Chapter 10
You Are Never Alone
Later, the next morning, Prue had the early morning watch. Rachel had slept through the night and Prue was sound asleep next to her. She slept peacefully in the overstuffed chair usually used by the patients.
She was dreaming that she was at home, as she walked down the stairs. The sun was out, and it was a beautiful morning. Piper, Phoebe and Rachel were chatting away at the kitchen table.
Prue made a joke and poured herself a cup of coffee. Its aroma was so vivid that she woke up, just barely, to see Piper standing there with a hot cup of freshly brewed coffee.
"Morning, sleepyhead!" Piper said to Prue, "How's our little patient?"
"Fine, I guess. Not a stir all night!" Prue said stretching as she noticed Phoebe standing behind Piper with Owen.
"Hey sis! Have we got a surprise for you!" Phoebe said as she smiled.
Owen stood next to her with his arm around Phoebe's shoulder, as they both moved away from the front of the doorway to the side.
"Oh?" Prue said as enthused as she could get this early.
"Prue," said a tall dark man looking around the corner of the door.
Prue was still a little fuzzy from just waking up as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she shielded her eyes from the bright lights of the room. "Who is that?" Prue said trying to focus her eyes, then squinted and looked again, "Bane? Is that you?" Prue said as she smiled a big smile.
"In the flesh, baby. I went state's evidence against some unsavory characters in exchange for them springing me. And the first thing I thought of was you! So I called Phoebe, and well...here I am, to stay if you'll have me," Bane said grabbing onto her.
"OF COURSE..." Prue said.
Bane interrupted her train of thought as he pulled her into a dip and gave her a long passionate kiss. Everybody watched and waited for them to come up for air, when Owen decided to take this chance as well. He grabbed Phoebe and pulled her into a deep long passionate kiss. Piper watched the whole scene and felt left out because Leo was not with her.
"Ah you guys, come on now! You have to breathe eventually. Besides, this is all making me feel a little left out here," Piper told them.
Phoebe and Owen finally come up for air as Phoebe looked into Owen's eyes and looked as though she were ready to faint out of pure delight.
"WOW! You've never kissed me like that before," Phoebe said to Owen a little out of breath.
"Well, maybe I should do that more often then," Owen said, feeling a little out of breath himself.
Prue and Bane finally decided to come up for air as they pulled away from each other as Piper said, "Well, nice of you to join our little group. Are you satisfied now, Prue?"
"Most definitely. Oooh, I'm so glad you're out," Prue said licking her lips and started breathing normally again.
"Well that makes three happy things today. Rachel's awake…" Phoebe stops and looks toward Rachel and sees her sleeping peacefully, then continues, "Well, sort of awake, and Bane and Owen both stopped by and we can all try to be together again," chimed in Phoebe.
"Whoa! Three sisters, three guys. Just like magic," Piper says then thinks for a second, "Oops, bad choice of words. Let's just hope we can get Rachel hitched up, too." Piper said in an energetic mood, "You know, wouldn't it be funny when we all do get married, we should have a quadruple marriage. You know, 'Friends 'till the end.' We would all go on our honeymoons together, and then we can live in our dream houses with white picket fences and everything. Wouldn't that be something?"
"Well, Prue, Bane, Piper you guys can go away now; Owen and I will watch sleeping beauty here. Besides, we have a lot to talk about. Now you two scoot. And Piper, go find Leo. Bye!" Phoebe said waving them out the door.
"So long Pheebs," Piper said giving Phoebe a kiss.
"Bye," Prue said dreamily as she walked out with Bane on her arm.
"Whew! I thought they would never leave. Well, alone as last!" Owen said as he slowly began leaning in to kiss Phoebe as she put her arms around his neck.
"Yep!" Phoebe said as they almost touched lips when Rachel decided to wake up.
"Ahhh...who...ah...where am I?" Rachel asked groggily, somewhat in pain.
"Well, it looks like we're not that alone!" Phoebe said to Owen as she turned around, "Hey! Rachel, you are awake. Do you know what happened?" Phoebe asked stroking her hair.
"Ah, in the hospital? I remember doing some really terrible and scary things," Rachel said confused, "Did I try to kill Piper?" she asked with a scared look on her face.
"Ah...uh...um...no. It must have been just a nightmare. You've been in pretty bad shape since you got in here, Rachel," Phoebe said a little nervous. Owen did not know about them and their witchy world and Phoebe wanted to keep it that way for now.
"Dream? But...but, it seemed so real. What is going on? What is wrong with me? What do the doctors say?" Rachel asked.
"Just that you need to recover. The worst part was that you had to wake up on your own, and you did that!" Phoebe said overjoyed as she hugged her.
"OUCH! Oooh Phoebe, take it easy. I love you too, but don't hug too hard, my stomach and chest still hurt," Rachel told her.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just so glad you're awake, I guess I shouldn't have squeezed so hard," Phoebe said.
"Yes, I'm awake. But, I don't feel like I'm all here, yet!" Rachel said, still confused.
"Believe me you are. Now get some sleep. I need to call Piper and Prue with the good news," Phoebe says and turns to leave, when she turns back around, "Oh Rachel, you remember Owen, right," Phoebe says as she left.
"Hi, Rachel. Hope you feel better soon," Owen said quietly.
"Thanks. I am so tired. Goodbye Pheebs," Rachel said, carefully turning over on her side as she groaned in pain.
Phoebe winced at hearing her in pain and says, "Sleep tight Rachel. Love you."
"Uh-huh," was all Rachel could say.
Later that night, Rachel was sitting up as Prue was there helping her to eat her dinner. She could not feed herself because her arms were just too stiff and sore to raise, and she was being stubborn about eating.
"Prue, this is the worst food I've ever had, come on. You try it and see what you think," Rachel said as she scrunched up her nose and turned her head away.
"Hey you, you need your strength. You have to eat this, even if it is terrible. Here at least eat the pudding," Prue said as she took a spoonful and tried it herself.
Trying not to show it, Prue did not really like the pudding. Prue thought to herself, 'This is the worst banana pudding I ever had. Grams made better banana pudding than this stuff. Yuck.' Nevertheless, she took another spoonful and put it to Rachel's mouth.
"Prue! Stop it! I am not a little kid anymore. You cannot force me to eat that...that...whatever THAT is! YUCK!" Rachel told her
"Oooh! You are such a little baby! You know, did I ever tell you that we took care of an abandon baby last year," Prue began trying to be careful as to not say too much, "Boy oh boy, he wouldn't stop crying. But in the end he was such a good little baby and we were almost afraid to give him back when his mother took him back," Prue tells her.
"Well, that's good for you. You're practicing, so when you have a child of your own you can feed it yucky food," Rachel says as she suddenly yawned.
Prue almost gets a spoonful of pudding in her mouth, but Rachel closes her mouth just in time and misses and ends up all over Rachel's face and says, "Oh you! You are so stubborn! You are so like Phoebe. If you were not in that hospital bed already hurt, I would put you over my knee for being so stubborn! Then I'd turn you back around and force-feed you this food."
Rachel looks back at Prue shocked she would even try, then gives her a funny look, and says, "Oh, you would huh? Well, I'd like to see you try it."
Prue cannot help but laugh at her face. Then Rachel laughs then suddenly groans in pain, "Oh! Ow! Stop it Prue! Stop making me laugh, it hurts too much."
Prue tries to stop laughing, begins to wipe the pudding off Rachel's face, and says, "How are you going to get your strength back if you don't eat something?"
Rachel scrunched her nose up and looked at Prue. Prue looked at Rachel and had a look of 'I give up' as she collapsed back into the chair. An hour later, Prue and Rachel had been talking about old times and Prue brought her up-to-date about what is going on, except for the Demon stuff.
"I'm so glad to have you here Prue. I do not know what I would do without you. Even if you're a pain in the butt by trying to be all motherly to me," Rachel said.
"Well, if you weren't with us, you might not have fallen down our stairs. However, that could have happened to anyone. Phoebe should be by soon," Prue said as Phoebe suddenly walked into the room.
"Hey Rachel. How is the patient tonight? You do look good," Phoebe said with a big smile.
"Well, speak of the devil." Prue said.
"Hey, watch it! We're supposed to be angels around here, remember." Phoebe said giving Prue a cute look.
"You sure are MY angels!" Rachel said.
"Well, I'm sure not Della Reese," Prue says jokingly.
Phoebe laughs at that comment. "Anytime!" Phoebe answered as she takes a hold of Rachel's hand when suddenly she is jerked into a premonition. She saw something coming through the wall and attacking Rachel.
"Pheebs? What is it?" Prue asked.
"Phoebe? What happened?" Rachel asked looking concerned.
"Over there!" Phoebe said pointing to the far wall and whispers to Prue, "Wicky thing!"
Prue stood in front of Rachel to try to protect her as much as she can while Rachel watched in confusion.
"Where's Piper when we need her?" Phoebe asked as she started to tremble.
Ratus came through the wall knowing to knock Prue to the ground first. Phoebe tried to use her karate on him, but he threw her to the ground before she could. "If I can't get you, I'll hurt you." Ratus said as he fired a red bolt of lightning at Rachel. She cried out in pain as electricity spread throughout her entire body and went into immediate and fast convulsions then suddenly went completely limp as steam rose from Rachel and the bed.
"RACHEL!" Phoebe cried out from the floor. Prue was out cold. Ratus laughed evilly and disappeared through the same wall.
The floor nurse heard all the commotion and ran into the room. "What in the hell happened in here?" The nurse ran over to Rachel and checked the monitors and then her vitals. Then she ran out to the hallway and yelled out, "CODE BLUE! STAT!"
Rachel was in bad shape as two other emergency medical technicians helped Prue and Phoebe. Phoebe was only sore, but Prue had a whopper of a headache.
Prue held her head and groaned in pain. "I've got to be on my guard better than this. He shouldn't have done that to me!" Prue whispered to Phoebe who was mad as hell at herself.
"Rachel is really bad off this time. She looks really badly burned, and she must have many internal injuries. Prue! She took that full charge at close range," Phoebe whispered back to Prue in a panic.
Dr. Sherman walked into the room just then hearing the last bit of their conversation. "Took what?" Dr. Sherman asked as he began checking on Rachel, "She has all the symptoms of a high voltage shock from a major power station. There is not anything more than 220 volts in this room. Care to tell me about what happened?"
Phoebe laughed nervously, "Ha! Ha! We were knocked out, too. Your guess is as good as mine."
"We can treat her for her burns, but if we knew what happened, we could help her more," Dr. Sherman said.
"Do your best. We know you will," Prue said. "Can we go now?"
"Yes. But keep in touch," Dr. Sherman said to them.
"Thanks!" Prue said.
Phoebe quickly turned to Prue. "Leave Rachel? Prue! We cannot leave Rachel now! Not now! She is in mortal danger. We're supposed to protect her, we can't just..."
Prue interrupted and grabbed Phoebe by the arm. "We HAVE to get home!" Prue said.
Later, back at the Manor, Prue, Phoebe and Piper stood around The Book of Shadows looking through it intensely.
"Someone or something is definitely after us, or Rachel, or all four of us," Prue said with concern in her voice.
"Rachel has been mad at us before, but her eyes never glowed red. That's a Demon or warlock trait if I ever saw one," Piper suggested then thought for a second, "Wait, I did see her eyes like that before, it was a few months ago. Remember Pheebs, you were taking a nap and I came in carrying a couple of trays of food up to you guys and saw Rachel, or should I say something hovering over you trying to do something to you, until I froze her remember?"
"Yeah, I do remember that. Hey guys! I could not agree more, but without a name, a face, or a style we cannot identify him or her. I can come up with a general protection spell, but that might not last, or the evil thing might be so powerful that it might not even work," Phoebe explained with her witchy common sense.
"Can't we come up with a name somehow? We are witches, and we should be able to do most anything at least in protecting the innocent," Piper said.
"Let me see. Nothing to call up a Demon's name, just to summon him. IF we can vanquish him, bringing him here probably is not such a good idea. I guess it is spell writing time. Calling up his name should not be too hard. Let me sleep on it guys and we will do something about it tomorrow. Okay?" Phoebe said smiling.
"Think hard but don't strain the old noodle," Piper said knocking on Phoebe's head.
"We HAVE to get Rachel out of this vicious Demon circle," Prue said looking a little unsure, "Goodnight, Pheebs!"
"Night guys!" Phoebe said as she sat down with The Book of Shadows trying to get some ideas. The edge of her lip turned up, and she sat there with a perplexed expression.
"This witch stuff isn't as easy as I thought!" Phoebe said to herself.
The next morning, Prue, Piper and Phoebe were gathered around Rachel's bedside watching her as she slowly woke up. At first, she could not make out who they were she was still out of it from all the drugs they were pumping into her. Then slowly she could see who it was as she tried to smile.
"Hi, Prue, Piper, Phoebe. I'm sorry I'm so much trouble to you," Rachel said very weakly.
"Hey, I don't think you wanted to be here," Phoebe said.
"Unless you like these air conditioned gowns. It really doesn't do anything for you, you know," Piper quipped as she laughed.
Rachel tried to laugh when she began to cough which made her groan in pain, "OW! OHHHH!"
Prue and Phoebe chuckled at the comment. "Don't laugh; you're going to hurt yourself. You just lie there and get better. We want you to come home," Prue said.
Phoebe and Piper looked funny at her at that last remark since Prue had been the least happy about her moving in. However, knew that was not the case anymore.
"Thanks," Rachel said. Suddenly, Rachel began groaning in pain as she began coughing.
"Are you okay?" Phoebe asked.
Rachel continued to cough as Phoebe grabbed a glass, poured some water, and handed it to her. She drank some water, but kept coughing. Prue left the room to get the nurse. Rachel started to groan in pain again and began coughing up blood.
Piper quickly grabbed the bowl used for when someone is throwing up, but in this case...coughing up blood.
Phoebe had a terrified look on her face as the nurse came in to see what was wrong. Prue, Phoebe and Piper all backed off away from the bed and watched with concern as the nurse grabs a syringe and a hypodermic needle and fills it with medication.
"Oh no! Not again," Phoebe whispers to Piper, "If Rachel sees that needle she will go berserk."
"Prue, come on let's get on the other side of the bed and distract her," Piper tells her.
They walk around the bed, as the nurse looks at them as if they are all crazy. Suddenly the nurse hears over the intercom that she is being paged. She sets down the syringe and leaves the room. "I'll be right back. Make sure she doesn't move," the nurse tells them.
Quickly, Phoebe picks up the syringe, and grabs the alcohol and cotton ball. Prue and Piper start talking to Rachel to try to distract her. Even though she is still a little groggy, she wonders what is going on.
'Boy, it's a good thing she's already laying on her side,' Phoebe thinks to herself. When Phoebe is ready, Prue and Piper grab a hold of her as if hugging her.
"What's going on? Why are you holding me so tight?" Rachel wonders sounding confused.
"Well...uh...we don't want you to fall off the bed," Prue tries to answer, but knows she is lying to her.
Rachel starts to turn around when Prue looks to Piper and gives her the witchy signal, and then Piper quickly freezes Rachel.
"That was a good idea," Prue said.
Phoebe rubs the alcohol soaked cotton ball and injects the needle into her as the medicine quickly disappears. "Okay, done. Get back to where you were quick!" Phoebe says.
Suddenly Rachel unfreezes. "OUCH! Something bit me in my butt. Don't tell me his hospital has bugs that bite!" Rachel yells as she turns and rubs herself as she lies back down.
Phoebe, Prue and Piper laughs at Rachel just as the nurse comes back into the room. "Oh, nurse it is okay, another nurse came in and gave her the medicine," Phoebe told her.
"Okay. Just make sure she stays comfortable and don't stay too much longer, she needs her rest." The nurse said as she leaves.
Phoebe gives Piper a wink to freeze Rachel again so they can get this over with. Piper turns to Phoebe and jokingly says, "Now what, Samantha Stevens?"
"Okay. We need a piece of her clothing," Phoebe says.
Piper looks inside the closet to find her clothes. She thinks maybe something small, like an undergarment. 'Ah no, too personal,' Piper thinks. Then she sees her socks and picks it up.
"Oooh boy, good thing she's in the hospital in a sterile room, because she must have had smelly feet," Piper says pinching her nose closed.
"Okay, well her sock will have to do. Some jasmine and sassafras root mixed with sunflower oil sprinkled on it. Then we lay the ingredients on top of...our frozen friend here with a piece of paper," Phoebe explained.
"Sounds simple enough. Quickly though, before someone comes in," Prue says.
"Through time and space, without form or end,
Help us remove the pain of our friend,
Demon who taunts her, as some sick game,
Spirits of nature reveal his name."
The paper began to rustle. A strange type of writing started to appear. The line went up, down and around and then out again.
The paper began to rustle. A strange type of writing started to appear. The line went up, down and around and then out again.
"R," Phoebe said.
The writing continued. "A," Prue said.
The next letter appeared. "T," Piper said, "He's a rat? But we already know that. Hey that rhymed," Piper said as she smiled.
"Piper!" Phoebe said slapping Piper in the arm.
"Hey!" Piper said.
"Shush. Look..." Phoebe pointed, "U."
"S," Prue said. Then the writing stopped.
"Ratus? Sound familiar, Pheebs?" Piper asked.
"No, and I know most of the names in the book by now," Phoebe said.
"You should be able to recite the Book by now, Phoebe. Oh boy, poor Rachel. We just have to wait until he returns. I am not leaving her side. She looks as helpless as a baby does. She cannot take another blow like that. How can we protect her?" Piper asked.
"With The Power of Three! That is the only way. He wants to get us badly, and he will be back to kill us. We will just have to stick like glue to Rachel for good now. All three of us need to take care of her now," Phoebe said.
"Yes, all three of us," Prue said as they put their hands together.
Prue, Piper and Phoebe waited beside Rachel's bed. She is in the Intensive Care Unit all wrapped up due to the electrical burns. Her monitors and IV's have doubled since the attack. Prue, Phoebe and Piper are so scared for her.
Phoebe looked over to Prue with tears running down her face and says, "Prue, you were right. We should have NEVER subjected Rachel to our problems. Just look at her."
"I don't know what I'll do if we lose HER," Piper said with tears running down her face.
"Piper, I got through Andy, but this will be as bad as losing one of you two!" Prue said softly but with defiance.
"I haven't felt like this since Piper was lying there like that!" Phoebe said.
"Well I got through it and so will RACHEL!" Piper said.
"But with all those bruises and the burns! The doctor doesn't give her much hope!" Phoebe says as Prue and Piper walk to her and give her a hug together.
Another day came and went as Rachel came in and out of it. At one point, she was calling for her parents and other times she was calling for Prue, Piper or Phoebe. Rachel began to toss and turn a bit and groaned as Phoebe heard this and got up from the chair and stood by her bed.
She noticed tears running down her cheek as she carefully wiped her tears away trying not to wake her up, when suddenly she jerks into what seems like a premonition, but finds herself in Rachel's mind.
Phoebe is standing inside a thick layer of fog as she can hear in the distance some soft beautiful music playing and can hear two people talking to each other. Phoebe walks around in a daze not knowing what is going on when she slowly walks through the thick fog as it suddenly disappears.
She squints as she notices now she is sitting at a table in the back of a motor home. 'WOW! This is a beautiful motor home.' Phoebe thinks. She notices two people in the front seat talking to one another. They seem very happy and very much in love with one another. Then she realizes its Rachel's parents.
'Why am I seeing this? What does any of this mean?' Phoebe thinks to herself.
As she watches Rachel's father laughing and smiling as he drives down the highway she smiles and notices how handsome he is. She looks to Rachel's mother; she can tell how happy and content she is. 'I can sure see why they like traveling so much, it's beautiful out there. I wonder where they're going.' Phoebe wonders.
Then she began to hear more of the conversation as if someone turned up the volume on a radio. They were talking about Rachel.
"Oh, David, I wish Rachel could have come with us this time. I know she would have loved to travel with us," Erin told her husband.
"Yes, so do I, but she seems to want a career as a teacher. And why not? She's taking after her old man," David says.
"Hey, don't forget about her old lady," Erin says laughing.
"Well, at least she's in San Francisco right now. She's probably already bumped into her friends already," David said.
"You remember the Halliwell sisters, don't you? Rachel met Phoebe first when they were in the 5th grade, remember. I certainly remember, I think that was the day when Rachel asked me if she could go to the rock concert with some friends, and I told her she was much too young to see that kind of a rock group and she got really mad at me and ran off." Erin remembers.
'Oh boy, do I remember that day," Phoebe chuckles thinking about it.
"Rachel told me later that she met this other student named Phoebe who was a rambunctious girl and that she got into trouble a lot," David remembers.
'Hey! I wasn't that bad,' Phoebe thought, 'Was I?'
"I remember noticing Rachel was really jealous of Phoebe and started making trouble for her. But after a while, they got used to each other, and started becoming friends." Erin tells him.
"They really stuck together like glue when she went to high school with them. You remember all those slumber parties that Rachel gave...and all that food, ahh! I thought I would be sick just watching them eat all that junk food," David says chuckling.
"Yes, I do remember that. Remember, we could not sleep ourselves. They were up all night watching movies, eating popcorn, ice cream. Oh, and all that candy. UGH! I am surprised they did not get any cavities. Do you remember all those horror movies they saw together? I am surprised they had not had any nightmares after those movies. All those vampires, witches and demon movies," Erin says as a chill runs down her spine.
Phoebe just waves that one off, knowing how much she and her sisters are used to those kinds of monsters now.
"How do teenagers do it? When we were kids, the only horror movie I saw was that one with Vincent Price in 'The House of Wax.' I think that is what it was called. I had nightmares for months after that. That's a mild horror movie compared to today's horror movies."
"Well, at least Rachel and her friends won't have to worry about monsters anymore," David told her.
'Well, not really,' Phoebe thought to herself. Phoebe still could not understand why she was seeing this. This was the longest experience she has ever had. Her powers must be progressing further from premonitions into going into someone's dreams. Then all of a sudden, she happens to look out the front window and notices a car coming from the opposite direction, and it looks as though it is swerving back and forth.
She notices David and Erin engaged in their conversation as he continues to drive and watches the road as he looks to his wife now and again. However, he does not notice that swerving car. Phoebe races up to the front of the motor home.
"Hey! You guys, watch that car!" Phoebe yells to them.
David and Erin cannot hear her as they continue their conversation. Phoebe can still hear the music playing in the background, when she realizes something is going to happen. She does not know what to do. Phoebe tries to wake herself up, but apparently, there is a reason for her being there. Phoebe is terrified as she sees the car getting closer.
Then and only then, Erin notices the car and yells to her husband, "DAVID! LOOK OUT!"
David quickly turns the steering wheel to the right, then to the left as the motor home is squealing on its left side.
Phoebe is terrified to no end that she cannot get out of this dream.
As the motor home topples to the right and left, David cannot seem to get control as Phoebe watches in horror as well as experiencing it herself, as she hears Rachel's parents scream in horror.
"OH GOD! PLEASE!" David yells in fright.
"OH MY GOD! DAVID!" Erin quickly yells as she grabs onto her husband.
David cannot hold on any longer as he lets it go and grabs his wife in an embrace. They shut their eyes tightly and hang onto each other as the motor home dives off the highway and down the cliff as Phoebe hears them both gasp and call out to Rachel, "RACHEL, WE LOVE YOU!"
Phoebe then was suddenly lifted from the motor home before it dove off the cliff, but watched as it crashed and tumbled repeatedly until it hit the rocks below, when it exploded into a fiery inferno. Phoebe gasped in horror as tears fell down her face when she suddenly flashed to another dream.
She saw Leo, standing in front of Rachel talking to her. 'Oh no! She knows about Leo. That would mean...' Phoebe cut herself off.
Phoebe could hear what Leo was saying to her. He was trying to save her. 'Leo must have been the one who saved Rachel the first time,' Phoebe thought.
Then she heard Leo telling Rachel that Prue, Phoebe and Piper needed her, and that is why he was there to bring her back. Leo told her how much they loved her and that they were the only ones close enough to a family.
Nevertheless, Rachel had said that she had a family, her parents. Then she saw Leo shut his eyes and put his head down, then said to her that her parents had died in a car crash. That is when she saw Rachel break down in tears as Leo held her up, wiped away her tears, and heard him say that that is why she was needed. Because she was loved by friends who loved her like a sister.
It was then that Phoebe was thrown into a tenser premonition and saw the Demon Ratus coming back. As she came out of the premonition, she could hear Piper calling her name.
"Phoebe? Phoebe? Pheebs? Are you okay?" Piper asked as Phoebe collapsed in her arms.
"Quick! HE'S coming back for Rachel AND for us!" Phoebe barely said.
Suddenly, a portal opened above Rachel's bed as they all looked up to the ceiling. In came the Demon Ratus in his full glory. He was all red with horns, and covered in red slime.
"Now, you Halliwell witches, you will d..." was all he said as Piper froze him.
"Great, sis. Now let us say this together!" Phoebe said.
The power of three will set you free!
The power of three will set you free!
The power of three will set you free!
The power of three will set you free!
The power of three will set you free!
After the exhausting efforts, the Demon began to melt. The slime revealed rotting flesh underneath and the smell was horrendous.
"NO! YOU WITCHES WILL PAY! NO!" he cried as he fell back into the vortex and disappeared. The smell remained as they all sighed as they held their noses.
"UGH! Not only was he tough, but he was definitely septic tank material," quipped Piper with a ducky voice as she held her nose.
"Good one fellow sister witches! WE saved our butts as well as Rachel's, too, Excellent vanquishing!" Phoebe said.
"Absolutely!" Prue agreed as she hugged her sisters.
Phoebe broke away from the hug. "Hey, you guys. When I heard Rachel groaning before I went to her and noticed her crying in her sleep. As I carefully wiped her tears off her face, I was thrown into her dream."
"You're kidding!? Phoebe, do you know what that means, your power of premonition is progressing. You had better be careful with this now. It is going to mean you can get into people's dreams. And people dream some weird dreams as well as nightmares," Prue told her.
"Well, Rachel's dream WAS a nightmare. I saw both of her parents die in a car crash. It was terrifying, too. They were talking about Rachel right before it happened. They said they wished that Rachel could have been traveling with them. They also were remembering those slumber parties that we all had together in high school. Prue, Piper, they were so happy and smiling and talking about Rachel and they were listening to some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard. Then that is when it happened. I saw a car swerving on the other side of the road. It was a drunk driver." Phoebe explained.
"OH NO!" Piper exclaimed.
"Yes, and I felt as though I were living it myself, but then I was suddenly lifted out of the motor home and I watched the motor home dive over the cliff and onto the rocks below. Then it exploded in a huge flame. I almost could feel the hot fire on my skin. Just as it felt when we went into the future and I was being burned at the stake, remember," Phoebe continued.
"Oh, we remember that all too well," Prue said.
"That's when I was thrown into another dream. In this dream Leo was there talking to Rachel," Phoebe said, as Piper looked shocked.
"WHAT! Oh no! You don't think Leo told her that he's a Whitelighter and that we're witches," Piper said quickly.
"I don't know, but then Leo was telling her that she was needed and loved and that this wasn't her time to die. She broke down crying as Leo wiped her tears and held her that is when I saw her disappear. That was when I saw Rachel's soul returning into her body when she almost died. I was wondering how she was able to come back to us." Phoebe said.
"Why didn't Leo tell us that he saved her the first time?" Piper wondered.
"I don't know, you'd have to ask him," Prue told her.
"Do you think Rachel's going to remember her dream? She could think it was just a dream and not real. How can we explain to her that her parents are gone? It's going to really hurt her," Phoebe said. Just then, they hear something and turn toward Rachel.
"Oh," Rachel groaned and stirred a bit as all three of them gathered around her bed.
"Come on Rachel, you can do it!" Piper said.
"Oh man. What was that? A horrible dream? What is that terrible smell?" Rachel cried as the horrid smell brought her to complete consciousness.
"A sewer backed up!" Phoebe said, trying to cover up what really happened.
"Hi, Rachel? So what's going on?" Piper asked cutely.
"You tell me. I am the one in the hospital! Why all the bandages?" Rachel asked looking so confused and looking at all the tubes in her arms.
"It's just so good to see you awake," Prue said.
"There was a short circuit in the monitor wiring!" Piper said not too convincingly.
Rachel was too tired and weak to disagree and looked away as if ready to cry. Phoebe looked over to Prue and Piper wondering if she knew. "What's wrong sweetie," Phoebe asked looking concerned.
"I'm not sure, but I have this really terrible feeling that something happened. I had a dream, but it was hazy. All I saw what looked like a trailer falling over a cliff," Rachel told her as Phoebe shut her eyes tightly trying not to show what she knew.
Just then, Dr. Sherman walks in with a distressed look on his face. "Excuse me Miss Williams, can I speak with you. Alone," he said looking toward Prue, Phoebe and Piper.
"That's okay, we'll be back. We'll bring you some orange juice, okay?" Phoebe said.
"Okay. Thanks," Rachel answered back looking a little worried.
Phoebe, Prue and Piper left the room and shut the door behind. Phoebe looked through the small window in the door and watched Dr. Sherman and Rachel talking. Then a few seconds later, she saw her sobbing as Dr. Sherman leaned down and gave her a hug. Phoebe wished she knew what he had said to her that made her cry.
Prue and Piper walked up to Phoebe and handed her Rachel's orange juice just as Dr. Sherman started walking to the door when they all quickly ran to the chairs in the hallway and sat down.
"You can see her now," Dr. Sherman says as he walked down the hallway.
They walked into Rachel's room as Phoebe sat on the edge of her bed and handed her the juice. Prue and Piper sat on the chair next to the bed as they all looked at each other solemnly, then back to Rachel.
"What's wrong? What did Dr. Sherman say to you? Is there something medically wrong?" Phoebe asked.
"No," Rachel said with tears streaming down her face, "I'M ALL ALONE, PHOEBE!"
"No you're not, we're all here for you," Phoebe told her as a few tears ran down her cheek.
Prue and Piper looked at each other and realized what Dr. Sherman told her and they began to get teary-eyed themselves.
"PHOEBE! DR. SHERMAN JUST TOLD ME MY PARENTS DIED IN A CAR ACCIDENT WHILE THEY WERE TRAVELING IN COLORADO! I DON'T HAVE A FAMILY ANYMORE, PHOEBE!" Rachel yelled as she cried harder as she started moving around more.
Prue and Piper walked to the other side of her bed to try to help her calm down before she pulled out her IV tubes or her stitches. Prue grabbed a hold of Rachel and tried to hug her as Piper started stroking her hair to try to calm her.
Nevertheless, the feeling Rachel was having was beginning to affect them as well. Phoebe, Prue and Piper were crying, too. They know what it feels like to lose a parent. Rachel began trembling.
Suddenly, Rachel turned toward the table next to her, picked up a vase of flowers, hurled them across the room, and began screaming and crying out in anger. She picked up the pitcher of water and hurled it across the room, as Piper quickly moved before it could hit her.
"NOOOOOOOOO! THEY CANNOT BE GONE! IT'S UNFAIR!" Rachel yelled as she pounded her bed with her fists. Her bandages on her arms began to unravel.
"Hey you guys help me here," Phoebe asked Prue and Piper.
Prue and Piper put their arms around Rachel once more and held on to her. Rachel began to fight from their grasp and began hitting them as she screamed out, "NOOOOOO! LEAVE ME ALONE! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"
Piper could not take this anymore. She could not take the pain and hurt that Rachel was going through, turned, walked to the window, and tried to keep her emotional state to herself. Prue tries to prevent Rachel from hurting herself and tries to hold on to her.
"LET ME GO! LET ME GO! PLEASE! JUST LET ME DIE! I DO NOT DESERVE TO LIVE! I DO NOT WANT TO LIVE! I JUST WANT MY MOM AND DAD!" she cried out as she continued to bang her fists against the metal bars on the sides of the bed.
Prue and Piper saw that Rachel was wearing herself out from all this moving around and screaming. She was getting tired, and sweat was dripping down the side of her face, but she was still very angry and very hurt.
Phoebe cried quietly as she got on the bed behind Rachel, grabbed her in a tight hug, and gently held her as she continued to scream out and sob uncontrollably. Phoebe tried to hold on to her tightly, but not too tight, so she does not hurt her more than she already is.
Prue and Piper had a hard time getting through this ordeal. Rachel continued to cry, as Phoebe held onto her tightly when she began to struggle a bit to try to get out of her grasp. After a grueling fifteen minutes what seemed more like fifteen hours, Rachel finally began calming down when she suddenly tired herself out and laid her head down on Phoebe's lap with Phoebe's arms around her. Phoebe looked up at her sisters and said, "Doesn't this get any easier?" Phoebe asks them.
Piper looks over at Phoebe, then over to Prue with sadness as she wipes tears from her face and lets out a big sigh.
Ten minutes later, Rachel had cried herself to sleep in Phoebe's arms. Phoebe does not want to move afraid she will wake up, so she decides to close her eyes for a few minutes and just rest. Prue and Piper had fallen asleep on the chair next to the bed as well.
A couple of hours later, Phoebe wakes up and notices she has been asleep for a long time. She feels that her arms are numb from holding Rachel, so she carefully and quietly tries to get out of the bed without waking her, too late, Rachel woke up.
"Hey you. Are you feeling any better?" Phoebe asks.
"Okay, I guess. Phoebe?" Rachel asks.
"Yeah," Phoebe answers.
"Um...uh...I just want to say that...that I'm..." Rachel starts.
"I know it is okay. I know you were just hurting," Phoebe tells her.
"I'm...I'm sorry I yelled at you, Phoebe. I'm never going to yell at you again, I promise," Rachel said as she looked away feeling ashamed of herself.
"Hey Rachel, you have every right to yell and scream and cry, it's the only way to let all your feelings out, it's healthy. It's okay, I understand completely," Phoebe says smiling at her, "I probably needed a good yelling at anyway. I am sure Prue probably would agree. She probably has one good yell for me for something." Rachel chuckled as Phoebe smiled at her. Just then Prue and Piper woke up hearing them talking. "Hey you two. Looks as though we all took a little nap, huh?" Phoebe says.
"Yes well, Rachel is the one supposed to be resting, not us," Prue says.
"Well, crying can take a lot out of people, especially us women," Phoebe answers.
"And now Miss Rachel, you should be on the road to recovery soon," Phoebe says.
"And hopefully living elsewhere!" Prue said quietly to her sisters.
"I think I need some more rest; I feel really tired!" Rachel said as she quickly began falling back to sleep.
"Sleep tight princess," Piper whispered, "Oops, wrong choice of words. I'm never going to say THAT word again as long as I live."
"Bye Rachel," Phoebe and Prue said together as Rachel drifted off to sleep again.
A couple of days later all three of them were visiting Rachel in her room. She was sitting up now, though still heavily bandaged.
"You look 100% better," Piper said.
"These flowers are for you!" Phoebe handed to Rachel.
"I want to give you a hug, but you don't look too huggable right now and I don't want to hurt you. You do look wonderful and alive. And that's the way we want YOU!" Prue said.
"Thanks, guys! You're the only family I have now!" Rachel said quietly.
"You're always welcome in our house!" Prue said.
Piper cleared her throat as she looked at Prue at Phoebe.
"But after you recover, we want to help you get back on your feet and on your own. Now, you NEED to take that first step Rachel," Phoebe said.
"But first recover. You have a long way to go baby, but you are still family...that is 'our' family. In addition, you have a reason to believe that is true. We've been together for so long," Piper said.
"That's certainly true," Rachel said a little bit more chipper now.
"Sure, do you remember the time that..." Phoebe said as she started to reminisce.
And boy, what tales they will have to tell...
The End
