Title: Come Back To Me
Author: Author: Tracey G
Email: sissa_003@yahoo.com
Summary: Takes place during Surprise. What if Dalton hadn't attacked them at the docks and Angel had left on the cargo ship?
Spoilers: Surprise
Rating: PG-14
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em so don't sue 'cause ya won't get much. Also the transcript I used to write this with was made by AleXander.
Dedication & Thanks: I really have to dedicate this to my best bud Christina. She must have spend an hour trying to help me come up with a title. It defiantly wasn't easy 'cause I was *really* picky. Thanks for helping even though I didn't use the one I told you I was going to use.

Part 6


Angel stepped off of the boat and onto the dock, glad to finally have his feet back on solid ground. All he wanted to do now was to see Buffy. He has missed her so much. He looked around the docks, hoping to find her there waiting for him. But she wasn't.

"Angel?" Oz asked stepping out of the shadows.

Angel turned to face him. "Your Oz, right? What are you doing here?" His eyes widen with worry, "Where's Buffy? Did something happen to her?"

"I'm not exactly sure what happened. I just know that Buffy's been sick lately and they took her to the hospital."

"Is she okay?"

"I assume she is. Willow never told me anything specific, just to get you and take you to the hospital."

"Let's go then." The two of them turned and walked to Oz's van which was parked at the front of the docks.

A little while later they were all waiting upstairs near Buffy's assigned room, for her to be brought up. When they saw her coming they all approached the bed. She had an IV in her right hand. Her left forearm was wrapped in an elastic bandage.

"Buffy?" Joyce said softly when she reached the bed. "Hi, sweetheart."

"Hey, Buffy, we're all here," Xander told her.

"Hey," Buffy said in a groggy voice. "Here we are. It's all of we. Are we taking me home?" She tried to get up off the gurney.

"No, Buffy, you need to lie down, honey." Dr. Wilkinson pushed her back on the bed.

"Yeah," Buffy said, still groggy. "Lie at home. My bed is better than any bed that's... not my bed."

Dr. Wilkinson looked at Joyce. "She's still a little out of it." Joyce nodded in agreement.

"Shh!" Buffy pointed at Xander. "Hospital zone. No singing."

"She'll feel better after she's been here awhile." Dr. Wilkinson said.

Buffy looked up at her, her eyes wide with horror. "No!" She tried to get up off the gurney, again. "Lemme go. Look, I wanna go."

The orderly pushing the bed, two nurses and Dr. Wilkinson struggled to get her to lie back down. Buffy put up a fight.

"Buffy, what's wrong?" Willow was scared. She had never seen Buffy like before.

"I want Angel," Buffy whimpered.

"I'm right here" Angel said, running up to the bed.

Buffy's eyes lit up and smiled, then burst into tears. "Angel." She stopped fighting the doctors and threw her arms around his neck and sobbed.

"Shh. It's okay, Buffy. I'm here," he whispered in her ear, while rubbing her back.

"I wanna go home, Angel. Make them take me home," she cried into his shoulder.

"Buffy," he told her gently, "your sick. I know you want to go home, but you have to stay here until your better."

"No! No!" She pushed Angel away and glared at him. "Let me go!" She tried to get up again.

The doctors managed to get her pushed back down on the bed. "No, don't do that!" she yelled. "Stop it."

"Don't hurt her," Angel warned.

"Hold her steady!" the doctor ordered the orderlies. To Buffy she said, "This will help you relax." She placed a needle against Buffy's inside elbow and injected her with a sedative.

Xander threw Giles a concerned look. Angel winced and looked away.

"Ow," Buffy winced in pain. "No!"

When the doctor pulled the needle back out she laid back on the bed and breathed heavily. The sedative took effect and Buffy began to relax. One of the nurses checked her IV.

Joyce leaned in and stroked her hair. "Honey, listen..."

"I wanna go home."

"It's gonna be okay. I *promise*."

They started to wheel her away again.

"Please, don't make me stay here," she whimpered pitifully.

"It'll be okay, Buffy," Angel told her, grabbing her hand and squeezing it.

"Will you stay with me?"

Angel brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it. "Forever," he promised.

They all followed as Buffy was taken into her assigned room. They wait outside while the doctors get her settled in. The door closed and Angel looked in through the narrow window.

"Well, that was a new experience. I'm not used to seeing Buffy scared like that." Xander said breaking the silence.

"Yeah, she just hates hospitals. Always has. Nobody knows why, I don't even think she does." Joyce told them.

"Wow, that's odd. Poor Buffy." Willow frowned.

Joyce looked through the window at Buffy. "Well, it looks like she's sleeping. I should go call her father."

"Um, I-I think there's a phone...." Giles went with her to show here where the phone was.

Once Joyce was out of earshot Angel asked, "What really happened to her?"

"She's been sick with the flu. We tried to make her stay home, but you know how stubborn she is," Willow told him.

Angel nodded.

"Anyway, she snuck out to patrol before meeting you at the docks which, by the way, we told her we would do. She met up with Spike in the graveyard. He would have won that fight if we hadn't been there." Willow finished.

"Spike. I should have known." Angel silently cursed the vampire he had sired years ago. "He's probably pissed about the judge."

"You don't think he'll attack her here, do you?" Xander asked.

"I don't know," Angel replied. "Someone should keep watch just in case."

"Xander and I will watch for Spike," Cordelia volunteered. "You go see Buffy."

"Wow," Willow said in shock. "Cordelia's *volunteering* to do something nice."

"Yeah, well, there's a first time for everything.," she snapped, grabbing Xander's hand and dragging him down the hall.

Willow laughed as she watched them go.

"I'm going to go see Buffy now," Angel told her as he turned and started walking down the in the direction of Buffy's room.

"Tell her, I'll see her tomorrow after school," Willow called after him. Willow feeling Oz grab her hand turned to smile at him.

"Wanna grab a coffee in the cafeteria?" he asked.

She nodded and they started walking toward the cafeteria.




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