A/N: Is it the story you guys love, or is it just me? Anyway, since I know the second reason isn't true, here's your next chapter! (you guys are soooooooooo lucky...)
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Piper's eyes shot open. "Oh my God. Leo?"
"Hey baby," he whispered, making his way over to the bed.
"Leo when did--What are you doing here?"
"Rick called me," Leo answered.
"Rick..." Piper groaned. "The doctors say I was in a coma for six weeks."
"I know." Leo knelt beside her.
Emotions surged through him like never before. He was relieved that she was okay and happy that she was safe, ecstatic just to see her awake and talking. But he was scared to know what happened and angry, knowing it was Dan who did this to her, and he felt guilty thinking that there were ways that it could have been prevented. If he had been with her the day she disappeared... He wanted to know what happened, but was again afraid to know. He didn't think he would be able to get through it, if Piper barely had. And he was hopeful for the future and better days, but that was far from being in their grasp.
"I feel like crap..." Piper muttered.
Leo had to smile at the face Piper had, the pouting face. There was a deep cut on her forehead that seemed to be healing. Her leg was up and in a cast and her arm was in a cast, too. She was huddled under a blanket.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing."
"You're lying."
"Piper..." Leo started.
"Tell me."
"You don't want to know."
"Leo, try me. I haven't heard your voice or seen your face in three months, but I always know when you're lying."
Leo sighed. "...For so long, I pictured the last... the last time I would ever see you..."
"...Oh, and when would that be? My memory is all fuzzy," Piper said. The truth was that she was too afraid to remember the day she was taken.
"That night, three months ago."
When Piper didn't answer, Leo continued to describe the day.
"You were fussing over Melinda. She wouldn't get into the bath..." Leo smiled. "She fought you for a long time."
"...I remember that..."
"And you finally got her in and out of the bath and into bed and decided to go out for a drive."
"You asked where I was going..." Piper remembered.
"And you said you were going to Prue's, and didn't want Melinda alone."
"Right, I remember that..."
"So I stayed behind, and you left and that was it."
Piper said nothing for a long moment. "Did you picture the next time, too?" she asked quietly.
"Besides that? ...Yes."
"And was that here, in a hospital? Or on the doorstep one morning? Or--"
"In a casket, maybe?"
Piper was silent.
Leo took Piper's good hand in his, turning it over and over in his hands as if there were some hidden picture in it. "...At first, I thought about you turning up on the doorstep. That turned out to be no good, so I gave up and pictured this, or... something like this. In a hospital, only you were ready to go home and... Then there was the driving along and you were on the side of the road... But yeah, this past couple of weeks I pictured the casket and the cemetery..." Leo nodded.
"I'm sorry…"
"Piper, you didn't do anything wrong."
"I--I shouldn't have left... I should have stayed home..."
"No, Piper, it's not your fault. You did nothing wrong."
Piper shook her head to stop him. "We're lucky."
"I know."
"The uh... Leo I remember everything… And they didn't just keep me away from you guys… They did… terrible things…"
"They raped you," Leo concluded.
Piper nodded.
Leo wasn't in any better state than Piper. There was a lump in his throat keeping him from talking so he only managed to nod back. After a long silence, he managed to speak. "...You uh... You're not pregnant, if that's what you were getting at."
"Yeah, it was."
"And you're not sick, either."
It was Piper's turn to nod again.
Leo felt as if he was about to faint. He figured there would be doctors surrounding him and trying to bring him back to life any minute. Here she was, the beautiful, lively woman he knew and loved, broken. She was hurt and broken, and there was almost no coming back from that.
Just three months ago she was walking out the door going to see her sister. She was alive and bright and beautiful. She'd tackled the terrible task of putting Melinda down for the night, and came out alive. She'd analyzed her life and was happy with it. She had a home, a family of her own, her family, her husband and his family.
Rick was at the door then. "Officer Wyatt, there's a Chief Adam Hazel on the phone for you."
"Yeah, okay." Leo nodded. He turned to Piper. "I'll be back, I promise."
Piper nodded in response. "I love you," she told him for the first time in months.
Leo smiled. Her words were music to his ears. He bent and kissed the top of her head, brushing his hand across her cheek. "I love you, too," he whispered to her. He straightened and followed Rick out.
"Over there," Rick directed.
Leo got to the hospital phone in the lobby and picked it up. "Adam," he said quickly.
"Hey, Leo, they're on a plane."
"Quick. Thanks."
"Hey, how is she? She up?"
"I uh..." Leo took in a deep breath. "I just talked to her," he said with a small smile. "...There're some problems, though, Adam..." he said after taking a breath in.
"What kind of problems?"
It was hard to say, but Leo knew he had to tell Adam. "She uh..." Leo closed his eyes. "He raped her, Adam."
"What?"
"Yeah, Dan and four of his buddies is my guess. But the doctor said it was five different people for sure."
"Oh God, Leo, I'm so sorry."
"Yeah, me too."
"...What're you gonna do?"
"I'm gonna kill him, is what."
Adam sighed. "Don't do anything stupid, Leo. Wait 'till you get back here to murder anyone," he warned.
"Just keep an eye on him, Adam. I wanna arrest him myself."
"When is that?"
"When I get back with Piper. A week, hopefully. Keep some seriously close tabs on him."
"Can do. Keep be updated."
"I will. Thanks."
"Oh and Prue said she won't tell Melinda. It wouldn't be fair to tell her her mom is coming back and then make her wait."
"No, it wouldn't…"
"But they send their love."
"Thanks." Leo hung up the phone. He sighed. Rick was standing behind him when he turned around. "What?"
"You have people on the way?"
"Yes, they'll be here in a couple hours. I'll pick them up."
"Okay."
"Do you have a problem with them being here?"
"It's just not normal procedure."
"Well then consider this abnormal. If they can't come up here, I bring my wife back to San Francisco and she stays in a hospital there. I don't need to stay here, and neither does she. I would bring her sisters up here if I could. Her aunt, her cousin, my ex-boss--anyone. If it's against procedure, then the procedure's gonna have to change."
Rick held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, I get it. You don't have to bite my head off."
"Sorry, I... This is just all..."
"I get it. Sorry."
"Yeah."
Leo stayed out of Piper's room for a full two hours. He couldn't go back in there. It broke his heart to see her that way. He had decided to wait until Cortez Jo, Jeff, Tom, Ron, Jake, and Gary got there.
When they did, they called his cell phone.
"Hey, Leo. Wow, I can't believe this thing works out here..." Cortez trailed off.
"Cut to the point. You at the airport?"
"Yup. Ready and waiting. We can stay for a week, all of us."
"Good. I'll be there in a minuet in an E.P.A. car."
"We'll be waiting."
Leo flipped his cell phone closed. He saw Rick's car keys on the table the to of them were sitting at in the lobby. "I need your car," he said, taking the keys and turning for the door. He was definitely in a hurry.
Rick jumped up and caught up to Leo. "I'll drive."
"No, I need it now."
"Wait, Wyatt, you can't take my car--"
Leo whirled around. "The only person who calls me Wyatt is going to die very, very soon, so I'm warning you right now to find something else to call me." Leo turned back to the door and walked outside.
Rick rolled his eyes and tossed his head sarcastically. He chased Leo down again. "Okay, I'll try this again," he said, having to jog to stay ahead of Leo and keep his attention. "Leo, you can't take my car," he said as Leo got into the SUV.
"I just did."
Cortez, Jo, Tom, Jeff, Gary, Jake, and Ron crowded around the SUV as soon as Leo pulled up. When he stepped out, Jo was first to the door. She hugged him tightly. "Hi," was all she said, though.
"Leo, where'd you get the car?" Jake asked.
"Borrowed it," Leo answered simply. He waited as one by one, they all hugged him.
"So how is she?"
"Uh... Adam didn't call you?"
"No, why?"
Leo took a deep breath. "He uh... He wasn't alone. There were four people with him..."
"What?"
"And uh... He beat her more than once... She's cut up real bad and bruised. She was shot above the knee... she has a broken leg and arm... and there was uh... one other thing."
"What?"
"He beat her," Leo said. Some of them nodded. "He beat her, then he turned around and he raped her."
"What?"
"Oh my God."
"I'm gonna kill the bastard. That's all there is to it. I'm gonna kill him," Gary said simply.
"Uh, no. I already got dibs on him. Adam's keeping track of him for me so I can arrest and murder him on the spot."
"Very good. Very smart."
"Have you talked to her?" Jo asked.
"Once. I haven't gone in there since. Been talking to the ranger who owns this," Leo said as he helped pack the others' bags in the trunk of the E.P.A. car. He felt one of them and looked at Cortez. "How the hell did you get a gun on the plane?"
"I'm a cop. I have my ways."
Leo smiled a little and shook his head. When they were finished packing in, they started to fit in the SUV. "Seats eight, you're all lucky."
"Yeah, yeah."
"How's she look?" Tom asked Leo.
"Beat up... She's broken."
"She'll be okay, though, right?"
"I hope so."
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A/N: I will continue, but only for a few more chapters, 'cause I think I can wrap it up in about... oh, four or five more chapters… Long chapters… That means week long delays or so… Bear with me people, and remember--YOU are the ones who wanted me to continue, so if it sucks, poo poo for you!
