Unwell: Part III by Dylan Shelby

Part III

"He believed in a door. He must find that door.

The door was the way to...to...

The Door Was The Way.

Good.

Capital letters were always the best way of dealing with things you didn't have a good answer to." - Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Guide

Leo stood and waited for Lillian to open the door. He made it to her apartment on time. Slowly the door opened to reveal Lillian in a beautiful black gown that had a halter top that led to a deep 'v'. Her hair which always reminded Leo of spun gold was in an up-do. She was looking beautiful as always. She took in his silence and smiled at the compliment. She wanted to look good tonight. Leo had been a little distracted as of late and she wanted all his attention to fall on her. "You look beautiful." Leo swore. She smiled at the compliment and took the red roses that he had in his hand. "Thank-you." she whispered and her smile deepened. "Why don't you come in while I put these in water?" she suggested.

He followed her in. Although Lillian was only twenty-five it would be hard to tell it from her actions and apartment. The apartment was elegantly furnished with creams, browns, and hints of sage. The chairs were masterfully put together and her sofa was overstuffed and comfortable. Leo had never been into her bedroom so he didn't know what it looked like, but he guessed that it was just as beautiful as the outer rooms. "Are you ready?" she asked from behind him. He nodded and took her arm leading her out of her apartment. "So where are we going?" Lillian asked as they got into the elevator. "I thought we would go to Catherine's." Leo told her. "Wonderful." she proclaimed. Catherine's was her favorite restaurant. It served wonderful food and in a very romantic atmosphere. Something that she would like for Leo to be in.

When they got there it was packed, but Leo being the gentleman he was had already been prepared for that. They went to the bar until their table was ready. Leo never drank, but Lillian enjoyed a glass of wine now and then. Leo went to get her a drink and she sat at one of the small tables that was un-occupied. She was looking at Leo and admiring how beautiful he looked in a black suit when something tapped her shoulder. She twirled around to see Dan and Heather behind her. She smiled at them, "What are you two doing here?" she asked giving Dan a hug. "It's Heather's day off and last night was her last night on the night shift so we thought we would come here and celebrate." Dan told her. "How are you doing Heather?" Lillian asked her and the two women hugged. Lillian liked Heather. She was nice, quiet, and had something about her that drew people to her. "I'm doing just fine. You look beautiful. Are you on a date?"

Lillian thanked her for the compliment, "Yes I am on a date, in fact here he comes now." It took everything Leo had not to spill the glass of wine onto Lillian when he saw Heather. "Hello." he greeted with surprise evident. Lillian thanked him for the drink and took a sip of the wine. "Nice to meet you again Leo." Dan said holding out his hand. "Nice to see you again as well." Leo replied shaking his hand. "It's nice to see you again too Ms. Price." Heather gave a little laugh that clutched at Leo's heart, "It is nice to see you as well Mr. Wyatt." "So what brings you here?" Leo asked. "It's my day off and we thought we would celebrate my last night on the night shift." Heather told him. She couldn't believe how comfortable she felt around him. This was the second time it felt like they were the only two people in the room. She hoped it wouldn't become a habit. "That's how it was..." Leo stopped his sentence, and then recovered with, "How it should be. I believe Sunday's should always be left for rest." He was about to say that was how it was when she owned P3 glad that he was able to stop himself.

"My sentiments exactly Mr. Wyatt." Heather responded wondering what he originally was going to say. Before anything could go further the Hostess showed up and escorted Lillian and Leo to their table. "You and Heather seem chummy." Lillian remarked. That was probably the only downside of Lillian's personality. She was extremely jealous. Piper use to be very jealous as well, but he didn't mind that because he felt the same way about her. However, he didn't feel that way about Lillian and so it just came off as un-attractive. "She just reminds me of someone and I'm trying to figure out who." Leo told her. Lillian seemed to buy that and Leo was grateful.

The evening had not ended how Lillian had planned, but Leo didn't care. He wasn't ready to be intimate with her and that was the bottom line. It wasn't that she wasn't beautiful, because she was, extremely so. However, she wasn't Piper and that was what kept Leo from really moving on. He knew mentally that he had to let Piper go, but he just couldn't. Something inside of him screamed out that if he gave up he would be a fool. Then he met Heather Price. A woman who could very well be Piper. She looked like her, sounded like her, and remarkably smelled like her. With every ounce of his being Leo prayed that Heather was in fact Piper. If she wasn't then Leo didn't know what he was going to do. If someone went through all the trouble of erasing her memory and convincing her she was someone else then it was probably someone that Leo didn't want to mess with. Of course if someone did do just that then there was going to be hell to pay!

Heather's date hadn't ended the way she wanted either. Instead of consummating their relationship (which is what Heather had been hoping for by going to Catherine's) they made out for a few minutes in front of her apartment door. She was glad that Haley wasn't home when she got there. She did not need her sister's meddling in an already strained situation. Besides, Heather was already frustrated with herself. At dinner it took everything she had not to let her mind wander to Leo Wyatt. She tried berating herself for having one of the most gorgeous guys in front of her and only being able to think of Leo Wyatt, but that didn't work. Luckily dinner didn't last that long.

So with sleep tempting her, Heather got into bed and fell asleep quickly. Instead of her usual dreams she had a good one. A sexual one. One that involved Leo Wyatt. She was wearing a brown slip dress. He hair was a little shorter and she was looking at something. Warm, strong arms slid around her waist and a warm voice caressed her neck, "You look beautiful." he whispered and then soft lips kissed her neck. She was entranced and felt goose-bumps travel her skin with anticipation. "Welcome Home." she told him. He let out a soft laugh and turned her around to face him. She was so in love with this man that sometimes it hurt. She wrapped her arms and legs around his body and he carried her to the bed.

Heather woke up in the most agreeable mood until she realized that it was Leo Wyatt she had dreamed about and not Dan. Her boyfriend. Her boss. With a fraction of frustration she got out of bed. Still it was a very good dream and who needed to know besides her?

Monday found Leo irritable, but he tried to hide it. He hadn't heard from Cole all weekend and he knew that he had pissed Lillian off. Some how this didn't seem to be his week. "Prue Halliwell." Aviva announced into the intercom. Leo picked up, "Hey Prue." he greeted. Despite being in a fowl mood he was happy to hear from her. "I just wanted to touch base with you. I know how busy you get. My plane arrives on Friday at 5:06 pm on flight 1771." Prue told him. Leo laughed. She knew him very well, "I will write it down and give it to my assistant." Leo promised. Prue laughed, "Don't worry. I already gave her the information and told her to tell you every day and every other hour on Friday." Leo laughed, "You know me too well."

Prue had put him in a better mood than what he was in when he had gotten to work, but he was still feeling a little frustrated. He looked at his clock and realized that it was nearing lunch time. He stood up and stretched for a moment and left his office to find Darryl. Darryl was in his office looking at the figures that Leo had done on Friday evening. He looked up when he heard Leo come in. "Hey what are you up to?" Leo asked. "I'm going over the figures. It looks very promising." Darryl told him. Leo smiled, "Are you excited about it?" Darryl laughed, "Yes. So what's up?" "I'm going to take an early lunch. I just wanted to let you know." Leo explained. "Okay. I have a lunch with Sheila so I might be a little later than usual." Darryl told him. "Okay. Well tell her thanks again for Saturday night and have a nice lunch." Leo told him and left. He saw Aviva, "I'm going to lunch early. Feel free to go whenever you feel like it." he told her.

Aviva nodded her head. Working for Leo Wyatt was interesting. When she first found out she had gotten the job she was surprised. Most President and CEO's of companies usually have older and wiser assistants, but Leo had personally called her to tell her she had the job. She had thought at the time that perhaps he was a less than a stellar guy and would try to sleep with her. That was put to rest her first day. It was only last week that she finally had worked up the nerve to ask him why he had chosen her. He told her because some one had taken a chance on him when he was her age and he wanted to do the same for her. That jumped her already high esteem of her boss. She became more protective of him and found herself just as worried as Darryl about him. She shook her head out of her revive and went back to her desk.

When Leo came back nearly an hour later there was a message on his desk telling him that Cole Turner had called. For a moment there it seemed as though his heart had stopped beating. He looked up and made sure that his door was closed and then went to lock it to make sure. He didn't want to be disturbed at all. He dialed Cole's number, "Turner" Cole said on the second ring. "It's me." Leo told him. "You know at first I thought you were crazy. I couldn't figure out why you wanted me to check this girl out. She was born on July 15, 1973. Her parents died when she was six leaving her and her younger sister, Haley Price age four, to live with an aunt and uncle. Nothing remarkable about school. Although she did graduate in 1996 with a BA in English. She shares an apartment with her sister, however, there was something about a year and a half ago. She was in a major car accident and was treated at San Francisco Memorial. Until she was transferred to Bennett Hospital for amnesia. However, she didn't suffer from it for more than two weeks. After she went back to school to study nursing and is now employed at Bennett Hospital."

Leo didn't know what to say he was looking for something dodgy. "Now. Like I said before I wondered why you asked me to look into her. That was until I saw a group photo from her work." Cole told him. Cole himself had been shocked when he saw the photo. She looked a lot like Piper. One glance at her and he would have sworn that she WAS Piper. He couldn't imagine the shock of seeing this person that Leo must have had. And since he was the agent working on Piper's disappearance he knew how hard it was on Leo. Which was why he was about to offer what he was offering, "Look. I can't promise anything Leo, but I'll look deeper into it. This is just surface stuff. Things that could be planted by someone smart and with money, mind you, but it could still be covered up. I will look deeper into it." Cole promised.

Leo felt a little relief. "Thank-you Cole. Are you going to tell Phoebe?" he asked. "No. I won't tell her until I get more. I'm still going to place blame on you if this blows up and I get in trouble, but I won't tell her." Cole told him. "Thanks." Leo said. "There is one small problem. They are putting me out on assignment so I don't know when I'll get a chance to look further, but I promise I will." Leo nodded his head, "I owe you big time Cole." Cole laughed, "You do, but I think it will be worth it." Leo laughed at that, "I hope so. I'll talk to you later." "See ya." Cole said and hung up the phone.

Leo hung up the phone and sat back in his chair. At least he wasn't insane. She did look like Piper. Unfortunately the whole thing gave him hope. Hope that he had the two years prior. To be honest hope that he hadn't given up on yet. He suddenly felt hot and claustrophobic. He needed to get out of the office. He grabbed his suit jacket and left. Aviva was outside at her desk. "Tell Darryl if he needs me I can be reached on my cell phone. I don't know if I will be back in the office today." he told her. She nodded and he left. He had to get out of here fast.

Just as the elevator doors opened Darryl stepped off. "What's going on?" Darryl asked the minute he saw Leo's face. "I have to get out of here." Leo told him. "What's going on?" Darryl demanded. "Look I don't want to talk about it I just need to get out of here." Leo told him desperate to leave the building. "I'm coming with you." Darryl told him that didn't allow for argument. Leo nodded his head and got into the elevator with Darryl. They made out of the building in silence. "Where do you want to go?" Darryl asked. "I don't know." Leo said.

They ended up going to a cafe near Leo's apartment. They sat in the outside away from the other patrons. "Now what is going on?" Darryl asked when the waitress returned with their drinks and the promise she wouldn't come back until Darryl asked for her. Leo looked at his friend and partner and then back at his shoes. Finally after a few seconds he spoke, "Do you remember last Thursday night when I went to that benefit?" Leo asked. Darryl nodded his head, "That was where you met Lillian's brother. The doctor." Leo nodded his head, "Well he had a girlfriend. Has a girlfriend. Her name is Heather Price. And.... um....she," Leo took a huge breath, "she looks remarkably like Piper. To the point where if I were to stand up in court I would swear it was her." Darryl started to say something and then stopped. This was not what he had thought was the problem when he found his friend hyperventilating.

Leo continued, "Now I know you might think I'm mistaken. I called Cole that night and had him do a background check. He called me today with the information. He saw a picture of her and has promised me that he will look more into it..."Leo trailed off. He was caught in limbo. His heart racing with the possibility that Piper was there, alive, and she would be with him once again. The other half was terrified beyond recognition that she wasn't Piper and what he didn't know how he was going to handle the news of that.

Darryl continued to look at his friend and not for the first time felt his heart breaking at the anguish that was etched into Leo's features. Darryl couldn't comprehend how one man could take so much. He might have dismissed Leo's claim at first, but if Cole saw it then this woman could possibly be Piper. That was the moment that it struck Darryl why Leo needed to get out. To breathe. This was the pinnacle of hope. Could this woman possibly be Piper Halliwell? His wife, the woman he loved beyond any other? Darryl wasn't sure what to say to his friend, but he knew Leo was expecting an answer.

"I don't know what to say Leo. I really don't, but you have my full support in whatever it is you need to do. I'll back you up 100%. You are my friend and I am here for whatever you may need." Darryl swore. Leo looked at him and nodded his head. This was why Darryl was his best friend and partner in business. "Thank-you." Leo told him. The two friends shared a moment of pain and hope at what this could mean for all.

"Yes, can I please speak to Dr. Bennett." Leo said into the phone. He and Darryl had discussed the situation and both were in agreement on everything. Although part of the reason that Leo was investing the money into the hospital was because of Heather, a larger part was because Leo genuinely liked Dan and knew that investing in the hospital was a good idea. Tomorrow Prue was flying in and he wanted to set up an appoint to look over the hospital and logistics sometime next week when he knew he would have some time. "This is Dr. Bennett." Dan said. "Hi Dan. This is Leo Wyatt. I was wondering if I could set up an appointment with you to look over the hospital and get the figures that I'll need?" "Oh. Well I have next Wednesday free at three o' clock if you would like to meet then?" Dan suggested. "Sounds fine. I'll see you next Wednesday at three." Leo repeated. "Thanks." Dan said. "You're welcome." Leo said and hung up the phone.

He needed Cole's sister, Paige Montana's, help. Her and her husband, Richard, were both psychologists in upstate New York. He had always been impressed with Paige. She was smart, sarcastic, and very kind. If Leo could persuade her he wanted her to come to San Francisco so that she could take a look at Bennett Hospital for him. However, when he called her number it said disconnected. Only one thing to do. He was going to have to call his sister.

"Hello?" Phoebe greeted. "Hey Phoebe it's me." Leo answered. "Leo? What's going on?" her voiced filled with concern. "I just tried to call Paige and it said that the phone was disconnected." Leo told her. "Paige?" "Yeah. I'm looking to invest in a mental hospital and I was hoping to get her help doing some of the research." Leo explained. "Oh. Well she moved to San Diego about a month after you left. Her and Richard are separating and she wanted to go somewhere far away from him." Phoebe divulged. "Oh. Do you have her number?" He always thought her and Richard had made a good couple. Of course he knew things could change, but it was just surprising. "Here it is... 818-555-9890. Is that all you needed?" "Yes it is. Thank-you." "Okay. Well I'll talk to you later." Phoebe said. "Bye." he told her and listened as Phoebe hung up the phone.

Leo dialed Paige's number. "Hello?" Paige greeted. "Hi. Paige. This is Leo Wyatt, you're brother's brother-in-law." Leo reminded her. "Oh Leo. What makes you call this number?" Paige inquired. "I was actually in need of your expertise. I am looking to invest in a mental hospital here. Bennett Hospital as a matter of fact and I was hoping you could help me with looking it over and seeing if it is a good investment." Leo explained. "Oh. I don't see why not. When would you need me?" Leo looked at his calendar. "How about the week after next Thursday which would make it March 24th?" he suggested. There was some shuffling on the other end for a moment. "Looks fine to me." Paige told him. "Perfect. I'll fly you up here and you can stay at my place or you can spend the night in a hotel." Leo offered. "I'll save you a penny. I can crash at you're place." Leo laughed, "It's settled then. I'll have my secretary call you with the information." "Okay. Well you have a nice night." Paige instructed. "You too." he told her and they both hung up.

End of Part III.