Part 45 - Bad News

"Come on Buff, stay with me," Xander begged as he ran all the
way to the emergency room with Buffy in his arms. "You promised
you wouldn't do this without talking to us first, now don't you
DARE leave me!" he yelled.

He finally got to the emergency room. "SOMEONE HELP US!" he
yelled, hoping one of the busy doctors or nurses would hear his
plea. A nurse ran up and grabbed a gurney on her way over.

"Please help her," Xander begged the woman as he laid Buffy on
the bed.

"How--" the nurse pulled the towel away from Buffy's neck and
nodded with a sigh. She called over a doctor who immediately
rolled Buffy down the hall, yelling for a couple more nurses to
follow him.

The nurse grabbed Xander's arm and kept him from following. "You
can't go in there 'til we get her stable."

"But--

"It's not up for debate," she cut Xander off. "I promise she's
in good hands; we'll do everything we can to help her. Is any of
that blood yours?" she indicated the blood stain on Xander's
shirt.

Xander looked down, he hadn't even noticed it. "No," he replied
with a shrug.

"Okay, I won't ask you what happened because I've seen too much
of this kind of thing not to know. Sit down before you fall
over," she urged Xander over to a chair. When Xander had obeyed,
she sat down next to him. "Now, is there anyone I need to call?
Her family?"

"I..." Xander trailed off. "I'll do it," he mumbled.

"Are you sure?" the woman eyed him worriedly.

"Yes," Xander nodded. Strangely enough he did feel fine. He knew
he should have been freaking out and crying or screaming but he
felt exactly the opposite. Calm. "I'm fine. Go help Buffy."

"All right. I'll come back the minute we know anything," the
nurse said, then ran off down the hall.

Xander got up and walked over to a payphone. He dialed Joyce's
number first. He checked his watch as he did, it was 9:30 pm. He
hung up before she answered though, he couldn't do that. Telling
her over the phone would be too cruel. He called Giles instead.
Giles could go get her in person and bring her to the hospital.

"Hello? Giles, it's Xander. I..." he realized what he was
calling to tell him then and leaned on the wall to steady
himself. "I'm at the emergency room. Yes, she did," he sighed,
Giles had guessed immediately what had happened to Buffy. "She's
okay...I think. I just...Go tell Joyce, would you? I didn't
think she should hear over the phone.... I'll call Willow, just
go get Joyce."

He hung up the phone and took a few deep breaths before calling
Willow. The reality of the situation hadn't hit him until
talking to Giles. Hearing the pain in the other man's voice had
made it clear that this wasn't a dream. He wasn't going to wake
up and find Buffy still lying safe in his arms.

He shook away those thoughts as the tears threatened to come;
and he dialed Willow's number. "Wills it's me. I'm at the
emergency room with Buffy..." He couldn't fight the tears after
he heared Willow's panicked voice. "I don't know," he whispered
in response to Willow's question whether Buffy was all right.
"She lost so much blood," his voice caught in a sob. Willow told
him she'd be right there and Xander hung up the phone.

"This ISN'T happening. This isn't happening, this isn't
happening..." he chanted through his tears as he slumped down to
sit on the floor, his head in his hands.

***********

"XANDER!" Xander's head shot up at Willow's yell. She saw him
and rushed over. She dropped to her knees and hugged him. "She's
going to be okay," she said more calmly than she felt.

"You don't know that," Xander replied, fresh tears falling then.
"You didn't see--"

"Hush," Willow cut him off. "Xander, she needs us to believe
she's coming back."

Xander looked up to see Giles and Joyce speaking to a nurse.
Joyce was crying and holding onto Giles tightly. He then noticed
Oz standing near him and Willow. Xander stood and helped Willow
to her feet. He then walked over to a row of chairs and sat
down. Willow hovered nearby but didn't sit, Oz moved to put his
arm around her waist.

Giles and Joyce walked over then and Giles said, "They've moved
her upstairs. She's stable but she hasn't woken up yet. They'll
let us in to see her, one at a time, in about an hour."

Xander nodded, he felt a little relieved at the news. Stable was
good, but he wished she were awake. Joyce sat next to him and he
looked up at her. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know she was gone, I
should've stopped her--" He looked away from her and brushed
away his tears.

"Don't you dare," Joyce said and put her hand on his arm. He
looked back at her and she added, "You, Alexander Harris, are
the best thing that's ever happened to my little girl. I don't
blame you for this, you will NOT blame yourself either. That's
an order. " She pulled him to her and hugged him as they both
cried.

****************