Sisters Bound

Part 9 – Safe At Last

By: Silverstar03

Here's the last chapter. I hope everyone enjoys!

"Piper! Piper!" I heard a voice calling my name. Was I still alive? Gathering what little strength I had left, I squinted my eyes open. We weren't in the demons' world anymore…we were…"Piper! Piper!" Blinking my eyes a few times, I realized that someone was kneeling before me.

"Paige…?" I asked, still uncertain. It…it looked like I was home.

"Piper! You're alive!" she cried, and I then saw that she was crying. In moments her arms were around me and I winced as she brushed my scorched shoulder and my broken arm. Slowly, I picked up my right arm and wrapped it around her. But I was tired, emotionally drained, and in pain.

"My…my sisters!" I finally said, forcing Paige to back away slightly.

"There're…there're right here," she said softly, and when I looked over to my left I saw Prue and Phoebe both lying there. Prue's eyes were closed, but Phoebe's were wide open and she was looking around. She was looking around the house that she hadn't seen in six months.

"Phoebe," I said softly, and at the sound of my voice she looked over at me, for the first time realizing that we were all there with her.

"Who…who are you?" she asked Paige, slowly inching closer towards me as she kept her eyes glued on my sister.

"That's Paige," I answered. "I've been staying with her family…Paige, why are you here?" I then asked her as Phoebe crawled up next to me and I put my good arm around her protectively.

"When…when I got home I was really worried about you Piper. A few hours later when I was in my room, I saw that your necklace was glowing. It glowed so brightly…and I knew something was wrong. So I begged Mom to bring me. She didn't want to at first, but I told her that I had called you and that you wanted me to come. All I knew was that I had to help you!"

"Paige…" I said as Phoebe slumped against me and closed her eyes. "Phoebe?" I asked, shaking her gently. There was no response. "Paige, we have to call an ambulance!" I said loudly, about to get up as Paige held out her hand.

"I called 911 as soon as I saw you three…Prue looks really bad." Relieved at the news of an ambulance probably only minutes away, I looked over at Prue and saw her breathing heavily.

"I…I still don't understand how we escaped," I whispered, trying to keep my mind off my big sister.

"I…I think I might have helped," Paige said slowly, and I looked at her in confusion. "When I got here I searched the house. You weren't anywhere. I eventually made my way up to the attic and…and I found the Book of Shadows. I…I found a page to summon a lost witch. I had to try it…so I did. I went into your kitchen, I did what the book said…and an hour later, the spell was complete. I didn't think it would work…I said it over and over and over…and then I heard a noise. When I walked into your family room I saw you three…I saw you…" Paige was now crying again, and I let her lay her head on my lap.

"It's okay Paige…we're going to be fine now. Everything will be fine…When we were cornered, we started to chant. I think it was a spell from my mom."

"Your mom?"

"Yeah…our spell must have connected with yours…that's how we got back. You saved us Paige…thank you." As I said this I felt my consciousness slipping away. Paige was now shaking me gently, but I couldn't hold on any longer. The pain in my left arm was too much. After smiling slightly at her, I slumped forward and fell into darkness.

I didn't like the dark…bad things happened in the dark. Still…I felt safe. Why did I feel safe? Listening closely, I heard a low hum in the room around me. What was that? Collecting my thoughts, I thought back to the last thing that I could remember…Prue, Phoebe, and Paige. Prue, Phoebe, and Paige! Forcing away the fatigue I felt, I slowly opened my eyes. My shoulder was tightly bandaged and my arm was in a cast at my side. Bringing my right hand up, I felt the bandage on my forehead. As I did so, I looked around the room, still trying to believe that we were back…that we were safe. As I lifted my head and looked over to the left, I saw another bed. Phoebe was laying there, her eyes closed, and her features relaxed. Tears welled up in my eyes when I saw her and I let them fall. After all these months, I wasn't crying tears of sadness. These were tears of joy.

"Piper…Piper!" Tearing my eyes away from Phoebe, I looked up to see Jamie standing in the doorway. There were tears in her eyes as well.

"Jamie…" I said softly, and at the sound of my voice she rushed over to sit beside me on my bed. In seconds her arms were around me, just like a mother.

"Oh Piper, I'm so glad you're awake. When I got the call from the hospital…" When Jamie finally let me go I was crying even harder. "Oh honey, are you okay?" she asked, brushing some hair out of my face with her cool hand. "Are you in any pain? The doctors said they gave you pain medication, but if you're still in any pain-"

"No," I said softly. "I'm okay." Jamie smiled at this and then reached up to pull the "call nurse" button.

"We should make sure, just in case." She said, and I closed my eyes as she took her hand in mine. "Piper…" I opened my eyes when I heard Jamie say my name and looked up at her. "Everything is going to be fine." Everything is going to be fine…I guess it would…at the moment, I was too tired and too overwhelmed to really think about how everything was going to be. In moments a nurse had entered the room. When she saw that I was awake she ran back out and minutes later a doctor entered. Jamie stood back to let him near me and I eyed him carefully as he did so. "Piper, this is doctor Nolan," Jamie told me, and I watched him as he leaned over me.

"Hi Piper. I'm just going to take a look at you, okay?" I didn't answer and remained still as he looked into my eyes with a little light. "Can you follow this light with your eyes for me?" I did what he asked and waited as he wrote something down. "Good, good." He then checked my heart and my temperature. "Well, you seem to be doing fine. You don't seem to have a concussion, and you don't have a fever, so I doubt there's any infection from that shoulder." I looked at him as he wrote some more things down on his clipboard. "She'll be just fine," he said as he turned to Jamie and I saw her smile in relief.

"Thank you so much," she replied, and he nodded.

"I'd like to keep her here one or two more nights for observation, and if nothing changes you can take her home."

"Thank you, thank you so much!" As the doctor left I looked over at my sister and frowned.

"But I can't leave them…Prue! Where's Prue!" I then shouted, realizing that she wasn't in the room with Phoebe and me.

"Piper-"

"Where is she! Prue!" I called as I struggled to get up. Jamie rushed forward holding me down with not too much difficulty. The meds they had me on were making me groggy.

"Piper, Prue is in the room next door. Piper, calm down. Do you hear me? Prue is in the room next door." I laid back, taking in what she had said, and then took a deep breath. After exhaling slowly I looked up at Jamie and saw relief.

"Is she going to be okay?" I asked. "And what about Phoebe?"

"They'll be fine in time sweetie. You're all going to be fine. Now, try to get some rest. Okay?" I slowly nodded as Jamie pulled the covers up around me a little more and leaned forward to kiss my forehead. I saw her get up to go sit in a chair in front of my bed and then I looked over at my sleeping sister. As I watched her I felt my eyelids close and I fell into darkness.

The next time I opened my eyes sunlight filled the room. I woke to find Paige sitting on a chair next to my bed. Her head was lying on her arms and she was leaning onto the bed beside me. She was asleep. Picking up my good arm, I gently stroked her hair back and watched her sleep.

"She's been worried about you." Glancing up quickly at that voice, I looked over towards Phoebe. She was sitting up in bed and watching me.

"Phoebe…" I whispered, looking over at her and wishing I could be sitting with her.

"I've met these people…" Phoebe said, waving her hand at Paige. "Jamie, Mike, and Paige…they seem to really care for you."

"Yeah…they became my family after…"

"But you never gave up on us. Piper, you saved our lives."

"And I'd do it again." Phoebe smiled at this statement and I smiled back. "What day is it?"

"Sunday…A Sunday in March…the last thing I knew it was September…We even missed Christmas."

"But you won't be missing another one," I assured her. "Tell me, are you okay Phoebs?"

"Yeah…I'm just being treated for malnourishment. Just a few cuts and bruises besides that. Nothing to worry about."

"Good. What about Prue?"

"She…she hasn't woken up yet, and the doctors won't let me out of bed to see her. I feel so bad…no one's in there with her…"

"I was sitting with her," I heard a voice below me say, and when I looked down Paige's arms had encircled me and she was holding me in a hug. I hugged her close to me and bent down to give her a kiss on the head.

"You sat with her?" I asked.

"Yes…Mom said I could, so I sat with her."

"How is she?" I asked, and then looked up at Phoebe.

"They won't tell me exactly what's wrong with her," Phoebe answered. "They just keep telling me that she's going to be fine."

"I heard the doctors taking to Mom and Dad," Paige then said. "They said they don't want you to go through any more stress than necessary."

"That's ridiculous," I spat. "Not knowing what's wrong is going to give us even more stress." Paige shrugged and then sat up in her chair.

"I heard Doctor Nolan talking, so I can tell you what's wrong if you want to know." Phoebe and I both nodded and gave Paige our utmost attention.

"Please," I told her, and she smiled.

"Okay. But remember that she's going to be fine." We nodded again and waited. "Her right arm is fractured in three places, she had to get five stitches on the cut above her eye, she has a concussion, and…there was some internal bleeding."

"Internal bleeding…" Phoebe echoed, and Paige nodded.

"But it's okay cause the doctors stopped it."

"But she hasn't woken up yet…" Phoebe said softly…"And they won't fully know that she's okay until she wakes up and they check her out."

"I'm sure she'll be fine Phoebs," I replied, but doubt was forming in my mind as well. "Paige…will you go sit with her? Tell us if she wakes up?" Paige nodded obediently, gave me one last hug, and then headed for the door. Once she was gone I looked over at Phoebe and smiled sadly. I had my sisters back, and that meant the world to me. But, would getting my true family back keep me from my second family? What would happen to us? I saw that Phoebe couldn't really get out of bed because of some IVs that were hooked to her. Gathering my strength, I threw my legs over the edge of the bed and sat up completely.

"Piper…" Phoebe said, not wanting me to get hurt, but I continued. Slowly, I stood up and shuffled over to Phoebe's bed. She was smiling the whole time. When I reached her she gladly scooted over to give me space beside her. I slipped under the covers and hugged my sister close.

"I'm never leaving you out of my sight ever!" I told her, and she laughed.

"Don't you think that might be a little hard? Especially when I get a boyfriend?" I laughed at this comment.

"You're only ten. You're too young for a boyfriend!" Phoebe just laughed at me and snuggled closer. I rolled my eyes at her and then tilted my head to lean on top of hers. A half hour later we were still sitting comfortably when a nurse came into the room with a cart, followed by Jamie. When they saw that I wasn't in my bed they looked around quickly and found me snuggled close to Phoebe.

"Piper Halliwell! You are not supposed to be out of bed!" Jamie said, and I think that I scared her for a second. The nurse just shook her head and walked over to me.

"Come on, I'll help you back to your bed," she said kindly, and I let her help me up and walk me back over to the other side of the room. Phoebe frowned, but she didn't protest. It was sad…the things that were different. There was one point in time that Phoebe always spoke her mind, and if she didn't like something, you knew it. That wasn't the Phoebe that I had grown up with…but I would take any Phoebe I could get. The nurse got me back in bed and then left us each a tray of food. It didn't look very appetizing to me, but with Jamie staring me down I knew I had to eat. When I looked over at Phoebe I saw her slowly eating through the whole tray, so I began to eat as well.

"Can I get you girls anything?" Phoebe looked up as she realized Jamie was talking to her too, and then slowly shook her head. I followed suit and continued to eat my lunch as I smiled. I loved Jamie for including my little sister…I loved my family so much.

An hour later the nurse came back to get our trays and then left. Jamie said she was going to go home to meet Mike, but that they'd be back later.

"Paige doesn't want to leave, so I'm going to send her in here to stay with you. Is that okay?"

"Of course," I told her, smiling at the thought of Paige pouting to her mother that she wanted to stay. Phoebe usually kept quiet when Jamie was in the room, and as soon as she left I saw my sister's head pop up.

"Piper…what's going to happen to us?"

"I…I don't know how to answer that question," I replied. "I was staying with the Mathews' when you and Prue were missing…but I'm not sure if they have enough room, or if they'd want all of us…But I'm never going to leave you or Prue again. Do you hear me?" Phoebe nodded and seemed a little comforted. "Why don't you turn on the TV?" I asked, and in a second my sister was absorbed in some television show. This was about the time Paige entered, sat down next to me on my bed, and put her arm around me.

"You okay?" she asked, and I smiled in response.

"You okay?" I asked back, and she nodded. "Prue?"

"No change." My smile sagged slightly at this news, but I tried not to show my disappointment.

"Come on, let's watch TV," I told her, and for the next few hours we flipped channels, watched cartoons, and laughed at a comedy show. It felt good to forget about everything else and just laugh.

To Be Continued…