Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire
Chp.38
Today's the Day
All other information is in the first chapter
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She sits at her desk, long, dark blonde hair pulled over her shoulder. With a smile on her face, she studies the two files in front of her. Today is going to be a happy day for two of the patients, her two favorite patients were going home today and she couldn't be happier for them.
Tara jerks her head up at the deep, throated yell, coming from the direction of Buffy and Spikes room. She scoots her chair back, as quickly as the carpeted floor will allow her to.
He startles awake, sensing that something isn't right. Looking over to his love, he shakes her shoulder, getting no response from her. His eyes grow big, as he starts to shake her in earnest, but he still gets the same reaction. "Buffy!" He finally yells in desperation. His eyes cloud over, when he realizes that she won't be coming back, she'd fallen back into the delusions that they'd both been fighting for the last month, and a half.
Laying his head back against the pillow, he turns his gaze to the door, and sees that it is opening. His eyes find the green orbs of Tara as she lets herself into the room. "She isn't going to wake up, luv." Are his last words, as he slips back into a peaceful slumber that he'll never wake from. His last thought before going in completely being, that they were supposed to go home today.
Tara, watched in fascinated horror, as he fell into the peacefulness of sleep. At least that's what it seemed like to the blonde in the doorway, until Williams's words had finally registered in her mind.
She rushes into the room. "William? Buffy?" She asks, her words coming out on a gasp, as she shakes the shoulder of William, and then moves on to try and wake Buffy. She hopes that the movement will bring them back to consciousness. She leans in closer to them, pushing on their shoulders just a bit harder, with tears beginning to cloud her eyes. She figures out what has happened, with an abrupt jolt. Her eyes grow large, "Oh, god no!" She gasps, turning from the prone figures on the bed, and making her way back out of the door.
She knows that she has to inform Dr. Giles of the turn that the patients have taken. Picking up the receiver for the inter-office phone, she hesitates for only a second, before she presses the number for Giles' office.
Willow sits at her desk, typing out the release forms for the two patients. The phone buzzes quietly beside her. Without missing a letter, she types with the one hand, as the other picks up the receiver. "Dr. Giles' office." She answers, never taking her eyes from the task on the computer.
"Willow."
"Hey, baby." Willow says, dropping her hands from the keyboard to listen to the dulcet, but anxious tone of her lover. "What's wrong?"
"Giles needs to come down to my desk, sweetie." Tara calmly says. Trying to keep the urgency from her voice. She had taken a deep breath, before answering, but she could tell that it hadn't gotten rid of all her anxiety; hopefully Willow didn't pick up on the little hitch when she'd spoken the endearment.
"Okay, I'll tell him."
Tara smiles, knowing that Willow will end up finishing what she's working on before telling the doctor, and that it could be an hour, at the least, before he gets the message. "Willow, sweetie." She reiterates. "I need him down here quickly. So please put whatever you're doing aside for a moment, and tell him that I need to talk with him as soon as possible."
Willow smiles, her eyes twinkling at just how much the woman knows her. "Okay, I'm telling him as soon as we get off the phone."
"Thank you, baby." Tara says, before hanging the earpiece back on the cradle.
She fiddles with a piece of paper on the desk, while she waits for Giles, her fingers playing idly over the scrap. Looking up she sees the man walking toward her, as he gets closer, she gets more apprehensive.
Giles notices that the shy woman seems to be going paler with every step he takes towards her. He creases his brow in wonder as he approaches. Finally reaching her side, he leans casually against the desk, trying to ease her a little, but she seems to be getting more nervous. Laying a hand on her shoulder, he smiles. "Tara, my dear." The woman glances up to him, but averts her eyes back down to the paper in front of her. Giles shakes his head. "You look as if you've seen a ghost." He says, taking in the silence of the nurse, his smile leaves his face, just as quick as it had appeared.
"B-buffy and W-william." She starts to talk, not looking up at the man one time. Her explanation falters to a halt, those being the only two words she's able to force between her lips.
Giles' eyes widen at an alarming rate, at the admission. He turns quickly on his heel, headed in the direction of the couple's room.
Entering the room, he smiles at the two on the bed as he notices them. Nothing seems too dire to him. They look as if they are sleeping comfortably. He can't figure out why Tara would call him down here just to witness the intimacy of the patients taking a kip.
Turning to the woman behind him, he sees that Tara is still quite nervous, and apprehensive. "Tara, dear. They're just sleeping, there really isn't anything for us to worry about." He pats her shoulder in a patronizing manner, and tries to make his way back out the door past her.
"G-Giles, look at them." She stutters, placing a hand on his chest making his exit from the room impossible. "W-William. H-he screamed." Her eyes find the blue ones of the man standing in front of her. "I rushed in, if you could've heard the sheer horror in his voice." Her gaze fall past Giles, to the two still bodies on the bed, and she shakes her head making the hair fall in her face. "He noticed me, as I opened the door." Her hair falls out of her eyes as she looks back up. "He said. . . He told me that she wouldn't wake up, and then he." Her eyes take on a quizzical expression. "I don't know. It was like he just passed out, maybe." Her eyes plead with him. She doesn't know if her explanation is good enough for him to draw a conclusion, but it's the only one she has to give him.
"Dear lord!" He responds in earnest, as he turns his back on the apprehensive woman, and rushes over to the side of the bed.
He grasps the young mans wrist, checking his pulse. "Bloody." He takes Buffy's wrist, and goes through the same motions as he had with Williams. "Hell!" He curses, as he quickly checks both patients' eyes, while shining a tiny, pen light into them. Getting no response from either one, he slowly bows his head, as he reaches up to grab his glasses, and swipe a hand over his brow. "It seems." He sighs, now that the preliminary examination has been conducted, and turns back to the shy, but terribly sweet nurse. "They've fallen back into the delusional catatonia. There isn't any reaction to the light being shone into their eyes. Which leads me to. . ." His sentence trails off as he looks up into the eyes of a nearly crying Tara. If he's truthful with himself, he feels like crying too, but he has to make a couple of phone calls, which aren't going to be fun to say the least. Especially the one that he has to make to Miss Summers' mother, lord how he dreads telling the news to that woman.
Tara takes the initiative in the situation, deciding that she'll suck it up, and cry her heart out in the warm embrace of her lover. "Should we notify Dr. Wood? Make arrangements for them to be moved back into the coma ward?" She hesitantly asks. She hates the thought of having to separate them, it breaks her heart to even think it, but it's a harsh truth that she'll have to live with if that's the decision that Giles makes.
Giles gives her a look of incredulity. "No." He exclaims. "I'm sorry, Tara." He apologizes as he sees the girl visibly flinch, at his vehement admission. "If they wake again." He sighs, realizing that the thought is just all wishful thinking. "I'm loathe to say so, but I don't think they ever will." His shoulders slump, as he tells her his own thoughts. "But on the off chance that they do." His eyes fall from the gaze they were holding on Tara. "Could you imagine what would happen? They wake up and they aren't at least in the same room. I'd hate to see just what Spike would do. And Buffy she'd absolutely go. . . Lets just say the outcome wouldn't be pretty." He watches as Tara's chin falls slowly to her chest, but he sees a slight smirk on her face.
He gently lays a hand on her shoulder, and she looks up at him. "You do realize that the first time they awoke would be a cake walk, after the violence that they'd reek on this place, if they woke and weren't together?" He asks with a wide smile on his face. "We'll just leave them here. With the exception that the board will want the beds pulled back apart, and a curtain separating the two."
Tara rushes from the room. "I'll get everything set-up." She calls back over her shoulder, glad that she has something to keep her mind off of the horrible downgrade of Buffy, and Williams's recoveries. The worst part of it all, being that today was supposed to be the day they were going to go home, to their families.
Tara knew this day would come; she'd known it for a while now. She just hoped that it wouldn't be this soon. She'd known it because of the other patient she'd been assigned.
Drusilla had prattled on about it enough. She'd told anyone who'd listen that William didn't belong here. The only person that believed her is Tara. Dru had been adamant about it, saying he'd have to go home eventually. The insane girl had also said that when he went back he'd never return.
At first Tara had just believed to be rambling, but when she'd mentioned the name of the man the stars had been telling her about, Tara had started to listen. With the way Dru liked talking in riddles, Tara had a hard time, but she'd finally deciphered it, and understood perfectly what the dark girl had told her.
She hated that she understood, and wishes that she hadn't gotten Dru as one of her patients, but there wasn't anything she could do about it, now. William has gone home, and taken his Buffy with him.
Tara straightens her shoulders, and decides that she'll make them as comfortable as she can. She smiles, because with the knowledge she has, she knows that they've gone back to where they belong.
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(I know long time no update. My computer got a virus, and I've had major heck trying to get it set back up. But I'm going to try and get two chapters up everyday, before I go on vacation on Thursday. Hopefully that'll make up for almost two weeks of not updating.)
Chp.38
Today's the Day
All other information is in the first chapter
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
She sits at her desk, long, dark blonde hair pulled over her shoulder. With a smile on her face, she studies the two files in front of her. Today is going to be a happy day for two of the patients, her two favorite patients were going home today and she couldn't be happier for them.
Tara jerks her head up at the deep, throated yell, coming from the direction of Buffy and Spikes room. She scoots her chair back, as quickly as the carpeted floor will allow her to.
He startles awake, sensing that something isn't right. Looking over to his love, he shakes her shoulder, getting no response from her. His eyes grow big, as he starts to shake her in earnest, but he still gets the same reaction. "Buffy!" He finally yells in desperation. His eyes cloud over, when he realizes that she won't be coming back, she'd fallen back into the delusions that they'd both been fighting for the last month, and a half.
Laying his head back against the pillow, he turns his gaze to the door, and sees that it is opening. His eyes find the green orbs of Tara as she lets herself into the room. "She isn't going to wake up, luv." Are his last words, as he slips back into a peaceful slumber that he'll never wake from. His last thought before going in completely being, that they were supposed to go home today.
Tara, watched in fascinated horror, as he fell into the peacefulness of sleep. At least that's what it seemed like to the blonde in the doorway, until Williams's words had finally registered in her mind.
She rushes into the room. "William? Buffy?" She asks, her words coming out on a gasp, as she shakes the shoulder of William, and then moves on to try and wake Buffy. She hopes that the movement will bring them back to consciousness. She leans in closer to them, pushing on their shoulders just a bit harder, with tears beginning to cloud her eyes. She figures out what has happened, with an abrupt jolt. Her eyes grow large, "Oh, god no!" She gasps, turning from the prone figures on the bed, and making her way back out of the door.
She knows that she has to inform Dr. Giles of the turn that the patients have taken. Picking up the receiver for the inter-office phone, she hesitates for only a second, before she presses the number for Giles' office.
Willow sits at her desk, typing out the release forms for the two patients. The phone buzzes quietly beside her. Without missing a letter, she types with the one hand, as the other picks up the receiver. "Dr. Giles' office." She answers, never taking her eyes from the task on the computer.
"Willow."
"Hey, baby." Willow says, dropping her hands from the keyboard to listen to the dulcet, but anxious tone of her lover. "What's wrong?"
"Giles needs to come down to my desk, sweetie." Tara calmly says. Trying to keep the urgency from her voice. She had taken a deep breath, before answering, but she could tell that it hadn't gotten rid of all her anxiety; hopefully Willow didn't pick up on the little hitch when she'd spoken the endearment.
"Okay, I'll tell him."
Tara smiles, knowing that Willow will end up finishing what she's working on before telling the doctor, and that it could be an hour, at the least, before he gets the message. "Willow, sweetie." She reiterates. "I need him down here quickly. So please put whatever you're doing aside for a moment, and tell him that I need to talk with him as soon as possible."
Willow smiles, her eyes twinkling at just how much the woman knows her. "Okay, I'm telling him as soon as we get off the phone."
"Thank you, baby." Tara says, before hanging the earpiece back on the cradle.
She fiddles with a piece of paper on the desk, while she waits for Giles, her fingers playing idly over the scrap. Looking up she sees the man walking toward her, as he gets closer, she gets more apprehensive.
Giles notices that the shy woman seems to be going paler with every step he takes towards her. He creases his brow in wonder as he approaches. Finally reaching her side, he leans casually against the desk, trying to ease her a little, but she seems to be getting more nervous. Laying a hand on her shoulder, he smiles. "Tara, my dear." The woman glances up to him, but averts her eyes back down to the paper in front of her. Giles shakes his head. "You look as if you've seen a ghost." He says, taking in the silence of the nurse, his smile leaves his face, just as quick as it had appeared.
"B-buffy and W-william." She starts to talk, not looking up at the man one time. Her explanation falters to a halt, those being the only two words she's able to force between her lips.
Giles' eyes widen at an alarming rate, at the admission. He turns quickly on his heel, headed in the direction of the couple's room.
Entering the room, he smiles at the two on the bed as he notices them. Nothing seems too dire to him. They look as if they are sleeping comfortably. He can't figure out why Tara would call him down here just to witness the intimacy of the patients taking a kip.
Turning to the woman behind him, he sees that Tara is still quite nervous, and apprehensive. "Tara, dear. They're just sleeping, there really isn't anything for us to worry about." He pats her shoulder in a patronizing manner, and tries to make his way back out the door past her.
"G-Giles, look at them." She stutters, placing a hand on his chest making his exit from the room impossible. "W-William. H-he screamed." Her eyes find the blue ones of the man standing in front of her. "I rushed in, if you could've heard the sheer horror in his voice." Her gaze fall past Giles, to the two still bodies on the bed, and she shakes her head making the hair fall in her face. "He noticed me, as I opened the door." Her hair falls out of her eyes as she looks back up. "He said. . . He told me that she wouldn't wake up, and then he." Her eyes take on a quizzical expression. "I don't know. It was like he just passed out, maybe." Her eyes plead with him. She doesn't know if her explanation is good enough for him to draw a conclusion, but it's the only one she has to give him.
"Dear lord!" He responds in earnest, as he turns his back on the apprehensive woman, and rushes over to the side of the bed.
He grasps the young mans wrist, checking his pulse. "Bloody." He takes Buffy's wrist, and goes through the same motions as he had with Williams. "Hell!" He curses, as he quickly checks both patients' eyes, while shining a tiny, pen light into them. Getting no response from either one, he slowly bows his head, as he reaches up to grab his glasses, and swipe a hand over his brow. "It seems." He sighs, now that the preliminary examination has been conducted, and turns back to the shy, but terribly sweet nurse. "They've fallen back into the delusional catatonia. There isn't any reaction to the light being shone into their eyes. Which leads me to. . ." His sentence trails off as he looks up into the eyes of a nearly crying Tara. If he's truthful with himself, he feels like crying too, but he has to make a couple of phone calls, which aren't going to be fun to say the least. Especially the one that he has to make to Miss Summers' mother, lord how he dreads telling the news to that woman.
Tara takes the initiative in the situation, deciding that she'll suck it up, and cry her heart out in the warm embrace of her lover. "Should we notify Dr. Wood? Make arrangements for them to be moved back into the coma ward?" She hesitantly asks. She hates the thought of having to separate them, it breaks her heart to even think it, but it's a harsh truth that she'll have to live with if that's the decision that Giles makes.
Giles gives her a look of incredulity. "No." He exclaims. "I'm sorry, Tara." He apologizes as he sees the girl visibly flinch, at his vehement admission. "If they wake again." He sighs, realizing that the thought is just all wishful thinking. "I'm loathe to say so, but I don't think they ever will." His shoulders slump, as he tells her his own thoughts. "But on the off chance that they do." His eyes fall from the gaze they were holding on Tara. "Could you imagine what would happen? They wake up and they aren't at least in the same room. I'd hate to see just what Spike would do. And Buffy she'd absolutely go. . . Lets just say the outcome wouldn't be pretty." He watches as Tara's chin falls slowly to her chest, but he sees a slight smirk on her face.
He gently lays a hand on her shoulder, and she looks up at him. "You do realize that the first time they awoke would be a cake walk, after the violence that they'd reek on this place, if they woke and weren't together?" He asks with a wide smile on his face. "We'll just leave them here. With the exception that the board will want the beds pulled back apart, and a curtain separating the two."
Tara rushes from the room. "I'll get everything set-up." She calls back over her shoulder, glad that she has something to keep her mind off of the horrible downgrade of Buffy, and Williams's recoveries. The worst part of it all, being that today was supposed to be the day they were going to go home, to their families.
Tara knew this day would come; she'd known it for a while now. She just hoped that it wouldn't be this soon. She'd known it because of the other patient she'd been assigned.
Drusilla had prattled on about it enough. She'd told anyone who'd listen that William didn't belong here. The only person that believed her is Tara. Dru had been adamant about it, saying he'd have to go home eventually. The insane girl had also said that when he went back he'd never return.
At first Tara had just believed to be rambling, but when she'd mentioned the name of the man the stars had been telling her about, Tara had started to listen. With the way Dru liked talking in riddles, Tara had a hard time, but she'd finally deciphered it, and understood perfectly what the dark girl had told her.
She hated that she understood, and wishes that she hadn't gotten Dru as one of her patients, but there wasn't anything she could do about it, now. William has gone home, and taken his Buffy with him.
Tara straightens her shoulders, and decides that she'll make them as comfortable as she can. She smiles, because with the knowledge she has, she knows that they've gone back to where they belong.
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(I know long time no update. My computer got a virus, and I've had major heck trying to get it set back up. But I'm going to try and get two chapters up everyday, before I go on vacation on Thursday. Hopefully that'll make up for almost two weeks of not updating.)