Piper sat quietly in the living room, staring quietly at the bare wall as she sat on the arm of the couch, one leg kicked up to keep her steady. She rested her chin on the top of her knee as she thought, still surprised to find her heart beating heavily from the events before.
What the hell had happened?
The answer was simple. She kept trying to convince herself it was at least. Cole was delusional and had pulled her into a kiss . . . a kiss that she enjoyed very much. And a part of her hoped the feeling was mutual.
Dr. Ava Nicolae cleared her throat as she entered the living room, Piper not even realizing that she had exited her room. "Hey," Piper greeted. "How is he?"
"Not completely well, but not near death," Ava replied. "I've put him on some antibiotics and tidied upped your stitching a bit. He'll be all right."
"Thank you so much for coming to help, Ava. I was worried to take him to the hospital but I knew I couldn't take care of him myself," Piper confessed.
"Piper, I'm happy to help anytime. After everything you did for me last year. I owe you and your family so much," Ava told her.
Piper shook her head. "You don't owe us anything but if it makes your feel better you can consider your "debt" repaid after today."
Ava forced a smile and nodded but her face became slightly grave. "Piper . . . I'm sure it's a sensitive subject for you but . . . I wanted to say that I'm sorry about the baby," she started gently.
Piper swallowed down hard. She had barely talked about the baby. Not since the day at P3 with Cole. It was still a memory that brought much grief. "Thanks, Ava."
The doctor paused for a moment. "I feel that in a way it was partially my fault. I should have encouraged you to go to an OB/GYN rather than help you far from a hospital."
"Ava, don't blame yourself. You of anyone had little to do with what happened," Piper assured.
Ava gave no response as her pager gave a beep. She sighed. "I have to get back to the hospital . . . Just make sure Cole takes his antibiotics . . ."
"Of course," Piper said. "Thanks again . . ."
"No problem. If you're ever in a situation like this again, don't hesitate to call," Ava told her as the two shared an embrace. Piper waited until the door slammed shut to slowly turn around and face Cole's room.
She sighed as she began her deliberate walk to his barracks, stopping as she reached the doorway. She leaned against the frame, finding him sound asleep on the mattress. She gave a long sigh, swallowing hard and suddenly as she watched him she realized she wouldn't be able to look at him the same way ever again.
Cooper Valentine lounged contently in the sun room, his legs kicked up and the newspaper in his hands. His ears perked as footsteps sounded in the room and smirked.
"Nice column," he told her, his face still covered by the Bay Mirror.
"Don't flatter me," Phoebe said, swatting down the paper and revealing his amused face. "We need to talk."
"We do?"
"Yes," she replied. "You're screwing this up and I mean big time buddy."
"Me? screw up?" he scoffed. "Impossible . . . Wait, what are you talking about?"
"Piper!" Phoebe exclaimed. "You're supposed to be helping her find true love and you're doing a horrible job."
Coop calmly folded up the paper, dropping it onto the floor next to him. He cleared his throat. "Phoebe, maybe you don't understand, but you can't force true love. It just happens and certainly not during my first day on the job."
"That's not what I mean."
"Why don't you tell me what you do mean?"
She groaned. "I'm an empath Coop and I could feel . . . ugh . . . Piper and Cole have feelings for each other. Feelings that they probably don't even know they have and I could feel it last night when I came home . . ." Phoebe said.
"Well, that's good isn't it?" Coop asked.
"Are you crazy?" she nearly shouted. "No of course that's not good! We're talking about Cole Turner a.k.a former source of all evil and ruler of the underworld! My ex-husband might I add - - -"
"Do you still love him?"
"No!" Phoebe denied angrily. "I hate him if anything. Why would you even ask?"
"Because maybe the reason you're reacting this way is because you're jealous."
"I'm not jealous. I just don't want Piper to get involved with him. She'll end up hurt, I'm sure of it and I'm sick of seeing her like that Coop. That's why the Elders sent you down here! So you can prevent her heart from breaking again!"
"From what I can see, I'm doing a swell job," Coop said leaning back in the chair. "If Piper really likes Cole then I should in fact encourage them to be together."
"What?!"
"Listen, Phoebe, if the case is that Cole and Piper really do have feelings for each other then it is my job to help their love, not hurt it," he explained. "And if you're so concerned about your sister's happiness then maybe you should warm up to the idea too."
Her glare grew harsh on him as the front door slammed shut and Piper slowly entered the room. "Is this a bad time?" she asked the pair.
Before she could turn to leave Coop quickly stopped her. "No, your timing is impeccable," he assured her as he rose from his seat. He looked to Phoebe. "You know, I'm an empath as well and I can sense some animosity between you two . . . I'll leave you girls to talk."
The cupid disappeared in a pink flash and Phoebe gave a sigh. "What was all that about?" Piper asked curiously.
"Nothing," Phoebe replied.
"Sure, well, I have to get to the club so - - -"
"Piper, wait," Phoebe stopped her. "I . . . I want to apologize for last night. I over reacted."
Piper lowered her head. "Its fine, Pheebs. Forgive and forget."
"Maybe not forget . . ." Phoebe started slowly. "Piper, the reason I was so upset last night was because I don't want you to get too close to Cole. I understand that he helped you that day but - - -"
"But what?" Piper challenged.
Phoebe's eyes narrowed slightly. "If you give into him Piper, he will break your heart," she said more seriously. "I don't want to see you get hurt again and more than anything I don't want to see you with Cole."
Piper sighed. "Listen, Phoebe, I understand you're concerned about my best interests but you can't change how I feel about him."
"How you feel about him?" Phoebe repeated her eyes wide. "What do you mean? How do you feel about him?"
"I care about him . . ." Piper admitted. "A lot. And for reasons that you probably can't understand."
"I wish I could understand Piper, because the fact that you have any kind of good feelings toward him at all is crazy to me. He's just going to end up hurting you."
"It's a risk that I'm willing to take, Phoebe," she whispered.
Phoebe shook her head. "Just know that I tried to warn you Piper . . . and not because I wanted to see you unhappy but because I know you deserve better . . ."
She slowly brushed past her sister, leaving Piper with her mouth part way open as she stood alone in the sun room. She ran a frustrated hand down her face.