I don’t own them. I just write about them. Enjoy.

"I can’t believe she forgot!" Piper threw her bag down just inside the front door as she stepped into the Manor.
"It’s no big deal, Piper." Phoebe tried to soothe her frustrated sister as she followed her inside, shutting the door behind her before tossing her bad down next to Piper’s.
"No big deal?" Piper turned on her. "No big deal?! We waited at the airport for two hours, Phoebe! TWO!!" She held up two fingers for emphasis. "And we had to ride with the cabbie from hell when her car is sitting right out there in the driveway!"
"Maybe she got busy or something."
"How can you get so busy that you FORGET to pick up your SISTERS at the AIRPORT?!!"
"Geesh!" Phoebe held up her hands to keep her sister at bay. "Take it easy, Piper." An idea suddenly struck her. "You’re not really mad at Prue, are you? You’re still upset about what happened in New York."
"No, I’m not."

Phoebe gave her a look.

"Fine!" Piper threw her hands in the air and sighed. "Yes, Pheebs. I’m still a little peeved about what happened in New York. But it’s not you I’m mad at. It’s...."
"Jeb." Phoebe finished for her. "I already told you I was sorry about recommending him. Obviously he had other ideas about what kind of music would go over at P3."

"No, really?" Piper’s voice dripped with sarcasm as she walked toward the living room. "And here I thought maybe San Francisco was missing out on something by not having Polka playing twins and groups of ten year old Britney Spears wannabes performing in their nightclubs."
Phoebe followed her. "Well how was I supposed to know what kind of bands he had lined up for you to listen to?"
"You could have asked!"

Phoebe gripped Piper’s arm as she started to storm away. "Where are you going?"

Piper pulled away from her. "To find our sister. Not coming to get us at the airport I can eventually forgive her for. Not coming to see us once we’re already here is just plain rude."
"You..." Phoebe swallowed hard. "You don’t think anything happened, do you? I mean, it’s not really like Prue to forget anything. Especially something like picking us up at the airport."
"I’m sure everything is..." Piper frowned when she saw the look on her sister’s face. "All right, Phoebe. What aren’t you telling me?"

"Nothing." Phoebe squirmed under her sister’s scrutiny. "Just that Prue wasn’t feeling the greatest before we left."
"What?"
Phoebe nodded. "She thought she was coming down with some kind of stomach bug."
Piper frowned. "But she seemed fine when she dropped us off at the airport."
"You now Prue. She can put on a good show when she wants to. Especially if she doesn’t want us to worry about her."

"Let me get this straight." Piper paced away from Phoebe. "Our big sister, who would rather french kiss the Source than ever admit she was sick, told you she wasn’t feeling well?"
"She didn’t have to." Phoebe winced. "I kind of heard her throwing up."
"And you didn’t say anything?! If she was sick we shouldn’t have gone anywhere, Phoebe!"

"I know, but..." Phoebe sighed as she avoided Piper’s stare. "She made me promise not to say anything. You were working your butt off at the club and we had been extra super busy with demon hunting. Prue said she thought you needed a break while things were quieter on the witch front and Leo was on assignment. So I agreed not to tell you. She just wanted you to have some time away."
Piper looked at her shoes. "She was worried about me?"
Phoebe grinned. "She’s always worried about one of us, sweetie. She’s the oldest."
"I know, but..."
Phoebe drew her into a hug. "Let’s find her. That’ll make you feel better."
"You’re right." Piper pulled away from her. "You take the basement. I’ll look upstairs."
"All right." Phoebe started to walk away but quickly turned back around. "And no yelling at her."
"I won’t." Piper raised one hand. "Girl scout promise."
Phoebe furrowed her brow. "You were never a girl scout."
Piper swatted her on the butt. "Just go!!"

She made sure Phoebe was well out of sight before running upstairs. She didn’t want her little sister to know just how worried she was. It wasn’t like Prue to forget to do something once she had promised she would. And the thought of her big sister being sick and keeping it from her so she could make what turned out to be a wasted trip to New York made her want to cry.

"Prue?"

She waited half a second for a response before heading for her sister’s room. Sometimes Prue being so pigheaded made her want to...

She frowned when she saw the bathroom light was on. "Prue?" She rapped lightly on the door. "Are you in there, sweetie?" She put her ear against the door but didn’t hear anything. She was about to continue her trek down the hall when something told her to open the door.

"Pru...."

Her voice caught in her throat as she pushed the door open. Laying there on her side, completely motionless, was Prue. She shook her head, thinking she was seeing things. After all, what would Prue be doing on the bathroom floor? That’s when it hit her that her big sister was unconscious.

"Oh my God! Prue?!" She hurried to her sister, falling to her knees at her side. "Prue, can you hear me?!" Her hands shook as she rolled Prue onto her back. She had never seen anyone quite so pale in all her life.

"Piper?"

She looked up when she heard Phoebe’s voice in the hallway.

"She wasn’t in the..." Phoebe stopped dead in her tracks as she started past the bathroom. "Oh my God! What happened?!"
"I..." Piper swallowed hard, trying to wet her suddenly dry mouth. "I don’t know. I just... I found her laying here."
Phoebe joined her at their sister’s side. "Prue?" She pulled her hand back as she stroked her sister’s forehead. "She’s burning up, Piper!" She was back on her feet in an instant. "I’m calling an ambulance!"

Piper gathered Prue in her arms as Phoebe ran out. She held her sister close, trying not to notice the heat radiating from Prue’s body. Or how shallow her breathing was. Or the fact that she hadn’t even flinched when she moved her. She told herself to think about something else as she really took in the room for the first time. There was an extremely unpleasant smell coming from the toilet and evidence that Prue had gotten sick on the floor as well.

"Oh, Prue." She put her cheek against her sister’s head, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Why didn’t you tell me?" She closed her eyes. "Why?"

They sat side by side, holding hands, neither of them saying a word. The waiting room was packed but they were both too busy staring at the doors where the paramedics had rushed Prue a little over two hours before to notice anyone or anything else. Somewhere behind them were doctors and nurses doing whatever it took to find out what was wrong with their sister. They both knew she was in good hands, but they wanted to be with her. To hold her hands and tell her everything was going to be all right. Because it WAS going to be all right. It had to be.

"Damn it!" Phoebe sprang to her feet. "I can’t take this anymore!"
"Pheebs." Piper looked up at her, her voice little more than a whisper. "Sit down."
"No, Piper. I can’t just sit here anymore! We’re her sisters for crying out loud! The least the doctor could do is send a nurse out to let us know what’s going on!" She glared at a woman giving her the evil eye from the nurse’s station. "It’s common courtesy! You don’t see the families on ER pulling their hair out in some waiting room!!"

"Yeah!" A plumb blond woman across the room pumped her arm in the air. "Give em hell, honey!"
Another woman nodded. "Tell them like it is, sista!"

"Phoebe!" Piper spoke in a sterner tone. "Now isn’t the time or the place!"
Phoebe flopped back down beside her. "I know. I just... I want to be with her, Piper."
Piper put her arm around her little sister’s shoulders. "I know honey. I do too. But starting a riot in the waiting room isn’t going to make the doctor come out any quicker."
"Riot?"
"Yeah. I think those women were ready to rally behind you and launch an all out attack against the nurse’s station."
Phoebe chuckled. "Really?"
Piper nodded. "Yeah. It reminded me of the time you were in that car accident in high school. Do you remember?"
"The one with Derek Johnson?"
"That’s the one. The police knocked on the door in the middle of the night, totally freaked Grams out. She called me and Prue at our apartment in tears. All she said was your name and to get to the hospital. Then Prue freaked out."
Phoebe looked shocked. "She did?"
"You two might not have gotten along all the time, Phoebe....
"Try at all."
Piper tightened her grip on her. "But you were still her baby sister. Of course she freaked out. Sped all the way to the hospital. A trip that usually took anywhere from twenty to thirty minutes depending on traffic took ten. I went to Grams, she went to the nurse’s desk. They probably still have a picture of her up there as the crazy coed who refused to go sit down until someone told her what was going on. She actually grabbed an orderly and threatened to beat him up if he didn’t go back and make sure you were all right."
"She did not!"
"Yes she did. She’s always been like a momma bear where you’re concerned. Grams finally had to tell her to sit down or go wait at the Manor."
Phoebe leaned heavily against her sister. "I’m sure that went over like a ton of bricks."
"Yeah." Piper leaned her head against Phoebe’s. "It sure did."

"Halliwell?"

They both jumped as a tired looking, middle aged man in a long white lab coat called their name from another door leading out into the waiting room. Phoebe jumped to her feet again, pulling Piper with her.

"Yes?"
"Come with me."

Phoebe tightened her grip on Piper’s hand as they followed him past several cubicles and another nurses desk. He opened the door to a small room with a table and a couple of chairs and motioned for them to go inside.

"Please, have a seat." He sighed as he sat down on the edge of the table. "I’m Doctor Henderson. I’m treating your sister, Prudence."
Piper swallowed hard. "How is she?"
"I’m not going to lie to you, Miss Halliwell. Your sister is one very sick young woman."
"What...." Phoebe’s voice cracked. "What’s wrong with her?"

Doctor Henderson got up and went to sit on the other side of the table. "Her appendix ruptured. From what we can tell it happened several days ago." He flipped a small diagram on an easel to his right and pulled a pen from his pocket to use as a pointer. "When the appendix rupture, they release bacteria and other digestive juices into the abdominal cavity, causing an infection known as peritonitis. Basically, it’s an inflammation of the lining of the peritoneum, which cover the stomach and other abdominal organs. In your sister’s case it’s quite advanced."

Piper shut her eyes. "Is she in any pain?"
"That’s hard to say. Right now she’s in a semi-comatose state."
Phoebe looked at him. "What?!"
"She’s severely dehydrated. Between that and the high fever from the infection, her body went into a state of shock. We’re getting fluids back into her the best we can."
Piper licked her lips. "Will she need surgery? For her appendix?"
Doctor Henderson nodded. "Yes. Eventually. But right now we have her on massive doses of antibiotics to try and stabilize her condition."
"Will that work?"

He locked eyes with Phoebe. "I’m going to be honest with you, Miss Halliwell. If you hadn’t gotten to your sister when you did, probably not. But you did. And in my opinion, she’ll make a full recovery."

Piper squeezed Phoebe’s hand, glad for at least a little bit of good news. "Can we see her?"
"Of course. The paramedics mentioned how close the three of you seemed when they brought her in. And one of the nurses said you were going stir crazy in the waiting room. So I arranged for her to be moved into a private room. The two of you can stay with her for a long as you like."
Phoebe gave him a weak grin. "Thanks."
Doctor Henderson smiled. "I did it for her just as much as I did you. People tend to heal faster when they have their loved ones around. Now why don’t the two of you stay here and I’ll send a nurse for you as soon as they get your sister settled in her room."
"Thank you, doctor." Piper looked up at him sadly. "For everything."

Phoebe started crying as soon as he left. "Did you hear what he said, Piper? If we hadn’t come home when we did Prue might have... She could have..."
Piper pulled her sister into a hug, tears clouding her vision. "I know."
"I..." Phoebe buried her face against her sister’s shoulder. "I should have said something. Before we left. Maybe then..."
"Stop it, Phoebe." Piper held her at arm’s length. "This is not your fault. It’s not anyone’s fault. Blaming yourself isn’t going to help Prue. Right now we need to concentrate on her. On helping her get better."
Phoebe nodded, sniffing through her tears. "But how?"
"By being here for her, Pheebs."

The door opened again. "Are you the Halliwells?"
Piper looked up at her. "Yes, we are."
"I’m here to take you to your sister’s room."
Piper returned her attention to Phoebe, wiping some of the tears from her sister’s face. "Are you ready, sweetie?"
"Yeah." Phoebe had a death grip on Piper’s hand as they stood up. "Ready as I’ll ever be."

They followed the nurse, neither of them saying a word as they got on an elevator and went up a couple of floors. The nurse, sensing their emotional state, kept her usual comments to herself. She had sisters of her own and knew how she would feel if she came home to find one as sick as their sister was. She led them down the hall, stopping just outside the door.

"She’s in there."

Phoebe and Piper stepped into the room as one, both of them stopping when they saw their sister. She was propped up on a couple of pillows, an oxygen tube strung across her face. But that wasn’t the bad part. She must have been hooked up to every machine known to man.

"Doctor Henderson said not to be intimidated by the monitors. They’re all necessary to monitor her condition right now. But he said not to be afraid to touch her." The nurse spoke in a soft, comforting tone. "She needs to know you’re here."

Neither one of them responded. They were too busy staring at their sister.

"I’ll be just down the hall if you need anything."

Piper was the first one to move. She let go of Phoebe’s hand, knowing her sister would follow when she was ready. "Prue?" Fresh tears filled her eyes as she went to stand next to the bed. "I’m right here, sweetie. Right beside you."
Phoebe appeared on the other side of the bed. "Me too, Prue. I’m here." She looked over at Piper. "She looks so small."
"But she’s alive, Phoebe." She took Prue’s hand in her own. "That’s all that matters right now."

Phoebe absentmindedly ran her thumb back and forth over the knuckles of Prue’s left hand. It had been a whole day now. Twenty-four very long hours since she and Piper had come home to find their sister sprawled on the bathroom floor. Doctor Henderson had been in twice, reassuring them both times that Prue’s condition was improving. But it didn’t seem like she was getting any better. There was still a constant sheen of sweat on her brow and none of the readings on the monitors had changed.

She sighed and kept a tight grip on her sister’s hand as she tried to find a more comfortable position in her chair. Maybe convincing Piper to make the second run to the cafeteria hadn’t been such a good idea. Or maybe she needed to realize that this was going to take some time. That there would be no magical cur or seemingly divine intervention. That Prue would wake up when and if she was meant to.

Her blood ran cold. If? Where the hell had that come from? Prue was going to be fine. At least that’s what everyone kept telling her. But what if everyone was wrong? What if Prue laid there, completely oblivious to the fact that anyone else was around, forever?

"It helps if you talk to them."

She jumped when she heard the voice.

"At least that’s what all the researchers say." The nurse who had brought then to the room the day before walked in, a bag of clear liquid in her hands. She showed it to Phoebe as she went to one of the machines on the other side of the bed. "Just here to change her IV." Her hands moved with practiced ease as she removed the nearly empty bag and hung the new one. "How’s she doing?"

The question caught Phoebe off guard. Shouldn’t she, a trained nurse, know more about Prue’s condition than her? Then she realized the nurse was just trying to make small talk and told herself to calm down.

"The, uh..." She cleared her throat. "The doctor says she’s getting better."
The nurse glanced at her. "But you don’t think so?"
Phoebe shrugged. "I don’t know what to think. I just want her to wake up."
"And she will. Doctor Henderson is the best. If he says she’s getting better, she’s getting better."

An uneasy silence fell between them as the nurse went back to her task and Phoebe stared at Prue.

"I meant what I said earlier. About talking to her. I think hearing a familiar voice comforts them. Lets them know someone’s going to be here for them when they wake up."
"I..." Phoebe shook her head sadly. "I have no idea what to say."
"She’s your sister. It’ll come to you." The nurse smiled as she finished with the IV. "Don’t be shy about hitting the call button if you need anything."

Phoebe watched her go before returning her attention to Prue. "I can do this." She scooted to the edge of the chair so that she would be closer to her sister, thinking it would help her think. All it did was bring tears to her eyes.

"Damn it, Prue. Why do you always have to be so stubborn and independent? All you had to do was say the word and Piper and I would have stayed home. But no. You had it in that head of yours that we needed to go so you..."

She cut herself off. "Sorry. The nurse says to talk to you and I start reading you the riot act. It’s just, I’m not used to this. Usually the tables are turned. I’m the one whose sick or hurt and you’re the one sitting next to me, trying not to let Piper know how worried you are." She ran her hand through her sister’s hair. "I’m scared, Prue. Really scared. I mean, I can only remember you being really sick once. After you stayed out all night for those concert tickets."

"What concert tickets?"

She looked up when she heard Piper’s voice. "Um..." Her mind scrambled for something to say. She had promised Prue a long time ago she wouldn’t say anything about those tickets. Especially to Piper.
"Here you go."
Phoebe took the coffee cup Piper offered her and watched as her sister walked around her chair and leaned down to give Prue a kiss on the cheek. Now what was she supposed to do? She didn’t want to break her promise to Prue but she didn’t want to upset Piper either. How did she always get herself into these messes?

"Now..." Piper settled into the chair next to her. "I think you were saying something about concert tickets."
"No I wasn’t."
"Pheebs." Piper gave her a look.
"Really, Piper. It wasn’t important."
"Oh, come on, Phoebe. Are you and Prue suddenly keeping secrets from me?"
"No." Phoebe avoided her gaze. "I was just remembering the time you went to that..." She said the rest of the sentence in a hushed tone. "...Duran Duran concert."
Piper frowned. "Duran Duran? Whatever made you think of that?"
"Well, it was right after that that..." Phoebe tightened her grip on Prue’s hand, knowing what she was about to say would get Piper thinking. And once Piper started thinking she would have to tell her the whole story. "That Prue got pneumonia."
"You’re right. It was." Piper’s frown deepened. "I never thought about it before." She looked at Phoebe. "What aren’t you telling me?"
"Piper..."
"Phoebe..."

Phoebe sighed. "Sorry, Prue. I have to tell her. I can’t afford for her to be giving me the cold shoulder right now."
Piper raised one eyebrow. "Tell me what?"
"About how Prue got those tickets."
"She won them from a radio station."
"Yeah, but she wasn’t completely honest with you about HOW she won them."
Piper looked confused. "What?"

"Well, it’s not exactly a secret that you had a hard time in high school. When Prue found out that you had told everyone you were going to the concert, which was supposed to be sold out, and that Steph Burgen had called your bluff, she decided to take matters into her own hands."
"Steph Burgen." Piper growled the name of her teenage tormentor. "I really couldn’t stand her."
"I know. And so did Prue. That’s why she decided she was going to do whatever it took to get you tickets to that concert."
"What do you mean by, ‘whatever it took?’"

Phoebe looked down at Prue’s hand. "Remember how Prue got in trouble for staying out all night with Andy and a group of friends at some bond fire at a cabin that got rained out by those storms we had?"
Piper nodded.
"There wasn’t any bond fire. She entered a promotion a car lot was having. Whoever could keep their hand on a car longer than anyone else won front row tickets to the concert."
"You mean she..." Piper was blown away. "But it was horrible out that night!"
"I know." Phoebe nodded. "The only reason I found out was I saw her picture in the paper a couple of days later. Imagine my surprise when I go out to get the morning edition for Grams and see my sopping wet sister accepting the tickets from the owner of the car lot. I told Grams there wasn’t any paper so I could use it to blackmail her into doing my chores for a week, but then I saw how bad she looked when she came down to breakfast, so I just threw it away."

Piper still looked shocked. "I can’t believe she did that for me."
"I’m not the only one she’s like a momma bear with. She saw how upset you were about what Steph said and decided to shut that little ho up for once. And she lied to Grams because she knew she wouldn’t understand."
"But why didn’t she tell me?"
Phoebe shrugged. "I never really figured that out. At the time I assumed it was because she didn’t want to ruin her reputation as a hard ass at school. I mean, you two were always close, but what would her friends think of her if they knew she went to such extremes to win you those tickets? But now I think she did it because she knew you would have felt guilty and stayed home with her instead of going to the concert."
"Damn straight I would have! She was in bed for nearly a week. And Grams rode her the whole time about it being a consequence of her being so irresponsible." Piper looked at her big sister with new love and respect in her eyes. "I still can’t believe it."

Phoebe grinned, relieved that Piper finally knew the truth. "Yep. Our big sister braved storms, a salesman who kept flirting with her and several rowdy members of a college fraternity to get you those tickets."
Piper giggled. "She probably had the time of her life." She turned serious again as she put her hand over Phoebe’s, which was still gripping Prue’s. "She’s always been there for us, Pheebs. What will we do if..."
Phoebe put her free arm around her big sister. "Don’t think like that, Piper. She’s going to be fine." She was surprised by how certain she was of that now.
"I hope you’re right, Phoebe." Piper leaned heavily against her little sister. "I hope you’re right."

"So..." Piper raised her eyebrows as she finished chewing a mouthful of noodles. "I told him if he couldn’t bring me exactly what I ordered, he could shove his booze where the sun don’t shine."
"You did not!"
Piper gave Phoebe a look as she reached for a napkin. "I most certainly did. I might be new to the whole club owner thing, but I know what I ordered. And I’m not about to pay him for bringing whatever it is he feels like bringing."
"Are you hearing this, Prue?" Phoebe grinned as she used her chopsticks to capture another bite of vegetables. "You’ve got some major competition for the bad ass Halliwell award this year."
"No way." Piper grinned too as she shook her head. "Prue is still the queen." She flipped her hair behind her ear. "Compared to her I’m still a bad ass in training."

They looked at their sister at the same time. Her condition had been upgraded from guarded to stable, which meant some of the monitors were gone. And everyone who came into the room told them she was doing great. If you looked hard enough you could even see a hint of color returning to her cheeks. But she still showed no sign of waking up.

"Know what your story made me think of?" Phoebe didn’t wait to see if Piper was going to respond. "That time Prue caught Grams boyfriend kissing some other woman."
You could almost see the light bulb appear over Piper’s head. "In the mall. She was what, ten?"
"Yep. Climbed right up on that bench so she could yell in his face. Remember?"
Piper chuckled. "How could I forget? We were shopping for school clothes and you were being a hellion, so Grams made Prue take you out of the store until I was done trying on a dress. We came out to find Prue screaming at what’s his name and you sitting there next to her, just swinging your feet and smiling."
"That’s cause I knew what Prue was doing was a lot worse than anything I had done."
Piper gave her a playful shove. "Brat!"
Phoebe laughed. "I was, wasn’t I?"
"That’s putting it mil..." Piper stopped mid sentence. "Phoebe, look."
"What is it?" Phoebe looked, the laughter dying in her throat when she saw what Piper was pointing at. "Oh my gosh!"

They were out of their chairs, which they had moved across the room to eat, and on either side of Prue’s bed in record time. Not a sound was heard as they stared down at her.

"Do you think she’s trying to wake up?"
Piper shrugged in response to her sister’s whispered question, her own voice barely audible. "I don’t know."
"There!" Phoebe pointed at Prue’s hand. "She’s moving again!"
"Prue, sweetie?" Piper leaned in close to her sister. "Can you hear me?"

Tears sprang to both their eyes as Prue’s eyelids fluttered open.

"Piper?"

Her voice was hoarse and nearly nonexistent, but it was like music to their ears.

"Yeah, honey. It’s me." Piper kissed Prue on the back of the hand she was holding, trying not to break down.
"Phoebe?"
"I’m here too." Phoebe quickly grabbed Prue’s other hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "We’re both right here."
"Wh..." Prue’s eyes drifted shut only to open again a couple of seconds later. "Where...?"
"The hospital." Piper cut her off, seeing how exhausted she was getting from trying to talk.
Prue frowned. "Hospital?"
"Yeah." Phoebe ran her hand over her sister’s still hot brow. "Your stomach bug turned out to be a lot more serious than you thought. But none of that’s important right now. You’re awake. That’s all that matters."

Prue swallowed hard. "What..."
"Shh." Piper put her hand on her sister’s shoulder. "Phoebe’s right, sweetie. All that can wait until later. You need to rest."

Prue’s eyes drifted shut again. "Don’t wanna."

Phoebe chuckled. "I don’t think you have much of a choice, honey." She kissed Prue on the cheek. "Get some sleep."
Piper kissed her on the other cheek. "We’ll be right here."
Prue tried to open her eyes again but they refused to cooperate. "Love you."

Piper put her hand over her mouth, still trying not to cry. "We love you too."
"We sure do." Phoebe watched Prue for a moment longer before walking around the bed to join Piper. "See, I told you she was going to be all right."
Piper pulled her into a hug. "Thank God."

That’s how Doctor Henderson found them. Their arms around each others, tears streaming down their cheeks.

"Is everything all right?"

They both jumped when they heard his voice.
"Yeah." Phoebe quickly wiped her tears away. "We’re just happy, that’s all."
Piper nodded, keeping her arm around Phoebe’s shoulders. "She woke up."
"Well that certainly is good news." He went to the spot Phoebe had occupied before and started examining Prue. "She knew who you were?"

Phoebe looked confused. "Of course she did."
Doctor Henderson glanced up at her, flashing a smile. "I didn’t mean anything by it. Just sometimes, with a fever like hers, a patient will wake up but not be very lucid. Her knowing who you were is a very good sign."
Piper sighed. "There’s a but there, isn’t there?"

Doctor Henderson furrowed his brow. "Not really a but. More of an and. I think it’s time to schedule your sister’s appendectomy."

Phoebe looked down at Prue. "You think she’s ready for that?"
"Oh, yes. We’ve taken care of her dehydration, her fever is down considerably and her vital signs are strong. Now is as good a time as any." He saw the sisters tensing up and pursed his lips. "It’s a routine procedure. She’ll be in an out of surgery in no time. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go book the OR for first thing in the morning."

Piper tightened her grip on Phoebe as she watched him go. "He’s right. She’ll be fine."
"I know." Phoebe rolled her eyes. "I just... I don’t want to let her out of my sight. You know?"
"I know sweetie." Piper put Phoebe’s head on her shoulder. "I know."

They stood there again, watching their big sister as she slept.

Piper tried to concentrate on the magazine laying in her lap but finally gave up. She turned her gaze on her sister. "Phoebe?"

The youngest Halliwell was watching doctors and nurses as they passed by the open doorway. "Yeah?"

"You’re making me seasick."

Phoebe frowned. "What are you..." She cut herself off as she realized what Piper was talking about. Her right leg was bouncing up and down at record speed, shaking the couch they were sharing. "Oh." She shrugged innocently. "Sorry."
Piper put the magazine back on the stand next to her. "That’s all right. It’s not like I could really concentrate on Tom Cruise’s latest romance anyway." She sighed as she tucked her hair behind her ear. "I really hate waiting rooms."
Phoebe swallowed hard as she nodded. "Me too."

Piper looked at her sideways. "She’s going to be fine, Pheebs."
"I know."
"I mean, you heard what Doctor Henderson said. This is a routine surgery." She wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince, her sister or herself. "One most of the surgeons in this hospital could do in their sleep."
"I know that too. It’s just..."
Piper was shocked to see tears streaming down her sister’s cheeks. "Phoebe, what is it?"
"I didn’t..." Phoebe choked on a sob. "I didn’t get to tell her I love her."
"Yes you did." Piper put her arm around her sister’s shoulders. "I was there, sweetie. We both kissed her on the cheek and told her we loved her."
"Yeah, just before they wheeled her out of the room."
"Phoebe..."

"What if she didn’t hear us, Piper?" Phoebe looked at her big sister with sad brown eyes. "What if something happens in there and she didn’t hear us? What if..." She was on the verge of hysterics. "What if she..."

"Whoa!" Piper cut her off, not wanting to hear what she was about to say. "Aren’t you the girl who’s been giving me pep talks every five minutes for the past two days?"
"Yeah, but..."
"No buts, Phoebe. Prue’s going to be fine. Neither one of us can afford not to believe that. Any minute now she’s going to come out of surgery and she’s going to need us both. What good are we going to be to her if we break down?"
"You’re right." Phoebe sniffled.
Piper wiped some of the tears from her sister’s face before pulling her into a hug. "Come here."

The hustle and bustle continued all around them but it was as if they were the only two people in the world as they held each other close.

"I’m going to tell her more often."
"Tell who what, honey?"
"Prue." Phoebe pulled back a little so she could look at Piper. "I’m going to tell her I love her more often. I know for a long time it wasn’t easy for her to say it to us, but I could always say it. I just chose not to because I was being stubborn. If she wouldn’t say it to me, I wouldn’t say it to her."
Piper grinned. "You get that from her, you know."
Phoebe looked confused. "What?"
"Being stubborn. That’s why the two of you fought so much when we were growing up. You’re too much alike for your own good."
"Really?"
Piper nodded. "Like two peas in a pod."
It was Phoebe’s turn to grin. "I never thought of it that way."
"Well then you’re lucky I’m around to point it out to you."

Phoebe laid her head on Piper’s shoulder. "You get this from her."
"What? Good hugging skills?"
"No." Phoebe chuckled. "Being a big sister."
Piper furrowed her brow. "What are you talking about?"
"The whole ‘how would Prue handle a situation’ thing. You’ve done it my whole life. If you had a problem at school that you thought you couldn’t handle, you went to Prue. If I asked you a question you weren’t sure how to answer, you went to Prue. Heck, you even used to go to Prue if Grams asked for your opinion on something and you didn’t want to hurt her feelings."
"I’m not quite sure how to take that, Pheebs. It almost sounds like I can’t handle anything on my own."

"No!" Phoebe sat up again. "That’s not what I meant at all. I just meant that everyone has a role model in their lives. Someone they look up to. Prue’s always been that for you."
"Hm." Piper’s face lit up. "I never thought of it that way."
"It’s not so easy to see these things unless someone points them out to you." She squeezed Piper’s hand. "And I’ve got to tell you, I don’t think you could have chosen a better role model."
"Neither could you."
Phoebe guffawed. "Humble much?"
"What?" Piper gave her a look. "I’ve always looked up to Prue and you’ve always looked up to me. Therefore, Prue is your role model too."
"I guess you’re right."
"I usually am."

They each held their breath as a man in scrubs approached the door, letting it out again when he called out to someone and hurried out of sight.

"Do you think Prue had a role model?"
"Of course she did. Everyone does."
Phoebe frowned. "Who? Grams?"
Piper shook her head. "No."
"Then who?"
"Mom."

Mention of their mother caught Phoebe off guard. "You really think so?"
"I don’t think, I know. Prue told me so."
"When?"
"A long time ago."
"Piper!" Phoebe gestured with her hands. "You’ve gotta give me more than that."
"Phoebe..."
"Please?"
"All right. But don’t say I didn’t warn you."

Piper sighed. "It was the summer before Prue’s senior year. I can’t remember exactly what happened now, but you did something to upset Grams. And when Prue went to talk to you about it, you threw it in her face that she wasn’t Mom."
Phoebe’s face was a mask of disbelief. "I did? I don’t remember that."
"It wasn’t the first time. And it certainly was the last. Normally Prue would just brush it off and yell at you. But for some reason it really got to her that day. I came home from a friend’s house to find her on the front steps, crying."
"I made Prue cry?"
"That was my reaction. I could hear her sometimes in her room at night, but she never let anyone see her tears. At first I thought something had happened to you or Grams." Piper paused, a faraway look in her eyes. "But when I asked her what was the matter she said she felt like she was letting Mom down. That she had always done her best to do what she thought Mom would do when it came to you or I but that nothing seemed to work with you anymore." She felt herself tearing up. "I had no idea what to say, so I just pulled her into a hug and let her cry."

Phoebe shook her head. "I can’t believe I hurt her like that."
"You were thirteen, Phoebe. That’s what teenagers do."
"Not all teenagers. You never did."
"Oh yes I did. Only I took my frustrations out on her in different ways. You were always more verbal than me. I would give her the cold shoulder. You know, ignore her when she walked into a room. Not speak to her for days at a time."
"No way."
"Yes way. One time I even started a rumor about her at school."
"So we’ve both treated her like crap before."

Phoebe’s statement hung between them, making them both feel guilty.

"Piper? Phoebe?"

They both jumped to their feet when they saw Doctor Henderson in the doorway.
"How is she?"
"Did everything go all right?"
"Can we see her?"
"Yeah, can we see her?"

Doctor Henderson grinned as he held up both of his hands to fend them off. "She’s fine. The surgery went great. I just wanted to let you know that she’ll be in recovery for a little while in case you wanted to go get something to eat or a cup of coffee."

"Uh..." Phoebe shared a look with Piper. "We’re both fine."
"Well then I guess you can wait for her in her room. They should be bringing her down in about half an hour."
"Thank you, doctor." Phoebe gave him a weak smile.
"Don’t mention it. I’ll be by a little later to check on her."

Piper put her arm around Phoebe again. "See, I told you everything was going to be all right." She gave her sister a reassuring squeeze.
"Thank God. I’m gonna tell her I love her as soon as I see her."
"Me too."
"But I can tell you now." Phoebe threw her arms around her sister. "I love you."
Piper smiled as she returned the hug. "I love you too. Now let’s go wait for our big sister."

The sensation of someone running their fingers through her hair pulled her to the edge of consciousness. But as whoever it was continued it made her want to fall back into the void of slumber beckoning to her from the back of her mind. Then she heard it. Humming. That special blend of ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ and ‘Hush Little Baby’ that never failed to put Phoebe to sleep as a kid. A tune created and performed by only one person.

"Prue?" The name left her lips as she opened her eyes.
"Go back to sleep, Piper."
The voice still sounded groggy but it definitely belonged to her big sister. She sat up, a familiar pair of blue eyes watching her every move as she winced, her body protesting. That’s what she got for falling asleep in a chair with her head on the edge of the bed.
"Are you all right?"
She couldn’t help but chuckle at the question. "Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?"
Prue grinned. "Nah."

Piper gripped her sister’s hand, glad to see her alert again. "When did you come around?"
"A little while ago."
"Why didn’t you wake me?"
Prue’s grin turned into a smile. "I don’t think a marching band doing their halftime show could have woken you up. You’re exhausted. Both of you are."
Piper followed her sister’s gaze to Phoebe, who was curled tightly against Prue’s left side. "She shouldn’t be up there."
"Why not?" Prue patted the bed next to her with her right hand. "I’ve got room for you right here."
"No way. You just had surgery."
"Come on, Piper."
"No."
"Oh..."
"I said no, Prue."
"Please?"
Piper looked up when she heard the tone of her sister’s voice.
"I need to have you close right now."

She wanted to stick to her guns and say no but how could she? Especially with Prue sounding like she was going to cry? An idea came to mind, bringing a smile to her face as she got up out of her chair and sat down on the edge of the bed. She scooted until her back was against the slightly inclined head of the bed, putting her in a semi-sitting position. She then scooted in behind Prue, pulling her sister to her as she swung her legs up on the bed.

"What are you doing?"
"I agreed to get in here with you. I didn’t say who would be holding who."
Prue chuckled, causing her to hiss in pain.
Piper looked at her with concern. "Am I hurting you?"
"No." Prue shook her head as she shifted into a more comfortable position, wincing the whole time.
"Liar." Piper waited until she was settled again to continue. "How do you feel?"
Prue leaned against her, grateful for the support. "Let’s just say I won’t be running any marathons anytime soon."
"I bet." Piper ran her hand through her sister’s long black hair. "You scared us, Prue. Really scared us."
"I know. And I’m sorry."

"You’d better be." Phoebe moved her head on Prue’s shoulder so she could see both of her sisters. "Cause I NEVER wanna go through something like this again. This has been the longest three days of my life."

Prue looked shocked. "I’ve been out of it that long?"
Phoebe nodded as she looked at her watch. "Seventy-three hours and thirteen minutes to be exact. I’m not counting the fact that you woke up last night because you were still really out of it."
"Wow." Prue was silent for a moment. "What happened?"
Piper frowned. "You don’t remember?"
"No. The last thing I remember was feeling like crap and then nothing."
"You, uh..." Phoebe played with the front of Prue’s hospital gown.
"Your appendix ruptured." Piper gave Phoebe a ‘we don’t have to share all the gory details’ look. "Made you pretty sick."
"Yeah." Phoebe followed her sister’s lead. "We found you at the Manor when we got back from New York."
Piper nodded. "And we’ve been here ever since."

"I’m sorry guys." Prue was blown away. "I... I don’t know what to say."
"You don’t have to say anything." Piper used her best mom voice. "But the next time you’re sick and don’t tell me, I’m gonna have to kick your ass."
Prue chuckled again. "Sounds like a suitable punishment to be."
"I’m being serious, Prue. I know you’re the oldest and you think you have to keep things from us, but you don’t. Especially when it comes to your health." Piper’s voice cracked. "We came WAY too close to losing you. I don’t..." She blinked back tears. "I don’t know what I would do without you."

Prue put her hand on the arm Piper had around her chest. "I won’t keep anything from you again. I promise."
"Prue?"
"Yeah, Pheebs?"
"I love you."
Prue frowned as Phoebe snuggled closer to her. "I love you too, Pheebs. But what brought that on?"
"Nothing. I’ve just had a lot of time to think lately and I realized how lucky I am to have sisters like you and Piper. And I need to tell you I love you more often."

"You two are really..." Prue’s brow suddenly creased in pain.

"Prue?!"
Piper and Phoebe said her name at the same time.

"It’s all right." Prue sighed as the pain passed. "Just a twinge."

Piper watched her anxiously. "Well I think you’ve had enough excitement for right now. You should try to get some more sleep."
Prue started to protest but found herself yawning. "Maybe you’re right."
"She usually is." Phoebe grinned. "Just relax, Prue." She carefully put her arm across her big sister. "We’re right here."
"Yeah." Piper leaned her chin on top of Prue’s head. "And we’re not going anywhere."

Prue pulled Phoebe closer to her as she cuddled tighter against Piper. "I love you guys."

A chorused. "We love you too" was the last thing she heard before drifting off.


"Will you look at that?" An intern shook his head in disgust as they approached the room some twenty minutes later. "I’ve never seen such a blatant disregard for hospital protocol. I don’t know what they think they’re doing, but I’m going to..."

"Leave them alone." Doctor Henderson gripped the young intern’s shoulder as he started into the room.
"But the patient has been gravely ill for several days. And she just had surgery!"
"I’m well aware of that. I was in the operating room."
"Then you know that what they are doing is extremely foolish. They could tear her stitches or pull out her IV or lay on the oxygen hose or..."
"Make her feel better."
The intern frowned, looking around at his fellow colleagues for an explanation. "What?"

Doctor Henderson led the group of young men and women across the hall so that they could still see the Halliwells but wouldn‘t disturb them. He immediately returned his attention to the intern he had been talking to. "Do you have a family? Brothers and sisters?"
"No. I’m an only child."
"Then you wouldn’t understand. You see, there’s a bond between siblings. One minute they can be screaming at each other at the top of their lungs and the next they’re laughing and joking and having a good time."
A young woman in the back of the group nodded. "And when push comes to shove, they’re always there for you with a hug or a shoulder to cry on." She blushed when she realized everyone was staring at her. "At least that’s how it is with my sisters and brother."
"She’s right." Another young man spoke up. "That’s how it’s always been with my sister too."

"See." Doctor Henderson clapped the boy on the shoulder. "You’ve learned an important lesson today. Love is an essential part of the healing process. And no one loves you like your family. Just think." He waggled his eyebrows dramatically. "You haven’t seen a mother or father in action yet."

The other interns voiced their agreement as they started toward the next room.

"Darla."
"Yes, Doctor Henderson?"
He glanced at the nurse on duty, who was standing beside him, before returning his gaze to the sleeping sisters. "Make sure no one disturbs them. They all need their rest." He started to follow the interns but stopped, looking at the sisters again. "And remind me to call my sister later." He smiled at the contented expressions on their faces. "We’re long over due for a chat."

THE END