Seeking Vengeance

 Chapter 22 - Switched Off

I knew Buffy had a late shift that night, so I didn't go round until even later. I half expected her to be out patrolling, but I went anyway. I couldn't actually explain why I had bothered, I just felt that I needed to see her.

In fact, it was Buffy who needed to see someone. I arrived to find her catatonic. She was lying on the sofa, and, at first I thought she was dead. The relief I felt when I realised she was breathing was enough to drive me to my knees.

I quickly checked her over for an obvious cause of her condition, but there wasn't one, so I called an ambulance.

Buffy was admitted to hospital, and, once they had run a gamut of tests to rule out a physical cause of he condition, they admitted her to a psychiatric ward.

I had no idea of how this might affect her. Buffy had never shared that part of her past with me - and as far as I know, she hadn't told Willow or Giles either. So, I knew nothing of her earlier experiences in a psychiatric ward.

I spent the night at the hospital, stalking anyone who might be able to tell me anything. I kept having to fight the fact that I wasn't a relative, and in the end, I told them I was her boyfriend because they seemed to take that more seriously than saying I was a 'friend'.

By the morning, they still had no idea of what had caused her condition, but they had linked up to her previous episode in hospital. Of course, they didn't tell me about that, but I know when it happened. There was a change in their attitude which I didn't understand right away. They went from urgently trying to help her, to a much more resigned attitude in a span of minutes. At first, I thought it was just lack of sleep making me think they had changed, but now I know better.

I called in to work next morning to let them know I wouldn't be in. Then I called Buffy's work to tell them the same, only to find that the manager there was furious that Buffy hadn't shown the day before. Once I'd done that, I remembered that Buffy was due to be at the hearing on Dawn's future the next morning, so I called Social Services to let them know that she'd been taken ill. Under the circumstances, it wasn't ideal for them to know that she had a potential psychiatric problem, but it seemed to me that was less harmful to her case than just not attending the hearing.

The person who was taking my message then offered to let me talk to Doris Keller. I was surprised, but I agreed. I went through the explanation once again, and the old bat made suitably sympathetic noises before asking if I'd informed Buffy's father. I explained that I couldn't, not knowing where he was, so she volunteered the information that he was in town, and offered to contact him so he could visit Buffy.

As soon as I heard that he was back, I knew, I just knew that he was responsible for her condition, although I didn't know how. So, I waited to see if he'd turn up.

He did. It took a couple of hours, but he came, and I've got to say, he looked scared. I was relieved, at first, because, hey, scared, that's how a parent feels if their daughter's in hospital, isn't it? It didn't take me long to see just how wrong I was.

He told me what had happened the previous day. He explained his plans for Dawn, and how it was obvious that Buffy had had a relapse. He told me about her previous stay in hospital, and about how glad he was that he had arrived in time to save Dawn.

He spent just a few seconds at her bedside, and a few moments talking to her doctor. He actually spent more time telling me what had happened before than anything else. I tried to tell him that Buffy was perfectly sane, that it was what he had done to her that had resulted in her being in hospital.

The stupid man put his hand on my shoulder, and smiled at me, a horrible, ingratiatingly sweet smile, and apologised for Buffy's behaviour.

"She's obviously become better at telling her stories," he said. "They said last time, that would happen. First she dreams up this outlandish world, and then she does her best to drag others into it. Best thing you could do, son, is get out of here now, before you end up in hospital too."

With that, he turned and walked away.

For the first time, I wished Spike had been there. He would have known what to do with Hank. He may not have been able to actually do it, but, maybe we'd have been able to work together. I wanted to hurt Hank, so badly, but it's just not part of my make-up. I'm strictly a 'violence for self-defence only' guy. Or, if he'd been hitting Buffy, then yeah, I'd have waded in. But, it was just words. The thing is, that's just about the only thing he could do to hurt Buffy more than he'd already done. As if leaving, and staying away while she coped with everything wasn't enough ..

"You know," he added as an afterthought from the other end of the corridor. "I actually got a message a while back that she was dead. I checked it out, and found out it wasn't true. I should've known then she losing her mind. I mean, what sort of person sends a message to her father to say she's dead?"

He turned again, walking out of the hospital, and I hoped, out of Buffy's life for good.

Once I'd made sure there was nothing I could do for Buffy, I left the hospital, called her lawyer and made an appointment for later. I went home then, and grabbed a couple of hours sleep and a shower before going to see him.

The opinion of the lawyer was simple. Unless I could find some evidence that Hank was a child molester or felon of some other sort, there was no point in Buffy contesting his claim. Her current illness would not be reason enough to postpone the hearing, since she had only been given guardianship in the first place because he couldn't be contacted.

I went back to the hospital then, but there had been no change. I called Giles, waking him in the middle of the night. When he heard what had happened, he seemed a bit more reasonable, but there was nothing he could do. Apparently Willow was barely functioning, and the coven had made it clear to him that his presence was essential to Willow's ultimate recovery. He promised to research, and to ask the wiccans in England if they had any ideas, but that was all he could do.