Spike slowly pulled himself out of unconsciousness and noticed two things. The first was the presence of Buffy. It surrounded him completely. Her vanilla shampoo, the coconut lotion she used, the essence of Buffy herself. Spike breathed deep of the fragrant air. He could feel her all around him yet knew she was not in the room with him. Spike moved to sit up, leaving his eyes closed, but stopped before all he could do was clench his muscles.. It was this movement that prompted the realization. His entire body radiated pain.
“Bloody ‘ell.” Spike’s mouth moved but no sound came from his cold and chapped lips. He tried again to no avail. The memories of the night before came flooding back, causing Spike to groan silently.
‘Damn hell bitch.’ Spike swore to himself. ‘Buggered me up real good.’ Spike cautiously opened his eyes and looked around. He brought a shaky hand to his eyes and rubbed them in shock. Before him was not the crypt he had expected to find himself in. Spike pulled his protesting body up until he rested against the pillows in a half sitting position. Spike knew now why the scent of Buffy cloaked him.
Her room was dark, thick blankets covered the windows, keeping the deadly rays from penetrating the cozy room. He had been in this room many times, unbeknownst to its owner, yet it was infinitely different from his vantage point on the bed. Spike ran his eyes lovingly over the furnishings, smiling softly as he noticed a crossbow sitting against the dresser and stakes filling the chair in the corner. Spike could hear someone walking down the hall outside the door.
Spike’s eyes fell on the bed side table and saw that it was nearly noon. He clicked on the table lamp and reached for the stuffed pig sitting on the table. Spike tossed the pig in the air as he contemplated his situation. Spike looked over his chest in apprehension. Large white bandages covered a large portion of his ribs. The bruises and cuts that were visible were almost healed and light scars that would fade later graced his stomach. Spike missed to catch the flying pig ,as he concentrated on his wounds, and it bounced off his head. Spike glared at the stuffed animal and licked his lips thinking of the blood his body was demanding.
It was then that Spike noticed a strange taste in his mouth. Well not so strange as unexpected. The coppery sweetness of human’s blood lay on his tongue. There was something familiar about the blood yet he could not put his finger on it. Spike stood up and grabbed the shirt sitting on the end post of the bed. He slipped it on and slowly made his way to the door. He was not even half way there when the door creaked open and Buffy stuck her head in. Her eyes widened in shock at the vampire standing in the middle of the room.
“What are you doing up?” Buffy asked with a concerned note in her voice. Spike opened his mouth to reply but no sound came out. Spike glared at Buffy and took a hesitant step forward, almost falling with the effort. Buffy glared right back and wrapped her arm around Spike’s waist and pulled him towards the bed. Buffy helped Spike to lay on the bed then sat beside him , her hands pulling his shirt up. Spike jumped and batted at her hands, pulling himself painfully away from her.
“Stop being a baby.” Buffy snapped, pulling the protesting vampire back towards her. “I’ve seen it all before.” Spike’s eyes widened comically, his mouth falling open, causing Buffy to raise her hand to her mouth to stifle a laugh. “Who do you think put on your bandages. Now let me see those wounds.” Spike reluctantly let Buffy help him off with his recently acquired shirt. He sat poker straight as her hands ran softly over his cool skin. Spike watched a Buffy pulled off each bandage, running her fingers over the closed sores as she uncovered them.
“They closed good.” Buffy said quietly as she ran a finger over the marks over Spike’s heart. A flush of warmth ran through Spike’s body at her touch “You’ll be sore for a few days but you will be fine.” Spike felt as if his heart had started beating as Buffy contender to run her fingers over the marks absently. “I want to thank you for what you did.” Buffy murmured, not raising eyes to meet his. Spike went to speak forgetting he was unable, and settled for placing his hand over the one touching his chest, squeezing lightly. Buffy’s startled eyes met piercing blue ones. Spike smiled softly and raised his free hand to tap lightly against his throat. Buffy’s eyes widened in understanding.
“You can’t talk.” Buffy said needlessly. “Can you make any noise at all?” Spike shook his head, his hand still holding hers over his heart. The room fell once again into silence, causing Spike to shift uncomfortably, wincing from the pain. Buffy saw him wince and sighed.
“You should rest.” Buffy pulled her hand from his grasp, laying it in her lap, not moving from his side. She lowered her eyes to stare at the bed. Her eye caught sight of her pig. “Mr. Gordo.” Buffy reached over Spike, resting her hand on his leg, her hair brushing softly against his skin. Spike let out a silent groan and felt himself stiffen at her touch. Buffy left her hand on his leg and brought the pig up to show him with a glare. “And just what were you doing with Mr. Gordo?” Spike gave Buffy a sheepish grin and mimed tossing the stuffed animal in the air.
The hand on Spike’s leg slapped him once, lightly. “You were throwing my pig around.” Spike took Mr. Gordo from her hands and gingerly placed him back in his spot in the night table, giving the pig a pat for good measure. Buffy’s serious face fell as she started to laugh. Spike grinned and joined in silently. Buffy’s hand tightened on Spike’s leg as she laughed harder. Spike hissed as a wave of heat moved from the spot her hand touched causing him to grit his teeth. Spike began to pant as Buffy’s hand softly caress his leg, her still in the throws of laughter. Buffy felt Spike move as he tried to loosen the tightness of his pants. She raised her eyes curiously and took in the tortured look in Spike’s eyes. Buffy jumped up, as if she was bit, and backed away from Spike.
“Uh, I-I should g-go and let you rest.” Buffy stuttered as she continued to back towards the door. She grabbed the handle and yanked the door open. “I’ll bring you up some blood later.” Buffy ran her hand through her hair nervously. Spike’s eyes were drawn to the bandage wrapped around her wrist. Buffy followed his gaze and with an unreadable expression, rushed from the room, slamming the door behind her.
Spike fell back against the pillows with a silent groan. ‘Bloody hell! How could I miss the bandage.’ Spike cursed himself as he finally realized what the unidentified taste in his mouth was. ‘Slayer’s blood.’ Spike smiled to himself. ‘She let me drink her blood to heal me.’ Spike grimaced as his pants got even tighter. Spike undid the buttons then lay back against the pillows. ‘Cor do I need a smoke.’ Spike sighed as he listened to muffled voices coming from downstairs, then a door slam. It was going to be a long day.