Part Three

Christian pointed to the bed and ordered, "Sit."

In spite of her pain, Phoebe stopped short and refused, "I won't be ordered around like some dog."

"Then stop acting like a bitch," he retorted. He regretted his harsh tone when he saw pain flash across her face. He watched her shoulders slump for half-a-moment before she recovered. She was nothing if not determined to be strong in front of him. "Please," he held out his hands in mock surrender.

The throbbing in her hand was spreading up her arm and she found her energy quickly waning. Not even nine in the morning and she already felt like she'd gone ten rounds with one of those wrestling demons from hell. Just as she was about to answer him, the room swam around her eyes and she swayed.

"Hey, you okay? Here," he guided her to the nearby desk chair, "sit down. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths." He waited patiently while she complied and then knelt in front of her. He carefully took hold of her hand and said, "Let me see your hand."

"Still think you're a doctor now?" she questioned half-heartedly and tried to ignore the gentleness of his touch. And tried not to let it remind her of how good it was before.

While examining her fingers, he asked, "Can you move them?" She groaned as she wiggled her fingers ever so slightly and he nodded, "Good." He continued his examination for a few more moments before he looked up at her, satisfied, "It's not broken but you should still have it x-rayed to make sure. Right now, though, I want you to keep it in ice to reduce the swelling."

Suddenly, Phoebe was terrified of being alone with him. She couldn't even look him in the eyes, afraid she'd still see the desire. She needed help so she timidly requested, "Can I use the bathroom?"

Relieved the fight finally seemed to have left her, he asked, "Will you be okay by yourself?" After she nodded, he told her, "I'll find out what's holding up that bucket of ice." He sighed when she silently entered the bathroom and he wondered how he wound up in this predicament.

Phoebe, meanwhile, closed the door behind her and turned on the faucet full blast. She looked down for her bag and realized she left it on the chair. "Dammit," she swore softly. If she couldn't call her sisters the old-fashioned way, she'd try the next best thing. "Leo!" she hissed while she looked up. "Leo, get down here!"

"Ice and bandages just arrived," Christian's voice announced. "Is everything okay in there?"

"Fine," Phoebe lied, "I'll be right out." She cradled her arm and felt tears stinging her eyes. "Leo, please, I need you!" She waited but the blue and white sparkles never appeared and she dejectedly shut off the faucet and opened the door.

"Sit," he said before he hastily added, "please." Once she sat in the desk chair he carefully placed a bucket of ice in her lap. On her own, she lifted her hand and he guided it into the bucket and cautioned, "It's going to be cold, try not to jerk your hand." She nodded and he saw her mouth clench when her fingers touched the ice. Then he reached over to the desk and brought a glass of ice over the bucket. She looked fearfully at him and he apologized before he covered her hand with the additional ice cubes. She nearly jumped out of the chair and he dropped the glass in order to restrain her. To his surprise, she didn't even cry out. "You okay?" She nodded but stared at her hand and he continued, "I'd like to --"

Phoebe glanced up when he suddenly stopped speaking and realized he was frozen in place. "Cole?"

"Oh my God!" Piper ran over to her sister's side, "Phoebe, what'd he do to you?" She touched Phoebe's injured arm and apologized when Phoebe yelped. "Honey, how'd this happen? How'd Cole come back?"

Phoebe stared at her older sister in a daze. "How'd you know where I was? I forgot to take my phone in with me."

"You called for Leo," Piper softly said.

"He didn't come," Phoebe tearfully told her. She suddenly realized Piper wasn't alone. "Chris?"

"I got your call," he answered. "Looks like you're stuck with me instead."

Phoebe glanced from Piper to Chris, "Sorry, guess you'll have to be a little more patient with us getting used to Leo's new job."

"He's not around anymore," Chris responded with disappointment, "and I get that it's gonna take time but you're gonna hafta start trusting me. I won't be any good to you if you don't call for me when you need meTell me what's up with this guy and how you hurt your hand. Did a demon attack?"

Phoebe stared at him in disbelief. "You're kidding, right?" She looked at her sister, "He's kidding, right?" And she repeated herself when she focused on him, "You are kidding, right?" Back to her sister, she asked, "Didn't Paige catch him up on the basics of our lives? How can he not know Cole?"

"Calm down," he told her, "I know all about Cole Turner, ex-demon Belthazor, ex-Source-of-all-Evil. What I want to know is what you're doing in this hotel room with this guy."

"Why don't you tell me?" she snapped. "This is Cole Turner, ex-demon Belthazor, ex-Source-of-all-Evil." When Chris shook his head, she grew more annoyed, "You think I don't know my own ex-husband, the love of my life? Let me tell you something, Mr. I-wanna-be-the-Charmed-Ones'-Whitelighter, I know ev--"

"Pheebs," Piper quietly interrupted as knelt next to her sister, "it's okay, we'll get through this together."

Phoebe shook her head. "You don't understand," she whispered, "it's gonna happen. I saw it and I'll lose myself all over again. I'll hurt you and Paige and Wyatt and --"

"Shhh," Piper caressed her sister's cheek, "you're not gonna hurt anyone. We'll just find out what Cole's after and we'll take care of him. I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."

*********** *********** **********