Author's Note: So I've got plans for the future of this story and to do that I need a few other perspectives to show. In Just a Girl I had Faith's POV and now I'm introducing Buffy's POV.

Buffy's POV

The steady pace of my feet hitting the floor annoys the hell out of me as I pace back and forth in the hospital waiting room. My palms are sweaty, so I rub them together nervously.

What do I do? How do I help her? How do I make this better for her? I can be there for her, sure. But is it really going to end up doing anything? She's been hurting so much since what happened to Faith. It's tearing her up inside having to wait and see, hoping every day that today might be the day that she wakes up. My sister is hurting and I don't know what to do about it. She's not sleeping all that well, her eating habits aren't exactly in top form, and I'm worried about what all this time spent at Faith's bedside is going to do to her college chances.

I'm doing all that I can, I keep bringing her food and getting her to take naps where I can but don't know how much it's helping. Dawn's in a lot of pain and the more time passes the more I come to realize there may be only one thing that can take it all away. And the one thing that could help her seems to get more and more uncertain with each passing day. I thought for sure Faith would've woken up by now. She was doing so well for so long... and she has the whole slayer healing thing going for her. That's something I know pretty well. So it makes me wonder about the setback she had.

Stopping in the middle of the room, I run a hand through my hair while I let out a deep breath.

How could it happen? How could she get that bad that quickly? Faith is one of the fittest people I know. We've kicked the crap out of each other enough times to know just how much punishment we can take without killing ourselves. She shouldn't have had something like that happen to her. So how did it happen? Why did it happen? If it were natural, her slayer healing powers should've kicked in and fixed the problem before it got too serious. But it didn't, and I can't help but wonder why. The only reason it wouldn't is because of some kind of mystical event, a spell or a curse or something.

But who would do that to Faith? She's lying in a hospital bed unconscious, for the past few weeks she's been half dead with all the injuries she's sustained. It would just be simpler to go right into her room and stab her while she's out. There's no reason to be so secretive and do a spell. Unless whoever did it wanted to make it look like an accident as a result of her injuries. Either that or they knew that the doctors would get to her in time and save her. If that's the case then maybe this wasn't meant to kill her, just as a warning or a message of some kind.

Except that train of thought only brings me back to who and why, neither of which I have an answer for. So I guess there's nothing I can do about it until I have more info. Maybe I'll call Willow and the other slayers training at the dojo and get them working on what kind of demon could do a spell like that. It could be relevant if we're going after that Faraquad demon in the next couple of days. God knows with the power that thing has, we don't want any surprises popping up out of nowhere. I don't want anyone else to die under my watch. I've got enough blood on my hands and on my conscience after all those years in Sunnydale. I don't need any more.

Pulling out my cell phone and turning it on, I watch the screen load up. Just then, the door opens and a nurse walks in.

"Ms Summers?"

I look up at the nurse.

"Yes?"

"She's waking up."

What? Faith's waking up?

"Are you sure?"

She nods with her response.

"Yes..."

The nurse steps out of the doorway to let me through before we start heading to her room.

"I thought you were keeping her under for another week?"

"That was the plan. We think her body might have become accustomed to the drug we were giving her and so she's waking up. The doctors were going to give her a dose of something else to keep her under but after examining her they determined it wasn't necessary."

So Faith really is waking up.

"Where's my sister?"

"We're not sure. She wasn't in the room when I went to check on Ms Lehane's condition. We have orderlies searching the hospital for her."

Good, she should be here for this. It's what she's been waiting for this whole time. I'm sure she's somewhere around here, she wouldn't leave the hospital with Faith here like this. Maybe I should call her.

"I could always call her."

I'm about to dial the number with my cell phone when the nurse interrupts.

"Please Ms Summers, cell phones aren't allowed to be used in the hospital."

"Right, sorry."

Putting my cell phone back in my pocket, we reach Faith's room and go inside. When I get inside, Faith's eyes meet mine with a split second of hope before quickly fading.

"Oh, hey B..."

"Hey Faith, how ya doing?"

"Alive and kicking from what the doctors tell me, though apparently I went to coma town again. I really hate that place."

"Really? From the amount of times you've been there I would've thought it was your favorite vacation spot."

Same old Faith...

The nurse decides not to interrupt.

"I'll give you two a few moments alone."

I smile at her as she leaves. My eyes meet Faith's again and she asks the question I knew was coming.

"Where's Dawn?"

"She'll be here in a minute, don't worry."

Her expression saddens a bit.

"I thought she would've been here when I woke up."

"She wanted to be, trust me. She's been here almost every single day since the fight that put you in here, hoping against hope that you'd wake up soon."

That news makes her a little less sad.

"Has she been all right? She didn't do anything stupid like go after the demon herself, did she?"

"Nope, her focus has been you this whole time. I was a little worried about her for a while but now that you're awake I'm sure she'll do a lot better."

"That's good. I can't wait to see her."

"She'll be here, just wait a few minutes. The orderlies are on the hunt for her in the hospital to tell her you're awake."

"Okay... but what about the demon? Did you kill it to death for me while I was out?"

I shake my head, a little ashamed of the answer.

"Not yet. After what it did to us last time, I didn't want to go straight into battle. We're working out a plan."

Faith sighs and rolls her eyes.

"You always were too much of a thinker B. I'd have killed it by now. It has been seven weeks hasn't it?"

Hearing her say that has me chuckling.

"And yet it's still a mystery why you keep ending up in comas. Gee, maybe you ought to think that over a little."

She chuckles herself. We get silent for a minute.

I should probably tell her what happened.

"Listen, Faith, there's something you should know about your coma."

Her eyes narrow a little.

"What?"

"I don't know if the doctors told you or not, but you were supposed to come out of the coma sooner than you did."

"What happened? Did the demon come after me or something?"

"No, not really, but you did kinda have a setback a week ago."

"A setback? What kind of setback?"

The idea of having to tell her this kinda bugs me, taking a deep breath before giving her the details.

"You went into sudden shock after a strange pressure on your heart caused one of your veins to rupture. The doctors can't explain it."

One of her eyebrows rises when she looks at me questioningly.

"You're thinking it might've been mystical?"

"That's my theory at least, not that I have any actual facts to back it up."

We both get quiet for a second.

"Well, that might explain my dream."

Dream?

"What dream?"

"While I was sleeping, or, in a coma or whatever, I had this strange dream."

"It wasn't about cigars and a tunnel was it? Cause I don't really need to hear about that one again."

She chuckles and I smile at the reference to earlier days.

"No, but it was just as strange. I was floating around in this weird place with a lot of smoke and a lot of nothing else. Then I started hearing this soft voice calling out to me."

"What did it say?"

"I don't know exactly. I couldn't hear it well enough most of the time to know what it meant. But I think I did hear the word 'heart' once or twice. It's still all kinda hazy and I don't remember a lot."

Hmm...

"Could be the voice was whatever was doing the spell to you. Did you recognize the voice? Maybe something that could tell us what did it?"

Faith starts to shake her head gently before stopping.

"No... at least, I don't think I did."

What?

"Would you mind being a little more cryptic?"

My sister's girlfriend gives me a little bit of a playful glare for my question.

"I didn't recognize the voice itself exactly, but it did sound like a voice I've heard somewhere before. Maybe it'll come to me later."

All I can do is shrug.

"They usually do. In the meantime though, I'll get Willow and the other slayers at the dojo on it to see if they can narrow down what might've caused it."

Pulling my cell phone out of my pocket, I'm about to open it to dial the number when it rings.

Weird, talk about good timing...

I look at the caller ID and it's Tess.

What's Tess calling me for?

"Who is it?"

"It's Tess. Hold on."

The phone flips open easily as I answer it and I put the receiver up to my ear.

"Hey... Tess... everything all right?"

Nothing on the other end, then suddenly, I hear the sounds of people moving around.

"Hello?"

There's more moving but no voices through the speaker of the phone.

"What's going on B?"

Faith and I look at each other for a second while I answer.

"I don't know. I'm trying to find out, gimme a sec."

Finally, I hear Tess' voice through the phone.

"I'm not so sure this is a good idea Dawn."

Dawn? What's going on?

"Tess? Talk to me."

Dawn's voice comes through the phone.

"Why the hell not?"

"Because it's insane?"

Something tells me that I'm not in on this conversation by accident, so I keep listening.

"I have to do something Tess. I can't just sit around anymore while Faith lies there like a vegetable all day."

Looking over at Faith for a split second, I try to hide the sudden shock and fear of what might be happening. The sounds of rustling hit the speaker on my phone before I hear Tess' voice again.

"But this? Going up against the demon that took out twenty five slayers, by yourself? That's suicidal."

Oh my god, she can't be serious.

"I'm not alone."

A picture suddenly pops into my head of my sister standing in front of Tess somewhere, holding out a weapon of some kind.

"Are you in?"

More sounds of rustling and I almost know for sure what's going on. Tess' voice ends up confirming that fear.

"Fine, I'll watch your back. But at least tell me where the hell it is you're going to find the demon. If I'm gonna die, I'd like to know where."

This can't be happening. It's like a nightmare or something.

"First rule Buffy ever taught me about demon hunting, always start where you saw it last."

The park, they're going back to the park. I have to do something.

I turn around and head straight for the door.

"B..."

Faith's voice makes me stop and turn to her, the speaker of my phone still pressed up against my ear to see if I can hear anything else.

"What's going on?"

I don't have time to explain this to Faith, and if I did, she'd go nuts and put her recovery in danger to help.

"I'll explain when I get back Faith, I promise. But now I have to go. I'm glad you're awake Faith."

All I can think to do is yell into the phone as loud as I can.

"TESS! Tess if you can hear me, say something."

There's nothing but the sounds of fast movement on the other end.

"Dawn, Faith's awake, you don't have to do this. She's awake and she's waiting to see you. Don't do this."

Still nothing... damn it, neither of them can hear me.

I hang up the phone, knowing that listening isn't going to do me any good.

There's only one thing I can do now that makes any kind of sense.

The list of numbers on my phone seems way too long as I scroll through them to find the one I'm looking for. Finally, I find the number for the dojo and hit the call button. On my way to the door, a nurse gets in front of me to complain.

"I'm sorry miss, but cell phones aren't allowed in..."

She's interrupted by me shoving her out of the way to keep my momentum going.

"Don't worry, I'm leaving."

After three VERY long rings, someone picks up.

"S.I.T. dojo, Willow speaking."

"Willow, get every slayer with a pulse to the park over on Charlie and Fifth."

"Buff, what's wrong?"

"It's Dawn. Just do it."

Author's Note 2: On the flip side, I'm working on a piece for Wattpad's Open Novella Contest and it's very much inspired by Buffy season 1. I would love your thoughts on it if you'd mind reading it. The first two chapters are up. It's called Pandora's Box: Works and Days.