Spoiled & Rotten
Chapter Eight
The trio stood outside the hospital, glancing
around for anything out of place. Everything seemed normal.
Angel gestured to Xander and the young man
headed towards the front entrance. As Spike took a step to follow him inside,
Angel grabbed him by the arm. He leaned down and whispered softly in his ear.
"Anything goes wrong, you grab Xander and get the hell out of there."
Spike looked up at him, surprised. "But the
Slayers—"
Angel shook his head. "Let me worry about
Buffy and Faith. You watch Xander. First sign of trouble, you grab him and get
out fast."
Spike nodded slowly and started to walk inside.
"Don't you go getting yourself killed either,
Will."
Spike froze for a moment as he heard the soft
voice call out after him. Then he just continued on into the hospital, not letting
himself think about it, as he caught up with Xander.
The two of them entered the hospital room.
It was utterly silent, save the whirring and beeping of the monitors. Giles
sat alone staring at the tiny blonde figure lying motionless on the bed. Faith
lay unattended in her hospital bed, just on the other side of the curtain.
Xander jumped as Giles broke the silence,
unexpectedly, his voice harsh with worry and grief. "She's so still. I don't
think I can recall a single moment when I ever saw her just be still. She seemed
in a constant state of motion to me." Giles glanced up at them. "I sent Joyce
home. I thought it best she not be here for this."
"Good plan. We need a place to hide.
Angel should be cutting the power any minute." Xander spied a door in the corner
and went to look. "Cool. It's a bathroom. C'mon Bottle Blond, we can wait in
here."
Spike grudgingly stepped inside the tiny room
and leaned against the far wall, pulling out a cigarette. Xander stepped inside
and shut the door behind him. As he turned, his hand reached forward and slapped
the cigarette from between Spike's lips.
"What was that for?" Spike snarled.
Xander motioned for him to keep his voice
down as he hissed, "This is a hospital, moron. You light a cigarette and 97
different alarms get set off."
"Someone staked me when I wasn't looking,
didn't they? 'Cuz this has to be my own personal version of Hell."
"Well, since I refuse to believe that my afterlife
would include you, I know I'm not dead. So the bad news, for both of us, is
you're still here on this earth."
"Yeah, I'm not quite the vamp you'd want around
for eternity, am I, Pet?" Spike asked slyly.
Xander opened his mouth to respond but fell
silent as the lights went out. They both listened intently as they heard a nurse
enter the outer room. "Is everything all right, Mr. Giles?"
They heard Giles respond, "They both seem
fine. Did the power go out?"
"Yes, I'm not sure what happened but we seem
to have a blackout. The backup generator will cover our critical systems but
no lights or non-essential equipment. If you'll excuse me, I need to check on
the other patients. I'll come back as soon as I'm done."
They waited for her footsteps to retreat and
then stepped out of the bathroom. Xander quickly went to the monitors. "Good,
none of it's working. Giles, detach the monitors from Buffy. I'll disconnect
Faith's."
Spike followed Xander and watched with interest
as he reached under Faith's hospital gown to remove the heart monitor from her
chest. He smirked at Xander, "Any opportunity to cop a feel, eh?"
Xander snorted, "Nothing I haven't seen before
and I'm sure as Hell not letting you get your hands on her. Chip or no chip."
"Oh, you've seen this one naked before? You
shagged a Slayer? Hmmm...something else you and the Poof have in common, I suppose."
He looked at Xander curiously. "So what was it like?"
"A train wreck." Xander replied matter of
factly as he kneeled down to unlock the wheels of Faith's hospital bed. "It
was fast and out of control and afterwards, there was nothing to show for it
but tangled limbs and questions." He pulled the bed away from the wall. "Help
me wheel this over to the door."
As Spike and Xander carefully moved the bed,
a large shadow filled the doorway. Giles glanced up and sighed in relief as
Angel stepped into the room. Angel looked down at the young woman in the bed
and his face softened for a moment. "Are we ready?"
"Did you get the transportation?" Xander asked
quietly, closely watching Angel and his reaction to seeing Buffy for the first
time.
Angel smiled faintly at him. "I 'borrowed'
two ambulances. If we move fast, we may be able to get them back here before
anyone notices they're gone. Let's go."
The four men quietly wheeled the beds out
of the hospital room. They communicated silently as they moved down the corridor
and out the rear entrance of the hospital. They loaded the Slayers inside the
two ambulances parked there.
As Giles climbed inside to sit with Buffy,
Angel tossed Spike the keys to the other vehicle. Xander moved to follow Spike
but was halted by Angel's hand as it covered his own.
"Be careful."
Xander grinned. "You know me."
"Yes, I do and so I repeat, be careful."
"Didn't know you cared, Deadboy."
"And you never will if you do something stupidly
heroic and get killed."
Xander's grin faded as he stepped closer to
Angel. His hand squeezed Angel's tightly. "Since you asked so nicely, I promise
not to get killed. Now you promise not to go running into any pointy wooden
objects and we should be even."
Angel traced his thumb in soft circles across
Xander's palm and was rewarded with the tiniest shiver from the mortal. He smiled
widely. "I'll see you in two hours, Harris." With a final squeeze, he let go
of Xander's hand and stepped into the ambulance.
Xander moved to the other vehicle, shoving
Spike roughly out of the driver's seat, not even paying attention to flurry
of protests his action inspired. He barely even heard Spike's monologue of outrage
as he pulled out of the parking lot and started on the circuitous route through
Sunnydale that Angel had mapped out. His mind was spinning, focused on a single
concept.
Two hours.