First, thank you all SO MUCH for the reviews, I've never gotten so many on one chapter before! You guys are great. Hmm... maybe I should leave chapters ending in horrible turmoil more often...
Important A/N as I said, we will find out why Chris is so sick in this chapter, and I want to apologize right now. The illness Chris has is the illness I was planning to give him when I first started this fic. After about three chapters, I decided to change it to something else, though I had no idea what that would be. But after last chapter, I searched medical encyclopedias, the internet, google, fact monster, and I couldn't find the kind of thing I was looking for. I didn't want to take the easy way out and give him an 'rare' illness I had just made up (I owe you guys more than that!) So I went back to the original malady. However, since I went about five chapters thinking I wouldn't be using that sickness, some of the symptoms don't quite add up. I hope that this doesn't end up letting you down, or disappointing you. But just go with me, ok?
CPHCPHCPHCPHCPHCPHCPH
Piper felt as though her heart had turned to ice. She couldn't breathe, couldn't move, couldn't even think, but for one thought, going through her head over and over again...
'My baby, Oh my God, Chris, my baby...'
He was worse, he was so sick when she left, and now...
"Piper...?" came Leo's strained voice.
Blinking profusely, Piper snapped back into the moment. She turned around to the sound of the voice.
Leo stood right behind her, his hand on her shoulder, looking as though he was expecting someone to hit him in the face.
"Piper? What is it?". As though he needed to ask. He could tell by the look on his wifes face. She looked so very lost, her eyes wide, and when she spoke, her voice shook like mad.
"I-it was the...the hospital. Chris...h-h-he...we need to..to...we need to go!" she finally spat out. Leo could feel her whole body shaking against him.
"What did he say? Is Chris...?" Leo was shocked. He knew, deep down, what was wrong the moment the phone rang, but...a part of him, like Piper, prayed that it wasn't about Chris. That it was a prank caller, or a wrong number, or...anything else.
But it wasn't. His son had taken a turn for the worse, and he needed them. Oh God, Chris...
"Leo, now! We need to go now!" Piper screeched, flying out of her stupor and into a fevered frenzy. She hurriedly tugged a day old t shirt over her head, then threw a pair of jeans at her dazed husband.
"I'm...I'm going to get Wyatt. He'll kill us if we leave another note. And Phoebe, and Paige..Leo, God damn it! Hurry the Hell up!"
The panic in Piper voice snapped Leo out of it, and he quickly pulled on his jeans, grabbing a jacket out of the closet.
CPHCPHCPHCPHCPHCPHCPH
"Wyatt! Wyatt, honey, wake up now!" Piper roughly shook her oldest, who lay snoring on the living room couch.
"Huh..wha? What is it?" he asked groggily, his short curls mussed and hanging over his dazed blue eyes.
"Get up, get dressed, we have to go back to the hospital!" Piper dead panned, picking up Wyatts jeans from the floor.
Wyatt. Instantly wide awake, felt his heart leap up into his throat.
"Why? What happened!"
This was too much. Just too much for the witch. She closed her eyes tightly against the world, grabbing her hair roughly in her hands.
"It's Chris. His doctor called, said we need to get there now!" she sounded like she was about to loose it. Her mind kept playing all the possible scenarios over and over in her mind. And she knew that none of them could be nearly as bad as what would be waiting for them at San Francisco Memorial.
"Just..just get dressed!" she finished, leaving the room in a hurry, and leaving Wyatt to his own panicking.
CPHCPHCPHCPHCPHCPHCPH
four and a half minutes later, The entire Halliwell family was crowded into Pipers SUV. Leo was at the wheel, Piper next to him, with Wyatt and her sisters in the back. Piper had insisted on orbing, But Leo had argued that they couldn't. The doctor had only called five minutes ago, and he would be suspicious if they got there that fast.
Piper wanted to argue- what did she care if some bastard got suspicious!- but they had not ime to battle it out. They all piled into the car, half dressed, and took off.
No one said a word, each lost in his or her own thoughts.
CPHCPHCPHCPHCPHCPHCPH
Leo drove in silence, not caring how many speed limits and traffic violations he was breaking. Half way there, he couldn't help but wish they had orbed. Chris needed them, not in fifteen minutes, but NOW.
Just like he had needed Leo twenty three years ago...and Leo hadn't gotten there in time. He'd taken too long, been too late...He wouldn't make that mistake again!
It hurt him, every day. Every single God damned day, to look at his youngest son, coming down to breakfast with his hair standing in a hundred different directions, laughing a rough housing with his brother, looking at Leo with those green eyes... To see him, alive and well, and remember how much he had gone through. Seeing his family die before him, watching his only living relative, his own brother, destroy the world, watching as his fiance died...
And lying there, on his mothers bed, suffering terribly, blood flowing freely from the deep wound in his stomach, as he looked up at his father, putting every ounce of trust in his father. Depending on him to save his life, to make it stop hurting, to save his brother if he himself couldn't be...
Everytime Leo looked at Chris, that's what he saw first. The young boy, lying on bloody sheets, gasping for breathe. He saw hin first, and his living child second. But he'd been reassured when he saw him alive, healthy, up and active. Giving his parents Hell, tormenting his cousins...
And now, rushing to the hospital, he didn't have that reassurance. His mind flipped constantly between the worst two moments he could remember; Chris, taking his last breath in his arms, and seeing him lying there on a hospital bed, his eyes sunken, his skin sallow and warm...
And his mind, like Pipers, kept imagining the worst case scenario. And he knew he wouldn't be able to handle it. He couldn't hold his son in his arms again, and watch his life fade away...
CPHCPHCPHCPHCPHCPHCPH
It was past two when the Halliwell's all came running through the automatic main doors of the hospital, and mad a b line for the front nurses station.
"We need to see doctor Ollrich" Piper demanded, point blank, as her family all crowded around her, pent up on nervous energy.
The nurse sitting at the desk didn't even look up from her magazine when repying, "Dr. Ollrich isn't available at the moment. You'll have to wait."
"No. Hey, HEY!" Piper slammed her hand down on the desk, startling the young lady who whipped her head up. "We need to speak with Dr. Ollrich now!"
"Ma'am, please. Dr. Ollrich is with a patient right now, and he can't just come all the way down here to speak with you!"
And that was all it took for Pipers already lit fuse to go off.
"Listen lady, we got a call from Dr. Ollrich not twenty minutes ago concerning my son. He told us to get down here immediately. We're here, now where is he?" she shrilled,.alarming her family and everyone else currently in the lobby.
Her face red with anger, the nurse shuffled through a small stack of memos on her desk, then, reading off a slip, she asked, "Mrs. Halliwell?"
"Yes." Piper responded impatiently.
The nurse sighed, and said, "Dr. Ollrich is currently tending to your son, Ma'am. When he is through, he come down and speak with you. But you'll have to wait for him." exasperated (and glad to have the lunatics out of her hair) she pointed down the hall to a waiting room.
Grabbing Leo's arm, she turned on her heel and, followed by her sisters and oldest, made thier way down the hall.
The room was non descript. Blue-gray walls, gray carpet, blue apostered chairs and benches; it was just as plain as any other hospital waiting room. They had made an unsuccessful attempt to make the room appear calming to nervous families. They had failed miserably. The family sat down in the chairs nearest the door; Piper right nest to Leo, he sisters across the aisle, and Wyatt on her other side.
There where two other people in the waiting room; a young Asian couple. They looked exhausted, probably had been there for hours.
Had the circumstances been any different, Piper would have been inclined to pity them, feel sorry for them. But at the moment, she didn't give a damn about anyone else but her family. Her husband, who was slumped in his chair, staring off into space, her eldest son. Who sat silently, idly pulling at a loose string on his jacket, her sisters, who sat lost in thier own thoughts, Paige with tears running down her face...
And her baby. Her youngest child. Who was somewhere in the hospital, without his family and in the company of strangers. Sick, perhaps scared, wondering if his family would show...
God, this couldn't be happening; whatever 'this' was. Did they find out what was wrong? Was he even conscious? Was he in pain, cold, asleep?
God, she thought again, this can not be happening.
CPHCPHCPHCPHCPHCPHCPH
Chris felt as though he where on a boat; moving, rocking, swaying. And it was making him feel a bit nauseous. He must be out on deck or something, because it was so cold, he was shivering. He felt dizzy; he didn't know which way was up. He just felt like he was spinning, round and round...maybe a whirlpool?
He tried to open his eyes; if the boat was in a whirlpool, he's have to get away, orb out, something, but first he needed to see what was going on. But his eyes felt so heavy, so heavy...
He tried again, tried to open his eyes, just a crack. And he succeded this time. His eyes, feeling like lead, finally opened a tiny bit, enough to assess where he was.
It was bright. Sun must be out, he thought. But then, why is it SO cold? He closed his eyes against the light, kept them closed a moment longer, then tried again. It was easier this time, and his eyes opened further.
And he knew immediately that he wasn't in a boat. He was...somewhere else...though he wasn't sure where. But there where bright, panel lights over him, moving...No, wait...HE was moving. But how? And where was he?
Chris was getting frustrated by now. He tried to turn his head, but found it was just too hard. It took too much effort.
And it hurt to try. Everything hurt actually, like he'd been beaten...
Suddenly, it came to him...demons! There must have been a demon attack on the manor. But this wasn't the manor, sure wan't...oh shit! He must have gotten knocked out. Knocked out and kidnaped. Oh well, no problem. He'd been kidnaped by demons before. And warlocks, and hags...
But he'd been able to fight then...and now, he couldn't even move his head. They must have tied him down, beat him up...he hurt everywhere.
And then he heard sounds. Mumbles, squeaks, beeping...Wait. Mumbles? Voices. What ever demons it was, they where close by...
Now, Chris was trained to fight, knew how to kill any being not only with his powers, but with his bare hands. But...he couldn't even move to defend himself, let alone fight.
And the strange thing, was the voices don't seem to be getting closer...actually they seemed really close already...
Chris's eyes suddenly shot open in fright; where were they? WHAT where they?
And then something moved into his line of vision. A towering form stood over him. His vision was still blurry, but...he recognized the...whatever it was. Actually, it looked human...It said something to him, but for some reason, Chris couldn't quite make out his words. And he looked so familiar...where had he seen him before...
And his heart nearly stopped when it hit him. He looked human; must be a warlock. Probably one in the book of shadows. That's why he looks familiar...
Chris panicked. Summoning every ounce of strength he didn't think he had, he jerked violently to the side, away from the warlock. And gasped in pain when he felt his body connect forcefully with something hard. A metal pole, or beam, or something.
And he wasn't moving anymore.
He cried out, as he finally felt the pain crash through his side. Then he felt people-demons- toushing him, graping at him. He jerked and wriggled and thrashed around with a new-found energy, trying to get away from them. Every fiber of his being wa yelling 'Orb orb!' but, try as he might, he couldn't. There was metal on each side, which he kept banging painfully into. A Cage? Maybe magic proof...would explain why he couldn't orb...
But his strength was failing again, and the creatures, demons, warlocks, had overpowered him, holding him down, there where at least four...
He then felt a small, yet sharp pain on his arm. He jerked reflexively but couldn't get anywhere. They held him too tightly.
And within minutes, all the strength hr had left seemed to just fade. He relaxed, and suddely, he didn't feel threatened anymore...just tired, so tired...
The warlock...was that what it was? Somehow he wasn't so sure now...was back in his sight. He bent over him, and Chris felt him lay a cool palm against his forehead. His instincts told him, 'get away! Demon!' but he was just too tired...
CPHCPHCPHCPHCPHCPHCPH
They had been sitting there for almost an hour now, and emotions where at an all time high. Wyatt got up to use the bathroom four times, just to have something to do, a place to go. Leo kept standing up, then would stand for a moment, with a lost look on his face, and would sit back down... And Piper.
Piper's heart beat faster for each minute she sat there. Each pair of footsteps made her jump, and looks anxiously at the door, hoping for the door to open and for Chris's doctor to walk in with good news.
But each set of footsteps just walked on by. She almost had a coronary when the door actually DID open, a million possibilities racing though her mind, but it was a woman who entered, with good news about the Asian couples niece.
Piper felt a white hot stab of jealousy at that moment. Because as much as she could hope, and pray, she knew that the next person who walked through that door wouldn't have good news about Chris.
Paige wasn't doing much better. She, like Leo, could only think about the one image that was burned permanently into her psyche.
And it scared her more than anything, to think of having to watch her nephew die again.
Well, maybe not. There was one thing, only one worse thing, that she couldn't bare. As much as she loved her nephew, as much as she loved her brag about him at work like her own child, as much as she cared about him, she knew...
She could much rather see her nephew died quickly, if that was what was happening, then to see him suffer as he had.
That was always how Paige was. Death was hard to witness, but suffering, that was damn near impossible.
And she had seen both of Chris.
CPHCPHCPHCPHCPHCPHCPH
Exactly nine minutes later, the waiting room door slowly opened, revealing a haggard looking Dr. Ollrich.Who was met with five angry, emotional, screaming Halliwells. The moment the saw him enter, they swarmed, bombardingng him with demands and questions.
"Hey, Hey!" he called out. :Pleas, just...sit down!" he requested, he himself settling down in a chair opposite Piper and Leo, who, of course, where the ones he needed to focus on.
" Mrs. Halliwell," he began, rubbing his brow tiredly. "I need to ask you something, and it's important that you don't lie to me."
Well, that was unexpected. Piper's jaw dropped, and hung there for several seconds before she replied, "Of COURSE I'm not going to lie to you!" she was flabbergasted; if it was for Chris's sake, of course she would tell him anything.
Dr. Ollrich looked Piper straight in the eye and sighed.
"Mrs. Halliwell, has Chris every been out of the country?"
Piper opened her mouth to reply, but then, realizing what he'd asked, stuttered, "W-what?"
"I asked you if Chris had ever been out of the country," He stated again, his voice even, though firm. He looked as though he was pissed off.
"Well, no, he hasn't!" Piper answered, wondering why on earth this was important. And she HAD answered truthfully. The only time Chris had ever traveled outside the country was when he had to orb somewhere, to get rare potions ingredients, to hunt elusive demons...but she certainly couldn't tell him THAT.
"Wh, Why is this important?" Leo asked of the doctor. He was holding onto his wifes hand, trying to reassure her.
Ollrich pinched the bridge of his nose, then ran his hand trough is thinning hair, exasperated. He hated this part, always had. But there was no way around it.
Trying to keep the mans gaze, Ollrich sighed again, and said, in as gentle a manner as he could, "Because, Mr. Wyatt. We have the results of Chris's most recent blood test, a..."
"And?" Shrilled three voices at once. (Phoebe and Paige didn't trust themselves to speak at the moment)
The doctor gave them a pitying look, as though he'd rather be any where but here, having to break this news to him...and he would.
But he was here, and this was part of his job. So he took a deep breath and, trying to looks the boys mother in the eye, he said,
"And, Mrs. Halliwell, Mr. Wyatt, I'm not sure how to tell you this, but your son has Malaria."
Piper stopped breathing. Literally, did not take her next breath. She felt as though she'd just touched a live electrical wire. She just sat there, trying to remember how to breath again, trying to make her brain process this new information, as she listened to her husband yell at the doctor.
"What! What do you mean, he has Malaria? We've been here for days! It doesn't take any time at all to diagnose Malaria!"
Ollrich looked quite taken aback; he obviously wasn't expecting the resident Pacifist to loose it like this.
"Well, you see Mr. Wyatt, we didn't even consider foreign diseases until recently, seeing as how, upon his admittance, Chris had said he'd never traveled outside the U.S."
"He hasn't!" Piper put in, having found her voice. Though her words where considerably choked up.
"But I needed to ask you again, to confirm the information. If he hasn't left the country, he had to have acquired it here, in California."
"B-but, is that even possible?" Paige asked. Her pale face was now stark white, her eys large as coins.
"It's unlikely, though not unheard of." he answered.
"And...and you're sure? I mean, you're positive about this?" Piper confirmed. She was now clinging onto Leo's hand with both of ger own, her nose red, and her eyes averted to the floor.
Ollrich nodded slowly. "I double checked the results myself," he said softly.
Wyatt, who had been silent until now, spoke up. "How is he?" his voice was barely audible, his eyes shining, though he tried to hide it.
"That's actually why I called. He's...he isn't doing well," he began, trying to keep his own voice calm and relaxed, so the others wouldn't be alarmed. Fat chance of that. "You see, about two hours ago, a nurse went in to check his vitals, and...and his temperature had spiked to nearly 106." He was cut off by the sound of Piper, trying to hold back a sob. She had one hand clenched over her chest, the other covering her mouth. Leo tried to stay level headed, for her sake, and held her close. He looked back up at Ollrich, prompting him.
He took his cue. "I was off shift at the time, but I was called in immediately. When I got to his room, he...he wasn't I good shape." He paused, trying to choose his words carefully. And trying not to look at Piper. In all the years he'd been a doctor, the hardest, HARDEST thing he had ever done was having to break bad news to a mother.
"He was delirious, didn't know where he was, didn't know his name. He was immediately transferred to the ICU,"
"Oh God." Wyatt groaned softly, his head buried in his palms.
Ollrich tried to continue. "So far, he's stable, and we're trying to get his temperature down-"
Piper, once more, cut him off. Her face was red a blotchy, and she sniffled between words.
"Tell me right now," she began, her voice trembling. Her entire body was trembling, though her gaze, it was solid, steady..."You tell me right now, is he going to be OK?"
And the room went so quiet, everyone could almost hear each other's hearts beating. All eyes where focused on Dr. Ollrich; Piper, who had tears streaming down her face, Leo who was trying to be strong, Wyatt, who had his knees drawn up in front of him. Paige and Phoebe, who sat in silence, tier eyes brimming.
He took a shaky breath and, looking down at his hands, said, "It doesn't look good."
Piper broke down then, her walls crumbling. S he curled in on herself, hunching over, weeping openly. Leo closed his eyes, suddenly looking twice his age. And, though he tried to be invisible, to not give his mother another reason to be heartbroken, Wyatts could be heard, choking back a lump in his throat.
Ollrich decided he had to get out of there. He didn't know why this was so much harder...But he had to wrap this up, get away.
"Chris is receiving medication to try and fight off the illness, but his case is quite severe, and it may not be enough."
Their was complete silence in the room, as everyones' minds filled with this horrible possibility, that Chris might not be coming home with them...
"Can we see him?" Leo whispered, though in the quiet of the moment, he might as well have yelled.
"Of course," Dr. Ollrich replied, standing. "He's in room 129, East Wing. Though We can only allow two at a time in ICU, and for no more than ten minutes." at the families outraged looks, he defended, "Chris needs to rest, to try to fight this off. I'm sorry, but it's hospital policy." and not wasting a second, he left the Halliwells to their own.
"Leo," Piper choked after a moment. "Leo, what are we gonna do?" she sounded so lost, so scared.
And with those five words, she summed up what everyone was musing about. What could they do, how long did he have? Long enough to find a spell, a potion, anything to help?
Leo just held onto his wife, wrapping her in his embrace. "We're gonna do all we CAN do, hon. We're gonna go visit him, let him know we're here for him, that we're with him,"
And with everyone caught up in their own grief, no one noticed the looks of guilt etched onto Wyatt's face...
CPHCPHCPHCPHCPHCPHCPH
There, I updated! I am quite pleased with this chapter, and please, if your not, don't flame me! in really tiny voice, LLC says I'm afraid of fire...
ANYway, please, please review! I love to know what YOU loved! And I know I didn't get a lot of Phoebe and Paiges emotions, but I wantd to focus mainly on Piper and Leo here. But each charector, in the next coupla chapters, will get thier moment...especially Wyatt...