Note: I do not own 'Angel' but do own Maddy. Enjoy!
"Dad, why can't you understand why I'm doing this? This is what I want to do with my life."
"Why not something that has a larger…impact on society? Like a lawyer or doctor? Your mother knows some people and could get you an internship at Wolfram & Hart."
"Impact? You're thinking about the large paychecks. Isn't that why you both work 80 or more hours a week to add to what we already have? This is what I want to do. I want to become a social worker."
The argument continued even as my mother walked in the door. I had been trying to explain to them for the last few months why I wanted to help children and teenagers from living a bad life. They didn't understand that by being a social worker I could do as much as a lawyer or doctor.
I wasn't getting anywhere with them so I left. I got into my 1986 Toyota Camry (which was bought with money I saved from jobs rather than using my parents' money) and left the estate. With a father who was the Chief of Medicine at a hospital and my mother who was a partner at a large law firm, nothing that I wanted to do would live up to their expectations.
I drove around the city aimlessly for a couple of hours, ignoring the constant ringing of my cellular phone. I turned a corner and my car started to do a chugging thing and then I started to see smoke seeping out from under the hood. I pulled over and put on my hazard lights. I got out of the car and lifted the hood. More smoke came out and I shook my head.
Reaching into the car for my cell phone, I found the battery symbol flashing and then it turned off. I swore and looked down the road for a place that would have a phone that I could use. I closed the hood and locked the car before walking down the block to what used to be the Hyperion Hotel.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going," I said, as I bumped into a guy.
He gave me the cutest smile. His brown hair fell into his eyes and he brushed it away. He shrugged and looked at me. He was dressed in a pair of black jeans and a printed T-shirt over a long sleeved shirt.
"Whatever. Is everything OK?" he asked.
"Yeah. My car chugged and then smoked. My phone died so I'm looking for a phone that I could use to call a tow truck."
"I could take a look. I'm a mechanic at a shop a couple blocks down."
"Oh, would you? Thank you so much."
I turned around and pointed out my car. I felt him grab me around the chest and soon his head was buried in my neck. I felt two sharp jabs into my neck and tried to struggle. After what felt like forever, my body started to go limp and then I heard a noise, like a whoosh.
My body started to crumple to the ground when I felt arms underneath. They lifted me up. I looked up and stared into large brown eyes. He looked worried. He ran with me in his arms up some stairs and through a door.
"Cordy, get the first aid kit. A vamp just started on her when I staked him."
The pretty face of a brunette appeared above me and told me it was going to be OK. I could feel someone pressing something onto my neck. I was feeling dizzier by the second.
"Hey, I smell blood," a voice called out.
Those were the last words I heard.
When I came to, I saw beige walls that I recognized immediately. I looked over and saw the same large brown eyes staring back at me. They matched his mocha skin.
"Hey, you're awake. How do you feel?"
"Like a truck ran me over. What happened?"
"You were attacked. Not many people can say they survived an attack like that."
"By what? I remember hearing the word vamp. What's that?"
"A vampire. He just started to feed on you when I staked him. You've been in the hospital for almost a week.
"I'm Charles Gunn, though I just go by Gunn. When we brought you here, you didn't have any ID so we registered you as Jane Doe."
"I'm Madeline, Maddy. What happened to my bag?"
"You must have dropped it and when Wesley tried to find it, it wasn't out front."
I asked which hospital and he told me. My eyes got big and I pulled back the sheets. I swung my legs over the edge and stood up. Before he had a chance to say anything, I reached down and pulled out the IV. I grabbed Kleenex and held it over the puncture spot.
"I gotta get out of here. Please, you need to help me leave."
He stood up and allowed me to lean on him. We left my hospital room and walked down to the nurses' station.
"Miss, you shouldn't be out of bed. You've had a couple of transfusions. You still need to rest."
"I need to get out of here."
"It's not advisable for you to leave. It's nearly 9pm."
"I'm signing out against medical advice. Trust me. I can heal at home."
She handed me some forms and I filled them out. The nurse put a bag with my stuff on the counter. Under the billing information, I filled in my address and signed the bottom of the form. I handed it back to her and she looked it over.
"Are you by any chance related to Dr. Witwicky?"
"I am and if I find out my stay here was reported back to him, I will sue this hospital for breach of privacy and anything else I can think of."
Gunn took my arm and led me out of the hospital. As we exited, a black convertible pulled up in front of us. There was a rugged guy with dark spiky hair driving and a pretty woman with long hair in the passenger seat.
"Going somewhere, Gunn?"
"Out of here," I answered for him.
I climbed over and sat in the back seat. Gunn got in beside me before the car pulled away. Introductions were made and I watched the sights go by. We drove past the Hyperion, around the corner, and parked in the back. Cordelia and Gunn helped me out of the car and through the little garden in the back.
The lobby was huge. There were stairs in three corners and a large circular gray couch in the middle of it. Another handsome guy with glasses poked his head out of an office and smiled.
"Ah, you're back. And how is the survivor doing tonight?"
"I'm doing…" I started before passing out.
This time when I came to, I wasn't in a hospital room. I was in an actual room with dark red paint on the walls. The bed was comfortable. Angel sat in a chair across from the bed, reading a book.
"Hey. What happened this time?"
"You just passed out. You lost a lot of blood that night and your body hasn't recovered, even with the transfusions that the hospital gave you. Why did you need to leave so fast?"
"My father is the Chief of Medicine at that hospital. I didn't need to deal with that right now."
"You don't need to tell me more. I never lived up to my father's expectations either. There's only one thing that I ask of you."
"Sure. What's that?"
"You will stay in that bed and recover. I don't need you passing out on us again."
I agreed and stayed in that bed except to visit the bathroom. Even then, whoever was watching over me stood near the door incase something happened. I was forced to stay in that bed for a week.
On the 8th day, I was left alone for a few minutes. I got up and went into the bathroom. I pulled off the bandage and checked the puncture holes. They were scabbed over and I wasn't feeling dizzy anymore so I left the room. I went down the hallway and down to the lobby. Cordelia was sitting behind the counter reading a book.
"Does everyone love to read?"
"Maddy, what are you doing up?" she asked, bringing her head up in a fast jerk.
"I'm sick of staying in bed. I'm fine to get up."
I stopped on the stairs and Wesley came around the corner. He came up to the landing to stand in front of me.
"Maddy, Cordelia is right. You shouldn't be up."
An ugly monster thing came crashing through the door. It went straight after Wesley. It grabbed him around the throat. I came down the last few stairs and kicked it in the back. It released Wesley and I kicked it again. I punched it a few times before Cordelia came over with an ax. It turned towards her and threw sharp darts at her from its fingers. She threw the ax at me, which I caught. I brought it down hard in its head. The monster crumpled to the floor, oozing purple goo from the wound.
"Everyone OK?" I asked.
"Yeah. How did you do that?"
"My mother always wanted me to be a girly girl and I didn't so I did everything not to be that. I've taken tae kwon do, kickboxing, and a bunch of other martial arts since I was 7. The only girly thing that I did for her was gymnastics, which I did because the flexibility I got from that helped with everything else."
Soon Angel and Gunn were back and asked questions about the dead demon in the lobby. Cordy and Wesley turned to me and I shrugged.
"It was nothing. Just think of it as a thank you for everything you've done for me."
"I might be speaking for everyone but I think there's more that you could do for us. Would you like to join Angel Investigations and help us fight?" Cordelia asked.
"Sure. I'd love to."
"Great. I hate being the only female around here."