When Buffy and Pat returned to Willow's room, Xander and Anya were back outside on the hallway, having traded places with Dawn and Giles; smiling, Buffy sat down next to them and started to explain her plan after she had let them know about the information Pat had given her on the whole situation, the demon standing at the wall this time, her arms crossed over her chest, her gaze from time to time moving to the door which led to Willow's room.
"You'll stay here with Willow tonight", Buffy gained her attention moments after she had finished explaining to Xander and Anya, "to make sure there won't be another attack… I doubt it'll happen so shortly after the first one, but better to be safe than sorry, right?"
"Right", Pat agreed, thankful that the Slayer had chosen her to stay here; Buffy smiled knowingly at her, then let her know that she'd make sure the doctor wouldn't give them any flack about her staying during the night, asking Xander and Anya to explain their plan to Giles and Dawn as soon as they'd come out of the room while she'd go and talk to the doctor.
Not long after she had left, the Watcher and Dawn left the room, joining the couple on the hallway; immediately, Pat moved inside again, having no interest in hearing that plan for the third time, her desire to be with Willow again by now too big to be ignored.
"Poor you", she still observed while she closed the door behind her, then made her way to the bed, sitting down at the chair next to it, "you must feel as if you're in an airport or something, with people constantly coming and going…"
"It's okay", Willow gave back, smiling at her, the smile much more convincing than the ones she had given her right after waking up. "They're people I like… But all that talking made me thirsty…"
"Wait, I'll get you some water", the demon immediately offered, jumping up from her chair so fast she nearly knocked it over; she hurried to the washbasin, filling up the plastic cup which had been provided for this purpose there, returning to the bed afterwards, appearing slightly helpless once she sat down again.
"Um… You need help with that…?" she then asked, sounding so awfully insecure that it touched Willow's heart; smiling, she shook her head and sat up carefully again, briefly grimacing at the pain flashing up at her bruised ribcage, then took the glass from her girlfriend and emptied half of it at once, a satisfied burp escaping her afterwards, causing her to cover her mouth in embarrassment.
"Manners", Pat smirked, the redhead coughing in reply before she put the cup on her nightstand, then leaned back into the pillow again; as soon as she had made herself comfortable again, the demon grasped her hand and held it tenderly, to the redhead's relief not appearing as upset anymore as she had when she had been here with her the first time.
"Buffy told me what your doctor said", she stated, moving her free hand to caress Willow's hair once more, briefly making the redhead wonder why she seemed so keen on doing that. "That you're not badly hurt, but that they want to keep you here for the night…"
"Yeah", the witch grumbled in reply, clearly displeased by the thought, "that sucks… I wanted to spend the night at your place, with you…"
"Well, we can't be naughty here", Pat smirked in reply, "but I'll stay here with you…" At the surprised look Willow gave her in reply, she quickly explained what Buffy had come up with; after thinking about it for a while, the redhead nodded her agreement, figuring that it was probably the best plan they could come up with at such short notice, and with no real possibility to find the ones who had hurt her.
"You know, a trip to a house in the countryside sounds like an amazing idea", she smiled once she had thought this through and had agreed with it, "we should do this again when this business is finished, but just the two of us…"
"Sounds like a good idea indeed", Pat smirked, "but for now you should focus on getting better…"
"You behave as if I was in a coma or something", the witch gave back, smiling warmly to make the words sound less harsh. "That's sweet… But I told you, I'm not badly hurt, I'll be allowed to go home tomorrow…"
"Yeah, thank God", the demon sighed out in reply, then rose from her chair so she could bend over the redhead, kissing her cheek tenderly, still mindful of her split lip; apparently, Willow wasn't satisfied with this though, since she turned her head right after the demon had moved back again, gently pulling her back down so she could kiss her properly, the feeling of the taller woman's lips on hers once more causing all her pain to fade away.
Even though the doctor at first had protested Buffy's request to let Pat stay over night, he had given in after some – non-violent – persuasion from the Slayer; still he had tried to avoid it by telling the demon that no free bed was available, but the black haired woman had, to his dismay, reassured him that this was no problem and that she'd be perfectly fine with the chair the hospital had provided.
"You seriously want to spend the night sitting in that chair?" Willow demanded to know as soon as the doctor had left, frowning; shrugging, Pat sat down in said chair again, making herself comfortable by shifting around on it a little bit, folding her hands behind her head as soon as she was satisfied with the way she was sitting.
"It's not like I've got much of a choice", she then gave back, raising an eyebrow at the mischief sparkle that appeared in the witch's eyes in response. "Oh, no", she quickly spoke on as she realized where this might lead, "Willow, no, that's a bad idea…"
"Why?" the redhead gave back innocently, "I'm not hooked up to any machines or something, so there's no danger of you ripping anything out of my skin…"
"Urgh", the demon grimaced in reply, "thanks for that detailed mental image… But still… That bed's for one person. Too narrow for two. I might fall out… or, even worse, you might fall out. You're hurt enough already, I don't want to make it even worse by throwing you out of bed."
"We'll just have to cuddle then", Willow shrugged in reply, obviously not willing to give in. "I doubt sleeping in that chair can be good for your back", she went on, her next words making the demon puff. "Don't forget you're two hundred and forty years old…"
"Two hundred and thirty eight", Pat corrected, "that's young for a demon! I don't have back problems."
"Not yet", Willow went on teasing her, smirking when the taller woman huffed again, crossing her arms and giving the witch a dirty look afterwards.
"Watch your tongue, young lady", she then stated, the redhead noticing though that she was struggling to hold back a smile as well, only to nearly choke a second later at what Willow said next. "Should I? You liked what I did with it last night…"
"Shhht", the demon hissed, even flailing her hands at her, looking so shocked that Willow was forced to hold back laughter, even though she was a bit surprised herself at her behaviour – just a year ago, saying something like that would have been unthinkable to her. "What if someone outside hears?"
"They are all grown people", the redhead giggled in reply, absurdly satisfied with the fact that she actually had managed to freak her girlfriend out like that. "I'm sure they know what two grown women are doing in bed together…"
"But there's no need to point it out to them like that", Pat huffed, making Willow giggle again; as soon as she had calmed down again, she leaned towards the taller woman as far as she dared, taking a tender hold of her hand again and cooing "Awwww", the noise being enough to quickly make Pat smile again as well.
"No matter how much you coo now", she still was stubborn about the topic of sharing the hospital bed with her girlfriend, "that won't make me join you in that bed…"
"Fine", Willow gave in surprisingly fast, making the demon raise an eyebrow as she hadn't really expected the witch to accept this so quickly, "slumber in that chair then, if you insist… But you'll at least hold me until I fall asleep, right?"
"Of course", Pat gave back, even though she wondered if this was just another way to get her into the bed; then, she shrugged it off and smiled lovingly at the redhead, making her smile back immediately, the two just sitting there for a while and looking each other, glad that Willow hadn't been hurt too badly and that everything soon would be fine again.