Part 9 – The rescue gone wrong
.... at the factory
Willow banged on the door to the basement bedroom and couldn't get it open, it was locked from the outside. She heard a moan coming from the bed and realized that Xander was coming too. Willow flew down the stairs and moved quickly to Xander's side.
"Hey Will." Xander said weakly. There was a nasty gash on his forehead and dried blood along the side of his head from where Spike had smashed the microscope into it.
"Hey Xander, how are you." Willow was touching him, making sure he was okay, relieved that he was finally awake after what seemed like hours.
"Little nauseous, head spinning. Where are we? And was that Spike?" Xander said, trying to focus on his surroundings.
"Yes, he has us locked in the basement of the factory. He is drunk and crazy, wanting me to do a love spell to bring back Drusilla." Willow tenderly moved away a lock of hair from Xander's eyes.
Xander tried to sit up, and then fell back, his head was throbbing and that quick of movement was not a good idea. "Once I can sit up, we are getting out of here." Xander said a bit more confidently.
"Nope, I tried, we are locked in tight, no way out." Willow said sadly.
"So our options?" Xander inquired.
"Well first if Spike comes back, I do the spell and it doesn't work he kills us. Second I do the spell and it does work then Spike and Drusilla kill us. Or thirdly Spike forgets he left us down here and we starve to death." Willow said.
"I think I like option 3 best." Xander sighed.
"Me too." Willow deadpanned.
...in Oz's van
"What if the mob got them and they are going to sell Xander's organs for money. I heard of that happening in East L.A. last summer." Cordy said, her mind racing as to what had happened to Willow and Xander. Even though she had decided to break up with Xander again, she still cared for him, and almost felt guilty about having not told him sooner about her and Angel. If he is dead, I am gonna feel guilty for life.
...later that night
Cordelia opened her eyes and saw dust around her. Her back hurt, and the pain in her stomach was worse than any PMS cramps she had ever had in her life. She tried to move and that sent a shock of pain through her that made her moan, as that was the only sound she could get out.
"Cordy, oh my god, Cordy," Xander said from the opening in the staircase looking down into the rubble, seeing Cordelia with a long piece of rebar poking up through her mid-section, her body covered in a fine layer of cement dust.
Willow said loudly behind Xander, "Oz went to get help Cordy, hang on."
Cordelia opened her eyes slightly at the sound of Xander's voice and looked up briefly. Cheating, Willow. These were the two words that formed in her brain on the sight of Xander. "Xander?" was all she could manage to say before closing her eyes again the pain too much. Cordelia passed out.
"Hook up the IV now, and radio the ER, she will need surgery immediately." The emergency medical technician said to her partner, as they worked on Cordelia. They had cut the rebar from underneath her, but didn't dare to pull it out, afraid of the damage that moving the metal would cause. They had managed to get her onto a stretcher board and were lifting Cordelia out of the crumbling factory stairs.
Cordelia opened her eyes again, from the jostling she had been awaken briefly from her pain induced haze. She looked up and saw Angel standing there, watching her being moved toward the ambulance. She also saw Buffy, with an arm around Angel's waist, clinging too him, they were a couple. "No." Cordelia barely got out in a whisper. First Xander cheats on me with Willow. Now Angel is back with Buffy, were the two solid thoughts running through Cordelia's brain. She had lost both the boy and the man in her life, and her body was wracked with pain.
Cordelia closed her eyes not wanting to see anymore, wanting more than anything for the pain in her heart and body to stop. She heard random words from unfamiliar voices. Felt her body being poked at and felt the blood pressure cuff squeezing on her arm. Then the movements of the ambulance, a racing surreal feel, moving while standing still. She was afraid and alone; Cordelia let the darkness consume her.
...The hospital waiting room
Angel paced. He didn't know how Cordelia had ended up at the factory, and more so he didn't know how she could have gotten to where she was now, on the operating table having a piece of metal pulled out of her body.
Willow sat on one side of the waiting room on a couch and Buffy was sitting next to her, watching Angel pace. Oz was standing next to the window, looking out at the dark night sky. His mind working through what he and Cordelia had walked in on at the factory. The only reason he was still at the hospital was because Cordelia was in surgery.
Xander had not returned from the ER yet, where they were looking at his head wound.
"Should someone call Cordelia's parents?" Buffy finally asked, breaking the silence, turning and looking at Willow.
"They are out of the country." Angel responded, automatically. The hospital was too noisy; he couldn't hear Cordelia's heartbeat over the rest of the noise that blasted in his head.
Buffy looked up at Angel's response, surprised that he knew that sort of thing about Cordy. The whole night had been odd, first Willow and Xander going missing, then finding Spike pouring his heart out to her mother, and wanting to do a love spell to get Drusilla back.
Now they were sitting in the hospital, waiting to find out the extent of Cordelia's injuries. Buffy was sure that Xander had a concussion by the look at the gash on his forehead, and figured he would be sporting quiet a few stitches by the time the night was done.
Buffy looked over at Willow, who had said very little since she had arrived at the factory. Buffy had noticed there was a tense distance between Willow and Oz, and wondered what had transpired. Maybe when Xander gets out of the ER I will get a straight answer.
"I'll call Cordelia's house and leave a message for her housekeeper to get a message to her parents." Willow said, standing up, needing to get away from the group, and not wanting to be there when Xander returned from the ER. The guilt was eating her up inside. Cordelia was in surgery because of what Xander and I have been hiding. Willow went to the back corner of the waiting room to make the call.
Xander walked into the waiting room, his head bandaged, with a guilty sad look on his face. He surveyed the room, Buffy looked confused, Willow was in the corner on the payphone and Deadboy was pacing. He caught Oz's eye quickly and was frightened by the anger he saw in the werewolf's human eyes. "Any word yet?" He asked of Buffy.
"No, they took her into surgery about an hour ago, and they didn't know how long it would take. It would depend on the damage caused by the rebar." Buffy said, walking over to Xander and putting a re-assuring hand on his arm. Xander looked exhausted and injured, he needed sleep.
Angel turned on Xander, he needed to blame someone as to why Cordelia was in this hospital, and Xander was his prime target. "What were you doing playing at the Factory, I thought that you were going bowling, doing something safe?" Angel was standing close to Xander, almost growling out the question.
Buffy looked up at Angel, and felt a chill run down her spine, the kind of chill she got around aggressive vampires, just before a big fight.
"We weren't playing at the factory, your buddy Spike decided it might be fun to see how much magic Willow could cook up. We were hostages, not on holiday." Xander said back, feeling like he did not need to make any excuses to Deadboy.
"Well it certainly looked like you and Willow were having a good time when Cordy and I got there." Oz said from his spot by the window. He had worked on controlling his anger enough to say something to Xander.
"We weren't," Xander stuttered, "We thought we were going to die."
"So making out with Willow was just because you thought it was the end of the world?" Oz had moved and was within arm length of Xander. He was clenching his fists, trying to control his anger.
"You were what Xander?" Buffy looked to her friend, confused as to what was going on between him and Willow.
"Sounds like cheating on Cordelia with the witch." Angel said, folding his arms akimbo moving away from the crowd starting to build around Xander. Angel was mad that Harris had hurt Cordelia; he was responsible for her injuries.
"No it wasn't like that." Willow added coming up on the circle, defending Xander, but realizing that once the words were out of her mouth that she was just digging a bigger hole.
"What was it like Willow?" Oz asked, glaring at Willow and Xander.
"Oz," Willow started, but then didn't know what to say. She looked from Oz to Xander and then to Buffy. Guilt was an awful feeling.
Silence was eating away at all of them.
The silence was broken by the surgeon coming into the waiting room. The doctor looked at the teenagers and was a bit disappointed there wasn't an adult present, until he saw Angel standing off to the side of the group with a look of deep concern on his face. "Excuse me, who here is responsible for Cordelia Chase?" The doctor asked.
Angel stepped forward, "I am Doctor."
"And you are?" The Doctor asked hopping this young man was a brother or blood relative.
"Cordelia is living with me while her parents are in Europe." Angel's tone let the doctor know that he was responsible for Cordelia, and he expected to hear answers very quickly. Angel ignored the shocked looks on the collective Scoobies' faces.
"Cordelia is in recovery now; we had to remove her spleen, as the rebar had punctured it. Luckily there was no damage to any of her vital organs, her condition is serious." The surgeon said, glad to be delivering good news, but from the look on their faces they misunderstood him. "Cordelia is going to be fine, sore for a few weeks, but ultimately fine, even without her spleen."
At those words the group let out a collective sigh of relief. Angel ignored the others and asked the surgeon, "When can I see her?" Angel wanted to be in her presence and hear her heartbeat for himself.
"She is in ICU right now being monitored until she comes out from the anesthesia. After that we will move her into a room where she can have visitors." The surgeon looked down at his watch, "It will probably be just after dawn when we move her out of ICU. You all should go home and get some rest. I will not allow more than one visitor at a time for at least a few days, so there is really no point for you all to stay now." The group looked exhausted to the doctor, and he thought it was best for them to go home. Wasn't tomorrow a school day.
"I want to see her." Angel said firmly to the doctor, he needed to see her, no matter what condition she was in. Angel felt he had to make sure she was still alive.
"Son, that really isn't possible." The doctor said, looking at the distraught young man, he wasn't family, and the hospital had rules.
"I am the closest thing she has to family, please let me see her." Angel pleaded.
The surgeon took in the determined look of the young man, and decided that since there was no other family here, that maybe the boyfriend wasn't breaking too many rules. "Alright, just you son, the rest of you should really go home." The doctor said trying to convince them to leave. He turned to Angel, "Come with me." And the doctor and Angel left the waiting room.
Xander looked dumbfounded at the exchange he had just heard and turned to Buffy, "Cordelia is living with Angel?"
"I don't know Xander, but that was the strangest thing I have ever seen Angel do." Buffy said, perplexed by the exchange between Angel and the doctor.
"Maybe they have become friends since Angel got back from Hell." Willow offered the first full sentence she had been able to get out in front of Oz all night.
"Well, I would say she needs one right about now." Oz said through clenched teeth. He had had enough, now that he knew that Cordy was going to be okay, he decided he didn't want to be in the presence of Xander or Willow. He wasn't positive he could continue to hold his rage, and could feel his werewolf wanting to surface. Oz turned and left the waiting room, not waiting for a response from Willow or any of the others.
Willow was on the verge of tears over what had happened that night. She looked at Buffy, "Can we go home?"
"Yes, we can't do anything here, Xander you too, you look ready to collapse." Buffy said, wanting to be gone from the hospital, especially since there was nothing they could do for Cordelia at this point.
Both Willow and Xander nodded and the three friends left the hospital waiting room, each contemplating what had happened that night, and how it would affect their collective relationships.
...ICU
Angel followed the surgeon down the halls of the hospital, relieved he was going to get to see Cordelia, and preparing himself for the worst. They arrived in the ICU area of the floor and the doctor pulled aside the head nurse. "Claire, this young man is here for Cordelia Chase, how is she doing?"
"Her stats are strong Dr Morgan she should be coming out of it anytime now. It should be okay for him to sit with her for a few moments. Who is he?" Nurse Claire asked the doctor in a quiet tone.
"Someone who loves her more than anything in the world." Angel said, having heard the quiet conversation between the nurse and doctor, concentrating on looking at Cordelia through glass window to her room.
Claire smiled, seeing the concern and love on the young man's pale face. She moved past the doctor and put a hand on his arm, "And your name?"
"Angel, can I sit by her, be close to her when she wakes up?" Angel asked, using every ounce of charm he had on the nurse.
"I think that it would be good for her to wake up to a familiar face." Claire said, pulling his hand, feeling how cold it was, and shaking off the feeling that it was almost like holding a corpse's hand.
Angel followed the nurse into the ICU room, and heard the sound of Cordelia's heartbeat, strong and steady, before he even heard the noises of the machines monitoring her condition. He saw the clear tube by her nose, bringing oxygen to her, and on the side of her cheek was a bandage over what he hoped wasn't a cut that would scar her beautiful face.
"You can sit here Angel, and hold her hand, just be careful of the IV. When she opens her eyes, press this button so I can come in and check her." Claire pushed him to sit in the chair next to the bed and showed Angel the call button.
Angel took Cordelia's hand gently in both of his large hands, absorbing her warmth. Angel focused on her face as he gently rubbed her hand and arm. Wanting to tell her without words that she was safe, wanting her to know that he was there to care for her, wanting her.
Angel sat there watching Cordelia into the early hours of the morning. Angel ignored the comings and goings of the nurses who checked Cordy's vital signs every half hour. He quietly talked to her, about everything and nothing, gentle soothing tones.
"Open your eyes Cordy, please." Angel begged as his body felt that dawn was near. He looked around briefly at the ICU and noted that there was no sign of a window that would let in the sun's rays that would set him on fire. He dropped his head and focused on her small hand resting in his much larger hands.
Cordelia cracked her eyes open and the first sight was that of Angel, a concerned and brooding Angel. He was hazy, almost like a dream before her, and she wasn't sure if it was real. "Angel?" Cordy croaked out of a dry mouth.
Angel picked up his head at the soft sound of her voice. "Hey Cordy." Angel said, and the corner of his lips turned up in a smile of relief at hearing the sound of her voice.
"Where?" Cordy asked, not sure of anything, and not feeling any pain at all.
"Hospital, you had an accident, but you are going to be fine." Angel said quietly and then reached over and pressed the call button for the nurse. He wanted the medical people to tell him that she was okay. He leaned in and moved away from her cheek a wayward strand of hair, the tips of his fingers grazing across her skin.
Cordelia felt reassured at the cool touch of Angel's finger tips on her face. She felt so groggy it was so confusing.
Claire walked into the room and saw that the girl was awake and was focusing totally on the young man holding her hand gently yet fiercely. She checked the read-out on the monitoring machines and leaned in "Hey sleepy head, you had this nice young man worried about you."
"Sorry." Cordelia said quietly, looking up at the nurse, having a hard time focusing, fighting off the grogginess of the anesthesia.
"Not your fault Cordy." Angel said gently. No, Cordelia was not to blame for lying in this hospital bed, Harris was to blame.
Claire was touched by how much love Angel appeared to have for Cordelia, and had the fleeting thought that Cordelia was a very lucky young lady, and not just for having survived her accident. "Cordelia, what do you say we move you out of here and into a room with sunshine?" Claire asked positively.
"No!" If Cordy could have shouted, she would have, sunshine meant Angel would leave her.
"Huh?" Claire asked a little confused as to why the girl would want to stay cooped up in this windowless environment.
"Eyes hurt." Cordy was amazed her addled brain was working. She squeezed down on Angel's hand.
"Maybe we can move her to a western exposure room, by this afternoon she will be up for sunshine." Angel translated, not knowing if he would be able to leave her several hours from now just because of a little deadly sunshine.
"We can do that, lets get you mobile." Claire said, wanting to please the two young lovers. She moved around and then pressed a button on the paging system for two orderlies to move Cordelia to a private, western exposure room.
The hospital staff went through the normal activities of transferring a patient from one room to the other, and the two male orderlies ignored the glare from Angel who had been moved outside of the ICU unit while they prepared Cordelia to be moved. He watched and thought to himself that it would be much simpler if he just picked her up and carried her wherever they wanted to put her.
Claire came up to his side as he stood at the window, "Angel she is going to be fine. Cordelia is lucky to have you."
"No, I am the lucky one." Angel said, realizing that he almost lost the most important thing in his life is a span of a couple short hours. He had forgotten how fragile humans were, and vowed to take better care of his girl.
Claire smiled; it was nice to see true love.
.... at the factory
Willow banged on the door to the basement bedroom and couldn't get it open, it was locked from the outside. She heard a moan coming from the bed and realized that Xander was coming too. Willow flew down the stairs and moved quickly to Xander's side.
"Hey Will." Xander said weakly. There was a nasty gash on his forehead and dried blood along the side of his head from where Spike had smashed the microscope into it.
"Hey Xander, how are you." Willow was touching him, making sure he was okay, relieved that he was finally awake after what seemed like hours.
"Little nauseous, head spinning. Where are we? And was that Spike?" Xander said, trying to focus on his surroundings.
"Yes, he has us locked in the basement of the factory. He is drunk and crazy, wanting me to do a love spell to bring back Drusilla." Willow tenderly moved away a lock of hair from Xander's eyes.
Xander tried to sit up, and then fell back, his head was throbbing and that quick of movement was not a good idea. "Once I can sit up, we are getting out of here." Xander said a bit more confidently.
"Nope, I tried, we are locked in tight, no way out." Willow said sadly.
"So our options?" Xander inquired.
"Well first if Spike comes back, I do the spell and it doesn't work he kills us. Second I do the spell and it does work then Spike and Drusilla kill us. Or thirdly Spike forgets he left us down here and we starve to death." Willow said.
"I think I like option 3 best." Xander sighed.
"Me too." Willow deadpanned.
...in Oz's van
"What if the mob got them and they are going to sell Xander's organs for money. I heard of that happening in East L.A. last summer." Cordy said, her mind racing as to what had happened to Willow and Xander. Even though she had decided to break up with Xander again, she still cared for him, and almost felt guilty about having not told him sooner about her and Angel. If he is dead, I am gonna feel guilty for life.
...later that night
Cordelia opened her eyes and saw dust around her. Her back hurt, and the pain in her stomach was worse than any PMS cramps she had ever had in her life. She tried to move and that sent a shock of pain through her that made her moan, as that was the only sound she could get out.
"Cordy, oh my god, Cordy," Xander said from the opening in the staircase looking down into the rubble, seeing Cordelia with a long piece of rebar poking up through her mid-section, her body covered in a fine layer of cement dust.
Willow said loudly behind Xander, "Oz went to get help Cordy, hang on."
Cordelia opened her eyes slightly at the sound of Xander's voice and looked up briefly. Cheating, Willow. These were the two words that formed in her brain on the sight of Xander. "Xander?" was all she could manage to say before closing her eyes again the pain too much. Cordelia passed out.
"Hook up the IV now, and radio the ER, she will need surgery immediately." The emergency medical technician said to her partner, as they worked on Cordelia. They had cut the rebar from underneath her, but didn't dare to pull it out, afraid of the damage that moving the metal would cause. They had managed to get her onto a stretcher board and were lifting Cordelia out of the crumbling factory stairs.
Cordelia opened her eyes again, from the jostling she had been awaken briefly from her pain induced haze. She looked up and saw Angel standing there, watching her being moved toward the ambulance. She also saw Buffy, with an arm around Angel's waist, clinging too him, they were a couple. "No." Cordelia barely got out in a whisper. First Xander cheats on me with Willow. Now Angel is back with Buffy, were the two solid thoughts running through Cordelia's brain. She had lost both the boy and the man in her life, and her body was wracked with pain.
Cordelia closed her eyes not wanting to see anymore, wanting more than anything for the pain in her heart and body to stop. She heard random words from unfamiliar voices. Felt her body being poked at and felt the blood pressure cuff squeezing on her arm. Then the movements of the ambulance, a racing surreal feel, moving while standing still. She was afraid and alone; Cordelia let the darkness consume her.
...The hospital waiting room
Angel paced. He didn't know how Cordelia had ended up at the factory, and more so he didn't know how she could have gotten to where she was now, on the operating table having a piece of metal pulled out of her body.
Willow sat on one side of the waiting room on a couch and Buffy was sitting next to her, watching Angel pace. Oz was standing next to the window, looking out at the dark night sky. His mind working through what he and Cordelia had walked in on at the factory. The only reason he was still at the hospital was because Cordelia was in surgery.
Xander had not returned from the ER yet, where they were looking at his head wound.
"Should someone call Cordelia's parents?" Buffy finally asked, breaking the silence, turning and looking at Willow.
"They are out of the country." Angel responded, automatically. The hospital was too noisy; he couldn't hear Cordelia's heartbeat over the rest of the noise that blasted in his head.
Buffy looked up at Angel's response, surprised that he knew that sort of thing about Cordy. The whole night had been odd, first Willow and Xander going missing, then finding Spike pouring his heart out to her mother, and wanting to do a love spell to get Drusilla back.
Now they were sitting in the hospital, waiting to find out the extent of Cordelia's injuries. Buffy was sure that Xander had a concussion by the look at the gash on his forehead, and figured he would be sporting quiet a few stitches by the time the night was done.
Buffy looked over at Willow, who had said very little since she had arrived at the factory. Buffy had noticed there was a tense distance between Willow and Oz, and wondered what had transpired. Maybe when Xander gets out of the ER I will get a straight answer.
"I'll call Cordelia's house and leave a message for her housekeeper to get a message to her parents." Willow said, standing up, needing to get away from the group, and not wanting to be there when Xander returned from the ER. The guilt was eating her up inside. Cordelia was in surgery because of what Xander and I have been hiding. Willow went to the back corner of the waiting room to make the call.
Xander walked into the waiting room, his head bandaged, with a guilty sad look on his face. He surveyed the room, Buffy looked confused, Willow was in the corner on the payphone and Deadboy was pacing. He caught Oz's eye quickly and was frightened by the anger he saw in the werewolf's human eyes. "Any word yet?" He asked of Buffy.
"No, they took her into surgery about an hour ago, and they didn't know how long it would take. It would depend on the damage caused by the rebar." Buffy said, walking over to Xander and putting a re-assuring hand on his arm. Xander looked exhausted and injured, he needed sleep.
Angel turned on Xander, he needed to blame someone as to why Cordelia was in this hospital, and Xander was his prime target. "What were you doing playing at the Factory, I thought that you were going bowling, doing something safe?" Angel was standing close to Xander, almost growling out the question.
Buffy looked up at Angel, and felt a chill run down her spine, the kind of chill she got around aggressive vampires, just before a big fight.
"We weren't playing at the factory, your buddy Spike decided it might be fun to see how much magic Willow could cook up. We were hostages, not on holiday." Xander said back, feeling like he did not need to make any excuses to Deadboy.
"Well it certainly looked like you and Willow were having a good time when Cordy and I got there." Oz said from his spot by the window. He had worked on controlling his anger enough to say something to Xander.
"We weren't," Xander stuttered, "We thought we were going to die."
"So making out with Willow was just because you thought it was the end of the world?" Oz had moved and was within arm length of Xander. He was clenching his fists, trying to control his anger.
"You were what Xander?" Buffy looked to her friend, confused as to what was going on between him and Willow.
"Sounds like cheating on Cordelia with the witch." Angel said, folding his arms akimbo moving away from the crowd starting to build around Xander. Angel was mad that Harris had hurt Cordelia; he was responsible for her injuries.
"No it wasn't like that." Willow added coming up on the circle, defending Xander, but realizing that once the words were out of her mouth that she was just digging a bigger hole.
"What was it like Willow?" Oz asked, glaring at Willow and Xander.
"Oz," Willow started, but then didn't know what to say. She looked from Oz to Xander and then to Buffy. Guilt was an awful feeling.
Silence was eating away at all of them.
The silence was broken by the surgeon coming into the waiting room. The doctor looked at the teenagers and was a bit disappointed there wasn't an adult present, until he saw Angel standing off to the side of the group with a look of deep concern on his face. "Excuse me, who here is responsible for Cordelia Chase?" The doctor asked.
Angel stepped forward, "I am Doctor."
"And you are?" The Doctor asked hopping this young man was a brother or blood relative.
"Cordelia is living with me while her parents are in Europe." Angel's tone let the doctor know that he was responsible for Cordelia, and he expected to hear answers very quickly. Angel ignored the shocked looks on the collective Scoobies' faces.
"Cordelia is in recovery now; we had to remove her spleen, as the rebar had punctured it. Luckily there was no damage to any of her vital organs, her condition is serious." The surgeon said, glad to be delivering good news, but from the look on their faces they misunderstood him. "Cordelia is going to be fine, sore for a few weeks, but ultimately fine, even without her spleen."
At those words the group let out a collective sigh of relief. Angel ignored the others and asked the surgeon, "When can I see her?" Angel wanted to be in her presence and hear her heartbeat for himself.
"She is in ICU right now being monitored until she comes out from the anesthesia. After that we will move her into a room where she can have visitors." The surgeon looked down at his watch, "It will probably be just after dawn when we move her out of ICU. You all should go home and get some rest. I will not allow more than one visitor at a time for at least a few days, so there is really no point for you all to stay now." The group looked exhausted to the doctor, and he thought it was best for them to go home. Wasn't tomorrow a school day.
"I want to see her." Angel said firmly to the doctor, he needed to see her, no matter what condition she was in. Angel felt he had to make sure she was still alive.
"Son, that really isn't possible." The doctor said, looking at the distraught young man, he wasn't family, and the hospital had rules.
"I am the closest thing she has to family, please let me see her." Angel pleaded.
The surgeon took in the determined look of the young man, and decided that since there was no other family here, that maybe the boyfriend wasn't breaking too many rules. "Alright, just you son, the rest of you should really go home." The doctor said trying to convince them to leave. He turned to Angel, "Come with me." And the doctor and Angel left the waiting room.
Xander looked dumbfounded at the exchange he had just heard and turned to Buffy, "Cordelia is living with Angel?"
"I don't know Xander, but that was the strangest thing I have ever seen Angel do." Buffy said, perplexed by the exchange between Angel and the doctor.
"Maybe they have become friends since Angel got back from Hell." Willow offered the first full sentence she had been able to get out in front of Oz all night.
"Well, I would say she needs one right about now." Oz said through clenched teeth. He had had enough, now that he knew that Cordy was going to be okay, he decided he didn't want to be in the presence of Xander or Willow. He wasn't positive he could continue to hold his rage, and could feel his werewolf wanting to surface. Oz turned and left the waiting room, not waiting for a response from Willow or any of the others.
Willow was on the verge of tears over what had happened that night. She looked at Buffy, "Can we go home?"
"Yes, we can't do anything here, Xander you too, you look ready to collapse." Buffy said, wanting to be gone from the hospital, especially since there was nothing they could do for Cordelia at this point.
Both Willow and Xander nodded and the three friends left the hospital waiting room, each contemplating what had happened that night, and how it would affect their collective relationships.
...ICU
Angel followed the surgeon down the halls of the hospital, relieved he was going to get to see Cordelia, and preparing himself for the worst. They arrived in the ICU area of the floor and the doctor pulled aside the head nurse. "Claire, this young man is here for Cordelia Chase, how is she doing?"
"Her stats are strong Dr Morgan she should be coming out of it anytime now. It should be okay for him to sit with her for a few moments. Who is he?" Nurse Claire asked the doctor in a quiet tone.
"Someone who loves her more than anything in the world." Angel said, having heard the quiet conversation between the nurse and doctor, concentrating on looking at Cordelia through glass window to her room.
Claire smiled, seeing the concern and love on the young man's pale face. She moved past the doctor and put a hand on his arm, "And your name?"
"Angel, can I sit by her, be close to her when she wakes up?" Angel asked, using every ounce of charm he had on the nurse.
"I think that it would be good for her to wake up to a familiar face." Claire said, pulling his hand, feeling how cold it was, and shaking off the feeling that it was almost like holding a corpse's hand.
Angel followed the nurse into the ICU room, and heard the sound of Cordelia's heartbeat, strong and steady, before he even heard the noises of the machines monitoring her condition. He saw the clear tube by her nose, bringing oxygen to her, and on the side of her cheek was a bandage over what he hoped wasn't a cut that would scar her beautiful face.
"You can sit here Angel, and hold her hand, just be careful of the IV. When she opens her eyes, press this button so I can come in and check her." Claire pushed him to sit in the chair next to the bed and showed Angel the call button.
Angel took Cordelia's hand gently in both of his large hands, absorbing her warmth. Angel focused on her face as he gently rubbed her hand and arm. Wanting to tell her without words that she was safe, wanting her to know that he was there to care for her, wanting her.
Angel sat there watching Cordelia into the early hours of the morning. Angel ignored the comings and goings of the nurses who checked Cordy's vital signs every half hour. He quietly talked to her, about everything and nothing, gentle soothing tones.
"Open your eyes Cordy, please." Angel begged as his body felt that dawn was near. He looked around briefly at the ICU and noted that there was no sign of a window that would let in the sun's rays that would set him on fire. He dropped his head and focused on her small hand resting in his much larger hands.
Cordelia cracked her eyes open and the first sight was that of Angel, a concerned and brooding Angel. He was hazy, almost like a dream before her, and she wasn't sure if it was real. "Angel?" Cordy croaked out of a dry mouth.
Angel picked up his head at the soft sound of her voice. "Hey Cordy." Angel said, and the corner of his lips turned up in a smile of relief at hearing the sound of her voice.
"Where?" Cordy asked, not sure of anything, and not feeling any pain at all.
"Hospital, you had an accident, but you are going to be fine." Angel said quietly and then reached over and pressed the call button for the nurse. He wanted the medical people to tell him that she was okay. He leaned in and moved away from her cheek a wayward strand of hair, the tips of his fingers grazing across her skin.
Cordelia felt reassured at the cool touch of Angel's finger tips on her face. She felt so groggy it was so confusing.
Claire walked into the room and saw that the girl was awake and was focusing totally on the young man holding her hand gently yet fiercely. She checked the read-out on the monitoring machines and leaned in "Hey sleepy head, you had this nice young man worried about you."
"Sorry." Cordelia said quietly, looking up at the nurse, having a hard time focusing, fighting off the grogginess of the anesthesia.
"Not your fault Cordy." Angel said gently. No, Cordelia was not to blame for lying in this hospital bed, Harris was to blame.
Claire was touched by how much love Angel appeared to have for Cordelia, and had the fleeting thought that Cordelia was a very lucky young lady, and not just for having survived her accident. "Cordelia, what do you say we move you out of here and into a room with sunshine?" Claire asked positively.
"No!" If Cordy could have shouted, she would have, sunshine meant Angel would leave her.
"Huh?" Claire asked a little confused as to why the girl would want to stay cooped up in this windowless environment.
"Eyes hurt." Cordy was amazed her addled brain was working. She squeezed down on Angel's hand.
"Maybe we can move her to a western exposure room, by this afternoon she will be up for sunshine." Angel translated, not knowing if he would be able to leave her several hours from now just because of a little deadly sunshine.
"We can do that, lets get you mobile." Claire said, wanting to please the two young lovers. She moved around and then pressed a button on the paging system for two orderlies to move Cordelia to a private, western exposure room.
The hospital staff went through the normal activities of transferring a patient from one room to the other, and the two male orderlies ignored the glare from Angel who had been moved outside of the ICU unit while they prepared Cordelia to be moved. He watched and thought to himself that it would be much simpler if he just picked her up and carried her wherever they wanted to put her.
Claire came up to his side as he stood at the window, "Angel she is going to be fine. Cordelia is lucky to have you."
"No, I am the lucky one." Angel said, realizing that he almost lost the most important thing in his life is a span of a couple short hours. He had forgotten how fragile humans were, and vowed to take better care of his girl.
Claire smiled; it was nice to see true love.