The Streets of Heaven
A/N: Yet another response to Candle's challenge.
None of it is mine. Not any of the wrestlers, not the BtVS characters and not the song which is sung by Sherrie Austin.
I'm in a really sad mood today. It's not doing my song fics any good.
Hello God, it's me again. 2:00 a.m., Room 304.
Visiting hours are over, time for our bedside tug of war.
This sleeping child between us may not make it through the night.
I'm fighting back the tears as she fights for her life.
Well, it must be kind of crowded,
On the streets of Heaven.
The sniffling teenager pulled her tiny best friend to her. They'd always known she didn't like hospitals, but she'd never told them why. Willow dried her eyes before whispering, "Don't leave me, Buff. Please don't leave me."
On her other side, Xander was trying hard not to give into the tears he knew were about to flow. Sure, they'd always known that Buffy would be lucky to make it to see 18, but it had been a given that one night she'd go out on patrol and she wouldn't come back.
None of them had had any idea that a disease she'd fought in childhood would come back to haunt them.
So tell me: what do you need her for?
Don't you know one day she'll be your little girl forever.
But right now I need her so much more.
Joyce wasn't there; she was never there when Buffy needed her. It was just them. They'd set up camp in the L.A. hospital room.
Faith had wanted to stay with her as well, but the Hellmouth had to be kept subdued. The vamps were staying out of Faith's way for the most part. They'd heard that she was pissed as hell, and twice as violent. The death toll had fallen even more than normal in the past month and the vampires and demons' numbers had fallen sharply.
She hated that her sister was dying from an unbalanced immune system. It had something to do with not having enough red blood cells and too many white ones. She didn't understand it. She just knew that without a bone marrow transplant, B would die.
And it had been some relative of B's, who had given bone marrow the last time. The girl had died of mysterious causes less than a year later when she was seven.
She's much too young to be on her own:
Barely just turned seven.
So who will hold her hand when she crosses the streets of Heaven?
He stood in the doorway to his little cousin's room. His aunt had called him to tell him that it had happened again. And Celia wouldn't be able to give the needed bone marrow this time around.
Shawn Michaels blinked the tears from his eyes. He'd already lost one baby sister; he didn't want to lose another. Celia had been seven when she died and if Buffy were to die now, she'd have just turned seventeen.
Ten years would separate their deaths. They'd been closer than sisters, BeeBee and CeeCee. That had been what he'd always called them. The memory brought a ghost of a smile to his lips. They'd only been born three hours apart, and they'd both been his sisters as far as he was concerned.
His son was seven now; he'd passed the age when the disease had been detected in Buffy and he'd soon be older than his other aunt had been when she died.
The boy that was sprawled one side of BeeBee started to stir. "Who are you?" The furious whisper made Shawn feel like a trespasser.
"I'm her cousin, Shawn."
Tell me God, do you remember the wishes that she made,
As she blew out the candles on her last birthday cake?
She wants to ride a pony when she'd big enough.
She wants to marry her Daddy when she's all grown up.
Buffy blinked the sleep out of her eyes, she'd been having a dream of the past. She'd heard Shawn's voice again. But he was never there when she woke up.
He'd been like a brother to her, just like CeeCee had been a sister. But life had interfered. He had a son to take care of now, and a job besides.
On her last birthday, she'd already known that the disease was coming back. She could feel it, sapping her strength.
She wished as she blew out the candles that her family wouldn't be sad when she left because she knew that there was no way a miracle would happen. And she wished that Shawn would come back. Just for a visit.
Well, it must be kind of crowded,
On the streets of Heaven.
So tell me: what do you need her for?
He met her tired hazel eyes with his sorrowful blue ones. "Hey, BeeBee. Been busy?"
She cracked a smile. "Not very. If I didn't know better, I'd swear that the nurses were vampires." She knew better though. She'd used her Slayer sense to make certain that there weren't any of them in the hospital.
"Time was that you and CeeCee used ta say that the nurses were drinkin' your blood. They took so much, you said. How could they need so much of it?" Shawn knew that just smiling was tiring his baby sister out.
"Still don't understand why they take so much," she returned. "Heard you had a son."
His eyes were somber as he told her. "He's down in the lab right now. They're seeing if his marrow might be similar enough to yours that your body won't reject it."
Don't you know one day she'll be your little girl forever.
But right now I need her so much more.
Willow gasped. Buffy never said much about the person who gave her the first transplant. They didn't know anything about this man but he was offering them a miracle if it came through.
They needed their Buffy so much.
She's much too young to be on her own:
Barely just turned seven.
So who will hold her hand when she crosses the streets of Heaven?
She offered a weak smile. "Big bro, he won't be a match unless some miracle happens. Celia was the only one whose body had the same odd quirks."
"BeeBee, I know that," he took her hand, "but I can't accept loosing another sister. You're too young to die, Buffy."
Somehow, that was what made her realize how serious it was. He'd always called her BeeBee and Celia was CeeCee. Right up until she'd gotten so deathly ill, he'd called her CeeCee. It was only when they knew that Celia was going to make it that Shawn had called her by her given name.
"I'll hang on for you, bro." She closed her eyes, giving herself to sleep.
Lord, don't you know she's my angel
You got plenty of your own
And I know you hold a place for her
But she's already got a home
Well I don't know if you're listenin'
But praying is all that's left to do
So I ask you Lord have mercy, you lost a son once too
The doctor came in, bringing the young boy with him. His startled eyes took in the boy's father curled up next to his patient, both of them fast asleep. The girl and boy who'd been there from the first were sharing the chair next to the bed, and the other girl, the wild one, was pacing next to the window.
The wild one stopped pacing. "Doc, why you here?"
Her voice woke the redhead up. "Faith, what's wrong?"
The boy woke up as well, and he was startled when both of the occupants of the bed woke up simultaneously.
The man, Cameron's father, understood why he was there. "What's the tests say, Doc?"
He took a deep breath. "He is enough of a match that her body may respond. If her body doesn't, however, she may die even more quickly."
And it must be kind of crowded,
On the streets of Heaven.
So tell me: what do you need her for?
The doctor had left them alone, and Cameron had gone out into the waiting room with his father's friend, Stephanie.
The others had debated until they reached their final decision.
Buffy would have the transplant. If she died, then it would just mean that God's mind had been made up. And if not, then she was going to have longer to live than they'd thought she would.
Don't you know one day she'll be your little girl forever.
But right now I need her so much more.
Lord, I know once you've made up your mind,
There's no use in beggin'.
So if you take her with you today, will you make sure she looks both ways,
And would you hold her hand when she crosses the streets of Heaven.
They wheeled her into the isolation room. Cameron had already given his marrow. Now it would drip into her as soon as hers was drained from her body.
Her family held their breaths. They wanted her with them so badly. But if God's mind was made up, then there would be no changing it. Cameron would never know the aunt his father loved so much, the only aunt he had left.
Faith was already close to the edge. If her sister died, there'd be no way of stopping her freefall over the cliff.
And Willow and Xander would be without their center as well.
Shawn sent up a prayer to God, begging Him to change His mind if He wanted to take her. None of them were ready to lose her.
The streets of Heaven.
She breathed deeply, feeling less tired than she had in a long time. She looked over to see her family crowded around her bedside.
Shawn smiled. His little sister was finally out of the woods. "Welcome back, BeeBee. Welcome back."
A/N: Okay, I nearly killed her. But at the end, I had to let her live. REVIEW! REVIEW!