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Chapter 11: Physical Pain

Piper and Leo sat in Laurie's room, holding her hand. Doctors had run tests on her and said she was fine. She was being kept overnight just as a precaution.

They tried to get her to talk about the kidnapping, but all she would sat is, "the bad man took me."

"I'm so sorry, Sunshine," Piper said to her. She felt guilty because she promised Laurie the bad man wouldn't hurt her.

Laurie eventually fell asleep and Piper's stomach gave a rumble of hunger.

"Come on. Let's go down to the cafeteria and get us something to eat," Leo suggested.

"I don't want to leave her," Piper said.

"She's asleep. She won't even know we're gone. Besides, you can't go hungry."

"Okay," she said. She took one last look at Laurie before leaving the room.

Leo held Piper's hand as they walked down the hallway. "Do you have pictures of Laurie when she was a baby?"

"Of course."

"Can I see them?"

A huge smile lit up Piper's face. "Of course you can."

Now it was Leo's turn to smile. "I would really like that."

They continued walking down the hallway and Leo draped his arm around Piper's shoulder. Piper slipped her arm around his waist, bringing them closer.

"Leo?"

"Yeah?"

"Where are we going stay now? We can't go back to the house; McGunther knows where it is. Laurie and I don't feel safe in the manor anymore. We don't have anywhere else to stay."

"That's easy. You guys will stay at my apartment. As you probably remember, it has an extra room that Laurie can use."

"Are you sure you want us living with you?"

"Piper, we've lived together for the last three months. You and I lived together for a year and a half before."

"Thanks, Leo."

"I love you, Piper."

"I love you too."

They walked down the hallway in blissful silence. They were almost to the elevator when Piper felt the same pain she had experienced the night before. She put her hand to her stomach and leaned against Leo for support.

"Piper, what is it?" He looked down at her and could see her pained expression.

The pain was too intense for her to speak. All she could do was gasp for breath. The pain in her stomach rose a notch and she withered in pain. Finally, it all went black.

"Piper!" Leo cried. He gently laid her to the floor. Piper threw up and Leo placed her on her side. "Piper, wake up!" He tried to shake her wake, but she was unconscious.

"Help!" he cried. "Someone help!"

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The doctors wouldn't tell him anything. He sat in Laurie's room, trying to calm her down.

"Daddy, is Mommy going to be alright?"

As much as it thrilled him to hear her call him 'Daddy,' Leo didn't want her to ask any more questions. He didn't like the answers he had.

After debating whether to lie to her or tell her the truth, Leo decided on the truth. "Mommy is very sick, but the doctors are going to make her all better. I don't want you to worry about anything. Everything's going to be fine."

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When Piper awoke, she was lying in a hospital bed. She groggily looked around, trying to get a bearing on her surroundings. The first thing she saw was Leo standing over her.

"Leo? Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital. You kind of passed out on me."

Now that Piper's vision had cleared, she could see Leo had been crying. "Sorry," she said, her voice muffled due to a dry throat. "What happened?"

"We were walking down the hallway when you started having pain in your stomach and passed out. You threw up and almost choked."

"What's wrong with me?"

"The doctors said you were low on most of your vitamins. He said that combined with the stress you've been through in the last few days could have caused what happened. They are giv9ng you vitamins through the IV and took some blood to run tests on."

Piper leaned her head back on the pillow. Leo realized how tired she looked. "Piper, how do you feel?"

"I've been better. But not too bad."

"Good, because I know some one who wants to see you."

Laurie walked into the room. "Hi, Mommy!"

"Hello, Sunshine."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"When are we going home?"

Piper looked at Leo. "The doctors said both of you can leave tomorrow."

"Are we going back to the house with the bad man?" Laurie asked, fear in her voice.

"Nope. We are going to stay with Daddy."

"Really?" Laurie asked with excitement.

"Really," Piper said with a laugh.

"Yeah!" Laurie exclaimed and threw her arms around Leo's neck. "We're a family!"

Piper watched Laurie hug her father. Piper couldn't have wished for a better reaction out of Laurie. Laurie seemed to accept Leo as her father, no questions asked.

"Yes. Just like a family."