Hey! Here's the third chapter of Trust Me. Make sure to read the latest update, ch.3 on Recipe for Disaster? I just posted that a couple days ago. So, enjoy the story, and I'll get all the next chapters out as soon as possible, but with six stories going on at the same time, it gets a little hard to update regularly.

Angel looked shocked when the doctor delivered his news. Then, he stood and left the hospital. Giles looked at the doctor apologetically and followed Angel. He found him against the side of the building trying to compose himself.

"Angel. Come back inside. She'll want to see you when everything's done. It wasn't your fault."

"She was my coach. I fired her because I wanted to be with Buffy and now she'll never get to skate again. This is the second time she's landed in the hospital because of me, Giles."

"I know. But that time was not your fault and neither is this. It was a horrible thing that Darla did to her, and I doubt she will ever be forgiven, but all in all, it was her doing and neither you, or Buffy had anything to do with her decision."

"Her mother is going to hate me."

"Joyce can be a little melodramatic, but I'm sure that, between the three of us, she'll be all right. And speaking of Joyce, I have to call her and a couple of Buffy's friends. I'm sure you know some of them. Cordelia Chase, Willow Rosenberg, Xander Harris, and Daniel Osbourne."

"Yeah, I know some of them. Xander, Willow and I used to train together when we were younger."

"Yes. Well, I have to get back inside and call Joyce. Please, do come with me. It's cold out here and you'll be sick."

Reluctantly, Angel followed his coach inside the building for the long wait. Hours later, the surgeon once again made an appearance with a somber look on his face. Angel and Giles, along with the new arrivals of Joyce, Cordelia, Wesley Pryce, Xander and Willow jumped up to go meet him.

"How is she?" Giles asked anxiously.

"The reconstructive surgeon came in right away to put her knee back together. The prognosis is not good. Dr. Southerland will be out shortly to fill you in on the details, but from my limited knowledge on the situation, I don't think that anything I told you earlier will change. As far as her head goes, we were able to drill the hole with no problem and we expect a full recovery in a few days. So, do you have any questions for me?"

"What will she have to do as far as physical therapy?" Wesley asked, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

"Well, as soon as her knee heals to an extent, we'll have her come here to the hospital for physical therapy three times a week to try and rebuild some of the muscle tissue that was damaged. During that time, we'll try to get her out of the wheelchair and onto crutches and eventually back onto her feet. But be prepared. It could be months or even a matter of years before she can walk without pain or the aide of a walker or crutches."

Angel finally spoke. "What are her chances of skating again?"

"In a few years she should be able to skate recreationally without any problems. I seriously doubt that she will skate professionally ever again. However, she may surprise all of us and skate again in a few years."

"What percentage of a chance does she have of going professional again?"

"Possibly a one to five percent chance."

Buffy became aware of her surroundings very slowly. She recognized the feel of a bandage covering her head and felt the breathing tube down her throat. She lifted her hand and saw several wires running from machines and an IV running into one of her veins. She felt heaviness on her knee and heard the whir of several machines as they made sure everything inside her was operating correctly. She heard shoes click against the floor and opened her eyes. A nurse was entering her room with a tray.

"Well hello there. It's good to see you awake. You've been asleep a long time. Let me go call your doctor and then we'll get those tubes out and move you into your room. How's that sound?"

Buffy, finding that the tube running down her throat inhibited her speech, could only nod. The nurse offered one last, bright smile and left the room. She heard voices in the hallway, and then three people walked in. She recognized the doctor from the emergency room, but the other woman who had come in was a stranger to her.

"Hello Buffy, I'm Dr. Williams. I took care of you last night. This is a colleague of mine Dr. Southerland. She helped me put your knee back together. Do you remember what happened to you?"

Buffy nodded. Dr. Williams moved around her and gently took the breathing tube out of her throat. "Darla." She croaked, using her voice for the first time in hours.

"Yes. She hurt you pretty badly. I'm going to tell you all about it, but not right now. Right now you need to rest and concentrate on getting better. We'll give you something to help you sleep and when you wake up we'll have a talk, okay?"

"No sleep." Buffy insisted. "What….happened to my—knee?" she managed to get out, despite her inability to form many coherent thoughts.

"You have some muscle and tendon damage. It'll take a while to heal, but we expect a good recovery."

"Tell me the truth."

"When we get you settled I'll tell you everything I promise. You just need to rest right now."

"Is everyone here?"

"Your family? Yes. Your boyfriend is here as well."

"Can I see them?"

"In a while. You need to rest, if not sleep, right now. You're in no condition for visitors."

"Then tell me what happened. You're my doctors, not visitors."

"We will. As soon as you get a little rest and get some of your strength back."

"Look, either you tell me what's wrong with me or you go get my parents and Angel and bring them back. Hell, I wouldn't mind if you let everyone waiting for news on me come back and see me. I don't want to sleep and I don't want to rest. All I want to know is what the heck happened to me when Darla attacked me. So, who's going to tell me? One of you or one of them people in the waiting room?"

Dr. Williams sighed and pushed her bed further down the hall. "All right Buffy, let's go through this little by little. You were attacked at the skating rink by your boyfriend's former coach Darla. She hit you in the side of the had with the blade of her skate and put a deep laceration in the side of your head, giving you the concussion that's giving you that headache that I know you have. When you went down she got in one more good hit to the back of your knee. It cut through a great deal of tendons and muscle tissue. The damage was nearly irreparable, but Dr. Southerland, put you back together pretty nicely. However, the damage done to the tendons and ligaments is very severe. It will probably be a matter of weeks before you can walk on crutches or with a walker and then possibly months after that before you can walk completely unaided. After that, the healing process should speed up again and we expect a near full recovery within a year's time. However, it is the opinion of the medical staff here, that you won't be able to skate in any more competitions. You may be able to coach or skate recreational purposes, but your knee is too damaged for it to take the stresses of skating professionally and competitively."

Buffy gasped and felt tears begin to gather behind her eyes. "Are you sure? I mean, you could be wrong, right? I've heard about people who were told they'd never walk again, and live completely normal lives now. Lives that involve walking and running. Isn't there a chance that I could go professional again?"

"There's a chance, yes. But in your case, I don't think that it will ever happen. The tendons are too badly damaged, and they won't heal properly because of the way they tore and how we had to piece them back together. I think it would be best for you to accept the fact that skating is out, and concentrate on simply being able to walk again. That would be in your best interest."

Buffy hung her head for a moment, then looked up at the doctors. "Would you please send for my stepfather and my boyfriend? I would like to see them, and whoever else is in the waiting room now."

"You need to rest."

"I DO NOT NEED TO REST! I NEED TO SEE MY FAMILY! GOT IT?" Buffy yelled. Everyone in the waiting room heard her and burst out laughing.

"That's my girl." Giles said proudly. Angel smiled and walked over to the nurses' station.

"Excuse me, seeing as how Buffy seems to want all of us to join her in her room, can we go back and see her? Only for a minute or so."

The nurse seemed to think heavily for a minute. "Okay. But be quiet and don't upset her. She has a serious head injury, and we don't want to put any unnecessary stress on her."

"Thank you. Umm, guys? We can go back."

Giles led the way, Joyce close behind, and Angel not far behind her. Xander, Cordelia, Willow, and Wesley followed. Drs. Williams and Southerland looked surprised to see all of them and tried to block their paths. Giles simply shouldered them out of the way and walked into Buffy's room with the rest of the party in tow. Buffy sat up as they walked in and managed a small smile.

"I was wondering when you'd ask for us." Giles teased, leaning down to hug her and kiss her forehead. Buffy giggled.

"They wouldn't listen to me, and seeing you guys wasn't an unreasonable request."

"Honey, are you all right? Do you need anything? What did the doctor tell you? How do you feel? When are they going to let me take you home?"

"Fine, no, I won't ever skate again, sore and awful, and I don't know."

Joyce, too, gave Buffy a hug and kissed her forehead before moving aside to let Angel take her place. "Hey. I won't bother asking how you feel, because I already know the answer." He said, kissing her lightly on the lips.

"Better already." Buffy whispered so only he could hear her. "How long was I out?"

"About twelve hours. We were in that waiting room a long time." Cordelia complained, examining a fingernail. Wesley elbowed her. "But we didn't mind. Your health and life is much more important than our comfort." She said, then added in a low voice to her boyfriend, "Was that okay?"

Wesley simply nodded, and also moved in to hug Buffy. "And don't worry about dealing with those doctors. I'll have you on your feet in no time. My clinic in New York is open, and we can work on rehab every day just as soon as you feel like it." He assured her.

"I love you Wesley. It's such a good thing you're a doctor. I was worried about PT here. I don't like the doctors very much. They seem to be stuck up and more intent on not telling me what's wrong, then helping me fix what's wrong. You know what I mean?"

Angel nodded. "I think we've all been there at one point or another. And remember, they told you that you wouldn't skate professionally after you got shot and you won an Olympic gold since then."

Buffy looked at everyone in the room with steel in her eyes. "I swear to you all, I will beat this. With God as my witness I will skate in another Olympics. And by God I will get another gold."

Well, what did you think? This is an unusually short chapter for me, but I just wanted to prove that I do update my stories, and two in one week should do that. So, review, review, review!