“Um, excuse me? Hello?” Spike waved his hand a little to catch the receptionist’s attention. He had been waiting by the counter for almost five minutes, and was already starting to get sick of this place. Glancing around the waiting room, he almost felt the walls closing in on him, and shuddered. The way he saw it, if people weren’t already crazy when they got here, it probably wouldn’t take too long.
The young woman looked up briefly and gave him a strained smile, held up a hand – with long, perfectly manicured fingers nails – to indicate that she was busy, before turning her attention back to the phone; “So, where was I? Oh, yeah. Aura’s date with Chad. Can you believe...?”
“Oh, for the love of...!” Spike rolled his eyes, not bothering to hide his irritation. “Excuse me!” The woman behind the counter looked up again, her eyes narrowing, and he found himself wondering why on earth the hospital would hire someone like her to work in the reception. Of course, he kept his opinion to himself and forced a smile as he read her name tag. “Hello, Cordelia. My name’s Spike. If it’s not too much trouble, would you be so kind and give me some service, here?”
The woman’s expression changed, and a wide smile spread on her face. She tossed her long hair over her shoulder. “Oh, I’ll be happy to service you, Spike.” After quickly mumbling a ‘later’ into the phone, she batted her long eyelashes at him and gave him an expectant look.
“Yeah. Right.” Spike cleared his throat, ignoring her obvious attempt at flirting with him. “Here to see my wife.”
“Oh.” Cordelia’s smile faded and she let out a snort. “Of course. What’s her name?”
“Drusilla Pratt. She should be expecting me.” Spike glanced at his watch. He couldn’t wait to get this over with, so he could go back to his motel room and call Buffy again. Half a day without her, and he already missed her like crazy.
Cordelia typed something on the computer, then looked up again. “You’ll have to fill out some forms where you sign in as a visitor. I’ll get the papers.” She started typing again. “It’ll take a couple of minutes, though.” Before he got the chance to respond, she jumped up and headed towards a large file cabinet at the far end of the room. Spike sighed, leaning against the counter. Obviously, this was going to take longer than he had expected.
“Excuse me? William Pratt?” A voice interrupted his thoughts.
Spike spun around, eying the tall, dark-haired man in front of him with a frown. “That’s me.”
“Oh, good. You’ve been expected.” The man seemed almost nervous for some reason, and he kept glancing over his shoulder. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to your wife’s room.”
“All right, but...” Spike hesitated. “Think I’m supposed to sign something first. I was just...” He gestured to the reception.
The other man looked a little taken aback, then waved his hand in dismissal. “Oh, that’s just formality. You can do that later.” He paused for a moment. “I’m a doctor.”
“Right.” There was something about this man that seemed a little off, but Spike couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He shrugged. “Lead the way, then.” The man who had introduced himself as a doctor turned around and headed for the large, closed doors at the other end of the corridor, motioning for him to follow.
When Cordelia returned to the counter a couple of minutes later, Spike was gone, and the waiting room seemingly empty. She frowned, her eyes darting around the room. Then she shrugged, dropped the forms at her desk and picked up the phone again. She quickly dialed a number, waited for a moment, then let out a little squeal. “Harmony, it’s me again. Oh my God, you should’ve seen this guy who was just here! Yeah, a total hottie...”
“Hey, Dr. Burkle! Wait up!” Spotting the tall brunette in the corridor, Warren rushed after her. “I need to talk to you.”
“Oh, hi, Warren.” Fred smiled. “I told you to call me Fred. How are you?”
“I’m fine, thanks.” He returned her smile, although a bit awkwardly.
“That’s nice.” She watched him, curiously. “And how’s your friend?”
“You mean Drusilla?” As she nodded, Warren hesitated a little. “Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Do you have a minute?”
She nodded again, a somewhat concerned look on her face. “Of course.”
“You see, the thing is...” Warren suddenly found himself wishing he’d had time to think this through, a bit more thoroughly. But the truth was, the idea had hit him out of the blue, and he had acted out of pure impulse at the sight of the female doctor. He figured that if anyone could help him with this, it would be her.
Warren had not been prepared for the sudden fit of jealousy he had felt when he met Drusilla’s husband. The way she had been talking about her ‘sweet William’ made him realize that he wanted to be the guy who received her full attention. But for that to happen, he needed to do something to get her mind off this husband of hers.
And the best way to do that, he pondered, was to make sure the two of them would be able to spend even more time together, by themselves, without risking anyone interrupting them. He also suspected that Drusilla could use a change in her environment. She may be sick in some way, but that was no reason why she should be locked up in the same tiny little room day after day. No wonder she sometimes got a little confused, he thought.
“I’ve been thinking,” he finally went on. “It would probably do her good to get out of her room some time. Get some fresh air. Maybe I could take her out into the garden. I’m sure she’d like that.”
“Oh, I don’t know...” Fred’s smile faltered. “Drusilla’s not really my patient; I would need to consult Dr. Williamson...”
“No!” Warren let out a nervous laugh, seeing her confusion. There was just no way the older, much stuffier doctor would even let him into Drusilla’s hospital room as long as he wasn’t on the list of visitors, let alone allow him to move her outside. Asking anyone but Fred for permission would be pointless. He cleared his throat. “I mean, I don’t wanna bother him with this. I’m sure he’s very busy, with the arrival of the new patients and all.”
“Sure, but...” Fred hesitated. “Even so, you do realize that I can’t just let you take her all by yourself, right? I mean, no offense, but you’re just a medical intern, not a doctor, or even a nurse. I would have to come with you, make sure...”
“I can handle it.” Warren gave her a pleading look. “Come on! There won’t be any trouble. Drusilla’s on heavy medication, remember? She’ll stay calm.” Seeing how Fred was about to object, he hurried on; “I know! Why don’t we go visit her together later tonight, after Dr. Williamson’s made the round? That way you can see for yourself.” He mentally kept his fingers crossed; hoping he would be right and Dru would behave.
“Well...” Fred let out a defeated sigh. “All right, we’ll go see her. But I’m not making any promises.”
Warren smiled in relief. He was quite certain that he could get her to agree with him, and as long as he and Drusilla would make sure to leave the hospital building during Fred’s shift, no one else would ever have to find out. Then they could go sit somewhere out in the garden, getting to know each other better. And the more time they would spend together, the closer they would become.
It was just a matter of time before Drusilla would realize that he was the only man she needed in her life, that he – Warren – was the man she could count on. And then, she would forget all about her husband. Truth to be told, he didn’t really understand where these strong feelings were coming from, nor did he think he could explain them should anyone ask. But it didn’t matter. Drusilla would soon come to see him as the important person he was. And Warren just couldn’t wait.
“Dru?” Spike entered the small room, quietly closing the door behind him.
“Hello, William.” Drusilla stepped away from the window and turned around to face him. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“That’s... nice.” He hesitated for a moment. “How are you?”
She didn’t answer. Instead, she looked around the room in expectation. “Where is my baby?”
Spike held back a sigh, feeling like he was talking to a small child. “Billy’s back at home.”
Drusilla’s eyes narrowed. “You dare to keep him away from me. You have turned my boy against me, poisoned his mind.”
“That’s bollocks, Dru, and you bloody well know it.” Spike rolled his eyes. “Was his own decision. He didn’t wanna come here; I had nothing to do with it.”
“You lie!” She pointed her finger at him, accusingly. “Lies, lies, lies... You do not wish for him to see me. But you can’t keep him from me forever. I’m his mummy.”
“That you are.” Unfortunately, he almost added. “But you’re not well, Dru. You hurt Billy, really bad. And you hurt yourself, as well. That’s why you’re here.”
“Pain. Yes, I remember. Feeding on it, like little worms in the ground.” She nodded, slowly. “But I’m better.”
“That’s good.” Spike closed his eyes for a moment, feeling an upcoming headache. “Listen, Dru, I have some papers here I need you to sign. It’s about the divorce. We talked about it before you came here, remember?” He held his breath, mentally preparing himself for an outburst.
Drusilla was quiet for a moment, an unreadable expression on her face. Then she walked over to the bed and sat down. “I’m tired.”
Spike fought the urge to slam his fist into the wall in frustration. “Right. I understand. If you’ll just sign the soddin’ papers, I’m out of here.”
“I wanna see Billy.” She gave him a stubborn look.
Silently counting to ten, Spike forced himself to stay calm. He had a sinking feeling that she knew exactly what she was doing, and he was not about to let her behavior get to him. “Yeah, well, he doesn’t wanna see you. So unless he’ll change his mind – which I seriously doubt – this conversation’s over.”
She glared at him, her eyes cold. “I’m going to rest, now. You should leave.”
Spike opened his mouth, then closed it again. It was clearly not worth the trouble of arguing with her at this point, because it would only lead to him losing his temper for real. If he wanted the divorce papers signed, he would just have to be patient, for a little while longer, anyway. So, he nodded. “I’ll come back tomorrow, then. But it’ll happen, Dru. Our marriage is over, and has been for a long time. The sooner you accept it, the better for all of us.”
When she showed no sign of agreeing, he let out a sigh of irritation and left the room. Drusilla remained on the bed, fury welling up inside her. “This will not do,” she whispered to herself. “This will not do at all...”
TBC