It smelled of sweaty, desperate people and year old layers of antiseptic and strong bleach. The smell, combined with the eye searing bright lights, left her feeling nauseous. She nervously looked around, hoping no one would stop her before she lost her nerve. As she glanced behind her, she bumped into a harried looking Indian woman in a stained and should have been white but slowly turning yellow lab coat.
"May I help you?" the doctor asked impatiently. She had no time for this-she had been signing death certificates for a couple of hours and was ready for a large cup of strong, black hospital brew that always tasted faintly of IV solution.
"Uh-no. Just visiting.' the girl stammered as she backed quickly away. She ran off in a random direction while the Indian woman just glared after her.
She had to calm down-panicking would only confuse her more. She stood still, taking in her bearings. It had been a while since she had last come, but as long as she kept her head clear...there it was. The corridor she was looking for was down the hall. She rushed towards it, making sure there were no accidents this time. She couldn't afford to be caught. She slid into the room and closed the door gently behind her. She couldn't get caught now-not after the way she had to force herself.
Electric humming blended with the sharp staccato beeps as she approached the stiffly starched bed. She gazed down at the girl who lay among the sheets, the girl who had taken everything away from her. The panic disappeared and jealousy filled her green eyes as she considered the figure in front of her.
"Look at you. Lying on the bed like some fucking Sleeping Beauty waiting for your prince to show up and rouse you with a kiss. Well, he's not coming. Do you know why? I've made them forget about you Faith." She chuckled as she leaned in closer to the deathly still figure. "Your lovers have abandoned you, and I was the one who did it. I told them stories about you-stories I made up. They hate you so much now that I doubt they'll ever see you again. I bet I'm your first visitor since Graduation." Willow sat on the edge of the bed near Faith's arm. She picked up the sleeping girl's hand and looked at it, tracing the embedded lines with a fingernail.
"These hands...they stroked him and made him moan, didn't they? I bet you caressed him in places only a tramp would know. You probably made his night. I know they made her scream-I heard it. I saw it. I wonder-do they still smell like her?" Willow lifted Faith's hand to her nose and sniffed it. With a grimace on her face, she threw it down. She got off the bed and began stalking around the room.
"I made sure they won't come now." She giggled crazily at her unintentional pun. "You're alone, Faith. That's what you get for messing with an all powerful Wicca. I knew you were evil the minute you started ignoring me. No one ignores me now. I'm the teacher's pet in almost all of my classes, and everyone wants to be my friend. I'm the popular one and YOU'RE the pathetic one. I'm better than you. Buffy and Xander don't need you anymore-they have me!" She went back to the bed and lifted the girl by her shoulders and began to violently shake her.
"WHY?! You took everything dear to me and corrupted it! You took my love away from him and you took my friendship away from her! Why couldn't you stay out of my life?! Why did you have to come to Sunnydale?! We didn't need you!!" Her voice lifted as she began to screech at the prone body lying in the bed. An alarm sounded as various life-support and detection devices were pulled out of place.
"You fucking whore! You ruined my life! YOU RUINED IT!" A nurse hurried into the room and saw the situation. She ran for security as Willow began shaking Faith even more. "I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! YOU DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE ME! EVERYONE NOTICES ME! EVERYONE LOVES ME!" Security personnel rushed in and pulled Willow off of Faith. She continued to yell as she was being pulled out of the room. "WHY THEM? WHY THEM? WHY NOT _ME_?! WHY DIDN'T YOU FUCK ME?!"
The nurse hurried to her patient as the guards carried the screaming woman out of the room. She could hear the echoes of her screams fading down the hallway. "Why didn't you love ME?!" She reattached the IV and the monitoring devices to the girl's prone body. The reassuring humming and beeping began to fill the room again. She smoothed back her patient's hair and fixed up the mussed up bed. How could this sweet girl NOT love someone? The nurse kissed her softly on the forehead and left the room. She made a promise to herself to keep a closer eye on her Faith as she filled out paperwork. Things were back to normal now, and they would stay that way.