Chapter 17 – Hold On.
Once at the hospital, Steffi grabbed her daughter and ran inside. Phil was hot on her heels, and ran over to the desk.
"My daughter… we think she's got meningitis." He pointed at Steffi who was desperately trying to calm Grace down.
"Uh-huh," said the gum popping, blonde receptionist. "So what do you like, expect me to like, do? I'm no like, surgeon."
"Could you get me one? I'd really appreciate it." The receptionist sighed and pressed a button with a long, manicured nail.
"Doctor Khan to reception, Doctor Khan to reception." A young Eastern man came running in a few minutes later, and shook hands with Phil.
"Doctor Imran Khan, Gynaecology Unit. What appears to be the matter?"
"Officer Phillip Gregory, NYPD. My daughter… it looks like meningitis. Come and see." He escorted the doctor over to Steffi, who was still attempting to calm Grace down.
"Please calm down, Gracie!" Steffi pleaded. On seeing the doctor she blushed slightly and let Phil take Grace.
"Doctor Imran Khan, Gynaecology Unit," said the doctor and shook Steffi's hand.
"Carmella Gregory, terrified mother."
"Well, she looks fine… temperature is abnormally high though. What made you think she has meningitis?" Steffi pushed the sleeve up on Grace's sleep suit and revealed the rash. "That would probably be why," smiled Doctor Khan. "If you'll just follow me then I'll give her a more detailed examination…"
Grace was sleeping in an incubator, under observation. Steffi and Phil watched as their daughter was injected and sedated, then had tubes put in her nose. Steffi turned her face into Phil's jacket when the nurse started to put her on an IV drip, and Phil kissed the top of her head.
"It's okay baby, they know what they're doing with her. She's in good hands." Steffi's small frame shook as she sobbed silently into her husband's police uniform, and he led her to a seat a few metres away from the observation ward.
"This is my fault somehow, I know it… it's my punishment for going off with Cole, isn't it?" Phil kissed her face gently.
"Of course it isn't! I'm sure she's just fine, and she'll be home by tomorrow."
"What if she isn't? What if our daughter dies and it's entirely my fault because I did something stupid?"
"She's not going to die, I promise. And if you didn't do stupid things, then you wouldn't be human."
"I'm not human," Steffi mumbled miserably.
"Of course you are; what do you mean?" Phil stroked her cheek and let her lean into him.
"I'm not human, not really. I'm a demon." Phil started to laugh, but then stopped when he saw she was deadly serious.
"You're a what now?"
"A demon. I can manipulate fire, and I can shimmer from place to place, and I can conjure objects out of thin air. How else do you think I managed to get so many clothes?"
"Honey, demons don't exist. They're imaginary, and I'm worried about you. Maybe you should get some sleep or something…"
"No, watch my fingers." Steffi clicked her fingers, and a small flame flickered into life between her thumb and forefinger.
"You've got a lighter in your hand, haven't you?" Phil uncurled her fingers, only to find there was nothing there, and the flame had remained. He moved away from her, shocked. "What are you?!"
"I'm a demon," she said, still sounding miserable. "And our daughter's gonna be one and it's all my fault!" Phil looked torn, between his wife's obvious distress and his fear at what she had just revealed to him.
"Why didn't you tell me you were a… a… why didn't you tell me before?"
"Because I knew you'd react like that, and I didn't want to lose you over something so small."
"Small? Small?! You just showed me that you could blow me up with a click of your fingers and you call that small?!"
"Yeah okay, keep it down! I didn't even show you a fireball yet, jeez! And it seems small to me because I've lived with it my whole life, and it's a part of me. I wasn't going to tell you, but if Grace gets powers then you should be prepared… I don't know what she may have inherited. If my mom's powers skipped a generation, then there's gonna be some interesting levitation going on around our house."
"Levitation?"
"Yeah, it's… we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Phil sighed and shuffled back over to her, holding her tight.
"I don't understand half of what you just said; and the half I did understand I'm terrified of; but you're my beautiful, lovely, perfect wife and I love you. So whatever you said, bring it on; because I'm not going to let you go just because you're an arsonist." She cuddled into him again, and sat in silence for a moment.
"You know, that might be why she's got a temperature; she's the daughter of a fire starter after all, and I'm always running hot because of it. It might not be meningitis at all…"
"Carmella – you are joking?"
"Well it's a possibility… but that's no ordinary rash." Phil looked at her a moment, trying to read her expression.
"I don't know what you are, or anything about you anymore… but I kinda like it this way." He smiled at her and kissed her passionately. She kissed back and giggled as he tickled her gently.
In San Francisco, Cole was opening a large brown envelope. He looked at the initial paperwork briefly, and skipped to the real results. His heart leapt as he read the results of the paternity test, and he put the papers down on his desk with a sigh.
A/N and Disclaimer: Charmed really doesn't have anything to do with me at all.
Is Grace Cole's baby? Has Grace got some weird disease? Will Phil stay with Steffi when he learns her whole story? You gonna read the next chapter and stop asking me dumb rhetorical questions?