Chapter 16:

Not too long after Buffy had left, he heard Dawn whimper in her sleep. Spike lightly tried to shake her to wake her up, but that only made her whimper more. Spike leaned over her and called her name quietly as he shook her harder.

Dawn woke with a terrified scream and began hitting at Spike's chest, trying to push him away from her.

"Stop it! Get off of me!" she wailed with tears leaking from her closed eyes, as she raised her hand to his face and scratched him hard with her nails, in her effort to get away from him.

Spike gripped her hands in his, "Dawn, luv, open your eyes. It's me, kitten, shhh. It's a'right now." As Dawn opened her eyes, and took in her surroundings, she relaxed into Spike's arms and tried to calm herself.

Dawn pulled back and to look at Spike and saw that he had several scratches running along the side of his face, with blood welling to the surface, and instant felt guilty, "I'm sorry about your face."

Spike reached his hand to his cheek to wipe the small amount of blood, and offered her a slight smile, "It's fine, pet, don't worry about that. How are you feeling?"

She took in a deep breath, wincing slightly from the pain in her ribs, and nodded, "I'm fine." she lied

Spike looked at her disbelievingly, "Don't lie to me, pet. You're not fine. How are you really feeling?" he asked softly.

Dawn squeezed her eyes shut, then looked down, "Dirty. I have to take a shower." she answered, barely above a whisper and moved her legs slowly to the side of the bed, to prepare to stand.

Spike followed her soundlessly to the mirror above the sink, that was connected to the bathroom. With each move she made, he could see the pain in her eyes that she was desperately trying to cover up. He moved in front of her and raised his hands to his duster, "Let me help you?" At her nod of approval, he carefully removed his coat from her body, and had to swallow back the bile threatening to rise in the back of his throat, as he once again took in the sight of her injuries.

In embarrassment, Dawn tried to raise her arms to cover herself, and let out a sharp gasp, as the pain in her left arm shot through her body. Her right arm immediately reached out to try and stop the pain, and Spike's eyes grew wide as he observed, for the first time, the swollen bulge at her shoulder. '

Christ! How did I not see this earlier? I knew she was in a lot more pain than she was letting on, but bloody hell, this must be unbearable for her.' He wasn't sure how he had been able to overlook the fact that her shoulder had been dislocated, or how she had managed to conceal this degree of pain from him.

"Come lay down on the bed. Your shoulder is out of the socket, an' I've got ta put it back in. A'right, pet?" Dawn swallowed hard and let Spike guide her to the bed.

Dawn knew that the pain she felt in her shoulder was nothing compared to the pain she would feel when Spike pops it back into place. She remembered back to when her mother had been in the hospital, and she had wandered into the emergency room, as a man who looked to be in his mid to late thirties, had sustained this injury, and how she had nearly passed out as the man screamed when the doctors relocated it.

"This is gonna hurt, luv, but I need you to lay on your back and try not to move. Can you do that?" Dawn nodded her head and grabbed a pillow and placed it to her mouth and bit down. "I'll be fast, pet, then you won't be in nearly as much pain."

Spike knew exactly what kind of pain this was causing her, seeing as how his own shoulder had been dislocated on several occasions. He hated knowing that he was about to cause her even more pain, but he positioned himself, straddling her waist in attempt to hold her still, as he bent her arm and rotated her shoulder, pulling it out even further, before relocating it.

He blinked back the tears in his eyes as she screamed into the pillow, then moved to the floor and knelt down level to her head. "You a'right?"

Dawn sucked in a deep breath and wiped the tears off her face, as more fell down, "Yeah, it feels better," she sniffled, "thank you."

Spike nodded, then asked quietly "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

Dawn hesitated for a brief second before answering, "Umm, he had me tied to a chair, and, I, umm, got out of it and tried to run," she closed her eyes and took another deep breath before continuing, "and he...he grabbed my arm and...pulled me back...right before he..." she broke off with a strangled sob.

Spike gritted his teeth as he pictured what Dawn had told him, and had to remind himself that the son of a bitch who did this to her, was dead by his own hands, and would never be able to hurt her again. He reached his arms out to comfort her, but she shook her head, "I can't..." she cried and clamped her hand over her mouth, and ran as quickly as she could to the bathroom toilet.

Spike followed in suit, and held her hair out of her face as she dry heaved into the toilet, then laid her head on her arm, on top of the seat. "I'm sorry, Spike."

Spike looked at her in shock, "What? What the bloody hell are you sorry for?"

Dawn sniffled as the tears started pouring down, "Everything. For letting him do this to me...I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" she wept hysterically.

Spike shook his head, he couldn't believe she thought this was in any way her fault. 'The only one to blame is that bastard...and me for not killin' 'im when I should've.'

"Dawn, luv, look at me. Do not be sorry! This is not your fault. Not at all. You didn't let him do anything to you. He...he forced himself on you...you didn't let him. You did nothing wrong...do not be sorry for him. You got that, pet?" he told her in a firm, but gentle voice.

Dawn nodded her head once, before getting up, "I have to get a shower."

Spike stood up as well, and walked over to the tub and turned the faucet on, "Would you like me to help you?"

"No, I got it. I just want to be alone for a little bit, please."

"A'right, you need anything, just call me, and I'll be right here."

Spike watched Dawn nod once and give him a small smile, before shutting the door. He sighed deeply, then let the tears he had been trying to hold back, finally fall.