History Repeats Itself—Chapter 2
By JewWitch
Okay, I know I have another story waiting to be updated—I am not abandoning Godsmacked! I intended for this story to be a one-shot, but as there have been requests for another chapter, and I am a complete sucker for sister-bonding cuteness, I figured, why not. Consider it a palate refresher. I promise Godsmacked will be updated soon!
Chapter 2Paige opened her eyes slowly, squinting against the unnaturally bright light of her bedside lamp. She was in a complete fog, and thoughts seemed to tumble in and out of her head at random. She couldn't remember exactly where she was, or what she was supposed to be doing. Weren't they fighting demons? Yes, that's what she did now. With her sisters.
"Gotta get the demons," Paige murmured hoarsely, tossing her head on the pillow as Phoebe held an ice pack to her sweaty forehead, trying to keep her sister from knocking it off in her fevered agitation.
"Shhh, honey, there are no demons now…you just need to relax. It's okay, baby, you're okay," Phoebe hummed, soothing her sister as best she could as she pushed her damp hair back from her flushed face. Piper walked in a moment later, carrying a glass with a straw bobbing out of the top.
"How's she doing?" Piper asked quietly, sitting down beside Phoebe on the bed.
"Completely out of it…poor baby." Phoebe picked up the washcloth that was sitting on the bedside table, and dipped it in cold water before gently wiping off Paige's face and neck, trying vainly to cool her down. The sensation seemed to rouse the restless girl, as her eyes opened again, this time seeming to actually see the room around her. She looked directly at Piper and Phoebe, blinking fuzzily.
"What's everybody doing in my room?" She murmured, one hand moving up to rub her eyes.
"We're just trying to keep you cool, Paigey girl. You've got a very high fever. Do you remember?" Paige looked confused, her eyes moving around the room in extreme slow motion.
"Were we fighting demons?" She asked croakily, with a deep cough.
"No, sweetie," Piper said soothingly, running her fingers through Paige's black hair. "There's nothing to worry about right now…do you think you can take a few sips of this for us?" She held up the glass as she spoke, threading one arm behind Paige's shoulders as she and Phoebe both helped their sister sit up. Paige was incredibly thirsty, and needed little encouragement to take the straw. After the first sip, however, she began to cough again, twisting onto her side as her breathing got away from her.
"Ow," she groaned when the coughing jag finally passed.
"Does your throat hurt, baby?" Phoebe asked, with obvious distress in her voice. Piper made a mental note to check in with Phoebe a little later…it was obvious to her that her younger sister was feeling guilty over Paige getting sick, and she needed to have that notion knocked straight out of her head before she really started torturing herself.
Paige was nodding up at Phoebe with tears in her eyes, one hand rubbing her throat.
"I know just what you need, Paigey…I'll be right back, okay?" Paige nodded as Phoebe got up and pressed the ice pack back against her brow. "Keep that there till I get back," she instructed, kissing Paige on the cheek before she left. Paige re-focused on Piper, her expression exhausted but more alert than she'd been all night.
"Piper?" she croaked.
"Yeah, honey?" Piper smiled at her youngest sister and stroked her cheek.
"Am I late for work?" Piper laughed.
"No, baby girl, it's four in the morning…and you won't be going to work for a few days. So just relax, Phoebe and I are taking care of you. Okay?"
"'Kay," Paige mumbled, rubbing her nose sleepily. There was something so purely innocent in the gesture, that for a moment Piper felt she could see her sister as a child; as if she had been there, in their lives, all along.
"We love you so much, Paigey," Piper murmured, leaning down to kiss her sister's hot temple.
"Love you," Paige sighed, her eyes sliding shut. Piper let her drift into a light slumber, continuing to stroke her hair, until Phoebe returned with a steaming mug in her hand a few minutes later.
"Oh…" Phoebe glanced at the quietly slumbering girl, then looked up to Piper with a pained expression. "She's finally sleeping peacefully. Should we wake her?"
"Yes, Phoebe, we should. Don't worry, she'll go back to sleep in ten minutes anyway, and she'll be a lot more comfortable once she has Grams' tea in her." Phoebe nodded, blowing gently on the tea as she sat beside Piper on the bed.
"Paige, honey, wake up for a minute," Piper cooed, shaking Paige's shoulder lightly. Paige's eyes fluttered; she looked up at Piper and smiled. Then she sneezed, glowing momentarily with white lights, but not orbing.
"Bless you, sweetie," Phoebe said gently, handing Paige a tissue from the bedside table. "Here—that sounded juicy." Paige laughed weakly, accepting the offering with a slightly embarrassed expression before blowing her nose for several long moments.
"Sorry I'm so gross," she said hoarsely, glancing nervously between her sisters as they helped her sit up again, and Phoebe began to spoon-feed her the tea.
"This is nothing, Paige, really," Phoebe assured her sister with a small grin. "Once I blew my nose on Prue's sleeve."
"And I puked all over Phoebe's shoes at a slumber party," Piper giggled.
"I was wearing the shoes, Piper. You puked on my feet."
"Same difference," Piper shrugged, with a small wink for Paige, who couldn't help but smile back.
"Just let us take care of you, Paigey, and don't worry about anything. Okay?" Paige nodded, feeling herself relax as the hot tea soothed her throat. The comfort was short lived, however, as her runny nose began to itch again, and she fought the sneeze that was blooming with an adorable expression of concentration on her scrunched up face. Eventually, though, the tickle in Paige's nose overwhelmed her, and she leaned forward and sneezed into her hands several times. Each time the glowing white light of orbs was fainter and shorter.
"She's so weak, poor thing," Phoebe murmured, with a nervous glance to Piper. The idea of Paige being too weak to orb made Phoebe uneasy; it wasn't as if they could just take a "sick day" from demon attacks, after all.
"Why don't you go set up the crystals, Pheebs?" Piper asked. It was as if she had read her younger sister's mind—which, given the expression on her face, wasn't at all difficult for Piper.
"Good idea, Pipe," Phoebe agreed quickly, jumping up from the bed and practically sprinting for the attic. Paige, who had finally stopped sneezing, blinked up at Piper with a dazed expression as she rubbed her nose.
"Bless you, bless you, bless you, and bless you," Piper smiled, handing Paige the whole box of Kleenex this time.
"Thandks," Paige mumbled stuffily, a pained expression on her face as she rubbed her sore throat.
"Try to finish this tea, honey, it'll really help. Promise." Paige nodded, too exhausted to speak, and drained the tea as quickly as she could, eyes half-lidded, before slumping back against the pillows.
"Good girl," Piper praised her, taking the empty mug from her sister, who was rapidly falling into a heavy sleep. Piper hoped she'd sleep for at least six hours; in addition to soothing her throat and alleviating her congestion, Grams' tea would also give her sister a much-needed sedative, thus allowing her the rest she so desperately needed. Paige sighed sleepily.
"Wake me when it's time to go to the party," she mumbled.
"Promise," Piper assured her, kissing her forehead. Paige smiled faintly, dropping into a deep sleep.
The next time Paige opened her eyes, sunlight was streaming through her window, making lacy patterns in the dust motes floating through the air. For a moment, her mind was completely, blissfully blank. Then she swallowed, and the sharp bolt of pain that lanced down her throat snapped her into immediate wakefulness. She gave a low, pitiful whimper.
"Hey there, sleepyhead," Phoebe said with an indulgent grin on her face as she sat on the bed next to Paige. She ran her fingers through Paige's hair, stopping to rest on her forehead. "Your temp's finally going down…that's good. How are you feeling?"
"My throat hurts," Paige groaned, in a gravelly voice several octaves lower than normal. "A lot."
"Poor sweetie," Phoebe cooed, still stroking Paige's hair. "Do you want some more tea?"
"More?" Paige said blankly. "Have you ever made me tea before?"
"You don't remember last night?"
"Phoebe, we had hot cocoa last night," Paige said slowly, with an air of patience about her as if she were speaking to a toddler.
"Before bed, when we were watching the Muppets, yeah. Do you remember anything after that?"
"Uh…" Paige screwed up her face, rubbing her eyes as if to clear her head.
"You had a rough night, baby girl," Phoebe said gently, smoothing her sister's long black hair back from her face. "Scared me a little, to be honest. Your fever got so high, and you were completely delirious. Sometimes you didn't even know where you were."
"Oh, shit," Paige groaned, shrinking back under the covers in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Pheebs," she mumbled, looking down at her hands.
"Oh, honey, no…don't apologize. No, no, no. That's what sisters are for. I couldn't stand the idea of you being so sick somewhere else, and not having Piper and me to take care of you. In fact…" Phoebe trailed off with a guilty expression, inspecting her fingernails closely as Paige had done a moment before. "If anyone should be sorry, it's me. I was so wrapped up in Cole, I forgot about being a big sister…I'm the one who sent you running off in the middle of a thunderstorm." Phoebe was practically trembling with guilt, and her lower lip began to quiver.
"Phoebe, this isn't your fault," Paige said gently, reaching out and threading her fingers with her sister's on top of the covers. "We had a fight, okay? It's nobody's fault. It's certainly not your fault I went running out half-cocked and got myself stuck in the rain. It was stupid of me, I knew I was making myself sick…I think, um, maybe I was trying to punish myself a little."
"Now that really is stupid," Phoebe agreed. Then she threw her arms around Paige's neck and hugged her tight. "No more punishing, okay?" Paige nodded, sniffling quietly. Phoebe noticed, and handed Paige a fresh box of tissues from the bedside table.
"Now," Phoebe continued, resuming her mom-like tone of the night before, "how about some nice hot tea and chicken soup? Piper made it fresh for you before she left for work this morning."
"Oh my god!" Paige squeaked, suddenly wide-eyed. "Work! I have to call my boss! What time is it?"
"Honey, shhh, relax…it's almost one in the afternoon, we already called your boss. He said to take as much time as you need, and feel better. We told him you wouldn't be back for the rest of the week. And you won't," Phoebe said sternly, staring her sister down with a look that clearly said, you don't want to mess with this.
"Oh…okay," Paige conceded, relaxing back against the pillows. "What about your new job? Shouldn't you be at the newspaper? I'm okay by myself, really…" Paige trailed off as Phoebe cranked up her eyebrow.
"First of all, you are not okay by yourself; I doubt you could even stand up on your own right now. And second, my boss was fine with me writing my column from home today. See, there's this nifty new thing called email—"
"Oh, shut up," Paige groused, then began to giggle at the self-satisfied smirk on her sister's face. Her nose was running again, and she sniffed hard, grabbing a handful of tissues as another sneeze began to well up.
"Ahh…Achoo!"
"Bless you," said Phoebe, noticing that her sister's glowing was stronger than it had been last night, but she still wasn't orbing the way she normally did when she sneezed.
"Paige, can you orb?" Phoebe asked hesitantly. Even with the crystal alarm system set up, she wanted to know that Paige's powers were intact.
"Huh?" Paige looked at her blankly.
"Well, ever since your fever spiked last night, you haven't orbed when you sneeze; you just glow a little. I just want to know if you can still do it if you're trying." Paige nodded, and with a look of intense concentration, slowly dissolved into a field of white lights. Phoebe gave a huge sigh of relief. Then Paige orbed back next to the bed. Almost as soon as the glowing white lights disappeared, Paige realized that Phoebe had been right—she couldn't stand up on her own. Overwhelmed with dizziness, Paige stumbled, but before any part of her connected with the hardwood floor, her sister's strong arms were around her, holding her up, guiding her the short distance back to the bed.
"Damn," Paige groaned, closing her eyes in hopes of alleviating the vertigo. "I haven't felt this awful since I quit drinking." Phoebe crawled into the big bed behind her and began rubbing her back soothingly.
"Sorry I made you orb, baby," Phoebe murmured, her own lack of sleep catching up to her as she laid her head on the pillow. "I just wanted to be sure."
"S'okay," Paige yawned, falling into a light trance under her sister's comforting touch. Within moments, they were both fast asleep, which is how Piper found them when she snuck home from the club an hour later.
"Rise and shine!" she announced cheerfully as she entered the room, expertly balancing a large tray. As soon as she'd set it down on the desk, she crawled into bed between her sisters, who were beginning to rouse.
"Hi Piper," Phoebe murmured, her voice still husky with sleep as she wrapped herself around her older sister's waist.
"Hey baby girl," Piper cooed, running her fingers through Phoebe's hair as her sister slowly woke up. The sound of sniffling drew her attention to her other sister, who was still asleep, though her eyes were fluttering.
"Pai-ige," Piper sing-songed, grinning despite herself at the adorable sight of her two sisters asleep together; Paige seemed to have developed a habit of curling one hand around Phoebe's arm while she slept, as if Phoebe were her own, personal life-sized teddy bear. And who could blame her? Piper was the first to admit that Phoebe was very cuddly.
"Wake up, Paigey girl," Piper hummed again, reaching over to stroke the sleeping girl's face. "Time for some lunch, honey." Phoebe, fully awake now, sat up and began to run her fingers through Paige's hair. Under their combined attentions, Paige's eyes finally blinked open. She smiled.
"I dreamt we went to the rainforest," she murmured, "and we had special jungle powers, and Piper said if we ate the fruit from the top of the Baobab tree, we could fly!" Piper and Phoebe looked at each other, and grinned.
"At least she's having nice dreams now," Phoebe shrugged. Piper laughed and pulled them both into a hug.
"Are you feeling any better, baby?" Piper asked, feeling Paige's head and looking into her eyes.
"Yeah, a little," Paige nodded. "My throat still hurts, but not as bad as before."
"Well, your fever's down, but you still feel pretty warm, and your voice is all croaky. Fortunately, we have just the thing for that." Piper turned and gently brought the tray onto the bed. "More of Grams' medicine, and some of my chicken soup."
"Mmmm, you made enough for all of us! Thanks, Pipe," Phoebe said happily, giving Piper a kiss on the cheek.
"Here, Pheebs, this is for you, too." Piper tossed her a small glass bottle.
"Are you vanquishing me?" Phoebe asked blankly. Paige giggled, and sneezed.
"Bless you," Piper and Phoebe both said at the same time. Then Piper added, "It's Echinacea, Pheebs."
"But I'm not sick," Phoebe argued.
"Yes, and I want to keep you that way. You've been breathing Paige's germs in all night."
"What about you?" Phoebe asked shrewdly, looking for any way out of having to take the foul-tasting tincture. Piper held up another small bottle, grinning at Phoebe with a look that said, you're not weaseling out of this.
"Okay, okay," Phoebe groused. "Let's get it over with." They both pounded back the contents of the small vials like shots of vodka, Phoebe adding to the effect by making a sour face afterwards and taking a large gulp of water from her glass. Paige grinned at her sister's antics, her own discomfort momentarily forgotten, until her nose began to itch again.
"God damn it," Paige grumbled, sniffling hard and rubbing her nose roughly with her knuckles, "I am so sick of all this…Achoo!…sneezing."
"Here, take your medicine," Piper said in her mom-voice, holding out the spoon. Paige obediently opened her mouth and allowed Piper to tip the bitter-tasting concoction down her throat. "That should keep you sneeze-free for a few hours."
"And if it doesn't, Piper's soup will," Phoebe added, pulling one of the steaming bowls toward herself. "It's the bestest chicken soup in the whole wide world!" Piper grinned at her sister's praise, quickly seconded by Paige once she tasted it. She couldn't believe how much better she felt with Piper's soup soothing her throat and filling her stomach. Lying in her bed, warm and snug between her two sisters, Paige silently thanked whatever power was out there that had brought her back to them. It was with this thought chasing through her head that she drifted back to sleep, dreaming of the three of them flying over tall mountain peaks, rushing rivers, and ancient redwoods.