Chapter 5

"Dear lord, Buffy! You scared me!" Giles looked over to the door, which Buffy had stormed in through. He frowned at the sight of the bloodied paper towel in her hand. "And, do put that away."

"Giles!" She exclaimed, "Didn't you hear me?" Buffy began to pace. "I said he's getting worse. I don't know what to do… He coughed blood, Giles!" She said, waving the paper towel in front of Giles face.

Willow sighed and turned to Giles. "Maybe we should tell her…"

Buffy's eyes widened. "What do you mean, 'tell her'?"

Giles took of his glasses and polished them. "When we got the amulet… It was… No, let me start over…" He drew a deep breath. "We got the amulet from a shop here in town… The shopkeeper told us that she had gotten it together with several pieces of jewellery, and they all came from a ship, cursed with some kind of deadly disease. We teleported the amulet to the hotel, and Willow did a protection spell. It was supposed to protect us from the amulet, and since Spike obviously was inside the amulet, he didn't get protection from the spell."

Buffy took in all the new facts and looked at Giles, fear written across her face. "So what you're saying is… Is that Spike came back to life, only to be dying again?"

Giles nodded and touched Buffy's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Buffy…"

She looked up at the man she had become to think of as her father. "But… But we'll find a cure? Right?"

Willow walked up to her friend. "We can't guarantee anything but we'll try our best…"

Buffy tried to blink back the tears that welled up in her eyes. "I know you will… It's just, to have him near again, and then… I don't know if I can lose him again, Will. I know it's hard for you to understand, but… I have realized that… I love him, Will. I love him with everything that I am."

She smiled a little and felt tears run down her cheeks. 'Wow, here I am admitting my love to him in front of two of my closest friends… When I barely have gotten him to understand…'

Willow smiled slightly. "You know, I kind of understood that when you went all comatose because of him… It's okay, Buffy. It's okay if you love him."

Buffy laughed between her tears as she remembered that Tara had said almost the same thing once. She hugged friend. "Thank you, Willow…" She turned to Giles. "Thank you, to you too, Giles… I know your role as Watcher probably doesn't approve of my love to Spike, but…"

Giles silenced her with a smile. "I just want you to be happy, Buffy… I'll admit that I don't like Spike that much, but he saved the world, and… I assume I just have to get used to him."

Buffy smiled slightly and hugged Giles too.

Spike felt weak. He felt like he was on fire, and that all the energy he had left, disappeared with the smoke he imagined rose from him.

He coughed and felt tears well up in his eyes from the pain. He tasted blood in his mouth. 'That can't be good…' He absently thought as he felt himself slip back into oblivion.

Then he felt something even warmer than himself. He felt something scorch his forehead, but he found that it didn't burn quite as much as the fever that had taken hold of his body.

He opened his eyes and saw that Buffy sat beside him, caressing his forehead. He felt his mind getting clearer at the mere sight of her and he smiled slightly. 'Of course that she would be the one to be so warm… She's my sun… She shines… Bloody hell… She's…' He chuckled slightly and the sound got Buffy to look at him.

"You're effulgent, Buffy…" He whispered and she smiled. 'Oh, her smile…'

He began to cough again and Buffy continued to caress his forehead, although her smile had now vanished. He saw tears well up in her eyes.

Then he understood.

"I'm sorry, Buffy…" He whispered, and his deep blue eyes met Buffy's pair of emerald ones. She looked at him with raised eyebrows and he lifted his hand to wipe away a tear that rolled down her cheek.

She kissed his forehead. 'Oh, that must have left a mark…' Spike thought. 'Nobody could be that warm without burning my skin…'

"What are you sorry for, Spike?" She asked him quietly and she became overwhelmed with the sorrow and sincerity in Spike's eyes.

"I'm sorry…" He began, "I'm sorry that I'm leaving you again."

Buffy shook her head. "No… No! You're not leaving me… We'll find a way to get you better, I promise."

Spike laughed. Why couldn't she see?

"Buffy." He whispered, and she sat closer to be able to hear his voice. "I can see her."

"Spike, what are you talking about?"

"Death. I can see her every time I open my eyes, and the more I stay 'ere…" He sighed "I'm just so scared that she'll take you too."

A/N Sorry for not posting sooner... I have another chappie on the way, so don't despair! ) Please review!