Title: The Night That Changed Everything
Chapter: 12
Author: Neamh1
Disclaimer: Not Mine
AN: OOHHH getting there, hope you guys enjoy this chapter, one more to come! happy reading...
Angel arrived at the hospital and waited patiently as the nurse behind the main desk finished her phone call. Honestly he didn't know what he was going to say to Buffy when he saw her. 'Hi honey, how's our baby' didn't really seem like the best thing. The nurse finished her call and he gave her Buffy's details, waiting as she looked through the computer and gave him the room number.
"The doctor would like to speak with you first before you go to see her. If you'll go up to the third floor and go into waiting room he'll be in with you shortly." Angel nodded and followed the nurses instructions and thankfully the doctor didn't take long to come to him.
"Mr. O'Connor?"
"Yes, how is she?" Angel asked; his first concern was how she had come to have amnesia.
"Well she seems to be suffering from global amnesia, which is the total memory loss. This may be a defence mechanism that occurs after a traumatic event. The police mentioned that she was kidnapped? It's likely that this is the event that her mind is trying to forget. There isn't anything we can do for her but you should know that post-traumatic stress disorder could also involve the spontaneous, vivid retrieval of unwanted traumatic memories. It is important that she's not left alone for long periods of time. Surrounding her by familiar things is likely to trigger these memories and bring them to the surface. Her pregnancy is causing...complications. She's just past her due date and we don't want to cause stress to the baby so we need her as calm and relaxed as possible, the return of one of these memories could cause problems and result in an emergency C-section at worst."
"What do I need to do then? I can't leave her here." Angel said, trying to let all the information soak in.
"No, but when you get her home try to keep her in the house. Don't take her to places that she often visits, just until after the birth. I've spoke with her Doctor, err you're sister, and she's suggested that you might speak with Buffy about going in within the next few days and inducing her labour."
"Is that safe?" Angel had no experience with these things but if his sister thought it was best then it probably was.
"I'd say it was the safest thing to do but you can speak with her later when you get back to L.A. Dr O'Connor has asked that you take Buffy to see her the day after you arrive back home. Miss Summers is ready to go home now if you want to go and collect her. If you have any more questions before you go I'll be around for the next hour, ask the nurse on reception to page me."
"Thank you doctor." Angel said as the doctor left him alone in the room. Not only had he gotten Buffy back but also in a couple of days he could be holding his child. The news was a bit too much all at once and he took a few moments for himself before seeking out her room. He knocked on the door softly before entering, not wanting to intrude on her if she was resting. Popping his head around the door he smiled cautiously at her as he entered. She was sitting up on the edge of the bed apparently waiting for him.
"Hi." He said, not knowing what else to say.
"Hi." she replied.
They stood in silence for a few moments, trying to get past the awkwardness of the situation. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah, I guess, should I get some things from the house first or...or is all my stuff back at my house?" She asked and noticed that he winced. "What?" She knew there was something he wasn't telling her.
"Maybe we should just go and I'll tell you later after you've rested and we're home." Angel said, not wanting to upset her by having to explain what Riley had done to her home. In her eyes Riley was the man who had cared for her for the past five or six months and she was being told all these awful things about him. He just hoped that she didn't hate him for telling her the truth when it finally all came out.
"No, tell me now." She said leaving no room for argument.
"Well it's just that you've been living with me because there was a problem with your house."
"What problem?"
"It got...burned down."
"What?!" She leaned back more onto the bed and put her hands to her head, "How? No don't answer that, I suppose Riley did it right?" She had only learned a little about what had happened, that Riley had apparently kidnapped her and that she was a friend with Liam O'Connor and that he had found her and tried to rescue her. The police had said that they were keeping Riley in custody until he could be questioned further.
"I'm, sorry. I have a lot of your things at my place though. You'd already moved in before it happened and got the majority of your things. You can look trough them when we get back. And I know Faith would love to see you."
"Who's Faith?" Buffy asked, assuming that it was either family or friends but wanting to clarify.
"She's your best friend, and she's in a relationship with my best friend, that's how we met, well sort of."
He said with a lopsided grin that caused butterflies in her stomach. "Anyway, I need to call Spike to get
him to come and collect us. We'll just need to make a quick stop at the hotel before we head back, if we
leave now we can get back at about nine if the traffics not bad."
"Okay," she said taking a deep breath, "let's go." She said and followed him out of her room and down to the reception area where he used the phone to call Spike.
"He'll be here in a few minutes, do you want to wait in here, it's pretty cold outside," he asked, worrying about her health and that of his child's.
"No, I need to get some fresh air, besides I hate hospitals." she said and they walked outside to wait.
"Do I know Spike?" she asked, the name meaning nothing to her, but then again neither did Liam's.
"No, he's a PI I hired to find you after the cops came up blank. It took him a while but we found you." He smiled to her. He wanted so badly to take her in his arms and just hold her but he didn't want to scare her.
"Liam?" she asked, she didn't know if she really wanted to know the answer to this question but she had to ask.
"Yeah?" he answered.
"I need to know something and I want you to tell me the truth, do you know who the father of my child is?" She watched as he averted his eyes for a moment then looked back to her.
"Me." he said simply and she nodded having the slightest feeling that it seemed right.
"And... are we together?" she asked, needing to know her situation.
"I'm not sure that we should be discussing this Buffy, the doctor said-"
"Screw the doctor!" she shouted, he reached out quickly when he saw her sway, his arms wrapped around her waist he steadied her.
"Are you alright?" he asked worried and about to shout for a doctor to help them.
"I'm fine, just a little emotional right now so tell me what I asked." she snapped at him as she pushed his arms away and stood on her own steadily.
"We, we were getting there but it was complicated. We went out together and the night was perfect and then my sister showed up and she slipped up that you were pregnant with my baby. You ran off upset and that was the last time I saw you before today." he said.
Neither of them said anything more and when Spike arrived Angel opened the back door for Buffy. They both got inside and Spike drove them back to the hotel in silence. Buffy waited in the car whilst he ran up to the room and grabbed his things, he was back into the car in minutes and they were on there way to L.A...to home.
"Do you think there's enough balloons?" Faith asked Gunn as she threw yet another one onto the floor of Angel's apartment.
"I think if you put any more balloons in here Buffy's going to fall over as soon as she walks in and decide that she doesn't like you before she can remember how wonderful you are." Fred said laughing.
"I don't know what else to do." she said, slumping down on the sofa.
"You don't need to do anything else, this is enough." Gunn said.
They all heard a key turning in the door and they jumped up, Faith flicked the lights off and went to hide behind the sofa with Gunn and Fred. Angel walked into the apartment first followed by Buffy and when he turned the lights on they all jumped up from behind the sofa, Faith and Fred shouted Welcome Home! And nearly startled Buffy into labour.
"Faith?" she whispered to Angel.
"Faith." he confirmed with a smile.
"And the other one?"
"My sister Fred, the guys Charles Gunn." Faith ran around and gave Buffy a huge hug, "God I'm glad you're home, and look at you, you're the size of a house!" she said checking out Buffy's huge belly.
"Thanks, I think." Buffy replied with a nervous smile at the three people she didn't know staring at her.
A fourth person appeared in the doorway, a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes entered the apartment saying hello to everyone. "Glad to see you back Buffy." She said, "Sorry, I'm Kate, we've met before."
"Hi." Buffy replied.
"Hi Buffy, how are you feeling?" Fred said as she came up to Buffy and placed a hand on her stomach.
"I'm fine." Buffy said feeling a little uncomfortable with all these unknown people touching her.
"We've done food, we thought you might be a little hungry after your drive." Faith said taking Buffy's hand and pulling her over to the sofa, the food was piled on Angel's coffee table.
"Thanks," Buffy said as Faith piled a plate high with food and handed it to her.
"Angel, come sit down." Fred said when she noticed her was the only one standing still.
"I will in a minute, I just want to go and change." He disappeared into his bedroom and pushed the door shut.
Dumping his bag on the bed he rubbed his hands over his face. He was tired and all he'd wanted to do was be alone with Buffy. Instead he had come home to an apartment full of people, people they both loved and considered family. He felt bad for wanting them all to leave; he hadn't really spent much time with them in the last few months, as he'd kind of cut himself off from everything. He really should go back outside and have some food with them but his bed looked so tempting.
"Don't you dare." He turned around and saw Buffy standing inside his room by the door; she closed it behind her.
"I'm sorry, what?" he asked, not sure what she was talking about.
"You were thinking about going to sleep and leaving me outside with them." She accused and he began to protest but stopped and nodded when he saw the look on her face.
"I just didn't expect this, and I'm tired, PI work is tiring," he said sitting down on the bed.
"Do you want to ask them to leave?" she asked, joining him. She was starting to feel more comfortable around him; it had begun in the car on the way back to L.A. It was like she felt that he remembered the feeling of being in his presence but couldn't remember him.
"No, they've gone to a lot of hard work, it wouldn't be fair." he said, "Are you tired, did you want to go
to bed?"
"I'm all right yet, honestly that food is really great and I am starting to get hungry again. I'll have some
more and then go to sleep I think. Are you going to come out with me?" She asked.
"Come on then." he said, getting up form the bed and offering her his hand. She took it after only a moment of hesitation and they went back outside to celebrate with their friends.
"Buffy...are you up yet?" Angel called through her door the next morning. He had made an appointment with Fred for ten o'clock that morning and it was nearly nine now.
"No, I'm sleeping, come back later." she called and he smiled.
"We have to get ready, we're supposed to be at the hospital in less than an hour."
"Can't we go later? I'm tired, it's way too early to get up." she wined yawning. She got even worse at getting up in the mornings since she was pregnant. The first night she could remember she had only been a small way along and she was okay getting up early but recently she would have never gotten up before at least ten thirty.
"No we can't, you promised Fred remember?" he called back. "I'll start the shower running for you so hurry up or you'll be taking a cold one." He heard her groan but then heard her pottering around in the bedroom so he went and started running the water and then went to his room to change.
They had spoken with Fred last night about inducing labour and Buffy wasn't keen on the idea. She'd seemed terrified of the birth and had gripped Angel's hand whilst Fred had talked her through things. They had agreed to go to the hospital today so that Fred could check her over and see if it was time to start Buffy off or if she needed a little more time to give the baby for coming on his or her own.
Buffy had finally gotten ready that morning and they had made it to the hospital ten minutes late but Angel was just glad that he had gotten her there. Fred had called them in straight away; she'd been waiting for them and had started to get worried.
"Hi Buffy, do you want to go and change into the gown and we'll check you over? Give me a shout when you're ready." Fred said and Buffy disappeared form her office into the examination room.
"How did she sleep?" Fred asked, still a little worried.
"Like a log, I couldn't get her up this morning, she wanted to stay in bed."
"Kate called me this morning; she said she couldn't get hold of you. She wanted me to tell you that they have Riley in custody but he's causing problems. He's gotten himself a good lawyer and they can't hold him for more than 24 hours without evidence that he kidnapped Buffy." Fred said, knowing that the news was not going to please her brother.
"So what is she going to do? She can't just let him go, what is he comes after Buffy, again? She's pregnant! And I only just got her back..."
"Don't worry about it. Kate said if it comes down to that she'll have an officer placed outside your apartment just to be safe and they'll keep tabs on Riley. There really isn't anything she can do, she's bound by law." Buffy stuck her head out and told Fred that she was ready.
"Are you doing a scan?" Buffy asked when Fred reached the door.
"Yeah, we'll just take a look at the baby and see how it's doing."
"Has Angel seen the baby yet? On scan I mean?" Buffy asked, shooting a quick glance to him; he was sitting behind Fred's desk still but couldn't hear them.
"No, he didn't know the last time I saw you and you've been...gone since then." Fred replied.
"Okay, you go in, I'll be in in just a second." Buffy said and waited until Fred had gone in and closed the door. Taking a deep breath she walked to Angel and placed her hand on his shoulder. He turned in surprise and frowned when he found her looking down at him.
"What's wrong? Are you all right?" he asked, worried and wondering why she wasn't already in with Fred.
"I'm fine, you worry too much." she smiled, "I wanted to ask if you wanted to come in with me and see the baby." She was unsure of what his reaction was going to be and he could tell.
Angel stood up and pulled her into his arms for a hug then whispered in her ear, "Thank you."
"Buffy...are you ready?" Fred called form the door.
"We're ready." Buffy said. She took Angel's hand and they walked through together into the examination room. Buffy lay down on the bed and Fred applied the cold liquid to her belly.
Angel watched in fascination as Fred moved the stick around Buffy's belly and a video of the baby came up on the monitor. The baby moved around and Fred took pictures and he looked back to Buffy's stomach and saw the movements on the outside as well and he smiled.
"Okay, everything seems fine. I think we can hang on a couple of more days, let's book you in for Wednesday next week and that gives you a good 8 days extra. If you have any concerns though then come straight in, I'd like to see you every couple of days for a check so come in the day after Thursday." Fred said, making some notes.
"Fred, don't you think we should do this sooner, the doctor in Sunnydale said..."
"Angel, I'm her doctor aren't I?" Angel nodded, knowing that he was going to get one of his sisters speeches that she was the doctor in the family not him. "Well then, could you trust that I'm going to take care of her please; I'm the doctor not you. Now out so Buffy can change into her clothes."
Buffy changed her clothes and they left the hospital together. As they headed to the car Buffy asked him a question, "How come your sister, Faith and Gunn call you Angel? I thought your name was Liam."
He smiled to her and explained, again. "It's my first name, I use my middle name Liam, but my family and close friends call me Angel."
"Do I call you Angel?" she asked, not wanting overstep her boundaries without checking if it was okay first.
"You did." He said, "But it's okay if you don't want to at the moment, I understand."
"No, I mean, it's okay. I feel like I know you, I feel comfortable around you, at least now I know that your not trying to kidnap me." she laughed nervously.
"Angel?"
"Yeah?"
"Why do all these bad things keep happening to me?" His heart ached for her and he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side. She came willingly and he held her close as they walked the
rest of the way to the car.
"It ends today, you're safe now and I'm going to take care of you...if you'll let me," he added as an afterthought. She might not want him to take care of her, she didn't really remember him, and she might feel as though he was pushing things too fast but to his relief she put her arm around his waist.
"I'd like that." she said.
TBC…
