, it's done," she said. She was smiling broadly. Doyle found himself staring at the tree, he had never seen a tree look that good!
"Did you ever think about taking up designing Cordy? The tree looks great," Doyle commented.
Cordelia shrugged, "I don't know, I never thought about it really." She looked lost in thought as she continued to stare at the tree. She gasped and clapped a hand to her mouth, "Oh my gosh, I forgot the most important part!" She turned to Doyle, "I forgot the Angel!"
Doyle cocked his head to one side and gave her a funny look. "Well, I can call Angel if you need him," Doyle said.
"No, silly," Cordelia said, hitting him lightly on the arm, "not our Angel, a little Angel for the tree."
"Oh, oh yeah," he said knowingly. "It's been awhile since I've had anyone to celebrate Christmas with," he said quietly.
Cordy gave him a quick hug. "Come on, want to go with me to get an Angel for the tree?
Besides, Angel will probably have a cow if I go by myself, afraid I'll dent up his car again or something. I wonder where Angel is anyway, I hope he's okay. Doyle, do you think what I said to Angel was out of line?"
"Well, Darlin, Angel is taking it step-by-step, day by day, and he's trying to adjust. Just have patience and give him some time. However, I do feel he needs to get out more and get involved in more things than just his work. That will get his mind of off Buffy some."
"That's exactly how I feel Doyle!" Cordy said in an exasperated tone. "Though I suppose I was a little too forward," she said slowly. He's probably roaming the streets, thinking about Buffy or taking his anger out on some poor, unsuspecting vamp. Otherwise, he's upstairs thinking about her right now."
On her last statement, Doyle saw a flash of pain in her eyes. He almost did a double-take. *Was she?* He shook his head to clear it. Now, he was beginning to wonder
Cordy's voice brought him back to reality. "Anyway, I'll make it up to him," she said excitedly. "You can drive me to the mall, that way his car will be a-okay." She gave Doyle the thumbs-up signal, and beamed her 1000 watt smile at him.
They took the elevator up to the office and they didn't see Angel anywhere, so they figured he was out roaming the streets, thinking. Cordy hoped that's what he was doing anyway. She didn't want him out fighting vamps without them, it was too dangerous. "Think we should look for Angel before we go shopping?" Cordy asked Doyle.
"Angel can take care of himself, besides I'm sure he's fine," Doyle assured Cordy as they walked out the office door.
Angel decided a walk in the park might help him calm down a little. Cordy was right though, he needed to move on. The idea of letting Buffy go was very painful, and he just wasn't sure if he could do it.
Cordy and Doyle walked into the overly crowded mall in search of their "Angel." That's when Cordy saw it, the perfect little Angel to go atop their tree. It was dressed in a velvet, white gown, with a little halo on top it's head. The oversized wings were made from a satin-like material and were pure white. "It's beautiful," Cordelia breathed. Doyle nodded his agreement. Cordelia reached up on her tip-toes and pulled the doll off the top shelf. She hugged it to her chest as a child would a doll. She turned to Doyle, her smile reaching her eyes. "This is perfect, Angel will love this!" she said excitedly. A few minutes later, they were waiting in line, with 10 people in front of them, but she didn't care. After all, she had her Angel, and her favorite song, "Never Let You Go," by Third Eye Blind , was playing over the loud speakers.
It was quite chilly after they got out of the mall. Cordy realized she had forgotten to bring her jacket, but Doyle noticed her shivering, so he pulled off his jacket and put it around her shoulders.
"Better?" he asked.
"Yes, much better," she replied. Doyle could see her smile at him in the darkness.
"Doyle, I still need to get my family presents. Do you want to help me pick out gifts for them tomorrow? Do you think Angel might want to come and help too?" She asked hopefully.
After he braked at a stoplight, he turned to face her, "Sure, I'd like to, tonight's been fun. I'm not sure about Angel though, but we can try darlin," he said encouragingly to her. She turned around in her seat again and hugged the Angel tightly to her chest. *I can't wait for tomorrow!* she thought.
Doyle saw a pair of headlights coming towards them from around the bend. He fumed, "Stupid jerk has his brights on!" he muttered under his breath. Almost automatically he slowed down, but as the guy got closer, Doyle realized the guy was in the same lane they were, heading straight for them! "Doyle," Cordy said in a frightened voice, and she reached out to grab his sleeve. "I know darlin, I know!" he responded in a frantic tone of voice. Doyle and Cordy were alarmingly aware that the guy was to fast and close for Doyle to slow down and veer onto the shoulder. There was no way they could veer off to the right either, unless they wanted to fall off the cliff.
"Hang on darlin, we're gonna make a sharp turn!" Doyle veered sharply to the left, but due to the speed, the car slammed into the embankment and kept going! It veered off sharply to the right and flipped over, coming to a spinning halt in the middle of the road. Inside Cordy and Doyle were unconscious, with Cordy's arms still wrapped around her Angel.
Pt. 3
By the time Angel got back to the office it was pitch black outside, except for the moon shining brightly overhead. He opened the door and flipped on the light switch, expecting to find Cordelia and Doyle there. "Doyle, Cordy," he called, nothing but silence. He shook his head, *that's odd,* he thought. Angel went downstairs to see if they were decorating the tree, but no such luck. Just then the telephone rang. The voice that greeted him on the telephone was the last person he expected to hear from. Unfortunately, the call was unwelcome. As soon as the conversation ended, his breath came out in a rush and the phone dropped from his hands. He grabbed his leather jacket, rushed up the hidden spiral staircase, and dashed out the front door.
Within 5 minutes the cab screeched to a halt in front of the hospital. Angel thrust a $20 bill toward the cab driver and said gruffly, "Keep the change." Angel rushed through the emergency room sliding doors, stopping only when he came to the nurses station. "Look, my name is Angel , I came to see.."
The nurse cut him off, "Cordelia Chase and Doyle O'Brian." she finished.
"Yes," he said gratefully. He took a deep breath. "May I see them now?" he asked.
She smiled softly at him. She could see the distraught look in his eyes, and nodded.
"Straight down the hall on the right, rooms 203 and 204." In no time at all he spotted door #203, and he opened the door softly. He was surprised to see Doyle buttoning his shirt up.
"What are you doing?" Angel whispered sharply.
"I'm getting dressed," Doyle said simply. Angel opened his mouth to say something, but Doyle beat him to it. "The doctor said if I felt up to it, I could leave tonight."
Angel's jaw dropped, "You don't look up to it," he stated flatly.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence Angel," Doyle replied drolly.
"Well, your face is pale and bruised. Are you okay man? I've never seen you look like this." Angel rambled on.
"Whoa, Angel I'll be okay. I know I don't look so hot, but I'll heal. My ribs are bruised and I have a slight concussion, but the doctor said I'll be fine."
Angel's concerned face broke into a smile, "If you say so buddy." Angel's jaw muscle tightened. "How is Cordelia?"
Doyle's eyes clouded over for an instant. "She, she'll, she's spending the night." Doyle replied. He was unsure of what to say next.
"What's wrong, what happened to her?" he asked, his voice rough with emotion.
"She has a serious concussion and a broken arm. They want to keep her here for at least tonight, so they can monitor her concussion. If it improves enough, they'll release her tomorrow."
Before Angel could say anything, Doyle rushed on, they had to operate on her arm though, due to the severity of the break. Doyle couldn't help but grin slightly because even though Angel's face had concern written all over it, he was also turning a slight shade of green.
"Did the bone poke through the skin?" Angel asked weakly." Doyle shook his head.
"No, but it was broken in three places. In surgery they had to use strong surgical pins to hold the bones in place."
*So, the bones will heal that way* Angel thought. "Can the pins be taken out after her arm heals?" Angel asked slowly. Doyle shook his head no. "Well, won't she feel them in her arm?" Angel questioned.
Doyle sighed, "I don't know man. Haven't you ever broken any bones before?" Angel shook his head no. Doyle looked at him in surprise.
"I was careful as a kid, so sue me," Angel retorted.
"More like a wuss," Doyle shot back, and he gave Angel a sly grin. Angel just shrugged, but he couldn't help but smile. Then he headed to Cordy's room. He opened the door slowly and peeked his head inside. He was relieved to see Cordy's chest rise and fall. He realized that she was just sleeping, not unconscious. He breathed a sigh of relief. He sat down in the chair next to her bed, and gently took her hand in his. He caressed the top of her hand lightly with his thumb. With his other hand he gently brushed a lock of hair off her forehead. In her sleep she felt something soft, lightly brush her forehead, so she slowly opened her eyes.
"It's going to take a lot more than black nail polish to fix your car now," she chuckled
softly.
Angel shook his head, "It's not important, I can always have it fixed or replaced. I don't know of any people that I can have fixed or replaced do you," he asked rhetorically. She shook her head no, then winced. "Hey, you okay?" he asked worriedly.
"Yea, I'll be okay. My head just aches some."
"Yea, Doyle told me about your concussion, and that you'll be staying overnight, so the doctors can monitor you."
Her eyes widened in panic. "What, no, uh uh, I'm not staying overnight," and she struggled to sit up. When she didn't feel herself going anywhere she opened her eyes again, only to feel a slight pressure on her shoulders. She realized then how truly weak she was, when it didn't take much for Angel to hold her down. Meanwhile, Angel wanted to kick himself for telling her the seriousness of her condition.
"I don't like hospitals, she reaffirmed. When I was a kid we had to come to the hospital because Dad had sprained his ankle. Well, Mom told us to wait in the waiting room. She paused and took a deep breath and glanced over at Angel, who was watching her intently. With me being
hyperactive and my sister being the practical jokester, we decided to explore the hospital. Cordy glanced over at Angel again, only to see him futilely attempting to suppress a smile. It's not funny she protested. She tried hard not to, but a grin split her face anyway. Anyway, we made our way down to the hospital's morgue, and I asked my sister, Lisa what the little drawers were for. And she said "Oh they're to take naps in silly." Well, my sister was 5 and thought she knew it all, but I was only 2 , so I trusted her fully. She wanted me to get in the sliding drawer, but I was not about to take a nap. She persuaded me by saying it would only be a few minutes. Well, I climbed in and she shut the drawer. Then Lisa took off. She left me there for ½ hour. When my Mom found me, I was bawling my eyes out.
"Angel looked at her in disbelief , his mouth hanging open in shock. She ignored him, barely stifling a laugh, and continued on. Anyway, my sister got the scolding of her life. After Dad got out of the hospital she explained to me what really happened. Lisa told me after she left the hospital morgue she headed straight to the bathrooms, and accidentally forgot all about me. To this day I still don't quite believe her." She had barely finished when Angel just started cracking up, in fact Cordy had never seen him laugh this hard. She rarely even saw him smile. She wanted to say *I didn't think it was that funny,* but she refrained. She was speechless, plus it was endearing to see him like this: laughing so hard till he cried. He looked so young, so carefree, not bearing the pain and guilt of the past. This was truly a rarity. *Okay, I've done my deep thinking for the day, she thought. Now I'll just sit back and watch.*
Finally, Angel opened his eyes and wiped the tears off his face. "I couldn't help myself," he said, burying his face in his hands, "it was just so ridiculously funny." He looked up at her then, "What's wrong, why aren't you yelling at me?" He asked, his eyes wary. He noticed that she was calm and wore a slight smile on her lips.
"I enjoyed seeing you be a kid," she said simply.
"Oh, so did I," he said softly.