Chapter 13

"Angel!" Giles exclaimed as Angel came rushing back into the hospital. "Where did you go?"

"I had to take care of some things. Is she okay?"

Giles looked at him strangely. "She's fine." Relief flooded Angels face. "The doctors say it's a miracle. They've never seen anybody pull through something like this before."

Angel couldn't help but smile. "Can I see her?"

Giles looked at him, scrutinizing the way Angel was acting. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine."

He nodded once. "She's in room 314. They have her on morphine so she might be a little groggy still, but she's Buffy."

Without a moments hesitation Angel ran down the hall towards the designated room. But when he got there he stopped. He didn't know what he would see. Kathy had said that she would be okay, but still... worry still flooded his system.

Opening the door his dead heart broke. She looked so fragile in the big hospital bed under the bleach white sheets. Tubs of IV flowed in each of her delicate arms. She was hooked up to several big machines that filled the room with beeping and whirring sounds. Over it all though he could faintly hear her slow heartbeat struggling to keep going.

With slow steady steps he walked over to her. Sliding down into a small chair he took her hand. It was cold and clammy to the touch, slightly shaky from the drugs that they had pumped into her system to help her body fight against the impending death.

A small smile graced over her lips as she felt the contact of his hand. "Hi." She said hoarsely. Her throat felt raw and sore from the intubations tube she had had down it just mere minutes ago.

He swallowed harshly. "Hi." She turned to face him, causing him to nearly cry out as he saw the breathing tube she had in her nose and how pale she was. The color of her face almost matched the sheets surrounding her. "How are you feeling?" He asked with slight hesitancy.

"Like I got hit by a bus and then it decided to back up over me again." She said, trying to make light of the situation at hand.

Tears filled his eyes as he looked down at there hands. "That's not funny."

"Hey," she said gently, a frown marring her features. "I was joking. I'm fine." With her free hand she reached up and caressed his face. He had been through a lot tonight, she knew that, leaving him physically and emotionally drained.

He tightened his grip on her small hand, thanking anyone that would listen that she was back. "I almost lost you."

"You did," his eyes snapped up. "For a minute at least."

"What?" Was this another joke? The way she talked... it was as if it didn't even matter.

"I died." She said in a normal voice, not seeming upset by any of this. "It was like I was still here though. I saw you in the waiting room while I was in surgery, I saw Giles try and get you to go home. Which you should have by the way, you're in worse shape then I am." She tried to scold him, but failed as she remembered that she wouldn't have been here without him.

"I saw you rush out after that, and of course I had to follow you." She said with a smile, he was just starring at her in shock though, not knowing what exactly to think. "I saw you beg for my life. Saw that thing posing as me come and break your heart." Bitterness marred her voice, she had wanted to scream and shout when she saw that thing kiss him, telling him that she wanted to die. In truth it was the exact opposite. More then anything she wanted to come back, to be with Angel.

Taking a deep breath, she calmed her voice and thoughts for the next part "And I saw your sister." She added quietly, glancing away from him for a moment. He had never once spoke about his family except for the brief moments when she found out he was a vampire. Watching him see his baby sister again after all these years nearly broke her heart.

"She's beautiful Angel. She looks just like you."

An awkward silence filled the room. Angel wasn't sure how he felt about her seeing him in his moment of weakness. He was supposed to be the strong one. The one who held everything together. But tonight he broke. For some odd reason though that didn't seem to matter in Buffy's eyes. None of it did. She was still looking at him with that deep love in that had always come with her glances.

Leaning down he kissed her fingers that were intertwined with his. "I love you." He had wanted to tell her this so badly. He didn't want to spend another minute without her knowing that simple truth. He loved, and he would always love her "I am so sorry that I left that night. I never wanted to hurt you Buffy. God I'm so sorry." He breathed, tears once again filling his eyes.

"No. Angel you have nothing to be sorry for. None of this was your fault. It was mine. If I hadn't of hid Riley from you then none of this would have happened." She paused scrunching her brow in confusion. A drifty haze was coming over her as the morphine started to take more and more effect on her system. Thus causing her to get confused easier. "Well... maybe it would but at least we wouldn't have been upset at each other."

She sat up weakly and tugged him until he complied, and lay down next to her in the bed. Resting her now tired head on his chest she continued. "I love you so much. You have to understand that I never wanted to hurt you." Tears pinpricked her eyes, and she didn't care. Letting them fall down and soak Angel's shirt, showing her remorse over the situation at hand, she nearly sobbed out the rest of her story. "More then anything I wanted to be with you. I know I screwed up when I didn't break up with Riley, or even tell you what was going on. I'm so sorry Angel."

Wrapping his arms around her waist he tugged her tightly to his chest. "Shh... It doesn't matter anymore. What's done is done. All that matters is that you're here now."

"So you're not mad?" she sniffled, her words muffled a little by his now damp shirt.

"Buffy, I almost lost you tonight. I don't know what I would have done if I did. I remember holding you and feeling your heartbeat slow, and knowing there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop it. I didn't want you to go without knowing that I loved you. God, you mean the world to me. The only thing that kept me going all those years apart from you was the picture of your face, your smile. I just knew that everything would be okay again if I could just get back here. If I could just feel your arms around me one more time."

Sitting up a little she looked him straight in the eye. Her tear blotched face shinning all the love she'd ever felt for him. "Good, because I'm not allowing you to leave again. Not without me."

He laughed slightly. Suddenly all seemed right in the world. Every little bit that had been out of place before had all come home safely, and back into their arms. Turning slightly he leaned down to touch her lips with his. The kiss was soft and slow, as they poured all their love and trust deeply into that one single kiss. Letting the other one know that forever was a possibility, that it wasn't some hopeless romantics dream. The road to it would be paved with grief and sorrow, but no matter what, they would get there in the end.

The End

Authors Note: That's it. I hope you guys enjoyed the story. I've been working on it long enough, and today I finally decided how I wanted to end it. You're all lucky I was in a good mood today because originally I was going to kill Angel in trade for Buffy's life. I still might. Just not right now. LOL