...
Katie turned her head towards the wall and started off into space a moment in the direction of her father's office, her little brows furrowed in confusion at the feeling washing over her. "Daddy?" She said quietly before dropping the doll she'd been immersed with and heading towards the nursery door.
"Katie, where are you going?" Xander asked as he noticed the little girl walking determinedly across the room. Not about to let her out of his sight again, he rose from the rocking chair he'd been lounging in and followed after her.
"Daddy has an ouch." She stated before reaching for the doorknob.
"Whoa, don't think so little lady." Xander chastised as he planted his foot against the door, preventing Katie from opening it. "Uncle Xander's keeping his eye on you."
"Daddy has an ouch!" She repeated, louder this time and yanking at the door, "Need to help daddy!"
"Katie, nothing is wrong with your dad, he's down in the Med-Ward with your mom, helping her get better." He tried to sooth her, not knowing why she sudden had these thoughts.
Katie shook her head furiously, "No! Daddy's in his office! He has an ouch!"
"Xander, let's just show her Angel's empty office, so she can see he isn't there." Dawn pacified, having overheard her niece yelling and knowing when Katie really wanted something, she didn't quit until she got it. Besides, the kids could play in their parent's offices, so maybe a change of scenery would do them good.
Xander shook his head but moved his foot and opened the door, before he could grab her, the three year old darted under his fingers and practically flew down the hall toward he father's office.
"Hey, come back here!" Xander called out, chasing after her.
"Daddy." Liam spoke as he slipped away from Dawn and dodged past Xander, chasing after his sister.
"Damn, those two are fast." Xander panted as Dawn hurried past him to catch up with the running tots.
When they reached Angel's door, it was open as Katie had already jumped up and turned the knob.
Entering, Dawn called for the kids. "Katie? Liam?" She spotted one of Angel's shirts discarded on the floor across the room. 'Hmm, maybe he did finally leave the Med-ward.' She thought before hearing Katie's voice calling for her father to wake up. Walking around the pullout couch, she found the toddlers kneeing on the floor beside their father's motionless body.
"Xander! Call Medical!" Dawn yelled as she quickly moved around the couch that had blocked her view of Angel and knelt down beside him. She pushed hard and managed to roll the living vampire onto his back before checking for a pulse.
Xander was asking what she was yelling about when he too spotted the former undead lying motionless on the floor. Grabbing Angel's office phone off the desk, he slammed the extension for the Med-Ward.
...
Cassidy was organizing the supplies she'd need to clean Angel's wound when the phone on the wall let out a shrill yell. Buffy snapped awake from her doze as the medic grabbed the cordless and held it against her ear with her shoulder as she untangled IV tubing and answered, "Medical."
Buffy watched Cass's casual smile quickly drop to a concerned frown, "What? For how long?" The medic began to pace, "How much? Shit...I'll be right up."
"What's going on? Is someone hurt?" Buffy asked as Cass jogged across the room to get her emergency trauma kit. "Little emergency, I'll be right back, don't move." Then the doctor was out the double doors before Buffy could ask anything else.
'Angel.' Popped into her head as she watched the doors swish shut, 'Something happened to Angel.'
Everything inside of her was telling her to get up and go find out, but the pain in her belly kept her lying down. 'Damn, I hate being useless!'
She leaned over as far as her stitches allowed and managed to grab her phone off the bedside table. She dialed Angel's cellphone, figuring he'd had brought it with him into the bathroom in case Cassidy had needed to call him, and waited for an answer.
It rang, and rang and rang.
'Maybe he's in the shower still?' She told herself, looking for a positive. 'Or he forgot it on vibrate and left it in his pants pocket?'
She hung up and dialed his office phone, figuring he's be able to hear it from anywhere in the room.
Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring.
'Damn it Angel, answer the phone!'
"Hello?" For a second, Buffy though Angel finally did answer, but then her brain caught up and recognized Xander's voice. "Xander, why are you answering Angel's phone? Where is he? Is he ok?"
"Buffy?" He asked, surprised to hear her voice since he'd not known she'd awaken from her mini coma. "You're awake?"
"Yes, it's Buffy, yes I'm conscious; now please tell me where my husband is!" The blond demanded, getting more worried.
The dark haired boy looked at the pale living vampire sprawled on the floor behind the couch, "He's um...busy."
"Xander!" The slayer threatened, she didn't need to actually make the physical threat, but her tone conveyed the pain what would result if the next answer out of his mouth wasn't where he husband was.
"Ok, he's unconscious." The one-eyed contractor admitted, "Katie started saying 'Daddy has an ouch' and bolted down the hall to Angel's office, when we came to get her, we found him on the floor."
Buffy sped out, "What's wrong with him? Is he going to be ok? Is he breathing? Do you know how long he's been unconscious? He is just unconscious…right?" A million terrible thoughts rushed her mind, all of them making her more afraid for her husband.
Xander move the phone away from his ear a moment before answering, "Listen Buffy, he's alive, I don't know much else... Oh, Cass just ran in so I'm sure we'll be bringing him down to the Med-Ward in a few minutes. Just hang tight until then."
Cass was flagging him for help moving Angel and not knowing what else to do, Xander knelt and put the phone up to Liam's ear, "Here Liam, talk to your mommy."
"Mommy awake?" Liam asked into the receiver, waiting to hear his mother's voice as Xander moved off to help Cassidy and Dawn.
Buffy was furious with Xander for basically blowing her off, but smiled at her son's question. "Yeah honey, mommy's awake and she really misses you."
After a few minutes, Katie stole the phone from her little brother and talked up a nervous storm as she watched Cassidy work on her father.
When Xander finally took the phone back, he assured the blond they were on their way down to the Med-ward before hanging up.
...
What felt like hour to Buffy was really about 15 minutes, Cass and Xander wheeled a still very pale and unconscious Angel into the Med-ward on a gurney.
"He wasn't that pale when he left here." Buffy pointed out the moment she saw her lover's face, in fact, he looked 10x worse.
"His wound bled in the shower." Cassidy explained, "There wasn't much blood loss, but in his current state of dehydration he had a much high adverse reaction than normal, his blood pressure plummeted and went down for the count. Not to mention when he left here he was still one big mess of nerves, once he finally let it sink in that you were going to be ok and relaxed under the warm water, well without that nervous determination his body finally shut down on him."
"But is he going to ok?" Buffy asked, worry very thick in her voice.
"He's exhausted, starving and dehydrated, that alone depleted his demon's natural healing ability, then mix days of anxious worrying and pacing while ignoring his minor wounds and your get a recipe for unconsciousness. He looks wore than he is, I promise you that. Angel's worn himself out, but his injuries are not life threatening. "
"How do you know?" Buffy countered, her throat starting to feel better after a few sips of water.
"Because I won't let them be." The medic countered right back."He's feverish and exhausted but stable. I cleaned and bandaged his gunshot wound upstairs, so once I get some fluids back in him he should regain consciousness." The medic assured. What she left unsaid was while, unwrapping the soiled bandage upstairs she revealed a far more infected wound than Cass would have expected, the torn edges of the bullet hole were raw and oozing both blood and pus while the bones within were only partly healed. The complete lack of rest and nutrients on Angel's part had wiped out his demon's healing ability before it could finish closing the injury and days without getting treatment only worsened its condition. 'Little wonder he's feverish, his demon is too exhausted to compensate for the infection, now his immune system is failing.' She decided to not say that out loud to Buffy; the poor woman had enough to worry about already.
…
"Go with Daddy!" Katie was screaming for the tenth time.
The three year old had wanted to follow Xander and Cass to the Med-Ward, but all agreed it was no place for a toddler at the moment.
"Katie, please stop shouting. Cassy is taking good care of your mommy and daddy, I promise." Dawn tried again to no use.
The small brunette pouted and stormed off, which actually looked more cute than menacing as when he father did it.
Seeing her brother playing with his cars, she got an idea.
"Liam." She called before leaning down and whispering into his ear.
Slowly he pulled his thumb out of his mouth and looked back at her, as if to say, 'Are you nuts?'
She started back at him with the big chocolate brown eyes of hers, his own hazel-green relenting to his sister's plea. He nodded and walked over to his toy box. He opened the lid wide and slammed it shut; as he did he screamed at the top of him lungs as if he'd caught his hand in the lid.
Dawn came panicking over as Liam held his hand and wailed.
While Dawn was successfully distracted trying to check Liam for injuries, Katie slipped out the unguarded door.
Katie jumped behind a potted plant as Xander exited the elevator and headed to the nursery.
Once he was past, she slipping into the elevator and hit the bottom button.
…
Buffy watched nervously as Cassidy checked Angel's vitals, worried mostly about the paleness on his face and the flush of fever on his cheeks and brow.
Not to mention the unconsciousness, that hadn't helped settle the uproar in her stomach.
The medic was having trouble getting an IV in his arm due to the dehydration reeking havoc on his veins.
"Ow." Buffy muttered as she once again attempted to sit up. It was such a reflex to be upright that she was having trouble staying flat.
"Buffy." Cassidy scolded as she turned her head away from Angel to glare at the slayer, "I told you to stop doing that, you're aggravating your stitches." As the doctor looked over Buffy's abdomen she grimaced, "Better yet, you already tore some." The redhead pointed her blue eyes at her patient when the crimson began to bloom over the white bandage, "Now I have to re-sew these…like right now."
"But Angel's…"
Cassidy cut her off as she removed the soiled bandage to expose the stitches, "Currently even unconscious he is in better shape than you, his wounds are serious but not life threatening, yours are."
"Sorry." The blond muttered dejected, looking over at her torn and oozing skin with a wince.
"No, I'm sorry, I don't mean to be harsh, I just, I want you to heal. I'm worried about you; you're not just my patient, but my friend too." Cassidy admitted, grabbing some gauze off the table and dabbing at the seeping wound.
Buffy looked down and bit her lip, her cheeks flashing red with emotions. She wanted to say something but wasn't sure what.
Before Buffy could reply, "I need to re-sew these." Cass indicated the torn stitches on Buffy's stomach. "I'm going to have to sedate you to do so."
"No." Buffy immediately countered, not wanting to be drugged while Angel was unconscious. "Just numb me."
"I can't, not for this. I need to make sure you are still and I can't have you moving around while I work. Please Buffy, let me do what I need to do to get you well again. Angel isn't going anywhere; I promise he'll be here when you wake." The MD would take no chances with this; Buffy was already too tense because of her husband, she needed to be sedated.
The slayer still didn't like the idea, but the pain was getting worse and she could hear the concern for her well being in Cass's voice.
"Ok." Buffy agreed after a long pause.
"Everything will be fine Buffy, just close your eyes and sleep." Cass told her as she injected the sedative into her IV line.
…
From the darkness the demon stirred, strengthened by drugs both man-made and primal. Golden eyes slid open as the potent smell of Slayer blood was inhaled into his sensitive nose, more to the point, the blood of his mate. His lip curled back to reveal sharpened fangs as the demon silently rose off the cot and stalked towards the mortal that was causing his mate to bleed.
…
The minor surgery was going well, Cassidy was almost finished when a clawed hand grabbed her roughly around the neck and yanked her backwards against a hard solid chest, an angry growl threatening pain into her ear.
'Oh shit.' The medic thought, 'This is it, Angel's demon is finally going to kill me.'
She felt his other hand grab hers, holding the limb up and forcing the needle she'd held to drop to the floor with a ping. Cassidy could see blood coating her hand, Buffy's blood. Suddenly she knew exactly what had set Angel's demon off.
She felt his grip tighten and she cried out as pain followed.
"Bad Daddy! Stop it!"
Cassidy thought she'd imagined the small voice for a moment before Angel's grip on her loosened as he was distracted by an angry voice and two small fists beating his leg.
"No, Daddy, No ouch!"
The demon's eyes squinted in confused thought as he loosened his grip further but not letting go completely. He looked back at Cassidy as if to say, 'But I want to eat her, she's got my mate's blood on her.'
"Bad Daddy!" Katie repeated, her mouth set into a fierce resolve. "Cassy's helping mommy, no hurting Cassy."
The demon would have looked comical to Cassidy with the sheepish scowl on his lips had she not be in total fear for her life.
Almost reluctantly, he growled out a sigh and released the MD, smartly she quickly scurried behind little 2.8 foot Katie, who was still standing defensively against the six foot, 180 lbs of solid demon across from her.
Cassidy though maybe she could grab Katie and make a run for it, but figured having Angel's demon chase her down would end much the same as it does when a lion chases a gazelle.
It gets eaten.
The demon looked lost now, looking between his mate and the little girl before him, as if trying to choose whether to continue guarding his mate or obey the child. Golden eyes drifted down to linger over Buffy's relaxed face before he bent over her, his nose brushing her cheek as his mouth nuzzled his mark on her neck.
His mate didn't react.
The demon stood upright and growled, his angered eyes flashing towards Cassidy, not understanding what the woman had done to his mate.
Katie held her arms up in a pick me up motion, "Daddy?"
He blinked at her a few times, his eyes still threatening vengeance towards the nervous medic.
"Please Daddy?" Katie repeated, still holding up her arms as her lips pouted.
Slowly the demon walked towards her, his eyes unable to break from her dark brown, the same dark brown as the mortal body that sired her, his own host's seed, the soul that had bonded to his own essence. He bent and lifted her into his arms the same as any father would pick up his child and Katie nestled against him.
She cupped his demonic face in her hands and looked into his raging yellow eyes, "Daddy, no hurting Cassy. She's good, no ouch."
His golden eyes turned to the redhead again before he looked back over at the still form of his wife, he growled at the blood on her belly and the complete lack of reaction from her. Her body usually reacted to him, responded to his touch and reached out to sooth his beast. However the slayer was still and silent and unresponsive.
"Cassy?" Katie asked, looking to her mother then at the doctor for an explanation.
Swallowing hard, Cassidy explained that Buffy tore her stitches earlier and she was re-sewing them and to make it easier, she'd sedated Buffy to help her rest and prevent her from moving again which would cause further damage.
"See, Cass is helping Mommy." Katie assured her demonic parent, smoothing her little fingers long her father's cheek.
The demon scowled but took no further action to defend his mate. His rage was dissolving with the little girl's touch.
Katie whispered to the vampire whose arms she was cradled in to sit, she could see the exhaustion on her father's face even though the demon mask.
Almost reluctantly, he sat down heavily on his bed; the adrenaline from smelling Buffy's blood was beginning to fade as his body relaxed. Already his legs had been growing weak again, neither demon nor his body recovered enough to be up and walking for any length of time.
Again Katie ran her little hands over the vampire features before leaning up and kissing his forehead, "Sleep Daddy, take a nap to make the ouch go away." She stood against him, resting her feet on the bed on either side of his right leg, removing her slight weight from his arms.
His golden eyes were already fading back to brown, the demon settling from the child's touch, a touch that was so very similar to his mate's. After a few blinks, the demon vanished back into the man.
Angel was left feeling drained and weak, his eyes barely remaining open save for the little girl standing in his arms. The IV had helped recoup his demon and gave him a quick burst of energy, but he was still far from healed.
"Katie." Angel whispered into her hair, grateful for her warmth and support as she hugged him against her.
"Shh, Daddy. Go to sleep." She soothed, running her fingers along the back of his neck as she'd seen her mother do countless times.
After a moment he laid back, stretching out his long legs on the cot beneath him. Katie followed him down, shifting to lay against his chest, she too feeling the effects of missing nap-time.
His dark brown orbs shifted to his wife's relaxed face before sending Cassidy an apologetic nod. He laid his hand on his daughter's small back and ran his thumb along her spine; at least until he drifted off a few moments later.
After a few minutes, Katie looked to Cassidy and nodded it was now safe for her to finish treating her parents.
Cassidy nodded a little hesitantly before walking past Angel cot to put the finishing touches on Buffy's stitches. Once the Slayer was patched up, she carefully re-inserted the IV lines Angel's demon had dislodged and checked his wounds. The living vampire's fever had risen and the gunshot in his arm was still an angry red, but the bleeding had stopped at least.
Once she adjusted the medications flowing into the IV, Cassidy let out a breath. All she could do now was wait. Katie had fallen asleep by then so the medic headed down the hall to her office to recoup.
…
Liam was getting tired, crying was hard work.
The distraction had succeeded and his big sister had escaped without notice.
Now however, he was sick of crying. On the other hand, he knew once he stopped his uncle and aunt would notice his sister was missing and one would go looking for her, and he'd be stuck in the nursery.
He wrapped his right hand around his left and wailed, "Ouch!" He cried out, hoping auntie Dawnie would bring him to the Med-Ward so he could see his mommy and daddy.
Just as he'd hoped, Dawn tried to look at his hand to find if he'd hurt it when the toy box lid had apparently slammed down on it.
Had either of the adults actually looked at the toy box, they would have noticed the way Angel built it that a finger could not actually be caught in the lid since the lip of the box was lower than the lid, meaning the heavy wood could crash down and still have almost an inch of gap to accommodate the height of a hand.
Dawn flinched as Liam hugged his hand, "Xander, I think he really hurt himself, I'm going to have Cassidy take a look, watch Katie."
"Yeah, Ok, That's a good idea." The one-eyed young man agreed before moving his lone eye across the room, "Speaking of, where is the little disappearing artist?"
"Katie?" Dawn called, looking around as she picked up a still whimpering Liam.
"Damn it." Xander muttered, "Angel's going to eat us. Not only did we lose his daughter (again) but we let his son get hurt."
"He's not going to eat us." Dawn defended, then added, "My sister won't let him. Besides, I'll give you one guess where our niece escaped to."
Liam hid a grin behind another cry of pain as Dawn carried him into the elevator with Xander and hit the button for the lower lever where the Med-Ward was located.
After a short ride, Xander opened the door to the medical wing for Dawn as they entered, "Shh Liam, try not to wake your mommy." She said quietly to him, hoping bringing a screaming toddler into the Med-Ward didn't cause a bad reaction for the boy's injured parents. She was already on bad terms with Angel for bringing Hank into the Med-Ward a few days ago, pissing him off again was not high on her To-Do-List.
To her relief, Liam stopped crying instantly. In fact, as soon as she walked into the room and the child saw his parents lying motionless on their cots he twisted and squirmed to be put down.
"No, Liam stop!" She hissed before having to let him go before he practically jumped out of her arms.
His little footie pajama feet pounded quickly over the smooth floor over to Angel's cot, he could already see his sister curled up against their father's side.
"Daddy, up." He spoke, reaching up and shaking Angel's left arm.
Dawn winced as she whispered for Liam to stop and come back. She hadn't intended for her nephew to wake up Angel, who looked as if he really needed the rest. He was still pale and had deep bags under his eyes. However in that moment Dawn also noticed where her niece had wandered off to, seeing her curled up against her father's side like a cat in the sun.
Angel groaned as his arm slipped over the edge of the bed, only half awake as he scooped his son up onto his chest. Liam yawned as he got comfortable, "Daddy, nap."
"Mmm, hmm." Angel sighed out, still more asleep than awake as his left arm hugged his son to keep the boy from rolling off him.
A few seconds later both were sound asleep.
"Is it just me, or did we get doped by a two and three year old?" Xander asked as they realized Liam seemed to have completely forgotten the injury he'd been screaming about for 20 minutes.
"Pretty sure we were." Dawn agreed, realizing the ploy had been nothing more than distraction and manipulation.
"I'm also noticing something else." Xander said quietly as they stood by the Med-ward door.
"What?" The younger Summers asked.
"We're currently not babysitting." He pointed out.
Dawn looked to her sister's children wrapping up around their father. "Good point, let's go."
Both escaped down the hall and had a quick talk with Cassidy in her office to let her know the kids where in the Med-Ward again and to get updates on both Buffy and Angel's condition. Satisfied all four were resting comfortably, Xander and Dawn escaped to get some downtime as Cassidy looked over her patients one last time before sitting down to work out her supply budget for next month.
…
Angel awoke when a little foot stepped down on a very sensitive part of his anatomy, "Ow, what…Katie?" He snapped awake, snatching his daughter as she almost fell off the cot as she tried to walk over him rather unsuccessfully.
"Ut oh." Liam grinned when his father's eyes opened, "Busted."
"Hi Daddy." The little vixen smiled at him, "I have to potty."
Angel blinked a moment, the sleep still receding from his mind, before he glanced over at the clock on the wall and noticed it was almost 9pm and the day had vanished.
"Go potty." His son frowned, shaking Angel's arm to indicate he needed to go too.
"Um, yeah." The living vampire shook his head to clear it as he swung his legs over the edge and helped his two children off him and onto the floor.
Liam danced around holding the front of his pants. "Potty!"
"Ok, ok." Angel agreed, wincing as he pulled the IV lines out of his arm and pushed himself out of bed. He took one of their hands each as he nearly ran after his son and daughter dragging him down the hall to the bathroom.
After all three used the restroom, Angel took a moment to look at himself in the mirror as he lifted his children to the sink to wash their hands. The bags were gone from his eyes and his cheeks had color back, but he could still feel the effects of not eating or sleeping for days. His limbs were heavy and stiff, not to mention he had a headache. Ignoring himself, he grinned down at his children, "Better?"
"Yes!" Katie beamed, relief shining in her brown eyes as she wiped her wet hands on her pants.
"Food?" Liam injected, starving as always and unhappy about missing dinner.
Angel agreed with his boy wholeheartedly as his own stomach grumbled, "Dinner sounds great, let's just check on Mommy first, Ok?" He didn't really want to leave his wife alone if she was unconscious, especially if she woke and found him missing, he didn't want to cause her unnecessary worry. However, he woke to find his children in his arms and he wasn't about to pawn them off to someone, it was late and he missed them too much.
"Mommy's she dating." Katie said on their way back across the hall to the Med-Ward.
"Sedated." Angel corrected, as he looked own at Buffy's relaxed face. He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her brow, "I love you."
Looking around, he took her cellphone off the table beside the bed and placed it under her hand before texting her a brief message should she wake while he was gone. 'Beloved, woke with the kids. Getting Dinner. Call if you need me. I love you! Angel'
"Ok you guys want dinner now?" He asked when he was finished, finding the kids were getting bored.
"Yes!" They both announced and bounded up the hall towards the elevator. As much as their enthusiasm was well above his own energy level at the moment, he couldn't help but smile at them.
As he walked to the elevator, he shrugged on a shirt and stepped into a pair of slippers that had been by his bed, grateful to whoever left them nearby.
Riding the elevator up, he listened to Katie and Liam play tag between his legs as he itched the spot where he'd pulled the IV from his arm. He probed the fresh bandage on his arm and noted that his gunshot wound felt a lot better, not 100%, but actively healing now at least.
He got a curious look from the few groups of Slayers milling about in the cafe, some students of his. A few winked at him, looking over his exposed muscular arms. Sometimes it was hard being one of only a few sexy males in a building full of young hormonal teenage girls. Ignoring their wandering eyes, he led his children into the kitchen out back to make them something quick, they were all too hungry to wait for something to cook.
…
Buffy took a deep breath and opened her eyes a crack, her body felt heavy still, as did her eyelids. 'Just going to check on Angel, then I'll go back to sleep.' She thought to herself as she turned her head to where he husband lay sleeping.
Expect his cot was empty.
The desire to sleep dissolved as Buffy's eyes widened to fully open, "Angel?" She called, her voice dry but responsive. She looked around at some of the other cots, wondering if he'd moved, but found those empty too.
'Cassidy promised he'd be here when I woke…unless…did something happen to him?' The worst possible conclusion popped into her mind as she felt her fear and worry building. She wanted to sit up, but her hand enclosed over something lying beneath it when she went to move.
Holding it up she found her cellphone. Curious she opened the lid and found a blinking envelope indicating she had a message. Hitting open, she read the short few words and already felt her worry ebbing. Noting the time, she smiled in relief knowing he'd only been gone about half an hour.
Still, she wanted to hear his voice. Seeing him would be better but hearing him would suffice for now. Pressing call, she put the phone to her ear and waited impatiently for the call to connect.
…
*Ring*
'Shit' Angel thought as his pocked vibrated and chimed at the worst possible moment.
"Katie honey, reach in daddy's pocket and answer the phone, it's probably your mommy."
The three year old jumped up eagerly and dug around in his sweatpants before pulling out the shrieking device. Popping the lid she grinned into the receiver, "Hi mommy! Are you awake?"
Buffy was glad to hear her daughter's voice, although she had expected her husbands, "Hi baby girl, yes, I'm awake. Where is your daddy? Can I talk to him?"
"Daddy's too sticky." Katie laughed into the phone as her father was wresting with hot water and a dish cloth.
"Sticky?" Buffy asked, "What do you mean?"
Buffy could hear Liam laugh in the background and her husband muttering something before he asked for the phone from Katie.
"Hi beautiful, are you ok? Do you need me to call Cass?" He asked once he got the phone to his ear.
Buffy felt any lasting worry fade as his worried voice replaced it over the line, "Hi back at you handsome, and no, I'm ok. I was just missing my husband who was supposed to be sleeping next to me when I woke up."
"I'm sorry." He automatically apologized, not wanting to say anything that would lead to a fight.
"No, it's ok; sounds like you have two valid excuses." She smiled, thinking of her rambunctious offspring. "What are you doing anyways, why are you sticky?"
Angel laughed at the confused and possibly jealous sound in his wife's voice, "We're making cookies, I had cookie dough all over my hands when the phone rang."
"I sincerely hope you are not feeding my children sweets for dinner…again."
"I've never done that…ok so maybe that one time with the chocolate chip muffins…but hey, at least I make sure they eat. Besides, we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches first, and I was overruled two to one for cookies."
"Overruled huh?" She smirked, 'Yeah right, more likely it was his idea.'
She could feel his smile over the phone, which warmed her soul, "You try and say no to those puppy dog eyes and pouted lips."
"You're right, I can't either." She was thinking of him as well as the kids; he usually had the same effect on her when using those deep soulful brown eyes. "But when they get up here there had better not be sticky fingers reaching for me. I can always depend on you to be making a mess when I'm not around." She ribbed him.
He laughed back, "Hey I clean up after myself, although it's not usually me making the mess, speaking of…" His voice grew faded as he dealt with Liam playing with the unbaked cookies like play-dough.
Buffy grinned and giggled as she listen in, wishing she could see them too. After a moment he came back, "Sorry about that. Oh, did you want anything up here? Or can you eat anything…I should call Cass and ask…"
"No need, she's right here." Buffy cut him off, handing the phone to the Medic as she walked into the room and over to Buffy's cot.
The redhead had been planning to check her patients and wasn't thrilled to find one missing. After a brief scolding for leaving the Med-Ward without being dismissed, Cass informed the living vampire on what was safe for Buffy to eat before handing the blond back the phone.
"See you soon?" She asked eager to see him. He sounded tired over the phone and she wanted to get her eyes on him to verify herself his wounds were healing and he would be ok. You couldn't rely on his words for that, he was the type to play down a mortal wound to 'just a scratch, I'm fine.'
"As soon as the cookies are done and cooled, I promise." He appeased her. "An hour tops."
"And the kids? You'll bring my babies too?" She asked, eager to see her little monsters.
"Of course, all nice and tired and ready for bed." He answered with a grin.
"Ooh, sleepy babies ready for snuggles, even better." She agreed, mostly since she didn't have the energy or ability to run and play with them at the moment.
"I love you, see you soon." They said as they disconnected.
Buffy smiled as she hung up, Cassidy was standing a few feet away with her arms folded across her chest, "He pulled out his IV, how many times do I have to tell him not to pull out his IV?"
'That's my bull headed idiot.' Popped into Buffy mind. "He had two good excuses; one is almost three and a half, the other just over two and a half, you trying telling toddlers to wait." She defended her spouse.
Cassidy shook her head at the losing battle and checked over Buffy's vitals and chart, asking about pain, hunger, thirst or any discomfort.
The slayer nodded to hunger and thirst, but shook her head at pain and discomfort unless she tired sitting or twisting.
Satisfied the blond was doing well, Cassidy moved to change the IV bags and make Angel's cot up for when he came back, as far as the medic was concerned, he was still a patient until she said otherwise.
…
In no time at all the cookies were baked and cooled and eaten.
Angel was eager to get back to his wife, he'd only been gone an hour but to him it already felt like days. Plus he knew she was anxious to see him and their children, he didn't want to keep her waiting.
Taking a tiny hand in each of his, he walked as the little ones skipped and jumped along, using his hands as leverage to play. Every now and then, he'd lift his arms, taking their little feet well off the ground as they yelled and laughed.
As far as he was concerned, anything that made them happy and helped tire them out was perfectly fine.
Instead of going straight back tot he Med-Ward, he stopped briefly upstairs to get the kids changed into some fresh PJs that weren't sticky with peanut butter and to brush their teeth. Katie collected her stuffed piggie she never slept without an Liam hugged one of his toy trucks to his chest.
After quickly brushing his own teeth, Angel collected the two and finally headed downstairs with a container of broth from the cafe for Buffy if she was hungry.
...
When he entered the Med-ward, he was both glad and annoyed to find Buffy still awake, she should be resting.
Her face lit up when she noticed Angel and their children, instantly opening her arms and demanding to see her babies.
Just as they'd promised, the toddlers were careful when Angel set them on Buffy's bed, both keeping well away from her injured stomach.
Angel pulled his cot against his wife's and settled onto it, fully intending to spend the night beside her since there was no other place he'd rather be. He sure as hell wasn't going home until she was coming with him. If the beds had been bigger, he would have crawled into hers. If he slept under her or spooned up against her, they could both sleep in the same bed, but with two toddlers it would be too cramped for comfort.
While the children were playing in the space between the two linked beds, Buffy looked over at her husband, finally getting a moment to check him over. "You look better, but I'm having difficulty reading your lips."
Angel turned to look at her, reading the desire in her eyes. "Well I guess, I'll have to come a little closer than." He replied with a grin.
"Yes please." She nodded, wishing she could just sit up and kiss him.
He leaned over and lightly brushed his lips over hers before she reached her hand behind his head and pulled him down closer.
They laughed into the kiss, both relieved of all the stress of the last few days and just enjoying the closeness.
When they parted he smirked at her, "Did you get better reception that time?"
Smirking back she nodded, "Mmm hmm, you came in loud and clear." After a second she grinned, "And minty fresh too."
"You ask and you receive." He smiled back, then offered her the chicken broth.
With a hungry nod from her, he warmed the liquid and served it to her in a cup with a straw, allowing her to sip it comfortable from her laying position.
For almost an hour, they caught up on family time before they all began to feel the time catching up to them. Katie and Liam snuggled up in Angel's arms as Buffy pulled her blanket up and blew her husband a kiss. He grinned and did the best he could to blow one back without a spare arm.
Soon after, all four were contently sleeping.
…
Cassidy yawned as she walked into the Med-Ward; glad her missing patient had returned. She'd let the family enjoy time alone together, but now they were asleep she was coming to check up on everything medically.
She wasn't actually surprised to find Angel sleeping camped out beside his wife, although she hadn't expected he'd have brought their kids back too.
Checking the Slayer's vitals, she found only improvements. Looking down at the two cots that were practically one queen sized bed now, she noticed Buffy's left and Angel's right hands were clasped together, Katie was sleeping between her parents, using Angel's right shoulder as a pillow.
With medically trained eyes, she scanned over the bandage she'd wrapped around the gunshot wound in his left arm hours ago, and frowned when she noticed the white cotton was slightly pink directly over the injury. The bandage to his ribs was currently covered by both his shirt and a sleeping Liam, so checking on that was currently out of the question.
The MD wanted to check the healing progress on his arm at least since it was showing signs of bleeding still, but Angel's arm was resting on his son's back, holding the boy in place against his chest so he wouldn't roll off the bed during the night. In order to access the wound, she'd have to risk waking both the boy and Angel.
Neither was appealing to Cassidy, especially after his demon tried to eat her earlier.
Despite the risk, she inched closer and timidly began to undo the fastening on the bandage so she could see the wound.
Liam, ever the light sleeper, stirred and shifted.
Cassidy jumped back as a reflex.
Angel's eyes slid open, focusing on the boy squirming on his chest and ran his thumb over the child's back to sooth him. After a moment, Liam settled and fell back to sleep.
Once the toddler was down, Angel turned his chocolate brown eyes to the doctor, who had been hoping he hadn't noticed her.
'Sorry.' She mouthed, not wanting to risk speaking and wake the other three still sleeping.
He glanced down at the arm lying protectively over Liam a moment, seeing the bandage half undone gave him a pretty good idea what she'd been doing before her movements had roused his son.
At the moment, his family was sound asleep and he felt like joining them. Moving his arm off his boy so the child wouldn't be disturbed again, he set it on the tray table beside the bed, then nuzzled against his daughter's dark brown locks and closed his eyes.
He figured Cass would be relentless until she got what she wanted and as long as it wouldn't wake his son, he would let her have at it. His worry over Buffy had ceased and he was too tired to bother fighting with the doctor about the unhealing wounds anymore.
Cassidy was a little surprised when he offered his arm then proceeded to fall back to sleep, no questions asked or complaints offered.
Taking the invitation, she quickly removed the stained cotton and examined the hole beneath. To her surprise, the injury was mostly healed. Based on the fact the wound hadn't healed in the 4 days Angel had been pacing the Med-ward, Cassidy had expected to see inflammation and swelling. Instead, she found it had bled only slightly right after she'd cleaned it, and had closed very shortly after.
She glanced as the snoozing living vampire a moment and noticed he no longer had the paleness in his cheeks or the dark bags under his eyes. She could tell he wasn't quite at 100% yet, but he was a heck of a lot better off than when he'd left the Med-ward earlier.
Satisfied that the combo of food and sleep coupled with the relief Buffy was recovering had returned Angel's healing back to normal levels, she lightly cleaned the scab and applied a fresh bandage to prevent anything from rubbing the still tender new skin.
When she was done, she watched as his arm automatically moved back into place against his son.
Satisfied her patients were recovering; Cass slipped out and went to grab herself some sleep, it was nearly 2am.
…
Buffy was recovering quickly, her slayer healing speeding up the process, but still not quick enough for her liking. That would need to be instant, and slayer healing was not instantaneous.
"Buffy, it's only been two days, you need to rest still." Angel's voice was pestering her again, now she really knew how he felt when he was itching to leave his hospital bed. 'Note to self, be more lenient on Angel when he's hurt. Lying in bed sucks.'
"It's technically been six and I'm fine Angel, I heal fast." Buffy repeated for the 10th time today to her hovering lover, right about now she wished she could smack the thought into his thick-bull-headed skull.
"Cass said you could sit up in bed tomorrow, not sure if you noticed, but today isn't tomorrow." He denied her again. "Besides, the 4 days you were unconscious don't count."
There were a lot of things she could overrule him on, apparently this wasn't one of them. "Angel, if I lay here for one minute more I'll go insane, completely insane."
His hard face softened as he slipped down beside her, "No, you won't. I promise won't let you." He leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead.
"I hate being hurt." She pouted, folding her arms over her chest.
"I hate you being hurt more." He admitted, slipping his hand around hers and running his thumb over her knuckles.
After a moment he gave her a teasing grin, "It's been a minute and you're not insane."
She shook her head and slapped at him playfully, "I am insane, I need to be to deal with you."
"Must be why I'm crazy for you." He teased, leaning over and kissing her neck.
"Suck up." She giggled, running her thumb along his cheek as he lay down beside her.
"Guilty." He grinned.
He wanted to keep her company before he was to relent and attend to his classes; he already missed 14 of them over the past few days. Spike and Faith were complaining about the extra workload of running both their classes and Buffy and Angels. A few high level students had helped substitute, but overall, neither Buffy nor Angel could be replaced as teachers.
She sighed when he pulled back, his eyes watching the frown slowly slid back into place, "How do you stand the boredom?" She groaned out, already feeling like she would go crazy the minute he left.
"Somehow I don't think you'll be bored for long." Angel grinned, his eyes turning to look at the closed Med-Ward doors.
A moment later they were slowly pushed open about a foot, a little pair of hands poked around the edge of the door before a mop of brown hair and a dark brown eye peered from behind it, failing miserably at being sneaky but winning big time in the cute department.
Katie saw her father's watchful eyes on her, "Ut oh, busted." She frowned before noticing her mother's eyes were open. All embarrassment over being caught sneaking around was gone as excitement flooded her face and she yelled "Mommy's awake!" as she came charging over.
Angel caught his little leapfrog as she tried to dive bomb the bed and told her she still needed to be gentle with mommy's belly as her ouch was still healing.
Katie nodded before being scooped into Buffy's arms, the blond always more than eager to see her daughter.
Cassidy wandered over with a grin on her lips, "Better call upstairs before someone has a heart attack looking for your little Houdini, I've got more than enough to fill my plate with you and your wife lately."
Looking at Buffy's pout, he asked if she could have company now. Cass had been against having more than one person visit at a time due to the risk of infection on Buffy's part, but the wound was now closed and the risk was almost non-existent. "She's cleared." The MD nodded, seeing that Angel didn't want his wife to be alone in her 'despair'.
Angel grinned and took the offered Med-phone from Cass, quickly dialing the extension for the nursery and hearing a panicky sounding Xander answer a few pitches higher than his normal tone. "Katie's down here, so relax before Cass needs to get involved and tell everyone Buffy is cleared to have company."
He left Xander sputtering as he hung up and handed the phone back to the medic, he wanted to spend a few minutes alone with his wife and daughter before everyone came rushing down to see Buffy.
…
Buffy spent what felt like hours talking to Willow, Dawn, Giles, Xander and everyone else who stopped in to wish her a quick and speedy recovery. She was sure she'd seen everyone she knew that day. The kids had been more energetic than a case of frosted brownie ice cream with hot fudge and whipped cream and a glass of soda with added sugar could have made them, but she'd loved seeing them bounding happily all over the place and interacting with everyone. It felt like her birthday instead of recovery.
Eventually Cass started shooing people out so Buffy could rest, the slayer wasn't fully recovered yet and the medic could see the exhaustion catching up to her. When only Dawn, the kids and Giles were left, Buffy finally noticed her spouse was missing. "Where's Angel? Shouldn't his class be over by now?" She asked, holding her hand over her mouth to stifle a yawn.
"I'm sure he'll be here shortly." Giles dismissed before leaning down and placing a kiss on Buffy's cheek, "I'm so very glad you're alright. You had us very worried Buffy, I'm not sure I could go though losing you...not again."
"Thank you." She smiled at him, touched but not used to such emotion from her watcher. It was still sinking in that she came very close to dying.
Dawn hugged her sister tightly before agreeing with what Giles had said. "We were so worried, I love being an auntie, I don't want to be their mother too."
"You didn't lose me, I'm right here." She assured them as she already had to her husband over the past few days.
Not long later, Angel shuffled into the room, obviously beat after a long day running his training sessions. "Uh, I can't tell if they're getting better or if I'm getting worse." He grumbled, rubbing a bruise on his elbow.
Buffy's lips quirked back, "Well you are getting old."
He flashed her a solid grin, "I know." As much as aging wasn't a welcomed prospect to most humans, Angel was looking forward to it. He'd spent far too long with his body stuck at 26, he wanted to age, to see his body change and shift. It was an experience he'd long for ages to have. He hoped to share it with Buffy.
He scooped his kids up when they came running over to him, tossing them over his shoulders as they screamed and laughed.
"Ok, which one of those little wenches broke my husband?" Buffy frowned, seeing his bruise and immediately wanted to ground every slayer in his class, not to mention Cassidy for letting him resume training sessions so soon.
He walked over to his wife with a smile and kissed her cheek, "I'm not broken." The kids were still struggling to be free of his grip, so he shook them around a little as they squealed in delight. "Although these two mini beasts might wear the treading down sooner rather than later." He smirked, setting them back down on their little feet as they bolted away giggling.
Giles and Dawn made their exit while Katie and Liam played with a box of building block someone had brought down.
Buffy had noticed the tension between Dawn and her husband, he hadn't even looked at her. She files that away to ask about later.
While the two toddlers were busy, Angel sat on the bed beside his wife, "So how's my wife today? Did you go crazy?"
She smiled and took his hand, "No stir-crazy, I had lots of friends and family to keep me company. And despite getting beaten up by a bunch of teen girls, how was your day?" She sent him a cheeky grin.
"Nice." He shook his head, "Real nice Buffy, hit below the belt why don't you." He knew she was just playing with him, but as an adult male born in the 1700's, being thrown around by a bunch of teen girls was pretty embarrassing, even if they did have super strength.
"Is my big strong man blushing?" She teased, wrapping her fingers in his hair and pulling him closer.
"You know, if you only had the one hole down there I would totally be showing you how very big strong male I can be right about now." He whispered into her ear. He wasn't about to try anything sexual with her now while she still had a gunshot wound healing in her belly, otherwise...she'd be on her back with legs in the air for sure right now just to prove his point.
Her eyes widened at what he meant, her mouth opening a bit in shock at his bluntness.
He liked her caught fish look and quickly leaned in and stole a kiss before he rose to chase the kids around.
"Well he certainly keeps life interesting." She thought as she watched him playing with their kids. "And defiantly makes me question my sanity."
...
The kids were tucked in to two cots a few feet away, fed and bathed and zonked out after a long day.
Angel was snuggled up beside his wife, letting her use him as her own personal lounger again, his arms wrapped loosely around her waist.
Buffy was lost in thought, had been for a little while now and was starting to worry him. "Hey, what's wrong?" He asked, running his thumb along her cheek.
She woke from her mind and turned her eyes to look at him briefly before quickly turning away, she hadn't wanted to voice what she'd been thinking. All she could remember was jumping in front of Angel as her father lifted the gun, she hadn't been conscious for what happened after. She hadn't seen her father since waking up nor had anyone spoken of him to her. All she could think was her husband had killed him in his rage.
She didn't know what to think about that.
A tear formed in her eye, she knew she shouldn't be sorry, the man had tried to murder the love of her life and almost killed her in the process, but he had been her father, her dad, her only remaining blood parent.
"Buffy?" Angel asked again, alarmed at her tears, "Are you in pain? Should I go get Cass?"
"No." She said quickly as he tried to rise and get her help, "I'm not in pain." 'Physically at least' she thought, " I just...I was just thinking...about my dad."
She felt Angel's mood shift from worried to icy in half a second flat, like he'd been dipped in liquid nitrogen. "Fucking son-of-a-bitch almost killed you."
"Angel." She was about to defend the man then couldn't, her husband was right; she did almost die because of him. "I know...but...still...he was my dad."
He caught the word 'was' and realized why his wife sounded so mournful. "Buffy." He addressed, taking her chin in his hand and looking right into her beautiful hazel-green eyes, "I didn't kill your father." He really couldn't blame her for thinking it, he would have ripped the prick to shreds had her bleeding body not been in his arms at the time.
"You...didn't? He's alive?" She asked shocked and confused.
"He is." Angel grimaced out, knowing the next words that would be coming from his wife's lips.
"I...I need to talk to him."
"No." He didn't yell it, but Buffy could clearly hear the 'Like fucking hell you will' in his tone.
"Angel I have to..."
"No." he repeated, fully prepared to argue until she passed out from exhaustion if that's what it took. He wasn't letting his wife within 50 feet of the asshole under any circumstances, at least not until she was fully 100% recovered and he was in handcuffs.
"You can't stop me from seeing my own father." She bit back, getting really aggravated by his aggressive and domineering tone. She was an adult woman and fully capable of making her own decisions, she wasn't going to be denied by anyone, even Angel.
When she looked into his eyes, she saw what was really causing him to be so hard, he was terrified. "He almost killed you." He said again, this time much softer and with a slight tremble in his lower lip.
"Angel." She whispered, seeing the love and fear in his gaze, she wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him close for a kiss. His lips tasted like desperation as he leaned in, she could feel the fear of loosing her coursing through his veins.
"He almost took you away from me." He spoke quietly into her ear, his mouth finding it's way to her scar, "I could have lost you."
"You didn't." She countered, grabbing his cheeks and pulling him back to her mouth.
She knew if she wasn't injured he's be making love to her right now in a desperate need, but he was holding himself in check due to the wound in her belly. Satisfying his own needs wasn't worth risking her pain or damage. A part of her really hated him for it, because she really wanted him now too.
"Angel please, I need you." She begged to him, her desire spreading though her like wildfire. "Make love to me."
He rarely, if ever, denied her when she asked, but this time he shook his head as he pulled his mouth from hers, "You know I can't, you're too tender."
"So don't put weight on my belly." She tried, "Like when I was pregnant."
"Think about what an orgasm would do to you." He pointed out, knowing his wife's body would betray her if he let himself be talked into loving her right now. He knew exactly which of her muscles reacted as her pleasure overtook her; many were centered right where the bullet had entered.
Her cheeks flushed red, realizing the muscles in her stomach would tighten and pull even if she tried her hardest to stay still, it would be agony. "Oh...right."
He leaned back in and kissed her deeply, "Once you're healed, then you won't be able to get me away."
"Trust me; you might be the one wanting to get away." She smiled, pulling him in close again.
"I seriously doubt that." He said against her neck, moving to kiss her scar.
Instead she did push him away, "Ok, let's not get me turned on more please, no more pushing buttons until I can start the engine."
He slipped down beside her and sent her one of those sinister grins, "Consider me in idle."
After a few minutes of just laying contently in each other's arms, she was about him why he wasn't speaking to her sister but noticed his eyes were closed. From the sound of his breathing and heartbeat, he was still awake, but he was calm and content and she didn't want to interrupt that.
Kissing his cheek, she relaxed and shut she eyes too.
...
TBC...