"Hey Piper. Wow, for a Monday, this place is packed. Has it been busy like this all night?"
"Hi Prue, Yea it has. Thank God for a good staff, at least I don't feel like I have to do everything myself. Say, haven't you been home yet? Usually you change out of your work cloths as soon as you can."
"No, I haven't. I had a lot of work to do today. Just got done a half an hour ago. Figured I would stop by for a drink then head home."
Piper told one of the other bartenders that she would be taking a break, and she made her way around the bar and sat next to her sister, handing her a drink in the process.
"Thank. Hey, you never work in jeans and a t-shirt. What gives?"
"I had a ton of paperwork to catch up on. I came in at 12:30, and worked on it all the way up till the club opened. I didn't have time to go home and change. I wonder how Nancy's first day was."
"I'm sure Phoebe will give us the lowdown when we get home. Good thing she hasn't started her classes yet. At least we can rely on Phoebe for…"
"Rely on Phoebe for what?"
Piper and Prue turned their chairs around and saw Phoebe standing at the end of the bar.
"Phoebe, your not home with Nancy?"
"No. I called and left a message. I had something I had to do. Some friends dropped me off, figured I would catch a ride home for Piper, after the club closed. Why?"
"I called too."
"Me too. Oh my God, that means Nancy has been at home, and alone since at least 3:30. I put her meds up, and I don't even think she knows where they are, not that she could reach them anyway. She is long past due, I better get home."
Prue grabbed her purse, and ran out the club; with Phoebe right on she heals. Piper ran behind the bar, grabbed her office keys and walked over to one of the other bartenders.
"John?"
"Yea Boss? What can I do for you?"
"I have a little family problem and need to go home for awhile. Can you keep an eye on things for me while I'm gone?"
"Sure, no problem. Take your time."
"Alright listen, my cell number is right next to the register. Call if you need to."
"Sure, don't worry."
Piper ran to her office, grabbed her purse and keys, and then ran out the back door. Prue in the meantime, was driving like a maniac to get home. Phoebe sat in the passenger seat, gripping the door handle as if it was her life.
"Prue, slow down, or we're going to get into an accident. That won't get us to Nancy any faster."
"I know you're right."
Taking a deep breath, Prue eased he foot off the accelerator. Phoebe also breathed a sigh of relief, and let go of the handle. Prue was trying to calm down, but inside she was a mess.
"I can't believe this happened. I can't believe I LET this happen. I should have called at 4:00 to see if everything was alright."
"Prue, you need to calm down. I'm sure Nancy is fine. If she really needed us, she would have connected with one of us. Take it easy."
Phoebe for once was the voice of calm. She was worried about Nancy too, but knew freaking out wasn't going to help anyone.
"Is that Piper behind us? I didn't mean for all of us to go home!"
Prue could see a car just like Piper's in her rearview mirror, but wasn't sure. Phoebe turned around, and looked out the back window. Although the headlights momentarily blinded her, she was able to make out the license plate.
"Yup, that's Piper alright. You know her; she'll drive herself crazy, until she can see for herself that Nancy is alright. Just like her big sister."
They pulled up to the Manor moments later. Prue didn't even turn off the car; she jumped out and made her way into the house. Phoebe turned off the car, locked the door, and then walked in with Piper at her side.
"Nancy where are you?"
Getting no answer Prue began to run around the house looking for her. As Piper came inside she started to do the same thing. Phoebe wanted to put a stop to this madness.
"Guys stop! Prue go check the kitchen, and back porch. Piper take the sunroom, and living room. I'll check upstairs."
The girls went their separate ways. Phoebe made her way upstairs, and slowly opened the door to Nancy's room. Peaking her head inside, she smiled to herself, before going back to the top of the stairs.
"Guys, up here."
Piper and Prue came running up the stairs, nearly knocking each other over. Phoebe stopped them once they got to the top.
"Easy guys. Look."
Pointing into Nancy's bedroom, they saw her fast asleep, with her face buried in one of her books.
"See, I told you she was fine; reminds me of you Prue. You always used to fall asleep at your desk."
"I remember. You loved caring me half to death. Let's not do that to her, and just get her to bed."
"Right, Prue, help me lift her. Piper why don't you grab a nightgown."
"Phoebe, I have a better idea."
Prue raised her hands slowly and lifted Nancy out of the chair. Nancy floated in mid-air over to her bed, and was brought down slowly and carefully. They were each a little surprised that she didn't even stir.
"Nice job Prue. You better be happy she didn't wake up. You know how she hates it when you do things like that to her. Now, help me get her cloths off."
Prue positioned herself in front of Nancy, while Phoebe stood off to the side. Once Prue had Nancy in a somewhat seated position, Phoebe slid in behind her, lifting Nancy's shirt over her head.
"Phoebe hurry up."
Prue was speaking in a silent whisper since Nancy's ear was right by her mouth. Prue noticed that Phoebe was just staring at Nancy's back. She didn't understand why, they had all seen the cuts and scrapes at one time or another; they used to have to change bandages that covered her back every few hours.
"Phoebe, what is it?"
"Oh, man!"
"What? What's wrong?"
Prue moved Nancy a little more forward, and then sat on her knees to look over Nancy's shoulder. Piper raced over from the nightstand, nightgown in hand, to see what was the matter.
"What the hell? How did that happen?"
"Don't know, we can ask her in the morning. Let's get her shirt on for now."
Piper placed the nightgown over Nancy's head, and as Phoebe pulled her arms through, she noticed the other bruise.
"Guys, look at her face."
They placed Nancy's head on her pillow, and saw what Piper was talking about. Phoebe lifted Nancy's eyelid to look at her pupil.
"Phoebe is she alright?"
"I don't know for sure. Her eye is slightly dilated. Probably a mild concussion. Nancy honey, wake up for me please."
Phoebe remembered when she was young, and had a concussion, the doctor told her grams to wake her every few hours, to make sure she was sleeping, and not slipping into a coma. They also knew that ever since they had vanquished the demons that had killed her parents, Nancy hated being surprised. Prue was trying so hard to held herself together, but when Phoebe's nice approach wasn't working she found that she couldn't control herself any longer.
'NANCY! WAKE UP RIGHT NOW! OPEN YOUR EYES!"
"LEAVE ME ALONE, YOUR HURTING ME!"
Nancy's eyes popped open, and she had a combination of fear, and pain in them. Nancy's screaming scared the hell out of Piper, it made her jump back several feet. Prue got scared as well, but she was more relieved to hear Nancy's voice. Phoebe took hold of Nancy's hand and leaned down to speak softy into her ear, but Nancy was fighting back.
Nancy had her eyes clamped shut, trying to block out the pain she was feeling everywhere. She kept pushing Phoebe away, acting as if she didn't know who any of them were. Phoebe turned to Piper and Prue for help, and without a work they took hold of Nancy, trying to keep her still, so Phoebe could try to calm her down.
"Nancy, it's alright. Everything is alright. It's just us, calm down. Can you open your eyes and look at me?"
Nancy stopped screaming, and opened her eyes. Phoebe immediately noticed how pale Nancy looked, and realized that she was hyperventilating, and couldn't catch her breath.
"Nancy, your doing great. I want you to breath with me. Take a deep breath, and hold it till I tell you, then let it out nice and slow for me."
Nancy followed Phoebe's instructions as best she could. It took several times before the color began to return to her cheeks.
"Good, very good. Now can you talk to us, without yelling?"
"Prue, Phoebe, Piper, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"
"No it's alright. Everything is alright now."
Phoebe placed a hand on Nancy's face. She could feel that Nancy was sweating a great deal.
"Piper, can you go get a cool cloth for me?"
Piper left the room, and returned quickly with a wet cloth.
"Here Phoebe."
Prue was holding Nancy's hand, and keeping quiet while Phoebe washed some of the sweat off Nancy's face. Once she was done, she figured it was safe to speak.
"Nancy, what happened to you?"
"Oh, nothing. It's no big deal. I just, um…um…slipped at school. I'm fine really."
Nancy knew now was not the time to tell the truth. Phoebe put the cloth to Nancy's face one more time before putting her hand on Nancy's forehead.
"You seem a little warm. I think we need….HUH…."
Phoebe's world went black and white as she was sucked into a premonition. She saw everything that had happened to Nancy. Nancy could tell what was happening to Phoebe, and cringed when Phoebe opened her eyes, coming out of the premonition.
"What did you see?"
Piper sat on the bed with everyone else. Phoebe simply looked down at Nancy, who was trying not to make eye contact with anyone. Phoebe removed her hand from Nancy's head, giving Nancy a stern look.
"Nancy, do you want to tell them, or should I?"
"The truth?"
"That would be nice, since I remember telling you NO P.E., and you promising."
"She took P.E.? Explain!"
"Rather then tell you, I'll just show you. All three of you put one hand on my head."
"What?"
"Trust me, will you? Just do it."
They tried to be very careful as they placed their hands on her head.
"Now, close your eyes and relax. I'm going to project into your minds, but you have to let me in. Clear your thoughts don't think of anything and most important breath deeply."
Nancy closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and pushed her mind into theirs. Instantly Nancy's whole day was happening all over again, but in fast forward. They could see everything as if they were right there. When it was all over, they took their hands off Nancy's head. Prue and Piper felt dizzy and had ringing in their ears.
"WOW! That was intense. Is that what your visions feel like?"
"Welcome to my world."
Unlike her sisters, Phoebe felt fine. In the past few years she had become very used to this type of things.
"Where do you hurt Nancy?"
"I don't really."
"But, when you woke up, you said we were hurting you?"
"Well to be honest with you, I was hurting before. Right now, I can't feel anything."
"What do you mean, you can't feel anything?"
Prue was not really understanding any of this, and Nancy didn't want to be the one to say it. She locked eyes with Phoebe, praying she would understand, and she was right she did.
"Piper, go downstairs and call 911."
Piper was still so shocked and worried about what she has saw. She felt so bad about what had happened to Nancy that she wasn't even paying attention to what Phoebe had just told her to do.
"PIPER!"
"Huh, what?"
"Go downstairs, and call 911!"
"Right!"
Piper ran out the room, bolting down the stairs, picked up the phone, and took a breath as she tried to focus on what she was dialing.
"Prue, Prue, look at me."
Prue was still confused; she wanted to ask so many questions. She needed Phoebe to explain what was going on to her, but before she could get any words out of her mouth, Phoebe beat her to the punch.
"Prue, why don't you go downstairs and wait with Piper. I'll stay with Nancy, don't worry."
"Prue, go on. I'll be fine, but Piper looked a little freaked. I'll bet she can't even figure out how to pick up the phone, let alone dial it. You better go help her."
She knew Prue didn't want to leave, but Nancy couldn't handle anyone freaking out right now, and Phoebe seemed to be the only one staying calm. Getting up, Prue kissed Nancy on the forehead, and left the room without saying a word. Arriving downstairs, Piper was just hanging up the phone, then immediately ran into Prue's arms as they both let their tears fall from their eyes.
Upstairs Phoebe was trying to assess how Nancy really was. She wanted to give the paramedics as much information as possible when they arrived.
"Nancy, can you move your toes?"
"No, I can't. I could when I came home, but the pain started to become so intense that I thought they had gone numb. When I waked, I felt like I was walking on little pins. Now I don't feel anything. Phoebe what's going on?"
"I'm not sure, but try and relax, and most important, don't try to move. We may not have helped when we took you out of the chair."
"You guys didn't know."
"I know. Let's not jump to any conclusions until we get you to the doctor alright."
"You'll stay with me right? Like before?"
"As long as they let me. If they don't, I won't be far. You trust me right?"
"Yes."
"Good. I mean you are going to the hospital that is going to teach me to be a great nurse. Therefore, you know it can't be bad at all. They were smart enough to take me right."
"Is that suppose to make me feel better?"
They started to laugh, but Nancy shouted out in pain, and began to hyperventilate again. She didn't know why, but she was beginning to have trouble controlling her breath. Thankfully it didn't take the ambulance long to arrive.
Prue had been pacing in the entryway, for what seemed like forever. When she saw the flashing lights coming from down the street, she ran outside and stood on the curb waving her arms in the air. She was quickly noticed, and she showed them inside and upstairs to Nancy's room, then returned downstairs with Piper. She didn't want to get in the way.
"Alright, what have we got here?"
The first paramedic asked as he pulled out some supplies, while his partner began taking Nancy's vitals.
"This is our cousin Nancy. While at school today she suffered a blow to the face, as well as the back. Now she has no feeling or movement in her lower extremities, and has a numbing sensation in her arms and hands."
"Well Nancy, my name is Roy, and this is my partner Johnny. We're going to take good care of you."
"Roy BP is 110/60, respiration is 20 and shallow. Pulse is 75."
"Alright, let's get a c-collar put on, and get some fluids into her. Nancy does your chest hurt?"
Nancy was very scared of these men. Even though they seemed nice, she knew that they would probably do things that she wouldn't like. She had her eyes closed; she didn't want to watch what they were doing. She was doing such a good job of blocking out everything around her she didn't even hear Roy ask the question.
"Nancy can you hear us?"
When they got no response, they thought she might have lost consciousness, so Johnny pressed his knuckle into her breastbone, as he shouted at her. When Nancy screamed out in pain, they knew she was conscious.
"That hurt. Don't do that again!"
"I won't, but I need you to keep your eyes open, and answer my questions."
"But I don't want to watch."
"You don't have to honey, just look at me. Don't think about what their doing. Now answer his question. Does you chest hurt?"
"No."
She answered quickly as she locked eyes with Phoebe, she could feel the I.V. sliding into her hand. A single tear slide down her face, as she realized she couldn't move anyway. Phoebe wiped the tear from Nancy's eye.
"Your doing great."
"Is Prue really mad at me?"
"Don't worry about that now. Let's just get you better, and then we'll deal with that."
"Phoebe, I don't want Prue to be mad at me. What if she pulls me out of school, I just got there, and already made some friends. Or worst, what if Prue decides it's to stressful, and want to give me up. I'm just starting to like it here, I don't want to leave."
"First of all, you're not going anywhere. Piper and I would never allow it, and Prue would never want it, we all love you too much. Second, Prue can't pull you out of school; the judge said you had to go remember."
"Alright, we need to get her on the backboard so we can take her downstairs. If you'll just step out of the way Miss, we can get this over with quickly."
Phoebe kissed Nancy's hand, and then moved out of the way. Once Roy got into position to help roll Nancy on her side, Nancy could no longer see Phoebe. She began to panic, and fight against Roy and Johnny, trying to push them away.
"Hey, Hey, now calm down, or you'll hurt yourself more."
"Nancy stop that right now! I'm right here! I'm not going anywhere I Promise. Now do as they say!"
Once Nancy could hear Phoebe's voice she stopped fighting and allowed them to do their job. Once she was strapped down, Phoebe returned to her side, and helped to lift the board off the bed, so they could make their way downstairs.
Once they arrived at the bottom, they loaded her onto the gurney and began to strap her down again. Once she was secure, they made their way across the entryway, that's when Nancy realized she still hadn't seen Prue and Piper. She didn't want to leave without talking to them first.
"STOP! I want to talk to Prue and Piper, where are they?"
"Right over here honey, just a minute."
Phoebe walked away from Nancy, and entered the living room, where Piper and Prue were still sitting, holding each other, with tears falling down their faces.
"You guys need to pull yourselves together. Nancy wants to talk to you. Prue she thinks you're mad at her, and she's afraid you will send her away. So both of you, wipe the tears, she doesn't need that right now. Tears come later."
Phoebe turned on her heals and headed back to Nancy. Piper and Prue took a second to wipe their eyes and put on their best fake smiles, and then followed Phoebe over to the gurney.
"Hey honey."
"Can I have a minute alone with my family please?"
"Alright, but just for a second, then we have to go."
Roy and Johnny took the extra time to take the rest of their equipment to the truck, and put it away.
"Prue, I know your blaming yourself, but don't. This was my fault, not yours. If I had only listened to you guys, none of this would have happened."
"Sweetie, believe me, blame is the last thing on my mind right now. I don't care whose fault it was, as long as you're alright. I just want you have, and safe. I love you baby."
"I love you too. I don't think I could have asked for a better guardian then you."
She took a second and adjusted her eyes on Piper.
"Piper, I know your scared for me, but don't be. I'm not going anywhere. I don't need to give up anymore. You guys can't get rid of me this easily. You once told me that everything happens for a reason. If that's true, then there is a reason for this too, and I'm sure it's not so I can leave you guys. We just found each other."
"We'll try sweetie. We just love you so much."
"Prue don't take this the wrong way, but I would like Phoebe to ride with me to the hospital. We sort of have a deal."
"No offense taken. Phoebe will take good care of you."
"Time to go."
"I'm ready. How about a kiss for the road?"
Piper and Prue each leaded forward and planted kisses on Nancy's forehead and cheek. Johnny and Roy began to take Nancy outside.
"I'll be right there. Guys I'm going with her, don't leave without me, unless you want one freaked out patient."
Roy and Johnny carried Nancy down the stairs and began to load her into the ambulance. Phoebe took and extra second with her sisters.
"I want you guys to promise me you will pull yourselves together before either one of you get behind the wheel. Visiting one Halliwell in the hospital is one to many already. I don't want to be visiting three. Promise me?"
"We promise."
The three walked outside, Piper, and Prue kissed Phoebe on the cheek, and then took a seat on the front steps. They watched as Phoebe was helped into the back of the ambulance, followed by the ambulance driving away. They took comfort in the fact that although the lights were on; they had not turned on the siren, which usually indicated an emergency. They knew Nancy was stable.
Ten minutes after the ambulance was out of their sight, Prue got up, got her keys, and the two of them headed off to the hospital. The drive for them was very quiet, until Prue let out a small chuckle.
"What's so funny?"
"I just realized I was taking orders from Phoebe."
"I know she was really great with Nancy though. Not to mention she didn't freak out once. I have no idea where she got that from."
"I do. She told me that she has already learned a lot of the rules you have to follow in order to be a really good nurse. The told me the head Nurse is always saying that Rule Number One, is to stay calm. She say's going crazy won't help anything."
"She's a lot smarter then me. I mean staying calm is so obvious, but I couldn't have done it."
"Me neither."
Inside the ambulance, Phoebe sat by Nancy's head, while Johnny continued to monitor her vitals and chart them down.
"Are they alright now?"
"They'll be fine. Just concentrate on getting better."
"Phoebe, I didn't want to say this in front of Prue and Piper, but I'm really scared. I lied before. My chest does hurt, and it's getting really hard to breath."
Johnny reacted to hearing this news quickly. He grabbed an oxygen mask and prepared it to put on Nancy.
"From now on if it hurts you tell someone. No more lying! Understand?"
Nancy nodded her head yes as the mask was placed over her nose and mouth. She heard the sirens being turned on, and could feel the speed of the ambulance increase from fast, to light speed. Time had now become real important if there was going to be any hope of Nancy recovering.