It didn't seem like long after Phoebe had finally fallen asleep that she was once again rudely awaken. This time, however, she was not awakened by the sound of her sister shifting furniture, but the sound of a high-pitched scream. A scream she knew belonged to her sister. Phoebe leapt out of bed and ran to the hallway. The sound of her bare feet clapping against the hardwood floor was the only sound echoing through the hallway.
Just as she reached her sister's bedroom, Prue flew across the hallway and connected with the wall. The second she hit the floor, she waved her and sent whatever had attacked her flying. Phoebe ran to Prue's side and helped her to her feet. She stole a quick glance into Prue's room to see who they were up against.
A large, green demon was pulling himself to his feet. He looked over at Phoebe and Prue and grinned before igniting an energy ball in the palm of his hand. He pulled his arm back and proceeded to whip the energy ball at the two sisters. Prue deflected the energy ball just in time and sent it back to its creator. The demon shimmered out of sight just before the energy ball could hit him. This caused the energy ball to collide with Prue's bedroom wall, blowing a hole right through it.
Prue groaned angrily and made her way over to the destruction within her bedroom. "How much could this cost?" she muttered under her breath. Phoebe wandered slowly into the bedroom and glanced over at Prue's alarm clock. It was only 5am.
"That is the fourth attack since Piper got sick," said Phoebe suspiciously. Prue looked at her baby sister questioningly.
"You think the demon attacks are related?" Prue asked. Phoebe shrugged.
"Either they're related or all of Demon-Ville knows that the Power of Three is currently separated."
The girls cleaned Prue's room and temporarily covered the hole in her wall. After about an hour of searching through the Book of Shadows for their latest attacker, the girls decided to attempt to go back to bed. They had no idea when the next demon attack would occur, but they figured it would be best to rest up to prepare themselves for the fight.
Piper rolled onto her side and pulled her covers tightly under her chin. The restraints around her arms and legs had been removed during the night once the hospital staff was sure the sedatives had taken effect. Piper had no recollection of the events that had occurred only a few hours before. She listened to the noise outside her room, which she was becoming all too familiar with.
Deciding it was probably time to get up, Piper rolled out of bed and wandered into her bathroom, dragging her IV along with her. She was shocked as she stared at her reflection. The person looking back at her looked pale and tired. As she brushed her teeth, she found that her shoulder felt as if she'd pulled a muscle or two. As she concentrated more on the pain in her shoulder, she noticed that her entire torso was aching. She put her toothbrush aside and closed the bathroom door for some privacy. She proceeded to pull her shirt up and stared at her reflection in disbelief. Her entire upper body was scratched and bruised from the previous night's events. Unaware of how her injuries had occurred, she proceeded to make sure there weren't any more anywhere else.
A gentle tapping on the door broke the silence. Piper could hear Nurse Pritchett on the other side of the door asking if she was all right. Piper quickly fixed her hair and brushed herself off before opening the door. She smiled at Nurse Pritchett and let her know that she was fine, despite what she had just seen. For some reason, she felt unsure about telling Nurse Pritchett about her injuries.
As Piper climbed back into bed and made herself comfortable, Nurse Pritchett checked her vitals and placed a tray of food next to her bed. She picked up a small paper cup and a glass of water from the tray of food and passed it to Piper. Piper took the two cups and looked questioningly at the pill.
"What is this for?" Piper asked. She looked up at Nurse Pritchett. She couldn't help but feel suspicious for some reason.
"It's just a little multivitamin, dear," replied Nurse Pritchett. "It will help boost your immune system." Piper nodded and tipped the pill into her mouth. As she brought the cup of water to her lips, she placed her tongue over the pill. She passed the cups back to Nurse Pritchett and smiled. Nurse Pritchett smiled back and proceeded to leave the room.
As soon as Piper was sure Nurse Pritchett was gone. She spit the pill into her hand and tossed it in the trash can next to her bed. She looked over at the food provided by the hospital and silently prayed that her sisters would bring something more appetizing for her to eat. It wasn't that the food was terrible, but having been a professional chef for a few years now, Piper had become pickier about the food she ate. Cold, lumpy oatmeal and dry toast was not the least bit appealing.
She picked at the fruit cocktail and watched the hallway. Visiting hours had begun two hours ago and her sisters were due to walk through her doorway at any minute.
Prue rolled out of bed at 2:30pm. She sat on the side of her bed for a moment and stretched. She gasped as she noticed the time on her bedside clock. She ran out of her room and burst into Phoebe's room. Phoebe shot up in bed and looked around frantically.
"Where's the demon?" Phoebe gasped.
"There is no demon," Prue replied. "It's two o'clock. We slept in." Phoebe looked over at the clock and smile with satisfaction. It had been a long time since she had been able to sleep in properly. "Hurry up and get ready. Piper's waiting for us."
Phoebe walked through the hallway to the bathroom and hopped into the shower. As she was shampooing her hair, an ugly, white fire-demon with bulging eyes shimmered into the bathroom just outside the shower. Phoebe screamed and covered herself the best she could with her hands and arms. The demon extinguished the fireball he had ignited within his palm and raised his eyebrow at Phoebe.
"Prue!" Phoebe shouted. "A little help here!"
The demon moved his gaze back to Phoebe's eyes and re-ignited a fireball. Before he could throw it at Phoebe, she kicked the shower door open and pulled the showerhead off of its hook. The water from the showerhead extinguished the fire in the demon's palm and prevented him from creating any new ones. The demon growled angrily and shimmered out of the room.
Prue burst into the room and looked at her sister. She quickly turned around and covered her eyes.
"Uh… you needed me for something?" Prue asked. Phoebe frowned and grabbed a towel from the towel rack and covered herself.
"You can turn around now," Phoebe sighed. "I just got attacked by another demon." She looked furious. "I can't believe I can't even shower anymore without having to worry about a demon shimmering in!"
"Maybe we should call Leo and find out if he's heard anything," Prue suggested.
"You mean Luke," Phoebe corrected. "The new whitelighter." She smiled as she said his name. Prue did not look at all impressed.
"We'll call Luke once you're fully dressed," said Prue. She turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.
Piper sat in bed, bored out of her mind. She flipped through the channels on the small, black and white TV that was mounted to the wall opposite the bed. She'd already watched an hour of Oprah and had just begun to watch Dr. Phil. She hadn't actually been paying attention to the TV though. She was trying to recall the previous night's events and how she'd gotten the scrapes and bruises. Little by little it was coming back to her. She remembered saying good-bye to Leo, Nurse Pritchett giving her medication and waking up that night and stumbling out into the hallway.
She soon decided she couldn't sit any longer. She decided to wander around the hospital to stretch her legs a bit. She'd given up on waiting for her sisters. Something must have come up. The corridor of the hospital was incredibly busy. There were hospital staff, patients, and family members everywhere.
As she ventured further through the hospital, she could hear the sound of soft jazz music spilling from one of the rooms. The mixture of piano, saxophone and light percussion was very relaxing. She peered into the room where the music was escaping from. House was sitting in the dark with his legs elevated on his desk. His eyes were closed and he was fiddling with the end of his cane as he listened to the music.
Seeing his face brought back all of the memories of her fall from the roof. The smile faded from her face and she stared at House in disbelief. She could remember the events before the fall as well. A few hours after Leo had left the hospital Nurse Pritchett had come to her room and injected something into her IV line. Piper's powers had been bound by the pill Nurse Pritchett had given her during Leo's visit, leaving Piper powerless against her.
These events occurred every night since Piper was admitted into the hospital and every day, Piper was given medication to suppress her memory of the events. What Piper could not figure out was what Nurse Pritchett had against her and why she didn't just kill her.
She soon realized that she had been staring off into space as Dr. House pulled his feet off of the table and looked up at her. Piper quickly turned around and began walking back to her room. Before she could get very far, Nurse Pritchett stopped her. She seemed to be surprised to find Piper out of bed.
"Piper," she gasped, stumbling on her words. "What are you doing out of bed? Are you feeling ok?"
"I feel fine," replied Piper. "I just thought I'd walk around for a bit. I hope that's all right." Nurse Pritchett was eying her suspiciously.
"Of course, dear," replied Nurse Pritchett kindly. "Just don't overdo it." Piper nodded and walked passed her. She could feel Nurse Pritchett staring at her as she walked away. Nurse Pritchett frowned and walked in the opposite direction. Neither of the girls knew that Dr. House had been observing their conversation from his office.
Piper leaned against the wall in her room and watched out the window. She looked over at the trashcan where she had thrown the pill Nurse Pritchett had given her. The same pill she had been given daily to bind her powers. After making sure no one was about to enter her room, she snatched the pill out of the trashcan and hid it in her purse. She would give it to Leo later to see if he or the Elders knew what it was or what kind of demon was responsible for it.
As a test, Piper sat on the side of her bed and dropped her purse. Just before the purse could hit the floor, she stopped it using her powers. It remained suspended a few inches from the floor until she relaxed her hand, cutting off her power over it and allowing it to fall to the floor.
Just as she crawled into bed, Nurse Pritchett walked by her room with a trolley full of food. She selected one tray from the top of the trolley and carried it into Piper's room. She set the tray on the bedside table and handed Piper a little paper cup containing a different pill than Nurse Pritchett had given her during her breakfast rounds. Piper took the paper cup and the cup of water and pretended to swallow the pill. She smiled at Nurse Pritchett and handed the cups back to her. Nurse Pritchett smiled back and left the room. As soon as Piper was confident that Nurse Pritchett was gone, she spit out the pill and placed it in her purse with the other one.
After picking at her lunch, Piper crawled out of bed and wandered down the hall to the nurses' station. It was nearly three o'clock and no one had come to her room to remove the IV and send her home. She stood next to the nurses' desk and waited for someone to acknowledge her. Within a few seconds one of the nurses looked up and smiled at her.
"Hi," said Piper. "I was just wondering if I could go home soon. I was supposed to be released today, but no one has said anything yet."
The nurse looked at her questioningly and looked for Piper's information on her computer. She shook her head and looked up at Piper.
"I don't see anything about your release here," the nurse informed her. "I'll see if I can page one of your doctors to come and talk to you. Maybe they forgot." Piper nodded and walked back to her room. She crawled back into bed and closed her eyes.
Nurse Pritchett took a detour from her shift to visit her husband. The extent of her visit was spent staring longingly at his unresponsive body. When she finally decided to leave, she whispered her promise to him that he would be better soon. She took one last look at him and stepped out into the hall.
"Is she dead yet?" Mika growled, startling Nurse Pritchett enough to make her jump.
"Not… exactly," Nurse Pritchett confessed timidly. "I just need a little more time."
"I've given you enough time," said Mika angrily. He made sure he remained quiet enough to rouse anyone's attention. He turned in the direction of Nurse Pritchett's husband and held out his hand. Nurse Pritchett's husband began gasping and the alarms on his monitors began to scream for attention.
Nurse Pritchett grabbed at Mika's arms and begged for him to stop. When he'd had enough, Mika lowered his hand and looked down at Nurse Pritchett.
"You have until midnight!" he hissed before shimmering out of sight.