Permanent (Charmed)

All For Good Reason

Seconds turned into minutes, which felt like hours before his eyes opened. He was alive when he shouldn't be, yet being a witch had taught me that no scenario was impossible. So why did I still feel a shockwave running through me?

"Prue." He rasped weakly, laying there underneath the blanket. "Why do I feel like I've been hit by a truck?"

"It's a long story." I rubbed my neck, suddenly feeling a headache coming on. Maybe it was from the impact of being thrown; my body always felt sore after fighting demons. Or perhaps it was from the shock of finding out the love of my life could come alive again. "Probably not one I could explain right now."

"Try."

"Okay." Looking up at Piper, she gave me an encouraging nod as I kneeled next to him and took a few seconds to gather my thoughts. "So, you remember Detective Rodriguez?"

"I'm familiar with him."

"Well, as we were looking up a spell to vanquish him, Rodriguez walked through the door." I looked at Piper to help me out here because I couldn't remember much after being knocked out cold.

"You must have followed Prue from the park because you walked through the door a minute later." Piper continued, struggling with the fact we all knew and he didn't seem to know about or remember. "Next thing we knew, Rodriguez was blasting you clear across the living room."

"Let me take a wild guess and say he blasted me into the curio cabinet."

"Yeah." I looked down at the floor, not knowing how to tell him this next part before he figured it out himself. "Andy, there's something you should know about that."

"Help me up, please." He groaned, holding his hand out to me. I hesitated momentarily before taking his, then remembered he was feeling weakness after being healed, not because he was still injured from the blast.

"Easy." I watched as his body wavered back and forth, then stabilized to sitting upright again. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been better." He brushed off a few splinters of wood off his coat. "What I don't get is if I was smashed into a curio cabinet, why wasn't I injured?"

"About that--" I began, really not wanting him to tell him this as I closed my eyes momentarily. "You were injured. Badly injured, in fact."

"Don't tell me you healed me a spell."

"No, that would be all thanks to Leo."

"Leo?" Andy cast a confused glance in my direction as the wheels turned in his head, then quickly connected the dots. "Your handyman healed me?"

"Yeah, he's kind of our--"

"Guardian angel." Piper covered, raising an eyebrow in my direction before turning towards Leo. "We'll give you some time to talk."

"What Piper means is I will explain it all to you later." I sighed, feeling the exhaustion setting in; most likely from fighting a demon, finding out the person I loved died and then was alive again all in one day. "Let's get off this floor and onto the couch." Bracing myself, he was able to stand with one slow and painful stretch as we moved towards the couch.

"Do I even want to ask how long I've been out?"

"Almost a couple hours."

"Two hours." He raised his eyebrow in surprised, even more so when he spotted the destroyed curio cabinet he had been thrown against earlier as I helped him sit down on the couch. "Well, that raises some questions." He groaned as he stretched uncomfortably. "Also, I know why people don't sit on floors for long periods of time."

"Sorry."

"No, it's fine." He brushed off my apology, slipping his shoes of so he could rest his legs on the couch. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay." I nodded, trying to reassure him I was okay as I watched eyes grow heavy. It was almost a relief he was already falling asleep so I could have some time to think about what I was going to tell him later. If I didn't, he would figure it out by himself.

Walking out of the room, I grabbed a blanket from the hall cabinet and walked back down to the living room where Andy was now sound asleep. I draped the blanket over the length of his body and sighed as I looked at the broken pieces of the curio cabinet before walking back out into the foyer.

"Hey! How is he?" Phoebe walked into the room just as I did. "Most importantly, how are you?"

"He's sleeping. And I'm fine."

"Really? Because you don't look fine. You look like you're going to pass out."

"I'm good. Think I'm going to lay down for awhile. Let me know when he's awake?"

"Sure." I knew by the tone of her voice that she wasn't convinced, yet I didn't have time to argue with her or anyone else about how I was feeling. All I wanted to do was lay down. It was an odd sensation, but one that was overtaking me more and more as time ticked by.

As I closed the door behind me, I threw back the covers and slowly got in. For the first time all day, I finally allowed myself to notice how sore my body was from being thrown to the floor, followed by the dull ache in my stomach as I pulled the comforter over me.

After I had settled in, many questions flooded my mind, which caused me to toss and turn for several minutes. I knew it was silly to worry. Andy would figure everything out, whether I told him or not. I just hoped he would hear it from me first. Yet, the more he knew about us, the more serious danger he could be in.

With that in mind, I could no longer keep my eyes open. When the blackness faded away, I realized I was in the same foggy place where Andy and I had talked earlier. I knew by instinct that he wasn't going to be there, so why was I here?

Circling the swing, it rocked back and forth as I brushed my fingers against it. Even in my dreams, my mind was filling with questions I couldn't seem to answer. How are you going to tell him? Is he really in danger if you tell him more about being a witch when you know he'll just find a way to get the information?

Grabbing the chain attached to the swing, I sat down. Just as I did, my stomach cramped up with one intense motion. It was something I had never felt before, so I wasn't sure what to think of it. There was always the possibility I had hit more than I thought I did on the way down. However, something in the back of my mind told me that wasn't it.