AN: Thanks for the reviews. This parts a lot longer thankfully. Have fun.

Part 3

The drive to the hospital was long and silent. Both women sat quietly with their own fears. Tara could only see Willow, bleeding in her arms. Her whole body was numb but she had a horrible feeling in her stomach, like someone was kneading her insides.

She wanted to stop the car and drive in the other direction. She wanted to turn back time and go to a time when Willow was her love and all she saw was that beautiful pale face and vibrant red hair.

She thought back to the room, the morning, the night before. It was all so perfect, they'd been thriving in ecstasy after the reconciliation. Then it was all ripped away in one horrible little bullet.

Willow seemed to no what was about to happen. She pulled her away from the window. How could she know Warren was out there?

"We're here." Buffy said gently as she put a hand on Tara's arm to try and grab her attention.

Tara numbly got out of the car and walked alongside Buffy to the entrance. When she got to the doors she understood what it was to be vampire and not be able to enter a door way. It wasn't because she was soulless or evil but because she was scared of what lay within.

Buffy was half way through the door when she realised Tara was missing.

She looked back and saw the lost expression. "Tara?" The same unregistering eyes.

She stood right in front of the Wicca so she couldn't help but look at her. "We have to go in there. I… We need to see if she's ok."

Buffy wanted nothing more to just run in and demand some answer but she couldn't and wouldn't leave Tara alone.

Buffy gently tried to pull Tara along with her to find that it worked, it seemed to start her up again.

She quickly found her way to Xander, making sure Tara was right beside her the whole time.

Xander jumped up from his seat looking as frantic as Buffy felt. He done the Xander job and wrapped them both in a huge bear hug. He didn't want to let go. If they stayed like that then they wouldn't have to deal with anything bad.

A man cleared his throat from behind them causing Buffy to almost pounce on him. "I'm sorry to interrupt, I'm Doctor Grant, I was dealing with Miss Rosenburg."

"Was!" Xander shouted at him tearfully.

"Until she was taken up to surgery. Miss Rosenburg is alive. Right now she's in the OR. The bullet pierced her lung and is dangerously close to her heart. She's seriously ill but stay hopeful for her." He let the information sink in and patiently waited in case they had some questions.

"How long will the surgery take?" Buffy asked flatly.

"Anything up to 3 hours I'd say. It's a very delicate procedure."

Buffy nodded. "Thank you." She said automatically.

The doctor gave the three shell-shocked young people a sympathetic smile before leaving them.

All stood there staring blankly ahead until eventually Tara's legs failed and she just let herself sit on the floor.

All she could think about was Willow being somewhere in the building, hurting dying, surrounded by strangers and white walls. She would be so scared. Tara wished she could be at her side, just sitting with her, giving her some level of comfort.

That's when it happened.

Tara could feel something. It was sensation she always knew was there but never acknowledged. She could feel something that didn't belong to her but at the same time was part of her.

It finally struck her. It was Willow. She was feeling Willow.

Her chest immediately ached. Not in the way it had been since she watched her soul mate get shot but it physically hurt. She could feel how fast her heart was beating. She could feel the blood all trying to go to the wound. It was a feeling that really made her nauseous, it just wasn't right.

She tried to gain something more, to get some kind of message from Willow but she could only feel her.

"Tara?"

She tried to ignore the voice and the hands that were gently shaking her but they wouldn't give up. Her vision slowly returned to reveal Buffy and Xander right in front of her, staring with a mixture of worry and questioning.

"I felt her." She could almost see Xander's dirty thoughts.

Buffy just looked confused. "Tara, are you ok? You completely spaced."

Tara put her head in hands and tried to take a calming breath. "I was connected to her. I could feel what she felt." She said quietly still not looking up.

Xander and Buffy shared a look of astonishment and soon realised it was stupid for them to doubt the connection.

"How was… Is she… I mean…" Xander stumbled over his phrases in fear of the outcome.

"She can't feel it. She's not aware of… anything." Tara said knowing what Xander was trying to say.

Xander ran a hand through his black hair and got to his feet before silently pacing in front of the two women.

Buffy couldn't do this. It was bad enough Willow was hurt and she was in real danger but she couldn't hear how bad the wound felt. She stood up, "I have to go and get Dawn. I'll come straight back. Call me if you hear anything." She told them before leaving as fast as she could.

When the slayer got to the car she put her head on the steering wheel and let herself cry.

Her best friend was going to die. Her best friend could already be dead. And she had to go and get her little sister and tell her another person in her family was seriously injured. Then she had to be strong for every one of them because she was the Slayer and that was her job. She couldn't be emotional or fall apart. Even when every part of her being told her to.

As Buffy left the hospital, 2 cops entered and approached Tara and Xander.

Xander was angered that they dare show up at such a time. It was obvious what Warren had done so why were they at the hospital?

"Mr Harris and Ms Maclay?" One of them asked.

Xander answered, "yeah." Immediately.

"We're here to get a statement from you both about the shooting this afternoon."

Xander could feel himself getting angrier, none of them needed this. "That bastard shot her. The End."

"I know this is a hard time but we need those statements and the sooner They're taken the better." One of them explained sympathetically.

Xander checked to see if Tara was paying attention and when it was clear she wasn't he quietly said, "You're not going to get anything out of Tara right now. Buffy isn't even here. Can we do this tomorrow? Its too much right now." He explained hoping to get them to back off for a while.

The cops shared a glance before one spoke up, "Ok. Just get down to the station sometime tomorrow. I hope Ms Rosenburg is ok."

He shook their hands, "Thanks."

When they left Xander sat down next to Tara and looked at her. She was almost invisible, unmoving, just blending in. Her eyes were so sad. He put a hand on her knee to try and get her attention.

Tara looked at Xander and saw the fear she felt. "Thank you." She told him before they went back to silently waiting and worrying.