Title: Friends and Lovers
Author: Rari

(notes and disclaimer with part one)

Friends and Lovers: Part 5

One month later (early summer):

The vampire came out of nowhere and for some reason he had a knife. Riley let out a yell but Buffy couldn't duck in time. The knife entered her from the back, above her heart. Buffy managed to turn and stake the vampire before she fell to the ground.

Riley ran to her and turning her he put pressure on the wound with one hand while he pulled out his phone with the other. "I'll get help, Buffy, just hold on." He called dispatch to get an ambulance.

Buffy was finding it hard to breath. Turning her head she looked at Riley. "Call Giles."

"Buffy, don't move. We'll call him when we get to the hospital."

"Call him, call him now." As it grew harder for her to breathe, all Buffy knew was that she wanted Giles, she wanted him with her.

"I'll call him later."

Buffy's eyes closed. "Please, Riley."

Riley let out a curse but not wanting Buffy to get more upset, he dialed Giles' number. Jenny answered. "Hello."

"Jenny, it's Riley. Is Giles there?"

"Yes, hold on." Jenny handed the phone to Giles.

"Yes? This is Giles."

"Giles, it's Riley. Buffy's hurt. She wanted me to call you."

Giles' heart started racing. "How badly is she hurt?"

"I don't know. Pretty bad. I called an ambulance."

"Where are you?"

"East Lawn Cemetery."

Giles could hear the sirens of the ambulance over the phone. "I'll meet you at the hospital." He was already slipping on his shoes, looking for his keys.

Buffy reached up a hand for the phone. Riley handed it to her. "Giles?"

She sounded so tired. "Buffy, don't spend your energy talking to me. I'll see you at the hospital." Giles could hear how hard it was for her to catch her breath. When she didn't say anything he panicked and yelled in the phone. "Buffy?"

The pause before she finally spoke almost gave Giles a heart attack. "I'm here."

"Don't you die, damn it, don't you die on me."

"Hurry." Buffy couldn't hold the phone anymore and it slipped from her fingers.

Giles hung up and ran for the door. Jenny grabbed his arm. "I'll drive." She didn't think he was in any condition to be driving anywhere. Before he could argue, Jenny grabbed her purse, snatched the keys out of his hand and ran for the car.

They made it to the hospital in record time, arriving before the ambulance. Giles was standing by the door, his face pale, every prayer he knew, in every language, heading skywards. Jenny stood silently at his side.

Riley was in the ambulance with her, holding on to her hand, staying out of the way. Her breathing was easier now. The knife had punctured her lung but the paramedics had been able to reinflate it and stabilize her. Buffy came to with a start, and called out a name. "Giles?"

Riley tried to squelch the annoyance he felt. "No, it's Riley."

"Where's Giles?"

"He'll be at the hospital."

She nodded and closed her eyes again. When the ambulance arrived, the team began to move her stretcher out. Buffy began looking for Giles. She turned her head the other way and saw him. Buffy held out her hand and Giles moved to her side and took it, holding it tightly. He could see at once that she would be all right and it was all he could do not to break down and cry.

They got the stretcher ready for travel and one of the team spoke to Giles. "We need to take her inside."

Giles stepped away. "Of course."

Buffy let out a cry and reached for his hand again. "No, don't leave me."

"Buffy, let them get you inside. I'll see you in a minute."

Buffy nodded but she kept her eyes on Giles' for as long as she could.

Once she was out of sight, Giles let out a breath. He turned to Riley. "What happened?"

"A vampire with a knife."

Giles' eyebrows rose. "A knife?"

"I know. You don't see that every day." Riley touched Giles on the back. "He stabbed her here, punctured a lung."

Giles blanched at the thought that only a little bit lower and it might have been a stab through the heart. Giles caught Riley's eyes, and saw that he was having the same thought. "She'll be fine, Riley. She's strong." He said it to reassure himself as much as to reassure Riley.

Riley nodded. The three of them went in the waiting room, letting the clerk know they were there. Giles used the phone to call Joyce. Then he joined Riley and Jenny, taking a seat. Every time the door opened Riley and Giles both looked up, waiting for news. Finally a man in scrubs opened the door. "Is there someone named Giles here?"

Giles stood. "Yes, that's me."

"She wants to see you."

Giles smiled absentmindedly at Riley and Jenny, his entire attention focused on getting to Buffy. When he disappeared through the door Riley and Jenny looked at each other, both feeling a bit abandoned. Riley stretched out his legs and pursed his lips. "I hate that she's the Slayer." He shook his head. "I really hate it."

Jenny smiled softly at him. "I hate that he's a Watcher."

Their eyes met again and they understood each other completely. It wasn't so much that she was the Slayer, and he was a Watcher. It was that she was his Slayer, and he was her Watcher. That was the problem.

***

Giles entered the room where they were keeping Buffy. There was a single staff person in there, drawing some blood. Buffy smiled when she saw him. "Hey."

Giles let out a short, rather pained laugh. "Hey."

She held out her hand. "Come here."

Giles walked to her side, away from where the blood was being drawn. He pushed some hair off her face. Giles had never seen anything more beautiful than she at this particular moment. Bending down he kissed her forehead and then pressed his cheek against hers. "Oh, Buffy."

"I'm all right."

"You frightened me so."

Buffy lifted a hand and ran them over the furrows on his forehead. "I'm all right, Giles. I'll bet I just need to have this chest tube in for a couple of days." She watched as the woman who was drawing her blood left the room. "Probably not even that long with my Slayer healing." She patted the bed. "Sit. You look like you're about to fall down."

Giles decided she was probably right and he carefully sat down, not wanting to jar her. He didn't know what to say; for once all his words seemed to have abandoned him. Giles just sat there watching her.

Buffy tried again. "I'm all right."

Giles smiled softly at her. "I'm sorry I'm such a wreck."

"I shouldn't have had Riley call you."

"No, I'm glad you did."

Buffy grinned at him. "No, you're not."

"I am. It certainly frightened me, but if you ever need to talk to me, I always want you to call." Giles took her hand and held it between his own, resting them on his thigh.

Buffy's stomach unexpectedly did a couple of flip-flops. "Well, next time maybe I'll wait until I know I'm better so I don't freak you out so much."

"Please don't. Please say you'll always call when you feel the need. Please."

Buffy nodded. "All right. Riley's cell phone came in handy."

"I shall get us both phones tomorrow. I've been meaning to do it for months now. If he hadn't been able to call the ambulance so quickly you might have been in serious trouble." Giles' eyes grew dark. "And if that knife had …" He turned his head away for a moment.

Then he lifted her hand and held it against his chest. What he really wanted to do was hold her, hold her tightly in his arms until all the fear left him. Giles just closed his eyes and moved her hand until he held it against his cheek, feeling her warmth. When he opened his eyes again it was to find Buffy staring at him, her eyes bright. She lifted her other hand, keeping track of her IV tubing, and ran it down the other side of his face.

Joyce walked in the room and she stopped, her eyes wide. They hadn't noticed her and she wasn't surprised. All they could see was each other. The touch they were sharing was so intimate, so lover-like, that Joyce almost felt as if she should leave, as if she were intruding.

Buffy again touched his face. "Giles, I'm all right." She had never seen her Watcher so undone.

Joyce coughed, making her presence known. They both turned and Buffy smiled. Giles tried to move, tried to let go of her hand but Buffy glared at him, and caught his hand again with her own. She hissed at him. "Stay."

Joyce walked into the room, her gaze moving from one to the other. Giles felt guilty for some reason and had trouble meeting her gaze. Buffy held a hand out to her. "Hey, Mom."

Joyce dropped a kiss on Buffy's forehead. "Hey, honey, are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

Joyce looked at Giles. "Is she really?"

Giles finally looked up at Joyce. "Yes, or she will be, at any rate."

Joyce frowned. "Is there something going on that I should know about?"

Giles' brow furrowed. "I beg your pardon?"

"Something about the two of you?" Joyce glared at them both.

Buffy scrunched her face up. "What are you talking about?"

Joyce stared at Buffy, trying to read her face. She finally decided that Buffy wasn't that good a liar and her perplexity was genuine. Joyce let out a laugh. "Never mind. Just a mother's nerves."

The doctor chose that moment to walk in. He looked at the paperwork. "Miss Summers?"

"That would be me."

"I'm Dr. Sanders. I've just come on. Dr. Johnson informs me that you were stabbed in the back?"

"Yup."

He looked at her puzzled and then walked over to study the x-ray displayed on the light box. "In the lung?" This couldn't possibly be right. She looked far too healthy.

"Yup." At his continued puzzled look she grinned. "I heal fast."

"Hmmm." He approached the bed then looked at Giles and Joyce. "I'm sorry, only one of you can stay while I'm examining her."

Giles stood. "I'll go."

Buffy shook her head. "You stay." She turned to her mom. "I need Giles to stay." At the angry look in her mom's eyes, Buffy gave her a pleading look. "Please, I'll explain later."

Joyce wasn't happy but she didn't want to make a scene. With a glare at Giles she stormed out of the room. Giles looked down at Buffy. "Buffy, are you sure?"

"Very."

Giles moved to get out of the physician's way. He was grateful that Buffy had chosen him to stay. He truly didn't want to let her out of his sight. Giles brought a chair over to the other side of the bed and sat down. Buffy put out her hand for him to hold.

The doctor had her roll to the side, facing Giles, so he could look at her back. His brow furrowed in confusion. "This happened tonight?"

Giles answered him. "Yes, less than an hour ago."

"Well, if I didn't know better I'd say this happened a couple of days ago. Your back doesn't even need stitches." He looked down at the chest tube. "We'll plan to keep you over night and order new films in the morning. If you continue to heal this quickly you can go home tomorrow." Shaking his head he left the room.

Buffy squeezed Giles' hand. "Feel better now?"

Giles let out a soft laugh. "Yes." He could see the wince as she settled back down on her back and he stood quickly to help her get adjusted. "Do you hurt?"

"Nah." At his frown she tried again. "Well, a little bit, where they put the chest tube in, but nothing I can't deal with, okay?"

Giles smiled down at her. "Yes, okay." He glanced at the door. "Did you ask me to stay so I could hear what the doctor said?"

Buffy nodded. "I didn't think you were believing me. I thought you might feel better if you heard it firsthand, rather than from my mom."

Giles brushed some hair off her cheek with the backs of his fingers. "Thank you for that, although I'm sorry that in the midst of your injury that you ended up taking care of me. I didn't mean to fall apart so completely."

Buffy smiled at him. "That's okay. I kinda liked it. It's nice to know you care so much."

"I do."

"And it's fun to be able to take care of you for change. You always take such good care of me."

"And quite an onerous task it is, indeed."

Buffy rolled her eyes. But she grinned at him, knowing that if he was being a smart aleck then he really was all right. "Maybe you better go get my mom now. She didn't look very happy when I kicked her out."

Giles grimaced. "Perhaps you're right." Giles let go of her hand and turned to leave.

"Giles?"

He turned back. "Yes?"

"Don't go far."

He smiled at her. "I won't."

End of Part 5