Author: Morgan R
Rating: G
Summary: Willow and Buffy have to take care of Angel.
Feedback: Please write me feedback- I love it more than life itself.
Disclaimer: Joss owns all. Even you. Grr Argh.
Note: Angel was unconscious for a few minutes in 'The Zeppo', so I'm saying this can happen as well.
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"I should never have let him come with me. It was too dangerous." Buffy paced around the mansion, and Willow could hear tears in her voice. "Buffy, it wasn't your fault. You were saving the world for the umpteenth time, and you did your best-"
"No! I should have been able to save him. If only I had been stronger..."
"Buffy, that is absolutely ridiculous. Stop it. At least he's alive. Well, not exactly alive, in that he is technically dead...okay, at least he's still undead, and, I'm not helping." She bit her tongue, and Buffy sank down beside her.
"Oh, Willow. Just look at him." He actually looked peaceful, for once.
"Buffy, if he's still here now, he will get better. We'll all help. Or, I will. I promise.
The two girls sat together, still unaccustomed to the thought of losing loved ones.
****
Willow and Buffy watched over Angel in shifts, making sure he was never unattended for more than a moment. They fed him weak blood broth, trying to keep his strength up. Still, he didn't wake, and they were both getting quietly hysterical. One day, as Willow sat by his still figure, Buffy entered in a panic.
"Buffy, what's wro-" "I have to go away. For three weeks! Giles says the Council requires it, I don't have a choice, I can't get out of it. They wouldn't get the whole 'I'm nursing my vampire boyfriend excuse.' I can't help you, Will..."
"Buffy!" Willow cut off her desperate ramblings. The blonde girl looked at her with frantic eyes.
"It...will...be...alright." "But I can't just leave you alone-"
"I'll be fine. Look, we have a vacation from school. My parents are going out of town, so they won't know I'm not at home. I can bring my laptop over, and we'll be alright. Giles will help, and do I need more reasons, or are you breathing again?" Buffy shook her head uncertainly. "You need me here..."
"I will survive. And so will Angel. Please, don't kill yourself with worrying. We'll be okay."
So Buffy went, although her departure was riddled with backward glances. And Willow moved into the mansion.
****
Willow didn't really mind her new nursing duties. She didn't have much to do, other than feeding Angel his blood occasionally. She would sit beside him on the bed for hours, surfing the net or reading. Sometimes she would even talk to his inert form, discussing every aspect of her life. He was a great listener, being comatose and all. He never interrupted or criticized, and he certainly never got bored. At one point, Willow realized that it was silly for her to sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor next to Angel's bed. After all, the bed was so large, and really, the guy was unconscious. So she slept beside him, and they (in the sense of 'they' meaning 'she') talked long into the night. The fourth night of her stay was uneventful, as it should have been, and Willow went to bed early. She fell asleep, her breath just reaching Angel's cheek, her red hair glowing against the black silk sheets.
That was when Angel woke up.
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"Where am I?" was his first thought. The last thing he remembered had been living as a homeless person in New York, and this was certainly no alley. He felt something on his cheek, looked over to his side and gasped.
Lying there was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Her copper hair shone through the darkness, and her pale skin was positively luminescent. She was so small and delicate, she looked like she might break if handled roughly. He noticed her flowered pajamas, and her tiny hands.
It was about that time that it hit him- they were lying in bed together.
And he didn't even know her name.
****