Nancy screamed from the kitchen a few minutes later, causing Piper to drop the paper and run into the kitchen. Running into the kitchen Piper nearly slipped on the orange juice that Nancy had apparently dropped on the floor. Piper grabbed the nearest towel and began to clean it up not even noticing that Nancy was holding her shoulder trying to rub out a cramp.
"Sorry, it must have slipped."
"It's not a problem, I'll clean it up. Just next time don't scream, you almost gave me a heart attack. You know the rule, no screaming in this house unless a demon attacks."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Two towels later Piper had the spill completely cleaned up, throwing the towel into the sink, and had just finished washing her hands when sheturning around to face Nancy. She was a little surprised to see that Nancy was no longer there. She took a moment to grab a clean glass out of the cabinet filling it with some orange juice from the refrigerator and carried into back out into the living room.
Noticing that the lift was still upstairs, and Nancy's chair was not sitting at the bottom. She walked up to the downstairs bathroom she took a moment to listen pressing her ear to the door. After not hearing anything inside she knocked on the door as gently as and quietly as possible.
"Nancy you alright?"
"Yea."
"Need any help?"
"No….I mean yes, I do."
Piper heard the door unlock and waited a moment for Nancy to back up from thedoor. Walking into the bathroom she was not surprised to findNancy having trouble trying to reach the sink. Piper figured Nancy would need help, they hadn't had the chance to get things in the downstairs bathroom set up for Nancy. They had installed the handrails near the toilet, but had yet to set the mini ramp up in front of the sink so Nancy could reach it.
"Thanks Piper. I'm all sweaty and can't reach the sink to wash up."
"Here's your juice."
Piper said as she handed Nancythe glass of juice and grabbed a towel out of the upper cabinet.
"Would it be alright if I take a bath?"
"Sure, want me to set it up for you?"
"Please, I'm a little sore from the work out."
"I'm sure it wasn't easy maneuvering the chair with both of you in it."
"It wasn't that bad. I had a good work out for sure."
"That's great, but maybe next time just come home and get me."
"I wanted to, but Phoebe knew you would take her to the hospital, and…."
"Like all Halliwell women, she hates hospitals."
"Right!"
Piper finished filling the tub with some bubble bath helped Nancy out of her sweaty cloths eased her into the bathtub then left the room to give her as much privacy as possible.
"Yell when you're ready to get out, and make sure you drink that juice, don't want you to get dehydrated."
"Thanks Piper, this is really hitting the spot."
Nancy closed her eyes enjoying the smell of the soap, and allowing the heat from the water to work it's magic as it started to pull the soreness out of her body.
Back in the living room Piper watched as Phoebe made her way back down the stairs by way of the chair lift. While pushing the button on the chair lift, Phoebe held Nancy's spare chair in her hand setting it up once she reached the bottom of the stairs.
"That shower was just what the doctor ordered."
"How did you manage to take a shower with that leg?"
"I used Nancy's bench and hand held shower head. I never realized how much work Nancy has to do just to take a shower."
"Her life may not be easy, but she doesn't complain, she just makes the best of it. Now it's time for something else the doctor would order, if you would let me take you.You can stay in Nancy's chair, or I can help you get into the big chair over there. We need to elevate your leg and get that ice pack on it."
"I can get myself into the chair over there."
"Alright, and I'll be right back with that ice pack."
"Thanks. By the way where's Nancy?"
"Taking a bath, she was a little sore."
"Not surprised, she was working pretty hard to get us home."
Phoebe got comfortable in the oversized chair as Piper came back into the room with two ice packs in he hand. She lifted Phoebe's leg up on the coffee table gently placing a pillow under her ankle to keep it as elevated as possible. Placing one ice pack on Phoebe's ankle she placed the other one on her knee.
"Thanks Piper, I'm sure this will make the soreness go away completely."
"Just rest Phoebe, I'm going to get some clothes for Nancy."
"Sure."
Piper headed upstairs and grabbed a clean pair of clothes for Nancy before heading back downstairs and over to the bathroom. Knocking on the bathroom door Piper waited for a response but didn't get any. Opening the door just a little, she called Nancy's name still not getting a response. Poking her head insideshe noticed Nancy had fallen asleep in the tub, not something that a person should normally do, butunder the circumstances, totally expectable.Gently shaking Nancy awake she started to drain the tube.
"Come on sleepy head, time to get out."
"Not yet, I'm still sore."
"I know, but you can't sleep in the tub. I'll make you a deal, you get out of here, we'll get you dressed, and I'll give you one of my famous back rubs while you lay on the couch."
"Now that's a deal I can definitely agree to. Thanks. Can you get some cloths for me?"
"Already done. You want some help getting dressed?"
"No I can handle it, thanks."
Piper put Nancy back into her chair then left the bathroom so Nancy could get changed. Almost ten minutes later Nancy emerged from bathroom fully changed but still looking exhausted. Piper pushed her chair over to the couch and helped Nancy to lay flat on her stomach before placing her hands on Nancy's back and forming slow deep circles to help take the huge knot out of her back.
Phoebe was dozing on and off and didn't open her eyes until Nancy was quite comfortable and enjoying Piper nice soft touch. She could feel her muscles expand and contract, as shelet sleep take over her body.
"Hey Nancy, how's it going? Feel alright?"
"She's fine. She's just enjoying the same backrubs you love so much. Isn't that right Nan?"
Piper said but once again got no response. She looked at Nancy's face and realized that she was sound asleep. Getting up off the couch Piper picked up the nearest blanket and covered Nancy up. Walking back over to Phoebe Piper checked the ice packs to make sure they were still cold enough to do their job.
"Piper is she really alright?"
"Yea, I have a feeling she was in some pain and didn't want to tell you."
"You would think she would have learned by now."
"I don't think she was afraid to tell you. I think she didn't want you to blame yourself. She also might not have noticed until you guys were home. Just like Prue, she will ignore everything until she achieves her goal."
"True. I still should have known, she was breathing pretty hard the last few blocks, not to mention she had to stop several times, claiming her hands were to sweaty."
"Well what's done is done. You're both home safe, and that's what's important. Next time Pheebs let her come and get me."
"I know, I know!"
"Good, lecture over. Now, I'm going to make some tea, want some?"
"Sure thanks."
Piper went into the kitchen turned on the stove and filled the kettle with water. Before sitting at the kitchen table to wait for the water to boil, she opened the upper cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Advil. She could feel one of her killer headaches coming on, and only hoped that didn't mean she was going to get a cold.
Even as a child when Piper would get a cold it would wipe her out for a least a few days. She didn't want that to happen right now. Halliwell tradition states, ifone persongets sick, they all get sick. It was the extreme of share and share alike. Popping the Advil she sat down at the kitchen table to wait for the water to boil.
After several minutes the kettle whistled signaling that the water was ready. Filling two cups with the water and adding the tea bags, Piper picked up the cups and headed back into the living room. Handing the cup to Phoebe who was reading a magazine, Piper took a seat in the other chair picking up the paper to try once again to read it, however after reading several sentences that made no sense she threw the paper back down on the table.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, just by now I'm sure it's old news."
Phoebe giggled and returned to her magazine. As Piper started to doze off to sleep Phoebe attempted to get up out of the chair, with not much success. As she settled back down the door bell rang causing Piper to jump out of the chair and run to the front door. She didn't want the bell to wake up Nancy.
"Hi Chad."
"Hey Piper. Is Nancy here?"
"She's sleeping right now."
"Oh? It's the middle of the afternoon."
"I know, but she went on a long workout with Phoebe this morning and pushed herself a little to far."
"Let me guess, hills?"
"How'd you know?"
"She's always begs me to take the hills, but I didn't think she was ready for them."
"She told Phoebe you do them all the time."
"No way. She's fast, but not that fast.Besides we get a good enough work out on the straight ground."
"Smart boy."
"Well when she wakes up can you give her these books, their for her term paper. Then tell her I told her so, and I'll call her later."
"I think I'll leave out the I told you so."
"Right. I better get going, I have some stuff to do for the prom."
"Oh right, Nancy mentioned something about you being on the committee."
"I thought it would be fun, and not too difficult. I found a great place to hold the dance, and we signed the papers, put down the deposit and everything. Now we find out that the building has some problems and we can't have the dance there. The guy says he'll refund our money, but who knows if that's true."
"When's the dance?"
"Two weeks. I've got some places to check today. I just pray they will let me book it with no money down."
"If you need help let me know."
"Thanks, see you later."
"Bye."
Walking back inside Piper placed Nancy's books on the coffee table and turned around to close the front door but stopped when she noticed Owen getting out of his car. She thought about waiting for him to come inside, but figured it would be better if she talked to him out of Phoebe's earshot.
TBC-----Review, and tell me what you think...
