A/N here is the third chapter, I just want to say thank you to all of the positive feedback I've been getting, it really encourages me to keep writing. Merry Christmas/Happy New Year and I hope you enjoy this chapter. By the way, when you see xxx, it means there is a flashback. A song I recommend for this chapter is Jungle by Tash Sultana-boundless

Chapter 3

As she held Alex in her arms and whispered words of comfort, she felt the older woman ease a bit and a small warm feeling was moving around her body from where she was in contact with Alex. Piper may have thought more of it if it weren't for the fact that she was focused on keeping Alex still. Alex slowly calmed down and her breathing returned to normal but Piper stayed with her for just a bit longer.

Once Piper knew that Alex was soundly asleep again she went back to her room, knowing that she would have to endure another long, sleepless night.

Alex's POV

Alex woke up on the couch, dazed and confused about where she was. As she slowly gathered her senses a pain shot through her right side, she suddenly remembered the events of last night.

xxx

Alex knocked on the door of the large house and was greeted by a woman with shoulder length blonde hair and cerulean eyes. The woman was going to leave her outside but Alex was in so much pain she knew that if she didn't get any help that she would surely die.

The woman let her into her home and got Alex a fresh set of clothes and a towel whilst Alex had a shower.

After having a shower Alex was in more pain than before and the blonde seemed to notice. Alex wasn't used to anyone going out of their way to help her and tried to keep her face devoid of any emotion. The blonde was so nice to her and offered her food and a place to rest, Alex learned that her name was Piper and after she had gone upstairs to her room Alex went to sleep faster than what she thought she would.

xxx

Alex recalled having a bad dream last night and the feeling of someone's arms around her, telling her everything was going to be okay, but just assumed that she had dreamt that as well. Alex went to move into a sitting position on the couch but was in too much pain to do so and let out a small grunt. Piper must have been in the kitchen because she came to check on Alex just as soon as she heard it.

"How are you feeling today?" Piper helped Alex sit up straight.

Alex shrugged, not knowing how much she should tell Piper, she didn't want to waste her time and needed to leave soon, so if she told her how sore she really was, she might have to stay in the blonde's home for a bit longer and Alex didn't want the people chasing her to put Piper in harm's way. She seemed too innocent to get caught up in Alex's world.

Piper looked at Alex and Alex felt like the blonde was seeing right through her "Hmm, okay. I'll give you some breakfast and then I'm going to take you to the hospital. I don't want that cut of yours getting infected."

Alex just nodded her head, she was in no condition to protest and the longer she was awake the hungrier she got.

Piper returned with some cereal and Alex ate as much as she could, it had been awhile since she had had two meals in a row.

Once she finished, Piper took the plates and cutlery into the kitchen and Alex looked around the lounge room. The couch she was on was made of soft leather and across from it was a TV cabinet and a television set on top of it. To her right was a large window which showed the front yard that leads to the road she walked down. Next to the couch on the right led to the kitchen and stairway behind her. To the left of the couch, photos of Piper, and who Alex assumed were her family and friends, littered the walls up to the entrance to the downstairs bathroom. As Alex looked at the photos of Piper, she started to wonder about the life she had left behind in New York and if anyone had noticed her being gone. She didn't get very far into her thoughts as Piper came back into the lounge to replace the bandages on her wounds.

Piper undressed the one on her side and dabbed some more disinfectant against it, Alex started to sweat again as it felt like someone was burning her, Alex grabbed Piper's hand and closed her eyes to deal with the pain. Piper noticed how Alex was reacting and gave her some more paracetamol, the brunette gratefully took it with the glass of water beside the couch.

Piper carefully placed a new pad and bandage on the gash in her side and replaced the bandage on her right shin. Alex wasn't used to much physical contact but Piper helped her delicately and was careful not to hurt Alex or put her in any more pain while trying to help her, Alex didn't mind that it was Piper looking after her at this moment and her fingers were soft against her skin.

Once Piper was done she put her arm around Alex's back and helped her up. Alex could feel that the blonde wasn't strong enough to lift her up on her own so tried to put most of her weight on her left leg. Piper led her to the front door and out onto the deck, she then motioned to Alex to sit in one of the chairs outside while she went back into the house to get some things. Fortunately, Piper had a roof over the deck so the chairs didn't get wet in the storm the previous night. Alex looked out and saw that the rain was now coming down lightly but the dirt road was soaked from the downfall last night, she took in her surroundings and wondered if Piper was living in this big house by herself, she seemed younger than Alex and didn't seem like she had large amounts of money to her name.

Piper came out of the house with Alex's now charged phone, her own phone, shoes for Alex, and her keys and wallet.

Piper helped Alex put the shoes on as she was unable to bend over. "I washed your shoes last night but they are ruined so I just got you a spare pair of mine, I hope that's okay?"

"Yeah, absolutely, thanks for everything." Alex looked at Piper and it seemed as if she was about to smile but stopped herself before it showed. Alex thought that was quite strange but didn't want to ask the blonde anything so as not to sound ungrateful or rude.

Piper helped Alex into her car and pulled out of the driveway to the hospital.

Piper's POV

Piper never liked hospitals. When she was younger they always felt too sterile and she was freaked out about the number of people that died there. Piper still despises hospitals now but for other reasons also. The last time Piper was here the doctors thought she was going to die and she was alone. No one came to her bedside, her parents didn't even call to see if she was going to be alright, it made her feel even worse than she had ever felt before. It made her think that there was no one left who cared for her and Piper was going to make sure that someone would be there for Alex.

Piper signed them in and Alex was taken away in a wheelchair. The nurse told her that the doctor might take a while but to wait in the reception room until he called for her.

Piper sat down in an old used chair and watched the people come in and out of the hospital. Some in wheelchairs, others in stretchers with sheets over their faces. She began to feel nervous and started wondering what was taking the doctor so long, she picked up her phone and searched Alex's name to see if she could find any posts on social media or people looking for her.

After searching the internet for almost 20 minutes Piper had still found nothing about the mysterious woman. The doctor came into the waiting room and told Piper to follow him to see Alex.

As Piper walked down the hallways she heard sounds of coughing and crying, starting to get a sense of the walls closing in on her, Piper walked closer to the doctor and picked up her pace, she wanted to get out of this place as soon as she could.

Piper entered the room that Alex was in. She was laying down and had been dressed in a hospital gown, Alex lifted her head up when she saw Piper enter the room and looked almost relieved to see her. The doctor told them he was going to leave them alone for a bit and walked out the door, closing it behind him. Piper took a seat in the chair next to the bed and maintained eye contact with Alex. She had so many questions for the woman in front of her but thought that she should ask the more rational ones first. "Hi."

"Hey."

They continued to look at each other for a moment until Piper broke the silence again "Do you want me to get anything for you Alex? I have your phone on me if you need to tell someone where you are?"

Alex shrugged, she seemed as adamant about not talking about that topic as she had last night.

"Alex you need to tell me so we can get you home"

The brunette formed a sad smile on her face "I was leaving my home Piper, no one is looking for me."

Piper was going to ask more questions about the information that Alex had just shared with her when the doctor came back in. "Okay, Ms Vause, we're going to stitch you right up and then you should be able to be released. You will need someone to take care of you for about two weeks though."

"Two weeks!?" both Piper and Alex said simultaneously.

"I'm sure I won't need that long to heal, right?"

The doctor looked at Alex with pity "Ms Vause, the gash on your right torso is very deep and if it had been any wider or been slightly more over your back, you would have damaged a kidney. You're also very lucky that is wasn't any deeper or we would've had to check your large intestine for damage as well."

Alex's face paled as she realised how badly she could have ended up.

"I'd say you are very fortunate that you only need two weeks recovery considering the amount of muscle damage you have done."

Piper looked at the doctor and Alex. "Can we please talk alone for just a moment?"

The doctor nodded and said he would be back with a nurse in around five minutes.

Piper looked at Alex and wondered what she was going to have to do with her. "Is there anywhere you were headed to stay or someone you know nearby?"

"No Piper, I don't have anyone."

Piper looked down and thought if Alex would want to stay with her for a bit longer. She does have a guest room and the time to support them both throughout the two weeks, she also needed a distraction from her own life besides work. Piper looked back at Alex, "You could stay at my house."

"Piper-"

"No, seriously. I know we only just met less than 24 hours ago and this sounds crazy, but you need someone to take care of you Alex, you're in no position to even walk without assistance or stand for long periods of time."

Alex looked at Piper, the blonde could see her brain working behind her emerald eyes. "Okay, but only for the two weeks, then I have to go."

Piper nodded her head and reached for Alex's hand, she was secretly glad that Alex would stay with her. She knew first hand how it feels to be alone in a time of need and didn't want Alex to go through the same feelings as her.

As the doctor came in with the nurse and began to give Alex her stitches, Piper felt a vibration in her pocket and saw that Polly was calling her, probably about Popi, their soap store. Piper took a deep breath, picked up the phone and excused herself from the room.

"Hi, Polly."

"Piper! I've been calling you for days, I thought you were dead!"

Piper felt nauseous after the last few words Polly said

"I'm fine Polly really, I was just... looking after a friend."

"Don't lie to me Piper, I'm pretty much your only friend."

The blonde sighed and told Polly about Alex, leaving out the part of her having no one to go to.

"Piper! She could have been a killer looking for her next victim!"

"Well, she is in no state to kill anyone at the moment so I think I'm fairly safe. She also seems like a decent person, based off of the few words she has said to me."

"Okay, Piper, whatever floats your boat."

Piper stayed silent for a few seconds before asking "What was the real reason you called Polly?" she knew that Polly must want something from her considering she hadn't called the blonde in over a month and only just started trying to contact her a few days ago.

"Why can't I just be calling to see if my best friend is alright?"

Piper waited for Polly to tell her the truth.

"Okay, fine. I wanted to tell you something about Larry."

Alex's POV

As Alex waited for the doctor and nurse to finish her stitches, she was thinking about who Piper was talking to on the phone outside of the room. She heard some voices escalate and then silence. After a moment Alex saw the door open and Piper walked into the room with an odd expression on her face, she picked up her sweatshirt and said that she needed to use the bathroom and that she'll be right back.

Ten minutes had passed and Piper had still not returned, Alex would have been worried that she had been ditched if it wasn't that Piper had left her phone and keys in the room with the brunette. Alex didn't want to admit it but she would feel down if Piper had just ditched her. The doctor was almost done and said that she would need to be taken out of the hospital in a wheelchair once he and the nurse had finished. During this conversation, Piper returned to the room. Her eyes were red and puffy as if she had been crying, her face had paled slightly and she was wearing the sweatshirt she had taken with her to the bathroom. Alex didn't know what was wrong but seeing the blonde sad made her heart feel like someone was squeezing it in their fist. Alex assumed it was from the medications the doctor had given her and tried not to dwell on it.

The doctor then went over to Piper with a prescription for Alex's medicine. The brunette overheard the doctor telling Piper how to keep the stitches clean and what Alex was allowed, and wasn't allowed, to do.

Alex was released an hour late and Piper pushed her in the wheelchair to the car.

At Piper's house, Alex was helped upstairs by the blonde who took her into the guest room. Piper said that she was going to get Alex some food for lunch. They had stopped at a grocery store near the hospital so that Piper could refill her pantry and make sure she had enough food for the both of them.

As Piper went downstairs, Alex observed her surroundings. There was a mirror, a cupboard, and a dresser in the room and a photo of Piper and who Alex assumed was her family. Alex felt a sense of sadness wash over her as she remembered her mother.

Diane Vause had died seven months ago from an aneurysm and Alex regretted every day not saying goodbye to her. The last time she saw her mother alive was when she was leaving for work in Paris. The last words she had said to her mother was over the phone, Diane was trying to figure out how to you the new Television set Alex had bought for her and Alex was getting tired of explaining it to her mother. The last thing she ever said was "I don't know mum! just get someone else to do it". Alex wished she told her how much she loved and cared for her, not those thoughtless, bitter words.

Diane and Alex's friend Nicky were the only people Alex had let into her life and she had let them both down from her old job. She promised herself that she would never get close to anyone ever again as it always hurt her too much when she had to say goodbye.

And then there was Piper. A stranger who had let Alex into her home during a time of need and even offered Alex to stay with her while she recovered. Piper could have easily turned her away or taken her in and killed her, but something about the woman intrigued Alex. Piper had a certain softness about her and Alex wasn't aware of it yet but she was drawn to the blonde.

Piper came in with a sandwich for Alex and the brunette wiped her tears away.

She couldn't help but think how much Diane would've liked Piper.

A/N That's the end of chapter 3, the next few chapters is when more stuff starts to get revealed and some drama starts. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, I really appreciate it :) -boundless