Three hours later, Buffy, Angel, Anya and Ira had arrived and were in the waiting room along with the others.
Buffy was pacing frantically, Angel unsuccessfully trying to calm her down; Anya was sobbing into Xander's shoulder, not understanding why threatening someone with a legal suit wouldn't help Willow recover any faster and Michelle was trying to quietly comfort Ira, while Tara just stared into space, not having spoken more than two words over the past few hours, barely saying hello to the others when they had shown up and communicating in wordless shrugs and nods.
"Guys, in here!"
The sound of Alice's voice was heard in the doorway and Tara looked over to see her gesturing into the room before stepping in, followed momentarily by Brian and Becky, hands clasped tightly together, all of them with worried faces.
"Tara," Alice said, running over and pulling her friend up into a hug, "I'm so sorry."
Tara took comfort in the hug for a second before pulling back and sitting back down.
"Thanks."
Alice was too overcome with emotion to realise her friend's detached state and upon seeing Jesse to her side, quickly turned and fell into his arms. Everyone else seemed to be surprised by this, especially when Jesse quietly stroked her back and called her 'baby', sinking them both down into chairs, but nobody commented, more focused on their own grief.
Brian walked over to Tara and put a hand on her shoulder.
"How are you?"
Tara thought if she got asked that question one more time she might scream but had enough wherewithal to know that snapping at one of her friends would only worsen the situation so just shrugged again, not able to form words that weren't angry, her anger at the whole situation consuming her.
Brian frowned and just stepped back, looking at Becky helplessly. Becky walked over and knelt in front of Tara, putting a hand on each of her knees.
"Tara," she said, her tone becoming more forceful when the blonde didn't look up, "Tara. I know you feel like your life is falling apart right now, but you need to stay strong here. Willow's gonna need all your strength when she gets through this and wallowing in anger and self-pity isn't helping your wife. Okay? You need to snap out of it. You know Willow better than anyone and she isn't gonna give in to something like this."
There was a tense silence in the room as the others winced slightly at the harsh words but Tara just met Becky's gaze for a moment before bursting into tears.
Becky quickly moved so she was sitting in the seat beside her friend, pulling her head onto her shoulder.
"Let it out now," Becky comforted quietly, "Let it out."
Tara bawled into her friend's shoulder for several minutes, Becky just repeating 'let it out' over and over again until Tara ran out of tears and was just sniffling.
"Thanks," Tara said after a moment, pulling back and looking the brunette in the eye, "Thank you."
"You got it," Becky replied with a definitive nod, "Is there any news?"
"Not yet," Tara shook her head, "We're not sure how long she'll be in surgery."
"Okay," Becky nodded, then looked around the room, "What about...?"
"He's in custody," Xander spoke up, understanding the unspoken question, "He can't be formally charged until we know...but he's in custody, he's not going anywhere."
"This is all so surreal," Brian said, wringing his hands in front of him, "I mean, jeez, Tara, I knew you and your Dad didn't speak but I had no idea he was capable of..."
He trailed off in disbelief and Tara inhaled sharply. She had made a pointed effort to never tell her friends about the abuse she'd suffered. Willow, of course, had known, Tara had told her not long after they'd started dating, but she had never wanted it to go further than that.
She asserted that the past was the past and that speaking about it wouldn't do anyone any good. She wasn't ashamed, but she didn't want the revelation to change any of her friendships.
She gathered that Xander and Jesse knew that at the very least her father was violent; Willow must have said something as to why she wanted them to trail them on the trip.
But for everyone else, bar Michelle of course, this had clearly come completely out of left field. She gathered her thoughts for a moment before sighing and looking between everyone.
"He hit me growing up," she said in a somewhat detached, but shaky voice, "He hit me a lot. That's why we don't speak."
'Shock' was an understatement to describe the look on almost everyone's faces at this newly revealed information. Becky brought her hand up to her mouth as Brian wrapped an arm around her shoulders in comfort, Anya's eyes narrowed to dangerous levels, Buffy's hands balled at her sides as Angel just stood, unsure how to react.
Alice stared at Tara in stunned silence, Jesse's tight grip on her waist stopping her from falling forwards.
"Tara, I didn't...I had no idea..."
Buffy's nails dug further and further into her palms before she suddenly lashed out and punched the wall closest to her as hard as she could.
"Bastard," she exclaimed, before hissing and looking down at her bloodied hand, "Ow."
Everyone jumped back in startled surprise at the impact and Angel rushed over to cradle his girlfriend's hand.
Tara gaped at Buffy, feeling more tears spring to her eyes as she opened her mouth to speak.
"I really cannot handle someone else getting hurt."
Buffy looked genuinely apologetic.
"Sorry," she whispered with a gulp before lowering her voice so just Angel could hear, "Don't worry, it's not broken. Just bruised."
Angel nodded, knowing Buffy knew her own body and could gauge injuries from her years of martial arts training. He continued to hold her hand though, in a silent support.
Every other couple in the room were in a similar position, hands clasped together and comforting words being whispered in each other's ears.
Tara looked around at everyone and felt an odd mixture of relief and agony that they were all focused with their significant others. She knew if someone tried to comfort her she'd probably have a complete breakdown and it was taking all she had to keep herself in check as it was.
But her heart ached for the one person who could make her feel better. She longed for Willow to hold her hand, to tell her it would all be okay. She longed to hear her sweet voice whisper in her ear.
She would have given anything to feel her emerald green eyes bore into her soul and fill her with so much love.
She appreciated everyone else's silence; it gave her the opportunity to imagine that Willow really was beside her. When she focused all her senses, she could just about feel a warm hand in hers and a head resting against her shoulder.
She took comfort in the illusion and wasn't sure how long she let her imagination console her until she saw the door on the other side of the room start to open and jumped up when she recognised Dr. Sarow walk further into the room. She ran over and felt everyone else move to stand behind her, taking Tara's actions to be confirmation that this was the doctor treating Willow.
Tara went to speak but the doctor got there first.
"The surgery was successful," she started, the same relieved smile she got on her face every time she was able to say that, gracing her features, "We were able to remove the bullet. It didn't hit or injure any of her main arteries and missed her heart by an inch. She's a very lucky woman."
Tara's mouth hung open and she felt her knees almost give way.
"She's gonna be okay?" she asked in hopeful disbelief.
Dr. Sarow removed her scrub cap and held it in front of her.
"Both her pulse and blood pressure stayed stable during surgery and have stayed steady in recovery which is a very good sign. We were able to replace all of her blood lost and she didn't require resuscitation whilst in surgery, so her brain wasn't deprived of any oxygen. The next 24 hours are critical, and I won't be able to determine any other injuries until she wakes up, but I would say her prognosis is for a full and complete recovery."
Tara brought her hand up to her mouth, while the collective sigh of relief from everyone else was quite audible.
"Can we see her?" Xander asked, his arm around Anya's shoulder.
"Just one person for now," Dr. Sarow said regretfully, "She's still unconscious and I can't give a definitive time for when she'll wake up."
"Go," Ira spoke up quietly, pushing Tara forwards, "She needs you there."
"Are you sure?" Tara asked, her tone desperate.
Ira just nodded and Tara gave him a quick hug before quickly walking with the doctor out of the room, being led up the elevator and to a ward until they were outside a single room, the door closed but Willow, lying asleep in a hospital gown with a breathing mask over her mouth, was viewable through the large glass window.
"You can hold her hand, but be careful not to disturb any of the wires or tubes coming from her. I know it might look scary now, but it's all there to help her. If there's any issues, you can press the call button in there, but her vitals are being monitored at the nurses' station right over there," Dr Sarow said, pointing out a large circular desk just ahead, "So should she get into trouble we'll be in there straight away. If you have any questions I'm around for the rest of the evening, but like I said, we really won't know more until she regains consciousness."
"Okay," Tara nodded, taking it all in, "Thank you so much."
Dr. Sarow smiled and shook her head.
"It's nothing. Just my job."
"You saved her," Tara replied, breaking her gaze away from Willow long enough to look at the doctor, "It's everything."
Dr. Sarow just put a hand on Tara's shoulder and squeezed before gesturing towards the room. Tara gratefully walked in and pulled the chair that was in there alongside the bed, taking Willow's hand, letting a single tear fall down her cheek as the illusion she had clung to started to become more of a reality.
"You're cold, sweetness," she remarked, covering the hand with both of hers, "I'll warm you up."
She rubbed Willow's hand between hers, looking at the steady rise and fall of her chest with a renewed, large sense of gratitude she'd never had before.
"Oh god, Willow, I don't know how..."
Tara felt herself about to cry again, but choked back the tears, remembering what Becky had said about her wife needing her to be strong.
"It doesn't matter, because you're here. We're here and we're gonna get through this together. You and me against the world, remember?"
Tara glanced at the machine beside the bed, which was monitoring Willow's vitals and saw her blood pressure was slowly inching up to a more healthy level.
"See, we're doing it already. I know you're tired, sweetheart, so you stay asleep, it's okay. Just wake up as soon as you're ready, okay? I love you."
Tara heard the beeping that was echoing her wife's heartbeat speed up for a just a moment when she said that and took it was a good sign.
"You love me too, huh? I know that. I can't wait to hear you tell me again."
She closed her eyes for a moment to reign in her sadness as she remembered Willow telling her she loved her right after she'd been shot, apologising and closing her eyes.
"You don't get to leave me, Willow," she said, leaning down and kissing her wife's hand, "I love you too damn much. So you just remember that, okay?"
Willow's chest just kept up its rise and fall and Tara shuffled her chair forwards, keeping a firm hold of the redhead's hand as she placed light, butterfly kisses all over her face, before wiping some hair from her brow and just staring at her wife's closed eyes, as if willing them to open.
She wasn't sure how long she stayed like that, it felt like hours, before she heard a shuffling at the door and looked over to see that everyone from downstairs were walking in, trying to fit into the small room.
Ira went straight to his daughter's side, taking her other hand while Tara looked confused, though not displeased.
"How did you guys get in here?"
"Flashed our badges," Xander admitted guiltily, "We had to see she was okay."
Tara nodded wordlessly before fixing her gaze back on Willow.
"No change. But she's holding steady."
"Do they know when she'll wake up?" Ira asked, his gaze also fixed firmly on the redhead.
Tara shook her head quietly.
"No. It's a wait and see thing."
Ira gulped, trying not to cry, to be strong as well, and was about to reach out to comfort Tara as well when a shrill voice came from the doorway.
"What are you all doing in here? There should only be one visitor in here at a time!"
Everyone turned towards the nurse who was standing there in the doorway, looking like deer that were caught in headlights.
"Right, that's our fault," Xander spoke up, taking the blame "Can we just have one minute? I promise we'll leave straight after."
The nurse sighed but had an understanding look on her face.
"One minute."
"Thank you very much," Xander smiled as the nurse left again.
"Here's your hotel room key," Michelle said to Tara, handing her a plastic keycard, "Room 118. Myself and Ira will be right next door in 117 if you need anything. And we both have our cells on us."
"Okay. Thanks. Um..." Tara turned to Becky, Brian and Alice, "Do you guys wanna stay at our house? My keys are in my bag in Michelle's car."
"I'm gonna stay with Jesse," Alice answered.
This didn't surprise anyone, as they'd all learned whilst waiting for news, of Jesse and Alice's hook-up at New Years and how they'd kept in contact since, even officially entering into a relationship, all unbeknownst to their friends until that afternoon.
"We'll stay," Becky said for herself and Brian, "Thanks, Tara."
"And we can give you a lift back to Buffalo," Xander added helpfully, "You flew into Rochester, right?"
Brian nodded.
"Yea, we got a cab from the airport."
"Okay," Xander said, "That nurse is shooting us evils. I don't want her to ban all visitors, we better leave."
The others reluctantly agreed and all moved forwards to place a kiss on Willow's forehead, even Angel, who had only ever shook the redhead's hand in any kind of physical contact. They all gave Tara's shoulder a quick squeeze or hug before departing out of the room, leaving Tara alone with her wife once again.
"See that, honey? All those people, they all came rushing as soon as they heard you were hurt. There's so much love in our lives, Will. You have to hold onto that."
Tara sighed, settling her head carefully alongside the redhead's, absently trailing a finger along her face. She stayed like that for another indeterminate amount of time until the same nurse who had ushered her friends out came back, apology written all over her face.
"I'm afraid visiting hours are over. You can come back tomorrow morning from 9am. It should be okay for a couple of you to be in here tomorrow."
Tara inhaled deeply. She really didn't want to leave. But causing a fuss over her comatose wife's hospital bed wasn't going to help the situation in the slightest so she resigned herself to the fact that she'd have to leave for the night.
"Okay," she nodded, leaning over placing a kiss on the bridge of her wife's nose, "I love you, angel."
The nurse watched the interaction and tried to smile reassuringly when Tara straightened up.
"If you leave your number at the nurse's station, we'll call you if there's any changes."
Tara forced a grateful smile.
"Thanks, I'll do that."
The nurse left to give Tara a chance to say goodbye alone and the blonde keep Willow's hands firmly encased in hers until the last second, leaning over to kiss both of her eyelids.
Knowing she had to leave, she gave her wife's hand a final squeeze.
"I'll be back tomorrow, beautiful. We'll work on maybe opening your eyes then, okay?"