Nurse Jackson comes in with a smile on her face, and it throws me for a loop. "What's going on? Why are you so happy?" I raise an eyebrow at her.
"Charlie's awake!" She sings.
"What?" I sit up, shocked. "What the hell Leo! Why didn't you tell me?" I round on him.
"I've been in here with you! I didn't even know." He throws his hands up in surrender.
"Mmmhmm." I eye him in mock disbelief for a moment before two dots in my head connect. "Oooh! This makes so much sense now!" I smile in satisfaction.
"What?" Jackson and Leo ask at the same time.
"Charlie and I were talking and he disappeared on me. I tried to ask Dash where he went but he didn't know either." After the words left my mouth I realized how anywhere else I would sound insane.
"Oh, yeah you got to talk to him?" Leo nodded with a smile.
"Well, good, because he's not moving yet." Nurse Jackson sighed.
"What do you mean?"
"He's been in a coma a long time. He's got to get his brain on the same page again. Actually he's a lot like you'll probably be once you get out of surgery. Which, just so you know Dr. McAndrew has already scheduled." Nurse Jackson eyed me, daring me to protest. I sighed.
"When?"
"Day after tomorrow."
"What?"
"Piper, there is a tumor in your brain and you just passed out. We don't have any more time to wait." Nurse Jackson cut me off and gave me no room to argue.
"Yeah, alright, I understand."
"Good, now when you feel up to it, come say hi to Charlie." She smiled as she finished checking me over and put her stethoscope back around her neck. "He's awake!" She sang again, before turning and leaving the room.
"Do you wanna come visit Charlie?" Leo asked after Jackson left.
"Not just yet. I'm still really tired and I want to be able to shower and dress." Looking down I noticed I was still in my clothes from the day before. Then I looked at Leo. "Your hair is coming back." I smiled softly.
"Yeah," he chuckled. "How does it look?"
"I don't know…" I pursed my lips, trying to decide how I felt. "I guess I can get used to it." I teased.
"If it looks too bad, I'll shave it off." Leo laughed.
"Good, I'll let you know if it doesn't grow on me…I made a punny." I grinned.
"I'm not happy with you for that one." Leo shook his head.
"You don't like puns?"
"I don't think so."
"This relationship isn't going to work if you can't learn to love the puns." I shook my head.
"Yeah, alright." Leo leaned in to give me a quick kiss. "Get cleaned up. I'm going to go see Charlie and then check on Dash." He rolled out of the room.
After getting dressed I walked over to Charlie and Kara's room. The group wasn't there anymore. I walked in and smiled as I looked down at him. "I told you you'd wake up." He blinked. "You look good, kid. I'm really happy for you." I sighed and for a second I could've swore a hint of a concern on his face. "My big surgery is coming up soon. In about two days time we'll be twins." I chuckle humorlessly. "I'm scared. Charlie. I feel like I'm going into this all alone, and I might come out alone too. I don't want to forget any of this."
Charlie blinked twice. "Yeah, I know everyone believes I won't, but I'm not so sure. I keep getting this terrible feeling that all of this is going to be over soon." Charlie blinked twice again. "Alright, fine, I won't think like that. Thanks for listening." One blink.
"Hey." I turn to see Jordi at the door.
"Hey, what's up?"
"Come here for a second."
"I'll be right back Charlie." One blink again. Outside the room I see Leo, Jordi, Dash and Emma. "What's up, guys?"
"We want to get something nice for Charlie since he won't be able to move for a bit. We want something for him too look at or something." Leo explained.
"Are you going to try to get him a picture of a half naked woman, because his mom will be here and that's a bad idea."
"Good point, but actually we want to get him a stripper because that's better than just a picture of boobs." Dash answered. I raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, first, it's good to see you up and moving." I nod to Dash. "Second, what makes you think you'll be able to get a stripper?"
"I have my ways." Dash nodded confidently.
"Well, I admire your confidence, sir."
"So, are you coming with us?" Leo asked hopefully.
"No." I sigh sadly. "Jackson will never let me leave, not with everything that's happened."
"Yeah, I guess not. We won't be gone long." Leo promised.
"Alright, I'll be here, keeping Charlie company." I smiled, seeing them off.
After the rest of the group left I went back to Charlie's room, but his parents, Nurse Jackson, Dr. McAndrew, and another woman doctor with short brown hair are all in there looking over him. I turned back around to leave and ran right into a man with dark shin, black short hair and a five o'clock shadow.
"Sorry young one, are you alright?" He asked.
"Yeah, I was just leaving." I smiled sheepishly, and turned tried to leave again. But we had caught the attention of everyone else in the room.
"Piper, what are you doing here?" McAndrew asked.
"I'm just checking in on Charlie, but you guys look busy so I'll come back later." When I finally rush out of the room and away from everyone, I end up running right into Hunter.
"Whoa! Are you running into me like this on purpose?" He smirked, helping me right myself.
"I'm really not, I swear." I chuckle. "What are you up to?" That's when I noticed the blonde woman next to him. "Ashley?" I smiled.
"Yeah?" She looked me over, trying to figure out how I knew her.
"Ash, you remember Piper right?" Hunter helped her.
"Yeah, hey Piper! Look at you, all grown up. Last time I saw you, you were half as tall." Ashley smiled and hugged me.
"Yeah, I know. It's really been too long, hasn't it?" I grinned back. "How have you been?"
"Good days and bad. You know how that is." Ashley sighed. "So, what are you doing here? Visiting your brother, or…?" Ashley looked into the window of the room I'd just come from. I thought about it and realized that it would probably look like exactly that if you didn't know I had a cancer.
"No…actually, I have a brain tumor." I chuckled dryly. "Having surgery to remove it in two days."
"Wait, when did that happen?" Hunter asked.
"I passed out yesterday while you guys were running around, and McAndrew doesn't want to risk things getting worse, so when I woke up today they told me I was having surgery day after tomorrow."
"Wow, Piper, I'm so sorry." Ashley answered.
"Don't be. My chances are good. It will take some time to recover, but other than that, I should be doing great." I smiled, trying to keep the mood from turning dark. "Anyway, I gotta go find Kara, so I'll see you guys later. It was really nice seeing you again, Ashley." I excused myself. I didn't think Ashley realized it, but the look on her face when I told her the news; it was the look of someone who thought they were staring at a dead person. It was the one look no sick person wanted to see.
I did end up finding Kara after a rushed away from Hunter and Ashley. She was with Brittany, meditating. "Hey, Piper!" Brittany chirped. "Want to join us?"
"Um, no, that's okay. Why are you guys meditating?"
"I have this theory that if we do nothing, and put good vibes out into the universe, the universe will do good things for us in return." Brittany smiled.
"Oh…well, I hate to break it to you but I don't think the universe answers selfish calls." I looked pointedly at the two of them.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I'm pretty sure you have to be selfless for the universe to want to help you."
"Well, I hate to break it to you, but it seems you're wrong." Kara smirked in triumph, pulling my attention to Hunter and Ashley having an argument outside in the Zen garden.
"Wait, are you jealous of Ashley?" I smirked at Kara.
"You know her?" Kara looked at me horrified. "How long have they been together? You and Hunter stopped hanging out ages ago. Is she another childhood friend?"
Realizing that Kara thought Hunter was dating Ashley, I had to force myself not to laugh as I started talking again. "Are you kidding? Ashley's known Hunter even longer than I have." I answered.
"Well, maybe the universe is helping." Kara smiled excitedly at Brittany and the quickly went back to meditating. I smiled as I left them to their meditation. I sort of wanted to stay and watch Kara make a fool of herself before she found out that Ashley was Hunter's sister, but I really wanted to practice also.
I was in my room, playing a song when the man I had run into earlier popped up at my door. "Excuse me?" He smiled.
"Um…yes?" I looked at him confused.
"Might I borrow your voice for a bit?" I just raised a confused eyebrow at him. "It's for Charlie."
"Yeah, alright." I answered hesitantly, following him to Charlie's rom. No one else was in there, and Charlie was still staring without moving.
"I'm Dr. Neday, since we haven't been properly introduced." Neday, the doctor I knew Jackson had been suspended for trying to get, held out his hand for me to shake.
"I'm Piper, Charlie's friend." I smiled politely, taking his hand, a bit surprised at his gentle grip. "What exactly did you want me to do?"
"Well, Charlie's parents have told me, he is very fond of music, and as I was heading back to him with my guitar I heard you singing and I thought you could help me try to help Charlie, by singing a song for him."
"Okay, do you really think that might help?"
"We must give Charlie reasons to come back to us. Remind him of the things he loves so his brain grows strong with the desire to move the rest of his body." Neday smiled. "Now, what was that song you were singing when I passed?" Neday positioned himself with his guitar, ready to play whatever I told him to.
"Count on Me by Bruno Mars, do you know it?"
"Yes, that is a talented young man, alright, I'll play you in." Neday smiled brightly and played the opening chords of Count on Me.
Not knowing what else to do, I turned to Charlie and started to sing.
If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea
I'll sail the world to find you
If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see
I'll be the light, to guide you.
"That was brilliant!" Neday smiled brightly as I finished singing.
"Thanks." I was still unsure about him, but I was polite none-the-less. I looked at Charlie who was just staring forward. "Did you like it Charlie?" One blink, then one blink again after a minute. "Well, thank you." I laughed. "I'll come back to check on you later, okay?" One blink. "Alright, cool. Nice to meet you, Dr. Neday." I smiled politely as Charlie's dad came in. I nodded at him and left them alone.
After that, I went to my room to nap. I was woken from my nap by Leo. "Hey." He smiled when my eyes focused on him.
"Hey." I yawned. "What's up? Did you guys get everything for Charlie?"
"No, actually we lost everything." He sighed.
"Oh, I'm sorry." I sat up, taking his hand. "We can still do pizza though."
"Yeah, actually it's already here. That's why I came to get you."
I hopped out of the bed and Leo and I went down to Charlie's room to celebrate him waking up. We ate pizza with our friends and talked. It wasn't the crazy stripper party the guys had wanted, but I thought Charlie appreciated it anyway. Plus, as we were eating we realized that the pet they had gotten Charlie came back.
"Well, it was supposed to be a puppy, but they didn't have any." Jordi explained as I looked at the Iguana.
"Oh, well this is way cooler than a puppy anyway." I laughed. "Don't you agree Charlie?" I showed him the Iguana and got one blink in response. "See? You guys did great."
After we all ate, we said goodnight to Charlie, just as Kara came in to shoo us all away. Even though she did it in her normal rude way, there was something lighter in her voice. She looked happy, despite her fussing.
Leo walked me back to my room and we sat down on the bed together. He was looking down the whole time, not saying much.
"What are you thinking about?" I asked.
"Us." He answered. Then finally looking at me, he slid off the second to last red band on his wrist and took my hand. "I realized earlier that we offered you a chance to be a red bander with us, but I never gave you a band. Honestly, I didn't know which band to give you at first. But now I realize the answer should've been obvious." He slid the band onto my wrist, smiling softly. "This is the first red band I ever received. I want you to have it, because every moment since this first band has led me to you."
I looked down at the band on my wrist, then back up at Leo with a smile. "It's crazy how all the sweetest things that have ever happened to me involve you."
"I try." Leo shrugs.
"You succeed." I corrected, then leaned in to kiss him. That kiss was so much like our first, sweet and a bit shy. Passionate, but not rough, and there was nothing else that mattered in that moment. I could stay like that forever and never want anything else. But we do eventually pull apart.
"I have PT in the morning tomorrow." Leo said after a minute.
"I think I have a CAT scan, the last one before my surgery." I sighed.
"I'll see you after then?"
"Definitely." Leo gave me one more kiss before leaving me for the night. I slept well that night, dreaming of music and a kiss.