CHAPTER NINE: WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?
I woke up in a hospital bed, in a hospital gown, in a hospital room, in a hospital (go figure.) I looked around, and sat up. Angel was in a chair against the wall. He was awake, and when he saw I was up, he smiled. My head felt pretty bad, and so did my neck where I'd been bitten.
"You're up." He said.
"And I'm not dead. What's up with that?"
"You were. You stopped breathing. Your heart stopped beating... I took you to the hospital anyway. They brought you back."
"How?"
"CPR."
"And the Master?"
"I took care of him."
"How?"
"As he was leaving, I snuck up behind him with the knife and decapitated him. He turned to dust, except for his bones, which I set on fire."
"Oh."
"How are you feeling?"
"Dizzy. My head kinda hurts."
"I'm not surprised."
"Am I still in Sunnydale?"
"No, I took you to a New York hospital."
"Ha ha. When do we go back?"
"They let you out tomorrow."
"Good. That's... good."
"You fought really well."
"You too. And hey, you killed the Master. Good for you." He stood up.
"Can I get you anything?"
"Something with caffeine would be great."
"I'll be right back." He left, and came back in a few minutes with a cup of coffee, which he handed to me.
"Thanks." I told him, taking a long drink. The caffeine almost instantly went to my head. "Whoa. Caffeine rush." He smiled. "You're being really quiet. What's going on?"
"It's nothing."
"No, it's something. Come on, who am I gonna tell?"
"I was just worried about you, that's all."
"I'm fine. Perky, dizzy, but fine."
"Still, you should take a few nights off when we get back to New York."
"That'd be nice. Only I'd have to deal with the foster fam, which is not so nice."
"What don't you like about them?"
"I just... don't. I can't explain it."
"That's fine. You don't need to."
"Thanks."
"For what?" He asked me.
"For everything. For helping to save my life, for listening, understanding... just being there."
"You're welcome."
~*~
We went back to New York the next day. We snuck onto the plane, in the baggage compartment, so that there would be no sunlight to set Angel on fire. He snuck on board by going under the plane's shadow, while I made sure the coast was clear. Then I jumped on board. We went to the very back of the compartment, and leaned against the bags and side of the plane. I wound up sleeping on the baggage the whole time, and Angel just sat there, and woke me up when we landed. I made some joke about turbulance before the flight took off, and how we'd be toast if there was any. I made Angel laugh. He could sometimes appreciate my humor, which was nice, as Dex couldn't, and neither could anybody else I knew.
We landed, and it was nighttime in New York, so there was no trouble with staying out of the sunlight. We went straight to the store, and told Dex everything that happened, and how Angel defeated the Master, and I'd died for about ten minutes. He was relieved to see me, he said, and congratulated Angel on killing the Master. Then Angel walked me home, and I climbed up the fire escape and went to sleep in my room.
The next morning, I went into the kitchen, drank some orange juice, and toasted a bagel. I was eating my bagel when Mary and Jeff came in the kitchen.
"Where were you?"
"We were so worried!"
"Where did you go?"
"Why didn't you call?"
I casually hopped off the counter, took my bag, and said,
"I was at a friend's house. I didn't call because it seemed irrelevant, and if you were worried, too bad." I walked out the front door. They'd get rid of me in time. I was too much stress.
~*~
A few nights later I went back to patrolling, but Angel insisted on coming with me every night. I told him just because I'd died once, there was no need to worry. He laughed, Dex said it wasn't funny, and Angel said that I couldn't stop him from tagging along. I was too lazy to oppose him.
One night, about a week after I had started patrol, I went alone in Central Park. A lot of the time, vampires and demons would bring people out there, say shit about what a nice night it was, then it was all fangs and blood and death. I saw one of these couples, and I could tell right away that it was the guy who was the vampire. They were standing on a bridge, and the girl was looking at the water, and the guy was behind her, holding her shoulders, looking at her neck. I tapped the guy on the shoulder, and he turned, right in time to meet my fist in his face. He was a vampire.
"Run." I told the girl. She did, after seeing the guy's face. I kicked him, and pulled out a stake. I jabbed him right in the heart, and he was dust.
"You shouldn't be out here alone." A voice said. I turned. Yes, it was Angel.
"You never showed up."
"You told me to meet you at the graveyard. Did you just want to ditch me?"
"I needed some time alone."
"It's too dangerous."
"I'm the slayer, everything's dangerous."
"That's not the point."
"Look, I died. I'm back, and I'm fine. Get over it."
"Would that be my exit cue?"
"No. I just don't always need you going all 'Big Brother is Watching You' all the time."
"Sorry,"
"S'ok."
"Good. Look, it's late. Do you want me to walk you home?"
"One more slay."
"On the way out of the park, if there's another slay, you'll slay."
"Let's just circle it one more-"
"I might not be a native New Yorker, but I do know how big Central Park is, and how long it takes to circle it."
"Come on, it's only-" I grabbed his wrist and checked his watch "Midnight."
"Your foster family will worry."
"I think they worried a bit more when I was on 'vacation' in Sunnydale."
"Doesn't mean they won't worry now."
"Look, they don't give a shit. If they really worried, they'd have called out the National Guard or the SWAT team or something. Besides, I don't care. Look, I'm staying out here, and there's nothing you can do about it. Besides, I kinda wanna avoid them tomorrow."
"You mean today?"
"Quit it with the technical."
"So, you don't want to go home."
"I'm not going home tomorr- today."
"How are you gonna sleep?"
"I could pull a hobo and crash on a bench. Or I could break into the bookstore and sleep there."
"Just crash at my place." Whoa. That was a little overboard.
"Y-You sure?"
"Yeah. If you want to avoid them, you can just stay at my apartment for a night. I'm not going to pull any stunts."
"You're not a stunt pulling kind of guy."
"So, you up for it?"
"I guess, sure." I was at a kind of comfort level where I could sleep on his couch, anyway. So, Angel and I started towards his apartment, away from my foster home.
AN: Oooh... "his place". continue or not to continue? you decide... read and review.
I woke up in a hospital bed, in a hospital gown, in a hospital room, in a hospital (go figure.) I looked around, and sat up. Angel was in a chair against the wall. He was awake, and when he saw I was up, he smiled. My head felt pretty bad, and so did my neck where I'd been bitten.
"You're up." He said.
"And I'm not dead. What's up with that?"
"You were. You stopped breathing. Your heart stopped beating... I took you to the hospital anyway. They brought you back."
"How?"
"CPR."
"And the Master?"
"I took care of him."
"How?"
"As he was leaving, I snuck up behind him with the knife and decapitated him. He turned to dust, except for his bones, which I set on fire."
"Oh."
"How are you feeling?"
"Dizzy. My head kinda hurts."
"I'm not surprised."
"Am I still in Sunnydale?"
"No, I took you to a New York hospital."
"Ha ha. When do we go back?"
"They let you out tomorrow."
"Good. That's... good."
"You fought really well."
"You too. And hey, you killed the Master. Good for you." He stood up.
"Can I get you anything?"
"Something with caffeine would be great."
"I'll be right back." He left, and came back in a few minutes with a cup of coffee, which he handed to me.
"Thanks." I told him, taking a long drink. The caffeine almost instantly went to my head. "Whoa. Caffeine rush." He smiled. "You're being really quiet. What's going on?"
"It's nothing."
"No, it's something. Come on, who am I gonna tell?"
"I was just worried about you, that's all."
"I'm fine. Perky, dizzy, but fine."
"Still, you should take a few nights off when we get back to New York."
"That'd be nice. Only I'd have to deal with the foster fam, which is not so nice."
"What don't you like about them?"
"I just... don't. I can't explain it."
"That's fine. You don't need to."
"Thanks."
"For what?" He asked me.
"For everything. For helping to save my life, for listening, understanding... just being there."
"You're welcome."
~*~
We went back to New York the next day. We snuck onto the plane, in the baggage compartment, so that there would be no sunlight to set Angel on fire. He snuck on board by going under the plane's shadow, while I made sure the coast was clear. Then I jumped on board. We went to the very back of the compartment, and leaned against the bags and side of the plane. I wound up sleeping on the baggage the whole time, and Angel just sat there, and woke me up when we landed. I made some joke about turbulance before the flight took off, and how we'd be toast if there was any. I made Angel laugh. He could sometimes appreciate my humor, which was nice, as Dex couldn't, and neither could anybody else I knew.
We landed, and it was nighttime in New York, so there was no trouble with staying out of the sunlight. We went straight to the store, and told Dex everything that happened, and how Angel defeated the Master, and I'd died for about ten minutes. He was relieved to see me, he said, and congratulated Angel on killing the Master. Then Angel walked me home, and I climbed up the fire escape and went to sleep in my room.
The next morning, I went into the kitchen, drank some orange juice, and toasted a bagel. I was eating my bagel when Mary and Jeff came in the kitchen.
"Where were you?"
"We were so worried!"
"Where did you go?"
"Why didn't you call?"
I casually hopped off the counter, took my bag, and said,
"I was at a friend's house. I didn't call because it seemed irrelevant, and if you were worried, too bad." I walked out the front door. They'd get rid of me in time. I was too much stress.
~*~
A few nights later I went back to patrolling, but Angel insisted on coming with me every night. I told him just because I'd died once, there was no need to worry. He laughed, Dex said it wasn't funny, and Angel said that I couldn't stop him from tagging along. I was too lazy to oppose him.
One night, about a week after I had started patrol, I went alone in Central Park. A lot of the time, vampires and demons would bring people out there, say shit about what a nice night it was, then it was all fangs and blood and death. I saw one of these couples, and I could tell right away that it was the guy who was the vampire. They were standing on a bridge, and the girl was looking at the water, and the guy was behind her, holding her shoulders, looking at her neck. I tapped the guy on the shoulder, and he turned, right in time to meet my fist in his face. He was a vampire.
"Run." I told the girl. She did, after seeing the guy's face. I kicked him, and pulled out a stake. I jabbed him right in the heart, and he was dust.
"You shouldn't be out here alone." A voice said. I turned. Yes, it was Angel.
"You never showed up."
"You told me to meet you at the graveyard. Did you just want to ditch me?"
"I needed some time alone."
"It's too dangerous."
"I'm the slayer, everything's dangerous."
"That's not the point."
"Look, I died. I'm back, and I'm fine. Get over it."
"Would that be my exit cue?"
"No. I just don't always need you going all 'Big Brother is Watching You' all the time."
"Sorry,"
"S'ok."
"Good. Look, it's late. Do you want me to walk you home?"
"One more slay."
"On the way out of the park, if there's another slay, you'll slay."
"Let's just circle it one more-"
"I might not be a native New Yorker, but I do know how big Central Park is, and how long it takes to circle it."
"Come on, it's only-" I grabbed his wrist and checked his watch "Midnight."
"Your foster family will worry."
"I think they worried a bit more when I was on 'vacation' in Sunnydale."
"Doesn't mean they won't worry now."
"Look, they don't give a shit. If they really worried, they'd have called out the National Guard or the SWAT team or something. Besides, I don't care. Look, I'm staying out here, and there's nothing you can do about it. Besides, I kinda wanna avoid them tomorrow."
"You mean today?"
"Quit it with the technical."
"So, you don't want to go home."
"I'm not going home tomorr- today."
"How are you gonna sleep?"
"I could pull a hobo and crash on a bench. Or I could break into the bookstore and sleep there."
"Just crash at my place." Whoa. That was a little overboard.
"Y-You sure?"
"Yeah. If you want to avoid them, you can just stay at my apartment for a night. I'm not going to pull any stunts."
"You're not a stunt pulling kind of guy."
"So, you up for it?"
"I guess, sure." I was at a kind of comfort level where I could sleep on his couch, anyway. So, Angel and I started towards his apartment, away from my foster home.
AN: Oooh... "his place". continue or not to continue? you decide... read and review.