Buffy walked through the hospital halls dazed. Now she was all alone, so very much alone.
*** “I’m sorry Miss Summers, but there’s nothing we could do. She’s gone.”
“What do you mean she’s gone?”
“She passed away at 7:37 p.m this evening.”
“Oh, I have to call someone.” Buffy had answered while walking away slowly, seemingly lost in her own world. ***
After 10 rings the answering machine picked up.
“Hello, you’ve reached Hank Summers, please leave your name and a message after the tone and I’ll get back to you when I can.”
Buffy choked on her tearful laughter. How ironic, her father’s answering machine had just summed up their relationship in a nutshell.
“Hank it’s Buffy. Mo…Mom passed away tonight and I don’t know what to do. I need you to come as soon as you can. Our…my address is 1630 Revello Drive, it’s pretty easy to find once you get into Sunnydale.”
She hung up the phone and sat down in a chair outside one of the rooms, put her head into her hands and cried.
She was 24 years old and had been living on her own in L.A for the past 4 years. She had worked her way through school and gotten herself a pretty nice apartment; things had been going well until the night her mother had called with the news. She had a tumour and the doctors didn’t know how much longer she had left. Buffy had given notice at the hospital she was working at and had gotten her landlord to let her out of her lease early. She’d come to Sunnydale as soon as she could and had spent the last three months spending time with her mother and taking care of her.
She didn’t know what to do anymore. She could move back to L.A but she didn’t know if she wanted too. Sunnydale was a beautiful place and it held so many beautiful memories of the time she had spent with her mother in the last little while. It’s not like her Dad would miss her, he barely spoke to her as was. The only thing he was good for was giving money and she seldom took advantage of that. In fact the only time she had asked was to help her mother pay her hospital bills. When Hank had found out Joyce was sick he had given Buffy a large amount of cash to take care of everything. Buffy could easily live in luxury for the next few years but she loved her job. After the funeral she would search the paper for ads in her field. She sent a silent prayer to her mother and walked out of the doors.
On the opposite side of the building an ambulance pulled up with it’s sirens wailing. A man was lowered from it on a stretcher and wheeled in. The doctors surrounded him as the driver filled them in.
“Caucasian male, mid-twenties. Hit and run, lost a lot of blood, slipped into a coma at 7:37 p.m.”
Buffy stood outside the Sunnydale Hospital and took a deep breath. Most people would find it hard to go back to the place they had lost a loved one but in a sense Buffy found it comforting. Her mother had shown just how strong she was inside these walls and now Buffy would do the same. She would make her mother proud.
She walked in with her head held high and was directed to room 319, Robin Wood’s office, hospital director.
When the door opened a tall black man came out. She would guess him to be in his early thirties or so. He had a charming face and she smiled when he shook her hand.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Miss Summers. I understand that you have recently lost your mother. I’m sorry to hear that.”
He had expected her to look away or tear up at the mention of her loved one’s passing but instead she smiled radiantly.
“She was a wonderful woman Mr. Wood. I’m sure you would have liked her, most people did.”
He liked this girl. She didn’t seem to be dwelling on the bad but on the good. Too many times he’d seen people fade away in their grief, forgetting that this was not what the person they had lost would have wanted. Too many people forgot the good while they where lost in the bad.
“So I see here that you worked for three years in the coma ward at the Los Angeles Hospital?”
“Yes, I had thirteen patients in my care at that time and I am proud to mention that 9 woke up.”
He raised his eyebrows thoroughly impressed. “And do you think that this was because of you?”
Buffy laughed loudly and covered her mouth. When she stopped she looked him in the eyes, he liked that.
“I’m not saying that at all Mr Wood. I’m a believer that people wake up if they want to, I just try to help them find the courage to do so.”
“Meaning what exactly Miss Summers?”
“I believe that people who are comatose are aware of the situation they’re in but cannot break free from it without help. I believe the world they create inside their minds is more appealing then the one they live in. I try to find the things that made the world a beautiful place for them in the first place and I try to surround them with it.”
“Can you give me an example please?”
Buffy smiled. A lot of people thought she was loopy when she tried to explain her opinion on her job but what counted was that she got results.
“One of my patients was an elderly woman. Her family told me that she loved flowers so everyday I would bring in a new arrangement and place them all around her. Small improvements where made, we had some r.e.m movement and some small movements in her fingers. One day I brought in a rare type of flower and she spoke while still asleep.”
“What did she say?” Robin asked intrigued.
Buffy smiled. “She said the name of the flower.”
“Did she wake up?”
“That day? No she didn’t. Everyday for the next week we brought in more and more rare flowers until one day she didn’t say the name of it.”
“Did you try a different method after that?”
“Didn’t have too, she opened her eyes and asked what kind they where.”
Robin sat back in his chair and thought about something.
“How did she know what kind of flowers you had been bringing in without being able to see them?”
“That’s a fair question. I described them to her in great detail. I went over everything from the stem to every tip of every petal.”
Robin cleared his throat and smiled. “I must say I’m amazed Buffy. I admit I have looked over your transcripts from the L.A hospital and the people there think you’re a genius.”
Buffy laughed again. “I’m no Einstein Mr Wood but I do enjoy my job. Would you like to ask me any more questions?”
“Yes actually. On your records it shows that you also have a nursing degree. Why would a psychologist need one?”
“I like to be the one taking care of my patients Mr Wood. I find that if you have too many people coming in and out of the patient’s life randomly that this might make the patient less open to waking up.”
“Well Miss Summers I must say that I don’t necessarily understand your methods but I do approve. I used to be a high school principal and a constant routine was necessary to keep the students on their toes.”
Buffy only smiled at that and stood to leave.
Robin stood and shook her hand again. “Before you leave Miss Summers may I show you something?”
“Of course Mr Wood.”
“Robin, please. The Mr. Part makes me sound so old.”
“Robin then, would you mind calling me Buffy? The Miss makes me feel old too.”
They laughed together as he led her down a hall. They stopped outside a door and Robin turned to her.
“This isn’t going to be pretty Buffy. The man I’m about to show you was the victim of a hit and run. He was brought in last Friday and slipped into a coma shortly afterwards. He has no relatives that we have been able to find. Everyone in his family seems to have passed on, god rest their souls. No one has come to see him either. From a number we reached on a paper inside his wallet we where able to establish that he just moved here a week prior to the accident from England. Other than that we know the basics. Caucasian male, 26 years old. His name is William Calendar and he has no one.”
He opened the door and Buffy walked up to the bed. Her hand flew over her mouth and she fought the urge to gag. His face was swollen pretty badly and there was a deep gash running through his left eyebrow. His left arm and leg where severely broken and his whole body was covered in blue bruises.
Robin turned to look at her. “He’s the only coma patient we have at this time Buffy. What do you do when no one can tell you what they used to like or how they where?”
“I find out on my own.”
Robin nodded his head. She had spirit he would give her that. There was no harm in letting her try to help the young man and they where certainly short on nurses. “Can you start tonight?”
Buffy looked at him and gave a tiny smile, never taking her observant eyes off the man in the bed. “I already have.”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Im not great with medical terms and what not so please don't chew me out if i make a mistake. This fic just hit me out of nowhere so please let me know what you thought.