A/N: Ah! Sorry it took so long! Writer's block.
Alyson Teague: Yeah, it was Debra and Jennifer. Glad you like it!
CharmedMillie: Glad you like it!
LeoPiperAndyPrue: Yeah, Piper always seems the target. Lol. Glad you like it! And I'll try to read yours, but no promises. I'm behind on my own! Lol.
Me: Glad you like it!
Sk: it's there! Promise. Lol.
FutureEditor: Glad you like it!
LeoPiperAndyPrue: Lol. Glad you like it!
Charmedchick4eva: Glad you like it!
Swimmer07: Glad you liked it! Lol.
Nicole812us: maybe, maybe not, Hehe
CharmedMillie: Glad you like it!
Promise to try and update sooner – sorry for the quickness.
Pleas enjoy and please review!
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The silence in the waiting room was deafening.
Grams, Prue, and Phoebe sat on three hard, orange-colored plastic chairs. Phoebe sat in the middle, with Gram on her right and Prue on her left. She was crying, with her head buried into Grams' shoulder and Prue clutching her hand. Tears slid down Prue's face, and Grams was in too much shock to even cry.
They had been waiting for at least two hours. But it felt like an eternity, from the moment Prue had screamed, to the moment Piper had been wheeled into the emergency room. Time seemed to have slowed down.
Finally – finally, finally – a doctor came walking to them and stopped, looked sad.
Prue's heart jumped into her throat and panic set in. Why did he look so sad? Doctors never looked sad unless something was wrong and-
"You're granddaughter is – fine. Uh, Ms. Halliwell, can we speak in private please?" the doctor asked.
Grams nodded and stood, murmuring softly to Prue and Phoebe, then she walked a few feet away to speak to the doctor.
"Ms. Halliwell, Piper has suffered a major loss of blood. And by the scars on her arms, I'd say this wasn't the first time she's cut."
Grams choked back a sob. "No – no. But, but I would have known!" Tears finally made their way into her eyes. "She was acting so strangely. She was easily angered, yelling at her sisters. And the long shirts in the hot weather . . ."
"She hid it well, Ms. Halliwell. Please don't blame yourself. Some girls go years before someone finally discovers what they're doing. Piper's case was caught very quickly, although this last time she cut was – bad."
Grams choked back another sob. "How bad?"
The doctor hesitated. "Well, we gave her a blood transfusion to replace the lost blood, and she's still hooked to a needle, feeding blood back into her body. But she's very weak and we – well, we almost lost her. Once she's well enough to leave the hospital, I strongly recommend you send her to an institution to get better. If she starts cutting again, she'll kill herself."
Grams nodded, pale and shaking. "Can we go see her?"
Again, the doctor hesitated. "I don't know if your granddaughters should go in just yet and see their sister in the condition she's in."
"If anything, they should go in first," Grams admitted, all though she didn't like the idea. "Those girls are very close and Piper might open up to them and tell them why she did this to herself. She might be more comfortable if I'm not there, too."
The doctor nodded. "Fine. I'll escort the girls to Piper's room, and you can wait in the waiting room. When they are ready for you, I'll come get you."
The doctor and Grams walked back to Prue and Phoebe. Grams sat.
"Girls, would you like to go see your sister?" he asked. Prue and Phoebe nodded eagerly. The doctor explained that Piper was weak and not well, so they wouldn't be alarmed when they saw her. He then explained that they should try to get her to open up and tell them why she did what she did. Then he told them that, when they were ready, they should come find him and he'd bring Grams in.
Prue and Phoebe nodded. Clutching hands, they followed the doctor to Piper's room. He left them and they went in and to Piper's bed. Her eyes were closed.
"Piper?" Prue said gently, touching her sister's arm.
Piper's eyes opened and she turned her head to look at them. She smiled weakly.
"Hi," she croaked. Her throat was dry and speaking was difficult. Her words were slightly slurred from being weak.
"Piper, why?" Phoebe asked, tears still gliding down her cheeks. "Why?"
Piper licked her dry, cracked lips. She looked away; obviously not ready to talk about why.
"Phoebe, I'm sorry," Piper mumbled, "for what I said to you when you were in my room. I was just – angry, I guess. I didn't mean it. I know it was only once and I'm, sorry."
Phoebe nodded, smiling slightly.
"What was once?" Prue asked sharply, glancing at Phoebe.
"Nothing," Piper said. "Please don't, Prue. Don't get mad at her. It was nothing. Please, just don't, not know."
Prue's expression softened and she nodded. "Yeah."
Piper lifted her arms and turned them, palm facing her, so she could examine the bandages on her arms and the scars from times when she'd cut in the past. She glanced at the IV pushing blood into her veins, and the IV of medicine in the back of her hand. She dropped her arms gently and held back a sob.
"Piper, please, can't you just tell us why?" Prue prodded.
Piper shook her head and laughed slightly, though it made her cough. "You guys won't understand. You're Miss. Popular and Phoebe's Miss. Rebel. You both have tons of friends and your popular. You don't get picked on, like me. People laugh at me, pull pranks on me, and threaten me. They drop paint on me-" She paused. "That was the breaking point, that paint. That and then all the threats I got when Debra and Jessica were suspended. I just couldn't take it anymore."
"Oh, Piper-" Prue mumbled, eyes filled with sadness.
"I just wanted it all to be over. I wanted it all to stop. So I-" Piper paused again, taking a deep breath and letting it out. "I tried to end my life. The first time, it hurt so badly that I didn't cut deep enough to do anything. I just made my arms bleed. And it felt – freeing, I guess. Whatever it was, it felt good and I became addicted. Whenever anything went wrong or I was upset, I cut. And the last time I did it, I was just –" Piper shrugged, not knowing how to express in words how she felt.
Phoebe's eyes burned as fresh tears escaped her already red and puffy eyes.
"Why didn't you come to us and talk to us?" Prue asked.
Piper shook her head. "You'd think I would have. It would have been the smart thing to do. But I just – I saw that scissor on my desk and I didn't think. I wasn't thinking clearly at all. And one I started, I was hooked and happy and ashamed and scared, all at the same time. I was afraid of what would happen if people would found out, ashamed that I had resorted to cutting to solve my problems. But I was hooked and cutting was just an easier way out than crying. Someone, it felt good to me. I can't even remember how."
She paused, her eyes wide and her lip trembling.
"Piper?" Prue asked, worried and ready to call a doctor.
"I was so scared," Piper said, her voice shaking as tears spilled down her cheeks. "When I cut the last time, I was so scared. I never meant to hurt myself that badly. I-I cut too deeply in both arms and I didn't realize until after. It hurt so badly and there – there was blood all over. I tried to stop the bleeding and I couldn't and I wanted to scream for help but I was so weak and then I got dizzy and I said good-bye to all of you in my head, knowing I was going to die. And then I passed out. And I-I thought I saw mom, and I feared I'd never wake up-"
She was sobbing heavily now. Prue sent Phoebe to go get the doctor and Grams. They had done what they had been told to do; they'd gotten Piper to tell them pretty much everything and now it was time Grams and the doctor came.
Several minutes passed and the doctor, Grams, and Phoebe came back in.
Grams went right to Piper's bed and hugged her tightly, mumbling things only Piper could hear. Piper nodded slightly, sobbing. Prue could just make out her words as Piper said, "Grams, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!"
When the teary reunion was over, Grams turned to look at the doctor.
"How long will she have to stay here?" She asked.
"Maybe a day or two. It will depend on her condition. If she gets better, we'll let her go tomorrow. If her condition remains unstable, she'll need to stay a few days," The doctor explained.
"What about school?" Grams asked.
"She'll be missing a lot of school from now until who knows when. Remember what we discussed, Ms. Halliwell?"
Grams nodded.
"What? What?" Piper asked, eyes wide. She looked from her Grams to the doctor and back.
"We'll discuss it at home once you're out of the hospital, Piper," Grams said firmly. She didn't want to talk about it in front of Prue and Phoebe.
"You three can stay for another few minutes, then Piper need her rest." The doctor shook Grams hand, smiled reassuringly at the girls, and left.
After several minutes of talking and bonding, and speaking of everything but Piper's cutting, a nurse came and told them they had to leave because Piper needed some more tests done.
After quick good-byes, and promises of visiting the next day, Grams, Prue, and Phoebe left Piper alone with the nurse and went home.