Aftershock - Part 1 of the Becoming Epilogue Trilogy
written by Gail Christison
Rating: FRT
Spoilers: Through Anne.
Summary: The first in a three part arc, dealing with the period after Buffy leaves, and how Giles and the others dealt with her
absence over the summer.
Feedback Author: Gail Christison
Author's Website: Once More With Feeling
Xander stumbled out onto the street with Giles, almost leg-less, trying to support his weight, to put as much distance between them and the mansion as possible. He was trying to stop shaking, and to focus on what he had to do. Listening to the older man's cries of pain as he'd hauled him up the stairs had shaken him almost as much as the first sight of the librarian, bound and broken in that chair.
He parked Giles in the garden of the first house he saw with lights on and banged on its door. It was fortunate for them that they agreed to let him use their phone...
And Oz must have set records getting the van there. An ambulance had been out of the question until the Angel issue was definitively resolved.
...If it was resolved, he thought bitterly as Oz helped him lift Giles into the back of the vehicle. The trip to hospital was mercifully brief, Xander holding his friend, who'd slipped back into a concussion and shock induced torpor, trying to protect the damaged hand and arm from any bumping or jolting.
Worse for the boy had been listening to Giles' tormented delirium. His quiet, if muffled, appeals to Angel for mercy on the basis of their friendship tore at Xander even more than the cries of agony as he relived the breaking of his arm, his fingers, or the quiet weeping as he periodically uttered Jenny Calendar's name.
The nurse in ER tried to banish both boys but folded in the face of their stubborn refusal to even blink, let alone budge so that she settled for admonishing them to stay out of the way as attendants flew into action around Giles.
"That 'rescued from a gang' story is getting way old," Oz muttered as they watched.
Xander nodded blankly. "We'll have to work on a new one. How about: 'tortured for hours by a sadistic, soul-less bastard who also happens to be a vampire'...?"
Oz raised an eyebrow at the brittleness of Xander's tone. "Works for me," he said as Giles was being wheeled out of ER.
Xander rushed forward. "Where are you taking him?" he demanded.
The orderly looked up and blinked, holding the IV bottle steady as a second orderly turned the gurney. Giles was still out of it, but there was now a dressing on his forehead, and a canula in his good hand for the drip.
"X-ray, Orthopaedics. It'll be a while," he said. And then they were gone.
"I better go tell Willow," Oz said quietly.
Xander nodded jerkily. "I'll wait," he whispered.
When they finally brought him back Giles was more or less conscious and trying to ask questions. His fingers were set and splinted and there was a fresh cast on his arm.
Xander immediately went to his side, touched his shoulder. "Giles, man, I'm here," he said softly, ignoring the admonishments from the orderlies to step back.
"Buffy?" he muttered.
Xander's eyes glittered. "No, it's me, Xander."
"Xander? Where is...?"
"She's coming. Everything's gonna be fine. Just rest, and she'll be here," he called as the gurney was wheeled back into a cubicle in the ER.
The attending nurse was watching him. "We're going to ward him shortly," she said gently. "Your friend did the paperwork, and organised a private room. If you'd like to wait-"
Xander turned a damp face to hers. "I'm not going anywhere."
"I know," she said softly, "but there's a chair in the cubicle. If you sit quietly while he's waiting to go up, you can stay with him. He's going to be okay, you know. Twenty-four hours to recover from the dehydration and the shock, and some time for the concussion to settle down and you won't know him..."