Disclaimer: The Charmed Characters are the property of Aaron Spelling and Constance Burge. I just borrow them for your enjoyment and my writing addiction
This story came to me one day a long time ago when I was listening to the song Hotel California. I hope you enjoy it.
Phoebe road her bike hard and fast over the hills of San Francisco. The rain had come out of no where as she was out riding. What had started as a beautiful Friday afternoon, had suddenly turned miserable and wet.
Almost there she thought as she pushed herself harder. It was the middle of July, so when she had left that day she was dressed for a nice summers bike ride, shorts and a tank top. Now she was soaked with the rain falling on her as well as from the water spraying off her tires.
She recalled a saying that she had heard so many times and couldn't recall who it was that quoted it first. The worst Winter I hever had: Was a summer in San Franscico. This would be one of those days. What staarted out beautiful, the summer fog had turned quickly into a winters day.
As she slowed to round a corner her brakes slipped on the wet rims. Causing her to take the corner faster then she would have hoped, resulting in her to fall on to the wet pavement. She rolled to a stop as her back slammed into the curb, causing her to feel the pain as as well as the burning of the many pebbles that had embedded themselves into her bare skin.
Laying still she tried to assess any damage to herself as she slowly pulled herself to the sitting positions, as she looked down to see the many scraps to her body as the blood seeped from the various wounds. "Great." She said to no one as she slowly pushed herself up from the ground.
Her whole body ached as she bent down to pick up her bike. Getting back on her bike with care she coasted along the slight hill, as she finished the last bit of her ride along Prescott St..
Carefully walking up the steps to the Manor, she shared with her two older sisters, she just wanted to soak in a hot bath. "Piper. I'm home." She cried out
"About time. I was starting to think you forgot where you lived." Piper called back from the kitchen
"Yeah well, Mother Nature wasn't very nice." She answered, "and neither were my brakes." She mumbled to herself.
Phoebe made her way to the kitchen in search of an ice pack. Though she wasn't sure where she would put it. Thank god she had her helmet on.
"Hey Phoebs how was your... Oh my god what happened?" Piper panicked as she turned and saw the state of her youngest sister.
"Brakes."
"Phoebe! You shouldn't be riding your bike if your brakes don't work." She said as she helped her sister sit down.
"Ouch. Oh they work. Just not in the rain going around a corner." Phoebe replied as she grimaced sitting down.
"Oh honey. Here let me see." Piper ordered as she placed a wet cloth on her sisters' leg, and looked at her arm. "Ok, is there a spot you missed?" Piper laughed slightly at her sister.
"Yeah my head. Luckily I wore my helmet."
"Let's get you cleaned up honey. Come on. Bathroom." Piper said as she helped her sister up.
"Owowowow."
"What? You ok?" Piper looked at her sister with worry.
"Oh yeah just great." Phoebe answer sarcastically
"Come on, well clean you up and then you can soak in a nice hot tub till dinner. Prue figured she'd be home around seven when she called this morning."
"Ok but by then I could be nothing but a prune." Phoebe pouted as she hobbled with Pipers help up the stairs to the bathroom.
"Come on." Piper said again as she laughed inwardly at her sister. Of the three of them it would be Phoebe that wiped out on her bike.
After helping Phoebe clean most of the dirt and rocks from her arms and legs Piper ran the tub for her sister. Her thoughts turned to their younger days when she had done the same thing. Cleaned her up and then ran her a bath. How was it she was so accident prone compared to Prue and I? She asked herself.
"Phoebs the bath is almost done. Go soak for awhile. You'll feel better." Piper siad as she popped her head in her sisters room
"Oh you've said that before." Phoebe commented on her way to the bathroom.
"Yeah and I was right. Now go." Piper said tussling her sisters' hair, knowing that it was her head that was the only place that did not hurt from her fall
"Ok." Phoebe answered as she closed the door behind her. "Oh this is gonna hurt." She said to no one as she placed her foot in the bath, feeling the warmth of the water run through her body. She knew from experience that as she made her way further into the tub and the water touched her cuts, it was going to hurt like hell.
"Ok Phoebe, big girl you can do this." She spoke to herself as she eased herself into the water. "Ohohohohoh. Oh god that hurts." But she kept going, as she eventually leaned against the back of the tub, she felt the hot water relax her aching muscles, which in turn she felt herself relax as well. "Ok I can so stay here now." As she tipped her head back and closed her eyes.
Prue pulled up the driveway and spotted Phoebes bike against the Manor right away. After the day she had just had Phoebes actions only
aggravated
her temper to even further. "Can she not put anything away? Serves her right if it gets stolen." She said as she walked up the steps to the front door.
As soon as she closed the door she called out for her youngest sister. She had been back from NYC for just over a year now and still they had not truly connected, as sisters should. Not like her and Piper anyway.
"Phoebe!" she called out though getting no response. "Phoebe! Don't you ignore me!" she called out again.
"Prue. You're early." Piper said coming from the kitchen.
"Yeah. Why is Phoebes bike against the house? Can't she just out her things away? Maybe it'll get stolen. That should teach her a lesson." Prue lectured as she made her way through the house to the kitchen.
"Actually that's my fault. I was going to for her." Piper said as she foillwed Prue to the back of the house
"What! Piper are you crazy? Why do you always do things like that for her? She'll never learn if you keep covering for her." Prue chastised her sister as she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge
"Well if you'll be quiet I minute I'll tell you!" Piper retaliated
"Oh what she do this time to make you her slave?" Prue smirked
Piper glared at her older sister, "Actually, she fell off her bike and she is upstairs soaking in the tub." Piper said with more edge then she had hoped, but she got the result she wanted. The look of guilt all over Prue's face. She knew Prue cared about the both of them in her own special way and it was something that she always would do. It was only at times she would jump to her own conclusions when it came to teh youngest.
"What! Why didn't you say something? Is she ok? What happen?" Prue shot out a million questions at her, As she turned for the stairs.
"Well I would have Prue, if you hadn't gone off on a tangent at her." Piper said following her big sister to the stairs before going out and putting Phoebes bike away. "Augh, sisters. Go figure." She said to herself shaking her head at Prue's reaction.
Phoebe had heard Prue calling her but she didn't worry about it for she knew that Piper would tell her where she was. It was a few minutes after that the bathroom door flung open and her big sister walked in
"Hello privacy."
"Phoebe are you ok?" Prue asked with love and concern.
"Yeah I'm fine. Just a few scraps and bruises. You know, the usual." Phoebe answered as Prue sat beside the tub and brushed the hair from her sisters' face. "You sure?"
"Prue I'm fine. It's not like that's the first time I've fallen off my bike, and I'm sure it won't be the last." Phoebe said as she took Prue's hand in her.
"Don't scare me like that."
"Hey it wasn't you I scared. You should have seen the look on Pipers face when I walked in the kitchen." Phoebe laughed. One more thing to ler her sister know she was ok.
"I bet." Prue laughed. "Ok I'll let you be. If you need anything call ok?" Prue ordered as she touched the end of Phoebes nose with her finger.
"Got it." Phoebe smiled at her sister right before she splashed her.
"Hey."
"What? I'm hurt. You wouldn't splash back a hurt sister would you?" Phoebe asked innocently.
"Yes." Prue said as she splash Phoebe in the face. "Now stop it." She said as she left the bathroom, only to be met by Piper leaning against the wall across from the door. "What?"
"You. You are so hard on her but the minute that you think she is hurt or upset you turn into this completely different person."
"I do not."
"Do to." Piper said as she went back down stairs as Prue looked from her retreating sister to the door of the bathroom. She knew Piper was right. As she sighed and went to her own room to change.
Phoebe slowly made her way down the stairs, as her whole body ached with pain "Oh Mr. Couch, my friend." She said as she moved around to the front of the couch and gently eased herself down. "Oh that's better." As she cozied into the large couch, bringing the blanket down across her legs. It wasn't that it was cold, it was more of a security thing. Like Linus from Peanuts..
Prue watched as Phoebe lay back on the couch, "Hey you."
"Hey." Phoebe said looking back over at her sister.
"How you doing?" Prue asked as she sat on the coffee table in front of her sister
"Well I ache everywhere, how's that?"
"A start. Let me see." Prue insisted, as she lifted the blanket Phoebe had placed over her legs. "Ow. That looks like it hurts."
"No looking involved it does." Phoebe said, as she tried to cover her legs back up.
"Hang on Phoebs. Let me see."
"Prue I'm fine."
"No you're not, you're bleeding still. Let me get something for that."
Phoebe knew not to argue with her sister so she left it at that, as she looked down and saw blood still coming from a few of her cuts.
"Ok here we go." Prue said as he sat down again. "I think you know honey, but this is gonna hurt."
"I know just get it over with." She said as she pulled the blanket over her head, hiding her face from her sister, as she grimaced in pain to the touch of the cream that Prue was applying.
"There now, stay there and rest." Prue ordered.
"Prue I'm.."
"No arguing." she cast her sister determined look
"Fine." Phoebe relented.
After dinner they sat around in the living room watching movies, each on their own thoughts of the day. Prue looked up from her position on the floor in front of the couch and smiled to herself at the site of her sleeping sister.
"She's so cute when she falls a sleep like that." Piper said as she caught Prue starring up at Phoebe.
"Yes she is." Prue agreed.
"What's on your mind Prue?" Piper asked seeing the look on Prue face
"I have to go to Reno to help plan a big auction there."
"What?"
"I'll only be gone over night. I'll be back Monday."
"Just till Monday? What's the problem?" Piper asked looking at her sister
"Well with Phoebe hurt." Prue casta quick glance at her sleeping sister
"I'm fine Prue. Go." Phoebe said without even opening her eyes
Prue looked up at Phoebe on the couch. "I could stay home."
"Go. We'll be fine." Piper tried to convince her older sister
"Ok if you're both sure. I'll leave the number on the fridge in the morning when I leave." Prue said as she turned her thoughts to her drive ahead.
The next morning came and Prue left her sisters the note she had promised. After checking on Phoebe she quietly left her baby sisters room and went down the steps.
"Sneaking out were you?" Piper said from the top of the landing.
"No. I told you last night I was leaving early. What are you doing up anyway?"
"Saying goodbye." Piper said giving her sister a hug.
"Me too." Phoebe said as she hobbled down the last few stairs.
"Hey you're supposed to be resting." Prue said wrapping her arm around Phoebe's waist as they both walked to the door. Giving her baby sister a hug she looked at Piper, "Take care of her."
"I will. Drive safe and call when you get there."
"Yes Mum." Prue smiled at her sister, as she broke her hug and went down the steps to her car. "Love you."
"Love you too." They both said as they stood and watched her pull out of the driveway and down the road.
"So now what?" Phoebe asked as she continued to look down the street after her sister.
"Now you can get back to bed or to the couch Miss Fall Off Her Bike."
"Piper I'm fine. And if I sit around I'll go crazy."
Piper looked at her sister with a glint in her eyes, one that Phoebe didn't miss.
"Oh you." Phoebe swatted at Piper who had already gone back inside. Phoebe took one more look down the now empty street. She had a bad feeling about Prue going away, but she didn't know what it was. All she knew was that something bad was about to happen to one of them.
