Manor-kitchen

Piper was busy making dinner when Leo orbed in.

"Hey, smells good, what are you cooking?"

"Oh just some fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and a chocolate cake for dessert," Piper replied as she measured oil for the cake.

"Sounds like Paige put her order in," Leo teased. He knew that was Paige's favorite dinner.

"Well not exactly. I kind of made a bad situation worse this morning and I'm trying to make it up to her."

"What happened?" Leo asked concerned.

"I don't know if you know this, but the Elders made Kyle a Whitelighter."

Leo nodded, "I found out this morning."

"Anyways, Paige told us this morning and I got mad at the Elders and said some things I shouldn't have and she ended up leaving. I didn't mean to get her upset, I was just frustrated that they would do this to her."

"So am I, and believe me they got an earful from me when I found out," Leo said.

"I just hate seeing her like this. Why couldn't the Avatars just rewind time back to before Kyle was killed. They took him away, they should have been able to bring him back."

"I don't know, the Avatars just weren't who we thought they were. I think the consequences of trusting them are far from over," Leo said.

"What does that mean?" Piper questioned.

"It means that the Elders are more upset about me joining the Avatars than I anticipated. I really think they're going to clip my wings for this one."

"Leo, this is ridiculous! You were trying to help us," Piper began, but was cut off by the phone ringing. "Leo can you answer that, my hands are dirty from the cake mix."

"Sure," he replied and answered the ringing phone. "Hello?"

"Hello, is this the Matthews residence?" A man's voice asked.

"No, this is the Halliwell residence, but Paige Matthews lives here," Leo replied.

"What is your relationship to Miss. Matthews?" the man asked.

"She's my sister-in-law, my wife's sister. Why? Who is this?"

"Sir, is your wife available?" the man asked. "It's very important that I speak with her."

"Just a minute," Leo said, handing the phone to Piper.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"I don't know. Someone who needs to speak with you about Paige."

Piper took the phone, looking a little concerned. "Hello, this is Piper Halliwell," she said.

"Miss. Halliwell my name is Sergeant Allen Michaels. Your sister, Paige Matthews has been in an accident."

"An accident?" Piper questioned, not letting the man finish. "What happened?"

"Her car was found wrapped around a telephone pole. Miss. Matthews was unconscious at the scene and has been taken to the San Francisco emergency room."

"Is she okay? How bad was it?" Piper questioned further.

"Miss, I would advise you to head over to the emergency room as soon as possible."

With that Piper hung up the phone and told Leo to orb her to the hospital.

"What happened?" Leo asked.

"Paige was in an accident. We need to get to her now."

"You want to orb? What if someone sees us?" Leo asked.

"Paige is hurt and she needs me. No one will tell me how bad she is and I'm not taking any chances. Leo, just orb me to the hospital," Piper said beginning to get upset.

"Okay," Leo said, and with that he orbed them to the hospital. Within seconds they were running through the emergency room doors in search of Paige.

"Can I help you?" A woman at the front desk asked.

"Yes, my name is Piper Halliwell. My sister, Paige Matthews was brought in," Piper said. "Is she okay?"

"If you'll just have a seat in the waiting room a doctor will be with you shortly," the woman replied.

"No, you don't understand," Piper yelled. "I don't want to wait a minute! My sister is hurt and I need to see her, now someone please tell me where she is!"

"Who is your sister?" A woman in a white lab coat asked as she came up behind Piper and Leo.

"Paige Matthews," Piper replied.

"Yes, I treated her," the woman said.

"Is she okay?" Leo asked.

"Paige suffered some pretty serious injuries. She had significant internal bleeding which forced us to operate on her. During the course of the operation she suffered a stroke."

"A stroke?" Piper said shocked.

"We managed to stabilize her and stop the bleeding, but Paige was uanble to breathe on her own. We had to place her on life support," the doctor explained.

Piper choked back tears, "Can I see her?"

"Yes, but be prepared. She is on a lot of machines. She is in room 264 in intensive care. I'll walk you up."

As Piper and Leo followed the doctor up to Paige's room, neither said a word. They were both trying to process what the doctor had just told them. When they reached Paige's room, the doctor turned once again to Leo and Piper and told them to be prepared for what they were about to see. Leo and Piper nodded but nothing could have prepared them for the sight. Piper gasped as she looked at her baby sister. Paige was laying very still and had bandages wrapped around her forehead. She was stark white and the only noise was the machine breathing for her.

"I'll give you two a minute alone with her," the doctor said and turned to leave the room. Leo followed her out.

"Doctor," he said. She turned to face him. "What are her chances?"

"Honestly, I don't know," the doctor replied. "I won't lie, she's in pretty bad shape right now, but I have also seen medical miracles. It is important that her family be with her and remain strong."

"We love her, and we're not about to lose her," Leo said.

The doctor smiled and sqeezed Leo's shoulder. As she walked away, Leo tried to compose himself before walking into the room again. He had always thought of Paige as his sister, not just a sister-in-law. They had spend a lot of quality time together when she had first come into the family. If anything happened to Paige, he would be just as upset as Piper and Phoebe. He saw Piper standing in the doorway as if she was afraid to move so he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"We should go in," he told her.

"Oh, Paige, how did this happen?" Piper whispered as she walked closer to her sister.

Leo placed his hands over Paige.

"What are you doing?" Piper asked.

"I'm a Whitelighter, I heal. I'm going to heal Paige, we're not going to lose her," Leo said.

Piper nodded. She was so upset she hadn't even thought of having Leo heal Paige. She felt herself relax a little at the thought of Leo healing Paige. But she soon felt herself tense up again as Leo's face showed disappointment.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I don't know. It feels like something is blocking my magic. I can't heal her."

Piper began to cry. This couldn't be happening to them again. "Go get Phoebe," she said, trying to control her emotions.

"Piper..." Leo began.

"GO!" Piper yelled.

Leo nodded and orbed out as Piper layed her head on the pillow next to Paige's and cried. He couldn't heal Paige, and what was worse was that he couldn't even sense Paige's spirit anywhere.