The pain was the first thing Willow noticed when she opened her eyes, followed by the realization how uncomfortable it was to lie on the ground; the world seemed strange to her as she stared up into the sky, somehow blurred and out of focus, as if she was looking at it through glasses that were someone else's.
"…didn't take any ingredients with us, and I can't do it without them!" she now heard Pat, the demon sounding so upset and frantic that, for a moment, Willow wondered what had happened – until she remembered the pain and the fact that she had been stabbed in the stomach by her girlfriend, on accident, but that didn't make the wound any less painful and possibly dangerous.
"Wait, she's awake!" Buffy suddenly cried out, and moments later, her face appeared in the witch's field of view, followed by Pat's, the demon looking so pale that Willow momentarily was surprised she wasn't lying on the pavement right beside her. Again, the redhead had a chance to notice how strange her view of the world had become; the faces looking down on her where blurred, as well, but the sunlight had taken on a strangely focused quality, letting her notice how it made the red in her partner's hair stand out and how it made Buffy's shine like spun gold, and making her wonder if this was connected to the shock or the loss of blood she surely still was going through.
"I'm so sorry", the demon now distracted her from those – quite nonsensical, as she had to admit, probably another symptom of shock – thoughts, "just hold on there, okay? Giles called an ambulance, they should be here any minute, I'm trying to stop the bleeding, you'll be fine…"
Only now, she felt the pressure on her stomach along with the pain, figuring that this had to be Pat then, trying to keep the flow of blood down to a minimum; still, despite her partner's surely hard tries, she could feel that her blouse was soaked, all the way to her back, clinging to her skin uncomfortably wet.
Licking her lips, noticing how dry her mouth was, Willow tried to speak, tried to tell her it was okay and that it wasn't her fault; all she could get out though was a weak croak, then Buffy told her that she shouldn't try to talk, only to repeat Pat's words afterwards, reassuring her that she'd be alright.
"Where is that ambulance?" she heard Xander snap somewhere to her left, but couldn't find the strength to turn her head; to her alarm, the world was getting even blurrier, darkness appearing on the edges of her field of view, making her realize that she was close to fainting again, something Pat clearly had noticed as well, since she looked even more distraught than she had just a minute ago, finding herself unable to stop muttering reassuring and calming words to her wounded girlfriend.
"Don't faint again, try to stay awake", she tried to encourage her, wanting nothing more in this moment than grasping her hand, but knowing that she needed both hands to keep the pressure on the part of her shirt she had ripped off to stop the bleeding, "I know it's hard, but you can do it…"
"…not… fault", Willow croaked in reply, ignoring Buffy's advice that she shouldn't try to talk, "…demon…" For a moment, Pat didn't have an idea what she was talking about, too distraught about the whole situation to figure it out; then, it came to her and her heart clenched up as she realized what the redhead was trying to say.
"Don't talk", she repeated what Buffy had said minutes ago, briefly glancing at the wound before she went on; the dagger still was stuck in her girlfriend's stomach, but she knew that this was better than just pulling it out, momentarily relieved about the fact that she had managed to let go of it when she had seen that Willow was about to go down, not wanting to imagine how much worse the wound might have been made if she'd kept holding on to the dagger and hadn't caught the redhead when she had fallen. "You'll need your strength, just try to stay awake, okay? For me?"
"Tired", the redhead whispered in rely, a far-away look now entering her eyes, the taller woman's heart clenching up again when she felt her shiver beneath her hands, "and cold…"
"You'll be warm again soon", the demon promised her, not caring if that was a dumb thing to say, "I promise, just hold on until that ambulance arrives, alright?"
Willow looked as if she was giving her best to nod in reply, but just couldn't manage; her lips moved soundlessly as she tried to say something else, then she finally lost the fight against the darkness, startling her partner with the sight of her eyes rolling back into her head as she blacked out once more, the demon having to bite down on her tongue to keep herself from shouting at her, knowing it wouldn't lead anywhere.
"How's the bleeding?" Buffy wanted to know, craning her neck to get a look at the wound; it looked quite unsettling how the hilt of the dagger rose and fell slowly with the rhythm of the redhead's breaths, but at least she still was breathing, and from what the Slayer could see, the bleeding had slowed down a trickle, something which was quite the calming sight after how the blood had literally gushed from the wound at first, soaking the rag Pat had torn out of her shirt, her hands covered in blood as well by now.
"Better", she mumbled, her gaze now focused on the wound again as Willow had fallen unconscious once more, "but if that ambulance takes much longer… She's lost so much blood, she'll need a transfusion…"
"They'll give her everything she'll need", Buffy promised in reply, worried about how close to the edge the taller woman might be right now; so far, she was holding on remarkably well, but the blonde knew that this could change the moment the ambulance would arrive to take Willow away, putting her life into the hands of doctors and nurses, leaving the demon helpless and unable to do anything but wait.
"I know, but they'll have to arrive first", Pat now gave back, and before Buffy had the chance to reply anything, the sound of a siren came up in the distance, making them both let out a sigh of relief as they recognized it as an ambulance's, the Slayer giving her best to sound confident when she spoke up again. "There they are at last, she'll be fine now, I just know it… She has to be…"
Nodding, Pat kept focusing on her partner and on stopping the bleeding fully while the ambulance finally arrived, coming to a stop as close as possible to the small cluster of people; the back doors opened and two men jumped out with a stretcher between them, followed by a third carrying a black leather bag, asking them kindly, but still firm to move aside so they could "be of assistance to the victim", as he put it.
For a moment, Pat looked as if she didn't want to listen to the man, but just when Buffy wanted to ask her to do the same, she stopped applying pressure on the piece of cloth and moved back, watching with an unreadable expression how the paramedics started with the primary care, one of them asking the watching group what the young woman's blood type was, Buffy being the one to answer that, the man who had asked the question noting to his comrades that they should radio the hospital as soon as they were on their way so they'd have blood ready for a transfusion.
"Yes, but first, we have to get her there", the man with the leather bag replied, making his two partners nod; then, they resumed their work in silence, the witch's friends watching quietly as well, Buffy moving closer to Pat after a moment and putting one hand on her arm, nearly flinching back when the demon looked at her and she could see the self-loathing in her gaze.
"She'll be okay", the blonde quietly told her friend, "they'll take good care of her, they know what they are doing at the hospital here, I have first-hand experience. And she told you it's not your fault…"
"Of course she'd say that", Pat gave back at once, her gaze moving to the wounded redhead again, "but I was holding that dagger, you saw it… If only I had been faster, I should have stopped or something…"
"There was no way you could have reacted fast enough", Buffy let her know, hoping that the paramedics weren't paying attention to their talk, not wanting to explain how exactly it had happened that Willow had been stabbed by her girlfriend, "as you said, I saw it, that… exchange or whatever it was, it happened so fast… No one could have reacted that fast."
To her dismay, Pat didn't even bother to reply to that, not even when Giles joined the tries to take some of her guilt away by telling her that Buffy was right; she just kept watching how the paramedics finished the primary aid, two of them carefully, but quickly moving Willow on the stretcher afterwards, then lifted her and briskly carried her to the ambulance, moving the stretcher inside moments later.
"Normally, only family members are allowed to ride to the hospital with us", one of them then explained, "but I assume none of you are family, are you?"
"I'm her girlfriend", Pat gave back, fighting hard to keep her gaze from the shockingly large puddle of blood on the ground and on the man, "we've been together for years, living together and everything, I…" She realized that she was babbling and forced herself to shut up, the paramedic giving her a wry smile, obviously not seeing this for the first time, sounding surprisingly kind when he told her that she could ride with them, then; she gave him a thankful look, then briefly looked at Buffy, the Slayer immediately reassuring her that they'd meet her at the hospital, giving her arm another reassuring squeeze before she let go of her.
"See you there, then", Pat mumbled, then moved to the ambulance and climbed inside; nodding, Buffy watched how the paramedic who had told the demon she could ride with them pulled the back doors close, then the car drove off, towards the hospital, the remaining members of the ground starting to walk there without another word, their thoughts with Willow as they all hoped that the witch would be okay.