AN: Hello all! Sorry it took so long for me to get this up, but here it is! I just wanted everyone to know that Piper's tone will seem different, but remember, she told Leo she wouldn't be the same girl he knew if she lost some of her memory. Also, just a heads up, this story will switch POVs sometimes. But it will still mainly follow Piper.

2 Weeks Later

"Good morning Piper, ready for speech therapy?" Katelyn smiled brightly as she entered my room. Nurse Jackson had already made me comfortable for the day and promised that after speech therapy that hot PT guy, Mike, would come through to exercise my legs and arms.

Katelyn was alright, a bit perky for my taste, like Nurse Brittany who was always trying to make me look on the bright side of things. Unlike Brittany though, Katelyn was like fifty with grey hair and a bit of a grandmotherly feel to her. But, despite my dislike of her overly perky nature, Katelyn got results. I was talking again for the most part. Dr. McAndrew was really impressed because it was faster than most people learned.

"M-morning K-atelyn." Yeah, I did say for the most part. Hard syllables gave me trouble, and m and n…couldn't figure out why though. "How are you?"

"Good, thank you for asking. You sound like you just keep improving. You might be rid of me sooner than you thought." Katelyn smiled.

"Well, you're a g-ood t-eacher." I tried to hold back my frustration.

"Don't get discouraged, Piper. You are doing a really good job." Katelyn soothed my anger. Funny thing was I was really good at talking while I was angry. But Katelyn wanted me to get there while calm as well. "Now, let's start the lesson." Katelyn pulled out her tape recorder and flash cards and our hour long speech therapy began.

Each day I got a little better at speaking, and Katelyn let me know it. But the piano which sat at the back of my room, my piano, made me feel like just talking wasn't enough. In my mind, two weeks ago I was well on my way to my free ride to Julliard. In my mind I was just fine two weeks ago. And yet, I know, because of what my parents, doctors and nurses tell me, that I have been sick for over a month and I have been living in this hospital that long and apparently I had friends here. But I couldn't image myself making a life in this hospital. Not when I'm so determined to leave.

There was his girlfriend, Emma. She had an eating disorder. I didn't know how I felt about her, she was sort of mousy, but she had her moments of outburst. She was also avoiding me for some reason, but I guess it was better that I didn't know why. She seemed nice enough, but she just wasn't my type of person. She was too uptight.

I definitely couldn't imagine being friends with the people I was told I was friends with. That boy Jordi spoke Spanish to me like we were old friends, but I had seen him selling drugs once or twice when my parents came to roll me around on what they called "My daily walk".

Then there was that girl Kara, who seemed like everything I hated in a person. She was rude, selfish and a cheerleader. She seemed like all she cared about was making people fear her. Why would I ever hang out with someone like that? Had I become her lackey at some point? That didn't seem like me either.

There was the guy called Dash, who seemed like maybe I could be friends with. That was, if he wasn't always trying to have sex with someone. Well, someone specific, my friend Laney, who most people knew as Delaney Shaw, the pop star. I couldn't imagine being around someone who was always trying to get in my friends pants.

I remembered when I first learned that Laney was at the same hospital; that we had been at the same hospital the whole time. She was so shocked to see me I figured we hadn't run into each other somehow. Then she explained that she just hadn't expected me to be awake so soon after my surgery.

It was great to know that I had been right about our friendship, that we had survived her raise to fame and were still as close as ever. I was happy when she told me all the things we'd done together.

There really was only one other person at the hospital besides Laney I could talk to, and that was Hunter. I hadn't seen him since we were younger, and I couldn't believe that we'd ended up in the same hospital, and getting surgery on the same day. The serendipitous nature of the situation seemed too much to ignore, at first. Then I realized that Ocean Park was known as one of the best hospitals in all of California, and since we all had pretty serious issues, it actually made sense that we would be sent there.

"Hey, Piper." I looked up as my parents rolled me through the hospital. It was that boy, Leo. He came by to say hi to me at least once a day. I didn't know how I felt about him. He was friends with all the other people I had also, apparently been friends with, and I didn't know if that was a good thing or not. Those people weren't my kind of people, so maybe that also meant he wasn't my type of person. But he was always sweet to me, and my dad told me he was the one who got my piano to the hospital, so I was forcing myself to give him a chance.

"H-hey, Leo." I tried to smile politely at him, but I grimaced a bit at my inability to say even the simplest of sentences.

My parents also greeted Leo warmly. They seemed to be on very good terms with each other. It was weird to think that my parents remembered someone that I didn't. Especially since he and I had been so close.

"You're getting better." He smiled, obviously trying to make me feel better.

"Your hair's g-getting longer." I said, nodding my head towards his. There was this flash of something in his eyes when I said that. He seemed hopeful for a moment.

"So is yours." He pointed to my head. One of the other things I didn't remember was telling Nurse Jackson, who has been taking care of me this whole time, to shave my whole head instead of just a chuck of it. I regret that though, my head is always cold.

"Pipes! Looking good." Laney sauntered over, winking at me.

"H-hey Laney, what's g-oing on?" I smiled back.

"Hey, Delaney." Leo said, but it held none of the warmth it did when he greeted me. It never did, and I couldn't understand why.

"Leo." Laney was cooler in her greeting to him as well, but she was never quite as cold as Leo was to her. It was also one of the reasons I was so unsure as to whether I could be friends with Leo or not. He and Delaney clearly didn't get along, but they both tried hard to hide it from me. "Mind if I steal my bestie away from you?" She smiled.

"Of course not. I'll see you around, Piper." Leo smiled at me again, before walking off. The limp in his step was almost nonexistent now. He would be able to go home soon.

"Laney?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you and Leo so c-c-c…weird around each other?"

"We aren't." She dropped the conversation quickly, and, after asking my parents if she could, Laney took over pushing my chair and rushed me down the hall.

1 Week Earlier

"She's lost a little more than just this past month, we can now see that clearly." Dr. McAndrew was explaining to Leo and Mr. and Mrs. Douglas. "Based on what you've told me, it seems like everything from these last few months are all jumbled bits and pieces in her memory. It's up to all of you to fill in the blanks as best and accurately as you can."

"What happened if we get something wrong?" Leo asked.

"Her entire personality could change. Piper is who she is because of everything that has happened up until now. If you start filling in her blank spaces with a different story, she's not the same girl you know anymore, because her experiences were different."

"Thank you, Dr. McAndrew. Come on, let's get back to Piper." Mr. Douglas said, helping his wife up. Leo followed behind silently worrying that he would mess something up and lose Piper.

Unfortunately, when they got back to the room, Piper wasn't alone. Delaney Shaw was in there, and they were talking, well Delaney was doing most of the talking and Piper was smiling and listening.

"What are you doing in here?" Mrs. Douglas asked.

"Mmom," Piper smiled. "L-aney c-c-ame by t-to see mme. D-id you knn-ow she w-as in the ssame os-p-ital." Piper sighed was she finished the sentence. It took a lot of energy out of her to talk, and almost every word was a struggle. It broke Leo's heart.

"Yes, that is great, but your dad and I would like some time with you now. Would you excuse us Delaney?" Mrs. Douglas was flat out cold to Delaney when she said this. She didn't even pretend to still like the girl. Delaney seemed to sense this too because she nodded and left quickly.

Leo followed after her.

"Hey, Delaney, what did you tell Piper?" Leo stopped her from rushing away.

"I didn't tell her anything." Delaney shrugged, trying to act nonchalant.

"That's a lie. She was pissed when she saw you in this hospital not two days ago. I highly doubt she'd be so excited to see you if she remembered what you did to her."

"But she doesn't." Delaney smiled. Something wicked could be seen in the back of that smile, and it worried Leo.

"What did you do?"

"I lied. I told her we were still friends, I didn't tell her what I did."

"How could you do that to her?"

"I needed my friend back!" Delaney snapped. "Piper was the only person who ever cared about me, just because of who I was. She never used me for my talent, and now I'm surrounded by people that only care about me as long as I am talented, and popular. I missed having one real friend."

"So your solution is to not be that friend to her, and instead use her unfortunate circumstances to your advantage and lie to her? You really are a terrible friend. If you really cared about her you'd tell her the truth and ask for her forgiveness. Tell her everything you just told me."

"And risk her still hating me? I don't think so. This is the best way I have to get her back."

"Well, if you won't tell her, I will." Leo turned to head back to Piper's room.

"Go ahead, but just remember this, she doesn't even know you." Leo froze. "That's right, you think about that. She knows me, she trusts me, and I'm her friend. You're just some random guy, who is telling her that her best friend is a bad person. Who do you think she'll believe?" Leo turned back to Delaney then. "Exactly, but if you let me have this, I can help you too."

"What do you mean?"

"If you try to tell her the truth, I will poison her against you. But, if you let me keep her as a friend, I'll put in a good word for you, tell her nice things about you. Then, maybe you can win her back. But I can also tell you this, if you don't take my help, she'll never love you again. She already told me she doesn't think she could've been friends with those kids you guys used to hang out with."

"You're lying."

"Am I really? If she hadn't gotten to know you all over that last month, do you think she would have just jumped into a friendship with you? If she had friends back home, friends like me; do you think she would have? She doesn't remember anything that you do. All she has to go on is what she sees now, and I have to tell you, you guys haven't been putting your best feet forward." Delaney smirked confidently.

Doubt started to fill Leo's mind. Could he honestly risk losing Piper to Delaney Shaw? "Fine, I won't tell her the truth, but if you do one thing to hurt her, I will. I don't care if it means I could lose her too."

"You really are a smart guy, Leo. I can kind of see why Pipes fell for you."

"She hates that nickname."

"Not anymore." Delaney sang as she started towards her room once more.