***
Disclaimer: I own nothing in this fict except the fict itself. The various songs and characters used are not mine.
Setting: Right after 'Just Harried.'
Teaser: Why can't Leo and Piper keep their hands off each other?
***
24/7
by Amber
***
Piper awoke early, the light from the rising sun streaming through her eyelids. She could feel eyes and lips on her lower back before she even opened her eyes. "Leo," she whispered.
"Hey... You're awake!" he murmured in reply, preoccupied somewhat. Then his face was there, leaning against her shoulder, eyes staring deep into hers.
***
The strands in your eyes that colour them wonderful
Stop me and steal my breath
***
"Hello, Mr Wyatt." she teased, kissing him lightly on the nose. Leo closed his eyes and let her intoxicating scent wash over him, doubting if there was a nicer way to wake up.
***
She's touch, smell, sight, taste and sound
***
"Good morning Mrs Wyatt." he replied, kissing her back, properly. His lips enclosed hers and his hand trailed lightly through her hair, down her neck, to her...
"Leo?" he stopped. "Don't you think we did enough of that last night?" she teased, her face the picture of innocence.
Her husband stopped to face her, bringing her face right up to his. "No, I don't believe we did." He laughed, sweeping her over so she lay beneath him. Piper's eyes, her lips, everything broke into a huge smile as he showered her with kisses. She closed her eyes, feeling each light touch, like a summer shower. His hands, his lips, explored her like it was the first time all over again. She reopened her eyes and stared deep into his, until he forced them shut again by blowing lightly on her face.
***
She's so high, high above me
She's so lovely
She's so high
***
"Leo!" she cried, pushing him off playfully. "Right, that's it!" she lunged at him with a pillow in each hand. Leo grabbed two of his own and a pillow fight ensued, until feathers were flying everywhere. A plan unfolded itself in Piper's mind. "Leo," she cried breathlessly,"..wait a minute." Her husband stopped obligingly, and she made as if to pull a feather out of his hair. "Gotcha!" she cried, grabbing the pillow from behind her and belting him around the head.
"Piper!" he yelled, retaliating by pushing his head into her stomach so she lay flat out on the bed, panting.
"I surrender!" she cried, grinning as Leo held a pillow inches from her head.
***
She's as perfect as she can be
***
"Really?" he asked doubtfully. Piper nodded, and he threw himself down beside her. The feathers fluttered above him and fell around them like wings. My angel, she thought, as his face broke out into a grin and he began kissing her from her navel upwards, his peridot eyes never leaving hers. Finally he reached her lips, and....stopped.
"Leo!" Piper moaned, the eyes he loved so much dancing in surprise.
He rolled his eyes jokingly. "Okay, wife, if you insist." He whispered playfully, and before she could yell at him for being cheeky, his mouth was upon hers, their bodies crying out for more. Legs rubbed together, hands found hands and hair and bodies, lips found lips over and over again. "I love you." They whispered in unison. "This is love suicide, you know." Piper murmured as Leo caressed her neck.
"Why?"
"Because Prue and Phoebe are gonna come in at any moment, and......" a kiss stopped her from talking.
"No, they won't. They have got some sense. This is our honeymoon, after all, isn't it?" Piper grinned, realising he was right.
***
I'll be your crying shoulder
I'll be love suicide
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life
***
"I suppose it is," she rolled them over so he lay on top of her. "Now, what do you want to do today then?" she teased.
Leo answered her in kind, by pulling her towards him and kissing her numerous times until they both needed to draw breath.
"I have a few ideas."
***
Shanna watched them, circling above, her face screwing up as they giggled and cavorted, oblivious to her invisible presence. So in love, she muttered under her breath. You want to be near each other all the time? Want your honeymoon to last forever? Fine. She reached in her pocket and sprinkled a handful of the invisible powder over them.
"Those who have just been joined
Allow them their greed
Useless to help
In times of need!"
Piper suddenly pulled away from Leo, and he stopped kissing her neck. "Did you hear something?" she whispered, trying to listen. Leo stopped and strained to hear anything.
"Only you giggling!" he shouted, and pulled her back to him, feeling even more that he needed to be near her, so much. She gave in willingly, and the two went back into their own world, oblivious to the danger that circled above.
Shanna grinned, her stained rotten teeth gleaming in the light of the room. Foolish, she cackled, before projecting back out of the room. You'll see how much you need to be near each other.
***
A kiss, a touch.... Piper felt like she could never let go. "Leo..." she murmured. "It feels like...." His mouth enclosed hers once again, and bruised though it was she responded.
***
Your my survival, you're my living proof
That my love is alive and not dead
***
"I know," he whispered in reply. "It feels like, like I need to be near you all the time." He pushed the covers away from them and marvelled at the sight of her, the feel of bare skin touching bare skin. Her scent lured him away from thoughts of trying to stop and Leo pulled Piper to him once more, kissing her neck and trailing his fingers up her spine.
"Leo... I'm so tired ... but.." Piper responded, running her hands through his hair. "I need you to be near me. Leo pulled away a little, seeing she was trying to tell him something. "No, that's too far away..." she cried, despite the fact her husband was only inches away from her.
"I know," he murmured, drinking in the image that lay before him, before leaning down again and smothering her neck with kisses. Their legs tangled together and feet caressed ankles, while hands stroked chests and lips met lips.
***
I'll be captivated, I'll hang from your lips
***
"Never go, will you, Leo?" Piper whispered, running her fingers through his hair. "I need you here....." she looked down at her bare skin, then back into his eyes. "I need you here always."
Leo nodded, understanding her. He began his new ritual of kissing her from head to toe, drinking in her scent, the soft touch of her fingers of his cheek, his forehead..... he gripped her tighter, possessively, and pressed his mouth hard against hers. How long had they been doing this? he wondered. He felt like they needed to go on forever, or he'd lose her, or........... Piper's lips found his again and he forgot all worries. He teased his lips along her jawline, making her wait.
***
Phoebe ran quickly up the stairs, her messenger bag banging lightly against her hip. As she passed Piper's room excited giggles floated and echoed to her outside, and she stopped for a minute. Were they ever gonna stop? she wondered, shrugging. Ah well, as long as they're happy, she mused, humming as she skipped along to her room. It is their honeymoon after all......
***
Shanna laughed as she watched the newly weds across San Francisco in her mind. This was better than she could have ever hoped for. "Yes, that's right." She whispered, focusing her attentions on the witch and her whitelighter. You too ae the most powerful of all. You will provide most energy for me. And then I will be free!" she rose from the old oak chair, the only object in the room. "And then the exhaustion will kill you all!"
***
***
Just like me you got needs
And they're only a whisper away
And we softly surrender
To these lives we've tendered away
***
Piper lay back, utterly exhausted. But.. he was too far away....she needed him to be closer.... . She rolled over and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Leo, this is weird... I feel.." She trailed off, too tired to even speak. "I feel too far away from you, but, but you're right here......." Even right beside her, her husband felt too distant, she needed him kissing her, licking her lips, stroking her hair, making love to her. "Please, Leo, it feels like I'm suffocating... You're too far...."
***
She's blood, flesh and bone
No tucks or silicone
***
Leo knew what she meant, but he was trying to fight against the urge inside him. "Piper, I..." he forced himself to tear his eyes off her. "I think something weird's going on......" But it was too hard, she was so far..... No. "I think this may be magical, we're so tired, but we keep........"
"Making love." Piper finished for him, scared now. Scared still that he'd leave, despite herself, despite knowing he wouldn't. "Leo, what's going on?" her voice trembled. "I feel like I need to be near you all the time, or.... I don't know. But this is too much, this isn't normal, is it?"
***
The memory of your face - just can't stop thinking
***
"No," he replied, still facing the ceiling. "This is too strong, desire is turning into possession. And possession is turning into obsession. I heard about this happening, not that it has before, but...." The urge welled up inside him but he desperately quashed it back again. "There's a legend, in the Book. Something about a witch......"
And then it hit him, the horror of what this actually was. "Oh no..." he murmured under his breath. "This is huge, Piper, this is Shan......." he turned to face his wife. She lay, eyes closed, the colour draining from her face rapidly. "Piper!" he yelled, shaking her. "Piper, please!" Her eyes finally flickered open, while Leo's heart pounded in his chest. "Oh god!" he yelled, sweeping her limp form into his arms. "Piper, this is what she does!"
"Leo....." she mumbled. "Leo. I feel so weak ... but I need you here...." Then her eyes closed again. Leo's heart started up again, and he leapt off the bed to grab his long ago flung boxers.
"Prue!" he cried frantically. "Phoebe! Quickly! Someone, anyone!" Piper's two sisters came crashing through the door as he buttoned up his shirt.
"Leo? What's wro..." Prue's voice trailed off as she saw Piper's ghostly form on the bed.
"We have to get he to a hospital. I can orb her there. Look, this is demonic. I need you to look for a witch named Shanna in the book."
"Wha...?" but Phoebe saw how serious her brother in law was being. "Prue, quickly!" she took off up the attic stairs three at a time, with Prue right on her heels. Leo ran over to his wife, wrapped her in a blanket and looked upwards. They both dissolved into the blue lights as quickly as Leo could make them.
***
Leo orbed in at the front of the hospital, not caring who saw. Piper's pulse was getting weaker and he knew he was the reason she was so exhausted. "Please, somebody! Help me!" he shouted loudly, as he ran into the ER. "Please, it's my wife! She needs a doctor!" Suddenly there everyone was, nurses, someone calling himself 'Dr Cruickshank', a gurney, and Piper was being wheeled away ... too far.....
"Please, I need to stay with her!" he cried, running along beside the retreating trolley.
One of the nurses looked up at the doctor as the gurney crashed through the doors to the ICU. "Please," Leo begged. "I used to be a doctor myself."
"Okay, sir, you can stay. But you stand to one side and let us do our job. Your wife is very sick." Leo nodded mutely, his eyes fixed on Piper's, silently begging her to open them.
He rubbed his face over with his hands, disbelieving this had happened. "Piper," he whispered. "Come back to me."
She lay silently as numerous people attached various drips, machines ... a monitor..... the scene played out like a movie before Leo's eyes. Her hair was tousled around her face, her skin was ghostly white, her lips were blue and breaths shallow and irregular. And at that moment in time, Leo knew if she didn't make he would never forgive himself. He sank to the ground and prepared himself for the worst.
***
Phoebe belted her way up the stairs, only slowing when she nearly fell. She and Prue practically fell on top of each other as they tore open the attic door and rushed in. Phoebe grabbed the book from its stand and sprawled herself on the floor, leafing through the pages frantically.
"Pheebs, slow down!" her eldest sister cried from behind her. "We'll miss it if you go at that rate!" Phoebe relented and stopped altogether, her resolve breaking. She paused. "You saw her, Prue. You saw her, she looked so pale, Prue. What if this is it?" "What if....." her tiny voice trailed off.
"There's no point in what ifs, Pheebs, not now." Prue stroked her youngest sister's hair. "We have to do the only thing we can right now to help Piper. We have to find out how to destroy Shanna. We have to be strong for Piper."
Phoebe nodded and pulled herself unwillingly from the loving grasp she knew so well. "Okay." she whispered, putting on a brave face. She pulled the heavy book on to her lap and began reading through it, as Prue rested her head on her shoulder and did the same.
***
When you feel all alone
And the world has turned its back on you
Give me a moment please to tame your wild wild heart
I know you feel like the walls are closing in on you
It's hard to find relief and people can be so cold
When darkness is upon your door
And you feel like you can't take anymore
Let me be the one you call
***
***
Leo watched as the doctors rushed around his wife, drawing blood and attaching various machines and a monitor to her. She lay, like an angel, her skin limp and bare, pale. So pale. Words drifted to him gradually, though never registered. Heart rate...... pulse ... does your wife suffer from diabetes? aids? What blood type is she? He shook his head dumbly and answered the questions he knew the answers to, his eyes never leaving Piper. He felt so helpless as the doctors rushed around, knowing he couldn't heal her, knowing only rest and rehydration could do that. If only it was a cut, or a gash, he could help ... but this, this was out of his reach.
Suddenly the machines started to life, beeping and whirring and screeching. Immediately there was a shout of "Defibrillator!" followed by "Quickly, dammit!". Nurses crowded round and the scene played in slow motion in Leo's mind as CPR began. His legs wouldn't work, wouldn't move, wouldn't allow him to hold her hand.
"Charging at 250." the voice seemed to wake him up, and Leo rushed over, so he could see her. Everyone stood back as the cold steel devices were pushed against her chest, shocking her heart. The machines stopped momentarily and for a second Leo felt joy in his heart. Then they started up again, the beeping and bleeping and screaming of buzzers indicating his wife was dying.
***
"Hurry!" Phoebe cried as she slammed the Cherokee door, spell in hand. She and Prue rushed towards the ER, as the rain lashed down around them. Hand in hand they crashed through the doors, eyes scanning the immediate crowd hurriedly.
"Leo!" Prue yelled, her eyes dancing in worry. "Leo!" She saw the receptionist at the desk and ran over, dragging Phoebe. "Please, I'm looking for my sister, she was brought in a while ago. Piper Halliwell." the receptionist tapped some information into the computer infront of her, and wordlessly indicated to doors labelled Resuscitation. Phoebe grabbed her sister's rain soaked jacket and they both headed to the room, scared of what they might find.
A man ran out the room just as the sisters reached the doors, his arms covered in blood and face frantic. As the doors swung open and shut the wild screaming of machines echoed in the empty hall, and Prue shivered. What if Phoebe was right? What if this was it? They both tore open the doors and scanned the room for Piper.
***
Leo looked blankly at the doors as they swung open and Prue and Phoebe rushed in. A wave of emotion hit him. They shouldn't have to see their sister like this, with doctors and nurses around her, shouting and crying out for things and massaging her heart. He felt sick just looking at her. How could he have done this? How could she have become exhausted to the point that her heart would no longer work? It felt like a nightmare, and he couldn't move, he couldn't hold her hand, could barely see her even. His heart twisted and turned on itself with each bleep of the machines, and each cry for help.
Arms enclosed his shaking body and he looked down to find two familiar faces, tear stained and blotchy, looking up at him. "I don't know... I can't.. I feel so.." each sentence Leo started seemed too trivial, too selfish.
***
Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone
***
Suddenly Leo seemed to find his senses and rushed over to the table. "What's going on?" he demanded, taking Piper's limp hand in his own. He could hear Phoebe's frantic sobbing behind him as the sisters got a clear view of Piper. "Why isn't she waking up?" he could feel tears welling up in his throat, knowing the answer himself before the doctor told him. "Please.." he pleaded, squeezing her hand. "Please, Piper, wake up..." As the nurses held back and the CPR and shocking ceased, Leo felt like his own life was slipping away from him. "Please, she was just tired...." his dragged his eyes off Piper for a minute to look at each of the faces in the room, each pitiful and telling a truth he didn't want told. "You have to, you have to..." Leo took the shocking pads in his own hands, blinded by his tears.
Reassuring hands wrapped round his shoulders and dragged him away, and Leo collapsed to the ground sobbing. The three hung on to each other as the dreaded words came.
"Time of death, 20:54."
***
Disclaimer: I own nothing in this fict except the fict itself. The various songs and characters used are not mine.
Setting: Right after 'Just Harried.'
Teaser: Why can't Leo and Piper keep their hands off each other?
***
24/7
by Amber
***
Piper awoke early, the light from the rising sun streaming through her eyelids. She could feel eyes and lips on her lower back before she even opened her eyes. "Leo," she whispered.
"Hey... You're awake!" he murmured in reply, preoccupied somewhat. Then his face was there, leaning against her shoulder, eyes staring deep into hers.
***
The strands in your eyes that colour them wonderful
Stop me and steal my breath
***
"Hello, Mr Wyatt." she teased, kissing him lightly on the nose. Leo closed his eyes and let her intoxicating scent wash over him, doubting if there was a nicer way to wake up.
***
She's touch, smell, sight, taste and sound
***
"Good morning Mrs Wyatt." he replied, kissing her back, properly. His lips enclosed hers and his hand trailed lightly through her hair, down her neck, to her...
"Leo?" he stopped. "Don't you think we did enough of that last night?" she teased, her face the picture of innocence.
Her husband stopped to face her, bringing her face right up to his. "No, I don't believe we did." He laughed, sweeping her over so she lay beneath him. Piper's eyes, her lips, everything broke into a huge smile as he showered her with kisses. She closed her eyes, feeling each light touch, like a summer shower. His hands, his lips, explored her like it was the first time all over again. She reopened her eyes and stared deep into his, until he forced them shut again by blowing lightly on her face.
***
She's so high, high above me
She's so lovely
She's so high
***
"Leo!" she cried, pushing him off playfully. "Right, that's it!" she lunged at him with a pillow in each hand. Leo grabbed two of his own and a pillow fight ensued, until feathers were flying everywhere. A plan unfolded itself in Piper's mind. "Leo," she cried breathlessly,"..wait a minute." Her husband stopped obligingly, and she made as if to pull a feather out of his hair. "Gotcha!" she cried, grabbing the pillow from behind her and belting him around the head.
"Piper!" he yelled, retaliating by pushing his head into her stomach so she lay flat out on the bed, panting.
"I surrender!" she cried, grinning as Leo held a pillow inches from her head.
***
She's as perfect as she can be
***
"Really?" he asked doubtfully. Piper nodded, and he threw himself down beside her. The feathers fluttered above him and fell around them like wings. My angel, she thought, as his face broke out into a grin and he began kissing her from her navel upwards, his peridot eyes never leaving hers. Finally he reached her lips, and....stopped.
"Leo!" Piper moaned, the eyes he loved so much dancing in surprise.
He rolled his eyes jokingly. "Okay, wife, if you insist." He whispered playfully, and before she could yell at him for being cheeky, his mouth was upon hers, their bodies crying out for more. Legs rubbed together, hands found hands and hair and bodies, lips found lips over and over again. "I love you." They whispered in unison. "This is love suicide, you know." Piper murmured as Leo caressed her neck.
"Why?"
"Because Prue and Phoebe are gonna come in at any moment, and......" a kiss stopped her from talking.
"No, they won't. They have got some sense. This is our honeymoon, after all, isn't it?" Piper grinned, realising he was right.
***
I'll be your crying shoulder
I'll be love suicide
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life
***
"I suppose it is," she rolled them over so he lay on top of her. "Now, what do you want to do today then?" she teased.
Leo answered her in kind, by pulling her towards him and kissing her numerous times until they both needed to draw breath.
"I have a few ideas."
***
Shanna watched them, circling above, her face screwing up as they giggled and cavorted, oblivious to her invisible presence. So in love, she muttered under her breath. You want to be near each other all the time? Want your honeymoon to last forever? Fine. She reached in her pocket and sprinkled a handful of the invisible powder over them.
"Those who have just been joined
Allow them their greed
Useless to help
In times of need!"
Piper suddenly pulled away from Leo, and he stopped kissing her neck. "Did you hear something?" she whispered, trying to listen. Leo stopped and strained to hear anything.
"Only you giggling!" he shouted, and pulled her back to him, feeling even more that he needed to be near her, so much. She gave in willingly, and the two went back into their own world, oblivious to the danger that circled above.
Shanna grinned, her stained rotten teeth gleaming in the light of the room. Foolish, she cackled, before projecting back out of the room. You'll see how much you need to be near each other.
***
A kiss, a touch.... Piper felt like she could never let go. "Leo..." she murmured. "It feels like...." His mouth enclosed hers once again, and bruised though it was she responded.
***
Your my survival, you're my living proof
That my love is alive and not dead
***
"I know," he whispered in reply. "It feels like, like I need to be near you all the time." He pushed the covers away from them and marvelled at the sight of her, the feel of bare skin touching bare skin. Her scent lured him away from thoughts of trying to stop and Leo pulled Piper to him once more, kissing her neck and trailing his fingers up her spine.
"Leo... I'm so tired ... but.." Piper responded, running her hands through his hair. "I need you to be near me. Leo pulled away a little, seeing she was trying to tell him something. "No, that's too far away..." she cried, despite the fact her husband was only inches away from her.
"I know," he murmured, drinking in the image that lay before him, before leaning down again and smothering her neck with kisses. Their legs tangled together and feet caressed ankles, while hands stroked chests and lips met lips.
***
I'll be captivated, I'll hang from your lips
***
"Never go, will you, Leo?" Piper whispered, running her fingers through his hair. "I need you here....." she looked down at her bare skin, then back into his eyes. "I need you here always."
Leo nodded, understanding her. He began his new ritual of kissing her from head to toe, drinking in her scent, the soft touch of her fingers of his cheek, his forehead..... he gripped her tighter, possessively, and pressed his mouth hard against hers. How long had they been doing this? he wondered. He felt like they needed to go on forever, or he'd lose her, or........... Piper's lips found his again and he forgot all worries. He teased his lips along her jawline, making her wait.
***
Phoebe ran quickly up the stairs, her messenger bag banging lightly against her hip. As she passed Piper's room excited giggles floated and echoed to her outside, and she stopped for a minute. Were they ever gonna stop? she wondered, shrugging. Ah well, as long as they're happy, she mused, humming as she skipped along to her room. It is their honeymoon after all......
***
Shanna laughed as she watched the newly weds across San Francisco in her mind. This was better than she could have ever hoped for. "Yes, that's right." She whispered, focusing her attentions on the witch and her whitelighter. You too ae the most powerful of all. You will provide most energy for me. And then I will be free!" she rose from the old oak chair, the only object in the room. "And then the exhaustion will kill you all!"
***
***
Just like me you got needs
And they're only a whisper away
And we softly surrender
To these lives we've tendered away
***
Piper lay back, utterly exhausted. But.. he was too far away....she needed him to be closer.... . She rolled over and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Leo, this is weird... I feel.." She trailed off, too tired to even speak. "I feel too far away from you, but, but you're right here......." Even right beside her, her husband felt too distant, she needed him kissing her, licking her lips, stroking her hair, making love to her. "Please, Leo, it feels like I'm suffocating... You're too far...."
***
She's blood, flesh and bone
No tucks or silicone
***
Leo knew what she meant, but he was trying to fight against the urge inside him. "Piper, I..." he forced himself to tear his eyes off her. "I think something weird's going on......" But it was too hard, she was so far..... No. "I think this may be magical, we're so tired, but we keep........"
"Making love." Piper finished for him, scared now. Scared still that he'd leave, despite herself, despite knowing he wouldn't. "Leo, what's going on?" her voice trembled. "I feel like I need to be near you all the time, or.... I don't know. But this is too much, this isn't normal, is it?"
***
The memory of your face - just can't stop thinking
***
"No," he replied, still facing the ceiling. "This is too strong, desire is turning into possession. And possession is turning into obsession. I heard about this happening, not that it has before, but...." The urge welled up inside him but he desperately quashed it back again. "There's a legend, in the Book. Something about a witch......"
And then it hit him, the horror of what this actually was. "Oh no..." he murmured under his breath. "This is huge, Piper, this is Shan......." he turned to face his wife. She lay, eyes closed, the colour draining from her face rapidly. "Piper!" he yelled, shaking her. "Piper, please!" Her eyes finally flickered open, while Leo's heart pounded in his chest. "Oh god!" he yelled, sweeping her limp form into his arms. "Piper, this is what she does!"
"Leo....." she mumbled. "Leo. I feel so weak ... but I need you here...." Then her eyes closed again. Leo's heart started up again, and he leapt off the bed to grab his long ago flung boxers.
"Prue!" he cried frantically. "Phoebe! Quickly! Someone, anyone!" Piper's two sisters came crashing through the door as he buttoned up his shirt.
"Leo? What's wro..." Prue's voice trailed off as she saw Piper's ghostly form on the bed.
"We have to get he to a hospital. I can orb her there. Look, this is demonic. I need you to look for a witch named Shanna in the book."
"Wha...?" but Phoebe saw how serious her brother in law was being. "Prue, quickly!" she took off up the attic stairs three at a time, with Prue right on her heels. Leo ran over to his wife, wrapped her in a blanket and looked upwards. They both dissolved into the blue lights as quickly as Leo could make them.
***
Leo orbed in at the front of the hospital, not caring who saw. Piper's pulse was getting weaker and he knew he was the reason she was so exhausted. "Please, somebody! Help me!" he shouted loudly, as he ran into the ER. "Please, it's my wife! She needs a doctor!" Suddenly there everyone was, nurses, someone calling himself 'Dr Cruickshank', a gurney, and Piper was being wheeled away ... too far.....
"Please, I need to stay with her!" he cried, running along beside the retreating trolley.
One of the nurses looked up at the doctor as the gurney crashed through the doors to the ICU. "Please," Leo begged. "I used to be a doctor myself."
"Okay, sir, you can stay. But you stand to one side and let us do our job. Your wife is very sick." Leo nodded mutely, his eyes fixed on Piper's, silently begging her to open them.
He rubbed his face over with his hands, disbelieving this had happened. "Piper," he whispered. "Come back to me."
She lay silently as numerous people attached various drips, machines ... a monitor..... the scene played out like a movie before Leo's eyes. Her hair was tousled around her face, her skin was ghostly white, her lips were blue and breaths shallow and irregular. And at that moment in time, Leo knew if she didn't make he would never forgive himself. He sank to the ground and prepared himself for the worst.
***
Phoebe belted her way up the stairs, only slowing when she nearly fell. She and Prue practically fell on top of each other as they tore open the attic door and rushed in. Phoebe grabbed the book from its stand and sprawled herself on the floor, leafing through the pages frantically.
"Pheebs, slow down!" her eldest sister cried from behind her. "We'll miss it if you go at that rate!" Phoebe relented and stopped altogether, her resolve breaking. She paused. "You saw her, Prue. You saw her, she looked so pale, Prue. What if this is it?" "What if....." her tiny voice trailed off.
"There's no point in what ifs, Pheebs, not now." Prue stroked her youngest sister's hair. "We have to do the only thing we can right now to help Piper. We have to find out how to destroy Shanna. We have to be strong for Piper."
Phoebe nodded and pulled herself unwillingly from the loving grasp she knew so well. "Okay." she whispered, putting on a brave face. She pulled the heavy book on to her lap and began reading through it, as Prue rested her head on her shoulder and did the same.
***
When you feel all alone
And the world has turned its back on you
Give me a moment please to tame your wild wild heart
I know you feel like the walls are closing in on you
It's hard to find relief and people can be so cold
When darkness is upon your door
And you feel like you can't take anymore
Let me be the one you call
***
***
Leo watched as the doctors rushed around his wife, drawing blood and attaching various machines and a monitor to her. She lay, like an angel, her skin limp and bare, pale. So pale. Words drifted to him gradually, though never registered. Heart rate...... pulse ... does your wife suffer from diabetes? aids? What blood type is she? He shook his head dumbly and answered the questions he knew the answers to, his eyes never leaving Piper. He felt so helpless as the doctors rushed around, knowing he couldn't heal her, knowing only rest and rehydration could do that. If only it was a cut, or a gash, he could help ... but this, this was out of his reach.
Suddenly the machines started to life, beeping and whirring and screeching. Immediately there was a shout of "Defibrillator!" followed by "Quickly, dammit!". Nurses crowded round and the scene played in slow motion in Leo's mind as CPR began. His legs wouldn't work, wouldn't move, wouldn't allow him to hold her hand.
"Charging at 250." the voice seemed to wake him up, and Leo rushed over, so he could see her. Everyone stood back as the cold steel devices were pushed against her chest, shocking her heart. The machines stopped momentarily and for a second Leo felt joy in his heart. Then they started up again, the beeping and bleeping and screaming of buzzers indicating his wife was dying.
***
"Hurry!" Phoebe cried as she slammed the Cherokee door, spell in hand. She and Prue rushed towards the ER, as the rain lashed down around them. Hand in hand they crashed through the doors, eyes scanning the immediate crowd hurriedly.
"Leo!" Prue yelled, her eyes dancing in worry. "Leo!" She saw the receptionist at the desk and ran over, dragging Phoebe. "Please, I'm looking for my sister, she was brought in a while ago. Piper Halliwell." the receptionist tapped some information into the computer infront of her, and wordlessly indicated to doors labelled Resuscitation. Phoebe grabbed her sister's rain soaked jacket and they both headed to the room, scared of what they might find.
A man ran out the room just as the sisters reached the doors, his arms covered in blood and face frantic. As the doors swung open and shut the wild screaming of machines echoed in the empty hall, and Prue shivered. What if Phoebe was right? What if this was it? They both tore open the doors and scanned the room for Piper.
***
Leo looked blankly at the doors as they swung open and Prue and Phoebe rushed in. A wave of emotion hit him. They shouldn't have to see their sister like this, with doctors and nurses around her, shouting and crying out for things and massaging her heart. He felt sick just looking at her. How could he have done this? How could she have become exhausted to the point that her heart would no longer work? It felt like a nightmare, and he couldn't move, he couldn't hold her hand, could barely see her even. His heart twisted and turned on itself with each bleep of the machines, and each cry for help.
Arms enclosed his shaking body and he looked down to find two familiar faces, tear stained and blotchy, looking up at him. "I don't know... I can't.. I feel so.." each sentence Leo started seemed too trivial, too selfish.
***
Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone
***
Suddenly Leo seemed to find his senses and rushed over to the table. "What's going on?" he demanded, taking Piper's limp hand in his own. He could hear Phoebe's frantic sobbing behind him as the sisters got a clear view of Piper. "Why isn't she waking up?" he could feel tears welling up in his throat, knowing the answer himself before the doctor told him. "Please.." he pleaded, squeezing her hand. "Please, Piper, wake up..." As the nurses held back and the CPR and shocking ceased, Leo felt like his own life was slipping away from him. "Please, she was just tired...." his dragged his eyes off Piper for a minute to look at each of the faces in the room, each pitiful and telling a truth he didn't want told. "You have to, you have to..." Leo took the shocking pads in his own hands, blinded by his tears.
Reassuring hands wrapped round his shoulders and dragged him away, and Leo collapsed to the ground sobbing. The three hung on to each other as the dreaded words came.
"Time of death, 20:54."
***