That voice. Was it really Phoebe's? No, she must've zoned out again. The hand on hers was not there to comfort her no matter how much it. She squeezed her eyes tightly, ignoring the voice in her head telling her to open them. She was afraid that it was all a dream that if she opened her eyes the dream would fade and he would be there again. Curiosity finally won out and she blinked. Light, The cave wasn't bright like this. Piper stared intently at the two blurry faces in front of her. They hadn't noticed she had awoken. "Phoebe? Prue?" she asked shakily. Four eyes darted down on her. Detecting the fear in her voice Prue reached up to touch her face. "Yes honey, it's us." Piper flinched when the fingers made contact with her skin. "I'm sorry Prue. I'm just so scared I will blink and it will be him there stroking my face." Prue was hurt, but did her best not to show it. Piper decided to change the subject. "What happened? How did I get here? All I remember is wanting desperately to get to you guys." "We, well rather Prue, found you unconscious on the beach." A man in a long flowing white coat with thinning gray hair walked in. "Ah, Miss.Halliwell you are awake. How do you feel?" "Now that you mention it my head is killing me and I can barely move without my back stinging." "We'll get you some painkillers. They will probably put you to sleep." "That's fine doctor," Phoebe cut in before Piper had a chance to refuse so she could stay awake. "You need your rest anyway," she said turning back to Piper. "You'll stay here?" "We aren't going anywhere." He stared at her through the open window. Somehow she had escaped him. But why should he be surprised? Her genius and cunning had even managed to fool him. Of course her freedom was only temporary, he would have her again soon. She was still terrified. It was obvious with every shaking breath she took. Unfortunately there was always someone around her, leaving him no opportunity to grab her again. So he opted for plan B. Wait. Give her time to heal. Let her fall into a false sense of security. He smiled down at the gray bottle in his hand. She would soon be his again

Piper awoke a few hours later, relieved she has a dreamless, or rather nightmare less sleep. Prue looked down and saw her little sister was awake. "Oh good, you're up! There is someone here to see you." Andy poked his head in with a sheepish grin. "Hey." Piper suddenly became very aware that she hadn't brushed her hair in days. She combed her fingers through her hair as discreetly as possible. "Andy, hey! When did you get here?" "Andy came a couple days ago. We called him when you went missing," Phoebe answered for him. "Here, I uh. got this for you," Andy stuttered, pulling out a small bear with cinnamon colored fur and deep brown eyes that were similar to her own. "You didn't have to." "I know," he interrupted, "I wanted to." A grin spread across her face. "So Phoebe.I am going to go get coffee.uh.you want to come?" Prue tried. "What? Oh yeah.sure." Phoebe said getting the hint. Giggling Phoebe winked at Piper and skipped out of the room. "Sisters." Piper sighed, her cheeks crimson. Andy reached forward and brushed a stray hair out of her face. Holding her breath for a moment she tried not to shudder, she still couldn't help feeling sick when someone touched her. "Oh god. I must look awful." "You're beautiful Piper." They gazed at each other, mesmerized. The sound of a throat clearing broke their trance. "Miss. Halliwell, I just wanted to inform you that everything seems to be going well. You can go home tomorrow."

Tomorrow, good he thought. It would speed up his plan a bit. Soon he would have her again, this time it would be permanent. Fury grew inside him as he watched the pathetic man flirt with her. He did not deserve her; he was not worthy of her presence. None of them were. That's why he needed to get her away from them, by any means necessary.

Piper smiled a little. She was finally going home. Home, it seemed like a distant memory to her; something that only existed in her fantasy world. Home was where she could curl up in her own bed and forget the events of the past few days ever happened. Her sisters had set it up so they could go straight from the hospital to the airport. Maybe being back in San Francisco could demolish the feeling of fear and doubt that always loomed in the back of her head. Prue and Phoebe promised she was safe, and they never broke the important promises. Of course there's a first time for everything. Maybe she was just being paranoid, not that she didn't have a right to after what happened to her. She was just being silly she would be perfectly fine. Right?