Chapter 14

When Bam got back to Finland, the press was there to meet him. They asked if Buffy was ok and what had caused her to go to the hospital. He had had no clue about any hospital stay with Buffy, so he told them no comment and got into the car he'd rented. As he drove to Ville's place, he dialed Ville's cell phone.

"Man, where have you been?" Ville asked when he answered the phone.

"What's going on?"

"We've been trying to call you for the last two days. Jonna and I had to take Buffy to the hospital. She fainted."

"Is she ok?"

"The doctor's don't know why she's not responding to any of their treatments."

"What's wrong with her?"

"Bam, she hasn't eaten for almost a week and she's barely slept."

Bam heard the fear in Ville's voice. "Is she going to be ok?"

"I don't know."

"I'll be there soon. I just landed." Bam hung up and sped up. When he got to the hospital, he dodged the press and met Ville in a waiting room. "Where is she?"

"They won't let anyone in to see her."

"What about you?"

"I'm only allowed because I speak Finnish and I can talk for Buffy."

"Does her mom know?"

"I called April and Phil and they said they were calling her as soon as they got off the phone with me. They're flying out here tomorrow with Joyce."

Bam sighed heavily and sat down. "Not exactly the best way to start off a New Year, huh?"

"What did Angel say?"

"Nothing. He thinks Buffy cheated on him and he's not budging. His brother says he throws phones and candles at people."

Ville sighed. "Her heart's broken, Bam. That's what's wrong with her. She won't respond to anything until Angel get's out here and talks to her."

"And he doesn't seem to want to do that." Bam closed his eyes and sighed heavily. Ville just wrapped an arm around him and hugged him tightly.

"So, you kicked Bam out of Sunnydale, huh?" Xander asked, walking into Angel's mansion. Angel just grunted at him. "Well, you've really done it this time."

"Xander..." Angel warned.

"Oh, keep your hand away from the candles. I came to show you this." Xander handed Angel a newspaper with the headline reading Buffy Summers Hospitalized In Helsinki. That got Angel's attention. He started to read. "It's not good man. I talked to Bam and he says she could die if she doesn't start responding to the medicines they're giving her." Angel looked up at Xander. "What are you? An idiot? The woman you love is dying because you're sitting here sulking over rumors that you know aren't true. Bam came out here to tell you that. He left her side to come get you. So, what are you gonna do now?"

Angel stood up. "Xander, pack a bag for me."

"What?"

"I'm going to Helsinki." Angel went into his room and changed clothes. He left the mansion and was gone for about an hour. When he came back, Xander handed him his bag and Angel rushed to the airport.

Ville had convinced the doctors to let Bam sit with him and Buffy. It had been almost two days since Bam had returned from Sunnydale. The entire band of H.I.M. had left flowers and stuffed animals and anything else they knew Buffy liked. Brad Pitt was staying in a hotel nearby and Buffy's mother sat in the waiting room with April, Phil, and Justin. Things weren't looking good. Buffy was so pale she almost matched the white sheets beneath her tiny body. She was getting smaller every day, too. They administered food through a tube and kept her hydrated, but Buffy's broken heart kept her from coming around. Only every now and then did she wake up, but she wasn't very receptive to anything.Her eyes didn't focus and after a little while, she went back to sleep.The doctors said it was the drugs they were administering that kept her sleeping.

Unfortunately for the tour, but luckily for Ville, Linde broke his wrist and they had to postpone the tour through Britain, Scotland, and Ireland. But no one seemed to care because they were all focused on Buffy. Bam had talked to Xander and told him about what was going on. He had found the number through Buffy's cell phone. Xander said he would let Angel know. So far, there'd been no word from Angel. Everyone in Buffy's life seemed to be turning on him pretty quickly. The longer his silence lasted, the more Buffy's family started to dislike him. Even Orlando had come back to Helsinki to see if Buffy was ok.

Ville looked at Bam and shook his head. He was scared shitless that they were going to lose Buffy. "If she... I'll kill him." Ville said.

"I'll help." Bam said.

"This is like some twisted version of Sleeping Beauty."

"Her favorite Disney movie."

Ville chuckled. "Yeah. She loves that movie. She once told me that if they ever did a live action version of it or made it a Broadway musical, she'd have to get rid of her competition because that role is hers."

"Yeah. She skated to the music from the Disney movie one season. It won her her first gold medal. She was so proud of that. She waved it around in my face when we first met."

"One day I'm going to buy her an ice rink."

"Sounds like a good idea to me. Can I pitch in?"

"Of course."

"We'll have to make it Olympic size. She always said that the Olympic ice was bigger and she wanted to skate in a rink that size." Bam laughed. "She also said that skateboarding should be an Olympic sport because if snowboarding could make it, then skateboarding should too."

"She has an opinion about everything." Ville said, brushing Buffy's hair out of her eyes.

"She's gonna pull out of this, right?"

Ville looked at Bam. "She better. She's like my little sister I never had. Once she stepped into my life, I haven't been able to imagine it without her."

"Me too. God, she was so creepy looking the first time I met her. With the curls and the makeup..."

"And the teeth."

"You should put her in the 'Vampire Heart' video."

"Yeah. I think we should. She loved doing 'Killing Lonliness' and 'Buried Alive By Love.'" Ville smiled and kissed Buffy's knuckles. He was holding her hand and stroking her arm with his free hand. Bam sat on the other side holding her other hand.

"Is there room for a third person in here?" A familiar voice said behind Bam. They looked up to see Angel standing at the door.

Bam started to move towards Angel threateningly, but Ville quickly grabbed his arm and stopped him. "I think there's only room for one. We'll give you a few minutes." Ville pulled Bam into the hallway and shut the door behind him. Bam started to protest, but Ville stopped him. "Sleeping Beauty, remember? He's her prince. Not us."

"But..."
"Not us. We're not going to be able to save her. He is. He's the reason she's here. He's the only one who can bring her back."

"Can we at least evesdrop?"

"I'm not above it." Ville and Bam pressed against the door and listened.

Angel walked to where Bam had been sitting and sat down. Buffy looked so small and pale. He couldn't believe he had done this to her. How could he have been so stupid and so selfish? This was the woman he loved. He should have just talked to her. Now she was dying in a hospital.

He took her hand and kissed. "I'm sorry." He said quietly. "I should have just... God, I love you so much that I can't even think rationally anymore. When Xander showed me that paper... The rational side of my mind shut down. It felt like my entire life had just been sent through a shredder and tossed in the garbage. And that's what you've become to me. My entire world. When I look into the future, all I see is you. All I want is you. And I know it's crazy... A guy like me getting a girl like you, but... I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I guess that's why I bought this." He slipped the ring from his pocket and held it up. He knew she couldn't see it, but it didn't matter. He slipped it on her finger. "You don't have to accept it. You can tell me to go to hell and I will because you told me to. All I ask of you is that you wake up. There's a lot of people out there who need you to get better." He paused. "I need you to get better." Nothing happened. She didn't stir, the machines didn't beep to life... She just laid there looking even more small and fragile than before. No movie magic here.

Angel toyed with the ring on her finger for a bit, before he stood up and sat in a corner across the room. After a few minutes of silence, Bam and Ville came back into the room. They seemed surprised that nothing had happened with Buffy. Angel was with them.

The next morning, Bam woke up to hear nothing at all. When he lifted his head from the bed, he noticed that Buffy's hand wasn't where it had been the night before. In fact, Buffy wasn't where she was supposed to be. He looked around the room and only saw Ville sleeping in a chair on the other side of the bed and Angel sleeping in the chair in the corner. Buffy was no where in sight.

"Ville. Angel." He said, waking the other two men.

Ville woke up first and looked around. It took him a minute to register what Bam was seeing. Or rather, NOT seeing. "Oh shit!"

"What's going on?" Angel asked. "Where is she?"

"I don't know." Bam said.

"Here." Buffy said, coming out of the bathroom. She had pulled the feeding tube out of her mouth, a horrible thought to the three men, and she was still pale and fragile, but she was awake. "I had to use the bathroom."

"What... How..." Bam stuttered.

"Are you ok?" Ville asked.

She shrugged. "At least I don't have a leg brace on. The last time I woke up in a hospital, I had a leg brace on." Buffy almost faltered, but Bam and Ville rushed to her side. Buffy looked across the room at Angel. He didn't return her stare. He was too ashamed. After a minute, Buffy looked at Bam and Ville. "Can you give us a few minutes alone?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." She sat down on the bed and waited. They didn't move. "Guys. Please?" They stood there for another minute and then turned and walked out slowly. Ville shut the door behind him. Buffy knew they were evesdropping on the other side, but she didn't care. She turned to Angel and waited.

"I guess you hate me, don't you?" Angel asked.

"No."

He looked at her. "No?"

"I don't hate you."

"Then what..."

She held up her hand to stop him. "Ok, for a time I wanted you to throw yourself off the top of the Empire State building, but I never hated you. I hated that you told me to go to hell and I don't understand why you acted the way you did."

"Because I love you."

"Ok... Not the explanation I'd hoped for."

"Tell me what you want me to say."

"I want you to tell me the truth. I want your heart to speak to me, not your brain or your hormones. Your heart."

"My heart is the reason I acted the way I did. It overrode everything else and I'd never felt so hurt and betrayed in my life."

"Why did you believe it? Why didn't you let me explain?"
"I can't explain it."

"Try."

"I've tried. Everytime someone tried to convince me to come talk to you, I tried to explain to myself why I should go. I kept coming up with all of these answers, but... I in the end... I just wanted you to be happy. And I thought if Orlando made you happy, then I would let you have him."

"I don't want him."

"I know that now. Buffy, you're all I can see anymore. You've snuck your way into my very soul and I can't get you out. I don't want to get you out. I want to give you everything you could ever need or could ever ask of me. If you told me to rip out my heart and hand it to you, I would. If you asked me to leave and never come back, I would." Buffy watched him, waiting for him to continue. "It seems crazy in my mind that you would even consider me. You're such a huge star and most of your friends are huge stars. Why would I even registar a beep on your radar?" She started to protest, but Angel stopped her. "But I did and now I feel like I have to fight to keep that beep there. I love you. I want you more than I've ever wanted anything in my whole life. I can't think of anything that would make me happier than to just have your name pop into my head."

"I think you can think of something."

"What?"

She glanced at the ring on her finger. "I think you can think of something that would make you happier." He looked away. "Just ask, damn it! Stop being a pussy about it and ask!"

"Buffy, will you marry me?" Angel blurted. "Will you be my wife? Will you grant me that honor?"

She smiled, tears starting to form in her eyes. "Only if you kiss me." He walked over and scooped her up into his arms. Holding her head gently, he kissed her deeply.