Disclaimer: Same as usual
To Look Again – Keeping Secrets
Mrs Loch's car pulled into hospital's car park about fifteen minutes after Piper had told Phoebe and brought her from school, Piper and Phoebe got out they went to walk to the building but Piper stopped suddenly,
"Hey, thanks for driving us. We can manage from here," she said quietly,
"Of course," smiled Mrs Loch and then Piper and Phoebe headed for the hospital from door. They arrived inside and headed towards the receptionist,
"Hi, erm… what room is Prudence Halliwell in please?" asked Piper politely,
"Hang on, I'll just check," said the blonde woman who sat behind the desk. She clicked some buttons on her computer and then continued, "She on the third floor, room 521," With that Piper took Phoebe by the hand and they walked to the elevator. Once the doors of the elevator had slammed shut Piper knew there was no turning back, there was no way that she could run away now. She didn't want to run away from what was happening, she knew that these things existed she just assumed that they would never be in her life. The ride in the elevator seemed to last forever, but no long enough at the same time and within a minute the doors opened at the third floor.
Phoebe's grip tightened on Piper's hand as they walked along what seemed like an endless corridor, if it wasn't for Phoebe's hand tightly gripped in Piper's she would have turned back, gotten into the elevator and ran straight home. But she couldn't, she had to go through with this for Phoebe's sake, if she couldn't do it for herself she would do it for her sister. She hadn't been able to save Prue from what was going on and she was determined to save Phoebe, or at least shield her from some of the things. Soon enough the arrived outside the room marked 521, Piper paused for a second before going in but had to face things when she felt Phoebe's hand tugging on her own. They pushed opened the door and went in, Grams was sitting in a chair beside Prue's bed, holding her eldest granddaughter's hand, locked in hers. She was quietly sobbing and didn't even look up when the door opened, Piper and Phoebe walked over to their grandmother, and soon enough the family was locked in a hug, with only Prue missing.
"How is she?" asked Piper, once the embrace had subsided,
"I'm not going to lie to you, she's not doing good," Grams paused and looked towards her young granddaughters, "They said that she started to improve a little this morning, her heart beat was starting to regulate and it looked as though she was starting to come out of things. But," she paused once more, tears rolling slowly down her face, "The doctors say that her body isn't fighting… at least, not by itself. They claim that if she doesn't start fighting soon enough well… you know…" she said, it was heartbreaking for Piper to see her Grams having to explain all these things to her.
"What do you mean, fighting?" asked Phoebe staring at the floor deliberately avoiding eye contact,
"She means," said Piper, trying to spare any hurt she could from Grams, "That Prue's immune system – the part of your body that fights illnesses – isn't responding very well. And that just now these machines are helping it to get strong again so that she can fight by herself and get better," she said, then she looked to Grams. As if searching for approval over what she had said, Grams nodded and smiled,
"Oh," said Phoebe, Piper wasn't sure if she actually understood what was going on but at the same time she didn't want to doubt her sister – she had though that Phoebe wouldn't have known that Prue was cutting herself but she had known. She wasn't sure how much Phoebe could understand, and that terrified more than she was willing to admit. The family sat in silence for about half an hour before a doctor came in, the man was short and stout and had tufts of brown hair sticking out from the top of his head,
"Hello, Mrs Halliwell, My names Dr Levenstien, I've been Prudence's doctor since she was admitted to this ward. I've been keeping an eye on her progress and all her statistics and ob's and everything," he said with a warm, smiling face,
"Oh, hello," muttered Grams; quickly wiping away any residue the tears had left on her cheeks. "So, can you tell me anything new about Prue's condition?" she asked, the doctor opened his mouth to speak but then looked quickly towards Piper and Phoebe,
"Perhaps we should speak in private," he said quietly, Grams instantly reached into her purse and lifted out some coins,
"Piper, take Phoebe to the cafeteria and get something to eat. No one's been eating right since this whole thing; get a good meal into her. Take about half an hour, get something for yourself also," she said handing Piper the money,
"But Grams… I'd like to know what's happening," said Piper her voice trailing a little towards the end of her sentence,
"Just do it Piper," said Grams, raising her voice slightly,
"Fine," said Piper, with a moody tone, she took Phoebe's hand and pulled her little sister out of the room. They headed quickly for the cafeteria and joined the queue for hot meals as soon as they arrived.
"So what do you want to eat?" asked Piper, trying to get rid of the nasty tone she had gained since being told to leave the room,
"I don't know… maybe macaroni or a hot dog… I'm not really bothered," sighed Phoebe, trying not to anger Piper anymore than she already was,
"Well Grams said a good meal so, pick what ever you want. And get a desert as well… why not?" said Piper, lifting herself an apple and a juice,
"Ok, then can I have some fish and chips? I always liked fish and chips from cafeteria's… so did Prue," asked Phoebe quietly,
"Sure," sighed Piper. After ordering the food and paying at the till Phoebe lifted her tray and Piper helped her to carry it over to the table, they sat in silence while Phoebe slowly began munching into her fish and chips.
Back at the manor Piper sat alone with Grams, the clock in the hallway chimed eleven. Outside the night skies poured heavy rain, Piper pulled her blanket round her small frame and continued pretending to read her book. But she was secretly thinking non-stop about what the doctor had told Grams about Prue's condition, slowly she worked up the courage to broach the subject with her grandmother,
"Grams…" she said quietly,
"Yes Piper," replied the old woman, not looking up from her knitting, Grams always knitted when she was anxious,
"I was just wondering… what did the doctor tell you when me and Phoebe were out of the room?" she said very quickly hoping that saying it quickly would draw some attention away from what she was asking,
"Well, I guess you're going to find out sometime…" she sighed, she put down her needles and looked for the first time at Piper, "The doctor said that Prue was still not fighting her injuries… and the longer that that went on, the worse she would get. They said that they were doing everything they could to bring her back into consciousness but unless her body starts to fight for itself there efforts will always be wasted. There is a slight chance that this coma could leave her with very slight brain damage if she doesn't wake up soon… but hopefully she'll respond to the drugs there giving her which do something like kick start her body's natural defence system… but for now all we can do is wait," she sighed, and then picked up her needles once more.
"Thanks," said Piper, Oh God, she's not going to get through this… how can my sister leave me? Why won't she fight, why is this happening… why does Grams refuse to shield me from any of this? By answering Piper's question Grams had unintentionally brought thousands more to her head. Suddenly the phone rang, Grams jumped up and quickly answered it,
"Penny Halliwell," she said, "Yes… oh… thank god, when can we come up… right… ok, thank you," she said, and then hung up the phone. She turned to face Piper,
"Who was it Grams?" she asked,
"It was the hospital," she replied, "Prue's awake…"