Buffy's POV

They have to make her better. They just have to.

I hug my knees tighter at the thought of what might happen.

They need to fix what's wrong with her so she can be okay. I don't know what I'll do if my mom doesn't pull through this. She's all I have left. She's my only family. I can't lose her too.

I look down the hall where the doctors took my mother.

I don't know what I'll do if she doesn't make it through this. She's my mom, she raised me. She took care of me when I was sick. She put a band-aid on my knee when I scraped it. She held me when I was cold and warmed me up. She let me sleep in her bed if I heard a noise when I was younger. She taught me all about life and how to deal with it. I can't lose her now. I need her.

I look up at the clock on the wall and watch the seconds tick by.

It's been a few hours since they took her to the operating room. What's wrong? Why is it taking so long? Why can't they tell me if she's gonna be all right or not?

I squeeze my knees together tighter to feel something other than worried.

She has to be all right.

I feel a hand gently against my bicep and I turn my head to see Faith looking at me from the next seat. Her face full of pain and concern. I look away from her.

I really don't have the strength to deal with her right now. Let her be here if she wants to be. My mother's on an operating table fighting for her life. Everything else means nothing compared to that.

I stare down the hall again, watching the doctors, orderlies and nurses walk back and forth down it.

I think Mom wants her here anyway. The way they were talking before... they really do care about each other, and Dawn. I hate to admit it, but I think they really do. Even with what Faith has done, my mom still cares about her. She still looks at Faith like one of her own.

My eyes drift to Faith for a split second who's looking toward the hall herself.

And Faith cares about my mom just as much. She came back to Sunnydale to see Mom even though she knew I'd fight her tooth and nail on it.

I let my forehead drop onto my knees.

It doesn't change anything between us. There's no going back for me and her. Nothing will ever change what she did.

Giles' hand touches my shoulder before he speaks.

"Buffy..."

I lift my head and follow his line of sight past Xander holding Anya's hand, who's in a wheelchair, to the doctor in operating clothes coming this way. He takes off his cap as he approaches, holding it in front of him and covering the small amount of blood on his front. I let go of my knees and stand up to meet him. Giles, Faith and Xander follow a few seconds later.

I can't figure out what he's gonna say. His face is blank.

He stops in front of us.

"Ms. Summers?"

"Yes..."

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but we weren't able to repair the weakness in her artery..."

What?

"We tried our best to fix the problem but she began hemorrhaging during surgery. We did everything we could to stop her from bleeding out but it happened too quickly. I'm sorry..."

Oh my god...

"Is she?"

He lowers his head.

"I don't expect that she'll live more than an hour, if that."

"My... my, m-mom is...?"

"I'm sorry ma'am."

I turn to Giles and put my arms around him tight. He returns the hug thankfully. Tears form in my eyes.

Oh god... my mom is gonna die? What am I gonna do? I, I have to see her. If I don't I might not get a chance later.

I pull away from Giles and he lets me go.

"I need to see her. I need to see my mother."

The doctor nods gently.

"Of course, we've moved her into palliative care. Down the corridor on the right, third door on the left. I'll take you."

"Thank you..."

Giles turns to look at me.

"Do you want someone to go with you?"

Go with me?

"No I... I have to do this on my own."

He steps aside and the doctor starts walking backwards. I follow him and he turns around, leading me to my mom. I glance back at my friends and Faith for a moment before keeping up with the doctor. We head down the hall about 10 feet and turn into the corridor.

W... what do I say? She was supposed to get better from this operation. They were supposed to make her better from this operation. They were supposed to fix her. I wasn't prepared for this.

I almost knock the doctor over as I run into him.

"I'm, I'm sorry..."

He just looks at me.

"It's all right..."

I look left and right, confused that we're standing still. After a moment he motions to a door on my left.

"Go ahead when you're ready."

Oh...

I wipe away the tears in my eyes. I stare at the door for a moment and bite my lip to hold back the tears.

"Thank you..."

"Of course..."

I move to the door and stop.

"If you need anything..."

I look behind me and interrupt.

"I know... thanks."

He starts leaving as I push the door open and go inside. I stop a few paces in, seeing my mom lying in a bed motionless.

"Mom?"

Another few moments pass where she doesn't move and I panic.

Oh my god, did I...?

I rush to her side and I notice she's still breathing, barely. She turns her head to me slowly and smiles.

"Buffy..."

I feel the tears well up in my eyes again and my vision blurs.

"Mom..."

I sit down in the chair next to the bed.

I don't know what to say. She's my mom.

"The doctors told me a few minutes ago. Are you all right?"

Am I all right?

I reach out and take her hand.

"I'm fine, but you..."

I can't finish that sentence.

"It's all right honey."

All right?

"It's not all right. You're, you're..."

I stop.

"It's nobody's fault sweetie."

"They were... supposed to help you. Make you better."

Her breathing gets deeper and longer.

"They did the best they could Buffy. It's okay."

I bite my bottom lip so hard I think I might draw blood but it doesn't stop the tears from flowing.

"I don't want you to die mommy. I love you."

"I know Buffy, I know. I've always known. My darling Buffy, even when you were yelling and screaming at me, even when you were screeching at me for never letting you have any fun, I knew. A mother always knows."

She squeezes my hand weakly.

"I'm sorry about all that. I should've been a better daughter."

"You were the perfect daughter Buffy. I couldn't have asked for a better daughter. You've grown into a beautiful young woman. You're selfless and honest and caring. No mother could be prouder than I am of you..."

The tears start coming harder.

"Mommy..."

"I know you'll be okay because you're a good person with a heart full of love and I know I'll always be in there somewhere, like Dawn is... the way She always will be."

She?

"She still loves you Buffy, and you know in your heart that you feel the same. Maybe it's not the same as it was before, but I know that some part of you still feels her. Trust that, let it guide you to the help you need. I'm not asking you to get back together with her. I would never ask such a thing. All I'm asking is that you try and let her help you if you can. What Faith did, she did not because she wanted to but because she had to. She loved Dawn like a daughter, and Dawn loved her like a mother. She loved you both like parents. That's why she left it for you. As young as she was, she could see what was between you. She wanted one of you to give it to the other one day. Just take it from there."

I look into the eyes of my dying mother.

"I don't know that I can."

"I believe that you can, and so does Dawn. You owe it to Dawn to at least try. If you can't do it for yourself, and you can't do it for me, then do it for Dawn. Do it for the daughter you shared... that you still share. Wherever Dawn is, I know she still loves you both and is hoping that you'll join her one day, and so will I."

"Mommy don't say that."

Her hand reaches up and touches my cheek. I cover her hand with mine.

"Just promise me you'll try."

"I promise Mom. I promise to try, for Dawn, and for you. I promise to try."

"That's all I ask."

I squeeze my eyes shut as I hold her hand to my cheek.

"My precious darling... I love you."

"I love you mommy."

Her hand goes limp in mine and I open my eyes to see her lying motionless on the bed with her eyes closed.

"Mom?"

I check her wrist for a pulse.

"Mom?"

I stand up and put my fingers to her pulse point on her neck.

"Mommy?"

Nothing...

"DOCTOR?"

I wait for a few moments and no one comes. I look to the door.

"SOMEONE GET A DOCTOR!"

A nurse comes in.

"Get a doctor! You have to save my mother."

She comes over to my mother and checks her pulse.

"I already tried that. We need one of those crash cart things. Get one in here and save my mother."

She turns to me.

"I'm sorry ma'am..."

"No..."

"I'm sorry but your mother's gone."

I grab her by the collar and lift her off the floor.

"You have to save her."

"I'm sorry ma'am but there's nothing anyone can do."

I throw her across the room, making her crash into equipment. Some orderlies come in at the sounds of the crashing. They surround me.

"Her mother's gone... she's in shock..."

"SHUT UP! SHE'LL BE FINE! YOU JUST HAVE TO HELP HER!"

One of the orderlies comes up to me cautiously. I grab him, lifting him over my head and throwing him clear over my mommy's bed and into the window before he hits the ground. Another one comes at me and I spin him around, throwing him into the other orderly and sending them both out the door they came in. I look down at the nurse on the floor.

"You have to do something to save my mother..."

Someone comes in.

"She's all I have left..."

"Buffy?"

I look over to see Faith standing a few feet away.

"They won't help her. They won't save my mother."

"I'm sorry Buffy..."

"We, we have to convince them to save her."

"Buffy, there's nothing we can do. She's gone."

The tears flow even harder.

"There has to be..."

She gets closer.

"Has to be something... they, can do... I need her..."

She puts her arms around me and I try and push her away.

"I'm sorry B..."

"There has to be something..."

My knees feel weak and I stop fighting Faith as she holds me.

"I need her. I need my mommy."

"I know B, I'm sorry..."

My legs start to feel like jell-o as they give out and drop to the floor, taking Faith with me.

"I need my mommy..."