Chapter 6: Showdown in the Restaurant
"This is getting ridiculous," Piper groaned.
"Hey, you're giving me company," Cole said. "I've been bored without you. By the way, you scared me half to death." Piper looked at him confused. "I thought you were dead."
"Oh, that's so sweet, Cole," Piper said mockingly. "You don't give a damn what happens to me or anyone else except yourself."
"And Phoebe," Cole added. Piper rolled her eyes.
"She doesn't love you anymore, Cole. You two were over the minute you decided to try and kill us."
"I never killed you though did I?"
"You came pretty close to it with Paige. Face it, you and Phoebe will never be together again." She paused and looked at him. He seemed sad. "I know, it's so sad isn't it?"
"You're wrong," Cole said. "Phoebe does love me. She never got over me. I can feel it. Her love is what keeps me alive, so to speak."
"So, she has stiff joints and muscles, headaches, chest pains, forgetfulness, and she's seeing spots?" Dr. Wartburg asked Leo.
"And a wicked temper," Leo replied. "There may be more that Piper isn't telling me, but that's what she has told me and what I've noticed."
"I think I have an idea what she has, but I'll need time for the blood results to get back to me. It should tell me if I'm correct or not. For now, be sure to keep her hydrated."
"Okay," Leo said. "When will the blood test results be in?"
"Oh, in a few hours or so. I think you should rest up a little too. This is causing too much of a strain on you. Just relax a little."
"Okay," Leo said, although it wasn't what he was thinking. He didn't know how he could relax while his wife is suffering so much pain. Leo hung up the phone and walked over to Piper and sat down next to her. He laid a hand on her forehead. She was burning up.
"Cole," Piper said as she slowly woke up.
"No," Leo said. "It's me, Leo." Piper laid her hand on his cheek.
"Leo," she said weakly as she fell back to sleep.
"Duck!" Paige yelled as an energy ball whizzed past their heads. They had a table upturned to protect themselves.
"How long are those people going to stay frozen?" Phoebe asked.
"Who knows," Paige said. "But they're gonna have one hell of a shock when they do unfreeze."
"He's going to get magic exposed if he doesn't knock it off. Someone could walk in any minute."
"Come on," Paige said. "I'm going to orb us out of here."
"No, you can't," Phoebe protested. "If you do, who's going to make sure none of these people are hurt and that they don't find out about anything."
"Someone else," Paige said. "We can't stay here. We'll be dead for sure."
"We can't leave these innocents though," Darlene said.
"Does anyone have any brilliant plans that will save our asses right about now?" Phoebe looked away.
"No," she answered.
"I have a small one," Paige said. "How about reasoning?"
"Demons don't reason," Phoebe said. Against Phoebe's words, Paige stood up and tried to talk to the demon.
"Wait!" she called. He smiled and threw an energy ball. "Well, if you want it this way…Energy Ball!" She orbed it back at him. "Can we take this fight somewhere else?"
"Why?" he asked throwing another energy ball that Paige ducked to avoid. "I think I have the upper hand here."
"Well, you can get the upper hand somewhere else," Paige said. "Do you want magic exposed?" He stopped throwing energy balls and thought about it.
"Fine," he finally said. "You can clean up the mess in here. Go to a place of your choice, but be sure, I'll follow you." He shimmered away. She quickly said a spell that cleaned up the entire mess.
"Not where we're going," she said, orbing herself, Phoebe, and Darlene to magic school.
"Here, Piper," Leo said. "Drink this." He handed her a bottle of water. She lifted her head weakly to take a sip. She laid her head back and stared at her husband. She didn't have enough energy to keep her eyes opened. She slowly closed her eyelids and returned to Cole's cave.
"Hey, Piper," he said.
"Would you stop greeting me for heaven's sake?" she asked grumpily. "You've seen me enough to know I'm going to keep coming back, so I don't need a 'hey, Piper,' each time I do come back."
"What's wrong?" Cole asked. "Aren't you feeling well?" She gave her one of her 'I'm-going-to-kill-you looks.
"Shut up. Just leave me alone for once, would you?"
"Why would I want to do that? For once, I have someone to talk to. Someone to share my thoughts with."
"I have an idea. Go share your ideas with that tree over there."
"You always were witty, weren't you?"
"I don't know, you knew me for about three years. What do you think?"
"I wonder what Phoebe's…" Cole started, only to be interrupted by Piper's yelling.
"Oh, would you get over yourself? She hates you! Shut up! You are dead, she is alive. Don't you see a little difference there?"
"I'm not going to be dead for long," he said. Piper cocked an eyebrow.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Cole just gave her an intriguing smile, but before she could say more, she saw Leo's face.
"That bastard," Piper shouted. Leo, who was half-asleep, jumped when she yelled that.
"What? What happened?" he asked.
"Cole," Piper answered. "He's what happened. I need to get to the Book. There has got to be something we're missing in it."
"You'll have plenty of time for that once you're better," Leo said. Piper stopped talking because she knew she was too weak to walk to the attic anyways. The silence was broken by the phone ringing.
"That must be Dr. Wartburg," Piper said. Leo got up to answer the phone.