HELP ME, PIPER
Chapter 1: Death of Leo s father
Piper was helping to Grams in garden when scream broke silence:
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Piper looked to house across the street; it was house where her bets friend Leo lived with his parents and his younger sister Catherine. Piper had a secret crush on Leo, but she lost hope that they will ever become a couple.
"Grams, it is Mrs Wyatt s screaming!", said Piper in panick and two of them ran across the street.
It was unlocked so they quickly came in.
Leo s mother Linda was kneeling on the floor beside body of Fred, Leo s father. He was not moving. Leo held crying Catherine in his embrace. He was frozen
"Linda!", Grams ran to her friend "Linda, what happened?"
"Penny…Fred…he is dead…", sobbed Linda.
Penny checked for Fred s pulse. On her face, Piper saw it was true.
"Piper", said Grams "Call doctor."
Piper quickly ran to phone and called doctor. Catherine ran to her Ma and they hugged each other, crying aloud.
Piper turned to see Leo. He was frozen, his face was like stone.
"Leo", she came toward him.
Hearing that dear voice, Leo felt something broke inside him. Tears came to his eyes and he started to sobb. Piper hugged him tightly. Tears appeared in her eyes , too.
"Piper", whispered Leo, hugging her more and more tightly "Help me, Piper…Please, do not leave me…"
"I am here, Leo. I am here", she tried to comfort him.
"Do not leave me, Piper, do not leave me…", he cried.
Piper looked to him and wiped his tears away.
"I will not. I will never leave you, Leo. Come here", she hugged him again, let him cry…
In that moment, doctor came and phoebe, Prue and Victor showed up behind him.
Doctor checked Fred and slowly put stetoschope down.
"I am sorry", he gently said.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!", screamed Catherine. Piper felt how Leo buried his face in her hair like he wanted to escape from cruel reality…
Doctors took Fred and Victor approached to Linda:
"Linda, you all come to sleep at our place tonight. You should not be alone, neither you, neither children. Penny and me will check what is needed for funeral."
Linda looked to her and Fred s dear friend.
"Thank you, Victor", she whispered through tears.
Catherine slept in Phoebe s room cause two of them were best friends, Linda slept at Prue s room and Leo slept in Piper s room.
Piper lay down on other bed, but in the middle of night, Leo s screams woke her up.
"NOOOOOOOOO!", screamed Leo. Piper was awakened in a second and ran toward Leo. Everybody appeared at doors.
"It is okay, I got it", said Piper to them "Go back to sleep, I will handle this."
"Are you sure?", asked Victor. Piper nodded and everybody left the room.
Piper sat next to Leo and hugged him. He cried and creid, could not stop.
"Piper, do not leave me", he sobbed.
"I am here, Leo", she kissed his hair "I am not going anywhere."
He buried his face in her beautifull long brown hair. Piper held him tightly and swung a bit.
"Sssshhh", she whispered "All will be fine, sssshhh", she wiped his tears away and continued with swung and comforting him. After few minutes, he stopped with crying and Piper said:
"Try to get some sleep", she laid him down and put blanket on him "I am here, do not worry."
"Thank you", he whispered and closed his eyes.
It was 10:15 when Piper got up from bed. Leo was still sleeping so she went out of the room as quiet as she could and went to the kitchen. Phoebe was alleardy there, making Nes – coffee.
"Honey, you look like hell!", said Phoebe with concern "Are you okay?"
"No", replied Piper "I did not had much sleep last night. Leo was waking up from nightmares and he is in terrible condition."
Phoebe nodded with understanding. She handed finished Nes – coffee to Piper.
"What about you?", asked Piper.
"I will make another one for myself. You need it more than I do", said Phoebe, taking another cup.
"Thanx, Pheebs", said Piper, taking a sip of delicious coffee "How is Catherine?"
"She slept peacefully. But, from tears, she could not fall asleep until 2 o clock", said Phoebe with concern. Piper sighed and quietly said:
"I can not believe that Mr Wyatt is dead."
"Tell me about it" agreed Phoebe. They were drinking coffee in silence.
"I should rang school", remembered Phoebe. Piper nodded. As Phoebe left the kitchen, Piper stayed alone in the kitchen drinking her coffee when she heard steps. She turned around and saw Catherine. Piper rose from her chair and ran to hug her friend.
"Hey", she said, stroking Catherine s hair"How are you holding up?"
"I am trying to hold up…", whispered Catherine.
Piper looked to Catherine s eyes.
"Cathy, you are not alone. Remember that. I know how hard it is to loose one parent."
Catherine nodded:
"I know. Thank you, Piper…I miss him terribly…", she bursted to tears "Remember how he teached us to play basketball while Leo was dying of laugh watching two of us 'playing' ? "
Piper s eyes waterened to that dear memory from childhood and she nodded. She loved Fred Wyatt like he was her uncle and she liked to talk to him. He was always worried for Leo, and whenever he, cathy and Linda could not reach Leo, they would call Piper to help them. Once, Leo had fight with his Dad and nobody could not resolved it! They were not talking for three days! Cathy and lInda tried to help, but without success. That is when Fred called Piper. They were walking behind house and talked. She still remembered what Mr Wyatt told to her:
"I can not be in fight with Leo, but he is so stubborn and can not see that I only wish good for him. Please, Piper, talk to him, I know that you can reach to his brain and heart. He loves you very much, he will listen to you."
And, he was right; Piper had a talk with Leo and he made things up with his father. Piper was remembering that conversation while everybody else got up and had breakfast in silence.
Leo was sitting beside Piper, but did not touched his meal.
"Leo", whispered Piper, taking his hand in her hand under the table. Leo looked to her with his eyes full of tears. Piper s heart broke "You have to eat, leo", she whispered "You have to."
He shook his head and squeezed her hand.
"I can not , Piper. I can not", he whispered through tears and got up and ran outside. Catherine followed him. They fell in each other s embrace, crying. Piper followed them, but when she saw them, she stepped back, giving them privacy. They had to cry it out.
Later that day, Leo was sitting alone in Piper s room when he heard knocking on doors.
"Come in", he exclaimed.
Doors opened and Piper came in, caring dishes.
"I have made your favourite meal. And I do not want to hear that you will not eat it."
Leo gave weak smile to her.
"Thank you, Piper", he whispered.
"You are welcome", she replied , putting dishes on bed in front of Leo. And he did ate.
After he finished, Piper left dishes on little table. She looked to her friend. His eyes went outside the window, to his house.
Piper came closer and sat beside him, taking his hand in her hand. He squeezed her hand and she heard him whisper:
"I do not know how will I live without him…"
"Come here", she hugged him tightly.
"Ma and Cathy need me…", he whispered in her hair "And I feel like I am broken to million pieces…", Leo sobbed.
"Leo, it is okay to grief. You have to grief. And you are not alone", she looked to him and wiped his tears away "I will always be here for you when you need to talk to someone or to cry on someone s shoulder…"
"Thank you, Piper", he said through tears "It means a heaven to me…", he hugged her again.
Catherine and Leo were holding Linda through whole funeral. In those two days, she had lost pretty much weight.
Catherine was also weak and pale, she became deadly quiet from the funeral. That happy and smiling girl did not exist anymore. She also lost so much weight and barely talked.
When someone would look to Leo, it would seem that he is the strongest now in his family. But, Piper knew what kind of struggle was inside him. He was heartbroken cause of his father death, but also much worried for his mother and his sister…