A Slayers' Wish
Chapter: Five
Happy Reunion
Back in Rome, the young slayer in question had just walked into the apartment she shared with Andrew when the phone call came in. Buffy Summers walked over to her end table, picked up the receiver and said cheerfully as she sat down in her chair. "Hello. Hey, Spike. How've you been? Yeah. I'm sitting down, why?" Buffy put a hand to her mouth and then said seriously. "Please tell me you're kidding, Spike. Is he conscious? Well, that's a relief. Spike, let me get in touch with the air port down here and find out when their next flight to L.A. is, and then I'll call you right back. All right, Spike. Good-bye." Buffy put down the receiver and sat perfectly still for a moment, her mind and heart both racing.
After a few moments, the young slayer had calmed down enough to pick the receiver back up and dial the number of Rome only international airport. "Hello, Mamm. I need you to give the departure time of your next flight to Los Angeles. Thank you, Mamm. Good-bye." She said cheerfully. Buffy put down the receiver, wrote down the departure time down on a piece of paper, and put it into her purse. Buffy got to her feet and started jumping up and down for joy.
Back at Wolfram & Hart, the members of team Angel were sitting around the living room of their employers' apartment waiting in silence for the phone to ring, when they all heard the sound of moaning coming from inside the bedroom. Lorne got to his feet and said worriedly, "I'd better go check and check on him." Without another word, the Empathy demon headed into Angels' bedroom and was saddened to find the ex-vampire whimpering in pain. Lorne sat down on the bed next to him took the washcloth out of the bowl, rang it out, and placed it on Angels' burning forehead. The abrupt change in temperature caused the ex-vampire to cry out in pain.
Wesley walked into the bedroom and asked seriously. "How is he?" Lorne shook his head and replied sadly. "He's not too good. He has a very intense fever, and its rising fast. I swear that I had no idea my healing potion would do this to him, Wesley." "Don't blame yourself, Lorne neither of us knew this would happen." The Empathy demon looked back down at Angel and found that he was having trouble breathing. Lorne placed the cold washcloth on Angels' forehead and then on his neck causing him to moan from the pain. Lorne looked up at Wesley and announced urgently. "I need you and Gunn to go out and get as much ice as you can. We're going to have to put him in a tub of ice water to break his fever. If we don't bring down his temperature soon, the fever will start frying his brain cells." "All right." Wesley replied seriously and then left the bedroom.
Lorne got to his feet, went into the bathroom, and began filling the tub with cold water. When the Empathy demon was sure that the water was at the right level, he turned off the faucet, got to his feet and went back into the bedroom to find that Angel had stopped moving. The Empathy demon ran over to the bed, gently took the iv out of Angels' arm, pulled down the blankets, gathered the ex-vampires limp body into her arms and rushed him into the bathroom where he gently laid him down into the tub of ice cold water. The drastic change in temperature caused, Angels' body to shiver uncontrollably.
At that moment, Wesley and Gunn rushed into the bathroom and dumped their bags of ice into the bath water and caused their friends shivering to get worse. It took several hours but they were finally able to break Angels' fever and his body stopped trembling. Wesley had just walked back out into the living room, when the phone rang.
Spike reached over, picked up the receiver, and said cheerfully, "Hello, Buffy. That's great. I think the sooner you get here, the better. Angel will be thrilled." Spike suddenly looked up at Wesley and said seriously, "She wants to know how Angel's doing." "Let me talk to her." Wesley replied with a smile. Spike handed him the receiver. Wesley got on the phone and said joyfully. "Hello, Buffy. It looks like Angel's going to just fine. He had nasty fever a little while ago, but that's been all taken care of. He'll be surprised and thrilled to see you. All I ask is that you don't mention anything about him being human. Angel's not aware that we know yet. It might frighten him if he found out this soon. All right, Buffy. We'll see you the day after tomorrow then. Good-bye."
The rogue demon hunter gave the receiver back to Spike who asked wonderingly. "So, Angel's going to be all right then?" Wesley nodded and replied confidently. "He should be. All we can really do is hope for the best." Fourteen hours later, Angel woke up and to his astonishment found Buffy kneeling beside his bed tenderly holding his hand in hers. "How are you feeling?"
The young Slayer asked in a voice that was full of hope. Angel sat up and replied with a weak grin. "I seem to be doing a lot better now. When did you get into town?" Buffy smiled and replied tenderly. "I arrived early this morning. Let me be the first to say welcome back. Wesley and the others didn't think you were going to make it. Angel, Spike told me what happened, and I wanted you to know that we're all very proud of you." "You are?" Angel inquired in surprise.
Buffy nodded and replied cheerfully. "We all are. Angel, I want to take you away from all of this. I figure that since you're human now, you no longer have any reason to stay here. I want you to come back to Rome with me. Besides, it looks like you could use a vacation." Angel thought about her proposal for what seemed like an eternity and then replied with a loving smile. "I would love too, but I don't want my friends to think that I'm abandoning them."
Buffy shook her head and said casually. "I've already talked to Wesley and the others about this, and they're all for it." "Are you sure?" Angel asked calmly. Buffy nodded with a smile. Angel was silent for a few moments and then said warmly. "All right, Buffy. I'll go with you."