After seeing they were fine, she took note that although Nancy didn't seem to be running a fever, she was sweating a great deal, not to mention, quite pale. Looking in the toilet they could see that she had been throwing up, and probably had been for a while. Piper flushed the toilet, grabbed a towel, and ran it under some cool water, before handing it to Phoebe who ran it over Nancy's face.
"Nancy, can you hear us? Open your eye's for me."
Phoebe spoke calm, but forceful. Nancy's eyes began to flutter open when the towel came in contact with her face. At first she couldn't focus her eyes, but after a few seconds things became clearer. Her head was tilted backwards, and she found herself looking into the beautiful caring eyes of Prue.
"Prue I don't feel very good."
"I can see that. When did all this start?"
Nancy opened her mouth to answer, but instead found herself pushing Phoebe out of the way in order to throw up some more. Phoebe held the towel on the back of Nancy's neck, while Prue held Nancy's hair out of the way.
"Prue!"
Prue turned to the sound of her name being called, only to see Piper standing by the sink with a bottle of pills in hand. Prue began to rub Nancy's back in small circles. She knew what was wrong, but need to make sure.
"Nancy, did you take one of your painkillers?"
Nancy simply nodded her head yes. As the nausea subsided she leaned back against Prue, as Phoebe began to wipe Nancy's mouth for her.
"Why didn't you tell me so I could give you some food with it. You know these pills are stronger then the other ones. You can't take them on an empty stomach."
"I didn't want to bother you. You were already asleep, and besides you guys have already done so much for me. I just thought since I was going to sleep, it would be aright. So I took one, and an hour later woke up, ran in here, and well you know the rest. I'm sorry."
"We'll talk about this more tomorrow. Do you think we can take you back to bed, or do you still feel sick to your stomach?"
"My stomach is still a little queasy, but I don't think I'm going to be sick anymore."
"Piper why don't you get Nancy a bucket, just in case. Phoebe and I will get her back to bed."
Piper nodded her head, and headed downstairs to find the famous bucket that they had all used at one time or another growing up. Prue and Phoebe each put one of Nancy's arms around their neck and slowly helped her to stand. Once she was on her feet they paused for an extra second to make sure she wasn't going to be sick, or fall over again. They could tell that every move was causing pain, so they tried to move as slowly and gently as possible.
Arriving in the bedroom, Piper placed the bucket next to the bed, and then helped to get Nancy as comfortable as possible. Phoebe went over to the dresser and pulled out a clean nightshirt, while Piper and Prue helped Nancy out of her sweat soaked one.
"Is this really necessary?"
"Nancy, your shirt is drenched with sweat, not to mention, you missed the toilet a little. Now cooperate please."
They removed her dirty shirt and placed the clean one over her head, and then pulled her arms through. With a clean shirt on, and a fresh cool cloth on her forehead, Nancy laid back and closed her eyes.
"There, doesn't that feel better?"
"Yes, much. I think I can sleep now. Thanks guys, and again, I'm sorry for causing all this trouble."
"It was no trouble, but your welcome. I'll sit with you till you fall asleep."
"Thanks Piper, but that's not necessary. I'll be fine by myself, I promise."
"Humor me will you."
Piper smiled as Nancy began to close her eyes and drift off to sleep. Although they had only known Nancy for a short amount of time, they had each grown to love and care for her, as much as they loved and cared for each other.
"Piper your tired, why don't you let me sit with her?"
"Prue don't be silly. You have to work in the morning, and before you say anything Pheebs. You just spent the last what six hours reading to little girl. Go to bed both of you. I'll wake you if anything happens."
Prue and Phoebe knew better then to argue with Piper. They quickly kissed Nancy on the forehead, hugged Piper, and headed off the bed themselves. They each knew that Nancy was going to be fine, but still worried in their own ways.
As Nancy began to drift off to sleep, Piper went to change her cloths. Returning to Nancy's bedside, she checked to make sure Nancy's body was cooling down. Seeing that she was not sweating as much, and color was beginning to return to her cheeks, Piper placed her pillow in the oversized chair next to Nancy's bed.
Sitting down she got comfortable, and clicked on the flashlight she brought in with her. She decided to read a book for a while, so she could stay up as long as possible, just in case Nancy needed anything. As the clock rolled to 3:30 am Piper took one last look at Nancy, before putting her book down and closing her eyes to get some sleep.
Nancy seemed to be sleeping soundly, but in reality things inside her mind were not so sound. Her dream land was not a peaceful happy place. Instead it was a dark and dirty alley. She found herself running from people she could only hear, but not see.
Nancy tried to remain as calm as possible. She knew that if she began to panic, she might loose control of her power, and do something she didn't want to do. As the voices got closer and closer, Nancy could feel her heart begin to race, and before she knew it she felt her mind reaching out to others. She started to think of people who could help her feel safe. Her mother and father were the first one's to come to mind, but of course she couldn't exactly dream link with a ghost.
She closed her eyes and tried to relax, repeating over and over in her head that it was just a dream, and she was perfectly safe. As the voices grew even closer she could no longer control her fear, and opening her eyes she found herself screaming at the top of her lungs.
"RUN YOU GUYS! RUN!"
Standing not more then ten feet away from her was Prue, Piper, and Phoebe. They couldn't hear Nancy, they just started to look around totally confused.
"What? Where are we?"
"I'm not sure Pheebs, but…"
They were cut off when they saw Nancy running toward them waving her arms in the air to get their attention.
"Nancy what are you…"
Nancy cut them off by grabbing them by their arms and pulling them behind a row of dumpsters. They were about to ask many questions when they heard voices approach. The voices were chanting in unison.
"JOIN US OR DIE!"
The girls tried to look over the top of the dumpsters, but Nancy grabbed them and put her finger to her lips, telling them to keep quiet. As the shadows of the voices began to pass by, the girls looked at each other totally confused. They looked to Nancy hoping to find some answers, but instead saw that she had curled herself into a ball, and was rocking back and forth, her hands covering her ears. Not knowing what else to do Prue remembered what their mother always told them when they were little. Placing Nancy in her lap, she began to whisper into her ear.
"This is just a dream, it isn't real. It's just a dream it isn't real."
Phoebe and Piper followed Prue's lead and surrounded themselves around Nancy and whispered the same. While Nancy felt safer with them near her, she was worried that their voice would cause them to be found. She tried to remain quiet as the many chanters passed by, and when the final voice was gone she looked at the girls who each had questioning looks on their faces. Nancy didn't want to answer them now, so she beat them to the punch.
"Now do you guys understand? I told you if I stayed that bad things would happen. I know you battle all kinds of demons, being the Charmed One's and all, but you can not handle them. As soon as I'm well enough, I'm leaving. It's the only way I can be sure that it won't happen again. RELEASE!"
As quickly as they had joined the dream, they were pushed out. They were shaken when they opened their eye's, not really sure if what had happened was real, or just their own dreams. They each got up from their places of sleep, and walked into the hall. Once they found that they were looking at each other, without saying a word they made their way back into Nancy's room.
It was obvious to them that although Nancy had released them, she didn't release herself. They each sat down, and simply watched her sleep. As much as they wanted to, none of them could ball back to sleep without having some questions answered, but they weren't going to wake Nancy up to get them.