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| The First Son | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Part 5: State of Mind | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leo sat in the hospital waiting room with his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped firmly under his trembling chin. It had been hours, he didn't know exactly how many, since he had skidded to a halt outside San Francisco Memorial with Piper panting weakly in the backseat. She was taken away from him, wheeled down a bright hallway that reminded him of their meeting on the bridge between life and death so many years before. He let his head fall and covered his face from the gazes of sympathetic strangers. He knew what they were thinking. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Poor guy, his kid's gonna die.... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oh, I hope he's all right... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| But what was there to be all right about? He could lose two of the most precious things in his life at any moment, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He hadn't felt so helpless in a long time. Long before he'd ever met Piper, before any of this had happened. But none of it mattered, the past, present, or future. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| All that mattered was Piper and the baby. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| He got up and paced, hoping that his frustration would wear away at his fear and let him just be angry, rather than scared. He hated being scared. There was no worse emotion in his mind, than the fear of losing a loved one. And once you had it, it stuck with you, never ceasing to pound away at your sanity until you were almost ready to knock yourself out just end your own suffering. That's how he felt, trapped in his own mind. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Mr. Wyatt?" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leo snapped his head up, heart pulsing in time to the low music from the stereo in the corner. His eyes widened as he saw the red stains up and down the doctors arms, soaking the light blue material with the liquid of life. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Are you Leo Wyatt?" The older gentleman stepped further into the room, allowing more of the light to glisten on the still wet garments he wore. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Yeah," Leo whispered. "That's me. Wh... What happened? Is she all right? What about the baby?" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The man shook his graying head, sighing heavily. Leo's heart fell through the floor, expecting the worst to come from his lips. "It's too soon to say. Your wife is in recovery, but your daughter is in the neo-natal intensive care unit, hooked up to a ventilator. We had to perform an emergency cesarean, and when we finally got her out, she wasn't breathing on her own. I have to say that I'm surprised she's made it this long. We don't have many births in this hospital that are this premature." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leo scowled at the doctor's insinuation that his daughter would die. "I think I'd like to see my wife now." He pushed past him, smearing blood along his worn leather jacket. Leo ignored it and kept walking, through the halls and up a flight of stairs to the recovery wing. He glanced about, feeling in his mind for Piper, waiting for her to call for him. When she didn't, he sought her out and entered the room he felt her in. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The room was bright, brighter than any place he had ever been in, brighter than the sun. He shielded his eyes as they become used to the light, and then looked about. Piper was nowhere to be seen, and instead he was surrounded by rows of clear plastic boxes. Blips of little monitors caught him off guard and he jumped, seeing the tiny figures in each little box. He paced the rows, searching for the name he wanted. And then he found it. A pink tag on a box in the middle of the room, reading, "Baby girl, Halliwell-Wyatt". The blanket in the box nearly drowned the small form as her chest rose and fell, dependant on the tube taped into her mouth. Her miniature fingers curled into perfect petite hands, connected to her pink arms, shoulders, and neck, up to her rosy cheeks. He put his hand against the plastic, afraid to open the lid and pick her up, that he might hurt her. All four pounds of her. Leo glanced back at the pink tag and read it again. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Baby girl Halliwell-Wyatt. Four pounds, seven ounces. May third, 2007. Preemie." That word clung to his throat and choked him violently. She came too soon, she was premature. They could've waited, in fact they were happy to wait. This could have been prevented, and he was determined to find out why. He kissed his fingers lightly and pressed them on the plastic before turning to go back out the door. He spun, smacking hard into a young woman dressed in scrubs and a blue hair net. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "You can't be in here. This is a sterile environment." She tugged at his sleeve and pulled him towards the door. He jerked away and hurried out, decidedly aggravated with the world. He stormed down the hall to the nurse's station, where they told him the room number where Piper could be found. He reached the room at a sprint, skidding to a halt by her bed. Phoebe and Paige were already there, watching Piper's sleep. She looked so pale, almost as fragile as the baby in the box. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "How is she?" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Paige glanced up and sighed. "We don't know, she hasn't woken up since we got here. Where were you?" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "The NICU. I saw her... Where's Rueben?" Leo asked, keeping his answers short and to the point, in no mood to deal with sisters anymore than he was in the mood to deal with nurses. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "At a friend's house. We dropped him off on the way over. He was so scared, Leo. He needs you right now. Do you want us to go get him?" Phoebe put a hand on his shoulder as he pulled a chair up next to the bed. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leo nodded. "Yeah. Do me a favor, will you? Go back to the house and get the little quilted blanket out from under our bed. I have to give it to someone." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| She didn't argue just took up her purse and dragged Paige out of the door, whispering something about being alone. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Piper?" Leo stroked her hand leaned in closer to her face. "Piper, I know you can hear me. Just wake up, Piper." Her eyes fluttered and opened. She blinked a few times and looked him in the eye. Tears glistened by her lashes and she sniffled pathetically. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Leo-" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| He put a finger over her lips. "Shh, don't say anything. It won't help. But this might." He held one hand over her head and the other over her stomach, numbing her pain momentarily. "Better?" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| She nodded, but continued to cry with a pain that Leo had no powers to heal. He leaned over and pressed his forehead against hers. "She's beautiful, Piper. Ten fingers, ten toes, and the thickest hair I have ever seen. A little small, but I think that she'll never lack in generosity what she does in stature." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Piper squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face in Leo's hands. "God, I thought she was dead." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "No, she's perfect." Leo crawled into the bed with her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She fit nicely into the curve of his body, quivering slightly though. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I don't know what I'll do if she doesn?t make it, Leo. I don't know if I could go on living without her." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leo kissed her head, wiping away a tear with his thumb. "You will make it, even if she doesn?t, Piper. You'll still have me, and Rueben. What would Rueben do without you?" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Piper shuddered and sunk further into Leo's body, going completely limp in his arms. She felt safe with him, almost able to forget the horrible pain that ripped through her body. And her heart. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Ms. Halliwell are you awake?" A candy striper poked her head in the door and then pulled back quickly as she saw Leo draped across the bed. "Sorry!" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leo smiled slightly and pulled the scratchy blanket up over his and Piper's shoulders, insulating the warmth from their bodies. He kissed the top of her head closed his eyes, hoping that he could dream away all his problems. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Mommy!" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Piper woke with a start as Rueben leaped onto the hospital bed and landed on her sore stomach. She grunted and doubled over in pain, tears welling up in her eyes. Leo reached over, pulled the boy away, and plopped him into a chair. He held a hand over Piper and she relaxed, her pain diminished back to its original ache. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Rueben, you have to be careful around Mommy. She had a rough night." Leo let his son back out of the chair, and he approached his mother more cautiously. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Where's the baby, Mommy? Is she going to be alright?" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Piper sat up in the bed and pulled Rueben up next to her. "I don't know, sweetie. She was born too soon, and she's really small, which means her lungs aren't big enough to let her breathe on her own. A machine is doing it for her. We-" she couldn't finish, as she was taken over by a wave of tears. Rueben gasped and crawled off the bed, afraid that he had upset his mother. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leo took his hand and led him over to his aunts, who in turn took him out of the room. Leo went back to Piper, who broke down as he sat next to her. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I don't know, but I promise, I'll find out. You just get yourself into a positive state of mind, and I'll be back." He stood back and disappeared in a shimmer of blue lights. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Piper gripped the blanket next to her tightly, using it as her only support as she sat alone in the room. State of mind my ass. She lay back against her pillow, curling up as close as she could without ripping the stitches in her stomach, and closed her eyes. Her hopes for a dreamless slumber were trounced as a frantic voice came over the hospital's intercom. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "She can't die, Leo. Why can't you help her?" The muffled words shook him deeply, as though Piper was blaming Leo for the situation of things. He let a tremor pass through his body before dismissing the comment. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Code Red in maternity! I repeat, Code Red in maternity! Security, block all exits immediately! Code Red!" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Piper furrowed her brows anxiously, unsure of what the woman on the intercom had meant. Code Red?That cannot be good. The door burst open as an armed guard stepped into the room, followed closely by an out of breath doctor. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Ms. Halliwell..." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Code Red!" The damned PA system. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I don't really know how to tell you this, but... your daughter has...um... well, we can't find her. It seems she was kidnapped." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||