The next morning Nurse Jackson woke me up. "Morning Piper, today's the day." She began moving around me and checking all my vitals.
"Morning…is it normal to be really nervous?"
"Yep, but don't worry, McAndrew won't let anything happen to you."
"Except the loss of the use of all of my limbs." I rolled my eyes, looking longingly at my piano.
"You aren't going down too early; you'll have time to play a little before we have to get you ready." Nurse Jackson smiled at me. "In fact, I have to go check on Charlie." She finished her usual check up and nodded. "You are good to go for the day; we'll be back for you at 1:00."
She left as I turned to my clock. It was 10:00. I had three hours before my big surgery. It felt like no time at all. I was pretty sure nobody would even be waking up until around noon. I had two hours of nothing to do, but worrying.
"Hey." I turned in shock to see Leo walking in.
"Hey! What are you doing up so early?" I walked him walk over to sit next to me on the bed.
"I asked Kenji to wake me up right around the time Jackson was going to be waking you up so I could spend all morning with you before the surgery." He smiled at me.
"Thanks. I'm really nervous." I admitted, and he grabbed my hand.
"I know, but you don't have to be. I'll be right outside the door waiting for you the whole time, and I won't leave your bedside until I see these eyes open." Leo caressed my cheek. I chuckled lightly.
"You'll have to share the room with my parents. I'm sure my mom will love to meet you." I thought about all the time they would have to question him without me as a buffered and began to worry on a whole different level.
"I'm not worried about that. I think once they see how dedicated I am they'll love me too." Leo winked.
"You really are so confident in yourself." I rolled my eyes, but I appreciated having Leo there. He was distracting me from the bigger worry, the more serious side of what was about to happen.
"So, what do you want to do this morning?" Leo asked.
There was quiet except the beeping of monitors all over our floor. "I want to take a walk, and then I want to play for as long as I can. And when everyone wakes up, I wanna say goodbye." Leo gave me a look like he was about to protest this idea. "Not in case I die." I quickly began to explain. "In case I don't remember you all when I wake up. I want to say goodbye so when I say hello for the first time again nobody feels weird. Goodbyes just help solidify ending and I want there to be some kind of ending before we begin again."
"Alright, I can accept that." Leo nodded as he understood what I was saying. "So, have you finally accepted that there will be a beginning again?"
"You're so confident, how could I not believe it?" I laughed.
"Good, I'm glad. Now get dressed so we can take that walk." Leo got up to leave the room so I could change.
"You can stay; I'll change in the bathroom since I have to shower anyway." I smiled, pulling him back to his sitting position on the bed. I grabbed some clothes and went to get ready.
After I was dressed we made our way to the gardens. We walked and talked as the sun and a gentle breeze warmed and then cooled our skin. The smell of daisies and jasmine filled the air as we walked through the flowers. A distant hum of bee wings mingled with morning bird songs and we just walked the stone path. There was nothing to be said.
We stayed in the garden thirty minutes, just enjoying the rare peace of the morning. It was hard to find peace like that in a hospital, especially when you were surrounded by teens that make drama on top of that. But there, in that moment, Leo and I were at peace.
When we got back to our floor people were stirring. We made our way to my room and sat ourselves on the piano bench. Just as we were settled in Jordi, Dash and Kara walked in. "Hey guys!" I smiled, though we were all painfully aware of Emma's lack of presence.
"Hey, what's up? It's the big day." Dash smiled.
"Yeah, how long have you got?" Jordi looked at the clock and I followed his eyes.
"About thirty minutes, and my parents should be on the way now." I sighed; it was already 11:15. "Did you bring your guitar?" I look back at Jordi.
"Yep." He holds it up.
"What's that for?" Kara asked, eyeing us suspiciously.
"I know you hate this sing-a-long stuff, but I might not even remember that's you're actually kind of a good person by the end of the day, and I'm not really good at goodbyes, but I'm good at music. So Jordi and I have worked on a song that I'm dedicating to all of you, and Charlie, and Emma because you are my friends and I love you guys, even if I don't remember this later I know you all will. Feel free to sing along if you know the song." I joke before cueing Jordi. He starts and I join in.
What would you think if I sand out of tune?
Would you stand up and walk out on me?
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song
And I'll try not to sing out of key.
Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends
Mmm, I get high with a little help from my friends.
I looked pointedly at Dash when I hit those lyrics and everyone laughed. As I started the next verse Jordi jumped in and we sang together. By the chorus Dash and Leo had hopped in as well. We kept singing as Kara sat there, trying to pretend she felt the entire situation. But as we all turned to her and kept singing, her face broke a bit and finally by "Do you need anybody?" She was singing with us.
The whole song we sang together, and when we finished, most of us off key, we laughed. But when the final chord was played and our laughed had settled there was a silence in the room. In that silence I stood from the piano and hugged Jordi and Dash. Then Leo stood and pulled Kara into us and we all stood there hugging in an awkward circle, but none of us spoke and not one of us cried. It wasn't a beginning or an end just yet, it just was.
By the time my parents came, my friends had left to give us private time. They had all promised to be in the lounge waiting for news. Delaney had passed my room and realized we were in the same hospital, just before my parents arrived. She tried to be nice, but I brushed her off. She tried to ask me questions but I told her to leave.
Leo was with me the whole time. When I finally got Delaney out of my room, he asked me for the whole story of my hatred of Delaney Shaw.
"We used to be best friends." I started, realizing I might never get the chance to tell him the story again. "We did everything together, back when she was just Laney that is. She had that voice, even back then. Got all the solos, everyone wanted to work with her. She used to tell me I was the only one not using her for her talents. We spent time together because we were friends and I liked her as a person, and she liked me. She was my only friend. Then she got famous, started to get herself an image and famous friends. She had less time for me. But we still managed to see each other, still managed a sleepover or two. That was, until the night she invited me over and left me standing outside in the rain for an hour."
"What?" Leo asked in confusion.
"She had gotten a call after we made the plans. She was invited to some starlet's party, and as Delaney Shaw she had to go and drink and keep her image up. She couldn't wait for me because mousy nobodies were not a part of the Delaney Shaw image. I called her over and over again, but she never picked up. I had to call my parents to come get me and I couldn't even wait inside because the doorman wouldn't let me in without someone to vouch for me. I didn't even find out she had ditched me for the party until the next day when the pictures were all over the internet." I rolled my eyes. "Laney and I used to be good friends, but I hate Delaney Shaw."
"I can't say I blame you. She sounds like a total bitch."
"Yeah, well, she wasn't always one and maybe one day she won't be again. But until then we won't be friends. I could never be friends with Delaney Shaw." Just then there was a knock on my door and Nurse Jackson opened it to reveal my parents.
"Mom!" I smiled and rushed to her, hugging her tightly.
"Oh, sweetheart I missed you!" She hugged my tight.
"I'll leave you guys." Leo smiled and turned to go.
"Mija, is this the young man your father has told me about?" My mom raised an eyebrow to Leo, who was clearly no long slipping out.
"Um, yes. Mom, this is Leo…my boyfriend." I answered, blushing the whole time.
"Oh?" My dad raised his eyebrow to that as well, though he didn't look upset in the slightest. "You and I will have to have a talk at some point then, young man." My dad turned to look seriously at Leo, but the stern look on his face did not reach his eyes and I had a hard time not laughing as he pretended to distrust Leo.
"Mi amour, stop it. You're going to scare the boy." My mom smacked my father's shoulder lightly, smiling at him. I always loved when my parents were together; even all the time they spent apart could not diminish their obvious love for each other. "It's very nice to meet you Leo." My mother held out her hand. Leo shook it gently and smiled at her.
"It's nice to finally meet you as well." Leo was polite and I silently thanked the gods that the meeting was going so well. "And, it's nice to see you again, sir." Leo turned to shake my father's hand. "I'm looking forward to that talk." He added. "Anyway, I should leave you all to spend some time together; I'll see you in the waiting room."
"Sit tight guys." I smiled to my parents and walked Leo out of my room. When he turned to me I sighed. "So…this is the last time I'll see you before the surgery." I smiled tightly at him, all the fear returning to me.
"Hey, I'll be right here waiting for you. I love you, and nothing that happens after this will change that." Leo grabbed my hand gently, but with enough strength for me to fully trust his words.
"I love you too, and even if I don't remember that after this, that doesn't make this any less true right now. I love you now, and I know I can fall for you all over again." Then I kissed him. I knew it might be the last kiss I gave Leo for a while so I kissed him with all the emotion, all the love I could muster. It was sad, slow, and somehow still just as wonderful as every kiss that preceded it.
We didn't say anything when our lips parted. There really wasn't anything to be said. He leaned his forehead to mine and for a moment we just stood there. Then he pulled back, just enough to leave a kiss there, on my forehead. Squeezing my hand one last time he pulled away, smiled and left.
I went back into the room with my parents and my mother just looked at me for a moment, before raising her arms. I ran into her open arms and let all the tears I'd been holding back fall, let all the fear and frustration that I had been pretending was nothing finally flow out of me, and she just held me. She left me cry until I had no tears left. All the time she whispered soothing words in my ear.
After I was done we all sat on the bed together and talked. I told my parents just how much Leo meant to me, and we talked about what we would do if I couldn't remember anything. Then Nurse Jackson came in and I said goodbye to my parents. She checked all my vitals again and then pulled out an electric razor to cut the hair on the side of my head.
"Can you shave it all?" I asked.
"Are you sure? That's a big change."
"Go big, or go home right?" I chuckled. "I can't go home, so let's go big."
Nurse Jackson hesitated, but the shaved my whole head. "You're going to have a really cool scar when this is over." She told me.
"Yeah? I can't wait to show it off." I made a face that clearly said I didn't care about the scar.
"Alright get changed and we'll take you down."
After I got dressed I was on the bed, being pushed through the hospital and all I could think about was Leo. The lights overhead seemed way too bright and I was terrified to go under, especially since this time Charlie wouldn't be there to greet me.
"Piper?" I turned my gaze to my left where Dr. McAndrew was. "Don't be nervous, I'm going to take care of you."
"Easier said than done, Doc." I scoffed at him. Just as I said that we passed through the last set f doors and I could tell we were finally in the operating room. The anesthesiologist set me up and then said, "Alright Piper, now count backwards from ten."
"Ten…nine…eight…..seven….si – " I never got past six. When I opened my eyes again I was back in that part of the hospital I was in last time I passed out. The difference is that I was alone for the first time. I walked aimlessly at first, then I found my way to Leo's room. It was empty, unlike the real place. None of Leo and Jordi's posters or paint can be found anywhere. It just felt wrong.
I walked away because it just felt too weird, seeing the room empty. I walked to Charlie and Kara's room next, and then what Leo had told me about the time he met Charlie gave me a sudden idea. I left the room and wandered to my room. I closed my eyes and imagined my piano. When I opened them it was there. "Sweet!" I smiled, as I rushed over to the bench to play away the time I would be stuck there. As I sat I had the feeling something was missing, so I closed my eyes again and when I opened them there was a picture of my friends on top of the piano. "Better, now it's not so lonely." I smiled tightly, then began to play.
I stayed that way for what felt like hours. I played songs for Leo, my parents, and my friends. I played for myself, and then everything went black.
LEO P.O.V
We sit in the waiting room, piper's parents and I, and we wait in silence for a long time. Then her mom looks at me and smiles. "You are very special to Piper, aren't you?"
"I love her." I answer without hesitation.
"That's good, because I can tell she loves you too. I think more than anything what scares her about losing her memory is the thought of losing you."
"She won't lose me. Even if she doesn't remember me, I'm not going anywhere." I say with calm determination.
"I like that you are stubborn, she will need that if she doesn't remember." Mrs. Douglas smirks at me.
Mr. Douglas just sits quite, his face is stern and for the first time it reaches his eyes. I watch as his wife reaches over and silently grabs his hand, squeezing it gently. He turns to her and places his other hand over hers. They don't say a thing to each other, but the stiffness of his body relaxes a little.
Dash walks over was we sit there. "Hey man, any word yet?" He sits next to me.
"No, nothing. It's only been an hour though." I say with confidence, even though once I say it out loud it doesn't seem like such a short time.
"You took forever too, and they were only hacking off your leg. She's getting a much more delicate procedure."
"Oh, that's for being so nice about my leg." I roll my eyes at Dash and look down at my prosthetic leg.
"Well, just so you know, Hunter is going home today. Kara isn't taking it well."
"Of course she isn't. How's Jordi without Emma?"
"Not bad, but that's because he's trying to get time with Delaney Shaw's manager."
"How's that going?"
"Not well…the kid is determined though."
Dash only stays a few minutes more, then he heads off to try to get in Delaney Shaw's pants again. After he leaves we all sit in silence again. Every so often I offer Piper's parents food, or something to drink. Her mother accepts once, her father never does.
Another hour passes, and Jackson comes into the waiting room. "I knew I'd find you here." She sighs at me. "You know you have PT today."
"And Piper is in there with someone cutting into her brain, so you know I'm not going." I say simply.
"Leo, Piper would not want you risking your ability to go home just to sit here and wait to hear something."
"I promised her I would be here."
"Leo –"
"Nurse Jackson, I love that girl, and if you know how that feels then you'll understand that nothing you say will make me go to PT today."
Nurse Jackson sighs at me. "Alright Leo, but I'm rescheduling it for tomorrow."
"And tomorrow I will gladly go." I nod thankful that Jackson was more of a bleeding heart than she ever wanted to let anyone see. She left us alone again, and we went back to waiting. Only thirty more minutes pass before Dr. McAndrew comes out.
We all stand and meet his as he walks over. "The surgery was successful. We got the entire tumor." He smiled.
Mr. and Mrs. Douglas smile and hug each other, and I breath my first real breathe since I parted from Piper. "When can we see her?" Mr. Douglas asks.
"She's still under, but we'll be moving her back into her room in about ten minutes. You can meet her up there." McAndrew nodded and left with a smile.
"I'm going to tell our friends." I smile at her parents and leave.
Piper P.O.V
This isn't my room. That's the first thing that occurs to me when I open my eyes. That's my Harry Potter poster…what is it doing here? All around the room are things from my room at home. But this is clearly not my room. In fact, as I look around it looks like a room in a hospital.
I try to sit up and find I can't move my arms or legs, and there is a pain in the side of my head. What is going on? I start to freak out, and here the sound of a heart monitor matching the quickening speed of my own heart beat.
Just then my parents come in smiling, in a gentle and soothing manner. Behind them is a boy with buzz cut hair. "Mija, do you remember what's going on?" My mom asks touching my hand gently. I go to answer and find that even my mouth isn't cooperating.
Am I paralyzed? I start to panic.
"Okay, I'm going to take that as a 'no'. You have to calm down sweetheart, we'll explain everything." Dad comes up beside Mom and rubs my shoulder. I start to calm down, but I'm still really aware of the strange boy standing in the background, looking much less happy now. "Okay, good, that's good sweetheart. Piper, you just had surgery." Dad starts to explain. When I look at him questioningly he sighs, as though whatever he is going to say next is going to be really hard for me to hear. "Piper, you had a brain tumor."
What the hell did I miss?
AN: And that is the official end of my first official fan fiction! I'm so excited! I hope you guys both love and hate this and please don't worry, I promise a sequel, which time jumps about two weeks ahead and Piper will will be pretty much talking again. So, be on the lookout for that. I have to thank all of you who read, reviewed, followed, and favorite! I appreciate all of you so much!