𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐔𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 || 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥

Chapter 18 - Unconscious Confessions

Even though he denied it, it was blatantly obvious Chris was getting worse - weaker. It ate me up inside to watch him hurting like this. But we had no idea what was wrong or worse, how to stop all of this. The Halliwells and I had been searching for the "other me" - no, Disney joke there, I promise - but to no avail. There was just...nothing. Almost as if there were no existence of her here. And I was starting to wonder...

"Wait, so you didn't find anything?" Phoebe was asking Piper as we all stood around in the living room, bringing me back to the present.

Piper shrugged, "No ID, no proof anywhere this girl even exists..."

Her concerned eyes flicked to mine and I glanced away, knowing as well as she did what this surely looked like. She was about to say more when the sudden sound of orbing and a loud thud reached our ears. Spinning around, my eyes landed on the crumpled figure of Chris lying on the carpet.

"Chris!" I cried out, racing over to kneel at his side.

He groaned, clearly unconscious but still in a great deal of pain. And it looked like it had only gotten worse.

I pushed back a strand of damp brown hair away from his forehead when he mumbled softly to himself, "Mattie..."

My eyes widened and I glanced up just in time to see the others watching me, just as mystified as I was. The others helped me get him over to the couch then and Leo unbuttoned his shirt to get a look at the very obvious wound there.

"Oh my gosh, what is that?" Phoebe asked, eyebrows arching in surprise.

Leo shook his head, stunned, "I don't know..."

I put a hand to my mouth, wanting to look away but not being able to. Poor Chris... I knew he'd been hurting but...but I had no idea it was like this...

"It doesn't matter, just heal him," Piper said, putting an arm around me.

Leo let his hands hover over Chris and slowly, they began to glow, beginning the healing process.

"Why didn't he tell us about that?" Paige asked no one in particular.

"Why doesn't he tell us about a lot of things?" Piper replied just as a deep frown set on Leo's face, "What's the problem?"

Leo shook his head, confused, "He's not healing. Something's draining his powers and blocking mine. It's like a virus,"

"A virus that looks like Mattie,"

I tensed at that, "You think...that girl - that other me - did this?"

Piper rubbed my arm, reassuring me she hadn't meant it in that way, "It's gotta be,"

"Yeah, but it doesn't explain why she would come back from the future just to kill him," Paige pointed out.

"Well, somebody had to have sent her, she's a hired gun," Piper pointed out.

"Well, we have to find her to save him. Figure out what she did-" Phoebe started before abruptly cutting herself off.

A strange look crossed her face - shock, disbelief, wonder and...happiness? - in a quick flash as she exhaled a breath. She knelt down on the floor beside the couch then, gazing over at Chris' feverish form lying there.

"Oh my gosh...he loves her." she breathed out softly, her eyes flicking up to mine suddenly.

I sucked in a sharp breath, eyes widening at the confession.

"Loves who? Mattie?" Paige asked, taken aback as Piper and Leo's wide-eyed gazes flitted to me as well.

Slowly, Phoebe nodded a confirmation, whispering, "She broke his heart."

I felt my world turn upside down then, all the oxygen leaving my lungs in that instant. It...no. No, it wasn't possible! How could Chris love...me?! That just wasn't possible. How could it be? I thought he hated me! And yet...

It was only then that we noticed Chris' hand clinging tightly around something. Phoebe gingerly reached out to him as his hand uncurled involuntarily and she plucked a tiny object from his palm. She glanced up at the group of us then, holding it out for all to see.

"Engagement ring."

I felt my heart begin to race in my chest as her words sunk in, taking root in my brain as the the truth I knew it to be. My brown eyes glanced down at Chris' still form once more.

How could he not have told me?

All this time - all the stolen glances, the protectiveness, the coy remarks, how he always seemed to know things about me I had never confessed - he'd known all along who I was, who we were to each other.

"Well, at least we have something to scry for her now. You guys work on the vanquishing potion in case this future Mattie is not in the mood to help." Piper told the others, taking the ring from Phoebe's outstretched hand as she led the way to the dining room.

Everyone split up then, Phoebe and Paige bounding up the stairs to the attic while I sat alone with Leo, kneeling down beside the unconscious Chris.

I put a hand to his forehead as he tossed and turned on the couch, his skin feverish to the touch. My heart sunk in my chest, terrified at what may happen if we couldn't fix this. I...I couldn't lose him.

"Mattie..." Chris whispered through the veil of darkness he was under, pulling at my heartstrings as I watched him, his eyes still shut and breathing hard, "Mattie..."

My fingers slid through the damp strands of hair on his forehead, shushing him quietly.

"Stay with me, Chris...please, stay with me..."