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No Rest For the Wicked by SMS by slaymesoftly
 
Chapter Fourteen
 
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Chapter Fourteen
 
Hours later, when the surgeon returned, pulling off his mask and looking around the room for Buffy, she leapt to her feet to face him.  He gave her a reassuring smile and nodded.
 
“You mother came through like champ. We got it all out, and, although I’ll send it to the lab for testing of course, it does not appear to be malignant. Mrs. Summers is in the recovery room right now and will be moved to ICU for the rest of this afternoon and tonight.  Assuming all goes well, she’ll be in a room of her own by late morning, and able to go home in a day or so.
 
“I apologize for the delay in getting to you. One of our doctors had an unfortunate accident, and I was short handed in the operating room.” If he noticed the panicky expressions on anyone’s face, he didn’t say so.
 
He looked around the room, his gaze lingering on Spike who hadn’t moved from where he was, eyes shut and head against the wall.  Buffy had a bad moment when the doctor’s eyes narrowed, and she realized that Spike was looking very much like a dead man just then. Dr Rogers finally finished his circuit of the room and said, “Only immediate family may go into the ICU unit to see Mrs. Summers this afternoon and evening. And then only one at a time and for a limited visit. I’m afraid the rest of you will have to wait to see her until she is in a regular hospital room.”
 
Everyone except Dawn and Spike stood up and began to file out after hugging Buffy and telling her to call them as soon as she’d talked to Joyce.  When they’d left, the doctor, who was leaning against the wall and still staring at Spike, turned and raised one eyebrow at Buffy.
 
“That gentleman is either a very heavy sleeper, or he is in as bad a condition as he seems.  Would you like me to take a look at him? Just to be sure he isn’t—”
 
“He’s fine,” Buffy said quickly. “I mean, he isn’t fine exactly, but he’s not as... not fine... as he looks.” She pulled on Spike’s arm. “Stand up, Spike, and show the man you aren’t really dead.”  When there was no reaction, she fell back into the seat beside him, forgetting momentarily that Dr. Rogers was still in the room.
 
“Spike? Talk to me. Mom’s going to be fine... We can see her in a little while. You need to open your eyes. Please open your eyes...”
 
Before she could stop him, the doctor was beside her, putting a finger to the side of Spike’s neck. He frowned when he noticed the blood that had pooled in one ear and the blood soaked shirt exposed when he opened Spike’s coat to use his stethoscope. 
 
“Ms. Summers....” he started.
 
“I know,” she said. “You think he’s dead. But he isn’t dead. Really he isn’t. Because if he was he’d be....” Deciding “dust” probably wasn’t the right word to use, she let her voice trail off.  Rather than the horror and disbelief she’d expected, the doctor gave a heavy sigh.
 
“Ms Summers, I’ve been in Sunnydale for several years now. And at one time, I worked closely with... well, let’s just say I know what your friend here is, and I can guess what happened to him. It’s very possible that his brain has been seriously damaged by whatever has made the chip fire this hard.”
 
He gave a small smile when Buffy and Dawn gasped, then held up a reassuring hand when Buffy got between him and Spike.
 
“You don’t touch him!” she said, every inch the Slayer. Dr. Rogers flinched back but stood his ground.
 
“I don’t want to hurt him, Ms. Summers. Outcomes like this,” he gestured to Spike’s blood soaked shirt, “are why I quit working for the Initiative. I did not go to medical school to become someone who maims and tortures sentient beings.”  He looked into her narrowed eyes and said, “I’m not sure why you have what is obviously one of our former subjects here with you— Is...was... he a family member?” When she didn’t answer, he continued. “But he has clearly suffered some major damage. It would be in his best interest for you to allow me to remove whatever is left of his chip. At this point, it is probably almost burnt out anyway, and if it should develop a short—”
 
“Do it!” Dawn’s outburst startled both the doctor and Buffy.
 
“Is he going to be all right?” Buffy’s demeanor changed again, from bodyguard to anxious girl.
 
“I don’t know,” he admitted honestly. “I’m not sure what to do to make him better. That was never part of our... experimenting.” He made a face and shuddered. “I would assume with proper care, and replacement of the blood he’s obviously lost, he will come to. However, I’ve no idea how much or what kind of brain damage he may have suffered. A... human... man would probably be a vegetable, if not dead.”
 
“Nothin’ wrong with my brain. Be fine if my bloody head stops trying to explode....” Spike’s weak voice focused all the attention back on his face, which was twisted with anguish.
 
“He wants to take your chip out,” Buffy said. “That’s what’s hurting you.”
 
Spike opened one bloodshot eye to gaze at Buffy’s conflicted expression. “Your decision, Slayer. But if it’s no, then go ahead and stake me. Can’t live like this.” He closed his eye again and became immobile.
 
“Are you being a drama queen?” she asked, almost hopefully. He started to shake his head, wincing and stopping immediately.
 
“Serious, love. Don’t want to leave you, or your mum and the Bit, but I’m no use to you like this anyway.  Either you trust me, or you don’t.”
 
Buffy bit her lip in indecision, while Dawn glared at her.  “Buffy! You know he isn’t going to hurt us!”
 
“It’s not us I have to worry about,” Buffy said, the full weight of the world making her shoulders slump. 
 
Dr. Rogers touched her gently on the shoulder. “I’m going to go clean up and check on your mother again,” he said. “Have me paged if and when you decide. I can probably do it right here. It won’t take long. If you decide not to let me remove it, I can give you some meds that will ease the pain until you get him... wherever he lives. But they won’t last long,” he warned. “That chip isn’t going to stop firing until it burns completely out.”
 
Buffy slumped into the chair beside Spike, her hand hovering over his cheek and tears in her eyes.
 
“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered.
 
“Chip didn’t make me fall in love with you,” he whispered back, the effort he was making clear on his face. “Did that on my own. Long time ago.”
 
“But you don’t have a soul!” she almost wailed, although very quietly.
 
“Have a conscience,” he said. “And I have you...” His voice trailed off as he seemed to lose consciousness again.
 
“Buffy!” Dawn’s voice contained all the terror of a young girl who had almost lost her mother and was now watching someone else she cared about seem to slip away right in front of her.
 
Buffy put her hand on Spike’s, which barely twitched under it. She brought it to her cheek and allowed her tears to flow over his fingers while she kissed his palm.
 
“Could really use those pain meds....”His voice was barely audible and his entire body shivered. 
 
Buffy leapt to her feet and ran to the phone, telling the hospital operator that she needed to have Dr. Rogers paged immediately. She told them he needed to return to the OR waiting room, hung up and ran back to Spike’s side, clutching his hand again.
 
“Hold on, Spike.  Just hold on. We’re going to fix it. I promise you.”
 
“Know you will, love.” He stopped and gasped, trembling all over. “Got faith in you to do the right thing – whatever it turns out to be....”
 
XXXXXXXXXX
 
 
The wait for the doctor to return seemed interminable to the two sisters watching Spike’s body being racked with pain that was now coming in waves. In realty, he was back very quickly, carrying a tray full of implements. He gave Buffy a questioning gaze as he pointed to a scalpel and a syringe full of fluid.
 
“Take it out,” she said, pointing at the scalpel. “Now.”
 
He nodded and gestured for her to sit down. “Put his head on your lap and try to hold him still.”
 
Buffy did as she was told, whispering to Spike to try to control his spasms and promising him he would be better soon.  True to his word, Dr. Rogers took no time to cut into Spike’s scalp and expose the area over the chip. Picking up a hand-size battery-powered saw, he opened a space in Spike’s skull and held it open with small spreaders.
 
Dawn’s face turned green and she stood up, mumbling, “I’ll just be waiting out... here...” as she went into the hall.
 
Dr. Rogers glanced up at Buffy, asking, “Are you all right? We can take this to a treatment room...”
 
“I’m fine,” she said. “Just get that dammed thing out of him.”
 
With a nod, he used tiny, fine tools to disconnect a small chip from Spike’s brain. After severing the connecting wires, he closed the skull back up and sewed the scalp over the area.
 
“Those wires won’t hurt him now that they’re not connected to the chip, and he’s... what he is... so infection isn’t a worry.  He should take it easy for a few days until that bone heals closed....”
 
Buffy gave a shaky laugh. “Maybe he and Mom can share a room.”
 
Dr. Rogers smiled. “I’m afraid he’d have the nurses in a panic every time one of them realized his heart wasn’t beating.  Does he have a safe place to recover?”
 
“I’ll take him home with me,” Buffy said.  “I’ll leave Dawn here to see mom first, and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
 
Dawn came back into the room. “I called Giles,” she said. “He’s going to come drive you home.”
 
“Did you tell him...?”
 
“Nope. Just said Spike couldn’t walk and you needed to get him out of here.”
 
“You’re smarter than you look,” Buffy said with a grateful smile.
 
“And don’t you forget it!”  Dawn turned on the room TV and settled down to wait until she could see her mother.
 
“Thank you, Doctor,” Buffy said. “For everything.”
 
“My pleasure, Ms. Summers.”  He left the room, carrying his instruments.
 
 
XXXXXXXX
 
 
By the time Giles arrived, Spike was conscious enough to lean on him and Buffy as they supported him out of the hospital. Using a side entrance that was shaded from the now-setting sun, Buffy held Spike up while Giles went to get his car.  They had to use his coat to cover Spike’s head to get him from the car onto the shaded front porch of the house, but were soon inside. Buffy helped Spike stretch out on the couch while Giles pulled the drapes closed. He frowned when he turned around and saw Buffy placing a towel under the back of Spike’s head.
 
“What’s that for?” he asked.
 
“He’s still bleeding a little bit,” she said, carefully avoiding looking into Giles’s eyes.
 
“He’s bleeding from the back of his head?” 
 
But sighed and stood up straight, meeting his glare with one of her own.  “It was killing him, Giles. Painfully.  You didn’t see him.  Dr. Rogers used to work for the Initiative and he knew how to take it out, and he said if he didn’t it would just keep firing until Spike dusted or the chip died completely. It’s going to be okay,” she said, her face already settling into stubborn lines.  “I trust him. And if he gives me any reason not to—”
 
“Slayer’ll do what she always does, protect the world from evil.”  Spike’s voice was weak, but clearer than it had been in the hospital, and his face already looked more relaxed than it had since he killed Ben. “Don’t worry about it, Watcher. Don’t plan to do that to her.  Not a wanker like the last vampire she had in her life.”
 
They both looked down to see Spike’s eyes, still bloodshot, but open and alert, focused on Buffy. “Won’t make you sorry, Buffy. You have my word.”
 
There was a tense silence in the room before Giles sighed and nodded. “Oddly enough, I believe you, Spike. However, I’m not sure how the Council is going to take this.”
 
“Don’t tell them!” Buffy stared at Giles in horror.  “Are you crazy?  This is none of their business. All they need to know is we got rid of Glory.”
 
“They know that the only reason you have not staked William the Bloody is that he is physically incapable of harming humans.”
 
“And that’s all they need to know. The only people that know he doesn’t have it anymore are you, me and the doctor who took it out.”
 
He nodded. “And if we keep it that way, it may be fine. But the Council has their sources on the Hellmouth, and the first time Spike gets into a bar fight and punches a human being....”
 
“Let’s worry about that if and when it happens,” Spike said, struggling to sit up. “You need to get the girl back to her mother. Worry about me later.”
 
“You need blood.” Buffy ran to the kitchen and searched the refrigerator until she found a container of frozen pig blood. She put it in the microwave to thaw and searched for a large bowl.  As soon as it had thawed and warmed up, she carried it into the living room with a straw sticking out of it.
 
“Here. Drink this. I’ll bring you more when I come home.”
 
“I’ll be fine, love. Go see your mum. Tell her I’m waiting for her to come home and watch Passions with me.”
 
“Okay. You stay here and rest. We’ll be back after we see Mom.”
 
Spike was already sucking blood into his mouth and just waved one hand at them as they went out the door.
 
XXXXXXX
 
The short ride back to the hospital was made in silence, broken only by an occasional swear word when traffic interfering with where Giles was trying to go.  He pulled up to the door to let Buffy out, saying, “I’m going to the Magic Box to work on the accounts for a while. You can call me when you and Dawn are ready to leave and I will pick you up here.”
 
“Thank you, Giles.” Buffy leaned forward and gave him an impulsive kiss on his cheek.
 
He nodded his understanding as she pulled on the door handle. “I believe Spike to be a very different... person, for want of a better word... without his soul from what we found Angelus to be when he lost his.  I’m trusting his obvious devotion to you, to serve the same purpose as Angel’s perhaps less reliable soul.”
 
Buffy blushed, but nodded. “I think he’s pretty special as vampires go... and we know from how he was with Dru that he doesn’t take his relationships casually.”
 
“We can only hope that is true,” he said as she closed the door. “Do give my best to your mother.”
 
Buffy waved and walked away.
 
XXXXXXXX
 
When she reached the ICU floor, she found Dawn just leaving one of the rooms.
 
“Mom’s still pretty out of it,” she said when Buffy frowned at her. “She said I need to go to school tomorrow and you need to get some sleep, so we’re not allowed to stay here all night.”
 
“Sounds like Mom,” Buffy sighed. “Okay, let me just talk to her for a few minutes and we’ll head home.”
 
The nurse nodded her permission for the other daughter she’d been told about to  enter the room where Joyce was once again hooked to machines providing fluids and monitoring her vital signs.
 
“Mom?” Buffy whispered, not sure if Joyce was asleep or not.
 
“Buffy?”
 
“Did I wake you?”
 
“No, I’ve been waiting for you to come back. Is everything all right? Dawn said Spike is hurt?  How did that happen in a hospital?”
 
“It’s complicated... I’ll explain it when you’re feeling better.  How do you feel?”
 
“Like someone did brain surgery on me,” Joyce said, wincing a little. Buffy winced right along with her, remembering how she’d held Spike still while the same doctor did surgery on him.  “But they’ve got me on the good drugs now, so it’s not really bad as long as I don’t move around a lot.”
 
“Dr. Rogers said you’ll probably be in your own room by sometime tomorrow, so we’ll all be able to visit.”
 
Joyce smiled. “As much as I love all your friends, I’m not sure I’ll be up to a full scale Scooby meeting by my sickbed.  Check with me first, okay? Just in case I don’t feel like company?”
 
“Hey, that’s okay. I’ll just tell everybody they can see you when you come home.” She frowned. “I can’t promise Spike won’t try to sneak in tomorrow night, though... You know how he is.”
 
“I do know how he is. And if he did feel he needed to check on me, I also know he wouldn’t disturb me. I’m fine with Spike looking in on me. I just don’t want a whole crowd.” She closed her eyes, her voice drifting off to a mumble. “Tell Rupert these are really, really good drugs....”
 
“TMI, Mom! TMI” Buffy’s shocked response went unnoticed as Joyce fell sound asleep, a small smile on her face. 
 
Shaking her head, Buffy gave her mother a quick kiss on her cheek and then left the room. After making sure the nurses’ station had her phone number, she walked out of the ICU unit to meet Dawn. 
 
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