Blood rushed into Paige's head so quickly she could see nothing but darkness. She had the worst headache of her life and it felt like her eyes were about to pop out of her head. Suddenly she was scared, alone, and painfully aware that she was no longer in her dream world.
Her body was shaking, so violently that it was actually physically hurting her. She didn't know where she was or what was happening. She just wanted it to stop.
Her body seized with an insurmountable shot of pain and for the first time, she felt herself back in her body.
****************************************************************
Piper was holding Paige's tense body in her arms, with Phoebe on the other side. The two had been trying to restrain Paige for fear that she was about to hurt herself. It wasn't working though and as the minutes passed, Piper began to fear more and more for her baby sister's life.
Leo had orbed back in just moments before and told them that Paige's soul would immediately be returned to her body. What he couldn't tell them was what Paige was really doing on another plane and how being brought back to life was completely against her will. That would be for them to figure out. He was also instructed not to stick around, and as a result, he left again as quickly as he came.
Piper watched Paige, holding her breath in terror. She had no idea what was happening to her, and it scared her to death. Whether or not Paige knew it, she meant so much to Piper, and knowing she was in pain made Piper feel sick. It was just like it was with Phoebe.
Piper looked at Phoebe and saw her also staring at Paige, so intently that she hadn't even noticed that Piper was now staring at her.
"Phoebe," Piper attempted, worried at her sister's look which signaled she was close to a breaking point, "Maybe-"
"Piper, look!" Phoebe cried a slight bit of relief in her voice as she gestured towards Paige's sweaty, flushed face.
Piper looked down at the youngest in her arms. She too felt relief wash over her as she noticed Paige's eyes fluttering slightly.
She straightened Paige up so she was in more of a sitting position, though her body still stiff needed to be supported by Piper's arms.
"Paige, Paigey" Piper called her sister, as though she were far away and not right in her embrace. "Honey, can you open your eyes?"
Paige didn't wake, but her eyelids continued to flutter rapidly as her body shook. Phoebe was beginning to worry that instead of being a good sign, Paige's eyelid spasms were a sign that she was in fact taking a turn for the worse.
Phoebe began lightly slapping Paige's face, and then not so lightly much to the horror of Piper who was still cooing at Paige as though she was simply waking up from a nap.
"Phoebe, what are you doing?!" Piper yelped, startled at Phoebe's sudden decision to hit Paige "Stop before you hurt her!"
Phoebe gave her a skeptical look, "Oh come on Piper, we need to literally snap her out of this"
Before Piper could respond, Paige's eyes burst open, full of panic, confusion, and something that resembled fear.
"Oh Paige, thank God" Phoebe cried, hugging her sister to her
"Phoebe, stop!" Piper said, seeing Paige's face turn bright red as she struggled to breathe
Paige couldn't find her voice to talk, she couldn't even breathe in. Her throat felt really scratchy and she was thirstier than she had ever been. She was vaguely aware that she was shaking, though she was still too light-headed to really grasp what was happening. She started to cough violently, her mouth so dry she couldn't swallow.
Piper grabbed a bottle of water from her nightstand and brought it to her weak and shaking sister's lips, pouring some of it down her throat. Phoebe smoothed Paige's hair and wiped some of the sweat off of her face, incredibly grateful that Paige had woken up and was slightly alert.
Paige was not sure what to think. She hurt so badly. Her pain over Glen, over the way Piper and Phoebe treated her, and now over losing Prue was overwhelming. So although she felt incredibly safe and loved in her sister's arms, she could not shake the feeling that Piper and Phoebe were doing this to make themselves feel better and so they wouldn't lose the power of three. It made Paige feel sick. She wanted to scream at them, hit them, fight them, make them see what they had done to her. She wanted them for once to see her for who she really was instead of who they believed her to be. She wanted to escape to a faraway place where she didn't know her sisters so they couldn't hurt her. She wanted to be back with Prue.
"Missy Paige?" Piper questioned, noticing the far away, detached look in Paige's eyes. Her sister still hadn't spoken since waking up, though her convulsions and coughing had subsided.
Paige shook her head a little as she focused back into reality. Uncomfortable , she pushed herself out of Piper's arms and moved to get out of the bed, away from both of her sisters who it was killing her to be around.
"Paige!" Piper yelled, pulling her baby sister back down onto the bed. "Are you kidding me? Not even ten minutes ago you couldn't take a drink of water by yourself and now you actually think that I'm going to let you get out of this bed? You just got out of a coma. Does that mean nothing to you?"
Paige shot Piper a scornful look. She was really mad at her sisters, just as mad as she had been before this had happened. In the back of her mind she heard Prue's voice telling her to let her sisters in, to let them love her, but Paige decided that the whole love thing was bullshit. What was love and genuine concern in Piper's voice came off to her as spite and the desire to control her. And the last thing Paige wanted to be right now was controlled. Plus it didn't help that in Paige's mind, Piper was holding against her a supposed act of love that her sisters had shown her, as though hydrating her had been a favor instead of an action Paige deserved.
Phoebe and Piper both noticed the way Paige's nose was turning bright pink and her bottom lip quivering slightly. Paige thought she was really good at hiding her emotions, but in truth both of her older sisters had come to recognize the signs that she was about to cry or at least wanted to cry but would do all in her will to hide it.
Phoebe tried to reach out and stroke Paige's hair, but the youngest pulled away and crossed her arms tightly over herself.
"Paigey, what is the matter sweetie?" Piper frowned "We are only trying to help you and you keep pushing us away. You can talk to us you know"
"We need to know what you're going through. We want to protect you" Phoebe added, again reaching out to touch Paige gently, who flinched a little
With still no answer from Paige, Piper grew more worried and agitated, as did Phoebe.
"This is going too far! You need to say something now!" Piper demanded, looking Paige right in the eyes, daring her to be disobedient.
Paige was breaking. She wasn't going to cry right here in front of her sisters. That would mean that they won and she would simply be seen as useless, weak, Paige again. She didn't want her sisters' love right now. She wanted to be alone. If she couldn't be, she was sure she would snap in anger and then her sisters would really abandon her.
She put her head in her hands and shook it trying to regain composure. She swallowed and then looked at Piper, trying to put as much sincerity, urgency, and little sister vulnerability in her eyes as she thought would get Piper to listen.
"I really want to take a shower" Paige near whispered "That's where I was going"
Piper nodded, a little confused but pleased to hear Paige nonetheless "Okay, honey sure. We can always talk later when you are feeling a little more relaxed"
The relief on Paige's face was noticeable. She got up once more, less urgently this time, and headed towards Piper's bathroom.
"Paige, wait" Phoebe called her back, exchanging a worried look with Piper "One of us should probably help you. You're a little weak right now sweetheart"
Paige responded with a blank look, as though she hadn't really heard her older sister at all, and continued into the bathroom where she would finally be alone.
