The emergency waiting room bustled with activity. Crying children and
worried families formed multiple small groups while busy nurses moved
rapidly and purposefully, taking information and offering comfort.
One small group was quite different from the rest. The trio stood stock- still, silent, with two of the peoples' attentions focussed on the third. He looked quite uncomfortable, shifting from foot to foot and opening his mouth as if to speak, only to close it as if he didn't know how to start.
"Is she still ... I mean, she's still okay, right?" the young brunette whispered.
The focus of their attention finally spoke. "Look, guys, I don't know that much yet," he put up a hand to forestall their questions, "but I think it'd be best, easiest for all of us if I went over what I did know with everyone at once."
Finally aware of the room around them, Spike and Dawn looked around curiously. "Where is everyone?" Dawn asked.
"They all get to stay overnight. The girls are in one room and Giles is just across the hall. If we head up now, we can catch them before they start serving breakfast." At this reminder of food, Dawn's stomach growled.
Xander smiled weakly. "Let's head up. Maybe we can convince them to share."
The three turned to head upstairs, only to be stopped in their tracks by a quiet female voice. "Mind if I tag along?"
Xander, Spike and Dawn spun to face a smiling police officer. Xander flushed. He'd totally forgotten about Officer Tavish. When they found out about Buffy's condition, she'd understood that he couldn't answer questions just yet, and sat beside him, a strong, silent, comforting presence.
"Sorry, Officer Tavish, I didn't mean to forget about you," Xander said sheepishly. He quickly introduced her to Dawn and Spike.
"I hope you don't mind if I come up with you. I thought it'd be best if I got your statements and got out of your way." Xander and Dawn hastened to assure her that she was welcome to join them. Spike stayed silent, reserving judgement on this stranger in their midst.
Once upstairs, the group split up. Xander and Officer Tavish went in one door to collect Giles, while Spike and Dawn went into Willow, Tara and Anya's room. The three girls were chattering happily. As soon as Dawn and Spike entered, however, Anya broke off her chatting to wave her ring finger at the newcomers.
"Look at my pretty diamond engagement ring!" she shrieked. "Xander and I are getting married!" Dawn immediately joined in with the happy chatter, leaving Spike to lean against the shadowed wall, rolling his eyes.
In a few moments, Xander and Officer Tavish returned, pushing Giles in a wheelchair. Xander introduced Officer Tavish around as Dawn ran over to hug Giles.
"The redhead is Willow," he pointed each person out as he named them to Officer Tavish, "the blond in the middle bed is Tara, you met Giles, Dawn and Spike, and the brunette is my girlfriend, Anya."
"Fiancée," Anya cried, staring furiously at the pretty police officer next to Xander.
"Yeah, sorry An, fiancée. It just happened a little while ago," he explained to Officer Tavish. "Everyone, this is Officer Tavish. She drove me over here and helped me find out about Buffy."
At the sound of Buffy's name, the room went silent in expectation. Every face was turned in Xander's direction. Uncomfortable with the attention and the bad news he had to share, Xander babbled on about Officer Tavish. "She needs to get statements from all of us about what happened last night. She needs to know what happened and why we were out there and that kind of stuff. Just like Law and Order." Xander finally trailed off.
"I uh, guess you want to know about Buffy, right?" Six sets of anxious eyes bored into his. Officer Tavish laid a comforting hand on his arm, causing Anya's eyes to narrow in anger. "Officer Tavish made the nurse give me the information. The nurse didn't want to, you know, 'cause I'm not family, but..."
"Xander!" Giles broke into the young man's rambling. "Please just tell us about Buffy."
Xander moved to Anya's bedside, grabbing her hand like a life preserver. Anya shot a victorious glance at the police officer, who looked bemused.
"The nurse was able to tell me she was still unconscious when she arrived. They are treating her for 'injuries consistent with a fall'. She was intubated to help her breathe, and they took CAT scans to see if there was any brain injury." Xander took a deep breath, studiously avoiding everyone's eyes. "They found serious bleeding in her brain. They took her into surgery. As far as I know, she's still there. I told them to send someone up here for me when Dr. Kriegel was finished."
Dawn gasped, and tears filled her eyes. "Dr. Kriegel, that was Mom's doctor."
"Yeah, I know Dawn. He's the neurologist on staff. The nurse said something about needing to relieve the pressure. The good news is that none of the other injuries seem to be life threatening."
Spike spoke up for the first time since he entered the room. "But the brain injury is?"
"What?" Xander asked distractedly.
"They told you the brain injury is life threatening?" he repeated, ignoring the increasing volume of Dawn's sobbing.
"I don't know, Spike!" Xander roared. "They didn't want to tell me anything! I'm assuming that if they took her surgery so fast, it's pretty bad, but I don't know! I don't know anything," he whispered.
The room was silent except for Dawn's hiccupping sobs. The young girl threw herself into Willow's arms, and they sobbed together. Xander closed his eyes and leaned back, while Giles pushed his glasses further up his nose in a vain attempt to hide his tears. Tara looked like she was going to jump out of bed at any moment, desperate to console Willow and Dawn, while Anya simply clung to Xander's hand. Spike and the police officer stood where they were, seemingly unmoved by the unfolding tragedy.
Xander tipped his head forward, and eyed the blond vampire with dislike. "Don't you even care?" he challenged. "Aren't you supposed to be in love with her?"
Spike opened his mouth to give the whelp a piece of his mind, but before he had a chance to, Dawn's voice overrode him.
"Xander, don't," she said, voice clogged with exhaustion and tears. "He cares, I know. We all care. We're all scared. We're just handling it differently. We don't all have to scream and cry. That would get boring," Dawn joked feebly.
As if Dawn's voice had broken some dam loose inside him, Spike slid down the wall to the cold floor of the hospital room, even paler than usual. His eyes were glassy with tears and focussed a million miles away. Dawn pulled out of Willow's grasp to go to him, pulling his unresisting head to her shoulder, crooning to him while he cried.
At that sight, even Xander was ashamed of his treatment of Spike. Willow turned cold angry eyes on her friend, only softening when she saw he felt guilty enough.
Officer Tavish cleared her throat. She was extremely uncomfortable. These people had a very deep bond, and it was strange to watch them in their deepest sorrow and fear. She just wanted to get her statements and get out. "I'm really sorry to bother you, but I'm sure you want to be together, with no cops interfering. If I can have five minutes with each of you, alone, I'll be able to be on my way. I was thinking I'd take each of you into the hall, get your statements and get out of your way, if that's okay?" she asked tentatively.
"The hall's not very private, Officer. Go into my room. I'll wait here with everyone else," Giles offered.
She smiled at him in thanks. "Okay, who wants to be first?"
Xander volunteered. "I'll go. You did have to follow me around all morning, so it's only fair I answer your questions now."
Officer Tavish held the door for Xander, who preceded her into Giles' private room. "How do we do this?" he questioned uncomfortably.
"Just get comfortable," she said, pointing at a chair. "All I want is a summary of what happened in your own words."
"I don't really know where to start."
"Let's start at the beginning. Why were you out there last night?"
"We were all at Buffy's, the Summers' residence, I mean. We were watching movies and just hanging out. We're all friends, you know."
"Even the blond guy, Spike?" the officer questioned shrewdly. "I got the impression you were less than friendly towards him."
Xander blushed. "Yeah, well, he's been around a lot lately. Like since Joyce... got sick. More since she passed away. Sometimes I wonder if he's taking advantage, you know, 'cause Buffy and Dawn are kinda vulnerable right now."
'Slight case of jealousy,' the officer noted mentally, nodding to encourage Xander to continue.
"Anyway, Dawnie came down, really upset. It was late, Buffy'd sent her to bed a bit before. We were starting to think about heading out when Dawn came back. She said her cat was missing. First we checked the house, but the cat wasn't around, and Dawn was really upset, so Buffy asked if we minded helping look for the cat. I think she was kind of frustrated. Spike stayed at the house to look after Dawn," Xander sneered, "and the rest of us went out. We stayed fairly close together. Sunnydale isn't really ... it doesn't have a good reputation after dark. We figured there were enough of us nothing would happen.
"There's this construction site nearby. Buffy headed straight there. Apparently the cat hangs out there a lot. There were a fair number of people there already. We asked what was going on, and somebody said that the tower was creaking and bending in the wind. We all just kinda stood and watched. Pretty dumb, now that I think about it." Xander said deprecatingly.
"Anyway, suddenly Buffy jumps away from us. She, like, runs towards the tower. I guess she saw the cat up there. Sometimes Buffy just does stuff, she doesn't really think it through, you know? She climbed up the tower a little ways. We were calling to her, trying to get her to come back. She ignored us, I don't know what she was looking at, but I guess it was important. She finally turned around and smiled at us. She was on her way down when there was this huge cracking sound. Everything just started falling apart. We all pushed under cover, or tried to. I remember grabbing Anya when something hit her. I was too busy trying to keep from getting hit myself to pay attention to what was happening to everyone else. I'm sorry I wasn't more help," Xander finished lamely.
"No, no, that was great. It sounds like you did a good job of trying to keep everyone safe. It really seems like it was just an accident. Bad luck, wrong place at the wrong time and all that." Officer Tavish trailed off. "I'm really sorry about your friends, especially Buffy. I hope she's okay."
"Yeah, us too."
In the other room, it was deadly silent. Spike was listening hard to the conversation across the hall. When it sounded like it was winding up, he told the others what Xander said, making sure everyone had their stories straight, just before Xander and Officer Tavish came back in the room.
"Ms. Rosenberg, are you well enough to speak to me now?" the officer queried.
"Umm, yeah, sure," Willow stuttered. "Please, just call me Willow. Xander, can you pass me that extra hospital robe," Willow muttered, trying to get out of bed without being immodest, a near-impossible feat in a hospital gown.
Finally feeling covered, Willow grabbed her IV pole and slowly trudged across the hall. She told the agreed upon story in her own words, concentrating on where she and Tara had been. She added that she saw Buffy try to jump free of the crumbling tower, rather than just falling. She also mentioned that she and Xander had cleared a path to Buffy to try and give her first aid before the ambulances arrived.
"It sounds like you really kept your head. I'd be glad to have you around in a crisis," the officer smiled.
Willow smiled back, then turned to go.
"Just one more question, Willow, for my own edification. What's the cat's name?"
Willow stuttered. "Well, it's kind of silly. Dawnie named her when she was only eight or something. It's, umm, it's .... Miss Kitty Fantastico."
Spike looked at the wall in disbelief. Dawn pulled on his sleeve, trying to get his attention.
"What? Did she make is mistake?" Dawn hissed urgently.
"No, it's just,... the cop asked the cat's name." Spike muttered confusedly. "And, out of nowhere, Red came up with Miss Kitty Fantastico." Everyone shared a confused, yet humour-filled glance.
"That's Willow," Xander said. "Always cool under pressure."
Tara went next, tucked into a wheelchair by Willow. So happy to have Tara back and whole, Willow was treating her like fine porcelain.
Officer Tavish didn't ask any other questions of Tara, merely raising her eyebrows when Tara accidentally slipped and called Willow 'baby'.
'So that's how it is,' the cop thought.
Anya went next, carried across the hall by a solicitous Xander. He felt very guilty for letting her get hit on the head by bricks, and for forgetting they were engaged. He'd seen the dagger-filled looks Anya had been sending the attractive officer's way, and figured a little pampering would make everyone's life easier in the long run.
Much to everyone's relief, Officer Tavish didn't ask Anya any extra question either. She seemed to be able to tell that the core group was Willow, Xander, Buffy, and Giles. She did score some points with Anya when she politely asked to see the new engagement ring and congratulated her on the forthcoming nuptials.
When Anya came back, Spike started to clamber to his feet. "What's wrong?" the officer asked.
"I figured you'd want me next," Spike explained. "No point taking Rupert back to his room only to bring him back here."
"I wasn't planning on talking to you or Dawn," Officer Tavish explained, brow wrinkled. "I mean, you weren't even there, were you?"
"Oh! No, I was home. I guess I wouldn't be much use," Spike said, trying to act sheepish but feeling very foolish.
"Mr. Giles, if you are ready to return to your room, I'll talk to you and head off. Thanks for your time, everyone."
After a chorus of good-byes, the officer wheeled Giles across the hall and helped him back into bed.
Giles told his version of the events, with a bit more attention paid to where Buffy was and what she was doing than any of the other narratives.
Officer Tavish was silent a moment when he finished. "Mr. Giles, I don't mean to imply anything, but I have to ask; why are you hanging around with a bunch of twenty-year olds?"
Giles thought fast. "I've known Buffy, Willow and Xander since they were in high school. I was the librarian. I didn't have any regular classes or regular students, so I had a unique opportunity to watch all of the students. Regrettably, Buffy, Willow and Xander were outcasts. Buffy was, still is, quite impetuous, causing many, including many of the teachers, to look at her as a bit of a hoodlum. She has a good heart, however. Willow was a 'nerd' is the term, I believe. Xander, well, Xander was always a bit of a goof. He used sarcasm to keep others away. The three of them teamed up for mutual support, and one of the places they hung out was the library. I came to enjoy their unusual brand of humour and way of looking at the world." Giles took off his glasses, and looked the officer right in the eye. "As a foreigner, I have no family and few friends here. I look at those young people as my family. I have been lucky enough that they include me in their lives, making this lonely life a little happier, a little brighter. If that makes me a pervert, or immature, or trying to relive my youth, or whatever you are imagining, that's what I am."
Officer Tavish had the grace to look embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Mr. Giles. It just seemed...odd. I apologize. Thank you for your time, your explanation of events I'm sure will help us reconstruct the accident. I do hope Buffy recovers fully and soon. From what you've all said about her, I have no doubt she'll pull through this operation with no problems." With that, Officer Tavish flipped her notebook shut and swept out of the room.
In the other room, Willow, and Tara, Xander and Anya were wrapped up in quiet, romantic affirmations to one another. Dawn sat quietly beside Spike, exhausted from the events of the previous night, and worn out with crying. She laid her head on his shoulder and drifted off to sleep.
Spike pondered what he'd heard the Watcher say about his relationship with the people in this room, and the person currently undergoing surgery. Though Giles had left a lot out, particularly his role as mentor and guide to Buffy, the explanation he'd given the cop had a ring of truth to it. Surprised, Spike realized he felt a lot of sympathy for the Watcher. I had to be a very lonely life.
A nurse poked her head in the door. "Are you the family of Buffy Summers?" she asked. "Dr. Kriegel is just washing up. He'll be up to speak to all of you in a moment."
Silence descended on the room once more.
One small group was quite different from the rest. The trio stood stock- still, silent, with two of the peoples' attentions focussed on the third. He looked quite uncomfortable, shifting from foot to foot and opening his mouth as if to speak, only to close it as if he didn't know how to start.
"Is she still ... I mean, she's still okay, right?" the young brunette whispered.
The focus of their attention finally spoke. "Look, guys, I don't know that much yet," he put up a hand to forestall their questions, "but I think it'd be best, easiest for all of us if I went over what I did know with everyone at once."
Finally aware of the room around them, Spike and Dawn looked around curiously. "Where is everyone?" Dawn asked.
"They all get to stay overnight. The girls are in one room and Giles is just across the hall. If we head up now, we can catch them before they start serving breakfast." At this reminder of food, Dawn's stomach growled.
Xander smiled weakly. "Let's head up. Maybe we can convince them to share."
The three turned to head upstairs, only to be stopped in their tracks by a quiet female voice. "Mind if I tag along?"
Xander, Spike and Dawn spun to face a smiling police officer. Xander flushed. He'd totally forgotten about Officer Tavish. When they found out about Buffy's condition, she'd understood that he couldn't answer questions just yet, and sat beside him, a strong, silent, comforting presence.
"Sorry, Officer Tavish, I didn't mean to forget about you," Xander said sheepishly. He quickly introduced her to Dawn and Spike.
"I hope you don't mind if I come up with you. I thought it'd be best if I got your statements and got out of your way." Xander and Dawn hastened to assure her that she was welcome to join them. Spike stayed silent, reserving judgement on this stranger in their midst.
Once upstairs, the group split up. Xander and Officer Tavish went in one door to collect Giles, while Spike and Dawn went into Willow, Tara and Anya's room. The three girls were chattering happily. As soon as Dawn and Spike entered, however, Anya broke off her chatting to wave her ring finger at the newcomers.
"Look at my pretty diamond engagement ring!" she shrieked. "Xander and I are getting married!" Dawn immediately joined in with the happy chatter, leaving Spike to lean against the shadowed wall, rolling his eyes.
In a few moments, Xander and Officer Tavish returned, pushing Giles in a wheelchair. Xander introduced Officer Tavish around as Dawn ran over to hug Giles.
"The redhead is Willow," he pointed each person out as he named them to Officer Tavish, "the blond in the middle bed is Tara, you met Giles, Dawn and Spike, and the brunette is my girlfriend, Anya."
"Fiancée," Anya cried, staring furiously at the pretty police officer next to Xander.
"Yeah, sorry An, fiancée. It just happened a little while ago," he explained to Officer Tavish. "Everyone, this is Officer Tavish. She drove me over here and helped me find out about Buffy."
At the sound of Buffy's name, the room went silent in expectation. Every face was turned in Xander's direction. Uncomfortable with the attention and the bad news he had to share, Xander babbled on about Officer Tavish. "She needs to get statements from all of us about what happened last night. She needs to know what happened and why we were out there and that kind of stuff. Just like Law and Order." Xander finally trailed off.
"I uh, guess you want to know about Buffy, right?" Six sets of anxious eyes bored into his. Officer Tavish laid a comforting hand on his arm, causing Anya's eyes to narrow in anger. "Officer Tavish made the nurse give me the information. The nurse didn't want to, you know, 'cause I'm not family, but..."
"Xander!" Giles broke into the young man's rambling. "Please just tell us about Buffy."
Xander moved to Anya's bedside, grabbing her hand like a life preserver. Anya shot a victorious glance at the police officer, who looked bemused.
"The nurse was able to tell me she was still unconscious when she arrived. They are treating her for 'injuries consistent with a fall'. She was intubated to help her breathe, and they took CAT scans to see if there was any brain injury." Xander took a deep breath, studiously avoiding everyone's eyes. "They found serious bleeding in her brain. They took her into surgery. As far as I know, she's still there. I told them to send someone up here for me when Dr. Kriegel was finished."
Dawn gasped, and tears filled her eyes. "Dr. Kriegel, that was Mom's doctor."
"Yeah, I know Dawn. He's the neurologist on staff. The nurse said something about needing to relieve the pressure. The good news is that none of the other injuries seem to be life threatening."
Spike spoke up for the first time since he entered the room. "But the brain injury is?"
"What?" Xander asked distractedly.
"They told you the brain injury is life threatening?" he repeated, ignoring the increasing volume of Dawn's sobbing.
"I don't know, Spike!" Xander roared. "They didn't want to tell me anything! I'm assuming that if they took her surgery so fast, it's pretty bad, but I don't know! I don't know anything," he whispered.
The room was silent except for Dawn's hiccupping sobs. The young girl threw herself into Willow's arms, and they sobbed together. Xander closed his eyes and leaned back, while Giles pushed his glasses further up his nose in a vain attempt to hide his tears. Tara looked like she was going to jump out of bed at any moment, desperate to console Willow and Dawn, while Anya simply clung to Xander's hand. Spike and the police officer stood where they were, seemingly unmoved by the unfolding tragedy.
Xander tipped his head forward, and eyed the blond vampire with dislike. "Don't you even care?" he challenged. "Aren't you supposed to be in love with her?"
Spike opened his mouth to give the whelp a piece of his mind, but before he had a chance to, Dawn's voice overrode him.
"Xander, don't," she said, voice clogged with exhaustion and tears. "He cares, I know. We all care. We're all scared. We're just handling it differently. We don't all have to scream and cry. That would get boring," Dawn joked feebly.
As if Dawn's voice had broken some dam loose inside him, Spike slid down the wall to the cold floor of the hospital room, even paler than usual. His eyes were glassy with tears and focussed a million miles away. Dawn pulled out of Willow's grasp to go to him, pulling his unresisting head to her shoulder, crooning to him while he cried.
At that sight, even Xander was ashamed of his treatment of Spike. Willow turned cold angry eyes on her friend, only softening when she saw he felt guilty enough.
Officer Tavish cleared her throat. She was extremely uncomfortable. These people had a very deep bond, and it was strange to watch them in their deepest sorrow and fear. She just wanted to get her statements and get out. "I'm really sorry to bother you, but I'm sure you want to be together, with no cops interfering. If I can have five minutes with each of you, alone, I'll be able to be on my way. I was thinking I'd take each of you into the hall, get your statements and get out of your way, if that's okay?" she asked tentatively.
"The hall's not very private, Officer. Go into my room. I'll wait here with everyone else," Giles offered.
She smiled at him in thanks. "Okay, who wants to be first?"
Xander volunteered. "I'll go. You did have to follow me around all morning, so it's only fair I answer your questions now."
Officer Tavish held the door for Xander, who preceded her into Giles' private room. "How do we do this?" he questioned uncomfortably.
"Just get comfortable," she said, pointing at a chair. "All I want is a summary of what happened in your own words."
"I don't really know where to start."
"Let's start at the beginning. Why were you out there last night?"
"We were all at Buffy's, the Summers' residence, I mean. We were watching movies and just hanging out. We're all friends, you know."
"Even the blond guy, Spike?" the officer questioned shrewdly. "I got the impression you were less than friendly towards him."
Xander blushed. "Yeah, well, he's been around a lot lately. Like since Joyce... got sick. More since she passed away. Sometimes I wonder if he's taking advantage, you know, 'cause Buffy and Dawn are kinda vulnerable right now."
'Slight case of jealousy,' the officer noted mentally, nodding to encourage Xander to continue.
"Anyway, Dawnie came down, really upset. It was late, Buffy'd sent her to bed a bit before. We were starting to think about heading out when Dawn came back. She said her cat was missing. First we checked the house, but the cat wasn't around, and Dawn was really upset, so Buffy asked if we minded helping look for the cat. I think she was kind of frustrated. Spike stayed at the house to look after Dawn," Xander sneered, "and the rest of us went out. We stayed fairly close together. Sunnydale isn't really ... it doesn't have a good reputation after dark. We figured there were enough of us nothing would happen.
"There's this construction site nearby. Buffy headed straight there. Apparently the cat hangs out there a lot. There were a fair number of people there already. We asked what was going on, and somebody said that the tower was creaking and bending in the wind. We all just kinda stood and watched. Pretty dumb, now that I think about it." Xander said deprecatingly.
"Anyway, suddenly Buffy jumps away from us. She, like, runs towards the tower. I guess she saw the cat up there. Sometimes Buffy just does stuff, she doesn't really think it through, you know? She climbed up the tower a little ways. We were calling to her, trying to get her to come back. She ignored us, I don't know what she was looking at, but I guess it was important. She finally turned around and smiled at us. She was on her way down when there was this huge cracking sound. Everything just started falling apart. We all pushed under cover, or tried to. I remember grabbing Anya when something hit her. I was too busy trying to keep from getting hit myself to pay attention to what was happening to everyone else. I'm sorry I wasn't more help," Xander finished lamely.
"No, no, that was great. It sounds like you did a good job of trying to keep everyone safe. It really seems like it was just an accident. Bad luck, wrong place at the wrong time and all that." Officer Tavish trailed off. "I'm really sorry about your friends, especially Buffy. I hope she's okay."
"Yeah, us too."
In the other room, it was deadly silent. Spike was listening hard to the conversation across the hall. When it sounded like it was winding up, he told the others what Xander said, making sure everyone had their stories straight, just before Xander and Officer Tavish came back in the room.
"Ms. Rosenberg, are you well enough to speak to me now?" the officer queried.
"Umm, yeah, sure," Willow stuttered. "Please, just call me Willow. Xander, can you pass me that extra hospital robe," Willow muttered, trying to get out of bed without being immodest, a near-impossible feat in a hospital gown.
Finally feeling covered, Willow grabbed her IV pole and slowly trudged across the hall. She told the agreed upon story in her own words, concentrating on where she and Tara had been. She added that she saw Buffy try to jump free of the crumbling tower, rather than just falling. She also mentioned that she and Xander had cleared a path to Buffy to try and give her first aid before the ambulances arrived.
"It sounds like you really kept your head. I'd be glad to have you around in a crisis," the officer smiled.
Willow smiled back, then turned to go.
"Just one more question, Willow, for my own edification. What's the cat's name?"
Willow stuttered. "Well, it's kind of silly. Dawnie named her when she was only eight or something. It's, umm, it's .... Miss Kitty Fantastico."
Spike looked at the wall in disbelief. Dawn pulled on his sleeve, trying to get his attention.
"What? Did she make is mistake?" Dawn hissed urgently.
"No, it's just,... the cop asked the cat's name." Spike muttered confusedly. "And, out of nowhere, Red came up with Miss Kitty Fantastico." Everyone shared a confused, yet humour-filled glance.
"That's Willow," Xander said. "Always cool under pressure."
Tara went next, tucked into a wheelchair by Willow. So happy to have Tara back and whole, Willow was treating her like fine porcelain.
Officer Tavish didn't ask any other questions of Tara, merely raising her eyebrows when Tara accidentally slipped and called Willow 'baby'.
'So that's how it is,' the cop thought.
Anya went next, carried across the hall by a solicitous Xander. He felt very guilty for letting her get hit on the head by bricks, and for forgetting they were engaged. He'd seen the dagger-filled looks Anya had been sending the attractive officer's way, and figured a little pampering would make everyone's life easier in the long run.
Much to everyone's relief, Officer Tavish didn't ask Anya any extra question either. She seemed to be able to tell that the core group was Willow, Xander, Buffy, and Giles. She did score some points with Anya when she politely asked to see the new engagement ring and congratulated her on the forthcoming nuptials.
When Anya came back, Spike started to clamber to his feet. "What's wrong?" the officer asked.
"I figured you'd want me next," Spike explained. "No point taking Rupert back to his room only to bring him back here."
"I wasn't planning on talking to you or Dawn," Officer Tavish explained, brow wrinkled. "I mean, you weren't even there, were you?"
"Oh! No, I was home. I guess I wouldn't be much use," Spike said, trying to act sheepish but feeling very foolish.
"Mr. Giles, if you are ready to return to your room, I'll talk to you and head off. Thanks for your time, everyone."
After a chorus of good-byes, the officer wheeled Giles across the hall and helped him back into bed.
Giles told his version of the events, with a bit more attention paid to where Buffy was and what she was doing than any of the other narratives.
Officer Tavish was silent a moment when he finished. "Mr. Giles, I don't mean to imply anything, but I have to ask; why are you hanging around with a bunch of twenty-year olds?"
Giles thought fast. "I've known Buffy, Willow and Xander since they were in high school. I was the librarian. I didn't have any regular classes or regular students, so I had a unique opportunity to watch all of the students. Regrettably, Buffy, Willow and Xander were outcasts. Buffy was, still is, quite impetuous, causing many, including many of the teachers, to look at her as a bit of a hoodlum. She has a good heart, however. Willow was a 'nerd' is the term, I believe. Xander, well, Xander was always a bit of a goof. He used sarcasm to keep others away. The three of them teamed up for mutual support, and one of the places they hung out was the library. I came to enjoy their unusual brand of humour and way of looking at the world." Giles took off his glasses, and looked the officer right in the eye. "As a foreigner, I have no family and few friends here. I look at those young people as my family. I have been lucky enough that they include me in their lives, making this lonely life a little happier, a little brighter. If that makes me a pervert, or immature, or trying to relive my youth, or whatever you are imagining, that's what I am."
Officer Tavish had the grace to look embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Mr. Giles. It just seemed...odd. I apologize. Thank you for your time, your explanation of events I'm sure will help us reconstruct the accident. I do hope Buffy recovers fully and soon. From what you've all said about her, I have no doubt she'll pull through this operation with no problems." With that, Officer Tavish flipped her notebook shut and swept out of the room.
In the other room, Willow, and Tara, Xander and Anya were wrapped up in quiet, romantic affirmations to one another. Dawn sat quietly beside Spike, exhausted from the events of the previous night, and worn out with crying. She laid her head on his shoulder and drifted off to sleep.
Spike pondered what he'd heard the Watcher say about his relationship with the people in this room, and the person currently undergoing surgery. Though Giles had left a lot out, particularly his role as mentor and guide to Buffy, the explanation he'd given the cop had a ring of truth to it. Surprised, Spike realized he felt a lot of sympathy for the Watcher. I had to be a very lonely life.
A nurse poked her head in the door. "Are you the family of Buffy Summers?" she asked. "Dr. Kriegel is just washing up. He'll be up to speak to all of you in a moment."
Silence descended on the room once more.