It was movie night today and Nina and I are bringing the kids to watch the new Transformers movie. Liam was of course excited and Kathy was looking forward to the popcorn and cotton candy.
We were in queue for the tickets and Liam was telling me about how good the previous movie was and the different Autobots and Decepticons he thought was cool. I was intently listening to him when I suddenly felt weird and started looking around as if searching for something.
"Dad, are you okay?" I could hear Liam ask me.
There was a familiar tingle in my stomach but yet my heart was racing. Something was wrong.
Nina, hearing Liam's question started asking me too. The feeling was getting stronger and fear gripped my heart. Something was definitely wrong…with Buffy.
"Look, I gotta go. You guys go ahead and watch the movie without me".
"Angel, wait!" Nina grabbed my arm to stop me.
"Nina, please. I need to go."
"Not until you tell me what's wrong".
"I forgot I had something on. Enjoy the movie. I'll talk to you later" and I was sprinting to my car.
I don't know how but I knew where Buffy was and I knew I have to get to her.
Ten minutes later, I was outside Buffy's house and I saw William's car.
What the hell is he doing here? As I walked up to her door, I heard Buffy scream and I immediately entered the house.
"Buffy!"
"NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!". She was upstairs.
I raced to the second floor and into her bedroom; what I saw made my blood boil. William was forcing himself on Buffy. I immediately pulled him off her.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!"
"Taking what's mine. Too bad she's playing a little hard to get."
"So, you tried to rape her?! You're sick!"
"Angel…" I heard Buffy call out to me.
I turned. My eyes widened at the knife protruding from her abs.
"You're always calling him your Angel…We'll see if your Angel can save you now", William mocked.
"You sick son of a bitch!" and I lunged, hitting him with all that I have in me. I punched and kicked and pushed him against the wall when he suddenly laughed and I swore I had never heard a laughter so evil.
"She's gonna die…it's too late now…" and I panicked. He was right. What was I doing? I let go of him and immediately went to Buffy.
I gathered her small frame in my arms and dialled 911, telling the operator the location of the emergency before focusing back on her. She was so pale.
I realised that William was no longer there. I'll deal with him later. All I wanted was for her to be okay.
"Angel…"
"I'm here, baby…I'm right here", I could feel her losing consciousness.
"No!..no, stay with me, baby. I'm right here..please…please…stay with me".
She opened her eyes and smiled weakly before saying, "My Angel" and drift off.
"No, no, no!...Baby please, open your eyes. Please…please…please…honey, please…" and I cried into her hair, willing the ambulance to get here faster.
The ride to the hospital was nerve-wrecking. She was immediately taken to the ER and I was forced to helplessly wait outside.
It had been four hours since and I was pacing outside the ER with Buffy's mom, Joyce, seated in one of the chairs. Every time the door opened, I asked for Buffy but they just told us to wait for the doctor.
A million thoughts were running through my head. Buffy was in there fighting for her life and I prayed to whatever god that was listening to save her.
To let her live so her kids would still have their mother, so the world would not lose a bright star who has shined and motivated millions of people but more importantly, so that I don't lose my lover. I know it sounds selfish but I don't care. I had never been so afraid in my life.
I finally took a seat and closed my eyes and I remembered how we met, how she was the first friend I made and what a wonderful friend she was to me, how caring she is, how she has such a big heart; well-loved by many who knows her.
Then I recalled our time together. She made me so happy. I remembered how beautiful she was; her beauty was always unmatchable to me.
Her smooth almost flawless skin, her golden tresses that I long to run my fingers in, her exquisite perfect physique that ignites a hunger and passion so deep within me I never known before, her wonderful smile that always calms my heart and her sweet, beautiful voice that soothes me, caressing my name whenever she said it.
At that moment, I decided.
I excused myself and told Joyce I'd be back within the hour. I had to settle something. Joyce nodded and I drove down the familiar street that I called home for almost 13 years. I knocked on the door.
"Angel", Nina said and motioned for me to enter the house, brought me to the living room and sat me down.
"Sorry, I know it's late".
"I was worried sick. I tried calling you so many times. I'm glad you came by".
"Are the kids asleep?"
"Yeah, they are."
"Good."
"Where did you go? I called you and…oh my god! What happened to you?"
I looked down and realised that my shirt was covered in blood. Buffy's blood.
"Don't worry about it."
"But Angel, you're hurt"
"The blood isn't mine…don't worry. Listen, Nina, I don't have that much time. I need you to listen to me"
And she kept quiet for a few moments before saying an okay.
"I know I said we should try to make this work; take it slow and start from scratch for the sake of the kids".
"And I think we're doing good so far…"
"We're not…"
"What?"
"Nina, our marriage was long over even before we divorced…you know that…and despite trying, we just couldn't fix it…"
"Maybe we didn't try hard enough".
"Who are we kidding, Nina?! We were both unhappy in this marriage. Have been for a long time."
"But I was happy".
"When was the last time we had a conversation?...not talk about the kids or that the dishwasher need to get fixed but just talk about us? Asking each other how the day was? When was the last time you told me you loved me? The last time we had sex?"
"But we were so busy. You had your show, I had the kids and…"
"The last time we had sex was 9 years ago and we got Kathy. We probably professed our love for each other if I could recall, perhaps 7 maybe 8 times throughout our time together and we haven't had a conversation for a long time"
"So we're not the mushy type. It doesn't mean anything."
"When we did Valentine's special for Entertainment Weekly four years ago and they had us do a short questionnaire on how well we knew each other, they asked me what your favourite colour was and I said purple. They asked me what was your favourite ice-cream and I said strawberry. When they asked what your favourite restaurant was, I said Darcy's. Name your favourite holiday destination and I said Hawaii."
"Angel…"
"When they asked you the same questions; you said my favourite colour was green, my favourite ice-cream chocolate, my favourite restaurant was Darcy's and my dream holiday destination was Australia but guess what…none of the answers were right".
"So what…it doesn't…"
"My favourite colour is red. My favourite ice-cream is cookie dough fudge mint chip…"
"Stop…"
"I hate Darcy's and we only go there because you for some reason liked the mushroom soup which tasted like crap! And the food was not worth the money we were paying for and…
"Angel, please…"
"Ireland…my favourite destination is Ireland…"
"Stop it!"
"And my answers…I winged it! I don't know what your favourite colour was, what was your favourite ice-cream, Darcy's was probably a good guess because you kept raving about their crappy mushroom soup and I just picked Hawaii because it's everyone's favourite holiday destination".
"Angel, stop!"
"We don't know each other, Nina. We never did. We got married because you got pregnant and it was the right thing to do. The reason we stayed in this marriage was because of the kids and they are the only good thing that we did together."
"I did love you, Angel. I stopped my career to raise the kids and become a homemaker. For you!"
"That's right...You DID love me but we haven't love each other for a long time. And I never asked you to be a homemaker. I always told you to have a career, be your own person but you made your life revolve around me and the kids."
"Is that so bad?"
"It's not but it was not what I wanted for you. It's a choice you made so don't throw it back in my face!"
"So, you came here to just to tell what a horrible wife I was?"
"No, I came here to tell you it's over, Nina. We're over. We couldn't make it work then and it's certainly not going to work now".
"You don't know that."
"The only reason you want to hang on to this because this…is all that you know…you were comfortable with the routine your life had and now that it's changed, you're afraid..not knowing what the future holds…but…you need to move on with life…it doesn't stop…"
"How?...How do you do that? My life was you and the kids…it's what I'm good at and now…I don't know anymore…"
"I wished I could give you the answers but I can't. You'll figure it out eventually…"
"Have you moved on?"
I contemplated my answer, not wanting to hurt her more than I already did but I decided to be honest.
"I have. There was someone in my life".
"Was?"
"She asked me to leave her and try to make it work with you...for the sake of Liam and Kathy."
"That was why you came back…because she…is she the reason why you left just now?"
"Yes…she was in an accident".
"So the blood…it's hers?"
I nodded.
"You love her", Nina whispered, it was more of a statement, a realization for her instead of a question.
I didn't answer.
"Will she make it?"
"I don't know", I said painfully.
By the time I came back to the hospital, Buffy was still in surgery. It had been close to six hours and the doctor still wasn't out. I was becoming agitated and frustrated. What was taking them so long?
At about 3 in the morning, I heard someone called "Buffy Summers" and I was immediately on my feet with Joyce at my side.
"She lost a lot of blood and the knife got her liver. It was touch and go there for a moment but we managed to stabilise her and she's out of danger", Joyce and I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank god!" Joyce cried.
"However…"
Fear gripped my heart.
"we would need to monitor her closely and the baby..it seems that the baby wasn't harmed but we can't say for sure. Once the healing starts, we can then do a proper check on the baby but that can only take place in a few weeks time".
My eyes widened. Baby? Did he say baby?
"Hold on. Baby?" Joyce asked.
"Yes, she's 12 weeks pregnant".
Buffy is having my baby!...
"But how…" Joyce wanted to ask but when her eyes caught mine, I know she had figured it out.
She looked back to the doctor and asked, "Can we see her?"
"We're moving her from the ER. You can see her in about fifteen minutes. The nurse will let you know".
We both thanked the doctor.
There was a good five minutes of silence before Joyce asked, "How long?"
"It's almost been a year."
"She didn't say anything."
"I'm sorry you had to find out this way."
"Me too..."