Chapter 23: A Slayer's Anger

Challenge: partially to answer a forum request/challenge by DeepBlueJoy for a story with a 'person of color' as a main character – who doesn't die immediately.

Warning: none except for a touch of real life grossness maybe.

Thanks to my betas: none, didn't want to wait…sorry.

Disclaimer: BtVS and AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

Buffy's room

As soon as Buffy was out of recovery and back in a regular room, Dawn insisted on being the first one to visit her. Since she was the only family member, the others couldn't argue – even if they thought the emotional teen might not be in the best frame of mind currently. She might say something she'd end up regretting.

That concern was temporarily unfounded, simply because Buffy wasn't waking up just yet. Her friends all took their turns sitting with her for 5-10 minutes each before letting the next person in. The pain meds Buffy was on kept her under for over an hour.

It was during Wes' second visit that her eyes began to flutter. Immediately, he rang for the nurse and stuck his head out the door to yell, "Dawn! I think she's about to wake up!"

Everyone crowded into the room, but kept away from the bed so the doctor and nurses could check on their friend's condition. It was odd to see the look of confusion and beginning stages of fear on her face as she began to realize just where she was.

"She's afraid of hospitals," Dawn called out to the medical personnel.

Hearing her sister's voice helped calm Buffy down a bit; something which the doctor noticed. He waved Dawn over in the hopes that seeing the younger girl would help even more.

Dawn put her hand on Buffy's foot and squeezed it tightly as if to give her sister a hug by proxy. "You gotta stop scaring me like this, Buffy. I don't want to be the only kid in high school who needs to use Clairol's Loving Care to cover grey hair," she half-teased.

"I'll be sure to avoid the backyard from now on in case some nut job with a gun decides to try and kill me," Buffy shot back hoarsely. "How's Wes?"

"He's fine and standing behind me," Dawn answered. "He killed Warren."

Still ignoring the people fussing over her, Buffy mused, "Can't say I'm sorry about that. He was probably as evil as a human being could get…or he was well on his way to becoming that bad."

The doctor cut in, "Well, it appears that you are doing fine, and can remember how you got here. Just for procedure, though, can you state your name and date of birth?" When Buffy did that, he nodded and said, "You should be fine, but we need to keep you in the hospital for a few days until we're sure of that."

Dawn looked like she was about to remind him of her earlier statement, and the look on Buffy's face indicated she had a few words to say as well, so he quickly continued, "If you are doing well this evening, we can have you moved to the maternity ward. There's only one patient there right now, and it doesn't have the same 'hospital feel' as the surgical unit."

"As long as the Buffster doesn't have to leave with a baby," Xander quipped from the sidelines.

"I think we'll be able to avoid that kind of mix-up," the doctor responded with a kind smile at his patient. Seeing the tiredness on his patient's face, he shooed everyone out, suggesting that maybe they should take the opportunity to go home, get cleaned up and eat something before returning. Reluctantly, they all heeded his advice, but only went four at a time.

A couple hours later…

When she woke up again, Buffy found a freshly-showered Dawn sitting at her bedside reading a teen magazine. Buffy softly snickered as she listened to the brunette bicker with the article she was reading; something about if Clark should be with Chloe or Lana. The names sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place them right away.

Apparently her snicker was loud enough to catch Dawn's attention, though.

"Buffy! You're awake again. I didn't wake you, did I?" Dawn babbled quickly, looking worried.

The elder sister smiled wanly and shook her head, "Nope. Actually, I think it was my bladder. Umm, could you get a nurse in here so…"

Dawn reached for the call button and pushed it. Seconds later, a nurse strode into the room, looking ever so professional. "Yes?"

Buffy explained her predicament so the nurse helped her stand and slowly walk to the bathroom. When she came back out, the nurse suggested that as long as she was up, Buffy should attempt walking for a little bit. Not too far, but just enough to make sure that she was recovering properly. Not wanting to stay in the hospital-y part of the hospital any longer than she had to, the blonde Slayer quickly agreed.

Five minutes later, the nurse brought Buffy and Dawn back to the room and helped her patient get back in bed. She checked the dressings and left the sisters alone with their friends.

"Why didn't you tell me about Spike?" Dawn asked once the door closed.

Glaring at Tara, who was leaning against the far wall and looking very guilty, Buffy snapped, "Because I didn't think you should know."

Wes stepped forward before anything worse could be said and interjected, "I'd like to speak to my Slayer, if you don't mind." To his benefit, he didn't sound like the pompous git from their high school years…more like Giles when he had something for Buffy's ears only.

A/N: Next…Wes turns the tables on Buffy.