Chapter Thirty Seven: Awakened (And Two Down)

Phoebe was trying to persuade her sisters to start saying the spell. They did not want to waste anymore time on talking. However Prue, Piper, and Paige were all focused on what Phoebe had just said.

'Did you just say that you weren't faking?' Piper asked.

'Yeah,' replied Phoebe.

'When exactly did you catch it?' Piper asked, worried for her little sister.

Prue sighed. 'You should never have left this room, Pheebs.'

'We had to,' said Phoebe. 'It doesn't even matter, because we are about to reverse this spell, and Piper is the only one we have to worry about.'

All eyes turned to Piper, who nodded.

'She's right,' said Piper. 'We need to reverse this spell. Phoebe should be fine after we do that…'

'You won't be though,' said Prue.

'That doesn't matter,' said Piper. She sat down on the hospital bed and looked up at her sisters. 'I'm ready. Say the spell.'

Phoebe held out the piece of paper with the spell on so as Prue and Paige could see it. The three of them began to chant the spell together. As they finished chanting, Piper dropped backwards on the bed.

Like clockwork, Dr. Williamson came running into the room, accompanied by an intern.

'I was told that one of you may be showing symptoms of the Arroyo fever,' said Dr. Williamson.

'Er… yeah! Piper is!' Prue said, pointing at her now unconscious comatose sister.

Dr. Williamson ran over to Piper and checked her vital signs. He turned to the intern and said, 'Get a crash cart now!' The intern nodded and ran off. The intern came back almost immediately with a crash cart, followed by some other interns and nurses. They started switching on the electrical equipment and soon Piper was connected to it for monitoring.

'Can you hear me, Miss Halliwell?' Dr. Williamson asked a non-responsive Piper. He turned to the staff around him and instructed them. 'Assist in respiration. Starting CPR.' Dr. Williamson immediately started CPR.

Prue, Phoebe, and Paige were watching this all take place. Each of them were welling up with tears. They did not even notice Dan rush in to be by Piper's side. Dr. Williamson was preparing to try and resuscitate Piper with some electronic paddles.

As Dr. Williamson stated Piper's time of death (9.40 a.m.), the room went silent, except for a thud as Phoebe fell to the floor. Prue and Paige did not turn around; they could not take their eyes off Piper; they assumed Phoebe had fainted from the stress of what was going on in front of them.

Piper all of a sudden made everyone jump by beginning to cough. Surprised by this sudden response after she had been thought dead, Dr. Williamson began to check her vital signs. Meanwhile Dan took hold of Piper's hand.

Prue and Paige exchanged shocked but happy looks. Somehow Piper had survived. They did not know how, but she had survived.

'Leo.' Everyone in the room heard the barely conscious patient mutter the name. The name meant nothing to the hospital staff. However it meant a lot to Prue and Paige, as well as to Dan.

Piper suddenly let out another gasp as she sat up fully conscious. She looked around her, a little confused. Dan hugged her. Prue and Paige ran through the small crowd of hospital staff to welcome their sister back.

'Is she breathing?' they heard Dr. Williamson shout from behind them.

Prue and Paige turned around to face the rest of the room. Piper also looked in the same direction. Dr. Williamson and a nurse were kneeling by an unconscious Phoebe. Dr. Williamson put his hand on Phoebe's wrist, looking for a pulse. From his crouched position on the floor, Dr. Williamson turned to look over at Prue, Piper, and Paige.

'I am sorry,' Dr. Williamson said. 'I don't know what happened, but… she did not make it.'

Piper got up out of the hospital bed with the help of Dan. Piper went to stand next to Prue and Paige. The three sisters walked towards Phoebe.

'She was showing symptoms…' muttered Paige.

'They should have gone though…' Prue said quietly.

'She shouldn't be… It should have been me,' said Piper, breaking down into tears.

Prue and Paige were still in tears from Piper's deterioration and sudden recovery.

'C – Co – Could you please leave us alone for a few minutes?' Piper asked.

The doctor nodded. 'I will be back in five minutes.' He and the other hospital staff left the room.

'I'll be in the waiting room,' said Dan respectfully. 'I am so sorry…' He left the room.

The three sisters knelt down so as they were closer to where Phoebe lay.

'H – H – How did this even ha – happen?' Paige asked her sisters. 'The sp – spell w – was re – re –'

'Reversed,' Prue concluded for her youngest sister. 'I don't quite understand it either… Does this mean all the other patients in this ward are still suffering from Arroyo fever?'

'W – W – Why did it even happen s – so qu – quickly?' Paige asked. 'E – E – Everyone else who had caught it was st – st – still okay, while the spell wa – was still active.'

'H – He c – could h – have s – saved her, b – b – but he s – saved m – m – me instead. W – W – W – Why?' Piper said amongst her sobs.

'He? As in Leo… Leo saved you. He healed you? Even after he told us he wouldn't…' said Prue.

Piper nodded. 'W – Why not Ph – Ph – Phoebe though?'

Paige took a deep breath to stem her own crying for a few minutes while she said, 'This just does not make any sense…' Paige put a hand on her late sister's arm and –

Paige's eyes widened in shock as she felt like she was being orbed somewhere. The scene around her had changed and it was now tinted in a blue colour. No one in the scene around her had noticed her sudden appearance.

Sally – Paige when she was glamouring – was standing next to Phoebe. Astral Prue was speaking to an unconscious Andy who lay on the hospital bed. Astral Prue stood up and followed Phoebe and the disguised Paige out of sight as they went past the curtains.

Paige wanted to follow them, but she could not. She turned around to face Andy. He was still and quiet and was connected to some different hospital machinery.

Suddenly the heart monitor began to slow down, until it flat lined. A doctor opened the curtains and ran to Andy's bedside. Her eyes widened at the sight of the monitor. She shouted across the room where a nurse was now visible at the other end.

'Get a crash cart in here now!' she yelled. The nurse nodded and soon came running over with a crash cart.

The doctor began to perform CPR on Andy. When that did not work, she got the paddles charged up and began to press those onto Andy, sending electric shocks through his body. His body remained limp.

The doctor shook her head and let out a sigh of defeat. 'Time of death…' She paused to look up at a clock on the wall. 'Time of death: 9.32 a.m.'

As the doctor pulled the bed sheet over Andy, a patient on a nearby bed suddenly sat up. The patient looked around towards the doctor, a little puzzled as to why they were there. More and more patients began to rise out of their beds, looking fit and healthy.

Paige felt like she had orbed back into the quarantined hospital room as she lost her balance and fell onto her back. Luckily, the fall had not been that great as she had been kneeling down anyway.

Prue and Piper were staring at her.

'What happened?' Piper asked.

Paige took a shaky breath as she recalled what she had seen. 'I had a premonition…' Paige looked over at Prue apologetically. 'Prue… I'm so sorry… The good news is that everyone that was infected before – except for Phoebe – made a miraculous recovery as soon as the spell was reversed…'

Piper looked shocked. 'You had a premonition?' She looked down at Phoebe. 'She's really gone…' Piper closed her eyes as another round of tears and agony worked their way to the surface.

'You were apologising to me. Why were you apologising to me?' Prue asked fretfully.

Paige hesitated. She did not want to be the one to break the bad news to Prue, but it was better for Prue to hear it from her than from one of the doctors.

'Prue… Andy… He… Before the spell was reversed, he…' Paige trailed off. It was not that she did not know how to put it into words; it was that she did not want to put it into words. However, she did not need to finish her sentence, because Prue had already understood the message.

Crying over the loss and return of Piper had drained Prue a lot. Then crying over the loss of Phoebe had brought about another overwhelming bout of emotions for Prue. Even after all of that, Prue still had more tears to suffer with. Prue looked away from her sisters and covered her face with her hands to try and hide her pain.

Piper had opened her eyes on hearing about the loss of Andy. She turned to see Prue huddled up in tears. Piper gave Prue a consoling hug.

'I still don't understand why Phoebe…' Paige said, trying to keep her head amongst all the sadness. 'She should have recovered… She did not go unconscious until after the spell was reversed…'

Prue took her hands away from her face and turned to face her sisters.

'We must be able to bring Phoebe and Andy back… We are the Charmed Ones after all… We must be powerful enough to do that…' Prue said.

A man they did not recognise walked into the room, pushing a gurney. 'I am so sorry for your loss, but I have been asked to take your sister away.'

Prue stood up, rubbing the tears from her eyes. 'Why? Who are you?'

'The mortician's assistant,' said the mortician's assistant. 'I have to take her down to the morgue.'

Piper and Paige stood up to stand at Prue's side. The three of them were standing between Phoebe and the mortician's assistant.

'You can't take her…' said Prue stubbornly.

'I am so sorry, but it's procedure,' said the mortician's assistant.

Piper flicked her wrists up, freezing the mortician's assistant. 'Prue, what do we do?'

'Andy's probably already in the morgue. We need to act quickly if we want to figure out a way to bring them both back,' said Paige.

'Uh… How do we do this..? We need a spell…' said Prue. 'Ugh. Phoebe was always the best with making these up on the spot…'

'Well, there is no way that a made-up resurrection spell would work… I don't even know if those exist… What we need is time…' said Paige.

The three sisters held hands so as to channel the Power of Three as they improvised a spell.

'Preserve Phoebe and Andy,' Piper began.

'Until the spell we need comes in handy?' concluded Paige, shrugging.

A faint glow appeared over Phoebe's body, which then faded. Phoebe's body then disappeared from sight.

The mortician's assistant suddenly unfroze. 'Why was I here again?' he asked the sisters.

'You don't remember?' asked Prue.

The mortician's assistant grimaced. 'Sorry for the trouble.' He walked off with his gurney.

'The spell worked?' Piper said a little questionably.

'I think so. I am hoping that means Andy is safe too until we can figure this out,' said Prue.

Dr. Williamson walked into the room. 'Everyone seems to have recovered from Arroyo fever, which means quarantine is over. You are free to go.'

Prue, Piper, and Paige nodded. When Dr. Williamson had left the room, Paige said, 'So no one except us remembers what happened to Phoebe and Andy then?'

'Spells work in funny ways,' said Prue.

'Let's just get back to the manor as fast as possible so as we can check the Book and start coming up with resurrection methods,' said Piper.

'Sounds like a plan to me,' said Prue.

'Considering none of us exactly got here by the method of our own cars, shall I do the honours of orbing us there?' suggested Paige.

Prue looked towards the empty corridor. 'The coast looks clear, so the honour is all yours.' Prue took one of Paige's hand.

'Lead the way, Paige,' said Piper, who took hold of Paige's other hand.

As soon as all three sisters had linked hands, Paige orbed them out of the hospital.

The instant they appeared in the attic, Prue rushed over to the Book of Shadows. The Book was still open to the page regarding the reversal spell. Prue flipped to the page after it which had more information on it.

Prue began to read it out loud: 'The individual that the spell was cast upon will be immune to the effects of sleep and other ailments unless – or until – the spell is reversed. The spell casters will also become immune to sleep, but if they are infected by the ailment during the period of the spell, they will not be immune. Even if the spell is reversed, the ailment will still take effect on the infected spell caster.'

Prue looked up from the Book at her two perplexed sisters.

'That's why…' said Paige in despair.

Prue looked back down at the Book and began to flick through the Book for any useful entry concerning bringing Phoebe and Andy back.

Prue stopped for a second, buckling over a little. At the same time, Piper put her hand to her own forehead. Almost instantaneously, Paige suddenly felt a little dizzy.

As Prue straightened up, she must have noticed Piper and Paige's demeanours, because she asked, 'What just happened?'

Piper removed her hand from her forehead. 'So I wasn't the only one who just felt a sudden lack of energy as if something had been taken from me?'

'You definitely have a way with words, because I would have never thought of describing it like that,' said Paige.

'Whatever it was, it cannot be good, but Phoebe and Andy come before us,' said Prue.

Prue turned her sights back to the Book of Shadows. Prue suddenly went pale.

'Prue? What's wrong?' Piper asked.

'The Book… It's… Blank…' Prue began to turn the pages rapidly. 'They're all blank! How? They were all filled with entries less than a minute ago!'

'This can't be good…' said Piper.

The sound of the doorbell ringing echoed through the attic. Paige wandered over to the window to see if she could spot who was ringing the doorbell. Standing on the porch was Leo.

'Why doesn't he just orb up here?' Paige asked.

'Who?' said Piper.

Paige turned around to face Prue and Piper. 'Leo's at the door.'

'Maybe he is respecting our privacy. I would think that he already knows what has happened,' said Prue.

'I'll go and let him in,' Piper said. 'I need to thank him anyway – and then throttle him for not saving Phoebe too.'

Piper walked out of the attic. Paige went over to Prue to have a look at the empty Book. Prue had not been exaggerating when she had said that the pages were all blank. Paige closed the Book. The triquetra on the cover was broken.

'This isn't right at all,' muttered Prue.

'Something is very wrong,' agreed Paige.

Piper came walking into the attic with Leo. He looked very serious and grave.

'I am so sorry about Phoebe…' said Leo.

'Don't waste time on words with us,' said Prue immediately. 'We need you to orb on up there and ask your bosses why we suddenly have an empty Book of Shadows, but before that, you can tell them to bring Phoebe and Andy back!'

'He can't…' Piper said. 'Leo was just telling me that they found out that he had healed me against their orders. They clipped his wings.'

'You're mortal?' Paige asked.

Leo nodded. 'That's not an issue though. The issue is you three.' When all three sisters looked confused, Leo continued. 'Before clipping my wings, the Elders found out what had happened to Phoebe. They then realised that the Power of Three still existed… Even without Phoebe.'

Prue's eyes widened in realisation. 'The Elders figured out about Paige?'

'It was easy to figure out when Phoebe's power was being used by another witch,' said Leo. 'Did you by any chance feel light headed within the past half hour?' When the three sisters nodded, Leo continued. 'The Elders took away your powers, your magic, Paige's whitelighter abilities…'

'Why?' asked Piper. 'It's not our fault there were four of us for a three person prophecy! Besides what does it matter that there were four of us?'

Leo sighed. 'I don't even have a clue of their reasoning with that rule… Then again, they were going to let you die earlier and – as far as they knew – that would have broken the Power of Three as well.'

'So let me get this straight: We've lost our sister,' began Piper.

'I've lost my husband,' continued Prue.

'And now we don't even have any magic to try and bring them back,' concluded Paige.

'That pretty much sums it up,' said Leo gloomily.

A/N: This ending is what caused my long writer's block in regards to how to write the next episode. However, the next episode is written, so there won't be too long a wait in store.

Phoebe and Andy are dead. The Elders know about the family connection. The remaining three sisters and Leo are all powerless. Please review!