Chapter 1
The shrill of the phone pierced through the dead silence that was Buffy's apartment.
Pulling the comforter over her head she made no effort to emerge from her comfortable position, lying there, slowly returning to her pleasant dreams in her warm queen size bed.
It was a bright Saturday morning, her day off at that. Which meant no work, and in turn that only meant not getting out of bed at such an ungodly hour.
She needed more sleep, to rest after such a hectic week. But no, whoever it was waking her from her pleasant dreams seemed to be persistent about talking to her.
Pulling back the heavy cover, Buffy swung her legs over the side of the bed and tried to force the sleep from her eyes. Focusing on her bedside she noted the fact that her digital clock confirmed her thoughts.
Seven twenty four am, and every part of her body was putting up a fight, making it harder for the blonde not to just give into to its demands and lie back down.
Besides, who the hell was up at this hour? More importantly why were they calling her? Being that there was only one way to find out, Buffy ran a tired hand threw her disheveled blonde locks then forced herself up and onto her feet.
Rubbing at her eyes she stumbled out of her bedroom, into the hall, following it through before it led her towards the ringing device in her living room. Reaching out for the handset, she spotted the little blinking red light on the machine and wondered how on earth she had managed to sleep through all these calls, yet this one had managed to wake her.
Picking up the handset the petite blonde almost barked at the caller, of course that was before noticing the urgency in their voice.
"Giles?" Buffy questioned, feeling her stomach turn, yet not having an explanation for it.
For that split second before he spoke, she wondered, wondered why her step father was calling her so early. He knew better than anyone not to even think about it when she had these two blissful days off to sleep in. In fact he would often stop Dawn from dialing the number so early on the weekend.
"Buffy, ahh... it's your mother." Was all he said, it was bad enough that he had some bad news, but to try to figure out a way of telling her that was clam and not depressing like he felt, was a bit too difficult.
Buffy tensed the moment he said it, mother, that word alone. She knew deep down in the pit of her stomach, that this wasn't anything of the good.
"What's wrong?" she immediately asked, even though that same thing inside her was screaming at her, telling her that she really didn't want to know.
This wasn't right; he couldn't just call her and tell her the unthinkable. Oh God, she couldn't think like that. Everything was fine, just fine.
"She's in hospital." he whispered, trying his best not to show the sorrow in his voice, but as each word escaped his dry lips, they were coated with pure desperation. For the first time ever, he was helpless, and that was something Giles never wanted Buffy to see, or in this case hear from him.
"What happened?" The blonde gripped the phone as tightly as she could in her small hand, using her other one the steady herself against the lounge.
Standing there fighting to breathe as Giles gave her the run down, she felt her knees wanting to give way, but Buffy didn't fall, wouldn't, she held herself up, she had to be strong.
When her step father explained that her mother had collapsed after a work out at the gym, Buffy felt her tears surge forward, screwing her eyes shut and swallowing the lump in her throat, she barely managed to push them back.
Even though there were a million questions begging her for answers, there was one that stood out, one that she needed to know before he spoke another word.
"Is she going to be okay?" she heard the croak in her voice, and resented herself for it, she was strong Buffy, her mother needed her to be.
"I don't know." he whispered, wishing he could give the girl he considered his own a better answer, wishing that he didn't have to sit in that house, their house, without Joyce, his love.
Over the last fifteen years they had turned it into a home, and now here he was, sitting by his desk, quietly cleaning his glasses as he made a call to every family member, letting them know of his wife's situation.
After a moments silence, Buffy knew what she had to do, so quickly saying goodbye she hung up the phone.
First thing, she needed to get dressed, actually even making any kind of movement at all would be useful right now. Yet before she did just that, her shaky hand reached over and tapped the button on her machine, and she listened to the messages she had missed.
It was Giles, all five of them, within the space of the past half an hour. His voice sounded panicked unlike how it had but a second ago, when she had spoken to him.
Buffy knew what that meant, he was gentle with her, not wanting to scare the blonde, wanting her to think that there may still be some hope left, when really he strongly doubted it himself.
Quickly dressing herself in a pair of faded jeans and white tank top she didn't even bother to throw on a jacket as she grabbed her keys and rushed out the front door, wanting nothing but to see her mom.
Starting her car she knew it wasn't a good idea to be driving, being in the state that she was, completely and utterly shocked would be a way to describe it. But there was nothing else she could do, a cab would take forever, and Buffy wasn't prepared to wait.
A minute longer, was a minute away from her mother.
Rushing into emergency her eyes scanned each room near by hoping to catch a glimpse of her, hoping to see that her mom was fine and her step father had gotten his wires crossed. Not finding her she gave up and walked up to the nurse's station.
All three nurses sat there, flipping through patients files while chatting on the phone, and each time Buffy tried to get a word in, she was stopped with an 'I'll only be one minute' signal.
After having each nurses index finger shoved in her face, telling her to wait about twenty times, she finally let it out.
"I'm looking for my mom, Joyce Giles, can you help me or should I just find her myself?" the blonde snapped, she'd raced over to the hospital breaking every speed limit, almost losing control of the car twice, and now not a single nurse was willing to give her the details she desperately needed.
One of the nurses apologized to the person she had on the line, and had a look on the system for the distraught girls mother. "She's still in the ER." Pointing to the end of the hall she gave Buffy the directions. "Straight through that door, and then the first room on your right." Buffy took off the minute the nurse was finished.
Pushing the door open she rushed down the bright white halls frantically searching for the one person she wished wasn't even here right now. But Joyce was, and all Buffy wanted was to find her, so she could convince herself that she was all right.
When the blonde entered the room what met her eyes were three sick patients, and not one resembling her mom.
Towards the end of the room the curtain was drawn and she could see the doctor's feet shuffling around from the gap between said curtain and the floor. Not even hesitating she crept forward and tried to listen, thinking maybe the doctor would say her mothers name and Buffy would be free to enter, but no such luck.
So instead the she resorted to taking a few steps back and having another good look under the curtain, and this time she found her confirmation, her mother's gym bag on the hospital floor at the end of her bed.
Pulling the curtain aside Buffy paused the moment she saw her.
Joyce gave her a sweet smile and with a shaky hand gestured for her to come closer. "Hey sweetie." her mother whispered with what little energy she had.
Buffy slowly approached her, chocking back a sob as she took in the sight before her. Her mother lying in a hospital bed, an oxygen mask to help her breathe, numerous other tubes hooked up to her, monitors for her heart, blood pressure, and whatever else they needed to be keeping an eye on.
Her hand crept across the crisp white sheets and under Joyce's. The warmth of her mom's touch making Buffy smile. She had so many questions. How? Why? When? But they would come later; right now Buffy was just happy to see her.
Sitting in the chair provided by her bed, she didn't even let go of her mom's hand, instead she placed a kiss against it as she waited for the doctor to complete his examination.
And the whole time Buffy wondered.
What if the unthinkable were to happen? What would she do without her?