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After Confession, Buffy went to do her volunteer work at the clinic.

Seeing Spike again had been a mistake, she wanted him more than ever. The damn dreams didn't help either... Seeing him in the flesh had almost been too much. Hopefully he didn't notice the blush in her cheeks or the shakiness of her voice.

Even now, part of her wanted to run to him and let him have his wicked way with her; use her body for his own twisted pleasures (and hers, consequently). The image of him from her dream dominated her thoughts: Spike straddling her and cumming all over her face and chest. She had to grip the back of a chair and close her eyes from the powerful surge of lust it evoked.

"Buffy, we need your help in the exercise room," a nurse said from the doorway of the break room.

Buffy straightened up and shoved the evil, wicked, scandalous thoughts away for the moment.

"I'll...be right there," Buffy said, keeping her voice level.

She went back into 'Sister Buffy' mode and made her way to the exercise room. The thought occurred to her that perhaps Spike had been put in her path, an obstacle to overcome, a test trying to deter her from her calling. Temptation did present itself in many ways. She'd heard somewhere that the Devil wouldn't be a hideous creature when he appeared to you. Instead, he'd be a beautiful man, with a smooth voice and a silver tongue... Spike fit that bill pretty well. She wondered, shamefully, what feats he could accomplish with that silver tongue...


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Angel, Xander, and Oz stood outside Spike's apartment, waiting for him to answer the door.

Angel pounded on the door again. "Come on, Spike! We know you're in there. Your car is out front."

"Dru could be in there with him," Xander said. "Maybe we should just call him tomorrow."

"I wouldn't put it past Dru to try and go around us to get to him," Oz said.

"We're his friends, and Dru's trouble. Remember he said to kick his ass if he even considered getting back with her?" Angel asked.

"I know, but..." Xander stopped when Angel got out his key to Spike's place. "What are you doing?"

"I'm unlocking the door," Angel said, putting the key in the lock and turning it.

"Hey, man, if Dru is in there and they're...busy, Spike's going to be really pissed," Xander said nervously. "I don't want her near him any more than you guys, but...man, he's going to be pissed..."

"Let him be pissed." Angel opened the door and stepped inside.

Oz shrugged then followed. Xander sighed. An angry Spike was not of the good. Xander would rather have waited until morning to check on Spike...but... He entered too.

"Spike?" Angel said. "You left in kind of a hurry... We're just making sure everything's okay." He continued through the rooms looking for Spike. "You want to go have a few beers or something?"

Still no answer.

"I'm checking the bedroom," Angel said.

Xander raked his fingers through his thick, dark hair. "Man, he's going to be pissed..."

"Spike, I'm coming in the bedroom. So if you're doing any naked things in there, I suggest you cover up. Unless you want to scar us both for life..." Angel waited a moment then walked into the room.

"Oh God -- NO!" Angel cried, seeing Spike lying on the bed.

He rushed over and stared down at his friend in shock. Oz and Xander ran in and had similar reactions.

"What's wrong with him?!" Xander's chest hurt, he asked it even though he already knew the answer.

Spike's eyes were half-open and his muscles were twitching spasmodically. His breathing was shallow and labored. Sweat covered his body; his lips were bluish. The telltale rubber hose he used to tie-off his arm was still in place.

The three band mates saw the needle that had fallen to the floor and the equipment used to 'cook' the drug on his nightstand.

"I can't believe he's back on that shit!" Xander cried. "After what he went through last time! What we ALL went through last time! Spike, you stupid prick! Why did you do this again!?" Tears sprang up in his eyes.

Oz stood by with a stoic expression with his hand on Xander's back. He felt a lot more panicked and frightened than he allowed to show on his face -- a whole lot more.

"Not now, man," Oz said quietly. "I think he OD'd..."

Angel bent down and took Spike by the shoulders, shaking him slightly. "Spike! Spike?!"

Not getting any kind of response, he sat on the bed and took Spike's face in his hands.

"Spike! Can you hear me?!" Angel used his thumbs to raise Spike's eyelids. The pupils were barely there; just pinpoints.

"Mummy?" Spike asked, his eyes rolling around unable to focus. "I don't feel good, Mummy -- need hot chocolate. Need hot choc--" Spike’s eyes rolled back, his eyelids fluttered. He suddenly cried out, whimpering and shaking, clutching weakly at his stomach, his teeth grinding together. "Agh! It f-fucking h-hurts!" He wept. "Please, Mummy! Please make it go away!"

Spike's eyes rolled again as he passed out from the pain of the spasms wracking his body and the potent drug racing through his bloodstream.

"Spike!" Angel took one is his wrists and felt for a pulse. "Shit! I can barely feel a pulse! We have to get him to the hospital, come on!"

Xander reached out to remove the hose from Spike's arm.

"No!" Angel sharply smacked his hand away. "Leave it, it might help to keep the shit from spreading through his system too fast."

Xander was shaking like a leaf but nodded, gulping loudly and absently cradling his stinging hand.

Angel hauled Spike off the bed and grabbed onto one of his arms to hold him up. Xander took Spike's other arm, together they supported their friend's limp body. Spike's skin felt cold and clammy to the touch, like he was already dead.

"Shit, man...is he going to die?" Xander asked with tears in his eyes, his voice caught in his throat.

"Not if we get him help..." Angel sincerely hoped so, anyway.

They began quickly walking out of the apartment.

"But there's no hospital around here. Where will we take him?" Xander asked, numbness warred with terror for control of his body.

"Hey, I know a place..." Oz said. "Willow's friend Buffy works at this clinic not too far from here, they're like a drug treatment center. We'll take him there."

Oz rushed ahead of them, getting his van keys ready.


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"Help!" Angel yelled.

He was carrying Spike like a child in his arms, cradling him against his chest.

A nurse hurried out from behind the desk. "What happened?"

"We think he overdosed -- heroin -- please help him!" Angel said, trying to keep from panicking.

The ride here had been nerve-wracking and frightening. Spike had thrashed around in the back with Xander and Angel while Oz drove like a demon. He'd been hallucinating about snakes crawling all over and biting him, he'd screamed and begged for Angel and Xander to help him.

The nurse stared at Spike. "We--We're not equipped for emergencies. We're a rehab clinic. We can't --"

"He's going to die if you don't do something!" Xander pled with her. "The nearest hospital is too far away, please!"

The nurse looked indecisive, then said, "I'll get a doctor."

She ran off.

"It'll be okay, Spike," Angel said.

Spike started twitching and convulsing violently. Angel dropped to his knees to avoid dropping him. Oz and Xander knelt down, trying to hold Spike down so he wouldn't hurt himself.

"Help!" Xander yelled on the verge of tears again.

Spike kept shaking. The whites of his eyes were showing.

Buffy was alarmed by the call for help and went to see what was going on. She gasped when she saw the Dingoes kneeling on the floor by the front desk. She ran to them.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Buffy asked. Her hand covered her mouth when she saw the condition Spike was in.

"He fucking overdosed..." Xander sobbed wretchedly, holding down Spike's legs.

Spike's tremors got more violent. Buffy went to his head and lifted his head onto her lap. She took a tongue depressor out of her breast pocket and carefully put it in his mouth to prevent him from swallowing his tongue. Her heart broke for him. With her free hand she stroked his face while she whispered to him encouragingly.

Spike's darting eyes started slowing down, trying to focus, his shaking lessened. Then his eyes did rest on her, staring up into hers.

"You'll be fine." Buffy smiled, keeping the tears in her eyes from falling. "You'll be okay, Spike. We'll help you."

She continued slowly stroking his face and removed the tongue depressor. Oz, Xander and Angel watched with relief. Somehow Buffy had been able to calm him where they couldn't.

A male doctor and the nurse they'd talked to hurried over. Oz moved aside to give the doctor room. The doctor took one of Spike's wrists and felt for his pulse.

"Were all of you with him when he took the drug?" the doctor asked.

"No, we got there after he took it, we found him like this," Angel said. "We found some of what he took." Angel pulled one of the packages out. "Heroin -- he injected it."

"Give it to Nurse Feldon," the doctor said, taking out his penlight and looking into Spike's eyes.

Angel didn't like the unbelieving look the doctor had shot him when he said they weren't with Spike when he shot up. Nevertheless, he bit back further denials, now wasn't the time for argument. He handed the heroin packet to the brunette nurse.

"Take that to the lab, Barbara." The nurse quickly went to deliver the packet to the lab. "How long has he been like this?" the doctor asked.

"Um, we don't know for sure... A half hour maybe," Angel replied.

Two orderlies came over with a stretcher. The doctor stood then gestured for them to pick Spike up.

"Get him in the exam room, I'll try to do something for him if it's not too late." The orderlies immediately set off for the exam room. "Your friend's very fortunate that we have the facilities to treat him. I'll have to inform the police, of course."

"Do whatever your have to...just help him, please." Angel said.

The doctor nodded and hurried to the room Spike had been taken.

Buffy took Angel's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Doctor Mancini is very good. He's helped a lot of unfortunate souls."

"I feel so...helpless..." Xander said, staring at the door that Spike had been wheeled through.

"You three have done so much already, he wouldn't even have a chance if you didn't bring him in. I know it doesn't seem like much, but try praying for him," Buffy said. "God listens. We'll let you know as soon as we're - done."

The three men held back tears and nodded.

"Thanks, Buffy..." Xander said quietly.

Buffy smiled at them reassuringly and went to see if the doctor needed extra assistance.

She was terrified. She hadn't expected to see Spike again so soon -- and certainly not at death's door. To see this handsome, vibrant man in so much pain and so very ill made her -- well, it made her ill too. Buffy wanted to do anything, promise anything, if only he'd get well again. The force of her protectiveness and affection for him had her reeling. She had to set that aside right now, she'd be of no help if she let her runaway emotions take control.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


After what seemed like an eternity to Xander, Angel, and Oz, the doctor came out of the room. The three men stood, awaiting the news.

"We were able to stabilize your friend's condition," the doctor said.

They let out heavy sighs of relief and gripped each other's shoulders. Buffy came out and joined them, smiling.

"Doctor Mancini did a great job," Buffy said.

"He's got a long road ahead of him. Do you know how long he's been using?" Doctor Mancini asked them.

"He was on it for a while a few months ago, but he quit -- I know he quit," Angel said.

"It was Dru, it had to be," Xander added. "She breezed back into town and must have given him some...that bitch..."

"Yeah, Spike's ex came to the club tonight and talked to him alone. She could have given him the drugs then," Angel said. "So, if we're right, he was clean for four months...until tonight."

"Did he go through rehab?" Doctor Mancini asked, writing down some notes on his notepad.

"Not officially, no. We helped him through the withdrawal at his apartment. He said he didn't need rehab after what he went through. He swore he'd never do it again." Angel sighed and shook his head sadly.

"He should have had counseling," the doctor commented. "Heroin addiction is one of the most difficult to overcome."

"What happens now?" Xander asked.

"We'll want to keep him here and put him through our drug rehabilitation and detoxification program. He'll have to agree to it, of course, we can't keep people against their will. If he agrees, he'll start a three-month program, utilizing a combination of counseling, exercise, time in a sauna, plenty of fluids to flush the residual toxins from his body, and nutritional supplements. We've had some extraordinary results with this program, the success rate is very encouraging."

"He doesn't have insurance," Oz said. "He could really use this - but no way can he afford it."

"I think we can take care of that." Buffy smiled. "The Sisters in the convent I belong to help out here a lot. We have an arrangement with the owners where we can send someone in need to them for free care. I'll sponsor him, if he chooses treatment."

"He'll have to agree to treatment," Doctor Mancini said. "If he wants to avoid jail."

"Don't worry, Spike will agree," Angel said confidently. "We'll make sure he does."

"Good. I'll need his personal information, name, age, medical history..."

"I can tell you what you need to know," Angel said, stepping forward. "I've known him a long time. Could we not call his dad? Giles would be... He'd really flip out."

"Since Mister...what's his name?"

"Spike -- Well, William actually," Xander said. "William Giles, but he goes by Spike."

"Since Mr. Giles is an adult and isn't in grave condition, we can forego a call to next of kin," the doctor said to the band mates' relief.

"When can we see him?" Oz asked.

They all wanted to see him breathing for themselves, he had looked so close to death the last time they'd seen him.

Doctor Mancini said with an apologetic look, "Not right now. He's not conscious and should be out for some time. If and when he begins his rehab, you won't be able to see him for the first month. We limit our patients’ contact with outside influences for obvious reasons; they need to concentrate on themselves and their recoveries."

They nodded in understanding.

"Buffy, since you have a friendship with Mr. Giles, I'd like you to take a prominent role in his rehab," Dr. Mancini said.

"Friendship? Well...I don't know about that. We...met before..." She blushed, remembering that night for the umpteenth time.

"He totally responded to you," Xander commented. "You were able to calm him down. Please, Buffy? It would make me feel a lot better if he saw a familiar, friendly face while he's here..."

Angel and Oz nodded in agreement.

"I'll do my best..." Buffy said, anxious about spending day and night by Spike's side.





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