ok folks ... (this site) is the bane of my existence. Any type of symbol I tried to use to separate scenes was removed by the system for reasons I don't know. So I had to resort to using a row of colons to put some separation in. Hopefully they will still be there when you read this! (and apparently, they also don't let you type f.f.n.e.t. without the extra periods because that was removed from this note after I typed it.

I just checked after editing, the colons got taken out, so I give up. There are no scene separations. If you want to read this properly formatted, go to my site. There is a link on my userinfo page.

Part 2

Over two hours had passed since Buffy was left standing just inside the emergency room as they had taken her brother away behind the curtains. She'd stood there for who knows how long, unable to move, before a nurse had come and led her to a waiting room for family members. She hadn't wanted to go. She'd wanted to stay close to her brother, but they'd made her.

Now, Buffy sat on one of the uncomfortable chairs, knees pressed to her chest as she rocked back and forth, praying to whatever higher powers there were that Oz would be okay. She knew there were others in the room with her; people who also knew her brother, and strangers waiting for news just as she was. More than once someone had tried to talk to her. What they'd said, she had no clue. Her mind was lost in memories.

She remembered the day Oz had come to live with her and her parents. He was only her half-brother; the product of a relationship her father had had his freshmen year of college. Until he was nine, he'd lived with his Mother, but when she got married, her new husband didn't want kids. So she'd shipped him off to live with his father, despite the fact that Hank Summers had shown little interest in his son. But then that was typical of her father. Work always came first for him. If her mother hadn't insisted Oz come to stay with them, who knew what would have happened to him.

They'd bonded instantly, her and Oz. He was the big brother she'd always wanted. He played with her even though he was four years older, and looked out for her. Then, later, when the relationship between her parents disintegrated, he comforted her. Buffy couldn't count the number of times he'd sat in her room with her while their father and her mother screamed at each other downstairs.

When Joyce and Hank divorced, it came as little surprise that her Mother took custody of Oz. The three of them moved from Los Angeles to Sunnydale when Buffy was just twelve. It was rough the initial few months, but then, for the first time in years, they'd been happy.

She should have known it wouldn't last. Two short years later, Joyce collapsed while at work from a previously undetected brain aneurysm. She passed away before either of her children could make it to the hospital.

The emotional drama had been trying enough, leaving a gaping whole in their lives, but what came after proved to be almost as tough. If Oz and Buffy hadn't already known their father was an uncaring bastard, the fact that he couldn't even be bothered to come for the funeral or help his two children figure out what to do next would have been more than enough proof. He was too busy trotting around Europe with his secretary to bother with them.

With no other relatives stepping forward, eighteen year old Oz had been begrudgingly granted full guardianship of his fourteen year old half-sister. He dropped out of college and took a full time job so he would be able to support them and avoid further uprooting Buffy's life by making them move out of their family home. It hadn't been easy. Money was short, and emotions were spent, but they pulled through, relying on each other to keep them going.

Oz was her rock; the one person she could always turn to. He held her when she cried after her first boyfriend had broken up with her. He listened patiently whenever she ranted about an unfair teacher. He was everything she could want in a brother and a friend. And now...

No, she told herself. Oz was going to be fine. In a few days they'd be laughing about all this and getting back to their normal routine. At least that's what she tried to convince herself as she silently sobbed in the hospital waiting room.

"She doesn't look so good," Xander mumbled half to himself and half to the man sitting next to him.

"Can you blame her?" twenty-two year old Angel O'Neil responded, not taking his eyes off the shaking blonde on the other side of the room.

"No," Xander sighed dejectedly.

The two friends fell silent, words unable to placate their turbulent emotions. Angel was immensely worried about Oz, one of his oldest friends, but his worry for Buffy was just as great. She looked as if she'd shatter if anyone as much as breathed on her. He wanted to go over and offer some sort of comfort, but she'd shunned any form of contact. Not that she'd want him anywhere near her anyway.

Before Angel could contemplate what to do about Buffy, his Uncle, Dr. Giles, slowly pushed open the waiting room door. All of the occupants in the room leapt to their feet, including Buffy, though her movements were a bit more unsteady and jerky.

One look in Giles' troubled eyes and she knew. "No!"

"I'm sorry, Buffy," Giles said softly, hating himself.

For the second time in her young life, he was having to tell the poor girl that she'd lost a member of her family. When it had been her Mother, she'd at least had her brother to lean on. Now, Oz was for all intents and purposes gone too. How she would deal with this he didn't know.

"No...he c-can't be...," she cried out, a dam of tears bursting forth.

"The impact of the crash caused an Acute Subdural Hematoma; a form of bleeding in the space between the brain and the skull," Giles started to explain, the words tasting like chalk in his mouth. "His was particularly severe, and the build up of fluid put an immense amount of pressure on the brain which, in turn, has caused irreparable brain damage. Oz is, for lack of a better term, brain dead."

"He's still alive?" she whispered, a tiny spark of hope trying to makes its way to the surface.

"Technically, yes. His body is being kept alive by machines, but there's no hope that he'll ever wake up," Giles stated definitively. As much as he hated being so blunt, he knew it was best that she understood the situation completely.

"I...I want t-to see him" she demanded, already taking a few steps to the door.

"Buff," Xander interrupted, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe you shouldn't."

"I have to see him, Xander! Please! I have to see him!" she begged, her breath hitched with sobs.

Buffy wasn't prepared for the sight of her brother lying on a stark white hospital bed with tubes and wires trailing all over his body. She'd wanted to see him, but she hadn't really thought about what he would look like. It hardly seemed like Oz on the bed. The shell in front of her looked more like something out of a movie than her brother.

"Oz," she choked out, reaching out to pick up one of his still hands.

All sorts of things were running through her head. She wanted to beg him to stay; to not leave her, but Buffy knew they would be useless if voiced. And she didn't want them to be her last words to her brother. So instead, she said the only other things she could think of.

"Thank you for being the best brother in the world. I don't know how I would have survived without you." She bent over and kissed him on the cheek, remaining in that position as heavy sobs shook her entire body. "I love you."

From the doorway, Giles, Xander, and Angel watched the heart-rending scene with their own tears unashamedly falling. All three knew the young man who wouldn't be in this world much longer, but they understood that their loss paled in comparison to his much-loved sister. And each had their own worries about how she would go on after.

Slowly, Buffy pulled away from the bed. She took a moment to gaze at her brother's face, etching the image in her mind and saying a silent goodbye. With much reluctance, she finally turned to face Giles. "He wouldn't want to stay like this," she spoke meekly, her face drenched in moisture.

"I understand," Giles answered with a small nod of his head. He stepped into the room and over to the bed. "I...I must tell you, Buffy, that after...after...well, Oz had registered himself for the organ donation program in case anything should ever happen. So we'll have to move quickly."

Buffy nodded numbly, eyes transfixed on her brother. She wanted to tell them that they couldn't cut him open and steal parts of him, but she knew it was Oz's wish. They had talked about it once, a year after her Mother died. If anything, she would be able to take comfort in the fact that some part of him would live on, and that someone else would be able to live because of one of his organs.

"Buff? Maybe we should wait outside while...," Xander requested softly. He didn't know how good it would be to watch Giles terminate life support.

"No." She shook her head emphatically, grasping one of Oz's hands tighter. "I don't want him to be alone."

"Buffy? We're ready," Giles told her solemnly, waiting for her to give the final go ahead.

The words startled her, causing her to flinch. She lifted her eyes to meet Giles'. Her mouth opened to tell him no, that he couldn't do it. The pounding thud in her heart screamed to order them away from her brother. It was her head, though, that knew it was the right thing to do.

"Okay," she whispered, eyes falling back to Oz's still form.

Giles gave a quick nod to the nurse in the room and watched with a heavy heart as she began to shut off the respirator that was supplying oxygen to the young man. After disconnecting a few tubes and wires, the nurse quickly left the room, feeling as if it were a private moment.

A minute later, the steady bleep of the heart monitor began to slow, but Buffy never took her eyes off her brother. She reached up with her free hand to touch his cheek. "I love you," she repeated.

All too soon, the beeps of the monitor slowed further.

Beep...

Beep......

Beep.............

Beep...............................

Until they flat-lined.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

The harsh noise hit Buffy like a rock, crashing in on her reality. Her knees buckled. With a strangled cry, she fell to the ground.

Seeing her start to fall, Angel rushed to her side, catching her before her head could slam into the hard linoleum. Not knowing what else to do, Angel simply held her as she sobbed uncontrollably in his arms. He realized she probably didn't even know who was holding her, or that anyone was holding her at all.

Through his own tears, he looked up to Xander and saw a similar expression on his friend's face. Xander stared back at Angel, unable to believe he'd just lost one of his closest friends. He mouthed the word 'home' and nodded to Buffy. Angel shook his head in agreement and carefully picked the oblivious young woman up. He glanced at Oz one more time before carrying Buffy out of the room and away from the one person who had always been there fore her.

Groggily, Buffy's eyes flickered open. She blinked them several times as she tried to figure out where she was. Had she fallen asleep on the couch waiting for Oz to get home?

Oz.

That was when it all came back to her.

Oz wouldn't be coming home anymore. He was dead. Just like her Mother, and for all intents and purposes, just like her Father.

She stifled a sob as the image of Oz's body lying on the hospital bed flashed in her mind. Rolling over, she curled herself into a ball in hopes of warding off the chilling cold flushing her tired limbs.

"Buffy?" she heard a gentle voice call to her.

Forcing her eyes open again, she squinted through the darkness of what she assumed was her room to see whoever was with her. It took several seconds before she recognized the large form of Angel. Her body stiffened at his presence.

"Angel," she said coldly.

The icy tone was clear to Angel. It didn't surprise him. "Can...can I do anything for you?"

"Yes. You can leave," Buffy stated evenly then turned over to face away from him.

"Buffy, please," he spoke sadly, knowing that her grief over her brother wasn't entirely responsible for her request.

"Leave me alone, Angel," she repeated.

Dejected, Angel stood and walked to the door of her bedroom. He paused at the threshold, swiveling his head to look at her once more.

"If you need anything you can call me," he offered. When she didn't reply, he sighed, staring for a second longer before exiting her room.

The instant Buffy heard the front door of the house close, all of the emotions she'd been holding back spilled over. Her broken sobs echoed long into the night.

TBC!!