Author's Notes: Well, guys, here it is, chapter twelve of Pretty In Black. I hope it's not too disappointing. About the ending, I wanted to venture off into something different that didn't have the typical happy ever after bit, because it doesn't fit in with the dark theme of this story whatsoever, and I wanted for it to be more realistic. Thank you everyone for the reviews and for the support of this story for the last two months. I'm very happy with how it turned out, and for your awesome words. Enjoy!

Chapter Twelve

When I called out Angel's name, my hopes were raised in that he could finally hear me. It turned out to be a huge disappointment in the end.

He remained motionless in the coma, eyes unopened, movements slow and still, completely unaffected by the events of the last few minutes. I felt stupid for making such an assumption in the first place. I should had known that he wasn't just going to slip out of the coma that easily. It was inevitable.

High hopes were such bullshit to buy into, I sadly realized in misery.

I shook my head, my chest feeling hollow, as if my heart wasn't there anymore. It certainly felt like it from the way things were progressing. "I made a mistake. A huge one. For a second, I thought I saw your eyes opening; that you were trying to listen. I'm so sorry." I squeezed his hand, begging that he would forgive me somehow; that spiritually, he was watching over me. I needed him by my side, and it was so damn hard not to break down by the sheer thought of it.

"Are you ever going to wake up? We all need you,you know. I need you. Why can't you hear us?" Still no response on his part, and the last drop of my hope was beginning to dwindle away as I perched on the edge of his bed, both hands pressed to my face as I let the tears brim my eyes without putting up much of a fight to stop them.

I had no strength left in me anymore, much less any faith. I didn't know what to do at this point. If he didn't wake up, would the doctors proceed in removing his feeding tube? I shuddered at the frightening possibility that lied ahead. It was so disheartening that I felt as if I was going to die by heartbreak alone.

For it to be that simple to take his life away, it made me sick to my stomach, and it angered me beyond words, beyond expression. I couldn't stand that such a thing existed, even if there was a possibility that the person was internally suffering.

And then it hit me. Whatever was going to happen in the next moments, I would take off. I wasn't going to be here anymore. Before I could change my mind, my thoughts were broken in half by the door opening before me.

"Hey, Buffy. How's he doing?" The quietness of the room was interrupted by Cordelia and Willow's arrival, weariness and heartbreak written on their exhausted faces, along with a couple of doctors in white trench coats, both holding charts in their hands. I took a deep breath, wanting to continue crying, wanting to get away from it all.

The emotional stress was slowly killing me. One by one as I tried to clear my frazzled thoughts.

I knew why they were here. There was no need to ask. I didn't know how to deal with the question in my head anymore. Everything was spinning out of control, and there was no way to stop the speeding train that was rapidly heading our way.

"What are you gonna tell me know that I don't already know?" I asked emotionlessly, not leaving Angel's side as I feared the worst, feeling my stomach plummeting into the deepest depths of hell. Who was I kidding? What I was going through was hell. The literal hell couldn't compare.

I held on to Angel's hand, not letting go, hoping against all hope that there was good news and not the bad. I didn't want to hear any more of the latter whatsoever.

"I'm sorry, Miss Summers. We've been monitoring his activity over the past two months and there is still no change. If you had made your decision, we would like to remove the feeding tube and turn off his life support. We think it'll be for the best," a female doctor began, but it was enough to prepare me to storm my way out.

I didn't want to hear anymore of her words, so I released Angel's hand and strutted out of the hospital room, never looking back as furious tears blurred my vision.

It would be the last time I would see him and my friends again.

A/N: Oh, guys, I hope you didn't think that I was gonna leave the story to end like this. Absolutely not. I was going to let this be the final chapter, but thanks to a reviewer, I decided to write an epilogue, which will be posted this week. I promise, it will get better.