B/S Fan Fiction

A Tale of Two Hearts

By A.Price

"Yes, he wants some information I have. I want him to get Buffy to a hospital and I'll give him what he wants. Tell him and hurry. Please!" He sounded desperate even to himself but he had to get Buffy help.

Maralee hurried to find Quentin. He was in the kitchen, "Uncle Quentin, the vampire wants to talk to you, something about a deal? He'll give you information if you get Buffy to a hospital."

Quentin Travers grinned at his neice, "I knew she would come in handy."

"You'll do it, you'll let her go to the hospital?" Maralee pleaded with her uncle.

"Let's see what William has to say, then I will make my decision about Buffy's fate."

The older man went downstairs to talk to his captive, he was finally going to get what he wanted.

Maralee stood nervously by the door to the basement, she knew better then to follow her uncle yet she wanted to know what was going on down there.

James came in the back door with an arm full of groceries startling her. She jumped and turned to face him. "What's wrong, Maralee?"

"Spike is going to make a deal with Uncle Quentin, he wants Buffy to get to a hospital. I'm not sure what price Spike will have to pay for that." Maralee hung her head, "We should have never been involved in this, if she dies, her blood is on our hands as surely as it is on Uncle Quentin's."

"She won't die, I have a feeling Spike will do anything to prevent that." James sighed as he sat the groceries on the table.

****

"William, my niece gave me your message." Quentin spoke through the small food pass door.

"Yes, you win. I'll talk, but I want Buffy out of here. Take her to a hospital." Spike spoke matter of factly, "That's the deal."

"I believe I can do that William. I'll tell Maralee to get Buffy ready to leave. We'll talk tomorrow." Quentin closed the door and walked back upstairs.

"Well?" Maralee asked as her Uncle entered the kitchen.

"I would like for you to go get Buffy ready to leave. Wrap her blanket around her and help James load her in the van." Quentin walked to the coffee pot and retrieved a mug from the cabinet.

"Thank you, Uncle Quentin." Maralee sighed with relief.

"Maralee," Quentin called after her.

"Yes sir." She answered.

"Tell Buffy that her vampire is dead. His dust is in the cell beside her." Quentin smiled wickedly over the edge of his mug.

Maralee and James' face's both fell, "Why?" They asked in unison.

"Because he was a vampire, do I need more reason then that?"

***

"I can't believe he's gone. Buffy will be so upset." Maralee felt a lump in her throat.

"Maybe it's better this way, the torture will stop now." James sighed as he took Maralee's hand in his and gave it a squeeze. He had grown fond of the vampire and had felt for him everytime Quentin decided to "experiment."

"Buffy, Buffy." Maralee opened the full door to the cell and walked in to the damp room, she kneeled beside the cot. Buffy was pale and her breathing was now very shallow, she placed her hand on to the sick girls forehead, she was burning with fever.

Buffy's eyes opened at the touch on her forehead, "Maralee?"

"Yes, it's me and we are going to get you some help." Maralee began to wrap the blanket tightly around Buffy.

"Help? Spike needs help...Oh...I have something for him.....please give him this." Buffy pulled the note from under the pillow on the cot and handed it to Maralee.

Maralee took the note and handed it to James. He put it in his jacket pocket and helped Maralee with Buffy, she was so light he picked her up without any trouble.

"Spike can go to? Gotta help Spike." Buffy floated in and out of conciousness as James loaded her into the van. Maralee climbed into the back of the van with her. She noticed her uncle talking giving James instructions as he climbed into the van.

"What did he want?" She asked as she wiped Buffy's sweaty brow with a clean rag from the van.

"He says you have to tell her the vampire is dead and he gave me the address to drop her off at." He started the van and pulled out of the driveway.

"The hospital right?"

"No, we are to drop her off at her home, it's actually only a couple of blocks away. Maralee he said to leave her in the yard." James shuddered at the careless way Quentin had phrased his instructions, "Just drop her in the yard."

"Where is Spike?" Buffy asked in a lucid moment as she realized she was no longer in the cell.

"Buffy, he's gone." Maralee replied sadly.

"Gone, he got out too?" A delirious smile crossed Buffy's face as she tried to fight for conciousness.

"No, Buffy, he's dead. I'm so sorry." Maralee bit her lip to keep her own tears from falling.

"No.....he can't be." Buffy argued before losing her fight and sinking back into darkness.

They pulled up to the house on Revello Drive and James opened the van door, the house was dark, he picked Buffy up and walked towards the front porch, there was no way he could leave her lying in the yard. Maralee followed him as he lay his bundle down gently on the front porch, he watched as Maralee rang the doorbell, they both ran back to the van and left hoping she would be okay.

"We are leaving as soon as we can." James told her , steely determination in his voice.

"Good, I can't stay with that man for a moment longer then I have to, family or not." She replied as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

******

Travers was a happy man, he was going to get to the bottom of what happened last summer. He was going to find out the big secret that Rupert Giles was so intent to keep from him. And in the end he had been the one to undo that rebellious slayer, he had no problem letting Buffy go, he was sure she was so far gone that she would never survive the night. And this time.....this time it wasn't a magical death, she wouldn't be coming back.

James and Maralee made their plans to escape as they drove home, if all went well they would be out of the house in a couple of days.

Her uncle was waiting in the kitchen for them, "Did you get her delivered?"

"Yes sir." James nodded.

"Did you deliver the message?" He directed this towards Maralee.

"Yes, I did, she knows. Now I"m going to bed. Goodnight."

Quentin watched as his neice left the room, "James come with me."

James followed him down to the cell, Quentin unlocked the cell door to show Spike sleeping fitfully. He woke up and stared at the open door, "Did you get her to the hospital?" Spike asked sitting up.

"Yes, we got her out of here and to help. I'll be back to finish your part of the deal in the morning." Quentin nodded to James, "Could you gather up those mugs and double check the locks."

"Yes sir." James watched that Quentin was gone before he fished the note from his coat pocket. "This is for you, from Buffy." He handed the note to Spike and gathered up the used mugs, locking the door behind him he left Spike to read his note.

Spike sat on the cot staring at the folded paper as if it might bite him. Finally he gently unfolded it as if he were unwrapping a special gift. He began to read it slowy savoring the feminine curve of her handwriting, the way she wrote his name, he smiled as he read the words "I forgive you", the sweetest words he had ever read, until the next paragraph when he read the "I LOVE YOU" If he had a working heart it would have skipped several beats, he had to smile at the next line she must have known he would have to reread that line over and over. He folded his treasure and put it under his pillow. With this kind of armor he could face any thing Travers through at him in the mornig. She loves me,,,,she loves me. Those were the his last thoughts as he fell asleep.

""""

"The doorbell, Xander." Anya nudged him, they were still staying with Dawn, until the Buffy situation could be solved. To be honest they were sure Buffy wasn't coming back but they didn't want to tell Dawn they had given up hope.

"I'll get it." He threw on a pair of sweatpants and groggily went down the steps bumping into Dawn in the foyer.

"Who would be here at this time of morning?" She asked yawning as Xander cautioulsy opened the front door. "Dawn!!! Call 911 now."

"What is it?" Dawn tried to get out the door.

"It's Buffy, Dawn. Go call now." Xander knelt beside Buffy on the front porch. He was afraid to move her. She was very pale and her breathing was irregular, she was trying to cough but didn't seem to have the energy.

Dawn made the call and joined Xander on the porch. "Is she okay?" Dawn took Buffy's hand in hers it was hot, she was burning up and making funny noises when she breathed.

Anya heard the siren and came downstairs, "Buffy? Whats wrong with her?"

"I don't know Anya, she's sick, very sick. Lets let the paramedics do their job." He moved back while the paramedics knelt next to Buffy asking questions that Xander tried to answer.

They put an oxygen mask on her pale face and started an iv before taking her to the hospital. Xander, Anya and Dawn quickly dressed and followed the ambulance.

****

The ER was surprisingly empty for a Sunnydale hospital. Xander had gone to call Giles and let him know Buffy had been found, the watcher had been in constant contact since her dissappearance, but his mother was ill and he couldn't leave her. Anya and Dawn sat in the waiting room on a small couch, Dawn curled up close to Anya.

"Buffy is very strong, whatever is wrong she'll fight it." Anya tried to be comforting.

"Giles wants me to call back when we know something." Xander told them as he sat down across from them.

"I need to talk to who ever found Ms. Summers." The doctor walked into the waiting room.

"That would be me, " Xander stood, "What do you need to know?"

The doctor seemed almost angry, "I want to know why that poor girl was left so long in this condition! She has pneumonia, a severe case, I think she'll be okay if the antibiotics can do thier job. I want to know how this happened though."

"Well, I was working out of town and her sister," Xander pointed at Dawn was visiting her Dad in LA."

"My girlfriend stayed here and the last time she saw Buffy she said something about taking a vacation maybe hiking in the woods. She wanted to spend some time alone. We were beginning to worry, when she showed up last night, I can only guess she got sick and then got to weak to get back home." The lie rolled off Xander's tongue naturally.

"I guess we'll know more when she regains conciousness. Would you like to see her?" The doctor asked as he motioned for them to follow him Buffy's room.

Buffy lie on the hospital bed with an IV in her arm, under a plastic oxygen tent. She looked like she had been through the wringer, her hair lay damp against he forehead and she was very pale.

"We've cleaned her up and she is being rehydrated with the IV and also recieving some strong antibiotics intraveneoulsy. We have her under the oxygen tent to help her breathing. As I said before I think she will be okay, but this first twenty-four hours is critical, the fever needs to come down and the antibiotics have to start killing the infection. We'll know more by tomorrow. You can stay a few minutes in the room but then I have to ask you to leave. She needs her rest." The doctor nodded his head at them and left the room.

"She looks so small." Dawn went to stand closer to her sister's side, tears filled her eyes."What do you think happened?"

"I don't know, Dawn. But she's going to be okay, don't worry." Xander looked at his friend lying so still under the plastic tent. He was going to find out who or what was responsible for this.

"It's time for you to go now." A nurse popped her head in the door.

"Bye, Buffy. We'll be back." Dawn blew her sister a kiss as Anya and Xander led her out of the room, "I don't want to leave the hospital." She told them as they found another waiting room.

"We'll stay with you." Anya told her as they found a fold out chair for Dawn to get comfortbable in.

Xander went to call Giles with the Doctor's report.

*****

Buffy's head was filled with strange dreams, Spike was back and he wanted to tell her something important but they kept getting interuppted and then she beat Spike up. No, no....Buffy didn't do that.....no someone else beat him up this time, they had cut his chest. Spike was telling her "I went to Africa" And then someone put her in a van, she was sick.....it hurt to breathe. Then something bad, the girl told her something bad.

Buffy's eyes jerked open and she panicked as she realized she was inside of a plastic tent thingie, her chest still hurt but the breathing was a little easier, her hand had an iv in it, she looked around the room - she was in a hospital. She sighed with relief she was safe. Her relief soon turned to grief as she realized what Maralee had told her before she passed out. Spike was dead. He was really gone, how ironic she thought she was the one who was going to die when she wrote him the note confessing her love. Now he was gone, tears rolled down her cheeks as she wondered if he had received the note, if he had died knowing she loved him.

"Your awake. Good. I'll tell the doctor." The nurse took Buffy's temperature and blood pressure, "Don't be upset, crying isn't good for you in the shape your in, your safe now."

"How do you feel, Buffy?" The doctor asked as he read her chart, "Your temperature is down some already that's good news."

The doctor lifted the tent so Buffy could hear him better, "Your friends found you on your porch unconcious, you have pneumonia, thats why your in the tent, it helps you breath easier and we are giving you fluids and antibiotics, I'd like to know how you let yourself get this sick. Do you remember anything?"

Buffy shook her head tears still falling, " I feel a little better, but I'm sorry I don't remember anything. My friends.....can I see them?"

"Yes, but you need to calm down, stress isn't good for you right now." The doctor patted her arm and put the tent back down.

"You have fifteen minutes and if she gets upset you must leave. She's been through too much." Doctor Grant warned them as he let Dawn and the others in.

"Buffy!" Dawn cried out as the doctor lifted the tent again and then left the room. She rushed to the bedside, "I want to hug you, but I don't want to hurt you." She settled for holding Buffy's hand tightly in hers.

"I'm sorry I worried you." Buffy tried to smile but her heart wasn't in it.

"Buffy, I don't want to push but can you tell us where you were?" Xander asked from the other side of the bed.

" It started when Spike ....." She stopped midsentence to cough, but before she could start talking again, Xander cut her off.

"Spike! I knew he had something to do with this. I'll kill him." Xander balled his fists at his side.

"Spike didn't do this.. he was caught with me.." Buffy's eyes filled with tears again, "And you can't kill him....." Her voice dropped to an almost whisper as she choked out the words, "Whoever was holding us has already done that." Buffy's breathing became labored again as she fought her sobs.

"You have to leave now." A nurse told them when she came to check on Buffy, "You can come back tomorrow when she's calm." The nurse settled Buffy back under the oxygen tent and checked her pulse.

"Buffy .....I..I'm sorry." Xander told her as the nurse shooed them out of the room.

"You okay, Dawn?" Anya asked as they walked back to the waiting room.

Dawn shook her head as she sat down, "I can't believe he's dead."

Dr. Grant came in and gave Buffy an injection to calm her and help her sleep. She fell asleep remembering Spike's words to her,,,,"Be strong." I'm trying Spike, I really am."