Buffy wakes up three months later

One minute, Buffy was reaching for the body swap talisman. The next, she was waking up in the hospital. Or so it seemed.

"What happened?" she asked.

Her mother Joyce appeared at the side of her hospital bed as if by magic. "You had an accident, sweetheart. Apparently you fell and hit your head at the Bronze. They tried to revive you but instead you fell into a coma. They were only able to wake you just now."

"Really?" asked Buffy. "Hey, wait a minute. I appear to be back in my own body. And you appear to be in yours. What happened?"

"What do you mean what happened?" asked Joyce.

"You don't remember all the fuss and stuff at the Bronze that happened before I passed out?" asked Buffy.

"No, I don't," said Joyce. "I suppose there was some fuss but I don't remember exactly what happened. I remember Willow said something about sorting out some crisis at the Bronze and then she cast something called -- now what was the name she used -- oh, yes, a tabula rasa spell. But other than that... I suspect that whatever you remember was just a dream. God knows I've had my share of odd dreams since all that happened. But then I've spent so much time in this hospital waiting for some good news... My God! Buffy! You scared me. I was afraid you were never going to wake up."

"I'm up now, Mom," said Buffy. "And I'm glad it turned out to be all just a dream. Because I seem to remember the weirdest things..."

"Well, I have to leave now," said Joyce. "But I'll be back later."

"Why do you have to leave?" asked Buffy as Joyce silently left the room.

But she never got an answer.

At least not until her father Hank Summers showed up. "Hi, there, sweetheart," he said. "I'm glad to see you're up. I was worried about you."

"Glad to see you too, I guess," said Buffy. "I honestly didn't expect to see you here."

"Yet I almost couldn't make it but fortunately, your new stepmom helped me clear my work schedule so that I could make it over here from LA," said her father.

"Wait a minute," said Buffy. "I have a stepmom?"

"Yes, sweetheart," said her father. "I was hoping the two of you would meet under different circumstances but unfortunately, that's not how things worked out. Anyway, she's right outside. She was worried about you too but she did not want to try to see you while your mother was here. You see, they don't get along too well."

"Well, I guess that's to be expected," said Buffy. "What's she's like?"

"Oh, I don't know," said her father. "It's really hard to say. In fact, it's probably easier to show you."

Then her father went to the door of her hospital room and said, "You can come in now, darling. She's awake."

At that moment, a familiar-looking brunette entered the room -- and it wasn't Cordelia.

"Oh, no!" cried Buffy. "What are you doing here? I thought it was all a dream."

"Well, you'd think that, wouldn't you, Buffy?" asked Kathryn Merteuil. "But then I'm still getting used to this whole stepmom business myself so it's kinda like a dream for me too."