"Spike?"

"Yes, Luv?"

"Can we go now? Last time I was in a hospital was when Angel was Angelus. It's kind of wigging me out." She said, looking up at the vampire.

The blond rolled his eyes. "Luv, ol' poofboy isn't gonna lose his soul again after what happened with the slayer. There's nothing to be 'wigged' about." He said, using her terms to get the point across.

"But... well, I mean... can we... go? I wanna go." She said, standing up off the bed and almost falling as her knees started to give out.

Spike caught her, sitting her back down on the bed. "Pet, stay right there. Christ! You damn persistent chits are gonna be the death of me."

"You're already..." She smiled as she began speaking.

"I know." He interrupted as he walked out of the room. A minute later he returned with a nurse wheeling in a wheelchair. "Come on, Luv. Time to go."

She raised her eyebrow. "A wheelchair?"

"Are you ready, Miss Rosenberg?" The nurse asked as she helped Willow into the chair.

"I-I just bumped my head. I don't need a chair."

"Mr O'Connor told us that you almost collapsed. The doctor told us to inform you that you should stay off your feet for at least a week. He will explain a little more in his office if you like." She said as she wheeled the red head down the hallway.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Willow replied as the chair turned to wheel her down another corridor.

Spike stopped walking. "I'm just gonna get somethin' to eat, Pet. I'll be back in a minute."

"Okay." She called back as Spike started moving in the opposite direction. He walked down the cafeteria and saw the lady behind the counter. "Ah, veal..." The doors swung closed behind him.

"I see you're quite eager to leave, Miss Rosenberg. Care to tell me why?" The doctor asked as he sat down behind his desk.

"Well, I've had some bad experiences with hospitals. Ah, let's just say that, erm, I have some bad memories." She said, looking down at the top of his desk.

"It's quite alright, Miss Rosenberg. I just want to run a few small tests, find out why you collapsed earlier."

She looked up. "Oh, that, well... I was just a bit used to the bed is all. My legs were asleep."

"No, I think it's something a bit more than that." He stood. "Nurse, could you help me lift Miss Rosenberg onto the examining table please?" When Willow was sitting on the table she sat biting her lip, feeling pain running through her back. The doctor performed his tests, looking over her with a critical eye. "Do you feel any pain... anywhere in your body?" He asked as he checked over her again.

"Well, just my back." She replied unsurely. "Is-is something wrong?"

He looked up at her, taking his glasses off. "Did anything else happen in the sewers? I heard you hit the wall, that's how you got the head injuries, but was there anything else?"

<Friends. Sewers. Hit head. How can I say the back pains? Well, that vampire did slam me back against that ladder down to the sewers. That wouldn't do that much though.> "Well, the guys were fooling around. Trying to play, ah, football, and, um, I got tackled. Yeah. I fell down in that water. It was gross." The doctor gave her a curious look. "Oh, yeah, I got pushed up against the-the ladders a few times." The doctor nodded, not believing a word she said. She sighed. "Fine, I was kidnapped by a vampire. He was pretty rough. Slamming me against walls and stuff." She said, looking up at the doctor with a blank face.

The man looked down at her with wide eyes. "A vampire? My dear, what were you doing outside after dark?" He asked, grabbing her arm in utter seriousness.

"Y-You know?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Of course I know. How do you know?"

"Well, I-I've staked some that's how I know. How do *you* know?"

"I'm here to help people that fight them."

"You're part of the council?"

The doctor's mouth dropped. "How do you know about the council? It's supposed to be a secret organization!"

"Oh, I'm a friend of Buffy's." She said matter-of-factly.

With a heavy sigh and a drop of his jaw the man rubbed his eyes. "You know of the slayer?" He asked, looking down at her tiredly.

"Yeah. She's my best friend. I used to go patrolling with her. Well, that's pre-Riley Finn." She said with a frown.

"Who's Riley Finn?"

"Her boyfriend." She said with a sigh. "Did you hear about Sunnydale's demon hunters?"

"Yes, the Initiative. I've heard a lot."

"He's part of the Initiative." She said with a few small nods.

The doctor sat down. "This is quite a predicament. The slayer isn't supposed to socialise, now I hear she has both friends *and* a boyfriend."

"Yeah, but don't forget the slayer isn't supposed to have lived this long either. We're one of her strengths. I should know! She told me!"

"Well, I'll have to forward this information to the council immediately."

"No, don't! Buffy isn't part of the council anymore. She's not yours to talk about."

The doctor stood once again. "Miss Rosenberg, it is my job, my duty to keep them informed. Now, I can leave out the fact that she has friends and is in a relationship but I *will* tell them that she is social with a boy from the Initiative. It could help our fight against evil." A knock at the door broke their conversation. "Come in."

Spike opened the door. "I'm hear to take Willow back home." He said, standing in the doorway.

"Ah, yes, Mr O'Connor." The man said. "Angelus O'Connor. I've done some looking up on you. A vampire with a soul?" He observed with a cautious smile.

"No, mate, that's my sire." He said with a wicked grin. "Come on, Pet. Time to go." He said, lifting her and sitting her back in the wheelchair. "What's wrong with 'er?"

The man was paralysed in his place. "Which... childe?" He asked. "Penn? Drusilla?"

"Spike." Willow replied, biting her lip as she looked up at the doctor.

"Spike?" The doctor began looking paler by the second. "William... the bloody?"

"Yeah, and it'd be in your best interest to 'urry up and tell us what's wrong." Spike said, narrowing his eyes at the other man.

"Oh, er, nothing much. Nothing to-to, er, worry about anyway. Just some sprained muscles. The pain you were feeling was just from using them too strenuously. It caused the brain to refuse any will for movement below your lower back. It should be fine within the week but I *would* like you in for an ultrasound or two, Miss Rosenberg."

"Ultrasound?" She shrieked.

"Oh, not that kind, Miss. No, unless you think you're pregnant..." he trailed off. "This ultrasound is just to help restore the muscles to their original form. Has nothing at all to do with pregnancy. It will ease the pain."

Spike smirked at Willow. "Not telling me something?"

"Spike, I wouldn't tell you if the house was on fire." She replied.

"You wouldn't? Pet, I'm hurt!" He said, putting his hand to his chest. "Here I am... tryin' to 'elp you. Hell, I ever put the poof's name down for you!"

She smiled up at him. "And I'm thankful." The red head said.

"Don't look at me like that." He replied as he started wheeling her out.

"Like what?"

"A little angel."

"Red haired angels? Do they have those?"

"'Course, Luv. If they can have angel's with brown hair like the poof then they'd have red too."

The electric doors closed behind them as he wheeled her to the car. The doctor watched curiously as the two of them chatted casually on the way out. That girl had done something... something serious to a vampire. One without a soul. Maybe there were shades of gray like some people in the council had spoken about.