The Doctor approached them, her expression one with grave sympathy. Spike looked at her in horror, afraid at what she would tell them about Buffy. "Okay, your friend is going to have to stay here for a month. She lost a lot of blood and she didn't take it too well. Her arms and legs show extreme bruises and breaks. Whatever did this to her must have been ten times as strong as her. Do any of you know what could have done this to her?"

Spike exchanged looks with the others and smiled to the doctor, "I don't know. When I found her she was all beat up and was bleeding from her neck. That's when I dialed 911."

Spike hadn't thought of an explanation for how she got like that. This was the only thing there was to be said.

The doctor nodded, "Well as I was saying, she does need to stay here for a month so we can get her back to her strength."

Dawn stuttered, "W-when do we g-get to see her?" Her eyes had been watering and there was now a visible tear falling down her cheek. Spike wanted to hold her and let her bawl out all of her emotions to make her feel better, but it wasn't the appropriate time for that. All he could do was sympathize in his undead heart.

The doctor replied, "You can see her now if you'd like. She's back in room 107. She's awake now so no need to enter quietly if you don't want to." She gave them a slight nod and smile before turning in the other direction. Spike and the others headed to room 107 where Spike lightly pounded on the door.

The meek voice inside squeaked, "Come in." Spike opened the door and the group entered with desperate looks at the beat up Buffy. Spike rushed to her side and planted a small kiss on her forehead, "Buffy. I'm so sorry."

Buffy looked at him in wonder, "Why? You didn't do anything wrong." The pain that crippled her didn't allow her to smile much at all but the smile that did appear was one of gratitude and loyalty.

Spike smiled in relief and looked down at her wounds with regret, "How are you?" He knew that her answer wouldn't be the best in the world. But he wondered why she looked so badly when wounds like these usually healed pretty fast. She never normally got wounds like these from falling down into a grave and being sucked dry by vampires.

Buffy struggled to take a breath, "I feel like I've been hit with 12 boulders that's what I feel like. I don't feel strong at all, and I'm pretty sure I can't pick anything up without dropping it. I feel like I did when those insane watchers set me up with no powers to fight some crazy mother-hating vampire."

Giles shot a look of horror, "Dear lord, you lost your powers?" He had become fearful now, his eyes shooting out of his head like in a cartoon.

Buffy shrugged, "Maybe…or maybe being sucked by three evil vampires made me a little weak. It's not like I lost my powers completely. They'll come back in a day or so…I hope."

Dawn looked down at her sister's wounds and the tears started falling down again. "Who did this to you?" She angrily demanded between gritted teeth.

Spike and Buffy exchanged glances and Buffy replied, "This gang of vampires. Their leader was called 'Casey'" Spike felt as if he should hug Buffy but again he doubted that Buffy would want him to do that.

Spike shook his head, "I'm sorry I couldn't kill him. I would have but…he was just too smart." His eyes still remained on her wounds; his chest heaved as more tears traveled down his face. He was surprised to see Buffy take his hand.

Buffy shook her head, "It wasn't your fault. It was mine. I should have known that his Casey guy would finally find a way to take me down. It was just a matter of time. I'm not as strong as I used to be Spike. I'm a slayer. We die all the time and much sooner than most people. I guess this is just my time.

Spike looked at her with his eyes almost protruding out of their sockets, "You're not going to die Buffy! Not yet!"

Dawn and the others all shared that same look of dread. Dawn wiped away her waterfall-like tears. "Buffy, no. Don't say that."

Buffy sighed as she looked down at her wounds, "These marks, they're just a sign that I've been alive too long. I wasn't supposed to stay alive. The day I died was my time. Now the underworld is making me pay."

Spike replied demandingly, "Buffy listen to me! You're going to keep on living. Cause I can't live without you. Neither can Dawn, Giles, Red or Xander. We need you to live and take care of us. Please. We'll take care of you too." They shared a moment of silence with each other. Buffy looked at everyone's sympathetic faces, especially Dawn's. She couldn't leave them behind like last time.

Buffy nodded, "Fine, but I would really like if you guys would please try and trust me when I say that someday that evil will find me and make me its lunch. So be prepared. I'll fight it as best as I can, but I'm sure one day I'll have to leave you. And you have to be ready to face that." Her teeth met her bottom lip in a split reaction to what she had just said and the others seemed a little awe-struck that she was talking about her death like this.

Giles nodded, "Everyone dies Buffy. But as long as you fight and make a good choice in your life, we won't hassle you about your decisions."

Buffy smiled and leaned back more comfortably on her hospital bed, "Death is my gift…. but I'm not in a hurry to unwrap it."