Unknown Factors (Book One)

Ch.29: I will be waiting

  Waiting in the lounge, I couldn't keep from bouncing my knee while Joyce was still in the operating room. She had been in there a while, and I didn't know if that was normal or if something had gone wrong. 'It's okay, Aud. Joyce is gonna be fine. Just keep cool, Buffy and Dawn need to be able to have someone to lean on during this....' I would tell myself whenever I found myself looking at the clock.

  I felt a certain type of relief and fear of the unknown when the doctor working on Joyce came into view. We all rose to our feet as he stood in front of Buffy. Listening to what he had to say, I felt my sense of fear wash away.

  "Okay, your mom's in recovery." He told Buffy. 'Oh, thank goodness. That means she made it through surgery.'

  "What happened?" Buffy asked. "Is she all right?"

  "Well, it was possible to visualize the tumor completely, which means I was able to get all of it. So, barring complications in recovery, I think your mother's going to be fine." The doctor nodded. "Of course, we're still going to have to watch your mother carefully....and, uh, have her back in here for some follow-up testing, but, uh, overall, I'd consider the procedure a complete success."

  There were smiles and rejoicing as we all heard about Joyce's condition. Hell, I was so happy that I even hugged everyone- including Riley.

  "Oh, my goodness. Doctor, thank you. Thank you so much." Buffy said.

  "Believe-Believe me, it's my pleasure." He raised his hands, and Buffy gave him a bone-crunching hug. Literally. "Ow!"

  "Sorry! Sorry." Buffy quickly let go. That night, Dawn stayed the night with Anya and Xander so Buffy could have 'alone time' with Riley. I knew what that meant, so I crashed on Pops's couch once again.

  "Yo, Pops! Rise and shine, old man!" I raised my voice to wake up Giles the next morning. "I got breakfast made and a plate with your name on it!" Hearing some grumbling up above me, I smirked as his feet hit the floor.

  "I'm up." Pops said before going down the stairs. "Is this why Buffy was asking me if she could keep you?" He asked as I handed him a plate with eggs, biscuits, a couple of slices of bacon, and a few pancakes.

  "Maybe. On the first night, she said I was the perfect housekeeper." I shrugged with a smile. "I blame you and the Council for that. Always making me clean stuff."

  "Well, you had to learn some sort of, uh, responsibility." Giles raised his eyebrows. "I also wanted to-to make sure you could look after yourself i-if you were to ever be on your own."

  "I guess that makes sense." I said after pointing with my fork. "Oh, by the way, I gotta go help Buffy later on. She wants to get a few wigs for her mom, but doesn't want to go alone." Pops nodded as he ate, and I looked down at my plate. "Also, I already made you dinner for tonight since I'll be back at Buffy's. All you have to do is heat it up."

  "Aud, darling, I may be old, but I'm not incapable of doing things." Pops told me.

  "I know, I know. I just had the impulse and I thought 'why the Hell not?' so I did it." Grabbing my plate, I rinsed it off in the sink. "Oh, and one other thing...." I trailed off while walking over and hugging Pops. "It wasn't me who cleaned up the books all over the floor." Quickly hurrying out the door, I grabbed my jacket and left before Pops could complain about me cleaning up.

  After going with Buffy to pick up some wigs, I didn't really have much else to do. So, I set to personalizing the extra room the Summers were letting me stay in. And by personalize, I meant put my clothes in the dresser and fill the closet with the few weapons I owned. Once that was done, I just sort of lazed about until it was time for me to make dinner for Buffy and Dawn.