A flu epidemic hits Sunnydale, and claims Buffy as one of its victims. Exhausted, Buffy is sent to hospital. Buffy hates hospitals: she saw her cousin, Celia, die in one when she was eight years old. In a hazy state Buffy sees a mysterious figure stalking the halls, and her suspicions fall on a doctor who is using an experimental technique on his young patients.
Cordelia and Giles discover that the culprit is actually Der Kindestod, a demon which sucks the life out of sick children. Buffy realises that it was the same creature that killed Celia, and that it can only be seen by people with a fever. Injecting herself with a virus, Buffy tracks down Der Kindestod, and kills it.
