History Repeats Itself
By JewWitch
Chapter 3
Paige was running down the field in her brand new cleats, a present from Prue for her eleventh birthday. They fit her perfectly, the hard rubber spikes digging into the earth, making her feel faster and stronger than ever. Her large brown eyes were wide with determination as the ball came at her from the right side of the field, setting her up for a perfect goal. Without stopping to think, Paige slammed the ball as hard as she could, watching breathlessly as it sailed past the goalie with a triumphant whoosh, just before the air horn blasted, signaling the end of the game. The entire field erupted in cheers. Paige stood grinning like an idiot, not even noticing that she was nearly being crushed by the many hands reaching out to pat her on the back.
"Look, Paige," Glenn said, pointing to the bleachers with a smile. "Your sisters are here!" Paige looked up and saw Phoebe, Piper, and Prue, all jumping up and down in the stands and screaming her name. Prue was still wearing her cheerleader's uniform, which meant she must have come straight from practice. Paige ran to them, elated; she hadn't thought they'd be able to make it.
"You came! You came!" She shrieked, leaping into Prue's arms to be swung around and around until she was dizzy. "Prue, stop, I'm gonna barf," she giggled, collapsing against her sister's strong shoulder as the spinning finally subsided.
"You rock, Paigey!" Phoebe exclaimed, pounding her sister on the back. "That was soooo exciting!"
"I'm extra-fast because of my new cleats," Paige explained modestly, kicking out her feet to display the prized footwear.
"I think you're extra-fast because you're Paige," Prue said with a quiet smirk on her face. "I saw you run faster than that when Grams told you to take a bath last night!" Giggling, the four sisters made their way toward Prue's Jeep, Paige talking a mile a minute about every play she'd made during the game. She was still recapping her final triumph when they pulled into the driveway. As the sisters passed through the doorway into the manor, Paige suddenly fell silent. A cold, disquieting prickle fell over her, causing her to reach for Prue's hand.
"Paige? What's wrong, hon?" Prue asked, cocking one eyebrow at the trembling girl. Paige tried to answer, but her voice died in her throat. An icy cold chill ran down her spine as the house was plunged suddenly into darkness, which no one else seemed to notice. She reached out to grab Piper and Phoebe, but they were already gone. Paige began to shiver violently as her whole body was filled with dread. Something was terribly, terribly wrong.
"Prue…" Paige finally choked out, her voice a barely audible whisper. "Something bad is after us." She tried to pull her sister out of the house, but her feet were frozen, no longer the swift inhabitants of the miraculous cleats. "We have to go…please, we have to go!"
"It's okay, Paige, nothing's gonna hurt you, I promise." Prue gave her sister a warm, assuring smile, her blue eyes serene. "He's not coming for you." Paige shook her head, desperate to make her sister understand. A cold wind began to swirl through the house, blowing paintings off the walls; the chandelier fell with a thunderous crash, sending tiny shards of glass everywhere. Paige felt herself screaming, but only the tiniest whisper of sound came from her throat. She was so cold. She tried to call out to Piper and Phoebe, but it was no use. Paige clung to Prue helplessly, telling herself over and over, nothing's gonna hurt us. Then the front door exploded inward with a resounding boom that shattered the windows, and in a whirl of blue wind, there appeared the demonic hit man—Shax.
"PIPER!" Paige shrieked at the top of her lungs, her voice exploding out of her along with the doors and windows. "PHOEBE!" She still clung to Prue's hand, unwilling to let her sister do battle with the demon alone. But Prue stood calmly before the terrifying monster, squeezing Paige's hand reassuringly.
"It's okay, Paige," Prue said quietly, her voice carrying over the noise of rushing wind and smashing furniture. "I'll always be here to protect you."
"No, Prue, don't!" Paige sobbed, but it was too late. Shax threw Prue across the room, sending her crashing through the opposite wall with a sickening, bone-crushing thud. Paige closed her eyes and screamed. "PIPER!" She sobbed uncontrollably.
"I'm here, Paigey, I'm right here," Piper soothed her hysterical sister, who lay thrashing violently on the bed. "Sssh, honey, please wake up now…it's okay, baby, you're just having nightmares…" Piper wiped the sweat from Paige's face with a damp washcloth, looking at Phoebe with a tense expression in her eyes.
"I've never seen her like this," Phoebe said quietly, stroking her trembling sister's hair in a vain attempt to soothe her. "Do you think we should take her to the hospital?"
"I don't know, Pheebs," Piper said quietly, gently wiping the tears from Paige's flushed cheeks. "I don't really think they can do anything for her…they'll just keep pumping her full of fluids and icing her down till the fever breaks, and we can do that here. I'd just as soon have her where she's comfortable…if she wakes up in the hospital, she'll be even more confused." Phoebe nodded, biting her quivering lip as her own tears began to fall.
"Oh, honey," Piper cooed, crawling across the bed to Phoebe and wrapping her sister in her arms. Phoebe broke down and sobbed, clinging to Piper desperately.
"Just let it all go, Phoebe…I know it's hard…Paige is gonna be just fine, okay?" Phoebe nodded against Piper's shoulder, hiccupping as she cried herself out. She just couldn't stand to see her sister like this, in so much pain, unable to even recognize the comfort being offered to her in her delirium.
"Phoebe?" Paige's weak voice roused her sister from her place on Piper's shoulder. "Is the demon gone?"
"Paige," Phoebe cried happily, throwing herself down on the bed to hug her sister's limp body. "You gotta stop scaring me like this," she whispered, kissing Paige's hot cheek and smoothing her sweat-soaked hair back from her face.
"Prue saved me," Paige murmured, blinking sleepily with unfocused eyes.
"No sweetie, it's just the fever giving you bad dreams," Piper hummed soothingly. She took the ice pack from beside the bed and held it against Paige's forehead. "Is that any better, honey?"
"No," Paige mumbled, shaking her head, "it was real…Shax came…he killed Prue…I couldn't stop him." Piper and Phoebe looked at each other as Paige began to cry. Was Paige really remembering something she had never witnessed? Was she channeling somehow? Or was it just a crazy fever dream?
"It's all my fault," Paige sobbed, wrenching away from Piper's comforting touch to curl herself tightly in a ball, burying her face in the pillow.
"No, baby, it wasn't your fault," Phoebe soothed her, snaking one hand under Paige's soaked pajama top to rub her back. "You were dreaming, Paigey, it was just a bad dream…" Paige flinched away from Phoebe's hands as if the gentle caress caused her pain, sobbing even harder.
"Piper, she's burning up," Phoebe said quietly as she removed her hand from Paige's back. "We have to do something." Piper nodded.
"Leo!" A whirl of orbs heralded the white lighter's arrival.
"What is it, Piper?" Leo asked, slightly breathless. Then he saw Paige, and his jaw dropped. He hadn't been home since they'd brought her back from the beach the day before, sniffling and sneezing. He was totally unprepared for the girl who lay before him now, soaked with sweat, completely delirious with a raging fever. Her hair lay tangled and damp on the pillow, and her eyes were glassy and distant, not seeing her family around her. If he didn't know better, he'd say Paige was suffering from a bad acid trip.
"We need a little help here, honey," Piper said, trying to keep her voice even-toned and soothing; even if Paige wasn't coherent enough to understand their words, she was sure a calm tone of voice was preferable to hysteria.
"Of course," Leo nodded, automatically reaching out to Piper and laying a reassuring hand on her back. "Anything."
"Great, can you orb us a bathtub full of ice, please, and fill it in with cold water?" Leo nodded, and quickly disappeared in a field of white lights. In less than five minutes, he was back, and orbed the four of them into the bathroom.
"Thanks, honey." Piper smiled reassuringly. "Now get out."
"But don't you need—"
"Leo," Phoebe smirked, "Do you really want to face Paige after she wakes up to find out you saw her naked?"
"Oh…" Leo blushed. Piper grinned. He was just so easy sometimes. "Right, okay…well, you guys just call if you need, uh…anything…" Piper waved him off with the patient air of someone who was quite used to taking care of her family.
"We can take it from here, Leo, really. But thanks for your help." With a quick kiss for his wife, Leo was gone.
"You know, Phoebe," Piper said quietly as the two sisters gently peeled off Paige's sweat-soaked pajamas, "Prue and I have taken care of you in this exact state on more than one occasion. You used to get the worst fevers as a kid."
"Really?" Phoebe cocked her head. "I don't remember ever getting dumped in a tub full of ice."
"That's because you were delirious, you ninny," Piper smirked and rolled her eyes. "The point is, this is nothing we can't handle. It runs in the family, ya know?"
"I know," Phoebe conceded, a small smile creeping onto her face as she contemplated Paige taking after her in some way—even if it was only a fever. "Who do you think she gets her stubbornness from?" They both quirked their eyebrows.
"Prue!" they exclaimed in unison, erupting in laughter.
Once they got Paige in the tub, it was only a few moments before she began to stir. She let out a long, low groan as her eyes blinked open, slowly taking in the room around her, and finally settling on her sisters.
"Piper, I'm cold," she groaned, her voice weak and very hoarse.
"I know, sweetie, I'm sorry…we just need to keep you in here a little longer to cool you down. Just a few more minutes, okay?"
"No," Paige whimpered piteously, crossing her arms over her chest as her teeth began to chatter. "I wanna get out now!"
"Looks like somebody's waking up a bit," Phoebe observed with a wide smile. "It's good to hear that squeaky little voice, Paigey. When we get you back to bed I'll make you some nice hot tea, okay?"
"Piss off, Phoebe," Paige grumbled, turning her head away. Phoebe looked at Piper, and shrugged.
"I'll take grumpy Paige over incoherent Paige any day," she observed, feeling a small rush of relief that Paige was at least cognizant of her surroundings. And who could blame her for being grumpy? No one could enjoy being dumped in a tub full of ice, especially when you're too weak to get yourself out again.
"Just a few more minutes, Paigey girl," Piper assured her shivering sister. "Just think about something else, okay?"
"W-what else am I s-supposed t-t-to think about?" Paige stuttered, her teeth chattering uncontrollably. "The arctic c-circle?"
"Um…how about what you were dreaming when you had that big smile on your face?" Piper suggested brightly. "Can you remember?" Paige looked at her blankly for a moment, then swallowed and nodded.
"I d-dreamed…I was a kid…here…w-with all of you. Prue w-w-was there. You guys c-came to my s-soccer game." Paige was going to say more, but trailed off into a fit of sneezing instead. Phoebe and Piper shared a brief look over Paige's head, as they both imagined growing up with their spirited little sister added into the mix. The thought filled them both with a momentary burst of sunshine, followed by a small ache at all that hadn't been; everything they'd missed.
"Okay, let's get her out of there before she starts sneezing internal organs out her nose," Piper grinned, taking Paige by one wet, now cool arm, while Phoebe took the other. Carefully, they helped a weak and trembling Paige step out of the tub, and wrapped her in a large, fluffy towel. Between the two of them, they somehow managed to get her dried and dressed in fresh pajamas, and back to the comfort of her bed. They also noticed that Leo had changed the sheets while they were gone, and Piper made a mental note to thank him for it later. He would, without a doubt, make a wonderful father some day. Perhaps even some day soon.
"So, Paigey, what would you like for dinner?" Phoebe asked brightly. "You can have anything you want."
"I can't think about food," Paige winced. "My throat still hurts too much."
"Poor baby," Phoebe murmured, leaning forward to kiss Paige's forehead.
"Well, you have to eat something, sweetie," Piper said sternly, sitting down on the bed with the thermometer in her hand. "Think about it while we take your temperature, okay?" Paige nodded rather listlessly, allowing Piper to slip the thermometer under her tongue. The three of them sat silently for a few moments, as Paige finally gave into the comfort her sisters were lavishing upon her. Her eyes closed as Piper's hand ran gently through her damp hair, and Phoebe's cool fingers grazed lightly over her back. When Piper pulled the thermometer out of her mouth, Paige started slightly, as if she'd been half-asleep.
"Sorry, baby," Piper smiled lovingly at Paige, then directed her attention at the digital readout in front of her. "Well, looks like the igloo-bath did its job," she pronounced happily. "You're back down to a hundred and one point two."
"Yay," Phoebe smiled at Paige and kissed her lightly on the cheek.
"Why, how high was it before?" Paige questioned, raising her eyebrows at her sisters' enthusiastic response to her temperature.
"Last time we checked, it was a hundred and four," Phoebe said seriously. "And that was before you got so crazy out of it that we couldn't even get you to take the thermometer."
"Jesus," Paige groaned, feeling a wave of guilt wash over her for how much trouble her sisters were going to in caring for her. "I'm sorry to be so much trouble, you guys," she mumbled meekly.
"Paige, what did I tell you this morning? Stop apologizing! You are exactly where we want you to be, and it is our god-given right to make as big a fuss over you as we want."
"And on that note," Piper smiled lovingly, "have you decided what you want for dinner?"
"Um…" Paige still wanted to say nothing, but she knew it was useless to go up against her sisters on this. Besides, she was far too weak to fight them. "I can't really think of anything that would be better than Piper's soup." Piper beamed, and quickly bustled out of the room to prepare dinner for the three of them.
"Hey," Phoebe called after her, "I'm hungry for real food! Will you make me a grilled cheese?"
A little over half an hour later, Piper returned from the kitchen with the same large tray she'd used to bring them lunch. Now it was loaded down not only with soup, tea, and medicine, but two plates of grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches, plus a heap of carrot and celery sticks. Piper was so focused on not spilling anything from the overloaded tray, that she didn't register the minor argument between her two sisters until after she'd set it firmly on the desk.
"That's gross, Phoebe, no way!" Paige insisted, refusing to take the jar of Vaseline from Phoebe's outstretched hand.
"Paige, you're being ridiculous. It will make you feel better, I swear!"
"I'll look like an idiot!" Paige insisted, shrinking back against the pillows in an effort to get as far away from the offending jar as possible.
"Well you're already a carbon copy of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, I don't think a little Vaseline will make much difference. Besides, it's just the three of us here! Who do you think you have to impress?"
"Phoebe, I am not putting Vaseline on my nose." Paige crossed her arms in a pout.
"Looks like somebody's feeling better, if you've got the energy to pout," Piper observed, a small grin quirking her lips. "What one earth are you two arguing about?"
"I'm just trying to help her feel better," Phoebe growled, a matching pout forming on her own face. "She can't stop sneezing! Look at her nose." Paige pulled the covers up over her face, so only her eyes were visible.
"Vaseline isn't gonna make me stop sneezing," She said sulkily from behind the blankets, "It'll just make me look stupid, and probably give me pimples."
"No, dummy, it'll make your nose feel better," Phoebe insisted with a roll of her eyes. "Isn't it sore as hell?"
"Well…yeah," Paige finally conceded. "But I still don't want…" Paige trailed off with a shaky breath, her eyes fluttering behind the covers. She quickly dropped the blankets, her hands flying to her face just in time to cover her sneeze. She couldn't help the whimper of pain that followed.
"Bless youuuu," Phoebe hummed in an I-told-you-so voice.
"Ohkay, already," Paige grumbled, still pouting behind a handful of Kleenex as she blew her nose. "Just give be the damnb stuff." Paige's voice sounded so cute when she was all stuffed up, Phoebe couldn't help the giggles that erupted from deep inside her, immediately joined by Piper.
"It's not nice to laugh at sick people, you know," Paige whined, grudgingly taking the jar from Phoebe's hand, and swirling out a small gob of Vaseline on her finger.
"Oh, honey, we're not laughing at you," Piper assured her grumpy sister, who gave her a disbelieving look. "You're just so damn adorable, sometimes we can't help ourselves!" Paige rolled her eyes while tentatively rubbing the goopy stuff on her very red, very tender nose. In truth, it didn't really look any different, anyway—instead of just being red, now it was red and shiny.
"Ru-dolph the red-nosed rein-deeeer," Phoebe hummed under her breath.
"Shut up!" Paige cried, creaming Phoebe with her pillow. Normally Phoebe would've been all too happy to start an full-on pillow fight, but she knew that Paige's sudden burst of energy would fizzle out almost as quickly as it appeared, and the last thing she wanted was make her sister over-tax herself. So instead, she simply reached over and tickled Paige's ribcage. Paige shrieked with laughter, rolling around on the bed with her feet kicking in the air. Piper watched the two of them with a wide, silly grin plastered on her face. Sometimes it really did feel as if Paige had been there all along.