Mothers Chapter 13
Whispers of Danger

Buffy's POV

I put a hand on Xander's shoulder and give it a soft squeeze as the doctor comes this way. He looks at me and smiles for a split second. The doctor stops a few feet from the three of us.

"Xander Harris?"

"That's me..."

He points to each of us as he makes introductions.

"These are my friends, Buffy..."

I nod and smile at him.

"And Faith..."

She nods and smiles too.

Faith isn't a friend, she just happened to be there.

"She's the one who brought Anya in."

"Nice to meet you both..."

Xander skips right to the point.

"How is she doctor?"

The doctor takes a long deep breath.

"I have good news and bad news..."

This can't be good.

"The good news is that Ms Jenkins is fine..."

I breathe a sigh of relief.

That's good news at least.

"She's very much alive. She's in recovery and doing well."

"And the bad news?"

"There may be fractures in her spinal column."

"May be?"

"There's extensive swelling as a result of the car slamming into her. We won't know the extent of the damage until the swelling comes down."

Oh gosh...

"Is it... you said fractured, not broken?"

"She may have difficulty moving for a while if there are any fractures, but we haven't seen any evidence that there is any permanent damage."

Oh thank god...

Xander sighs heavily.

"So she'll be okay?"

"Yes, eventually."

"Thank god..."

He turns to me and we hug.

"I told you everything was gonna be okay."

He pulls back and smiles at my words.

"Yeah, you did."

Then he all but spins on his heel and grabs Faith into a hug.

"And so did you..."

I watch her smile as she hugs him and it makes me wanna break her jaw. She pulls away from the hug.

"Thank you, for saving her."

"I'm just glad I happened to be there to stop it."

Yeah, like she just happened to be there when Dawn died...

Xander turns to the doctor.

"Can we see her?"

"She'll be out for another couple of hours. We gave her some medication and put her in a neck brace to keep her from any further involuntary damage until the swelling comes down a little more."

"I'd just like to see her, to know that she's really okay."

The doctor gives Xander a sympathetic look.

"Sure, right this way."

He does a 180 and heads down the hall, we follow. I can't help but look over at Faith as we walk down to Anya's room.

She should go. Anya's gonna be fine, there's no need for her to be here anymore.

"Here we are..."

The doctor stops and motions to one of the rooms.

"Thank you doc..."

"My pleasure, please feel free to page one of the nurses if you need anything."

"I will..."

He leaves as we follow Xander into the room. I almost don't want to believe it as I see Anya lying in a hospital bed, with a neck brace on. Xander goes straight to Anya's bedside. He takes her limp hand in his and holds it gently. Within seconds Faith puts a chair behind him. He smiles at her and then sits down.

"Thanks..."

"No problem."

I could've done that. She doesn't have to be here for me to do that.

She glances at me as she backs up a bit and I can't help but glare back.

Go away!

I approach the bed a little more and stand next to Xander. I notice him squeeze her hand and wait for a response of some kind. When she stays limp in the bed, he gets kinda choked up.

"She's just sleeping Xander, she's gonna be..."

I look at Anya's black and blue sleeping face and the memory of Dawn lying on a pile of broken concrete flashes in my head. I squeeze my eyes shut for a split second and shake my head to get rid of the image.

"... fine... she'll be fine."

"Buffy's right Xander, the doc said she was gonna pull through, you don't have to worry."

Oh for god sake Faith, just go away already.

"I know it's just..."

"You know what Faith? You can leave now, I've got this."

She stands up straight and almost glares back.

"Do you?"

"Yes, I don't need you to help me take care of my friends. I can handle it."

Xander lets out a deep frustrated sigh but doesn't say anything.

"Well it's a good thing I'm not here for your friends then, isn't it? I'm here for mine."

Oh please...

"Your friends?"

"Yes..."

"YOUR friends?"

"Yeah, what are you trying to ignore me or something?"

She really needs the crap beaten out of her.

"They should reconsider being your friends then. People close to you seem to keep dying."

"Maybe you should let them make their own decisions on how they feel about that."

"Maybe you should leave town and save them the trouble."

"And maybe..."

Xander all but jumps out of his chair and faces us.

"Maybe neither of you will have any friends at all if you don't stop arguing for more than 30 seconds."

He takes a deep breath and calms down slightly.

I don't know what to say.

"And maybe, you could realize that one of your, FRIENDS is lying almost dead in a hospital bed not 3 feet from you... and that another needs your support right now."

Except for the beeping of the heart rate monitor, there's a minute of silence in the room.

He's right, Anya's hurt and I need to focus on helping him through this, like I am with my mom.

"I'm sorry Xander..."

"Yeah, so am I."

I look over at Faith and force myself not to glare at her.

She didn't say she was sorry. She just dittoed what I said. Don't focus on how much you hate her, focus on anything but how much you hate her.

"Meg... a..."

Anya?

All three of us turn to Anya in the bed. She's shifting on the bed a little. She seems upset while still being asleep.

"N-no..."

Xander leans over the bed and takes her hand again.

"Ssh... An, it's okay. I'm here, it's all right."

She stirs a little more but slowly calms down. One last thing escapes her lips.

"Omega..."

What? Omega? Oh my god...

I look to Faith and I'm pretty sure she's thinking the same thing I am.

I never figured I'd have that thought again.

"Did she say Omega?"

Xander glances at us before turning back to Anya.

"I... I think she, did."

"Why did she say Omega's name?"

"I don't know."

What if?

"Faith, you said that the vamps that attacked her... intentionally ran her down with a car?"

"Yeah, I did B."

Oh god...

"What if the ones who did it were followers of Omega?"

Xander looks at us, confused.

"But Omega's dead, there's no one to follow. Why would they do this?"

Faith speaks up.

"I guess we'll have to ask Anya when she wakes up. Something must've made her say his name, but only she may know what it is."

God, I really didn't need any more badness in my life.

End of Chapter 13