Part Three
"What'd you do, Paige?" Phoebe gasped when Coop's body suddenly froze in her arms. Then she realized her older sister was standing there and, with fresh tears streaming down her cheeks, she looked up, "Piper…"
Piper quickly knelt next to Phoebe and wrapped her younger sister in her arms, "It'll only hold him for a little while, Pheebs." Kissing her sister, she added, "Leo's gone up to the Elders for help."
Phoebe nudged her sister back and gently lay her husband on the floor, reaching for one of the throw pillows and placing it under his head. "Leo should be here, helping Paige."
"He's earned the respect of the Elders," Piper reminded her sister, "so let him try up there first."
"He thought it was a leech attack," Paige piped up, "and --"
"What the hell's a leech?" Phoebe angrily wondered.
"All Leo knows is that it's a demonic enemy of the Cupids and that no Cupid has ever survived an attack," Paige reluctantly added.
Piper kept hold of Phoebe when she swayed, "Easy, Pheebs, Coop's not gone yet. I'm sure the Elders --"
"Won't do a damned thing," Phoebe snapped. "It's never been an Elder who helped."
"Not true," Paige argued. "Not every Elder --"
But Phoebe didn't want to hear and cut her off, "Always some Angel but never an Elder going out of their way to help unless something was in it for them, some risk we had to take for them."
"Phoebe…" Paige warned as she glanced up nervously at the ceiling.
"My husband's dying!" Phoebe raged before collapsing in Piper's arms. "I can't lose him, Piper, I just can't."
In a hoarse voice, Piper lied, "You won't."
"Why didn't he tell us about leeches?" Phoebe cried. "We could've protected him. Why didn't I make him come get me? If only I'd --"
"You called for me right after you hung up with him," Paige consoled. "We couldn't've gotten here any faster. This wasn't your fault, Phoebe."
"I'm the one with premonitions," Phoebe tearfully complained, "I should've known. I don't want to lose him…"
"It'll be okay, sweetie," Piper murmured, brushing Phoebe's hair, "it'll be okay."
"No, it won't," Phoebe mumbled with a sniffle, "it won't ever be okay. How many times do I have to lose the man I love? How -- love just isn't wor--"
"Don't say that!" Paige interrupted. "I know you're hurting but don't say that love isn't worth it! It is, Phoebe, and you know it. You believe in it."
"Not anymore," Phoebe whispered, burying her face in Piper's neck. "It's just not fair…"
Half a moment later, Leo orbed into the room and Piper looked up, "Anything?"
Disheartened, he informed everyone, "They listened to what I had to say but reminded me that I was returned my healing and orbing abilities as a reward for everything we went through with Billie and Christy but that I wasn't a true Whitelighter anymore and I no longer had a right to address to Council and make demands."
"Demands?" Piper uttered in surprise. "How is asking to save Coop a demand?"
"So much for respect," Phoebe mocked as she jerked herself free from Piper's arms and angrily swiped the tears from her cheeks. "Heal him, Leo. You and Paige together. I don't give a damn whether the Elders forbid it or not."
"They didn't forbid it," Leo corrected. "But they said it wouldn't work and they didn't offer any other solutions."
Paige glanced at her older sister and quietly told her brother-in-law, "We have to try."
"I've been at this a lot longer than you," Leo patiently commented as he knelt next to Coop, "and my life experience as a medic in life adds to the power but, Paige, this's never been done before."
"You're stronger than you give yourself credit for," Piper encouraged her husband. "If anyone can do this it's you with the help of a Charmed One."
"You can do it," Phoebe emphatically nodded as she squeezed Piper's hand gratefully.
"There's no guarantee, Phoebe," he cautioned. "I need you to understand, Coop may still die just like all the other Cupids who've ever been attacked by leeches."
It took a moment before Phoebe quietly acceded, "I…understand. Just, just do your best."
Leo waited for Paige to go to Coop's other side and, placing their hands over Coop's wounded neck, he nodded to his wife. Their hands glowed the instant Piper's freeze was removed.
Piper enfolded Phoebe into her arms and silently held her tense sister as they watched Leo and Paige attempt to heal Coop. It seemed like forever before his body convulsed for a split-second. "It's working," she whispered excitedly.
"C'mon, Coop, stay with me," Phoebe prayed as she grabbed for Piper's hand and squeezed it tightly.
Sweat beaded Leo's forehead and he exhaled in relief as skin finally began to knit together, closing the gaping wound. "Keep going, Paige, focus your energy."
"It's working," she uttered as her hands shook slightly. "I think he's breathing again."
"Don't lose focus," Leo advised. "Slow and steady, maintain the flow of energy."
It was another several moments before they were able to work on healing Coop's other wounds and another several long moments before Coop gasped for breath.
Breaking free from Piper, Phoebe rushed to her husband, pushing Leo aside, and pulled him into her arms, crying and hugging him as she rocked to and fro.
Piper helped Leo stand and hugged him tightly before reaching out her hand to steady her youngest sister.
Exhausted by the toll it took, Paige was still gratified by the sight of Coop returning Phoebe's embrace. Turning back to Piper and Leo, she announced in a shaky voice, "I think I'll stop by Henry's office for a while."
Understanding Paige's need to be with her own husband, Piper smiled with assurance, "Call later to check in."
After a slight squeeze to Piper's hand, Paige nodded with a weary smile and orbed out.
"Let's go check on our boys," Piper suggested to Leo as they left Phoebe and Coop alone.
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