"You can call me Gail, too." She said to the teen, then added "I was going to release you tomorrow anyway after some more tests we might as well not stand on formalities."

Gail took a deep breath as if bracing for bad news, she then asked him; "I need you to tell me everything that went on earlier. You were obviously aware of something that I wasn't. I need to know what so we won't have a repeat of what happened."

Oz turned towards the window to gather his thoughts; "It was like the air became heavy." He turned back to Giles and Gail to see if they were following, Gail nodded for him to continue. "It felt like a storm was coming, sort of like the air was charged, so I turned towards the direction I felt it coming from-then I smelled Buffy…." The werewolf trailed off realizing how strange he sounded.

"Oz, I told Dr. Matteson about your condition." Giles said. The teen glanced at the doctor to see how she took it. Gail gave him a strained smile. "Go on, Oz, please. What happened when you touched her?"

The teen cringed as both the physical and emotional memory assaulted him. "It was like she was terrified and it was transferred into me." The youth said taking deep breathes.

"Okay, that enough for now." The doctor turned to Giles and stated, "you didn't mention your slayer being empathic or, for that matter, the werewolf either."

Giles took off his glasses, " ah, a slayer has clairvoyant dreams and such, and can sense vampires close by but… empathy…." The Watcher finished disbelieving. Slightly taken aback when the doctor began to laugh, "you live in a world with Vampires, superhuman slayers, and werewolves and yet you don't believe in a simple empathic link between a badly hurt teenage girl and her friend?" The doctor's laugher took on a hysterical nature as she clutched her sides sitting heavily on the nearest chair. Though Oz had to admit Giles' Scullying amused him too.

After a few more moments the doctor was able to compose herself, wiping the tears from her eyes, she told Giles; "Gosh, I needed that. All right, lets get back to the issues at hand, but after we get Buffy back on her feet remind me to show you some of the studies Duke University did in the late fifty's and early sixty's on psychic phenomenon."

Gail stood up again, "Oz you said everything was fine and then you felt a charge to the air? Were you picking it up or was Buffy projecting? Do you know?"

The teen thought for a few moments; "I don't know. I mean sometimes with Willow I knew what she was feeling-it was more of hunch then."

"Anything more? I really don't know what I'm trying to find out. Mr. Giles was very helpful in explaining about her physical strengths, her heighten senses."

"That's it!" Oz shouted excitedly. "We have to get her out of that place, now!" He sat up.

"Whoa there kid what's it?" The doctor part of Gail coming to the front and pushing Oz back down on his bed.

"That place, ICU, it smells like death. It freaked her out. We have to move her-take her home, or to another part of the hospital." He said in a rush, Gail shook her head.

"I'm sorry Oz but it's taken me ten years to train the staff there and get enough nurses that I trust-no, there is no other place in this hospital that can give Buffy the round the clock nursing care she has to have at this point."

Giles spoke up then, 'what about hiring nurses, keeping her here in the hospital?"

The doctor shook her head; again, "do you have any idea how expensive that would be? And the insurance companies would never go for it. This is a private hospital, meaning for profit, you would have to front the money and we are talking thousands."

"But if we had the money then you could find the nurses and get the hospital to agree?" Giles persisted.

"Yes, the hospital would jump at the extra money and I know several nurses that need the overtime-but I still can't go along with it. When some one wakes up the sense of smell is the last of the senses to become active. If you and Oz are talking to her, she should be fine.”

Oz thought about how he felt when the odor first hit him, the wolf in him nearly made him run. "But smell is the most visceral of all the senses?"

"Yes, but…." The doctor started and then trailed off. "I see your point." She turned around to Giles once again in doctor mode, "All right you supply the money and I'll make sure Miss Summers is moved ASAP and will arrange the care." She checked her watch, "I have rounds to make, a critical patient to move and a new course of treatment to make up for said patient. Why don't you guys get some rest" she turned back to Giles "and I'll met you back here at around 2:00 AM and we'll try again with Buffy?"

The doctor started out of the room, "Mr. Giles I'll show to the business office. Wolf-boy," she smiled in a Xander like way, "go back to sleep we have a long night ahead of us."

After the doctor, Gail, left with Giles the teen lay back on the bed thinking about that afternoon. The day after Buffy's eighteenth birthday the Scooby Gang sat in her kitchen listening to the cut and bruised slayer talking about Giles' betrayal and termination from the council.

Oz remembered her talking about gut wrenching fear and misery. He made a flippant comment about keeping up tradition. If this afternoon was an example of her life-a life she covered up so well-he would do everything in his power to keep her from feeling that way again.

***************************************************


Oz sat in his hospital bed watching “Casablanca” on late night A&E. It was Willow’s favorite movie-he didn’t know why he was torturing himself by watching it-though he realized at the closing credits the ache in his heart whenever he thought of Willow, had lessened. The teen idly wondered if Buffy liked old romantic movies? He thought he should ask her. Oz had a huge collection of the oldies, as he called them; and he mumbled “Play it again Sam.” Thinking about Buffy and how she would look dress up in the 40’s style clothing getting on the plane leaving his life--like Willow did-just like in the movies. “Now just where did that come from?” he mumbled again.

Giles opened the door knocking on it. “Ah, good you are up, Gail has Buffy situated directly down the hall. She requested we join her in about ten minutes or so. Do you think you can walk or should I have the nurse get a wheelchair?”

“No, I can walk Giles,” Oz said turning off the TV and getting out of bed looking for his robe. “Why did Dr. Matteson send you?” Oz still wasn’t comfortable using the doctor’s first name.

“Ah, I think she felt we should have some time to ourselves," Giles said walking further into the room closing the door. The watcher seemed nervous to Oz.

“What’s wrong Giles? Is Buffy worse?” Oz asked trying to figure out the Englishman’s problem.

“No, no, or, well the same,” Giles fidgeted some more clearly working up to saying something. “Oz, I’m concerned you might be miffed that I disclosed your secret.”

The werewolf let out a sigh of relief, “No Giles, I’m not mad. I trust your judgment and I trust Dr. Matteson, I mean, Gail. I don’t know why, I just think she cares very deeply about her patients. Now if that is cleared up I really want to see Buffy.”

“Of course,” Giles turned to lead the way to the slayer’s new room.

*************

Buffy’s room was only a few doors down from Oz’s, something the young werewolf was sure was on purpose. Guess I won’t be leaving tomorrow, he thought to himself pushing open the door.

“Hi Wolf-boy.” The doctor greeted him smiling, sitting in a comfortable chair under the window. Oz wondered at just how much more Xander-like the doctor could be, at the same time wishing Xander were here to help. Giles walked over to the doctor and they began to converse in quiet tones over something Gail was writing on a clipboard.

Oz stood by the bed; everything was the same as in ICU, all the same monitoring equipment, all the same tubes and hoses running into her, all the same, he thought-except there was a difference.

Buffy seemed different.

He couldn’t place what was different, he just knew something had changed for the better. He reached out and stroked her hair, pushing it away from her face. He thought that was the only safe place to touch her. Oz gently rubbed the place between her eyes, running his thumb in soft light circles, and then widening the circles as his strokes reached her temples. It was the same soothing gesture his Mom would use after he had a nightmare; it always relaxed him, helping him fall back to sleep.

Oz started doing the same thing to Buffy’s hand starting between her thumb and fingers and working his way down to her wrist just above the tie downs and the bandages. He concentrated on the keeping the touch light, slow, exactly the same as his mother’s, pretending he could impart some of his mother’s comfort into Buffy-he always felt so loved whenever his mother held him-he wanted to make Buffy feel the same way.

Oz sank into a calm meditated state, he didn’t know when Buffy woke-up, only that she was conscious-her eyes still closed. The two adults were so engrossed in their conversation neither Giles nor the doctor had realized she was awake. Oz could tell she was conscious by the change in the feeling of the air around her. The slayer was listening with both her physical hearing and with another kind of hearing, the kind of hearing only a werewolf could answer or match or understand. The werewolf vaguely noticed the slayer was now smelling the air, and he let out a sigh of relief that they were not in that ‘death place’ as the wolf now thought of the Intensive Care Unit.

The human part of the werewolf focused, not letting his mind or his senses match the level of alertness the slayer’s were reaching. Concentrating on keeping both the physical and emotional touch light, soft, gentle, drawing circles--as the Buffy portion of the slayer woke, blinking her green eyes open. Her pupil’s were so dilated by drugs that they appeared almost black. She tried to turn her head in the direction of the voices but couldn't. By the way her emotions remained steady Oz could tell she recognized Giles’ voice. The werewolf could see she was confused and in pain but as long as Giles was there and she could feel him-she felt safe.

The wolf felt Buffy fade as the slayer took over, for a short time, and then Buffy returned only to fade out again. Each time Buffy returned she reached a higher level of alertness, and each time she faded out the slayer relaxed a little more because it could find no threat, only the soothing calmness Oz tried to convey.

Oz could feel through the slayer the focus of attention shifting in the adults. The color of the slayer’s emotions changed as Giles touched her hand smiling down at her. His touch colored brightly by his fatherly love for her. The girl returned a weak smile and Oz knew it was time to break the contact, regretting the loss of the connection but at the same time understanding the love between Giles and Buffy was private.

Oz pulled back mentally and physically taking a step back away from the bed; Buffy’s reaction was immediate-panic briefly flashed across her face as her eyes searched for him. The werewolf stepped back to the bed meeting her eyes and he felt a reaching out to him as their eyes met her mental touch a light caress, then gone.

The doctor coughed gaining Giles’ and Buffy’s attention,” Hi, Buffy, I’m Gail, your doctor. While you are awake we need to run some tests.” The doctor continued, “It’s not normally done this way but would you like for Giles to stay?” The slayer nodded, then quickly glanced towards Oz.

“I’m sorry, Buffy, Oz was injured too and needs to go back to bed.” The doctor pushed what Oz remembered as the nurses’ call switch and the nurse from earlier this morning appeared with a wheelchair. Gail smiled reassuringly at both teens-“He can come back in the morning, I promise.”

Oz sat in the chair; he didn’t want to leave Buffy’s side-except all of a sudden he was totally exhausted-as if he had just played six sets on a Saturday night at the Bronze.

Oz stood outside of Giles’ apartment; he looked up at the sky and saw the bright big full moon. He wanted to sit down on the front stairs and just stare at the beautiful sight. The door opened and Buffy stepped out on the porch; she was in a simple blue dress that made her eyes appear bruised.

“Hey,” she said shyly, holding the door open. Oz could hear the old musical “Camelot” on the TV, the good version with Julie Andrews and Robert Goulet.

“I hope you don’t mind that I brought you here.” Buffy said sitting down on a stone bench. Oz hadn’t noticed the bench behind her a second ago. Then he realized they were now in a graveyard and Buffy was dressed in shorts and a tank top. He could still hear Julie Andrews singing.

Oz caught up with her then, “We’re in a dream?”

She nodded shyly. “It’s a slayer thing, I guess.” She shrugged. “They tend to only happen like this when I really need them too.”

The scene changed again to his dorm room; she was sitting at his desk. Robert Goulet started belting out his ballad about Lancelot, the righteous knight who fell in love with Guenevere. A story of doomed love that caused the downfall of the kingdom.

“I needed to thank you, Oz, for saving me. Twice.” Buffy stood up and walked to where he was standing by his stereo, the moon shining through the window the only light. “I don’t know how I know it, but thank you for getting me out of the ‘death place’.” The slayer turned, they were back at Giles’ apartment, both sitting on the couch. A window framed the moon.

“I could smell people dying, feel them leaving and there was nothing I could do to save them. Another minute and I would have gone crazy or left.” Buffy finished, facing away, letting her revelation sink in.

They were at the hospital, in Buffy’s room. They stood next to the bed as the slayer slept a bandage where the tracheotomy had been. The moon’s light shining on her face through the blinds. Dr. Matteson sitting by the bed doing paper work.

The dream Buffy walked over to the doctor; “She said I’d lost my voice but there are devices or ways of learning to breathe that will help me learn to talk.”

They were back at Giles’ on the couch again, “Oz, why? Why do you help? You could have gone, when Willow went to England, you could have gone to LA like Angel. Why do you stay? Are you my Lancelot? The righteous Knight.”

He answered her the only way he could, he leaned slightly forward and placed a tender kiss on her soft lips pouring all the love he just realized he felt in it. When he pulled back, her eyes were closed and her face flushed.

“Oh,” she said. Her glazed eyes opened. “I guess that makes me Guenevere.” Then she asked, shyly, “Where do we go from here?”

Oz jerked awake to sunlight on his face. Buffy’s question was blazing a path through his mind. Just where would they go from there, he thought, snuggling deeper in the covers. Hoping to have another dream, he fell back asleep.
The End.