Author's Note: This takes place during spring of Season 3.
Angel was walking past the alley behind the Bronze when he heard it. It was barely audible under the falling spring rain, the sound of someone whimpering in pain. He walked into the alley and was struck by the smell of blood. It had been quite awhile since he had eaten and he had to fight back the demon threatening to emerge, demanding to feed. Then he saw the figure huddled by the dumpster. As he approached the person curled up even more as if desperately trying to shrink into the brick wall behind it.
Angel stepped to the side to let what little light there was fall on the figure so he could see more clearly. It was a woman and she was lying in a puddle, half naked. Her panties and skirt were lying in shreds a couple of feet away. Her blouse was open and torn. She was holding her wrist close to her chest and Angel could tell by the angle that it was broken. There was blood on her thighs, arms and stomach. The sight of her broken, beaten body was enough to make even the vampire in him cringe. Her face was hidden by her wet hair.
His voice was gentle in the night. "It's okay, I won't hurt you." As the figure turned to look at Angel he struggled not to cry out in rage. The left side of her face was already bruising and her lip was split. There was a large gash above her eye that was bleeding profusely. But even under all the blood and gore he could clearly make out the face, one he knew so well. Willow.
Her eyes were glassy as she stared at him, never making a sound. He approached her slowly not wanting to scare her. "Willow, it's Angel." There was no response. He wanted to tell her that it was okay, but it wasn't. He wanted to tell her that she was safe, but she wouldn't have believed him. He took off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders as he crouched down next to her. She looked up at him and as he put his arms around her she let herself be pulled against his chest. Not sobbing or crying, simply letting herself be enveloped in his arms as he held her. Her body was in shock and her mind was hiding. Not yet wanting to face reality.
"Willow, we have to get you to the hospital." As badly as she had been beaten Angel was very concerned about internal injuries and didn't want her to try and stand on her own. He didn't want to leave her and knew that if he yelled out for help there would be a crowd surrounding them in seconds and that's the last thing she needed right now. Angel scooped her up into his arms and carried her out of the alley and to the nearest car, luckily it was unlocked. He placed her gently on the seat, noticing her wince in pain at the movements before going around to the other side and hot wiring the engine.
Angel drove as quickly as he dared to the hospital, the roads slick from the rain. Trying to utter soothing words of comfort. Willow never responded. She simply stared straight ahead in silence. She was shaking and Angel thought it was a combination of the shock and the cold. Angel heard her shift next to him and he glanced over to see her unconscious form slumped over. She had passed out. Angel sped up.
When the phone ringing pierced the silence Giles jumped a little in his chair. Glancing up from the book to the clock he noted it was almost midnight and he felt the all too familiar feeling of apprehension settle in the pit of his stomach. The library phone ringing at this hour on a Friday night could mean very few things. The most likely being the impending end of the world. Fearing another long night he quickly walked over and picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Rupert, it's Angel. I'm at Sunnydale General. Can you get here right away?"
Angel's words had effectively turned the feeling of dread into full blown panic. "Buffy?"
"No, Willow." Angel stopped for a minute, not knowing how to continue. He knew how much Willow meant to Giles and he hated to tell him over the phone. "I found her in the alley by the Bronze. She was attacked."
Giles fought to swallow the lump rising in his throat so he could speak. "How is she?"
Angel decided to tell him as little as possible until they were face to face. "The doctor's are with her now, but . . . Rupert, it was a brutal attack. I tried to call her house, but there's no answer."
Giles thought for a second before remembering. "Her parents are in the mountains skiing. That area is getting hit hard with a heavy snowstorm, I'm not sure we can reach them."
"We can worry about that later then, just get here."
"I'll be there in ten minutes. Or less." Giles didn't waste a second to say goodbye to Angel before hanging up the phone. He ran to his office to grab his jacket and keys.
"Alright Giles where are you hiding her?" Oz asked. Giles didn't know how to respond. He hadn't even thought of the others, there simply hadn't been time. "Willow was supposed to meet us at the bronze, but she said she might stop by here to help you with that translation."
"For the record, I told her it was a bad idea. I knew once you got your hands on her she'd never get out. Oh well, another Friday night of fun lost to . . . " Oz put his hand out to silence him. While Xander had failed to recognize the grief stricken look on the librarian's face Oz hadn't.
"Giles what is it?" Oz could feel the icy grip of fear clenching his heart. "It's Willow isn't it?"
Giles nodded trying to buy time while he searched for the correct words. Finally he realized there weren't any. "Angel just called. He found her and took her to the hospital."
Xander's face turned white. "What do you mean found her? Where? What happened?"
"All I know is he found her unconscious in the alley by the Bronze. She's been attacked. I'm sorry, but that is all I know."
Oz turned and headed to the door. "I'll drive."
The trio burst into the emergency room and approached the nurses desk. Oz had made it there in record time.
Giles was the first to speak. "Excuse me, we're looking for Willow Rosenberg. She was brought in not too long ago."
The nurses looked at the men briefly before sharing a knowing glance. "You're friends of hers?"
"That would be why we're asking." Xander didn't even attempt to hide his sarcasm. Ordinarily Giles would have reprimanded him, but he was too concerned to bother.
"I meant are you family?"
"No. Her parents are out of town and can't be reached." Giles answered before adding, "I am a close family friend though. The closest thing to a parent you are going to get for now."
"The doctor is with her now. Why don't you follow me to the waiting room. When she comes out I'll send her right over. In the meantime maybe you can help us. We need some forms filled out for Admitting." She handed him a clipboard and pen. "Whatever you can fill out would be great."
"Can't you tell us anything about her condition?" Oz pleaded. Hell, he would have gotten down on his knees and begged if it would have helped. They knew so very little.
She gave him a sympathetic look as they followed her down the hall. "I'm sorry, I really can't. The only thing I can tell you is that her other friend is with her now."
"Other friend?" Xander thought for a second before it came to him. "Angel."
The woman nodded. "When she came to she was panicked. We could barely hold her down. The doctor asked me to go get him and that seemed to calm her somewhat. Now she won't let him leave her side. The doctor is making an exception in this case and allowing him to stay through the examination process."
The only thing that registered with them were the words 'came to'. Everything she had said after that was somewhat lost on them. Then she was gone.
The men were left with only their thoughts, fears and a clipboard. Giles sighed before sitting down and beginning to fill in Willow's name and address.
Xander couldn't believe he was so calm. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to fill these out."
Xander's frustration and worry exploded. "So while God only knows what is going on with Willow you're just going to sit there and play fill in the blanks? How can you be so calm? Don't you care?"
He regretted the words as soon as Giles' eyes met his, the pain in them only too clear. "I care very much. Willow is you're best friend." He turned to Oz. "And the woman that you love. To me, she is the daughter I never had. I am terrified of what is happening to her at this very moment. However, the only people who know anything are the doctor and perhaps Angel. Right now they are busy trying to help her. I think that the best thing we can do for her right now is stay in the background and let them. I know that filling these blasted things out doesn't seem like much, but for right now it is all we can do."
"I'm sorry. I do know how much you care about her. This is just killing me and I'm taking it out on you."
Giles nodded before turning back to the paperwork to hide the tears threatening to fall. "I could really use your help, both of you. I don't have a clue on most of these questions."
Oz and Xander took the seats on either side of him. "Shoot."
"Does she have any allergies?"
"Strawberries." Oz and Giles both looked at him. "All it takes is one and she gets this nasty rash and her whole face swells up . . . "
"Uh, Xan I think they mean medical allergies." Oz explained.
"Oh. No."
"Is she currently on medication of any kind?"
Oz thought for a second. "No. Nothing."
"How much do you know about her family's medical history?" Giles asked either of them.
"Her grandma died of cancer five years ago." Xander offered.
"And I'm pretty sure that one of her uncles has diabetes." Oz added.
"Oh yeah, Henry. I forgot about him. Nice guy." Xander searched his memory. "That's it though. The Rosenbergs are a healthy bunch. The family reunions are always huge." Then they moved on to Willow's medical history. As Xander rattled off every sniffle and stumble she had ever had Oz realized how much of his life was interwoven with Willow's. How very much they had shared over the years. Instead of feeling jealous he felt grateful.
Between the three of them they had almost everything answered when Angel walked in. They jumped to their feet and rushed forward. All three of them blurting out questions at the same time.
Angel held up his hand to silence them. "Sorry I wasn't here. They just gave her something so she could sleep, I came out as soon as I could leave her."
"How is she?"
"The doctor will be here in a minute, she can explain it better than I can."
"Angel what happened?"
"I was going to the bronze when I found her in the alley, unconscious. I brought her here and after they took her in I called Giles. Willow woke up and was frantic so the nurses came and got me. She was yelling and fighting them off. I came in and helped calm her down. After a little while she just submitted and let them do what they needed to, but she never let go of my hand." He held it up and they all saw the nail marks embedded in his flesh.
"Those are from Willow?" Oz couldn't believe it.
"Yeah. Like I said, she wouldn't let me go."
The doctor entered the waiting room before anything else could be said. Giles was the first to find his voice, "How is she?" The doctor, trying to choose her words carefully, thought for a moment before answering.
Xander realized what she was doing. "Please, don't try and make it sound good. Just tell us."
She looked at the boy and nodded. "Physically she'll be fine, but she has a lot of healing to do. The attacker was vicious. Her wrist is broken. We had to put five stitches in her forehead, two in her lip." Xander turned away, thinking she was finished. She wasn't, she was only pausing. "Two of her teeth were knocked out, the dental surgeon will be in tomorrow to replace them" Oz looked at her amazed, praying she was finished. "Other than all of that she has multiple contusions and scratches. It certainly seems that she put up one hell of a fight."
"Can we see her?"
She looked at Angel, obviously he hadn't told them. "In a minute. First I need to know if she has a boyfriend."
Oz stepped forward, puzzled and terrified. "That would be me."
"If you could come with me, there are a couple of questions I need to ask."
Oz's knees suddenly felt weak and he didn't think he could follow her anywhere. "Anything you have to ask me you can ask me here."
The doctor never hesitated, she needed answers. This was one of the days she truly hated her job. At least with the girls' parents not here she was pretty certain she would get an honest answer. "Are you and Miss Rosenberg sexually active?"
For Oz the room began to spin. "No. I mean, we haven't had intercourse."
"Are you an exclusive couple?" Oz could only nod. "So it's not likely that she had sex with anyone else today?"
Xander exploded in rage. "Just what are you trying to imply about her?"
The doctor was sympathetic. "I really hate to ask that, but I have to be sure. We took some physical evidence from Willow and I need to verify the authenticity to the attacker and no one else." The room spinning sped up for Oz and Giles put his arm on his shoulder to steady him. "So to the best of your knowledge Miss Rosenberg was a virgin?"
His mouth opened, but nothing came out. Was? He could only nod.
"Doctor, are you saying she was raped?" Giles was the only one capable of speaking.
"Yes. We've run a screening for any STD's that the attacker may have transmitted to her. We want to give her a morning after pill to prevent pregnancy. Before I did though I wanted to make sure that there was no possibility that she could be pregnant with a boyfriend's child."
"So now you have physical evidence to prosecute the attacker with?" Giles asked.
"Actually we were able to get quite a bit. We have semen, and blood and skin tissue that was under her nails. Unfortunately, we first have to find a suspect to match it all to. Willow's not being very cooperative yet on that end."
"What do you mean?" Xander was surprised. Willow was always cooperative, with everybody.
She looked at Angel, obviously he hadn't told them that part either. "Willow isn't responding. She's silent. The only response we did get was if Angel tried to leave her." She tried to reassure them. "She has been through a horrifying experience. It's not all that uncommon for a victim to kind of tune themselves out temporarily. To talk about it, or answer questions, will just force her to remember the experience and the attacker. It will be like reliving it over again. That, of course, is the last thing she wants to do. I know it sounds awful, but it's the only coping mechanism that her mind has right now. When she is ready to deal with this she'll just kind of tune back in."
Oz was terrified. "How long does that take?"
"It depends. Sometimes right away, sometimes longer. Just be patient with her. She'll come around. Also, I would strongly recommend counseling as soon as she is feeling up to it. A rape victim can suffer for years if it isn't dealt with properly. She needs to get it all out, and that requires help." She pulled some brochures out of her pocket and handed them to Oz. "This will be difficult for both of you. She'll need your help to heal from this, all of you. Like I said, physically she will heal fairly quickly. Emotionally it will be far more difficult." Her beeper went off and she glanced at it. "I'm sorry, I have to go. I'll let all of you go in and see her together, but please don't stay in there too long. We've given her soemthing to sleep and she won't wake up until early in the morning, but she needs good rest right now. If there is anything else I can do please don't hesitate to contact me."
They all said thank you.
"I'll send a nurse in to take you to her. Also, Officer Collum will be here shortly to take a statement from Angel and may have questions for all of you. I am very sorry."
Continues
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