Chapter Three

The ambulance ride went surprisingly without a hitch, and William was silent and still throughout the ride and the unloading process. He stiffened only briefly as a female nurse welcomed them, and the stiffness passed when she was out of sight and earshot.

He was wheeled down the main hallway and onto a large elevator that held two others; Joyce's intern and protégé Alexander Harris – Xander to his friends, family, and coworkers – and her daughter Buffy. Almost immediately William noticed Buffy and his eyes narrowed in fear.

Joyce stayed silent as the boy began to tremble. His eyes darted around wildly until they landed on Xander. The intern stared straight back at him until he finally spoke up. "Buff, you might want to move." He said cautiously.

"Huh? Why?" Xander gestured to William and she nodded in silent understanding. She moved and Xander took her place by William's side.

"Hi. I'm Xander." Xander introduced himself. William stopped trembling, but his eyes kept darting to stare at Buffy like she was the plague. "I didn't think Buffy was too frightening, but I guess to a new face she might be."

"Hey!" Buffy protested. Xander smirked at her. The doors dinged open and Joyce motioned for one of the men to wheel William foreword. William jumped as the gurney started moving.

"Is his room ready?" Joyce asked as the slowly moved along the halls. Xander walked on the other side of the gurney and Buffy walked on the other side of Joyce.

"Squeaky clean and ready for a patient." Xander replied. They stopped outside of said room and Xander swung the door open to admit William. Together, he and the other man moved William from gurney to the bed, followed by the IV lines. Joyce smiled at her student.

"I'm going to schedule X-Rays, blood tests, and a CAT scan for him. I'll make it for after he settles down of course. I trust you'll be okay with him?" Xander looked up from tucking the sheets around William's shoulders.

"Of course." Joyce nodded and left the pair to introdice themselves properly.

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Xander settled himself at the foor of William's bed, careful not to jostle or disturb the patient in any way shape or form. William's pale blue eyes were glued to his form unnervingly. "What's wrong with him?" Xander jumped in shock.

"Holy bejeezus Buff!" He gasped. "Don't sneak up on people!" Xander berated, noting out of the corner of one eye that William seemed more tense then before. "What do you mean, what wrong with him?"

"Is he braindead?" Buffy moved closer in curiosity.

"Stop it Buff. Don't be rude." Xander frowned. "And don't get too close. He's afraid of you women. God only knows why…" Buffy seemed to ignore his jibe and instead grinned. Apparently telling her of William's fear was the wrong thing to do. "Buffy, don't even think about it."

"What? Is he actually afraid of me?" She peered into William's eyes, and William immediately twisted his head until he was free of her gaze. Xander frowned. "Cool!"

"Not cool!" Spike shivered. "Buffy, I know being small means you can't intimidate men, but please refrain from doing so in a hospital. Especially with William." Buffy pouted under Xanders glare.

"Fine. I'll just go then." Xander blinked as she stormed out of the room. He turned back to William, who had a wide-eyed expression of fright plastered to his face.

"Don't mind her. She's just used to not intimidating guys. She can be a real bitch sometimes." William tilted his head at Xander. "She doesn't mean anything by it. Now, I told you my name is Xander. Short for Alexander. Horrible right? I'm seventeen and I've worked here as an intern since I graduated. I graduated early from my class by the way. I plan on being a doctor, unlike my deadbeat dad. He's an on again off again carpenter."

Xander was interrupted from his monologue by Joyce, who poked her head into the room. "He's scheduled to go in on Friday." Xander nodded. She gave them a smile and left. Xander looked down to see William staring at him, blank face but calculating eyes.

"I like working as a doctor." He continued. "I like helping people. I also like to go horseback riding. Have you ever been?" No response. "Oh well, I'll have to take you when you're better. Buffy's afraid of horses. I think it's because she's so small. She'd be crushed."

For the next hour or so Xander sat at the end of William's bed and talked. The patient hadn't once looked away from Xander as he spoke about his life and his hobbies. Vaguely Xander wondered why the reports he'd read on the boy had depicted him as a horrid patient with violent tendencies. There was no sign of violence anywhere so far.

"Well, I better go get changed." Xander finally said. He stood up and stretched before making his way to the door. "I'll be right back." He promised William. He left the hospital room, closing the door until it clicked. He made his way down the hallway and up a flight of stairs to the residents hall.

He entered his room and stripped off his hospital jacket and scrubs. He hopped in the shower for a quick rinse and then rummaged around in his drawers until he found a comfy pair of blue jeans and a baggy t shirt. He slipped some socks on and stuffed his feet in a pair of sneakers.

He left his room, locking the dor behind him, and made his way back to William's room with a small grin on his face. He made it back to the room and checked his watch. He'd done everything in less than thirty minutes. "Not bad." He muttered and opened the door. He was greeted with a air of wide, slighlyt frantic pair of eyes that immediately calmed upon seeing him.

"I told you I'd be back." He said, stepping in and closing the door behind himself. "My room is right down the hall and up the stairs by the way." He pulled the comfy recliner away from the corner and plopped down. "If you ever need anything, that button there will buzz my pager and my room." Xander motioned to the buzzer dangling from the bedrail. "Now I'm going to nap. I'll stay with you tonight, okay?"

There was no answer, not like he expected one, but he did notice William relaxing. Eventually the boy was sleeping, even if it was a shallow sleep. Xander sighed softly and allowed his eyes to fall closed.

TBC

I know the chapters haven't been long, but this story is merely a fill in while I work on "Watch Out World". The first chapter(s) are up now along with a new story called "The Initiative 1". Hope you like!