I was on a roll today, so I figured I would add two new chapters. I'm hoping to complete this story by June 27th. (Summer job time!!) There's one more chapter to go!!
Afraid for her husband's life, Nurse Pritchett moved quickly to the supply room. She began mixing a concoction of medications that would surely end Piper's life. It had come to the point where there was a choice between Piper's life and her husband's. She capped the syringe she had filled and placed it in her pocket. She knew she would not be able to use it until Piper's powers were bound, so she needed to come up with a plan to get Piper to take the binding potion. It was obvious that Piper hadn't taken anything that she'd given her today.
She put everything back where she had found it before making her way back to her ward. It was nearly time to deliver supper to all of the patients on her floor.
Piper rolled over in her bed and looked at the window. The evening sky was filled with shades of pinks and purples. It was nearly 6pm. She sat up and frowned. No one had come to let her know she could go home and, what was worse was her sisters hadn't come to get her. It was possible that they could have come while she was sleeping, but knowing them they would have woken her up.
Thinking for a moment, Piper grabbed her purse from off of the floor and pulled out her cell phone. After dialing the number for Prue's cell, she placed the phone to her ear and waited for her sister to answer.
"Prue, where are you?" Piper asked once her sister had answered her phone. "I thought you and Phoebe were coming this morning to get me?"
"I'm so sorry Piper," said Prue, sounding out of breath. "We've had a couple of problems to deal with at the manor. I promise we'll come and get you soon."
"Prue, there's something I really need to tell you," said Piper. She wanted to give her sisters the heads up on Nurse Pritchett and her venture over the side of the building. She listened for a second for a reply from Prue to let her know that she was listening. There was no reply. Piper pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at the display screen. Her call with Prue had been disconnected. Piper's jaw dropped and she stared at the phone in shock. "I can't believe she hung up on me!" she exclaimed to herself.
"Is everything all right, dear?" Nurse Pritchett asked as she brought in a tray of food for Piper. Piper nodded and dropped her phone back into her purse. She placed the tray on Piper's bedside table and checked her vitals. "Enjoy your supper."
"Thanks," said Piper. She waited for Nurse Pritchett to leave before picking at her food. As Nurse Pritchett returned from her supper rounds, she glanced into Piper's room to make sure she had eaten the food she had given her. Within the next hour, Piper's powers would be bound and she would be able to administer the concoction she had whipped up to destroy the Power of Three.
"Heads up!" Phoebe shouted as she ran through the parlor of the manor. Prue caught the vile of potion Phoebe had thrown her and ducked behind one of the sofas. The latest demon to attack the sisters whipped an energy ball at Phoebe just as she reached the door of the solarium. The energy ball ripped through the side of the door frame, just missing Phoebe. Prue stood up from behind the sofa and tossed the vile of potion to the floor near the demon's feet. The demon cursed at Prue and shimmered out of the manor.
"This is getting ridiculous," Phoebe panted as she joined Prue in the parlor. "This has been non-stop since this morning. I don't think I can fight off another demon today."
"Don't let them hear you say that," Prue warned. "Obviously the entire underworld knows Piper is missing."
"Was that Piper on the phone?" asked Phoebe. She flopped down on what was left of the sofa. Prue nodded. "Let's go get her quickly before another demon attacks." The girls grabbed their purses and ran out to Prue's car. They had been trying to leave the manor for hours, but there had been persistent demon attacks all day.
As they drove toward San Francisco Memorial Hospital, Prue shouted Luke's name. Phoebe jumped and looked over at her sister with a startled expression on her face.
"With all of the demon attacks today, do you think you could give me some warning before you go shouting for whitelighter?" Phoebe exclaimed once she had composed herself. Just as Prue apologized, Luke orbed into the back seat of Prue's car.
"You called?" Luke asked. He smiled at Phoebe, who was smiling flirtatiously back at him.
"Any news on all of the recent demon attacks?" Pure asked. Luke nodded.
"There is word circulating in the underworld that the Power of Three has been temporarily separated," Luke replied. "All of the demons want to attack while they still have the upper-hand. No word on Piper, unfortunately. The Elders say there's nothing wrong with her."
"I don't believe that for a second," said Prue.
"Can't you just heal her?" Phoebe asked. "Just say you thought she was 'demonized' or something." She batted her eyes and ran her fingers along the side of her chair seductively.
"I wish I could," said a blushing Luke. "I could lose my wings if I get caught." Phoebe turned back around and crossed her arms. Whitelighters were very stubborn creatures.
House's team assembled in front of the white board to discuss Piper's latest symptoms. House was sitting right in front, leaning over his cane and staring at the board. Cameron looked at the board then down at House.
"There's no new information here," said Cameron, breaking the silence. "She's had hallucinations before." Chase and Foreman nodded in agreement.
"What if there is nothing wrong with her," House suggested. His gaze remained on the board.
"Then she wouldn't be having the symptoms that she's had," replied Foreman. "Why? What are you thinking?"
House stood up and turned to look at his colleagues. "I think her test results have been tampered with," House stated. "I want one of you to get a blood sample and test it yourselves without anyone knowing."
"O…k…" said Chase skeptically. "And why do you think her test results have been tampered with?"
House had suspected foul play for awhile, but last night's events had really convinced him. He had seen Nurse Pritchett pay a lot of attention to Piper during her stay; more so than with any of the other patients. Her excuse last night was lame. If she had alerted the staff to look for Piper, then why hadn't she shut the alarm off?
The team listened to House ramble on about his theories. Without arguing, the trio of doctors left the room. There was no point in fighting with House. It was just best for them to do what they were told and hope that they could prove him wrong.
During House's meeting with his team, Nurse Pritchett had wandered into Piper's room. Piper had fallen asleep following her phone conversation with her sister. Nurse Pritchett quietly pulled the syringe from her pocket and inserted it into Piper's IV line.
"What are you doing?" Piper asked groggily as she watched Nurse Pritchett pull the syringe from her IV line and put it in her pocket to hide the evidence.
"Don't worry about it, dear," said Nurse Pritchett. "Go back to sleep." She quickly turned and left the room. Leaving Piper confused and in a panic. She pulled the IV line from the back of her hand, hoping to stop the medication from entering her bloodstream.
She grabbed her phone out of her purse and quickly called Prue's cell phone to warn her about Nurse Pritchett and tell her about what just happened. She wasn't sure if she would be lucid enough by the time her sisters arrived at the hospital. Unfortunately the line was busy. Prue had called Leo to let him know what Luke had found out from the Elders.
Piper groaned angrily and threw her phone back into her purse. Chase walked into the room just as Piper returned her purse to the floor.
"Dr. Chase, you have to help me!" Piper exclaimed. She jumped off of her bed and walked toward him. "I promise I'm not crazy. The nurse that was just in here, Nurse Pritchett, is trying to kill me!" She tried to tell him about the medications Nurse Pritchett had been giving her and about the medication she put in her IV. Chase looked at her skeptically, but tried not to agitate her.
"I'm going to take a blood sample," said Chase. "We'll be able to see if any medication has entered your blood stream within the last twenty-four hours." Piper nodded and sat on her bed. Chase took the blood sample and turned to leave the room.
"Take these too," said Piper. She pulled the pills that Nurse Pritchett had given her from her purse and gave them to Dr. Chase.
"Where did you get these?" Chase asked.
"Nurse Pritchett gave them to me," said Piper. "She told me they were multivitamins."
"I don't even know what this one is," said Chase as he examined the pill containing the magic-binding potion. "It looks like some kind of herbal concoction." Both he and Piper frowned as they stared at the pills in Chase's hand. "I'll have a look at them." He turned and left the room, leaving Piper alone. She could already feel her temperature begin to rise and beads of sweat began to form around her hairline.
Prue pulled her car into an empty parking spot and she and Phoebe got out of the car. The two of them hurried up to Piper's room. They were supposed to meet Piper at 9am, but due to all of the demon attacks they were arriving at 8pm. They had to hurry or they would miss visiting hours all together. As they neared Piper's room they could tell something was wrong. Piper was no where to be seen Phoebe approached the nurses' station and tried to get the attention of one of the nurses.
"Excuse me," she said abruptly. "Where is my sister? Piper Halliwell?"
"I'm sorry," replied the nurse. "We have our staff looking for her. She's run off again." Phoebe groaned and turned to Prue.
"Should we split up?" asked Phoebe. Prue nodded.
Prue watched as Phoebe began her search through the corridor. Prue, on the other hand, had an idea of where to look. She began heading to the eighth floor where she had found Piper the last time she had run away.
The eighth floor was still empty and dark. It was reserved as an over-flow unit when the other floors were too crowded. Prue moved slowly through the halls, softly calling Piper's name.
"Prue?" said a quiet voice from one of the empty rooms. Prue quickly ran into the room and embraced her sister. "I need your help." Piper whimpered.
"You need to go back to your room," said Prue. "You need a doctor." Piper was fevered and trembling uncontrollably. Piper refused to go back downstairs. There was no way she was going back to Nurse Pritchett.
"Prue, you have to believe me," Piper begged. "Look!" She grabbed a box of tissue from the dresser in the bedroom and threw it in the air. As the box descended to the ground, Piper threw out her hands and attempted to freeze it in mid air. Prue looked at her in shock. "I told you!" said Piper.
Down in one of the labs, Chase was looking at Piper's blood sample while Cameron and Foremen studied the pills that Piper had been given.
"I have no idea what this is," said Cameron as she looked at the magic-binding pill. There are ingredients in here that I have never even heard of."
"Same here," said Foreman. "What the hell are these?"
"I have no idea," replied Chase. "But come, look at this." The trio of doctors stared at Piper's blood results.
"It's normal," said Cameron. "There aren't any mutations."
"Told you," said House as he walked into the room, startling his colleagues. "But there are a number of toxins in here." He pointed to one of the test results. "If we don't do something soon, she's going to die."