Morning came only too quickly for the Halliwell bunch. Prue and Piper were not yet on speaking terms and Piper stood silently, chopping fruit for that morning's breakfast. She had slept, holding onto Phoebe tightly, afraid that if she let go she'd lose her sister forever. She had not forgiven Prue for the previous days actions, but knew that they needed to talk about what was going on with Phoebe. She felt so betrayed by both of her sisters and cooking was one way she could feel in control. Grams taught her most of the recipes she used and it was almost like being able to communicate with Grams again when she cooked. Sometimes that was all she needed to be able to clear her head, and relieve some of her heartache.
Prue walked into the kitchen silently, having had a fitful rest. She was angry at both of her sisters, but more herself. She was angry that Phoebe had walked from the gym, angry that Piper had yelled at her and angry at herself that she had been the cause of it. Even more then that, she was angry that she was being blamed for all of it because she was happy. It felt as if nobody in the family was allowed to experience joy since Grams' death and having Ethan taken away from her because of two little sisters who needed caring for made her feel selfish, which in turn brought up massive guilt; from this guilt sprouted the anger she felt towards her sisters. She looked at her younger sister, ever the middle child, with her head into her work, chopping pieces of fruit. Piper was obviously still upset from their conversation the other night and it would take a lot more then breakfast to fix things between them. Getting her nerve up she walked over to the cutting board and picked up a slice of green apple, popping it into her mouth and chewing for awhile before clearing her throat and saying, "Why don't you go spend the day with Mark? I can take Phoebe to the gym and I should study all day anyways."
As much as Piper wanted to spend the day with her boyfriend, she knew that Phoebe needed to have her there for moral support when Prue found out what was going on and going to the gym another day was only going to make things worse on her. "No, I'll stay."
"For gosh sakes Piper I'm trying to be nice here!" Prue exploded. Taking a deep breath she calmed down and said, "I'm sorry, I was just trying to let you have a day off. I know you haven't gotten to hang out with your boyfriend lately and I thought you'd like to go be with him today."
"Yah, I know Prue, you wanted me out of the house along with Phoebe so you could screw Ethan, I got the message." Piper snapped back without thinking.
"What did you just say to me?" Prue demanded.
Piper stood shocked with the knife in her hand. Dropping it onto the cutting board she tore off her apron and ran out the back door, grabbing her jacket and an umbrella as she went. Mark only lived a couple blocks away so it would be a short walk to get there. Knocking on the front door of the house she wondered if it was a mistake, but was relieved to be welcomed with open arms by Mark's mother who took her into the living room to talk while his father went to his room to announce her arrival.
Phoebe remained in bed for an extra half hour, thinking about the previous day, how everything had gone wrong from her. Piper and Prue were probably waiting for her downstairs to explain what had happened, and then the other thing. Pulling herself deeper under the covers she stayed in a tent of warmth for a few minutes before getting out of the bed and into the shower. She hoped that she would be able to make a silent exit and get to the gym as quickly as possible. There was a meet coming up and nothing was going to stop her from reaching her dreams. Phoebe felt a little tired as she walked down the stairs towards the kitchen, looking for her sisters, but ignored it; she hadn't slept well with all the drama bubbling up around her. When she saw Prue stabbing her fruit with a knife and sticking it between her teeth without the manners to cut it, she knew it was not the day to have the talk with her. Phoebe didn't see Piper anywhere and wondered if she'd left early to study or go on a date. "I'm taking the bus to practice…"
"Fine," the eldest replied, mumbling. "Don't do anything stupid on your way home."
"I heard that, Prudence!" Phoebe said on her way out, adding, "You stupid jerk."
"I heard that Phoebe!" Prue yelled after her baby sister, but it was too late, the door had slammed shut behind her. Prue was no longer hungry and took it upon herself to do some housework. She didn't know how to get out of the mess she was in with her sisters, but knew that she had the whole day to do it. Phoebe had taken off for the gym, again in the rain, but Prue couldn't gather the strength to check and see if she'd actually remembered to bring an umbrella, or at least a jacket. She would have the whole day to think about how to get things back to the way they were, her boss had called and told her to stay home. Parts of the campus were flooded and it had gotten into the bookstore so there was no point in trying to sell soggy textbooks to the students who wouldn't come in on such a miserable day anyways. Prue knew she had to gain control over the situation and over her emotions and went to her room, wondering how she could accomplish that very task. The rain poured down outside but inside it was warm and she sat in a chair staring out the window, trying to count the raindrops that splashed onto the window. It was nearly impossible, but a good way to relax. Whispering into the rain she prayed, "Mom, what am I supposed to do? I just want to be normal and be happy. I just want to be 19 years old… I'm not ready to take care of them… I'm just not ready."
By the time Phoebe had gotten to the gym it was half past the hour she was supposed to have gotten there and she stood at the doors of the bus, waiting for them to swing open so she could run as fast as possible inside and change for workout. Gary wouldn't be thrilled that they would be missing half an hour of work and Phoebe wasn't too thrilled either. Like many of the other Elite's in the country, the gym was like her second home and she had a great deal of junk stored up in her locker along with the necessities. Pulling out a slightly larger bottle she gulped down 4 pills before checking her reflection, fixing her ponytail, and running out to join her coach. She could tell instantly that he was in a bad mood and hung her head as he lectured her about her commitments. She mumbled an 'I'm sorry' and went to warm up with the other girls.
Looking around, the clock seemed to be moving slower then her brain as she finished her warm up and headed to the vault. It felt like she'd been running around for half the day, when really she'd only been working out for half an hour. Phoebe approached her vaulting in a very simple way, with as much power as she could muster. After doing some blocks, Gary ordered her to begin working on her competition vaults. She had missed the previous days afternoon session and had a lot of ground to make up. Phoebe knew that she could throw her vault as good as anybody when her head wasn't in the clouds and tried to keep herself focused. On her first vault, she landed low. The second and third ended with the same result, sitting on her bottom at the other side of the vault. Throwing her fists down, she pushed herself off the mats and heard a crack. Her heart skipped a beat, but when she stood up, everything felt fine so she went back to the top of the runway to go again. Gary was displeased with how slowly she got up and her general lack of concentration so he sent her to run 50 laps while he worked with other 'more motivated' gymnasts. The pills were wearing off, she could feel it, and Phoebe glanced over to the locker-room every lap, wishing she could go inside and get more. She knew in her head that it hadn't been long enough, but felt like she needed them. When Gary called her over to work Beam she was happy that the laps were over, but felt pulled towards the locker-room as she walked towards the Beams.
"Come on Phoebe, let's go. I want 10 acro series' now." Gary demanded.
Phoebe silently pulled herself onto the beam; she looked tiny standing on it. Centering herself, she took a few deep breaths before completing a single skill and falling off the beam to the mats below.
"Don't just sit there all day Phoebe, let's go. Do you think the judges are going to be as patient as I've been with you today?" he commanded her to get up and perform again. He knew that she needed someone to be tough on her or she'd never make it all the way.
Phoebe stood up, but felt a sudden sharp pain her knee and sat back down. Holding her leg, tears sprang to her eyes as she examined the knee that had taken a beating the night before when she'd fallen down the second to last step and tripped over the chair. Looking up, she knew her coach would have no complaining so instead of making excuses she said, with her head down, "I need to go get something first."
"You've got 30 seconds to get whatever you need and get back on this beam or you can leave this gym and not come back until you think you're ready to work." Gary said coldly.
Phoebe hobbled to the locker-room and flung open her locker, dumping 3 of the pills into her hand. After taking them, she sat on the bench and tried to massage her knee. It was sensitive to the touch, but she knew she hadn't torn anything. As gracefully as she could, she went back out to the gym floor and remounted the beam. Her knee was pink and beginning to swell slightly. Phoebe performed her acro series twice before falling off again, this time there would be no getting up. With a swollen and aching knee she'd tried to put less pressure on it as she landed. As a result, she attempted to overcompensate during the fall and slammed into the thick beam with the side of her head. Sliding down to the mats she lay still as her coach rushed to her and shouted across the gym for someone to call the paramedics. She was still breathing, but he couldn't be sure if she'd broken anything, most specifically her neck. He held her steady incase she regained consciousness and tried to get up.