Once they had arrived at the infirmary and Pat had carefully been moved from the stretcher to one of the beds there, Amalthea sat down next to her again and began the healing once more; she kept it up for almost an hour, time during which Willow sat on the other side of the bed and yet again held her wife's hand, the elder witch only stopping when she could feel her power run out and realized that she needed a break.
"I'll continue as soon as possible", she promised the concerned Willow, making the redhead nod slightly, "I promise. But for now, I need to recharge a bit, and Pat should get some rest…"
"I'll stay here with her", the witch mumbled in response, her gaze never leaving her partner's still so dreadfully lifeless form, "just in case she wakes up…"
"Of course", Amalthea gave back, not really surprised by this – it was the first time she had met the demon, but when Willow had come to the coven after the dark magic within her started to take control of her, she had noticed how her eyes started to shine whenever she mentioned the taller woman, the fact that now, they had arrived as a married couple only underlining how much Pat meant to her.
"Just call for me in case anything happens", she added, making Willow nod; she took another moment to smile at the redhead, then left the room, something the witch didn't even notice anymore though, fully focused on her partner again.
Now that she had time for a closer look, she felt her heart clench up at how beaten up the taller woman looked; if she hadn't known what had happened, she would have thought that Pat had gone up against a prized fighter – with her hands tied behind her back and hung over from a night of drinking or somehow otherwise incapacitated, unable to fight back as the blows started raining down on her.
Apart from the internal injuries Willow knew she had suffered, there were cuts and bruises all over her face, showing how badly Charlie's attacks had hit her; her clothing was torn in several places, more bloody und bruised flesh showing through the tears, the witch knowing that the remains of her shirt and pants only hid more wounds, evidenced by the sticky, by now dried reddish-brown stains which had formed on them.
Again, her mind's eye replayed how the taller woman had gone down, the blood which had poured from her ears and nose; this made her wonder if she had suffered brain damage, as well, dreadful thoughts of her partner never waking up again or being reduced to a vegetative state briefly taking hold of her mind before she forcefully pushed them aside, telling herself that surely, Pat would be okay, just as Amalthea had promised.
"You'll be okay", she said out loud, her thumb tenderly caressing the black haired woman's fingers, a weak smile curling her lips when she felt the wedding band, the metal surprisingly warm against her skin, "you hear? Amalthea is gonna heal you enough so you can get up and do the rest, then you'll be okay… I won't allow anything else, with us just married for a few days…"
Even though she wasn't sure it was a good idea, with no way to know how badly the demon really was hurt, she bent down to tenderly kiss her on the lips, momentarily startled by how cold they were; and just as she pulled back, the door opened and Charlie stood there, looking so crestfallen and depressed that, even though she wanted to be angry at her, Willow couldn't help herself, but just had to feel sorry for her, giving her a small smile and a nod when the blonde asked if she could enter.
"I'm so sorry", Charlie told her again the moment she had done so and had closed the door behind herself, giving the witch another miserable look, "I swear I didn't want to hurt her, but…"
"She'll be fine", Willow reassured her in response, giving her another tiny smile, "she's strong and… robust. And Amalthea will heal her, she's just taking a break now to recharge, it's very delicate work…"
Realizing that she was close to rambling, she made herself shut up; momentarily, Charlie looked a bit overwhelmed, then just nodded and sat down opposite of her, the regret in her eyes when she looked at Pat only making it easier for the redhead to not blame her anymore for what had happened.
"I wish there could have been another way", the blonde mumbled, running a hand which just was trembling enough to let Willow notice through her hair, "but I had to put the power somewhere, and she was right, if I hadn't let it out against her, I might have hurt or killed someone of the coven… and destroyed their home…"
"I know what it's like to have power you can't always handle", Willow told her in response, making her look up at her again, "and how hard it can be to get it back under control once it's been lost… So I understand. And I know there was no other way, Pat was right, and she wouldn't have let you attack her if there had been anything else she could have done…"
"I know", Charlie sighed, "but that doesn't make it any easier… She helped me so much back then, when I was little. If they had sent anyone else to kill me, someone who wouldn't have minded killing a child… but they sent her, because my fire can't harm her, and she saved me."
She smiled slightly, the look of hero worship entering her eyes again and making the redhead smile as well; for a few moments, there was silence, then the blonde spoke on, her gaze now fixed on the demon again.
"I wanted to stay with her, you know", she mumbled, "I asked her if I could, in fact, but she said no. Now, in hindsight, I suppose it was for the best, but back then I was really hurt, my powers had caused so much harm already, and there was this person who couldn't be harmed by them, and she wouldn't let me stay with her…"
"It was better, trust me", the redhead gave back, smiling as she thought back all those years, when the demon had realized that she was falling in love with the woman she originally had been planning to use to finish her job, feelings she never had been forced to deal with before in her long life, "even if she might have tried, she wouldn't have been ready to take proper care of you…"
"Probably not", Charlie agreed with a smile of her own, "to be honest, I was quite surprised when she said you're her wife. I didn't think she'd be the type for marriage."
"I don't think she was until we met", Willow shrugged, "and even then, it took her a while to get used to the whole idea. But she's the best partner I can wish for now, and I'm glad to have her in my life…"
"Happy to hear", Pat croaked before the blonde could reply something, in a voice even hoarser than usual; startled, Willow jumped while Charlie flinched slightly as well, the redhead smiling moments later, bending over her partner so she could look at her without having to turn her head, an action which surely would have been painful for her.
"There you are again", she mumbled, neither her, nor the demon paying any attention to Charlie anymore, fully focused on each other, "I was starting to worry about when you might wake up again. How do you feel?"
"As if a truck hit me", Pat gave back, grimacing, prompting Willow to squeeze her hand tenderly, "which is pretty much what happened, huh."
"If you want to call me a truck, yes", Charlie threw in, now gaining the attention of the two, "and I'm so sorry, even though I know this won't make you feel any better…"
"Not your fault", the demon rasped in response, "and the energy had to… go somewhere. Just glad no one else got hurt."
"Except for those government goons", Willow pointed out, "and now that they know we are here, they're probably gonna strike again sooner or later… I don't think you scared them off, Charlie."
"I know I didn't", the blonde glumly replied, giving her an unhappy look, her next words prompting the witch and the demon to exchange an uneasy glance as they knew that she was right, but also were well aware of the fact that Pat was in no shape to travel anywhere yet, even if she had been healed enough to wake up again.
"They're not gonna stop", Charlie mumbled, staring off into the distance, more talking to herself than to the couple, "I can feel it, they're not gonna stop coming after me… Not this time."