After The End Of The End

There was a deafening silence that fell over the scoobies after the news, until there was a knock at the door. Had they not been grieving silently, they probably wouldn't have heard it. Xander got up, grumbling in annoyance, 

"Who in the world would be here at this time? We dont even /know/ anybody else-" A small sliver of hope ran through Tara, but when she got up, the others protested. 

"You should rest.." Tara didn't have time to answer before Xander looked through the peephole, freezing for a second. Alarms blared in Taras head as he opened the door slowly, as if he thought there would be nothing there. Then there was a loud thud, and he swung it open the rest of the way to rush to whatever it was. Tara saw a flash of matted red hair and was already next to Xander by time he gasped out the familiar name,

"Willow…" Tara pushed him out of the way, pulling the small girl into her arms, disbelief and relief fighting for their place in her mind and heart. "You said she was dead-!" Xanders yell to Buffy was distorted to Tara, along with the rest of the voices that filled the air behind her. She immediately started to assess Willows wounds, her heart aching at each one. {How did she make it out of there?} Even as Tara thought that, she didn't really care how. She just cared that she /had/ made it out.

"W-Willow..?" She called gently, rubbing the girls back carefully in an effort to wake her. Though Willow groaned and moved her head, she stayed unconscious, a grimace of pain on her face even in sleep. "G-Guys.. We-We… She's really h-hurt.. She needs a hos-hospital.." The arguments stopped almost immediately. 

“I’ll call an ambulance…” Dawn said before hurrying off. 

“What are we gonna say? ‘Oh yes, we were fighting an evil magic guy and our friend got thrown into a burning building.’” Tara glared at Xander and he quieted, cowering under the intensity. 

“We just say she was at the library when the fire happened, Genius.” Buffy replied before Tara said something she would regret later. Giles stayed quiet during this, his eyes distant as if he were deep in thought - which he most likely was. Dawn came back, fiddling with her hands anxiously, 

“They’re on their way… Is she okay?” Tara looked away from the teen quietly, frowning to see Willow was shivering. Placing the back of her hand to the girls forehead gently, she was dismayed to find it hot. She turned her eyes back to the spot of blood on her pants, biting her lip. {Did her leg get infected that quickly?} 

“Move aside.” A gruff male voice instructed as three paramedics entered the corridor. A man and a woman crouched next to Willow, the woman waving Tara away. Hesitantly, Tara lowered Willows head back to the ground and moved away, watching anxiously. The woman took her vitals while the man looked her over for more severe injuries than those already shown. Seeing the blood on her pant leg, he pulled out a pocket knife to cut the material aside. Taras heart sank at the appearance of the wound. Something, most likely shattered glass or splintered wood, was lodged deeply in Willows flesh, the area around it yellow-green oozing pus. The wound itself seemed to be pulsing, surrounded by red that spread past the area of material he had cut open and swollen. Willow started to shiver more, her teeth chattering. Tara could barely hear the other paramedic asking Buffy questions, focused completely on Willow. {Goddess, why didnt we even /look/ before assuming she was dead?!} Tears stung her eyes while the paramedics put Willow onto a backboard and lifted her onto a stretcher, strapping her in before rolling it down the hall. Tara followed as close as they would allow, even as they eased the stretcher down the stairs. She knew the scoobies were following behind her, but didnt quite acknowledge it until a paramedic stopped her right before the ambulance, 

“Only one person can ride in the cab.” She looked behind her at the others and they each nodded. No words were needed. Once Tara climbed in with Willow, they each called their goodbyes, begging her to be safe. She was in an ambulance… How much safer could she be?