WakingUp
by Jim Loats

Dedicated: To Vic. It's her fault.

---

He's a very pretty purple rabbit. But he's got a foul mouth, even for a cabdriver.

<shakeshakeshake>

Whngh?

"Tara?"

Gnh. S'Buffy. Whzzit?

"Tara, um, you need to wake up."

Mmph. Buffyscrying. WheresWillow?

"P-please, wake up, Tara."

Wait. Okay. Wait. Willow was with Buffy. Willow was with Buffy, and, and Buffy's crying and waking me up, a-and Willow's not here and she'snothere and no, no Buffy don'tsayit pleasedon'tsayit

"Tara, W-Willow was hurt. She's..."

no no no she said it i told her not to say it! oh god Willow oh god what's she saying? she's still saying something. she's, h-her mouth is moving and there's sounds and what's she saying?

.............

Moving. Car. I'm in a car and it's moving. Where are we going? Buffy's driving. Who let Buffy drive their car? Oh, there's the Espresso Pump. I should stop in there later and get Willow a mocha 'cause Willow really r-really l-l-l...

.............

People are hugging me. Giles and Dawn and Xander, and Anya kind of hit me on the shoulder, and Xander's crying. Xander's crying and he, he *doesn't* and I want to go tell him not to cry. Why can't I move? Who's that? Green. Green hair? Oh, it's a hat. Doctor. Doctor! What? He said Willow

"...regained consciousness a few minutes ago. She's weak still, and in a lot of pain, so I'm going to have to limit things to one visitor. Is one of you named 'Tara'?"

This room smells like, well, like a hospital room. There's Willow -- god, so pale. Okay, Willow's hand. In mine.

"...hey..."

"Hey." That's better.

~Fin~

Disclaimer: All Buffy and Angel characters belong to Joss Whedon, David Greenwalt, Mutant Enemy, Sand Dollar, Greenwolf Productions, and the Kuzuis; this piece of fan-written fiction intends no infringement on any copyrights.