Giles still refused to go home. He didn't want to take the chance of not being there for her, if anything changed, one way or the other. So they let him stay in Jenny's room. He entered it nervously, as if embarrassed he didn't knock first, and choked up when he saw her lying so still on the bed, hooked up to machines that were monitoring her status. At the same time, though, he was relieved to see her there. In the waiting room he had battled to keep the vision of Jenny's lifeless body and empty gaze from his mind; it was comforting to see her actually there and to watch her chest rise and fall gently with every breath.
Giles had stayed awake all night in the waiting room, alternately pacing and watching the commotion of the emergency ward from his uncomfortable plastic chair. Now, in the relative quiet and comfort of a private room he felt himself nodding off. Despite his best efforts to stay conscious, he was soon fast asleep.
Giles woke up disoriented, not quite remembering where he was. He saw Jenny lying quite still on a bed, her head turned towards him, and started.
"Do I really look that bad without my makeup?" she quipped dryly.
"Jenny! You're alright!" Giles leaned forward in his chair, almost laughing with relief, though with tears in his eyes. He felt compelled to embrace Jenny, but cautious of her delicate state, only grasped her hand in both of his.
Jenny was somewhat alarmed. "Goddess, was I really that bad?"
Giles didn't really want to answer that. "I should go get the doctor," he said instead.
"No it's okay, Rupert," Jenny said before he could get up, "I've seen about a dozen doctors already. I woke up a couple of hours ago." Seeing Giles was taken aback by this information, she added, "I asked them not to wake you up."
"Oh, I'm sorry –"
"Don't be. You were awake when it mattered. That's why I'm still here."
"No, you'd more likely than not be safe at home, if not for me; if I hadn't conducted myself like such a-a-a callous ignoramus–"
"Well, it sounds like you're back to your old self again," Jenny smiled.
Giles, however, persisted in taking blame upon himself. "Actually, I'm at a loss for words," he said (Jenny raised her eyebrows skeptically), "I-I don't think I can communicate my-my regret and-and shame over my recent actions. I was loathsome and-and unforgivable. I wouldn't blame you if –"
"Hey, cut it out. I'm forgiving you; get used to it. Blame yourself as much as you want, but I don't want to hear about it," Jenny said assertively. "In fact, I don't want to even talk about the whole ordeal ever again."
"Oh." Giles was puzzled. "Why?"
"Because," Jenny sighed, hesitating before deciding Giles was entitled to an explanation, "I'm not too proud of how I behaved either."
Giles looked even more confused than before.
"I was such an obedient, goody-two-shoes, weak-willed wimp –"
"No you weren't –"
"It doesn't matter. I cringe when I remember what I was like at sixteen. I never wanted anybody to know I used to be like that. So please, never mention it again."
Giles nodded, and for the first time seriously considered how opposed to her teenage self the Jenny he loved was. "What made you change?" he asked tentatively.
"I learned to think for myself."
Giles thought about this briefly before speaking again, "Uh, J-Jenny, wh-while I was I-in the, uh, waiting room, uh, waiting, I was thinking about, about us…"
"Oh?"
"…and about what I could do to-to, uh, make us, uh, work better… should I be so lucky to get that chance…" Giles looked away uncomfortably as he spoke.
"I guess I really was in a pretty bad way," Jenny muttered.
"And I-I think it would be, ah, beneficial if we had a-a schedule –"
"A schedule?" Jenny was taken aback by the suggestion, but also couldn't help but smile a little at the Gilesy-ness of it.
"Yes," he continued, turning a bit pink, "or-or-or, a-a certain time set aside during the week, to, uh spend time together… doing, uh, stuff," Giles finished awkwardly.
Jenny considered the proposition for a moment. "Good plan," she smiled, "count me in."
"Oh, good." Giles smiled, relieved. "I-I thought, um, Friday and Saturday evenings would be good…"
"Those are the nights traditionally set aside for dating," Jenny agreed teasingly.
"Oh, right, that's true," Giles smiled a bit at himself. He obviously hadn't thought of that fact until Jenny pointed it out.
"Why did you want to go out on those nights?" Jenny asked curiously.
"Because, uh, there usually seems to be less, ah, paranormal activity towards the end of the week, for some reason…. Is something funny?"
"No, I'm just happy to have my ever-practical Rupert Giles back," Jenny grinned.
After almost twenty-four hours of trying to prepare himself for the worst, Giles felt incredibly grateful just to be sitting next to Jenny. He wanted to tell so, but couldn't think of how to without sounding like an idiot. Jenny could see it in his eyes though. It was a look she had seen few times before; it was almost tragic and it tore at her heart.
"I love you, Rupert," she said with a small smile.
Giles couldn't reply; he was blinking back tears.
Goddess, I really must have been in a bad way, Jenny thought. She studied the hem of her blanket a while to give Giles time to compose himself. She supposed she could make more of an effort herself. She used to get involved a lot more in the whole team research and fighting thing. Since her experience with Angel last spring, however, she had tried to distance herself from all that, wanting to create a life apart from the violence and the horror. But boy, did that effort sure go nowhere. She knew it was impossible. She was in love with a Watcher; vampires, demons and monsters were going to be a permanent part of her life. Willow and Xander didn't let the life-threatening consequences stop them from being friends with Buffy, how could she let them stop her from being with Giles? Anyways, life always has its dangers, whether they're Hellmouth-born or not. She'd have to accept it and fight the good fight.
She glanced up at Giles, he looked as if he hadn't slept at all.
"You should go home, Rupert. Get some sleep," she said gently.
"I suppose I should," he replied but didn't move. He looked very reluctant to go anywhere.
"It's quarter to seven already –" Jenny told him, glancing at her bedside clock.
"What? At night?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, dammit. I didn't call in to school today. And Buffy has no idea what happened…"
"Then maybe you should go tell her."
"I suppose so…" Giles still had a hard time leaving. He brought Jenny's hand to his lips and kissed it before getting to his feet and heading out the door. Before he left he turned around and said, "So we're set for Friday night?"
"It's a date," Jenny grinned.
"Goodnight then."
"'Night."
And with one last small smile Giles left.
Jenny sighed and snuggled into her hospital bed. Despite the near-death experience her heart was lighter than it had been for weeks.
Giles, however, still had something to worry about. As soon as he left Jenny's room he became lost in thought, so much so that he didn't even notice the people he was passing in the hospital corridors until he heard someone call out, "Hey! Giles!"
Looking up he saw three familiar faces coming towards him. "Buffy! Willow, Xander. I'm sorry, I-I was, uh, preoccupied…. Uh, is-is something wrong, Willow?" She was looking him up and down in the most peculiar manner.
"What? Oh, no," she said, wide-eyed and rattled on, "it's just, you're not wearing tweed, or even a suit, I'm used to seeing you in a suit, and you're wearing, uh, jeans…"
Giles just looked at her. Willow could be so very odd at times.
"Didn't you go home last night, Giles?" Buffy asked, concerned.
"No, actually, something, uh, something happened… but why are you here? Is something wrong?" Giles asked in return, just as concerned.
"We don't know yet. We came looking for you."
"Oh!"
"Yeah, when you and Miss Calendar didn't show up today and weren't home we figured there were only so many places you could have gone –"
"We narrowed it down to three," Xander interjected. "I voted for checking out Vegas first. You know, in case you crazy kids had eloped, but these two buzz-kills chose the hospital."
"What was the third place?"
"The morgue. But we're all optimists." Xander smiled.
"So, what happened?" Buffy asked.
Giles explained about Jenny's close call. When he was done all three of the kids looked shaken.
"So, you're sure she's going to be alright?" Willow asked nervously.
"She seems quite herself, and the doctor said she'll make a full recovery."
"Good."
Xander tried to lighten the mood, "You're becoming quite an old hand at this life-saving thing, Giles. You'd better watch out for him, Buff, he's after you're job."
"Actually, would you two mind if I had a private word with Buffy?" Giles asked politely.
"We'll go tell Jenny to get well soon," Willow answered.
As she and Xander turned the corner, Willow glanced back at Giles and murmured more to herself than to anyone in particular, "I didn't even think Giles owned jeans…"
"The man wears denim, so what?" Xander replied.
Once the friends were gone, Giles turned sheepishly towards Buffy, "Uh, how's your mother?" he asked.
"Mortified. But I think she'll live."
"I-I was wondering, uh, if you could extend my apologies to her for-for being, uh…"
"A jerk-bag?" Buffy supplied helpfully.
Giles nodded, embarrassed.
"Will do. Don't be too hard on yourself though, okay? Spells happen. Just be glad I got to you two before you actually did anything."
"That's true."
"Did you tell Miss Calendar what happened?"
"No, and I don't ever intend to."
"Good. Now I have something to blackmail you with."
Giles just glared at Buffy, half in warning, half genuinely concerned.
"I'm kidding Giles!" Buffy grinned, rolling her eyes good-naturedly.
"Oh. Ha. Funny." Giles said nervously. "You know, I should be getting home now anyways."
"Good, you look like you need the sleep."
"Yes, eventually. But I have a spot of research to do first," he told her, looking over his shoulder as he left.
Buffy smiled and shook her head as she stared after him. Giles was definitely back to his old self.