Chapter 8Recovery
Piper sat in a very uncomfortable chair resting her head on Leo's shoulder. She called him when they got to the hospital. Andy stood by Prue who was now on her fifth cup of coffee. Kyle paced nervously almost in step with Cole.
"Would you two sit down already, you're making me dizzy." Piper shot angrily at the two.
"Sorry." Kyle almost whispered the word. He was about to take a seat when the nurse walked in.
"Halliwell?"
Almost in unison Prue and Piper answered.
"I have some news on Paige. She's resting comfortably right now, the doctors think she'll make a full recovery. She does have a pretty severe concussion, but nothing that won't heal."
"What about Phoebe?" Prue waited for the nurse's reply but her heart sank as she watched her expression fade from happiness to sympathy.
"Dr Harris will be with you shortly to update you on your sister's condition."
"Can we see Paige?" Kyle stood there, waiting for her answer.
"Sure, but only two at a time." She motioned for them to follow her as she started down the long hallway. Stopping at the door she turned back to them. "Don't be alarmed when you see her, there is substancial swelling and hooked up to a lot of machines."
Prue and Piper started in the room. Piper stopped though turning back to Kyle. "Why don't you go first?"
"You sure?"
"Yea, you've been here the whole time, I think she would like to know it." Piper stepped aside letting Kyle walk in with Prue.
Prue's heart sank as she saw her baby sister there. Her skin was horribly pale except for the purple and blue bruising above her eye. She fought back tears as she walked closer to the bed. She reached down and gently took Paige's hand into hers. A single tear fell from her eyes and landed on Paige's hand.
"Please don't cry." Paige said weakly, squeezing Prue's hand.
"Hey sweetie." Prue leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "How are you feeling?"
"I have a headache." Paige tried to smile but that only made her head throb worse.
"Kyle came to see you." Prue motioned for Kyle to walk closer.
"What?" Paige reached up trying to brush her hair down. "Prue I look like shit."
"Watch your mouth." Prue smiled a little as she reached her own hand up brushing the blood-matted hair out of Paige's face.
"You look beautiful." Kyle reached down and put his hand on Paige's shoulder.
"He's been here all night." Prue watched as her sister seemed to calm down a little.
Paige smiled as she turned back to look at Prue. "How's Phoebe?"
In the hallway Piper watched through the window as Prue talked to Paige. She was close to tears when a group of nurses rushed pass her.
"Code red, recovery room 3. Code red, recovery room 3." An automated voice played across the loud speaker.
Following her instinct she followed them with Leo and Cole close on her heals. She stopped in her tracks at the horrible sight through the doorway. There in the bed lay Phoebe, doctors and nurses surrounding her monitors beeping loudly and everyone rushing around the bed.
She felt her heart beating in her chest as she watched one doctor take a pair of paddles from the nurse beside him.
"CLEAR!" He shouted, placing the paddles on Phoebe's chest. Her body shook violently as current passed through her.
Tears rolled down Piper's face uncontrollably as she watched the monitors show no response.
"CLEAR!" He shouted again.
Piper watched as the one monitor changed from a flat line to a jagged one. Phoebe's heart was beating. She looked from the monitor, to Phoebe, to the doctor who now had his stair locked on her. He handed the paddles back to the nurse and walked over to the door. "I'm sorry miss, family only."
"I am family, that's my sister." Piper searched the doctor's eyes hoping he understood the desperation in her voice.
"She's your sister?"
Piper nodded.
He turned back closing the door then looked back over to Piper. "I'm sorry about that. I'm Dr. Harris, I've been treating your sister."
"Is she going to be alright?" Piper felt a little less uneasy when she felt Leo place his hand on her shoulder.
"She's just undergone a pretty dangerous surgery. The bullet pierced her lung causing blood to enter her airways. We were able to control the bleeding in the OR, but her heart took on a lot of stress during the operation." He could see how worried Piper was. He felt so bad having to tell her all of this. She looked so young.
"Is she going to be alright?" Piper asked again, trying to keep her voice steady.
"If we can avoid any more set backs like the one you just saw she has a very good chance of a full recovery. Right now our main concern is her heart. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to check back in. I'll let you know when she can have visitors." He turned and opened the door.
Piper peaked around him to catch one more glimpse of her sister before the door closed again, leaving her with an empty feeling in her heart.
Andy stood outside of Paige's room waiting for Prue to come back out. He watched through the window as Prue stroked Paige's hair from her forehead. He couldn't help but notice how young Paige looked. She looked so frail and weak. He was interrupted from his thoughts as his phone rang. "Officer Trudeau." His expression faded as the officer on the other line explained the situation. "I understand, I'll be there in a few minutes." Andy knocked on the door motioning for Prue to come to him.
Prue walked out gently closing the door behind her. She could tell by his face it wasn't good news. "What's wrong?"
Andy let out a helpless sigh as he started to explain. "That was my partner, officer Morris. There's no easy way to say this Prue. Charlie's escaped."
"Are you kidding me?"
"I wish I was. I'm going to the station now, there are officer's on their way down here to keep watch over Phoebe." He leaned down a kissed Prue on the forehead. "Stay with your sisters, don't let anyone leave this hospital alone, ok?"
Prue nodded much like a child nodding in agreement to a punishment. She watched as Andy walked back down the long hallway. She turned and looked at Paige through the window. Kyle still stood there beside her, holding her hand.
"Prue."
Prue turned to see Leo and Piper walking toward her. Cole had stayed behind, still standing outside Phoebe's door. "Hey, did you find Phoebe." It was then she noticed that Piper had been crying. "Is she ok?"
Leo and Piper shared a long look before either of them spoke. Leo saw the desperation on Piper's face and answered for her. "She's got a long road in front of her. She came through the operation, but her heart is still weak."
"Is she going to be alright?" Prue prayed he'd say yes, but his face told her different.
"They don't know yet, they said they would let us know when she can have visitors, for right now, we just have to wait."
Prue nodded that same smile once again and slid her arms around Piper's neck pulling her into a gentle hug. "Why don't you go see Paige? She was asking for you earlier."
Piper nodded and entered the room leaving Prue and Leo outside. Leo looked over to Prue, thinking carefully before he spoke. "Can I tell you something?"
Prue looked over to him. "Sure."
"I know that the whole situation earlier with me and Piper wasn't easy for you. I want you to know though, I love Piper. I love her with all my heart."
"Leo, I don't doubt that you love her. I've seen the way you look at her. But, that is my little sister. Being the oldest gives me the right to say that no one will ever be good enough for her."
Leo's face fell a little.
"But, I can deal with you dating her. Just keep in mind, if you ever hurt her, I'm the one you'll have to deal with."
Leo smiled a little. His smile grew a little bit bigger as Prue returned the smile.
"Phoebe's in bad shape, huh?"
Leo nodded. "She's gonna pull through this Prue, she's a fighter." He put his arm around Prue's shoulder and stood there with her, watching Kyle and Piper in the small room with Paige.
Neither of them noticed the man lingering a little further down the hall. His white over coat covered his blood stained close and his hat hid the knot that still continued to swell on the back of his head. His face showed a horrible expression of hate. It was Charlie. He stood back in the shadows, just waiting for them to walk away, just waiting for his chance to see Phoebe. He started to walk forward but stepped back when he saw the two officers walk up to Prue. An evil grin spread across his face as he came up with a plan. Phoebe was his girl, he had every intention of getting her back. This time, no one would stand in his way.