Xander picked up his jacket and keys from the table beside the door, then made his way back into the bedroom. He stopped at the doorway, just looking at the sight he prayed he'd never get used to. There, spread out on the bed, looking as innocent as a child, lay Spike.
Xander smiled as he looked at him, skin glowing in the meager light from the hallway that fell in the dark room. He knew he would never get over how beautiful this vampire was, or the person who, three years ago, Xander wouldn't have believed he could be. Two years of rooming together, and one of sharing the same bed, and Xander still couldn't believe it sometimes. Couldn't believe how much this "Big Bad" vampire loved him, and proved it. Couldn't believe how strongly and surely he loved Spike in return. He wouldn't have traded it for all the white picket fences, dogs or 2.3 kids, of a normal life. He was quite happy with this one.
Quietly, Xander crept over to the bed and knelt on it. "Spike." Xander whispered, leaning closer to the vampire's ear, placing a soft kiss on the lobe. "Hey, Spike, wake up a minute, lover." Xander kissed his jaw.
Spike mumbled and shifted in the bed. "Nummy, 'ts too early. Go back to sleep." Spike wrapped his arm around Xander's waist and pulled him back to the bed.
Xander laughed, and placed a kiss on Spike's lips. "Spikey, I have to go. Remember, I'm supposed to meet Willow and Buffy for lunch."
"No, sleep." Spike said, kissing Xander deeply, hoping to distract him in to coming back to bed.
Xander gave in to the kiss for a few moments, but pulled back before his resolve broke. "Spike, you know we do this every other Saturday. I have to go or I'm going to be late. I'll be back in a couple of hours though. Told you we were going to spend the night in, just the two of us for our anniversary." Xander hugged Spike to him, still stunned that they'd made it a year. A year, through friends who didn't understand, but finally accepted, a Sire who thought they were both insane, and parents disowning the child they never paid attention to anyway. It'd been the best year of Xander's life.
With a put upon sigh, Spike opened his eyes and gazed blearily at Xander through the sleepy haze. "Promise?"
"You know it. Nothing short of the world ending could stop it." Xander said with a smile, kissing Spike's lips lightly.
"Damn demons had better take a night off, 's all I got to say. Wake me when ya get back, and we'll start celebrating right." Spike said, sneaking in a nip to Xander's neck.
"You know it, Blondie. I'll be back soon. Go back to sleep." Another kiss. "Love you."
"Mmm�.Love you, too, Nummy." Spike replied, already half asleep again.
Xander grinned at him and made his way out of the apartment.
~*~
"So, he told me, he was allergic to dust. Like I was supposed to care what he was allergic to as a human. So, I said to him, 'Ya better get a good anti-histamine, because you and dust are about to get really intimate." Buffy exclaimed, her and Willow bursting into laughter. Xander just looked at them. He knew lame jokes, hell, he was the king of the lame joke, but that was pathetic. He didn't see where it was witty at all.
"So�I got another promotion at work. I'm site foreman now." Xander declared happily.
Willow squealed happily. She didn't know what a site foreman did exactly, but Xander was obviously happy about it, and it was a promotion, so it had to be of the extreme good. "Xander, that's great! Congrats!" she nearly choked him with a hug.
"Thanks, Wills, but oxygen is good too." Xander choked out, laughing when Willow pulled back, looking sorry.
"That's wonderful news, Xander. The Blond Menace know about it yet?" Buffy asked, trying to keep her disapproval out of her voice, even now. She was fine with Spike now being part of the gang. She just wasn't too sure, still, about him and Xander dating. She'd been there, and she knew it could only end badly.
"Yup, we had our own little party last night." Xander said with a grin, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"Xander!" Willow admonished, blushing, but giggling the entire time. "Well, as fun as this is. I have to get to work. Can you give us a ride, Xander?"
"You know it. Xander's Taxi at your service." Xander said with a laugh. The trio walked to the car, laughing and joking, for once enjoying what was left of their all too short youth. Seat belts securely fastened, Xander pulled out of the parking lot.
He didn't see the semi-truck that came barreling around the corner until it was too late.
~*~
Spike growled at the noise encroaching on his sleep. Grumbling, Spike crawled out of bed, and shimmied into his jeans. "What's the matter, Pet? Forget your keys again?" Spike yelled as he walked across the living room, rubbing a hand over his hair. The knocking on the door continued, stronger than before.
"Sheesh, pet. I'm coming." Spike muttered as he unlocked the dead bolt then the doorknob. "What's the rush? Ya act like Satan's on yer tail or som�" Spike cut off when he saw Giles on the other side of the door. "Ripper? What are you doing here? Ya know Xander's with the girls."
Spike stepped back as Giles walked into the room. Only then did he notice his rumpled appearance. "I know, Spike. There was�" Giles sighed. He'd been trying to block it from his mind until they found out more information, but he didn't seem to be able to do it. And he wasn't at all sure how Spike was going to react. Taking a deep breath, Giles turned to Spike, looking him at him with tear filled eyes. "There's been an accident. We have to go to the hospital."
Spike stood there, dumbstruck. "How bad is it? We got to go pick them up?"
"No, Spike. It was bad. Very bad. Xander's in surgery." Giles told him, trying to be as gentle as possible, while all the time afraid for the boy he thought of as a son.
Spike didn't realize he'd slumped to the floor.
~*~
There were only a few people milling around the waiting room when Giles and Spike arrived. Immediately, they spotted Buffy and Willow in the corner. Tara had come as soon as she'd heard from the hospital. All three stood up as Spike and Giles approached.
"How is he?" Spike asked, his voice small, as if afraid of what the answer would be.
Willow sniffled a little, wiping her eyes before taking a deep breath. "We don't know anything yet. We've only been here a few minutes. We came up as soon as they let us out of the ER. No one has come in yet. He's not been in there long, I'm sure he's going to be just fine."
Spike nodded absently, sitting down next to where Willow had been sitting when they'd come in. "What happened?" he asked, looking up at Willow.
Willow sat back down and took Spike's hand in hers. "We were leaving the restaurant. You know how careful a driver he is. There was nothing there. Then all of a sudden, there was this�truck. The police said it'd lost its brakes. It came around the corner, and we didn't have time to get out of the way. It hit us on the driver's side. I don't remember too much after that."
Spike nodded again, looking closer at Willow and then Buffy. "How're you guys? You ok?"
"Yeah, Spike. We're fine. I got a few bruised ribs and a sprained knee, but Slayer healing will take care of that in a day or two. Willow was a little banged up, but nothing serious." Buffy said, sitting on Spike's other side. She may not agree with their relationship, but she did know they loved each other.
"Good. That's good. You guys are ok. That'll make Xander feel better." Spike gave them a small smile. Holding both Willow and Buffy's hand, Giles and Tara silently giving their support, Spike sat back and waited.
~*~
Several hours later found Giles pacing the waiting room floor, Willow curled up, asleep against Tara, Buffy shifting with nerves and restlessness, Spike nearly thrumming with energy, and still no word from the doctor.
"Wonder what's taking them so bloody long." Spike muttered, scrubbing a hand through his hair for the millionth time since he and Giles had arrived at the hospital.
"I wish I knew, Spike. Just try and be patient. He'll be alright. You know he bounces back from anything." Giles tried to reassure him.
"Yeah. He's like one o' them Weebles. Remember from when ya was younger, Rupert. 'Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down'. Bloody stupid toy, but it was true." Spike said, giving a snort.
Giles ghosted a smile. "Never thought of Xander as a Weeble, but I suppose it fits."
Spike gave a shadowed smile back to him.
"Mr. Rupert Giles?" asked a young looking man in scrubs, who'd come through the door unnoticed.
Giles rushed over to him, Spike and the girls right behind him. "I'm Rupert Giles. And this," Giles laid a hand on Spike's shoulder, bringing him up beside him, "is William, Xander's lover. How is he? Xander, I mean. Is he going to be ok?"
"Please, let's sit down." The man said, leading them over to some chairs. The waiting room was empty now. Once every one was seated, the doctor sat across from them. "Now, I'm only an intern, and I don't know the total extent of the injuries to Mr. Harris. I was sent to give you an update on the surgery. He's still under right now, but they should be finishing up shortly."
"Still in surgery? But, it's been nearly five hours. What's wrong with him?" Willow asked, tears filling her eyes. Spike reached over and grabbed her hand, needing the support as much as she did.
The intern cleared his throat. "Like I said, I don't know the full extent of his injuries, but I can at least tell you what they're doing in surgery. Mr. Harris,"
"Xander." Spike interrupted him. "He hates being called Mr. Harris. Reminds him of his father."
The intern smiled at him. "Xander has extensive damage to his left leg and hip. The femur in his left leg was nearly completely crushed in the accident. They're having to reconstruct it. His hip, on the same side, was broken and dislocated. Now, those injuries would be bad regardless. They would limit his activities and would require physical therapy in order for him to regain full use of his left leg again. However, there were further complications. Before we were able to operate on his leg, we had to operate on his lower back. In the accident, the lower part of his spine was crushed. Now, we don't know for certain yet, the surgery could have fixed the damage, there is the very real and probable fact that Xander will no longer have the use of his legs." The intern held up a hand to forestall any questions or outbursts. "But, like I said, with the surgery, or future surgeries, it may be corrected. We'll just have to wait until the swelling has gone down, and his leg and hip are recovering to be sure. Right now, it's a wait and see situation."
They sat there, stunned, trying to absorb the information. No one knew how to react, what to feel. Xander? Paralyzed? It wasn't possible. It was unthinkable.
The doctor cleared his throat. "I have to get back to surgery, but someone will come in to fill you in on Xander's progress as soon as the surgery is over. It shouldn't be much longer. There's a nurse's station right outside. If you need anything, please ask." With that the intern left them to their thoughts.
"Oh my God." Willow whispered, tears leaking from her eyes as soon as the doctor left. "This can't be real. This isn't happening." Her sobs started in earnest then. Tara, crying herself, took Willow over to a corner, to try and comfort her distraught girlfriend.
Buffy stood up, wiping tears from her eyes. "I need to go call Dawn. I sent a neighbor over to stay with her. I'm sure she's climbing the walls wondering what's happening. I'll see if the neighbor can't bring her up here." With that, she left down the hall, heading for the phone.
Giles couldn't wrap his mind around it. Xander was the most alive person he knew. The most active and energetic person he'd ever seen. And that energy was contagious. He couldn't imagine that they'd have to live without it. Couldn't get his brain to accept that Xander would, more likely than not, never walk again. Never run. Never use his legs. It was�Giles looked to the silent man beside him.
Spike sat there, staring straight ahead of him. Not blinking. Not moving. Just staring.
"Spike? Are you alright?" Giles asked, silently berating himself the stupidity of the question.
For a minute, Spike just sat there. Then he turned his head to look at Giles, a smile on his face. "You know what today is?" Spike asked. Seeing the confusion to the question on Giles' face, he chuckled. "Today is our one year anniversary. We got our heads out of our asses and looked around a year ago today. We had this whole thing planned out for today."
Giles felt tears in his eyes hearing that. This was not the way Xander's life was supposed to go. "What did you two have planned?" Giles asked, cursing the lump in his throat.
Spike did smile then. "First, we were going to spend most of the afternoon in bed." He laughed. "Then we were gonna take a picnic dinner up to the roof of the apartment building. That's our favorite place, ya know. Whenever we want some time to just be us, no interruptions, we go up there. Or when one of us needs to think, that's where we go. We were gonna have this romantic candle lit dinner up there tonight. It's supposed to be clear. We'd be able to see the stars for miles and miles. He told me this morning that nothing short of the end of the world would stop us from celebrating the way we planned." Tears filled Spike's eyes. "If he can't use his legs, he won't go up there anymore. He wouldn't be able to walk up the stairs to the roof. And you and I both know he'd never let me carry him. We're going to have to move, too, if he's going to be in a wheelchair for a long time. No elevators in the building. Even if he does walk again, he's going to have to get another job. He won't be able to work construction anymore. You and I both know that. Did you know he got a promotion yesterday? He was given his own crew and everything. He was right, the end of the world canceled our plans. The end of HIS world." Spike turned back to look Giles in the eye, ignore the tears that ran down both their faces. "This is gonna kill him, Rupert. He's not going to survive it if he can't do everything he used to. It's gonna kill him, and I can't stand to lose him. I can't lose him." Spike sobbed.
Giles didn't even think, just pulled Spike into his arms, rocking the sobbing vampire, offering what little comfort he could despite his own tears and fears.