Chapter 2: Bad News
Thursday, January 25th, 2001
Faith has been out for three hours. The apartment is eerily quiet. I studied for my exam for a while, but finally I gave up a while ago. My mind was in the past, remembering when Faith and I had moved into this place over the summer.
The phone rings.
That's got to be Faith. I hope she's calling to say she'll be home soon. Or that she'll be out even later. If it's the latter, I'm totally ready to beat the crap out of her.
I walk into the front room and snatch up the phone off the coffee table.
"Hello?"
"Buffy Summers?"
"Speaking."
"This is Nurse Jones from Sunnydale Hospital. We have a Ms. Faith Lehane here. Her previous records indicate that you are the one to call if she is hospitalized again."
Which reminds me...
Faith was hospitalized last year. She'd had a run-in with a vamp that got the better of her and broke her arm. We'd been fighting so she didn't have them call me. But I was worried and called her cell phone. The doctor was in the room at the time and asked me to come down there.
I was upset with Faith for a while, for not calling me, but we sorted through things, and made up. But I made sure I was listed as the person to call should she be hospitalized again.
But this time, I knew she hadn't been on patrol. And we hadn't been fighting.
This was bad.
"Oh my God! Is she all right?"
"I think it would be best if you came to the hospital immediately."
Totally didn't answer my question, but okay. I'm on my way.
"Be there in five minutes."
I hang up the phone, throw on a jacket, shove my keys into my jacket pocket, and run.
If she's not already dead, I swear to God I will kill her.
They won't let me into Faith's room immediately when I get to the hospital. But I see her through the window and I confirm that it's her.
Nurse Jones, the one who called me here, tells me that she's in a coma. She says Faith will have to wake up on her own soon or risk cerebral damage.
My life is laying in a hospital bed, barely alive.
Nurse Jones tells me that one of Faith's friends is in the next room. I go in an find Josie. She tells me that she has a broken arm, a fractured ankle, and I can see the huge scratch down the side of her face.
I ask her to tell me what happened. She tells me, but there's lots of sobbing.
They had gone to a club about a mile or two out of town. They were coming back in and the road was mostly deserted. They were laughing a lot, over pretty much nothing. There was one car ahead of them.
Josie looked in the rearview mirror just in time to see a car speeding up behind them. They managed to get away from the guy for a minute or two when the driver in front of them sped up. But the person behind them sped up, crashed into them, and they crashed into the car in front of them. Their car flipped over, killing Mike and Kenny. Before she could get out of the way, the car had hit their car and they'd hit the car in front of them.
All three cars went over the edge and into the stream below. The people in the car ahead of them were pronounced dead-on-arrival. Mike and Kenny were dead minutes later. Josie was the only one they expected to survive.
I sat with her for a little while, holding her hand while she cried and trying to assure her that it was going to be okay. And that was hard to do since I didn't believe it myself.
"Ms. Summers? You can see Faith now, if you'd like to."
I look up and see the now-familiar face of Nurse Jones peering in at us from the doorway.
"Thanks," I say quietly. "I'll be there in a minute."
The nurse nods and leaves the room.
I turn to Josie.
"Are you gonna be okay?"
She smiles.
"Yeah. Go see her. I know you'd rather be there anyway."
"Josie..."
"Don't. Just...go."
"Fine. But...I just want you to know...I don't blame you. You tried to get out of the way, you tried to avoid it."
"Yeah..."
She looks so miserable, even when she's faking a smile. I know how much she cares about my girl and I know she never wanted her or either of the guys to get hurt.
I squeeze Josie's hand once more, then leave the room. I walk down the hall and stop in front of Faith's room.
She looks...dead.
I touch the window and look in on her for a moment before entering the room.
I pull a chair up beside Faith's bed and cover her hand with mine. I rub my hand over her fingers and stare blankly at her face. I feel tears run down my face and I have to force back a sob.
Faith's hooked up to every kind of machine possible. And her face is so blank...I can hardly imagine it without some kind of expression, whether it be her usual smirk or that look she gets when she's thinking about her family.
"Sweetie...if you have to go...go now, while I'm still here with you...please."
The steady beep of the heart monitor continues in the background.
"Good girl," I say softly. "I love you and I promise you I'll fix this. I'll make you better. I'll...I'll find a way."
I vowed to stay there until I was kicked out. But nobody ever came in. I stayed there for the better part of the night.
I take my cell phone out of my jeans pocket and turn it on to check my messages. A text message alert pops up. I push the view button and read the text message.
Babe, I know this is gonna seem weird, but I think something bad is gonna happen to me. And I don't know if I'm gonna make it. I want you to know that I love you and I'm always gonna be with you. I hope I'll be around to tell you this in person. But if not, know that I love you, okay? --Faith.
I feel tears in my eyes again.
"I love you too, baby. More than anything in the world," I whisper.
I lean over her and press my lips gently against hers.
And I can't help but hope -- stupidly, I guess -- that it will be like in "Sleeping Beauty." I'll kiss her and she'll wake up from her endless sleep. Faith will be with me and we'll live happily ever after.
Saturday, January 27th, 2001
It's been two days since then and Faith still hasn't woken up. I keep wondering if she ever will.
Willow and Tara have been keeping me company since Friday, when I spilled it to Willow between classes. She'd been asking me why I was so sad, so I just told her and Tara.
But Willow's at the hospital right now, keeping a eye on Faith. I'm alone with Tara, crying in her arms. That's all I ever seem to do lately. That and remembering better times.
Like the first time I kissed Faith...
