yay!!! she told her mom! possibly a very important step. unless Joyce refuses to let Spike see Buffy, after she know everything...eep!

OMG!!!! i cant believe that buffy told joyce and i really hope that wen william gets there that she doesnt judge him and isnt mean to him. i LOVE this story so much and am so happy u updated. i really hope that buffy and william talk things through and that they work it out. also i hope that giles and joyce dont try to stop william and buffy being together and that everything works out. please update as soon as u can, i cant wait to read the next chapter and see wat happens. thanx

Waiting on the next chappy for Spike to show up Very deep and intense this chappy was, great job hon.

Thanks a lot for this great chapter! I'm so happy things are going better for Buffy and I can't wait for the talk with William!

Let's hope Joyce doesn't try to OD after hearing all of that about her daughter! ;) OK-- not something really to job about. Buffy really needed to unload all of that baggage. Now maybe Joyce won't be so critical of her, when she sees how really critical she has been on herself.

I didn't read the reviews about all the confidentiality stuff and 24 vs 72 hour holds, since - hey- fiction here. But I actually work for the State of California doing disability evaluations, so I read a LOT of medical records, including mental health treatment notes. When someone is admitted for a suicide attempt, they are first stabilized medically (what Buffy went through in the ER). Then, they are automatically placed on a 72 hour hold for being gravely disabled (danger to self or others). The only way they wouldn't qualify for this hold is if they weren't really homicidal or suicidal (i.e. they said it to get out of going to jail, or some other difficult family situation) and they manage to convince the psychiatrist of that. If the person is still gravely disabled, they can go to a hearing to extend the length of hospital stay. Considering how many pills Buffy ingested, I doubt anyone would believe this wasn't a serious suicide attempt.

In terms of confidentiality, California has passed a new privacy law (HIPPA) which is much more strict. One possible way around the confidentiality issue might be if Buffy were still on Joyce's medical insurance, as many students under the age of 24 still are on their parents' insurance. However, since I've never been hospitalized for such a thing, I don't know if Buffy would have had an opportunity to speak to Joyce, or if the 72 hour hold would have taken effect as soon as she was medically stable and evaluated by a psychiatrist.

Bottom line-- It's fiction, and it was great that Buffy could finally really talk and communicate with her mom about her internal conflicts and her horrible self-esteem. I'm really looking forward to the next chapter where Buffy (hopefully) gets to talk with Spike.

I don't think the chapter was too long, there was a lot the needed to be said. great as always

Great update! I can't wait to find out what happens when William shows up.

So what's gonna happen next when Will comes? Update soon please!

Liked the chapter and glad everything is out in the open now. Its good Buffy wants to try and fix things with Spike, but she really painted him in a bad light with her mother, when none of this, her situation, etc, are his fault. Yea he said some not nice things to her, but she made him feel cheap. I just hope Joyce doesn't start treating Spike badly.

Other then that ,nice chapter.

liked the update, and yeah, it makes sense to get the explaination out all at once. spike next?? :)

Hi Suzee. Good author's note. Just be thankful you're dealing with federal welfare and foster care. Those laws are a puzzle that changes constantly and from place to place. They're giving me fits with all the movement in my story. :-) Yes, I am in California and work in medical social work but not usually with psych patients right now. So I have some experience with this but am not smack in the middle of it either. So I am not claiming absolute knowledge of the entire HIPPA privacy laws (the act itself is enormous and completely bogged down in legalese, which hospital and provider attorneys read and interpret and set policy for their clients. It's a huge mess on the provider end and so they tend to err with extreme caution. Anyway, the privacy laws you want are HIPPA - it's federal, and it's enormous with huge penalties for inappropriate disclosure of private health information. A lot of hospitals err on the side of extreme caution for fear of these penalties. Psychiatric information is especially protected. I don't know anyone young who has signed a pre-release of information to their family members, most people don't even think about it. Older people who are more aware of their own mortality and advance directives may do so more frequently. I can't imagine a girl in her early twenties would do that except under unusual circumstances, such as a serious chronic iillness, witness of a problem where someone else was concerned and therefore having their consciousnesses raised regarding the issue, or an attorney or medical professional in the family who might also be very aware and have brought the subject up previously. Most people I don't believe even are aware of HIPPA or the necessity to have signed releases. Now how strictly any provider holds to HIPPA will vary, trying to seek a balance between family member need to know versus their employer's legal dept which would prefer that no one talk to anyone ever (based on my experience with the extremely risk averse legal depts that all organizations have guiding them). Since HIPPA is farily recent it would be important to use very recent experience as a guide and not experience of years ago. You didn't mention when your examples (suzee and spufette) took place so I don't know if it predates HIPPA or not. As for the hold. If Buffy is conscious and is able to convince her doctors she didn't mean to kill herself, they might not put her on a hold. But if she is unconscious or if the type and amount of drugs/alcohol ingested is clearly meant to kill oneself, then the involuntary hold would be more likely. So, do what you will and take us where you want to go. It's all good to me. This is only meant as advice and I'm not gonna yell if you do it some way different from how I think legally it should go. Not gonna attack or criticize or anything. Like I said, this stuff is complex and although the laws are federal the particular individual practice may vary. I really like the way you have this one unfolding and I can't wait for the next update. Thanks! :-)