A/N: The elders... the elders in my stories are not very nice people, generally. So the way that elder in particular acted ties into a side plot that I have going in my season two rewrite. I can't say much else without spoiling so I'll refrain myself. However, there's also the point that this is the first time the rule was broken. In the actual episodes, Piper and Leo were given permission to be together before Paige was discovered. In this case, Paige is discovered first when the idea was unheard of so I would think that would spark a different reaction from the elders. Perhaps betrayal?
But Tragedy Was Unavoidable
Paige Matthews careened to the side after a sudden force hit her. The wind rushed through her hair and she hit the ground heavily. She rolled a couple of feet and pain shot through her arm that caused her to cry out. Tears sprang up in her pretty brown eyes so that she barely saw someone approach her. "Mommy!" she cried, clutching her arm against her chest.
Glen stared in horror at his fallen friend. "I'll go get your parents," he promised, rushing across the grass. He jumped over Paige's bicycle which was now on the ground and raced up the steps to Paige's house.
Her Mom and Dad came out following Glen's hurried instructions. Her father, a firefighter who had been about to leave for a shift, carefully picked her up off the ground.
"My arm hurts," Paige wailed.
"Can you move it?" Paige's dad asked calmly but he exchanged a worried glance with his wife.
"We'll just take her to the hospital. Everyone in the car," Paige's mom ordered before she ran back into the house to grab the car keys.
~PO4~
Prue ran down the hallway of the hospital, searching for the correct room Paige was in. She had received the call at her house (luckily it had been her to answer the phone) and hastened out the door as fast as she could without drawing unwanted attention to herself. Of course, that hadn't gone as planned when Phoebe walked down the stairs just in time to see Prue at the front door. Her little sister, as annoying as ever, went running to Grams while announcing to the entire house that Prue was sneaking out. Prue snatched for a lie and claimed she was going to the convenient store. She fought to keep her face straight as Grams scanned her over and she had a horrible feeling Grams knew what she was up too. Prue eventually came to the conclusion that Grams didn't when her grandmother let her out the door much to Phoebe's disbelief. Prue walked a few blocks down the street to Buddy's before Paige's father came to pick her up.
He was now parking the car while Prue was too impatient to wait for that. It had been almost three months since Prue had first come into contact with Paige. She was now practically another member of Paige's adopted family and ate meals there at least two days of the week. Sometimes Andy came with her and he was well received as well but most of the time it was just Prue.
Prue finally found the correct room and barreled in as if she owned the place. She blushed as everyone in the room (Paige's Mom, Glen's parents, Glen, a doctor or nurse, and, of course, Paige) turned to look at her.
Paige was the first to react as she gave Prue a watery smile. She slid from the edge of the bed and ran to Prue. There was a bright orange cast on her left arm that quickly caught Prue's eyes. "Hey, Prue, will you sign my cast? The doctor says I'm supposed to get people to sign it," Paige explained.
"Paige, honey, the nurse was not done talking to you," Paige's mother berated lightly.
"It's no problem, Mrs. Matthews. Everything looks fine. I'll be back with the release papers," the nurse assured her before sliding out.
Paige watched the nurse leave and then turned to Glen. "Where did you put the pen, Glen? My sister needs to sign too," Paige insisted.
"I… had it," Glen mumbled, looking down at the ground for the pen when he realized he didn't have it anymore for some reason.
"Your feet, son," Glen's father pointed out. Glen stooped down to pick up the purple sharpie that he gave to Prue. He hastily let go when Prue fixed him with a calculating stare which he thought was rather eerie.
"Where do you want me to sign?" Prue asked curiously. Her eyes scanned over the almost obnoxiously bright cast and saw Glen's name already written in huge letters.
Paige looked thoughtful for a moment before she pointed to the area around the wrist. "Isn't it cool? I got to pick the color and everything," Paige exclaimed cheerfully while Prue obediently signed her name.
Prue placed her hands on her hips. "I didn't teach you to ride your bike for you to break your arm," she scolded, earning a laugh from the adults which brought another blush across Prue's cheeks.
"It was kind of cool actually," Glen admitted.
Prue narrowed her eyes, uncertain how breaking your arm could be cool. Paige seemed to know what he was talking about. "He says that he saw lights around my bicycle," she stated in an excited voice.
"Lights?" Prue repeated, obviously confused.
Paige's mom stood up from the hospital couch she was sitting on. "They've been talking about that since they calmed down," she explained to Prue before looking out the hospital door. "And it looks like your dad's back with those release papers…" she added referring to Paige.
Prue forgot all about the mysterious lights as Glen's mom also followed Mrs. Matthews. "Great timing. Ice cream anyone?" she suggested.
"Of course," Mr. Matthews agreed as he walked in in time to catch the end of the conversation.
"You're coming too, Prue, right?" Paige inquired, taking hold of Prue's hand with her good hand.
Prue looked a little surprised but couldn't fight back a smile. "Yeah, that would be great."
The adults left the room first and then Glen telling his parents where he wanted to get ice cream from. Prue and Paige were last, trailing after the others, still hand in hand.
~PO4~
Paige kicked at the ground with her feet despite the fact that her feet didn't quite touch the ground in the tall office chair. She could just see the heads of her parents inside the principal's office where they were talking. Eventually, after what seemed like hours to the ten-year-old girl, her parents came out, grim-faced and somber. Paige scowled and shuffled silently out the door after them. It wasn't until they were all seated in the car that anything was said.
Mr. Matthews started up the car while Paige's mom turned in her seat to see her daughter slumped in the back. "Why another fight, Paige?" Mrs. Matthews asked in a stern voice. Paige glared out the window and mumbled something about 'never listening to her.'
"Paige, your mother is talking to you," Mr. Matthews stated but Paige still didn't reply. "Alright, you're not going to Glen's birthday party tomorrow," he decided.
"What?" Paige demanded in disbelief.
"You cannot fight at school. We told you if you got into another fight that you couldn't go to the party," Mrs. Matthews reminded her.
Paige sat up in her seat, stretching her seatbelt to the limit as Mr. Matthews pulled out into the road. "You can't do that. Glen invited me," she argued. "And it was Davy's fault."
"So it's always Davy's fault?" Mrs. Matthews questioned.
Paige nodded emphatically. "Yeah."
"No, it's not. Your teacher said you started the fight," Mr. Matthews countered.
Paige turned red in the face. "My teacher's an idiot. She doesn't…"
Mrs. Matthews spun back in her seat. "Paige Matthews, do not say words like that. I'll wash your mouth out with soap," she warned.
"But it's true," Paige insisted.
"Paige," Mrs. Matthews returned.
Paige just kicked the seat in front of her. "My real parents would listen to me," she grumbled, loud enough for both her parents to hear. Mrs. Matthews turned away hurriedly at the words.
Mr. Matthews took his eyes off the road to face Paige for a second. "Apologize to your mother now," he ordered.
Paige opened her mouth to snap a retort back but whatever she said was lost in the sound of blaring horns. Paige jumped at the sudden impact as an eighteen-wheeler struck the car on her mother's side. The next thing she saw was a flash of blue and then she was rolling across the gritty pavement amongst a myriad of scattered glass. She looked up to see the car already overtaken by flames.
