Chapter 10 Hard Lessons Learned
"I called my guy this afternoon but he wasn't there so I left him a message for him to call me." Just as he said that the phone rang and Cordelia answered it.
"Angel investigation we help the hopeless." Cordelia came over to the dinning room and said the call was for Gunn. "What timing." Gunn got up and went over to the phone. He came back in a few minutes with good news for Angel.
"Okay Angel we got one. My boy said there's a large nest of Vampires that has taken up residence in an old warehouse not to far from here."
Before Gunn could finish Angel had jumped up and was at the weapons cabinet. Cordelia was laughing at him. Angel jumped up so fast he almost fell over his chair. Connor, Wesley, Xander, Spike and Buffy had joined him. Willow had asked Buffy if she thought she would be needed, but Buffy said they had enough. Everyone exited like a tornado had gone through and just picked them up.
Cordelia and Fred started to clean up. Willow turned to Dr. Martin and asked if she could talk to her.
"Sure Willow. Would you like to go upstairs to room 412?" "Yes, I hear it has a balcony where we can sit and watch the city."
Dr. Martin led the way to 412. It had become a psychiatrist's office. Cordelia kept it well stocked with O positive for Angel, cherry cola for Dr. Martin and the usual tea and coffee. Dr. Martin opened the french doors and drapes and Willow joined her out on the balcony. They stood out there for about 10 minutes without saying anything. Then Dr. Martin noticed that Willow was watching the empty office building across the street so she looked also.
"Did you ever notice the telescopes on the 1st and 4th floor of the office building across the street." Willow asked. "Yes I've seen it before, but I didn't think anything of it because they never seem to move." Dr. Martin said.
Willow continued to watch the telescopes without saying anything. Finally she started to talk. "Dr. Martin do you know anything about me?" "Yes, I know that you're a witch, you used to date a young man called Oz, you are now seeing a women by the name of Tara. You also are the one that was able to translate the Gypsy curse and save Angel." As Willow opened up to her she found that she was mixed up about her sexuality. She couldn't decide if she was gay or heterosexual and couldn't understand why she was like that.
"Willow did you love Oz?" "Yes." Willow answered. "Did you enjoy the sex you had with him?" "Oh yes, it was wonderful." "Do you love Tara like you loved Oz?" Willow hesitated before she answered that question. "I love Tara but it's not the same as when I loved Oz." "Why do you think that is Willow?" "Because they're two different people?" "How did you come to know Tara? Did you meet her someplace or where you were with some other people?" "We met at the Bronze, it's a place where all of the kids from Sunnydale High hung out. I was still feeling bad about my breakup with Oz and that's when I met Tara. We got along right away and I fell in love with her right then and there."
"Willow there are two types of Homosexuals. There are those that are that way because they were born like that. Just as some women like muscle men or blonds or brunettes, tall, thin, short or fat. Then there are the type that have relations with people of their own sex because it's easier. You don't have to deal with all of the problems that people of different sexes have when they fall in love with the opposite sex. It's just easier all the way around. Women have a hard time understanding how men think and men have a hard time understanding how women think. I think Willow that your that type. You had a hard time with your relationship with Oz for some reason. Then you took the easiest relationship to come along. Which was Tara. If you think about it Willow you will find that we all have a much easier time of talking to people that are of our own sex. Dealing with the opposite sex is difficult. What you need to do Willow is try to understand why you chose Tara. The night wore on like this as Dr. Martin helped Willow to understand herself. Before they went downstairs she asked one more question that surprised Dr. Martin.
"Is magic bad Sr. Mary? I've heard some people say that Witches that play with magic are doing the devil's work. Can I lose my soul if I continue to practice magic. I mean because I only do good things with magic so how can it be bad?"
"I noticed your asking Sr. Mary and not Dr. Martin." Willow smiled at that.
"I thought it would be more appropriate and it would tell you it's a God question and not a psychology question."
"This conversation has told me a lot about you Willow. It's told me you're a very intelligent person. Your not as innocent as you seem and your just lacking the maturity and knowledge that only age can bring. As for your question, nothing in and of itself is bad or evil. It's like they say of guns. It's not the gun that's bad, it's the person that uses the gun to do bad things."
"Tara thinks I am going to get in trouble sooner or later with it."
Sr. Mary listened carefully. Not only to what Willow was saying but also to the intensity of the emotion that was going through her as she talked about her magic and Tara.
"Let me ask you one thing Willow. Do you trust Giles?"
"Yes of course." Willow answered.
"Then trust his judgement and listen to him when he tells you to be careful."
Sr. Mary hugged her and gave her, her blessing by making the sign of the cross on her forehead.
"Lets go downstairs and wait for the boys to come back from playtime." Dr. Martin said.
Just as they arrived in the lobby Buffy and all the men but Angel came in. Cordelia stood up and came to the group. "Where's Angel." "We thought he would be here." Wesley said. "The last time I saw him he was fighting three Vampires." Gunn said.
"Yeah, then something happened and they all took off. That place was loaded. He probably didn't get enough excitement and took off after them to see where they were headed. He'll be back sooner or later." Wesley said.
"Wesley I have a bad feeling about this. I know he's a big boy and he can take care of himself but I have a dreadful feeling that something bad is going to happen." Cordelia said.
Wesley went over to Cordelia and put his arm around her. "If Angel isn't back by the morning when you wake up we'll go looking for him. Okay?"
"Okay, I guess I am worrying too much. I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning. Good night."
Dr. Martin went to Cordelia as she started up the stairs.
"No matter what happens Cordelia, don't forget what I told you at the beginning. Everything will be done before I leave if Angel makes the right choices. Angel will have his perfect happiness and you will have the family that you both want. Angel hasn't made a wrong or bad choice yet." Dr. Martin and Cordelia hugged. They both went upstairs then and the rest of them followed.
In the middle of the night Cordelia woke up screaming from a nightmare. Wesley came running into her room. Cordelia was sitting up in bed and screaming. Wesley ran to her side. "What's wrong did you have a vision?" He put his arms around her to get her to calm down.
"Wesley it's Angel. I saw him tied to a post and being beaten with one of those whips that have a lot of whips tied into one. He wasn't moving Wesley he just hung their. He was bleeding real bad and some of his skin was just barely hanging on. His clothes were all torn and he didn't have any shoes on. We have to go and look for himw Wesley we have to go now." Cordelia was crying all the time she was telling them what she saw in her dream.
"Cordelia it was probably just a bad dream that you were having because your worried about Angel." Everyone was in the room by then. Wesley turned around and looked for Connor and Spike.
"Spike and Connor can you track Angel if you go back to the warehouse." Connor and Spike both answered with a yes. Connor and Spike went back to their rooms to get dressed. When they came back to Cordelia and Angels room they asked for someone's keys. Wesley threw an extra pair of keys to Angels car.
Dr. Martin came back with a sleeping pill for Cordelia. "Here take this Cordelia. It will help you to sleep." "I don't want to sleep Dr. Martin." "Cordelia you can't do anything for Angel by going without sleep. If they find Angel I'll wake you up to let you know." Wesley said.
Cordelia was reluctant but she went ahead and swallowed the pill. "You promise me to tell me whether it's good or bad news right?" "I promise whether it's good or bad news now go to sleep. When you wake up in the morning Angel will probably be laying right next to you." Wesley made her lay down and he covered her again. They then all left the room and he turned the light off.
Spike and Connor arrived at the warehouse where they had fought the gang of Vampires. They each went in opposite directions trying to pick up on Angels scent. Connor tracked his scent going out of one of the side doors. "Spike I found his scent." Connor yelled. Spike came over. He could smell it also. They followed it down several alley ways before it was lost completely. Spike went back for Angel's car and they drove around for awhile trying to pick up his scent again. After several hours they gave up and returned to the hotel.
While Spike and Connor were looking for Angel the Vampires that kidnaped him had taken him out to the desert where no one would interrupt them. If you had been watching from the highway you would have thought they were repairing the dirt roads that ran through out the dessert. The roads had to be graded regularly because of the winds and rain of the winter tending to make ripples in the road. This of course would create a lot of dirt clouds. Right now that is exactly what it looked like, but what they were using to create the dirt cloud was Angel. At first Angel tried running behind the truck they were using but then as they sped up he couldn't do anything but hold on to the rope they had around his chest. He was already weak and torn up from the whipping they had administered to him. They finally stopped and picked him up roughly and sat him on the tail gate of the truck. "What's the matter Angel aren't you having fun or would you rather go back to Sr. Mary and let her help you some more." One of his captors said taunting him. Angel had to be held up because he couldn't do it on his own. He slowly lifted his head and looked at the guy. "How do you know about Sr. Mary?" "We have eyes and ears all over my good man. In fact we have eyes and ears in places that you would never suspect. Now I would like to stand around talking to you like this but the sun will be coming up in a few hour
and it's going to take some time to get you back home. Now I know you probably are wondering what were doing with you. Well we invited you to this party because we want to let you know that we want to encourage you to get out of town. If you don't we'll find some other way to encourage you. So why don't you just take this first invitation to heart and leave. It's not that we don't love you but the boss wants you out of town. Take care of him guys. Make sure you nail the message home. The Vamp leader got into another car and took off back to L.A.. The others put chains around Angel and threw him into the back of the truck. When they arrived back in town they went back to the warehouse. They pulled Angel out of the back of the truck. Angel looked around the warehouse. Four Vamps were coming towards him carrying something. As they came closer he could see that it was 2 large wooden beams. The Vamps laid them on the ground in front of him. Angel looked at it. When the other Vamps fitted the two pieces together then put four large screws in the center to keep them in place he realized what they intended to do to him. They took the chains off of him. Angel was more scared then he had ever been before. As they took him over to the cross and made him lay down on the beams Angel fought and twisted his body and kicked out like he had never done before. Their were too many of them though and he finally gave up and let them do as they wanted without fighting anymore. He knew he had to conserve what little strength he had left just to survive what was to come if he was to get back home to Cordy. Home, he didn't think he would ever be able to call anyplace home again. Home and all that, that word meant. Then he felt the spike piercing his hand. The spike cut through the bones and sinew and muscle. With the first strike of the hammer against the head of the spike as it nailed his hand to the wood he could feel the pain travel up the nerves from his hand to his shoulder like a bolt of lightening traveling along a wire. He counted the strikes, 1,2,3 strikes of the hammer and he could no longer move his left hand. They did the same thing to his right hand. Then they came to his feet. They had one spike left and they had to put his feet so that one was on top of the other. Blessedly when they made the first strike he lost consciousness. The pain was too much. His voice was hoarse from screaming so much. So he was silent as they made the first strike and the strike after that and the strike after that. They had literally smashed the top foot in order to get the spike down far enough so that it would hold him.
Back at the hotel Cordelia was waking up at 7 am. She was dreaming again and woke up breathing hard as though she had been running in her sleep. She looked to her side to see if Angel was in bed beside her. The other side was empty. She jumped out of bed, put her robe on and went downstairs. Cordelia checked the kitchen then the basement and Angel was no where to be found. The last place to check was his office. As she passed under the second story walk way she slipped on something on the floor. Cordelia had some Kleenex in her pocket so she bent over to see what it was that she slipped on. "It's blood, he spilled some of his blood from his glass and didn't even bother to clean it up. He must be in his office. Wait till I see him. When Cordelia stood up again she felt something on her shoulder. She reached up and saw that it was blood and slowly looked up and started to move backwards and started screaming. She didn't stop screaming until Wesley came running down and shook her to make her stop screaming.
"Cordelia stop it, it's me Wesley." Cordelia stopped screaming and was shaking as she looked at Wesley then she slowly looked back at the second story walkway. Wesley looked in the same direction. Everyone else had gotten up also and was standing on the stairway or on the walkway. When they saw Wesley looking back at the walkway they all looked in the same direction. It was Angel and he was nailed to a heavy cross that was hanging from the walkway by ropes. His clothes were almost completely gone. The shirt and T-shirt had been torn away and the top portion of his pants were being held on only by his belt. His own blood was all over him. He had a wound in his side on the right that looked like a knife wound. His skin showed bruises all over his body especially around his wrists. Most of the skin around his wrists was either torn off or buried under the skin higher up. The skin on his torso was stretched tight and you could count every rib. It was a good thing he only had to breath occasionally because in order to breath he had to push up with his feet to relieve the pressure on his lungs that would allow him to take in oxygen into his lungs. Blood had been pouring out of the wound on his side but because of the healing properties of a Vampire his body quickly healed enough to stop the blood flow. Each time he tried to breath or break loose though the wound would reopen and begin bleeding again. Usually the quick healing would be a good thing and would prevent him from bleeding to much. Now though it was detrimental to his current condition. Angel had dried blood all over him. The skin from his knees had been scraped off entirely. His right arm had about a 2 inch section of skin just barely hanging on. The skin on his chest had dirt dug into all of the scratches. The fact that he was here and not dust was a testimony to the mans desire to live, and everyone knew why he clung to life.
Wesley finally came out of his initial shock and told someone to get Dr. Martin.
"Lets get him down. Gunn and I will take one side, Giles and Xander take the other. Spike and Connor can receive him on the bottom."
They didn't bother to try and undo the ropes since the weight of the cross and Angels body were pulling them tight. Instead they got other ropes and tied them onto each side of the cross and using Gunn's axe Buffy cut the ropes holding the cross to the balcony. They lowered him slowly and carefully. Angel had lost a lot of blood and each time they made the cross jerk in any way Angels body would pull at the spikes holding his arms and feet to the cross. The wounds would reopen and they would begin to bleed again.
They lowered the cross enough for Spike and Connor to be able to catch it so that it could be laid flat on the floor. When they did this Angel screamed in pain because his whole body shifted when they laid him down. The spikes pulled at his hands and feet in another position. Each time his body moved it was like having them nailed in again. The pain was excruciating. The people on the top ran down to the first floor just as Dr. Martin came running downstairs with Fred following close behind.
Wesley and Gunn were checking the Spikes to see what they were made of. They found them to be railroad spikes and the wood used for the cross were large 4 X 6 wood studs. Gunn ran downstairs to get something to pull the spikes out of Angel's hands and feet.
Dr. Martin was examining Angel. She could see that he had very little blood left in him and he was basically existing on air.
"Spike how long can a Vampire exist without 3/4 of his blood supply?" Dr. Martin asked.
"I don't know of anyone that has had to deal with the problem and still lived." Spike said.
At that time Gunn came back up to the lobby and had what looked like large wire cutters. "Okay who's going to do it?" Gunn asked.
"The spikes are going to have to be pulled straight out. You can't move them back and forth to get them out. If you do you'll do more damage to the small bones in his hands and feet." Dr. Martin said.
"Besides Angel you're the strongest Buffy. Angels are kind of busy at the moment." Spike said.
Buffy came forward and took the cutter from Gunn.
Angel had lost consciousness again when they lowered him to the floor but he was regaining consciousness again. Dr. Martin was still kneeling at Angels side. She called Cordelia and Wesley over when she saw that he was starting to wake up. She could barely see his eyes because they were so swollen. Wesley knelt down on the other side of Angel and waited for him to open his eyes. Angel was having a hard time focusing in on anyone. Dr. Martin noticed how the blood from his wounds started to flow again.
"What happened Angel do you remember?" Wesley asked.
He tried to speak but his throat and mouth were so dry he couldn't get anything out. He concentrated and tried again. "Water." Fred brought over a glass of water and gave it to Dr. Martin. Fortunately she had thought to put a straw in the water so that Angel wouldn't have to move his head in order to drink. Angel drank almost all of the water before he stopped. He licked his lips and then said "It was a group of teenage Vampires. They said the boss sent his greetings and that I was to leave L.A.. Wesley had to bend down closer to him for what Angel said next. Wesley they know Dr. Martin is a nun. They know how she has been helping me and that's why they crucified me. Wesley there must be listening devices all through the hotel. Let everyone know and get rid of them." It took a lot out of Angel just to say that little bit. He was breathing hard now. Dr. Martin listened to his heart and found it to be beating more frequently and that she knew was why the blood was flowing more freely from his wounds now.
"Wesley we have to get busy with him or he's going to die when every ounce of blood leaves his body."
"Cordy, where's Cordy. I want Cordy." Angel was asking for her over and over. He didn't want them to do anything until he saw Cordelia. She came and knelt by his side when Dr. Martin got up.
"Im here Angel. Im right beside you." She put her hands on his face and wiped her tears away that were falling on his face. Angel stared at her and tried to focus in on her. "I can't see you Cordy." "You'll be alright Angel as soon as Dr. Martin can work on fixing you up. Everything will be okay." "Cordy, all the time they were beating me and dragging me behind the truck I kept holding on by telling myself I had to live so that I can get back to Cordy." Angel started coughing up blood. When he finally stopped he was breathing hard. Cordelia just looked at him. "Don't you leave me Angel Liam Martin. Don't you dare leave me. If you leave me after we've been through so much together I'll stake you myself." Then she realized what she said and gave a little laugh.
Dr. Martin had gone into the big kitchen where they had all of the medical supplies and filled a syringe with a strong tranquilizer that would put Angel to sleep for five or six hours. She came back to the lobby and kneeled down next to Angel again.
"Angel I'm going to give you something to make you sleep. When you wake up again you should be in your own bed." She gave him the shot in his neck and then stood up and pulled Cordelia away also.
Buffy went to Angels right hand. "Connor come over here and hold his hand out flat. When I pull the spike out you'll have to hold it down also so that it doesn't come up with the spike. Lets do it all as fast as possible." She looked over at Angel. He was still breathing hard which meant he was still awake. "Are you ready Angel?" Buffy asked him. He looked over her way even though he couldn't focus in on her. "Yeah, go ahead lets get it over with."
"Are you ready Connor?" Connor nodded a yes. Buffy put one foot on the cross and positioned the cutters. "Okay Connor on three I will start and move to the feet and then to the other arm. Spike hold Angel down so that he can't move. Keep out of the way as we go to the feet and then to his other arm. Here we go 1,2,3." Buffy pulled the spike straight up. Angel gave out a blood curdling scream as the spike tore his flesh again. By the time they got to his left hand he was blessedly unconscious. They picked him up and took him to the kitchen and placed him on the counter.
"Spike and Cordelia I am going to need your help. Take what's left of his clothes off then I want you to start cleaning the dirt off of Angel as best you can. Use the hose to clean off as much of the dirt as you can. I should be back before your done. Everyone else can leave. Fred stay here for a minute please."
Dr. Martin went to one of the cabinets and pulled out two sets of surgical scrubs. She threw one set to Spike and took the other set and went to the back of the kitchen where she would be out of sight. Fred followed her over and she started to get undressed and put the surgical scrubs on.
"Fred I want you to remove all of the bedding on Angels bed. Take them and several other top sheets. And several large towels. Wash them in hot water with soap and Lysol if you have it. If you don't then use just bleach. Double the amount of the bleach recommended. When they're dry put them back on they're bed. Take one of the top sheets and fold it over. Place it just where his head and torso will lay. Leave the ends loose. We'll use that to position him if we need to. Now we'll probably take 4 to 5 hours to clean him up and take care of his wounds. Dr. Martin had finished changing so she gave her clothes to Fred. "Fred would you put my clothes in my room for me. Thanks."
Dr. Martin went to one of the cabinets and pulled out a special plastic hose that she had ordered for the faucet. It had a special attachment for the faucet and the other end gave a fine spray. She attached the hose to the faucet and gave the other end to Spike then went around to the other side of Angel. They didn't worry about the water because like all large kitchens it had a drain in the floor. The floor was slightly tilted so that the water ran into the drain.
"Okay lets start. As I go to each cut or remove skin I want you to carefully wash out the wound and well see what happens." Dr. Martin carefully checked each cut and pulled each side of the cut away so that Spike could clean it out thoroughly. After taking care of one portion of his torso she checked the ones that they had cleaned out. "Spike shouldn't these be starting to heal already?" "Yes they should but they're not, they're staying the same. I can only guess it's because he has to little blood in him. Should we finish working on him or get some blood back into him?" Dr. Martin took a moment to think about it. "If we give him blood now hell just bleed it out, but if we don't get some into him he'll die. Cordelia call the local blood bank and ask them if we can buy 10 pints of O positive blood from them. If they want to know what hospital needs it tell them that it's for a single special patient here in L.A. that is being treated by Dr. Mary Martin from The Sisters of Redemption Hospital in New Hampshire. Tell them that well send someone to pick up the blood and we will pay by credit card. Spike continue to clean him up as best as you can until I get back. I'm going to get some blood from Buffy right now. We have to get some blood back into him as soon as possible." Dr. Martin took her gloves off and picked up the equipment that she would need to get blood from Buffy.
"Buffy you have O positive blood right?" "Yes I think so." Buffy looked at Giles. "Yes she does."
"Come sit down over here on the couch then. I need at least a pint of blood from you so that I can give it to Angel. Cordelia is checking with the local blood bank to see if we can buy 10 pints."
Dr. Martin hooked up Buffy to a bag and then stood back to wait for the bag to fill. As soon as it was full she unhooked everything and went running back to the kitchen.
"How are you doing Spike." Dr. Martin asked.
"I've cleaned out as much as I can on this side and I've cut away the skin that was just hanging on, but he hasn't started healing yet. We had better take care of the wound in his side first since that's the biggest bleeder." "Yes I agree." Dr. Martin said.
"Cordelia would you take the instruments that I have in the pot of boiling water and place them on the tray that I have on the counter and bring them here." Cordelia did as she was told and brought them over to the counter next to Angel. Dr. Martin took the knife and made the wound in his side larger so that she could repair the damage made by the sword or large knife. The sword had pierced the lower right part of his lung which was the reason for him coughing up blood. She put simple stitches in the lung and the outer layers of skin. She figured that once they were able to give him blood he would start healing these areas.
"Spike check his left hands and feet for any broken bones."
This went on for another 2 hours before they were finally able to start giving him the transfusion. Before they actually started the blood going they turned him over so she could check his back. When they had him turned Cordelia started crying at the sight of his back. It was all torn up. Their wasn't 1 square inch of skin that wasn't torn. Even the skin underneath the tattoo was badly torn. Cleaning all of his back took another hour. By the time they were able to start the transfusion of blood 4 hours had already passed. While the blood was going into him they started working on his hands and feet. All of the bones in the center where the nails had entered had been broken in his hands and feet. The worst one was the left foot that had been placed on top of the right one. The spike had been hammered in through both. To support the majority of his weight the spike had been hammered in hard so that the wider part of the spike at the head of the spike had been pushed further in and literally smashed the bones and muscle and their was little but the sinew and skin holding the foot together. If Angel had been a normal human she would have amputated the foot, but Spike thought they should try to put everything in its right place and let his Vampire healing take over and hopefully put it back to normal. Dr. Martin was tired, she looked at Angels chest wound and the scratches on the rest of his torso to see if any healing had taken place. The small scratches had healed and all you could see now was a lot of red marks. The deeper lacerations had only begun to heal. She checked the bag containing Buffy's blood. It was almost empty. Dr. Martin thought it would be ok for them to take a break. Spike looked like he could continue but she needed a break. Wesley had returned with the 10 bags of O positive blood that Dr. Martin had ordered. He placed them in the refrigerator until they were needed.
"Spike I need to take a break we've been at this for almost six hours. I think that he will be ok for a while. Lets go and get something to eat and sit for awhile." They both went out to the lobby where everyone was waiting. Wesley had just come back from the local blood bank. They all stood up when Dr. Martin and Spike came out of the kitchen.
"Can you give us a few minutes before you start asking questions. I'm going upstairs for a few minutes and I'll be right back. Fred would you make me a sandwich, a cheeseburger would be nice. Also warm up a nice big glass of blood for Spike. I'll take some coffee please. I think it would be nice if someone would relieve Cordelia for a while. Get her something to eat also please whether she wants it or not." With that said she went upstairs. Five minutes later she was headed downstairs. Cordelia had taken a break also after Gunn relieved her. Dr. Martin went to sit down at the dinning room table. Everyone else came over and sat down as well.
"Okay this is what we have found so far and corrected. Angel has numerous lacerations all over his body. We spent the better part of 3 hours carefully cleaning these out. It was apparent that he had been dragged behind a vehicle over somewhere very sandy. He had a lot of dirt and tiny rocks in those lacerations. As you all saw he had what looked like a knife wound in the side of his chest. The wound went into his lungs. That has been repaired. His Vampire healing still hasn't taken control of healing him yet though. When I gave him Buffy's blood we could see some healing taking place. When we turned him over we found even more lacerations. Apparently they had used a whip to do more damage. His hands and feet have the most severe damage. His left foot has sustained the worst damage. If Angel had been a normal human being I would have just amputated the foot. Spike feels confident though that if we place everything back where it belongs his Vampire healing should take over. As it is right now the sinew is the only thing holding his foot together. I decided to take a break at this point because it's probably going to take us several hours to put everything back in place. When we are done I'll start replacing his blood supply. If I do it before were done with the hands and feet he will just bleed out again. As long as he is healing, which we can see, I will postpone giving him the blood." Fred brought Dr. Martin her cheeseburger and some chips and a large cup of coffee. She then brought Spike a warm mug of blood and Cordelia as well.
"Wesley from the injuries that Angel has sustained I would say that someone knows that I am a nun and that someone thought it would be funny to torture Angel in the same way that Jesus Christ was tortured and crucified." "Angel told me the same thing before he passed out. We've been checking out the whole place from top to bottom, looking for listening devices. This is what we've found so far." Wesley pointed to a small pile of mikes and cameras.
Dr. Martin finished the rest of her coffee and looked at Spike and Cordelia. You two ready to go?"
"Let's finish patching me old Sire up and put him to bed." Spike said. "Lets go." Cordelia said as she got up and headed to the kitchen.
Dr. Martin got up more slowly then the other two and headed for the large kitchen. For the next 3 hours they carefully put every bone and strands of sinew back into place as best as they could. The same had to be done for the other foot and the hands. They just didn't need as much work. They spent the next hour just wrapping up his hands and feet and chest.
"Spike would you get some of the guys to carry Angel to the couch in the lobby." Spike left to get someone to help with Angel. Dr. Martin and Cordelia covered Angel with a sheet to afford him some privacy.
"Cordelia would you bring the pole to hang the bag of blood from. I'll bring the rest so we can start replacing the blood that he lost." Gunn, Connor and Wesley came in to help move Angel. They brought the coffee table with them to put Angel on which would make it less stressful for Angel and them. After they put him on the couch Dr. Martin hooked him up to the bag of blood. Angel was starting to wake up which was good because Dr. Martin wanted his heart to beat faster so that it would pull in blood and circulate it better. They were hoping that he would now start to heal better. Dr. Martin sat down on the coffee table next to the couch. Cordelia had gone to get several blankets for Angel.
"Angel it's Dr. Martin. I know I promised that you would wake up in your bed but it took longer then I expected to patch you up. You were almost bled dry so we are replacing your blood from blood that we bought at the local red cross. I don't want to hear any arguments from you either. You need this blood Angel because your not healing. We gave you some of Buffy's so you've started to heal a little bit. Try not to go to sleep Angel. I know your in pain but the pain is making your heart beat faster and we need that to happen for awhile. It will help your body to take in the blood and distribute it out to the rest of your body. Are you in a lot of pain?" "Yes." "On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest. Where would your pain be on that scale?" "Twelve he said."
Angel was actually perspiring. His skin color was whiter then usual and very warm to the touch. In fact it was an unusual color. Dr. Martin went to get something to take his temperature and a stethoscope. When she got back Cordelia was sitting beside him. She was wiping the sweat from his face. When Dr. Martin approached she looked up at her. Cordelia hadn't put any makeup on or even combed her hair since she got up this morning. It was apparent that all she had on her mind since going to bed last night was Angel.
"Cordelia could I sit there please so that I can work on him?" Cordelia moved over to stand at the back of the couch. Dr. Martin sat on the coffee table by Angels head. She took his temperature. It was at 105 degrees. When she listened to his heart she was hearing a nice strong steady beat. She took a syringe out of her pocket and gave it to Angel.
"What was that for?" Cordelia asked.
"It's antibiotics. Let's go and talk over here so that I can let everyone know how he is doing."
Cordelia came and took her hand like a little girl. They went over to the dinning room table where everyone else was sitting. Fred saw them coming and brought each of them some coffee.
"How is he doing Dr. Martin?" Wesley asked.
"Right now he is a very sick man. His Vampire healing hasn't kicked in yet. So I am starting to treat him just like I would anyone else. He has a temperature of 105 degrees. His heart is beating at a normal pace though and that's what he needs right now in order to distribute the blood better. I just gave him some powerful antibiotics. Spike I left the temperature gage over on the coffee table. Take his temperature in another hour. All you do is place it in his ear until you hear the beep. It should start to go down. If it doesn't go down after an hour call me. I just wanted to let everyone know how he is doing."
"What about his hands and feet?" Wesley asked.
"I won't lie to you Wesley. His left foot is bad. Very bad. Like I told you before if he was human I would have amputated it. That is going to take the longest to heal. How long I don't know. Dr. Spike here thinks it will take 1 to 2 weeks depending on how long it takes his Vampire healing to get started. We are thinking that it should kick in once his normal amount of blood is replaced. Spike keep replacing the bags of blood as soon as one empties replace it. So far he has had 2 pints of blood. Keep it going until you get to 5 pints then stop. Don't remove the needle until I check him out. Right now Cordelia and I are going to go and get some rest."
"No I'm going to stay with Angel." Cordelia said.
"Cordelia Dr. Spike will be here with Angel and he will let me know if anything goes wrong. I was asking him as many questions as a first year intern. Believe me when I say that he is more than capable of taking care of Angel. You and I on the other hand are ready to collapse. Let's go. Don't sleep in Angels bed though okay. Everything has been sterilized and is waiting for him."
"Okay. I am real tired. You promise me that you'll wake me if there is a problem?"
"Yes Cordelia, now go get some rest. I am going to talk to Spike for a second."
"Giles and Wesley would you like to join us?" Giles and Wesley followed them over to Angel. Dr. Martin saw that the bag of blood was empty so she hooked up another one. Then she got her stethoscope off of her neck and put it on.
"Spike there is another stethoscope in the medical cabinet. Would you get it please so that you can listen to his lungs?" Spike went to the kitchen and was back in a few seconds.
"Spike put the stethoscope on and listen to the same area that I am." Spike did as he was told.
"Do you hear the gurgling sound?" Spike nodded yes. Dr. Martin moved the stethoscope around to various parts of his lung and Spike did the same.
"Now can you tell me if you hear it any other place in the lung?" "No. It appears to be centralized right around the puncture wound."
"Okay that is what I want you to listen for. As he starts to heal you should hear less and less of that gurgling. That will mean that the blood is starting to dissipate." Dr. Martin took Angels temperature again. It was 106 degrees. "Spike get a large bowl or bucket and fill it with ice and water. Get a towel and soak it in the ice water then wring it out and put it on his chest. Don't worry about the bandages getting wet. We can always put new ones on. If it goes any higher we'll have to put him in a bath of ice. Send someone to get as much ice as the freezer downstairs can hold. If we have to do it we will be ready because time will be important. As you know if his temperature gets to high for too long of a time hell have a seizure and it could result in brain damage." She then looked at Giles and Wesley. "I know you must be wondering about Spike. Do the Watchers Chronicles say anything about what he did before he was turned?" "No there is very little information on Spike." "Well I do from my research and talking to him. Spike went to medical school and was just 3 months away from graduation. He has kept up with modern medicine by reading everything he could get his hands on. What he lacks is practical experience that a medical student would acquire when they are interns. So if you have any questions then you can ask Spike. I will be resting in Angels office if you need me."
Giles and Wesley were just staring at Spike. Spike went to get the ice water and towel. When he returned he noticed that Giles and Wesley still had not moved an inch and were more or less standing in the same place with their mouths still open. Spike went ahead and put the bowl of ice on the coffee table and soaked the towel in the ice water. After wringing it out he placed it on Angels chest.
"Does Buffy know about this Spike?" Giles asked.
"Yes. Remember when Riley came back and he called me Doctor?" "Yes." Giles said.
"Well after Riley left and she came to me in a couple of days she asked me and I told her why he called me Doctor."
"Well uh, okay then uh, I guess uh, Giles and I will be in my office. If you need any help with Angel call us." Wesley said. They both walked calmly but quickly into Wesley's office. Spike just laughed at them. Buffy came down the stairs at that time and went to check on how Angel was doing.
"How is he doing?" Buffy asked Spike.
"He's not doing to good. His temperature is 106. If we don't get it to go down he could have a seizure and or brain damage. Dr. Martin is getting some rest right now. She told me to try ice cold towels for now." Spike checked the towel. It was already warm to the touch so he dipped it in the ice bowel again. Buffy put her hand on Angels forehead.
"Spike, he's burning up." Spike put the towel back on Angels chest again and took his temperature. It was going up not down. It was now at 107. Spike ran to get Dr. Martin and banged on Wesley's door at the same time. "Come on Giles and Wesley we need you. Call Connor and Gunn."
Dr. Martin came out and checked Angels temperature again. "What was his temperature when you took it?" "It was 107.5." "Okay it's going up steadily, it's 107.8 now. Wesley where can we put him that is small enough to hold all of him and yet not take a lot of ice to surround him?"
"Angel has the only bath tub that's big enough." Wesley said. "What about an old fashioned claw foot tub?" Fred had come down along with Gunn and Connor when she heard all of the commotion. "Wesley we have one in room 412's bathroom."
"Okay we need to get him up their and put him in the bathtub. Fred try to get up there first and start filling it with cold water. Wesley get everyone to help take Angel up their then the ice needs to be put in right on top of him. I'll follow you as soon as I get more drugs for him."
The men put Angel on the coffee table and started for the elevator they had to wait a minute though because Fred had taken the elevator up to the 4th floor so she could start filling the bathtub. The men were bringing Angel in. Just as they put the table down and placed him in the bathtub he started to have a seizure. Dr. Martin was just coming through the door. She heard what was going on so she grabbed a pillow from the bed. "When did he start the seizure?" Dr. Martin asked no one in particular. Wesley answered. "He started just before you got here." Dr. Martin put the pillow under Angels head. He had been hitting it against the bathtub. "Hold him down guys or he is going to hurt himself even more. Spike hold his head down so I can inject him with more antibiotics." Fred and Connor were coming in with the ice now.
"Giles would you go and wake up Cordelia and let her know we're up here. If Angel should die without her being here she would never forgive me." "Could it get that bad?" Wesley asked. "Yes Wesley, it could if we don't get his temperature down." Spike held Angels head as still as he possibly could and Dr. Martin injected him with stronger antibiotics. Fred and Connor opened the bags of ice and dumped them into the bathtub. They had 12 in all. Within less then a minute Angel stopped seizing. After 5 minutes in the ice Dr. Martin took Angels temperature again. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was down to 101 degrees. "Ok guys lets take him out. His temperature is down to 101.5"
The men took Angel out of the ice water and placed him on the bed. Spike and Dr. Martin quickly dried him off. Dr. Martin started to take his bandages off so that they could be replaced. To her surprise she saw the lacerations starting to heal right before her eyes. What looked like fine lines of electricity danced over the wounds and replaced the torn skin with new skin. Dr. Martin was so happy she hugged Spike and Wesley. Cordelia came in ready for the worst. But she saw Angel in the bed with his bandages off. When Dr. Martin saw her she hugged her also.
"He's going to be fine now Cordelia, he's going to be fine. His Vampire healing finely kicked in. All of the lacerations on his chest are already healing. Come and see." Dr. Martin pulled the towel down and showed her. Angel opened his eyes when Cordelia came near. He could sense her nearness to him. His voice reflected his weakened state. His inability to stay focused on her for only a short time worried her. She looked at Dr. Martin.
"Why does he keep doing that Dr. Martin?" "What do you mean?" "He doesn't seem to be able to stay awake for more then a minute or two." Dr. Martin came to check Angel.
"Spike, how many bags of blood has he had now?" "Five in all." Spike answered.
"Wesley would you take him and put him in his own bed. Spike hook him up for one more pint of blood. Cordelia would you make him a large pint of warm blood. I think he is just weak right now from all that he has gone through. Cordelia he's going to be fine, I promise you. It may take a week or more but he will heal completely. Lets put our boy to bed now so that he can get started on that resting."
The men gathered Angel up and placed him on the coffee table then took him to his room. Cordelia followed them to the room. Spike went down stairs to get the bag of blood and all of the other equipment. He was back in Angels room at the same time that the others brought Angel in. He set up the bag of blood and reattached the tube to the needle in Angels arm and started the flow of blood again. Then they started to wrap his hands and feet again. Dr. Martin placed a bandage over the wound in his side which already had a thin layer of new skin over it. The bandage was more of a reminder to Angel to be careful. The wounds on his feet still looked bad so they bandaged them with extra padding on the bottom of his feet. They both thought that Angel being Angel he would most likely try to walk as soon as he started feeling better. When they were finished covering his wounds with new bandages she took his temperature again. It was down to 98. His Vampire healing seemed to be taking care of everything now. She put his cover back on up to his arms. His right arm was above the covers because of the tubes going into his arm.
"Why don't you take it easy for the rest of the night Spike. Get something to drink and take care of Buffy. I will stay here for as long as it takes for the 6th bag of blood to go down and to get him to drink all of the blood in his glass. After that Cordelia will be here and she can call us if she needs help."
Spike turned to leave, but before he reached the door Cordelia called him. "Spike thank you for all you've done. It will be comforting to know that you're here in California once Dr. Martin goes home."
"Your welcome Cordelia. I never thought I would be able to actually practice medicine. This has been a gift for me as well." Spike said as he turned to leave.
Cordelia looked at Dr. Martin. "What did he mean a gift?"
"Well talk about it later Cordelia lets try to get Angel to drink his glass of blood." Angel was sleeping again but they woke him up and encouraged him to drink which was easy since he hadn't had anything since the night before. He greedily drank the whole thing. "Thanks I was hungry. Where is Spike?" Angel asked. "Dr. Martin sent him to get something to eat and get some sleep. Did you know that Spike was studying to be a medical doctor?" Cordelia asked Angel.
"Yes. Whenever Angelus and Darla would kill people in their homes Spike would look for medical books. He would often break into libraries just to read or take the medical books. He was a bloody terror throughout Europe but he always retained his thirst for knowledge in the medical field. The only thing I retained from before I was turned was my thirst for women, drinking and fighting." Angel gave a weak smile then closed his eyes and went to sleep. Dr. Martin took the blood bag from the pole and disconnected it from Angel and threw it away. She put the pole to the side and came and sat on the bed next to Angel and proceeded to take the needles out of his arm. Dr. Martin put her hand on Angels face and forehead. He felt cold to the touch now. Which was ok for him. She put her hand under the covers and touched his leg. They were still warm to the touch but not hot. "He is going to be just fine Cordelia. Why don't you sleep in your room tonight. I want you to get as much sleep as possible you look very tired. Spike and I are just down the hall if he should need anyone. I'll see you tomorrow morning. Good night Cordelia."
Dr. Martin went back to her room for a well earned rest. It was now 1 a.m. in the morning. She had been at it since 7 am the day before.
At 5 am everyone was jolted from their sleep by a blood curdling scream coming from Angels room. Everyone came running to see what was going on. Wesley got to the room first. Angel had his arms stretched out and his left hand was pressed down into the pillow next to him. Each time he screamed his hand pressed down harder on the pillow. Wesley came over to him and shook him hard. "Wake up Angel, wake up, it's only a dream." Angel opened his eyes. He was able to see clearly now since the swelling around his eyes had gone down. He looked at Wesley.
"Where's Cordy? I want Cordy." Angel said as his head sank back down onto the pillow. He was breathing hard and perspiring heavily. Dr. Martin and Cordelia came running in at the same time. Wesley told her that Angel was calling for her. She went to his side and sat on the bed.
"Angel it's Cordy. I'm here Angel." Angel opened his eyes again. He sat up and threw his arms around her. "Don't leave me Cordy please don't leave me." He was crying as he hung onto her. Where were you Cordy. They were nailing me to the cross and I was calling for you but you didn't come. When they pounded those spikes into my hands it felt like a bolt of electricity was going thru my arm. Then when they put that one spike threw my feet I thought I was going to die. They kept hitting the spike over and over again. I could feel my bones being crushed more and more with each blow. I have never been in so much pain before." Angel hugged her tighter as though he thought if he kept her close to him the dream wouldn't come back. Dr. Martin and Spike were watching but did nothing.
"Lets go everyone he was only dreaming." When everyone left Dr. Martin came over and put her hand on Angels forehead. He was still cool to the touch.
"Put him down Cordelia." She did as she was told and went to the other side of the bed and got in under the covers. Angel had calmed down by then. When Dr. Martin turned to leave he grabbed her arm and pulled her back to the bed. Dr. Martin sat down on the edge of the bed. Angel just looked at her.
"Dr. Martin why did He let this happen to me?" Angel asked with tears in his eyes.
Dr. Martin bent down and put her hands on his shoulders. "If you think about it Angel you will have your answer. All I can say to you is remember the request that I made to you on behalf of Christ. Everything that they did to you Angel the Romans did to Christ. You are still alive Angel, Christ died from his crucifixion. He was on that cross until he died. That should tell you that Christ was made to suffer much more and He did it all for you and I and Cordelia. Why do you go through so much Angel? You could have killed yourself a long time ago. Why do you continue to fight the good fight? Why do you let yourself suffer so much? All you have to do is raise that sword a little slower."
Angel hesitated while he thought about it. Then he looked at her and said "I do it because of all the things I did when Angelus controlled me. I do it to atone for my sins against man and God. I do it for my redemption."
"So everything you do is for yourself right?" Dr. Martin said.
"Yes, I guess you could say that." Angel answered.
"Christ suffered and died for you and everyone else. He didn't have to be born of a woman. He didn't have to submit Himself to Joseph his stepfather. He didn't have to suffer anything. He could have just looked us over and told His Father that He wasn't going to suffer anything for the losers in this world since the majority of the people didn't care about Him anyway, but He didn't did he Angel. Everything He did He did for us."
"That still doesn't tell me why He let this happen to me." Angel asked Dr. Martin. She just looked at him then turned to Cordelia. Cordelia do you know why Christ has to take such drastic measures with Angel. Cordelia smiled at her she mouthed the word 'stubborn and hard headed'. Dr. Martin nodded yes.
"Angel you are the most stubborn, hard headed person that I know of. You got yourself in all this trouble from the very beginning, and by beginning I mean when you left your fathers house. You are stubborn, hard headed and you have a hot temper."
"What do you mean hard headed and stubborn?" Angel asked with his temper making his voice go up a few decibels.
Dr. Martin and Cordelia just looked at each other and smiled.
"Angel I want you to try to go back to sleep or just lay here and think about what we have talked about. But I am going back to bed now. Good night."
TBC...........