Chapter Four
Phoebe stepped back and asked the paramedic, who raised Misty's stretcher to its upright position, "Will she be okay?"
"She'll need surgery to remove the bullet but she should be fine," he answered as he wheeled Misty out of the store. "Why don't you sit down again and let Hannigan finish cleaning your wound."
His partner, an efficient young woman, held a fresh bandage in her hand and reached out to Phoebe but Phoebe jerked away. "Please," she ordered, "I gave you some time to comfort your friend but now I've gotta do my job. I need to check for infection and bandage it securely til you reach the E.R.."
"Sorry, Ms. Hannigan," Phoebe shook her head and stood, "I've gotta go." She couldn't let her dizziness stop her from getting to Cole. "I've lost too much time already," she mumbled as she headed for the front door.
"Wait!" Hannigan called after Phoebe. She easily reached Phoebe when Phoebe nearly keeled over in the doorway. "Look," she explained, "you're hurt with a possible concussion. You've lost quite a bit of blood and really need to get to the hospital."
"Hospital!" Phoebe realized with wide eyes. She grabbed the paramedic's arms when the world suddenly spun, "Cole!"
"Who's Cole?" Hannigan asked as she helped Phoebe to a seated position. "Is he your husband?" she questioned as she shone a penlight into Phoebe's eyes. "Do you want us to call him?"
"I have to get to him," Phoebe cried as she struggled to her feet, "before hebefore he"
"Before he what?" Hannigan wondered in a soothing voice as she tried to calm Phoebe. "Does Cole work at the hospital? Should we radio ahead for him?"
"The hospital" Phoebe repeated in a daze. "I have to get to the hospital. What time is it? He'll be there"
Quickly supporting Phoebe, Hannigan assured her, "That's right, Ms. Halliwell, we're gonna take you to the hospital and then we'll find Cole. You're gonna be okay."
"You don't understand," Phoebe whispered as she was led outside to the ambulance, "I don't have much time."
The paramedic misunderstood and assured Phoebe, "Don't worry, you have plenty of time ahead of you. Both you and Cole. You'll be okay. You'll see."
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"If you won't sit still, I might order you back to work instead of letting you have the rest of the day off," Jason teased while he stood next to Phoebe's bed.
She glared at him and pointed to the curtain surrounding her bed, "Why don't you make yourself useful and find that nurse so I can sign the damned papers and get out of here?"
"Good thing you're not a doctor," Jason smiled patiently, "you've got a lousy bedside manner." He kissed the tip of her nose and grinned at her stunned expression. "If that's all it takes to make you speechless, I'd've tried that twenty minutes ago."
Phoebe snapped out of it, glared at him again, and demanded, "Find her and get the papers." As soon as Jason left her, she whispered loudly to the ceiling, "Leo! Leo!"
Leo appeared seconds later in a swirl of blue and white lights. "Phoebe, what happened?" he asked in concern as he reached out with a healing hand.
"No time," she warned as she glanced around even though the curtain surrounded her bed, "I don't need to know him to know he'll be back in thirty seconds." Leo looked at her in confusion and she shook her head, "Never mind. Look, Misty was shot in the store and I need your help."
"What?" he uttered in surprise. "No one's said anything and I just came from a meeting. Is she all right? Was anyone else hurt?"
Phoebe shook her head, "Just me." Leo reached over to heal her but she held his arm back. "Don't. The doctors have already seen me and I don't know for sure that a demon did this." She sighed, "All I need right now is for you to get the mirror from the back room of Misty's. Full-length, gold frame. You can't miss it. Orb it to my room but you have to be careful because the cops are probably still there. Then ask Piper and Paige to look up Wexler's Medallion in the Book."
Again, Leo looked at her with surprise, "Wexler's Medallion? Why? And what's its connection to the mirror?"
"You know about it?" she questioned. He nodded but before she could ask anything else, she heard Jason's voice so she whispered sharply, "Go! I'll be home as soon as I can."
Leo still glanced at her with confusion, "What hap--"
"Just go," she urged and held her breath while the sparkles from his orb dispersed just as the curtain was pulled open. "Darryl?!"
"Phoebe, I --" he began.
"I said, who the hell are you?" Jason interrupted as he grabbed Darryl's arm from behind.
"I'm Lieutenant Darryl Morris," Darryl replied through clenched teeth, "and I suggest you remove your hand before I do it for you." Jason quickly complied and apologized. Darryl ignored him and turned back to Phoebe. "I need to talk to you."
"Now isn't the time," Jason insisted. "She's been hurt and isn't up for answering any more questions."
"Lieutenant?" Phoebe broke into a grin and hugged Darryl, "Congratulations! When did this happen? Why didn't you say anything?"
Darryl pushed her back slightly and cautiously told her, "You did know about it. We celebrated at P3 right after I was notified, remember? The night Cole" His voice trailed off when he realized Jason was still standing there. "What?"
"She's got a concussion," Jason explained, "and amnesia."
"What?" Darryl repeated.
"I'll be okay," Phoebe assured him. "It's only the last three months that are pretty much a blank. Last thing I know for sure is that Paige had been in a car accident. The rest" she shrugged.
"The doctor said her memories should come back in time," Jason added. "Meanwhile, I fully plan on taking advantage of this and starting over with you," he told her. "We've had too many misunderstandings from the first time we met," he explained, "and I want to make sure we get it right this time."
Phoebe gave him a shy smile but saw Darryl's somber expression and realized she'd have to get rid of Jasonfor now. He was even more than her double had indicated and she would give anything to spend more time with him. Such a refreshing change from Cole and all the baggage that relationship brought. But Misty came first so she suggested to Jason, "Why don't you go back to work? Darryl can give me a lift back to the store to get my car."
"You're in no shape to drive," Jason reminded her in annoyance, "weren't you paying attention to what the doctor said?"
"I'll drive her home," Darryl stated.
"I'll be fine," Phoebe assured Jason.
"The papers are at the nurses' station." He nodded warily before he planted a chaste kiss on her cheek. "But I'm checking in on you later," he warned.
In spite of everything, Phoebe couldn't help but smile. "You'd better," she teased, "or I may take back your title of Knight in Shining Armor."
"Just wait til you're feeling better and I show you how I'd earn it back," Jason grinned before he turned to Darryl, "Lieutenant"
Darryl watched Jason leave the room, "So that's Jason Dean. You really okay with him?"
"Absolutely," she answered as he helped her off the bed. "I need someone fresh and exciting. Someone who won't have me looking over my shoulder every minute wondering when it will all fall apart."
"I understand that but are you sure it's not too soon?" he wondered. "I mean Cole's only been gone a couple of months."
"Not really," she disagreed. "Sometimes it seems much longer, pretty much since the Source took him over early last year." She brought her hand to her ear and requested, "Can we not talk about him? I'm so tired of thinking about him, worrying about him."
Darryl flashed her a nervous look, "Why? I thought he was gone for good. Didn't Paige say he was gone for good?"
"Amnesia, remember?" She shrugged and took a deep breath, "I want to be free, Darryl. I want my life back but it seems that every time I've put him to rest in the past, something brings him back."
"Well I hope nothing's brought him back this time," he muttered.
"Why, what's wrong?" she tensed and stopped him from leading her away from the bed. "You can't be serious. He can't be back. I didn't go through this only to -- Don't tell me he's back"
"I don't know," he admitted and shook his head, "I don't think so. This wasn't his style but with the way he was the last few weeks he was around" He saw her look of confusion and explained, "Misty managed to give a description of the man who shot her."
"You think it was a demon? Cole?" she whispered in fear. Had he changed that much that he was making it personal? Not simply going against The Charmed Ones, could he be going after her friends now?
But Darryl shook his head again, "Not long after the ambulances took you away, a man matching that description was found dead in an alley a few blocks away from the store. I'm no expert on demons but I can tell you this guy was one hundred percent human and definitely not Cole."
"A mugging gone bad?" she questioned.
"More like a deal gone bad," he replied. "Officers on the scene ID'd the guy immediately. Twenty-two year old Kenneth Kerber, a.k.a. Kenny the Penny." He saw her blank look and shook his head, "Don't ask. Kenny was never into serious stuff. He didn't have the brains for anything more than a simple hold-up. But he would try just about anything if money was involved. Kenny wouldn't've had any reason to hold up Misty's store. Not for the few bucks she might've had in the register. No, someone put him up to it and then killed him for whatever he took. Some medallion, I think she said."
"Wexler's Medallion," she murmured and grabbed his arms to stop a dizzy spell.
"You okay?" he uttered in concern while he held her steady.
She nodded and took a deep breath, "Misty said it was dangerous and begged me to get it back."
Darryl sighed, "I figured magic was involved."
"Why? What haven't you told me?" she asked suspiciously.
"Kenny wasn't an angel but he didn't deserve what he got, especially if he was successful and got the necklace he was hired to get," he answered before he added, "The kid's chest had been torn open and his heart's still missing." Phoebe covered her mouth with her hand and he quickly asked, "Are you okay?"
She nodded but still took a moment before she found her voice. "You were right. New powers or not, that's not Cole's styleLeo and the others are researching the medallion. Is there anything else you can tell me?"
He pulled from his pocket a small dark crystal dangling from a thin black cord. "I found this at the scene near a pile of garbage and figured you'd be able to get more from it than our forensics team. Reminded me of the one you scry with. Ever seen this before?"
He handed it to her and she rolled it in her palm. "Strange," she murmured, "I thought it was black but it's not. It's like it's a clear crystal with a dark cloud inside."
Phoebe suddenly swayed and Darryl quickly supported her. "I'd better get you home. We'll talk more on the way."
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"Just gonna talk to him," Phoebe encouraged herself. "Nothing more than talk." She grabbed the door handle but froze when the dizziness hit her. She leaned against the door and almost wished she hadn't refused further treatment once she got to the hospital. But she'd had no choice. She couldn't risk losing more time. Gathering her strength, she inhaled deeply and pushed open the door. "Cole, no!"
He spun in surprise, "What are you doing here?"
She stared at him a moment, unable to answer. It had been so long since she'd seen him. He looked"devastatingly handsome," she involuntarily whispered.
"What are you doing here?" he repeated more forcefully, unsure if he'd heard her right.
She frowned, shook her head clear from all other thoughts, and entered the room, "Cole, don't do it."
"Don't do what?" he asked suspiciously. "I'm simply here to see if this young woman would like to retain my services and press charges against your reckless sister."
"You've never lied to me," she quietly said, hoping the woman wouldn't wake up, "so don't start now."
"Funny," he glared at her, "wasn't that sin on my list of crimes?"
Frustrated, she shook her head, "I know you didn't have any choice against the Source and I forgave you for your Belthazor deception a long time ago. I'm not talking about that."
"What then?" he asked with surprising curiosity.
"I know what you're about to do," she declared. "I know the truth."
"You don't know anything," he snapped.
"I do," she insisted. "Please, Cole, she's an innocent. You can't do it."
"It's nothing personal," he reasoned unconvincingly.
"If you kill her," she tearfully told him, "it will destroy you."
"Newsflash, sweetie," he smugly commented, "nothing can destroy me."
"You're wrong," she earnestly told him as she brought her hand to the back of her ear. Her head was pounding and she felt faint. "Please, Cole, come with me. We'll go some place and talk."
He looked at her with renewed suspicion, "Now you want to talk? What's really going on, Phoebe? Did you have some sort of premonition?"
"NoIf only I'd had then maybe" She shook her head and stretched out her hand and pleaded, "Please, come with mebefore it's too late."
After a moment's hesitation Cole nodded, "Where do you want to go?"
She shrugged, "I don't care, anywhere where it's just the two of us. No interruptions."
"Shouldn't you be at work?" he suddenly considered.
"Why," she retorted, "you know I'm about to be suspended." She saw the surprise register on his face and continued, "I told you, I know what you're doing. To me and to my sisters."
"Let's go," he curtly said as he grabbed her hand and faded with her from the room.
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