Chapter 4: Shadow

The next day Buffy and Dawn stood outside an Exam Room in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Both of them looked like they were trying to marshal some courage before they entered Joyce's hospital room so that they could find out the results of Joyce's tests. Buffy looked to Dawn and sighed. She hoped this was one thing her sister was wrong about.

Inside Joyce sat on a gurney wearing a patient robe. In front of her on a lighted panel were the ghostly images of the inside of her head. Dr. Cameron, glanced over at her as he pointed out a dark smudge on the film. It looked like someone had accidentally brushed a finger against the plate while developing the pictures. It was much worse than that.

Buffy walked into the room, her arm was around Dawn as she held her sister. "Um, hi..." she said as Dr. Cameron turned to look at the her and Dawn. "Okay if we...?"

"Of course, come in," said Joyce as Buffy and Dawn moved beside their mother.

Dr. Cameron looked at Joyce in sympathy. "I'll give you three a few minutes alone, while I go check the status of the OR," he said as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Mom?" Dawn asked. Hoping that doctor had been talking about someone else and not Joyce. While Dawn called Joyce, mom. She was still coming to love both her new mother and new sister. She knew that she would not love them overnight.

"It looks like proof that your visions are true. They found a shadow." Joyce said.

Buffy put a hand on her mother's arm, comfortingly. "Everything is going to be okay. They'll do what they need to and then you will be all better. We're going to make sure Dawnie's vision doesn't come true. Right, Dawn?"

"Right, Buffy." Dawn said as she and Buffy grabbed Joyce and held her tightly. "You will be fine, mom. I promise."

They stayed with Joyce till Dr. Cameron came back and took her into the operating room. Buffy and Dawn walked down the hall into the waiting room, holding each other. Hoping beyond hope that just by Joyce coming to L.A. and finding out about the tumor in advance that Joyce's fate could be changed.

Riley who had found out from Spike, of all people, that Joyce was in the hospital here in L.A. Had driven down to comfort the Summers' sisters. He sat down next to Buffy who leaned into him as he put her arm around her.

As time went by Dawn laid her head in Buffy's lap as her big sister brushed her hair absently. Time passed with no word till suddenly Dr. Cameron came through the door at the far side of the room. Buffy nudged Dawn who looked up and spotted the doctor. The sisters stood and made their way over to him.

Riley got up to follow them but Buffy gestured for him to wait as she and her sister wanted to talk to the doctor alone.

"Everything went fine. They're moving her to recovery now." Dr. Cameron said when they walked up to him.

"Do you have the results yet?" Buffy asked, even though she was sure what it was. Thanks to the memories Dawn had. She just wanted to hear it from the doctor, as if his saying it would make it more real to her.

"Why don't we sit down over—" Dr. Isaacs said.

"Thank you but no. We've both been sitting for a couple hours. I'm not trying to be rude but we just don't want to sit down at the moment." Dawn said. They had been sitting long enough and to tell the truth she didn't want to sit anymore. The suspense was practically killing her. "We've been doing nothing but sitting down for hours. Just tell us..."

Dr. Cameron nodded. "Your mother has... The term is "low-grade glioma." It's a brain tumor. The clinical name's Oligo...dendro... glioma. It's in the left hemisphere of the cerebrum. In your mother's case, the tumor seems to have started there. In other words, it hasn't spread there from another part of the body... which, in a way, is good news..."

Buffy and Dawn moved to sit down. Despite Dawn's memories of the television show she and Buffy were both clearly rattled, nearly lost in shock.

"I know this is very difficult. And, unfortunately, because of the nature of your mother's illness, things could progress very quickly." Dr. Cameron said as he sat down opposite them.

"Things? What things?" Buffy asked as she tried to process the fact that Dawn had been right. Even now with the doctor's confirmation she wasn't sure she wanted that confirmation.

"Symptoms. There is a fair variety that might present. Loss of vision or appetite, lack of muscle control, mood swings, and personality changes—" Dr. Cameron said.

"But what can we do?" Buffy asked.

Dr. Cameron shook his head. "Not much until we determine if the tumor's operable. Which we're working on."

"Well, I ... is there something we should be doing? Can we... help?" Buffy said as she motioned to herself and Dawn.

"Well, there's some literature you might want to look at. If we aren't able to go in surgically, there are a number of new treatments which are very promising. Your mother's prognosis is a lot better today than it would have been only a year ago. Even if the tumor's not operable, she has a real chance." Dr. Cameron said.

"What's 'a real chance?'" Buffy asked.

Dr. Cameron hesitated for a moment before answering Buffy's question. "Nearly one in three patients with this condition does just fine."

"You aren't mentioning complications." Dawn said as she looked at her sister.

Buffy understood why Dawn was asking. According to the memories it had been how Joyce died. An aneurysm sometime after their mother had gone home.

"Excuse me?" Dr. Isaacs asked, confused by the statement.

"Complications from the surgery. There is a possibility of there being complications, right?" Dawn said.

"Yes there is a chance there could be complications. But it's small. As I just said nearly one in three patients with this condition does just fine." Dr. Cameron said. "Now. Let me ask - does your mother's insurance company require copies of MRI and pathology reports?"

"I'm not ... sure ..." Buffy said, obviously thrown by the question.

"We'll check." Dawn said.

"Just let me know as soon as possible. And I could use some information regarding your mom's lifestyle and home environment. For instance, does she use a cell phone?" Dr. Cameron said.

Buffy's growing more and more overwhelmed as she began to founder.

Dawn smiled at her sister as she tried to help out. "She uses Bluetooth." Dawn said remembering she had seen Joyce with a wireless ear bud when she left the house the night before for the Gurion showing at the gallery.

"Bluetooth?" Dr. Cameron said, unfamiliar with the term.

Dawn blanched as she suddenly remembered the term Bluetooth would not become common place for a few more years. "One of those wireless ear buds that connects you to the cell phone wirelessly."

"Ah." Dr. Cameron said. "Okay... Is your house near any power lines? Chemical plants? Waste disposal facilities?"

"I think the power lines are across the street, "Dawn said. "And I don't think there are any Chemical plants or Waste disposal facilities nearby."

Dr. Cameron nodded as they heard him paged over the intercom.

Later Buffy stood by Joyce's bed. Dawn was out in the corridor trying to pull herself together. The day had been a long one and a tiring one for Dawn.

"Do you want me to stay?" asked Buffy.

"No - it's fine. I think I should talk to Dawn alone," Joyce said.

Buffy sighed. Joyce had asked her about why Dawn glowed green and where Dawn's visions had come from. Buffy had told her it would be better if she heard it from Dawn herself. "Okay."

"Do I have bed hair? I don't look like scary mom - do I?" Joyce asked.

Buffy smoothed her mother's hair a bit. "You look beautiful."

"Okay..." Joyce said. "Let's do this. But stay close."

Buffy nodded. "Will do." She went to the door and opened it to find Dawn standing there. She quickly gave her little sister a hug and then let her into the room as she stepped outside closing the door slightly behind her.

Dawn walked over to Joyce and reached up, hugging her. Joyce then patted the bed beside her as Dawn sat down. "There is something we should talk about," Joyce said. "About your so called visions and the fact you appear slightly green to me now."

Dawn's eyes went wide. She knew what it meant for people to see her glowing green. She knew it meant they could see the Key. "What about the visions?" she asked.

"They're not visions are they." Joyce said. She wasn't exactly sure how she knew that. Or how she saw the green glow around Dawn. But it was there and somehow it was giving her this knowledge that should not have been there.

Dawn shook her head. "Memories. This will be hard for you to take in, mom. Do you remember when Buffy fought Dracula?" she said as Joyce nodded. "That was the first day of my life. I was created to hide this mystically glowing Key thing. In essence you're my grandmother instead of my mother as I was created from Buffy. Her blood, her DNA. You like everyone else were implanted with the memories you now have of me. That's why you think I'm your daughter. The monks spell had an unsuspected side-effect. When it created me it brought forth someone from an alternate reality and gave me his memories in the process killing him. In his reality all of us are characters on a television show, with Buffy being the lead character. It's from the episodes of that television show that I know what is happening. It's how I knew about your tumor and the fact that a couple months from now you died. Because that's what happened in the television show."

"Oh." Joyce said. "So your…"

"I'm your daughter. Your memories tell you that, right?" Dawn said as Joyce nodded. "I will always love you. You are my mother regardless if I was created from Buffy. Regardless if I have memories of someone else's life. I have come to love you."

"Ok." Joyce said and she smiled and hugged Dawn. "Thank you for looking out for me, Dawn. Trying to use those memories to make everything better for us."

"You're welcome, mom." Dawn said as she smiled. She remembered Tom's mother while he had loved her and she him. It had not been the most loving kind of love. She could tell that she had the kind of love with Joyce that Tom had only dreamed about.

"Maybe we should let Buffy come back in." Joyce said. "What do you think?"

"Buffy!" Dawn called out.

Two days later Buffy and Dawn stood next to Giles in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center holding hands as they watched Joyce being wheeled away toward the OR. Joyce smiled at her daughters as they returned her brave smile.

Hours passed and Dawn sat next to Buffy, her head on her sister's shoulder as she watched the clock nervously. She looked up as she heard footsteps approach and saw that it was only Giles.

"Just me. Sorry," Giles said. "Can I get either of you anything?"

Buffy shook her head. "No. Thanks though."

"Dawn?" he asked as he looked at Dawn.

"I'm fine. Thanks," said Dawn. To tell the truth she was just too nervous to eat or drink anything.

Giles sighed as he looked at the sisters. He turned and sat in the chair next to Buffy.

"I can't stand this, what's taking so long?" asked Buffy.

"It doesn't mean anything," said Giles, trying to reassure her.

"You think?" asked Buffy.

"I'd worry more if your mother was out of surgery quickly," said Giles. "It might mean there wasn't much they could do."

Buffy looked at Dawn and then nodded.

Just then Dawn spied Doctor Cameron coming down the hall. She nudged Buffy who followed her gaze as the sisters jumped to their feet. Giles a bit more slowly stood also and moved beside them.

"Okay. Your mom's in recovery—" Dr. Cameron said.

"What happened?" interrupted Buffy. "Is she alright?"

"Well, it was possible to visualize the tumor completely—which means I was able to get all of it. So baring complications in recovery, I think your mother's going to be fine," said Doctor Cameron as he smiled at the sisters.

Dawn looked at the doctor for a moment as she tried to process what he had said. Just to make sure she heard right she asked, "Are you kidding?"

Doctor Cameron smiled. "I never kid about my amazing surgical skills. Of course, we're still going to have to watch your mother's condition and have her back in for follow-up testing, but overall I'd consider the procedure a complete success."

Relief and joy washed over Buffy and Dawn as Giles pulled both the girls into a comforting embrace. The sisters remained there for a moment before Buffy broke away from them and turned back toward the doctor. "Oh My God, Doctor - thank you. Thank you so much."

Doctor Cameron smiled. "Believe me, it's my—" Before he could finish Buffy grabbed him into a big bear hug. In her joy, she forgot her strength. "Oh, hey ... Uh, owww. Owwww!"

Buffy realized what she was doing and let him go, contrite. "Sorry, sorry - but thank you, thanks. I mean it—"

"Really, my pleasure. Your mom's going to be in recovery for a while—I know you all are from Sunnydale. So you can't obviously go home. Might I suggest you should all go see the sights, get some rest, relax," Dr. Cameron said.

Later that day after going out for lunch with Giles. Buffy and Dawn returned to the hospital to visit with Joyce. They brought with them a set of wigs for their mother to try on. Mostly as a jest.

They sat on Joyce's bed next to Joyce who was adjusting one of the wigs while she looked in a mirror that Dawn was holding for her.

"You don't think it's too obvious?" asked Joyce. "I think I look like I have a cat on my head."

"But a very well groomed cat," said Dawn.

"Well that's a comfort," said Joyce as she looked at her youngest daughter.

Buffy smiled. "I think it's fun. We can get you a whole bunch of different wigs. You can be like - Action Mom, Sixties Mom, French Maid Mom ... Maybe get a big green Grinchy-looking one for Christmas ..."

Joyce shook her head. "I must be getting better. You two are making fun of me again."

"Well, yeah," said Dawn. "We have a lot of lost time to make up." She looked at Joyce and let out a sigh. She hoped that everything was going to be alright. Only the days and weeks ahead would prove if they had changed Joyce's fate.

"I think you two have more important things to make up. I know you've been missing a lot of school, Buffy," said Joyce.

"I'm fine. Willow's been bringing me my work. I may have to take a few incompletes, but I'll get through the semester," said Buffy.

Dawn nodded. "And my teachers are understanding. They have it so I can take makeup tests and missed quizzes. And Janice and Lisa have been been copying their notes for my missed classes."

"Well, Buffy, what about slaying? And girls what about your friends? Buffy, I want you to get back to your life."

"I will, get back to Slaying, I promise," said Buffy.

"And our friends know how much you mean to us," added Dawn.

"And I will get back to my life when your home," said Buffy.

Dawn smiled as she teasingly said. "But right now Buffy and I are more into being here—and styling your beautiful new plastic dream hair."

"Fair enough. But you two don't have to keep me company all night," said Joyce.

Buffy smiled. "Well we're not going to be leaving tonight, except to stay with Angel for the night. We sent Giles back to Sunnydale."

Joyce nodded. "Still you two can go have some fun. Go to a movie or something."

"We're having fun," said Dawn as she smiled at her mother. She thought back on the time since she had woken up as Tom. She couldn't be happier than she was right now. Sure she missed the people Tom considered friends and even his family. But this right here was her family and she wanted to spend as much time with them as she could.