A Place To Call My Home

Chapter 5

Even if you have a cold still

You can cough on me again

I still haven't had my fulfil

Piper helped Alex up from the floor of her lounge room and out the front door. Jack had stormed off upstairs, and Piper had no intention of following him. In five years, this was the first time she had been truly afraid of him. This just wasn't him, this wasn't the same man she fell in love with, she was struggling to understand how he had changed so much. Piper completely froze when she saw Jack push Alex to the ground and kick her like that, she never thought he was capable of doing that to another human being, let alone a woman. Piper helped Alex get into the front seat of her car, before getting herself into the driver's seat. She knew she probably shouldn't be behind the wheel but she just wanted to get them both out of there, and everything that had happened in the last ten minutes had gotten her adrenalin pumping.

After she pulled out of the driveway, trying to remember how to get back to Alex's place, she turned to look at the brunette in the passenger seat. Piper was worried by what she saw, Alex seemed to wince with every breath and looked more pale than usual.

"Alex, maybe we should go to the hospital, he could've broken a rib or something."

"No, it's fine, just drive back to my place." Piper kept driving but she was still worried, Alex was leaning her head against the window with both her arms wrapped around her midsection. It sounded like she was struggling to breathe properly, which just made Piper worry more. She put her foot down and drove faster, somehow remembering her way back to Alex's apartment.

No matter how fast she drove, Piper felt like she never got any closer to getting Alex out of the car. Even once they got back to her place, it's not like Piper knew what to do. She wasn't a doctor, she wouldn't have a clue if Alex had any broken bones or if anything else was wrong. Eventually, they got there, Piper didn't remember the last time she felt this much relief. She opened the passenger door and helped Alex out of the car, putting an arm around her as they walked slowly to the apartment. Once they were inside, Piper helped her slowly walk towards the bedroom, and Alex groaned again as she sat down on the bed. Piper thought she looked better than she did in the car, but was obviously still in pain.

"You don't need to have that look on your face Pipes, I'm not gonna die. You have a sore arm, I have a sore side, that's it."

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Alex was relieved to finally make it to her bed. Her side still hurt, but breathing was bothering her more. Each time she inhaled her side hurt more, but she wasn't overly concerned. Maybe it was the heroin that made her more relaxed, or the fact that she'd been in a lot more pain before, it was nothing new to her. Although, it had been a long time since she'd found herself on the receiving end of violence.

She could see how worried Piper was though, which she found almost cute. Alex had broken a rib before, and she knew that hadn't happened tonight. She'd be sore for a while, probably a long while, but that would be it. Yeah, she should probably have gone to the hospital, but she didn't want to dwell on it. She was almost tempted to take more heroin to help with the pain but decided against it. She took off her shoes and lay on the bed, on top of the covers, motioning for Piper to join her. The blonde slid up next to her, worry still all over her face.

"I promise you I'm okay Piper, I just wasn't exactly ready for him to do that. I'll be sore for a while, but that's it."

"You could barely breathe in the car! I was worried you would pass out..." Alex reached out to stop Piper, running her fingertips over her cheek and lips. Alex kept her eyes focussed on the other woman, trying to get her to relax and let go of her fear. Piper kept returning the gaze and gently ran her hand over Alex's side, "Are you sure you're okay? I....I didn't want you to get hurt because of me. He's never been like that before, I don't know what's happening to my life."