Okay, so the cabin fever's getting to me, and this is the result...Oh, and the next Life's Chronicles update is coming soon - I promise.
Title: I'm Not Dreaming
Author: Tarafied4Life (Heather)
Feedback: Yes, please.
Rating: PG-13 to (eventually) NC-17
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not a single solitary thing. Nope.
Synopsis: Willow goes to meet Tara at the beginning of "Normal Again." But what she finds isn't what she was expecting.
Author's Note: Thoughts are in italics.
[hr]
Chapter 1 - Nightmare
Rating: PG-13
“…for coffee, food, kisses and gay love?”
Willow saw the the classroom door she’d been watching swing open. Students filed out, and she stood waiting for Tara to emerge. But she didn’t – the professor was the last one out, and closed the door behind her. Willow ran to catch up with her.
“Excuse me?”
“Yes?”
“I was looking for a student of yours – Tara Maclay?”
The professor checked her attendance sheet. “She wasn’t in class this morning – hold on…” she ruffled through her papers. “Actually, she hasn’t been here all week. I emailed her yesterday, because she’s had such good attendance that I thought maybe something was wrong.”
“What did she say?”
“She hasn’t answered. Do you know her?”
“I do…but we haven’t talked for a little while.”
“Okay. If you see her, could you ask her to get in touch with me?”
“Will do. Thanks!”
Stay calm, Will. It’s probably nothing. Maybe she’s sick, or took a vacation, or something.
So her mind said, but her heart knew different – something was terribly wrong. She could feel it.
[hr]
“Tara?” Willow called as she knocked on the dorm room’s door. “Tara?”
The door across the hall opened. “She’s not there,” said the girl who stuck her head out.
“Have you seen her lately?”
“No. She borrowed some of my notes three days ago, and she hasn’t been back to her room since.”
“Any idea where she went?”
“Nope. But if you see her, tell her I need my notes back before finals.” The girl closed her door, leaving Willow in the hall alone.
Oh Goddess…Tara, where are you?
She went down to the administration office, and managed to get herself let into Tara’s room with a combination of fast talking and the fact that she was Tara’s ‘contact in case of emergency’ person. Unfortunately, the room’s contents shed little light on the situation. She found a tear-stained journal she could hardly bear to read tucked under Tara’s pillow, but it gave no indication that she’d been planning to leave or any clue where she might have gone. The rest of the room, no matter how many times Willow went through it, offered nothing useful – all of Tara’s clothes were still there, her suitcase was still in the closet, and her books and magick supplies were untouched.
Fighting the urge to cry, Willow pulled her cell phone from her pocket and dialed Buffy. “Buffy?” she asked as the slayer picked up. “I…I need your help. I think something’s happened to…I think Tara’s missing.”
“Okay, Will, take me through it from the beginning.” Willow explained her absence both from class and from her room, and the fact that she hadn’t packed anything. “Okay, you’ve got my attention,” Buffy said. “Meet me at the house – I’ll get everybody on it, and hopefully we’ll have some answers by the time you get here.”
“Thanks, Buffy. I’ll see you in a few.”
She sat down on the edge of Tara’s bed and began to cry. Tara…I don’t want to use the magicks, but if we don’t find you soon...I’m so scared, baby. Send me a sign, anything at all.
[hr]
“Buffy? I think we’ve got her!”
“Where?”
“Dawn called the hospital asking if anyone matching Tara’s description was brought in. There’s a Jane Doe, was brought in three days ago, sounds like her.”
“Oh God…is she okay?”
“Don’t know. Nurse wouldn’t tell us squat over the phone, except that she was there.”
“’Kay. Thanks, Xander. We’re just going to have to wait till Willow gets here.”
“Willow’s here,” came a voice from behind her. “What do we know?”
“Will…” she threw a look at Xander. “We’re not sure, but-“
“What? If you know anything, could you just tell me?”
“There’s a Jane Doe at the hospital who might be her. She had no ID when she was brought in, though.”
“Can you take me there? Now?”
“Of course, Will. Xander, look after Dawn, ok?”
[hr]
Hospitals. Supposedly there were some good things that happened in these places, but Willow knew them only as places of pain. Buffy’s mother, Tara’s hand and mind…nothing good came from hospitals.
“We need to see a Jane Doe who was brought in two days ago,” Buffy was explaining to the nurse at the desk.
“And why would I let you do that?”
“Because we might be able to identify her.”
“Are you family? I mean, if this girl is who you think she is?”
Buffy indicated Willow. “If she’s who we think, she has no family anywhere near here. This woman is her girlfriend.”
The nurse looked them up and down, trying to decide whether she could trust them. “Okay…wait here for a second, and I’ll get the doctor. He’ll take you in.”
She left the desk and headed back into the hospital. Buffy saw Willow shaking and put an arm around her. “It’s okay, Will. It might not be her.”
Willow nodded, struggling against the hollow feeling inside.
Please…please don’t let it be her…
A long few moments passed before the nurse returned with a very young-looking doctor dressed in blue scrubs.
“The nurse tells me you might be able to help us with our mystery patient,” he said as he shook their hands.
“I hope so,” Buffy replied. “How is she?”
“Well, let’s go and see if she’s who you think before I discuss her condition with you, okay?”
He led them past the nurse’s desk to the elevator, pressing the button for the third floor. The three of them stood in silence as it made its trip, and Buffy and Willow followed the doctor down the hall to room 370, a private room with a single bed. He opened the door and pulled back the curtain around the bed to reveal Tara, her eyes closed and her breathing regular, looking thin and pale with the hospital blankets covering her up to her chin.
Oh no…please no…
“Is it who you thought?”
“Tara!” Willow gasped, running to her side and reaching under the blankets to take her hand. “Tara?”
“She can’t hear you,” the doctor explained. He turned to Buffy. “So this is she? I need you to tell me everything you can about her.”
“Okay…uh, her full name’s Tara Maclay, she’s 21, and she’s a student at UC Sunnydale.”
He scribbled on his clipboard. “Any allergies?”
Buffy thought. “Will?” She didn’t turn. “Will?” Willow finally turned, tears streaming down her face.
“What?”
“Does Tara have any allergies?”
“Just shrimp.”
The doctor addressed Willow. “Does she have a regular doctor here?”
“No.”
“Can you get in touch with her family?”
“They’re…not close. I don’t think they’d want to hear from me.”
“Okay…this is an awkward question, but…does she have insurance?”
Willow looked disgusted. “No.” She threw a credit card at him. “Charge it all to this. It’s something my mom gave me once,” she explained to Buffy. “For emergencies – she’ll pay it.” She looked at the doctor. “’Kay, you know who she is, you’ve got your money, what’s wrong with her?”
He cleared his throat. “We…don’t know. She was dropped off three nights ago by a man who wouldn’t identify himself. She was carrying no ID, no wallet, didn’t have any jewellery or anything else besides the clothes on her back. She’s exhibiting all the symptoms of a deep coma, but with no corresponding cause. We can’t find any signs of trauma to the head or brain damage, and her EEG shows brainwave patterns consistent with someone who’s awake. All the time, actually – her brain doesn’t seem to be sleeping at all, just running constantly, but she’s completely unresponsive to the outside world. We’ve been in contact with every neurologist in the state, and a few outside, but none of them have ever seen a case like this. I wish I could tell you more, but that’s really all we know. She’s breathing on her own and seems otherwise healthy, but we have no idea how to reach her.”
Willow sobbed, stroking Tara’s hand. “Baby? Tara? Can you hear me? Squeeze my hand if you can hear me – please, baby, squeeze my hand.” Tara’s hand remained still.
No…it’s not fair! What the hell is this? She was going to come back to me, we were going to be together…this isn’t fair!
She kissed Tara’s lips and looked at the doctor, feeling terribly small. “Can…would it hurt her if I crawled into the bed next to her?”
He nodded. “She’s not hurt physically in any way we can find. Go ahead – maybe it’ll help if you talk to her, make contact.” He looked at Buffy and shrugged apologetically. “I’m sorry. I wish I could tell you more.”
[hr]
Waking was like pulling herself through deep muck – but finally she opened her eyes. She was standing beside a hospital bed wherein a blonde woman lay still, being held by a petite, crying redhead while another blonde girl stood at the foot of the bed. She felt sure she should know who these people were – but when she searched her mind there was nothing there. That was when she noticed the thing standing beside her. Short and squat, it was built like a fireplug but colored a bright green. Its eyes waved on long stalks, and its ears seemed to be floating next to its head.
You know, I should be scared or at least grossed out by this. But something tells me I’ve seen worse.
“Uh…what are you?”
“I’m Joe. Well, that’s not actually my name, but you couldn’t pronounce my name. So call me Joe.”
“That’s who you are, not what you are.”
“True. I’m a Krug. I don’t expect you to know what that is, and I’m not going to explain it to you, so don’t ask.”
“Okay – how come they’re not looking at us?” she indicated the redhead and the blonde.
“They can’t see us, and they can’t hear us.”
“Who are they?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
“Why not?”
“Against the rules, I’m afraid.”
“What rules? What are you talking about?”
“I can’t tell you that either. Right now there’re only two things I can tell you. The first is that the girl in the bed is you.”
“So I’m dead?”
“Oh no, not at all. You’re…jeez, how do I explain this to a human? You’re elsewhere. Your body is there, but your essence, your being, is here.”
“Why?”
“Again, can’t tell you.”
She looked down at the form in the hospital bed. “Who am I?”
“That’s the second one. Your name is Tara. There’s a reason that you’re here, and a reason you’re not there, but you’re going to have to figure it out for yourself. Good luck, kid.”
With that, the creature disappeared, and she found herself alone.
Great. That’s just great. Okay, self…uh, Tara…just pull it together. The little bug thing said something about figuring out why you’re here. So let’s start with where here is. These people can’t hear you – can you touch them?
She reached out for the blonde and swung her arm – and it passed right through her. She didn’t even flinch.
Crap. Well, does that mean…
She walked towards, and through, the nearest wall.
Neat. Now what? I can’t interact with anything, so how do I figure out why I’m here?
A sudden noise from behind her made her turn. A huge, indefinable shape – nothing more than a formless black shadow – had passed through the wall and was headed straight for her.
Okay – maybe step one is running like hell. Whatever that thing is, it can’t be good.
[hr]
“We’ll figure it out, Will, I promise.”
“Can we get Giles? I mean, I know he’s in England, but…he’ll help, right? I…” she couldn’t even finish the sentence, and Buffy pulled up a chair to the side of the bed and sat, taking Willow’s hand.
“I can’t lose her, Buffy, I just can’t…we have to help her!”
“We’ll get Giles, and we’ll do everything we can. We’ll get her back. I…Will? Did she always have that tattoo and I just never noticed it?”
Willow followed her gaze to Tara’s wrist, where a small red rose was inked.
“No – She never had a tattoo. Do you think…”
“I don’t know. Stay here with her, I’m going to go call Giles and get the gang working on this. If you need anything, or anything changes, then call me right away.”
Willow nodded and settled in next to Tara, not even hearing the door close.
Come home. Come back to me. I’ll never screw it up again, if you’ll just come home. Please…
[hr]
Thus endeth the chapter. More soon, hopefully.
