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Author's Chapter Notes:
This is the second new chapter today. Please make sure you read chapter four. :)
Of course she chewed him out after that. Actually, first she avoided him for a few days and then she told him that if he ever pulled a stunt like that again she would stake him, chipped or not. He’d smirked and told her that she wouldn’t be so upset if she hadn’t liked it so much. After several minutes of yelling, Spike had agreed that he wouldn’t kiss her again unless she asked him to and she had assured him that she would never ask.

Then, surprisingly, things settled down. After a couple of months, the Scoobies forgot about trying to fix the spell they assumed to be at the root of Spike’s love for the slayer and got used to seeing him join her on patrol. Buffy found that his help with patrolling made the process faster and freed her up for a little extra study time. She also found herself enjoying the company, though she was careful not to admit it. With the initiative out of the picture, Spike suggested that he could move back to his crypt but Joyce saw no reason for him to live in a dusty old graveyard when she had a perfectly good basement. Besides, she had assured him, she felt safer having him around. Spike begged her to take the statement back but she laughed and pointed out that nothing scared off bad guys quite like a bigger, badder, guy. A new pattern formed and, though Spike sometimes found it difficult to hold back the true depths of his feelings, he enjoyed his new role in the Summer’s home too much to risk losing it. More importantly, he was able to help keep Buffy safe and he knew that was far more important than winning her affections. No one knew that he still wrote her poetry each night or that his duster often hid the more physical signs of his romantic interest.

The first flowers of Spring were popping up and Spike enjoyed their scent even if he generally missed seeing them at their mid-day best. He was thinking about flowers, specifically his mother’s favorite gardens, while he sat on the porch and waited for Buffy to show up for patrol. She was late, but that wasn’t very unusual. He didn’t take it too personally. Buffy operated on Buffy-Time for a variety of reasons; he knew it was just as likely that her delay was caused by her difficulty to decide which shoes looked the best today as it was caused by an unexpected demon interruption. He wouldn’t begrudge her either. Spike’s romantic inclinations tended to require that he give ladies an abundance of leeway. Besides, he figured that time was something he had plenty of. Still, at some point, it was natural for him to begin to worry that her delay was a sign of bigger trouble. When he’d been waiting for a full hour, he started to wonder if she had canceled or changed their plans and he’d simply not gotten the message. Spike went inside and dialed the number for Joyce’s gallery, expecting to hear that Buffy had called earlier or that she had mentioned to Joyce that she had a date or something that evening.

“Hello.” Spike recognized the nasally voice of Joyce’s assistant.

“Yeah, put the boss lady on.”

“Ms. Summers is—that is she—c” The assistant stuttered and dissolved into sniffles.

“What happened?”

“Is this her friend William?”

“That’s right. Now tell me what’s going on.”

“I called her daughter, but I didn’t know how to reach you…I mean she mentions you often so I’m sure that she would want you to—”

“What the bleedin’ hell happened!”

“She collapsed. I have no idea why. The ambulance took her to Sunnydale Memorial.” He waited a moment. “Hello? William?”

Spike was already out the door.

He made it across town in minutes and burst through the doors to critical care with a scowl.

Buffy looked up at Spike in surprise. She didn’t know how he’d known to come, but it didn’t really matter. “They won’t tell me anything.”

His nostrils flared and he nodded. “I’ll see about that.”

She watched him walk away for a moment before pulling her legs up and resting her forehead on her knees. She’d never felt so helpless in her life. Slayers learned that no one was really immortal and they learned it fast. Buffy was all too aware that her mother could be gone in an instant.

“The nurse says she woke up and seems to be herself. They’re still tryin’ to puzzle out what happened though.” Spike sat down beside her on the bench.

She turned to him slowly and nodded. “Okay. That’s good. Right? I mean waking up is good. Can’t be…she’s…” Her shoulders shook as she tried to hold back her sobs. It was just too much.

“Shhh, love. It’s okay.” Spike pulled her onto his lap and she didn’t even struggle. “You Summers’ girls are strong and stubborn. Your mum’s gonna pull out of this.”

She wanted to believe him, wanted to let his words bring her comfort, but she couldn’t. Tears sliding down her cheeks, she looked up at him. “But what if she doesn’t?”

“She will.” He pulled her head down against his chest and rubbed her back.

“I’m scared.”

Spike hugged her closer. “I’ve got you. You go ahead and have yourself a cry if you like.” Buffy did just that.

It felt like forever before a doctor finally came out and explained that her mother had been taken to surgery. There was something wrong with her brain. A tumor, maybe. The words meant nothing to Buffy. She nodded obediently. Yes, Doctor. Thank you, Doctor. Mommy?

Hours passed in a painful haze. Spike made her drink juice. He tried to get her to eat a sandwich from a vending machine but the smell of it turned both their stomachs. They waited.

Spike held her hand when the doctor came back and told her that the surgery was done and they had every hope that it had been successful. He walked with her when they finally let her take a peek at her mother, sleeping and pale with a bandaged head. When the doctors told her to go home, that her mother wouldn’t wake for several hours and there was nothing she could do there but worry, Spike took her home.


Chapter End Notes:
Soooo...whatcha thinkin'?



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