Chapter 10
Phoebe came to a stop in front of the door to her bedroom. She stared at it, debating if she should go in considering her daughter's mood. Finally, she took a deep breath in and then slowly opened the door, stepping through it.
She came to a halt when she saw Cole lying on the bed and Vicky mopping his forehead with a white cloth. She looked him over from over Vicky's shoulder. He looked ill, his breathing erratic and sweating profusely.
When she was done, Vicky stood up and gave her mother a sign of the head to follow her in the corridor. Arms crossed, she leaned on the opposing wall to be able to keep an eye on her father through the door.
Phoebe fidgeted on the spot, wringing her fingers together. "So, how is he doing?"
"I told you, he'll be fine. It's just taking time for the powers to settle."
Phoebe did a double take, not sure she heard right. "Wait-wait, powers?" At Vicky's nod, she exploded. "Are kidding me?! That is the reason he was there in the first place!"
Not to be outdone, Vicky pushed back from the wall and faced Phoebe "You're right, that's the reason this is all happening: because you took his powers away. A part of him died and all he was left with was a void!"
That came out as a shock for Phoebe. Suddenly, everything became clear for her.
Vicky saw recognition in her mother's eyes. "Yes that's right. He was the most vulnerable when the Seer tricked him into taking in the hallow. If you lot hadn't vanquished Belthazor then the Source wouldn't have possessed him and everything would be alright. I just made sure the wizard left him with a few harmless powers."
Phoebe turned to look at Cole, tears flowing freely down her face. "Why didn't he tell me? I asked him over and over again if something was wrong and he just kept avoiding me!"
"He tried to." Phoebe faced her again. "Remember, every time you asked, he would start to say something and then he would get a really bad headache? Why do you think he made those excuses to get out of the house? If he stayed, he would have told you anyway and the Source would have killed you and your sisters. He was protecting you, all the while hoping against hope that you would see through it and save him."
Phoebe felt the guilt trying to swallow her up. She had had all the signs and hadn't seen anything. All she had thought was that he was hiding something from her instead of him being in danger.
Maybe Vicky was right, they were prejudiced. If she had noticed one of her sisters behaving strangely, she would have immediately assumed that a demon had something to do with it and try and find a solution to save her. But with Cole, it was the opposite. She hadn't had enough faith or trust in him and she became suspicious. When she had ignored her suspicions before she knew he was a demon, now she simply thought he had gone back to his old days or something similar.
She looked up only to find herself alone in the hallway. Vicky had gone back to tending to her father while she had been lost in her thoughts. He was finally up and consuming his food with Vicky's help.
She observed their interaction closely. Although Cole had met her just a few hours earlier and had barely talked to her, they acted as though they had known each other forever. He seemed so at ease with her that it surprised her. It had been a long time since Phoebe had seen him this carefree. Vicky was right, he hadn't been whole since Belthazor's vanquish.
Phoebe decided to leave them alone for the night. None of them seemed ready to speak to anyone else for now; they needed the time.