Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or anything remotely official.

Prue 25
Piper 12
Phoebe 9

"Oh no! Ah!" Piper Halliwell stared down at her once white shirt in shock. Her mouth hung open as she looked in disbelief. She had been pouring a glass of grape juice when she took her eye off of the glass. The next thing she knew her shirt was covered and most likely ruined. She groaned out loud. This was just what she needed. Now she had to go change her shirt and her pants. Her outfit wouldn't match now. She hadn't planned for this at all. Seeing Prue come up with a curious expresion, she sighed.
"Honey, the juice is supposed to go in your cup. Not on your shirt." She knew it wasn't amusing to Piper, but she couldn't resist. Sometimes she just needed some humor in her life.
"I know, Prue! I was just_nevermind." With that, she left the room to go change her clothes.
Prue watched her sister leave before starting on the mess. She knew Piper would clean it up but she felt so bad that her outfit got ruined that she decided to do it for her. She made a mental note to mop the floor when she got home. She hated a sticky floor. Now she understood why her mother had always re-cleaned after "not me" spilled something. It never got clean enough unless it was done properly. She poured a cup of juice for Piper before putting the carton in the fridge and starting breakfast. She usually got the kids cereal but they were growing and she figured they would need more to eat in the mornings. So, she had started getting up earlier to fix breakfast. She practically had it down to an art. She'd fix the hashbrowns while Phoebe got her shower in. Then she'd go make sure she was getting around in a timely fashion, before fixing the eggs. By the time Piper got downstairs she'd have the toast done and Phoebe would be down as well. Today no one was running on time, though. Phoebe had entered the room and wasn't eating. Piper was having a bad morning, and Prue just wanted to get everyone fed and out the door. She already had to work late, which seemed to be the trend for her at work. Everyone was starting to feel the strain.
"Phoebe, honey, eat your food before it gets cold. You can color later." Phoebe loved to color and always found a free moment to do so. Unfortunately sometimes it came when she needed to be doing other things.
"Aww..fine." She huffed and focused her attention on her eggs and hashbrowns. She just had a hard time choosing what was more important sometimes. Like this morning. She was so engrossed in her coloring book that she hadn't heard Prue tell her that breakfast was ready. So, when she dished it up and served her youngest sister without so much as a glance in her direction, Prue had to prompt her to eat.
"Oh, I know. I'm so mean." She laughed as her little sister rolled her eyes. Staring down the hall, she wondered what was taking Piper so long. She was usually up and at 'em before anyone else. Not today, though. Glancing at her watch, she decided to see what was up.
"Keep eating. I want your eggs gone by the time I get down. I'm going to see what's taking Piper so long." She gave her sister a stern look before heading out of the room. Some days Phoebe needed a little encouragement.
~ ~ ~
Prue approached Piper's room and noticed it was ajar. "Piper. You done changing yet, hon?" She entered her little sister's room to see her sporting an exasperated look and what looked to be tears. Looks like Piper wasn't having the best of mornings. She walked over to her sister and sat on her bed, pulling her into an embrace.
"No. I don't know what to wear. I'm going to be late now! I don't want to walk today. I don't feel like walking." She started to become more upset as she thought about all the unplanned events of her morning. Now she had to call her friends and see if they would walk with her.
"Tell you what. Your shorts are fine, leave them on. Just change your shirt." She had an idea of how to get her sister out of her jam.
"But I don't have a shirt. It's the only shirt I have that matches these shorts. I don't have any other shirts that have this color of blue." She was getting more frustrated as she spoke. Thankfully, Prue saved her.
"Oh, yes you do. I was going to wait and give it to you on your birthday, but it seems like a good time to give it to you. Come here." She grabbed her sister's wrist and led her down the hall to her room. She opened the closet and pulled out a bag. Seeing her sister's eyes light up, she knew it was a hit already.
"Oh my gosh. Is that_" She was cut off by her beaming sister.
"Yes, it is. Open it up." She watched as Piper opened up the bag to reveal a new top that ironically matched her shorts.
"Oh it's so pretty! It's even got clouds on them. I like clouds. And it is the same color as my shorts. You were right. How did you know, though?" She was amazed at her luck. Just when she thought she didn't have anything to wear.
"I noticed when I did your laundry that you didn't have anything other than that shirt you had on, to match your shorts. And, I know how you are about your clothes. So, I thought I'd get you another shirt to go with them. So, I take it you like it?" She laughed as her sister nodded feverishly.
"Yep! I'm gonna go put it on now. Thanks, Prue!" She hugged her sister before running off down the hall to go change.
Prue smiled, watching her sister leave. She noticed the clock and realized she'd better make sure Phoebe was eating. When she walked into the kitchen, she knew the answer.
"Phoebe, what did I tell you? I am not warming those back up, now you eat." She took her sister's coloring book from her and gathered the crayons up. As Phoebe resumed eating, Piper sprinted down the stairs to eat as well. After a half an hour, Prue led them out the door to drive them to school. The day had only begun and she wasn't even at work yet. Seeing the cars lined up on the onramp, she shook her head. It was going to be a long day.
~ ~ ~
"Yes Mr. Simmons, I alr_yes I faxed it in. It should be there any moment. Okay, thank you. Bye." After fielding what seemed like thousands of calls regarding account balances, Prue finally had a chance to go to lunch. The week had been hectic enough with work being understaffed, and to top it all off, there was a computer glitch. Seems some coding error caused a problem when interest was figured into savings accounts. So all morning Prue had been explaining to furious customers that the bank did not lose their money, the problem was being corrected, and they would receive a new account balance via fax. Finally, she had a chance to herself. She tidied up her workstation and went to punch out.
As she looked at the line to the window, she sighed. She'd just have to use the ATM to get money out. She inserted her card and typed her PIN, waiting for her money. Several seconds later, her card was given back to her, along with an error reading "Temporarily Out of Funds". Great. An ATM out of money, at a bank, no less. Break room it is, today. She grabbed her card and went to the back room.
Meanwhile across town, her sisters were having lunch of their own.
~ ~ ~
"Piper, can I sit with you?" Piper looked up from her book to see Phoebe approaching her, try in hand. She noticed the expression on her younger sibling's face and moved her bookbag so she could sit down.
"Sure, what's wrong, Phoebes? You usually sit over there with your friends." She pointed, indicating where she usually saw them chatting away in a large group. It seemed the group was rather large today and probably didn't have room for her. What a bummer. Piper was always a loner. She had friends but the school was so large they had different lunch periods for the older kids. So, she didn't know anyone in her period except her little sister.
"I don't have a place to sit. There's no room." She sat down and sighed deeply, visibly upset.
"Oh, Phoebe, it's okay. I sit by myself all the time. Sometimes it's fun. There's more room and you can read, or in your case, color all you want. I bet you have a book in your bag, and I have some crayons I was going to use for my map assignment. You can use them if you want." Phoebe looked as if she'd handed her the world, all for the taking.
"Yeah. But, isn't coloring for little kids? I don't want them to see me and think I'm a baby." She glanced back at her friends, who were talking to themselves rather noisily.
"Well, if they're your friends, then they won't care what you do. They will like you for all your likes and all your dislikes. Plus, coloring is fun. I like to color, and I happen to know that Prue likes to color, too. But, don't tell her I told you. She can't color as good and we can, and then I'll have to tell her she's really good when she's not. I mean, she doesn't even stay in the lines, Phoebe." Her little sister gasped, as if it was the most horrible thing ever.
"I know. And don't let Prue catch you talk like that. You know how she is on grammar and speaking the right way." Prue was always nagging Phoebe to quit saying 'yeah' and say 'yes' and that it "made her sound smarter'. Like a nine year old needs to worry about how smart she sounds. Oh well. Phoebe was a kid and Piper was growing up faster than most, as she always wanted to be perfect. She hoped Phoebe stayed a kid for a long time.
"Oh my gosh, she does? Wow." She didn't know that about her sister.
"Yep, she does. Start eating your food. When you're done with your roll, then I'll show you this cool way to color. I have an earlier time than you do so I always finish my food by the time you get yours. I'll color one thing and then you can see how and then you can do it that way if you want. It's pretty neat." She unzipped Phoebe's bookbag, grabbing the horse coloring book, and the crayons from her own. Setting them down on the table, she opened the book to a picture of a unicorn. That wasn't a real horse. Sheesh, what they were teaching kids. Nonetheless, she chose to do that one because Phoebe would think it's pretty. She made sure Phoebe was eating, and then turned her attention to the picture.
"Okay, here's what I do. See this tree, here?" She pointed to a large tree behind the unicorn.
"Yes. That's a big tree." She continued eating, and watched Piper.
"First, outline the tree. Color kind of hard, so that the outline is dark. Then, when you're done, pick a light shade of green and color in. When you do that with everything in the picture, then it looks really cool." She saw her sister smile and assumed she'd just shown her something she'd use as well.
"That looks pretty, Piper. Can you color that one for me?" She wanted to eat her lunch, but the coloring book beckoned. Seeing this, Piper saved her.
"Sure, Phoebe. You finish your lunch and I'll start this for you. When the bell rings, I have to go, though. But, I'll start it for you and you can finish if you have time." She started to color in the tree as Phoebe finished her lunch. She was in her own little world coloring, when something bumped her from behind, sending a purple streak all the way across the page. Right as she turned around to see what happened, that's when she felt it. Something wet moving down her back. She was afraid to look. She didn't have to.
"Hey, what'd you do that for?" Phoebe was upset. She and Piper were minding their own business when a kid wasn't watching and ran into Piper, sending his chocolate milk all over the back of her shirt.
"Sorry, kid." The kid just walked off, not even offering to help clean it up. Phoebe looked around and realized that no one noticed the incident. Thankfully for them. Well, Piper, at least. She was easily embarassed.
"Oh, no, Phoebe." She felt the stain settling into her new shirt. It was her new favorite shirt and it was ruined. Twice in one day.
"I have some napkins. I'm kind of messy when I eat so I always get lots. But, I put them away if I don't need them all. I'll help you clean it up. I think it only got on your shirt." She started to apply the one-ply cafeteria napkins onto her sisters shirt. It didn't seem to be working. Instead, it was just making the stain bigger.
"Great. My shirt is ruined and your picture." She looked down at what once was a nice depiction of a unicorn surrounded by a forest.
"What if you do this?" She grabbed the crayone Piper had been using and started to make sweeping motions on the page. "Um..that looks really nice, but I don't get what it is." Piper frowned, unsure of what Phoebe was doing. That was just making it worse, but she didn't want to tell her so.
"It's magic. I heard on this show that unicorns are magic. So, the purple lines can be magic. Maybe it's like, making the trees grow bigger or something." It sounded like a good idea to her. She hoped Piper would like it as well. She knew Piper didn't believe in unicorns but the idea sounded neat.
"Good idea, Phoebe. I didn't think of that, I guess. I like it. Thank you for fixing it." She ruffled her sister's hair, careful to not let anyone notice. She didn't want Phoebe to be mortified.
"Good, 'cause I like it, too. I'm sorry about your shirt, though. I wish the unicorn could use its magic and fix it." She knew how she felt when something of hers got ruined. Piper had two shirts ruined in one day. She must feel really bad. She ruffled her hair in return, something she'd never done.
"That's okay, Phoebe. I guess I have to call Prue, now. Have a good day, okay? She watched her sister nod and go back to eating" She was still feeling bad, but she felt a little better to know Phoebe cared so much. She'd just have to find a way to tell Prue about her shirt. She didn't want to go all day with a milk stained shirt. That was so embarassing. She figured she'd better call Prue. She was so busy lately but Piper had no choice.
"Oh, wait. Aren't you going to get your crayons?" She had completely forgotten about them. Phoebe had saved her again.
"Thanks, Phoebe. I forgot." She picked them up and turned away from the table, hoping Prue wouldn't get into trouble for leaving her work in the middle of the day.

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or anything remotely official.


"Prue, some kid is on the phone for you. Sounds kind of quiet, so I'm not sure what it's about. Just asked to speak with you. Oh, line two." The office assistant walked out of the break room to continue with her paperwork, as Prue picked up the phone. She had a feeling she knew who was going to be on the other end. Piper was always phone-shy, never knowing who was on the other end. It took her quite some time to warm up to people she didn't know, so the co-workers at the bank were no exception.
"Prue Halliwell, speaking." She listened to a muffled sobbing on the other end.
"Prue, it's Piper. I have to talk to you." She knew Piper wouldn't call unless it was important, but she hoped it wouldn't be anything serious. If she or Phoebe were injured or sick she wouldn't think twice before leaving in the middle of the workday, but it was almost 12:30 and she had to be back at her desk any minute.
"I can tell that, sweetie. I only have a few minutes. What's up?" She held the phone closer to her ear so that she could hear over the buzz of the pop machine.
"I, um...I sorta got chocolate milk on my shirt. Can you bring me another one, Prue?" Her sister sounded upset, but she couldn't just drop everything and go give her a shirt. Her boss was understandable about certain things, but nothing like that. There was no way she could leave with the problems going on at work. Just no way.
"Piper, I won't even ask how you managed to ruin your new shirt; a brand new one, I might add. I can't leave. I just finished my lunch break and I can't get out of the office right now. You know how much they need me here lately. Last night it was so busy I had to get your friend's parent to drop you and Phoebe off at her house until I got home. I'm sorry but I just can't, honey." She heard Piper growing more upset and wished she could do more. She had a job to do and bills to pay and if she lost her sole income, there would be no way to pay the escalating expenses.
"But I got it all over my shirt. What if people make fun of me, Prue? I can't go back to class. I'm already late and now I'm going to get into trouble and people will laugh at me and tease me when I go back with milk all over my shirt. Please Prue!" She was practically hysterical, causing the secretary to stare at her, concerned. Piper turned her back, wanting privacy.
"Okay, calm down, Piper Lou. No one's going to make fun of you. Don't you have a sweater or anything in your bookbag?" She crossed her fingers, praying for her little sister to not get teased. In the middle of spring, she knew there wouldn't be one in her bag but she thought she'd get lucky. She didn't.
"No, Prue. It's supposed to be nice all week, and I can't wear my jacket in school. Remember when Phoebe got hers taken away because she had it on at lunch when the cafeteria was cold? Please, can't you leave for a little bit?" She was begging her sister. Anything to get her not made fun of. The kids were so mean to her because she didn't stick up for herself, and none of her friends were in her class where they could. She didn't want to go back to class looking like that.
"Okay. I remember that. But, Piper, I can't leave. That's final. I'm going to get into trouble if I stay on here debating this with you. Now, go back to class before you get into trouble yourself. I'll see you at home tonight, okay?" She sighed deeply for the millionth time that day. Silently wishing her sister would get a backbone and stand up for herself, she understood why she didn't. It just wasn't in her character.
"Okay, Prue. Bye." She hung up the phone before Prue could respond back. She was mortified. She was terrified to go back. She could think of only one thing, and Prue was going to kill her when she found out, but she had to do it. She turned around to face the secretary.
"Um...Mrs. Johnson, can you please give my sister a message for me? I don't want to bother her in class but it's really important." She saw the secretary nod and get out a slip of paper and a pen to jot down her note.
"Her name is Phoebe Halliwell. She's in Mr. Armstrong's class. Can you write that I won't be riding home with her and that our older sister Prue is just going to take her home and not both of us?" The secretary wrote down what she was told and gave it to Piper to look over.
"Okay. Look good? Do I need to add anything, sweetie?" She looked at the troubled girl in front of her. She could imagine how embarrased she was about her shirt.
"Yes, it looks okay. Can you give it to her for me? I don't want her to have to wait for me after school." She handed the note back, along with the pen.
"Okay. I will give it to her right away." She watched the girl leave before getting up to deliver the message.
As Piper walked down the hallway, she kept thinking about how much trouble she was going to be in when Prue found out what she did. She nervously chewed on the bottom of her lip, unsure if she was doing the right thing. She just couldn't face her classmates. So, she turned the corner and walked outside.
~ ~ ~
Piper strolled along the sidewalk, taking her sweet time. School would be out in a few hours, but she couldn't wait that long. By the time she got home and back she would be really late from lunch. She figured the teacher would just think she went home sick. She was making her way home when she heard a sound behind her. Turning around, she faced a not so nice dog. Standing still, she started to grow scared that it would attack her. She'd heard that if you walk away slowly, it won't attack. So, she slowly moved in the direction of her house, hoping the dog would go away. It started to fallow her and she quicked her steps until she was at a dead sprint with the dog not far behind. She was running so fast she couldn't compensate for the uneven terrain of the sidewalk. She tripped on a crack and went flying forward. Thinking the dog had its prey, it sprang foreward, sinking its teeth into its victim. It was about to start clawing, when a car pulled up.
"Hey, you get away!" The dog, fearing for its life, decided to do as the adult said and left. Once it was gone, the occupant jumped out to help.
"Stay right there, I'll call for help." The kid, a girl about the age of ten, looked to be terrified. With tears streaming down her face, she lay panting with her arms held protectively over her head. One arm was bleeding and it looked like her palms were as well. The owner of the vehicle went to get a cell phone and called 9-1-1 before returning back to help the frightened girl.
"Okay, help is on its way. Can you sit up for me?" Squinting, Piper pulled her arms down to look up at the hands offering help. They belonged to a man who appeared to be in his mid twenties. He had a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball hat with a Mike Piazza jersey and jeans.
"Ow! I don't know." She started to get her hands under her to pull herself up when she felt a pain in her wrist. She must have landed on it when she tripped.
"Ouch is right. Looks like you have a broken wrist there, kiddo. Is that all that hurts?" He looked over the kid, inspecting her for further injuries.
"Yes. My hands sting and my right one hurts. Do I have rabies now?" The question caught the man offguard, making him chuckle.
"Well, regarding your hands, I bet they do hurt. And that dog got you pretty good. Good thing I showed up. Oh, and it takes a while for you to get rabies so I wouldn't worry. We'll get you fixed right up. Do you have anyone you want me to call for you?" When he said this, the girl tensed up. She wasn't talking much and he worried maybe there was more to her than what had happened.
"What's wrong? Do you want me to call your mom? Would you rather I called someone else?" He wondered what the story was with this kid. She shouldn't have been outside. As far as he knew, none of the schools were out.
"My mom isn't here anymore. You can call my sister. She works at a bank." She gave the man the number. As each second went by she started to grow more worried. She never got into trouble. She wished she had just stayed at school.
"Hmm...no answer at her de_oh wait. Is that her by any chance?" He hung up the phone when he noticed a very worried Prue pulling up. As she rushed out to greet her little sister, she instantly went into protective mode.
"What are you doing to my sister? You better back off right now!" She ran over to the man, demanding an answer. Seeing him raise his hands in defense, she calmed down a little. Maybe he wasn't trying to hurt Piper.
"Wait, wait. I'm not hurting her, I promise. I was just driving down the street when I saw her on the ground. I was just trying to help. I called 9-1-1 and they'll be here any minute." He noticed she wasn't angry with him anymore and just concerned for her sister.
"What?!" She dropped to the ground, looking Piper over. From the looks of it, she had injured her hand and her palms and chin were scraped. She wondered how she got her injuries and why she was there to begin with.
"I'm so sorry, Prue. I know I wasn't supposed to leave." She started apologizing profusly, rambling incoherently.
"We'll talk about that later. I'm just glad I'm here. And this nice man, too." She stroked her sister's hair to soothe her.
"Wow, that's the most she's said in five minutes." The man looked down at the pair, noticing each looked like each other. They looked like such nice people. Such a shame they lost their mother.
"She's not comfortable around strangers. I try so hard to get her out of her shell and to talk more. I don't want to push her, though, and make it worse. Thank you for helping her. I'm sorry for the way I acted."
"Don't worry about it. You were just worried. I was driving down the street and I saw her running and noticed a dog was chasing her. She did pretty well until she tripped. I think the dog only bit her once on her hand. I've been telling them to fix those sidewalks. They're just not safe, what with all those cracks. They just tell me it's no use fixing them because every year they'd be replacing them. It's a shame things like this happen. I hope she's okay. I think her wrist might be broken or something." He looked at the girl's wrist again, noticing it was starting to swell up.
"Aww, honey. I bet you were scared. That's another thing they don't deal with. Stray animals. This is ridiculous, what is taking them so long?" She was about to call 9-1-1 herself, when an ambulance came down the street. She knew Piper would be so embarassed, but the man was just reacting to what he saw. He had no way of knowing if she was hurt badly or not and just wanted to get help fast.
"Well, here it is. I'll leave you two beautiful ladies to get that taken care of. I hope you feel better, kiddo." He shook Prue's hand as she thanked him once again for being so kind and then went on his way, glad to have been able to help. As he pulled away, he noticed the little girl being escorted to the ambulance with her older sister in tow. He felt indecent for thinking it, but he wished he'd gotten her number.

"Hey, you. How are you holding up?" Prue held her sister's gauze-wrapped hand as the two waited for someone to see them. All that could have been done on the way over was to wrap her hands and give her an icepack for her wrist. The room was fairly cool, and the two had been waiting for over an hour. Knowing it would take a while, Prue had called a friend of Phoebe's to watch her until Piper and Prue got home. Prue felt her sister's hand shake slightly and loked up from her watch.
"Piper? You never answered me, hon. You doing okay?" Her sister did not answer. She merely shook her head miserably. She was cold, her hands and chin hurt and her wrist was throbbing. She really should have stayed at school.
"Oh, honey. Let me see if I can get you comfortable. Sit tight, I'll be right back." She patted Piper on the knee before leaving the room to find a blanket and some pain medicine for Piper. Feeling angry at the personnel for not helping them, she decided she'd let them have it. Inside was a twelve year-old who was in pain and not being seen. Unacceptable, if you asked her. She marched down the hall to the nearest nurse and demanded her attention.
"Excuse me, um...Nurse Olson. I have a twelve year-old in that room down there who has a broken wrist. She is freezing and in pain and I would like to know what is taking so long. It looks to me like you are staffed quite adequately, enough to provide my sister with some help. What's the problem?" She took a deep breath, not wanting to be overbearing but this was crazy. She waited for an answer, watching the flustered nurse in front of her, who's face had grown red. When she did not receive an answer, she continued.
"Look, what do you say you go find someone who can hel_" She was about to finish when she was cut off. She turned around to see who spoke.
"Ma'am. I think I know the problem. I'm Kevin Gerrison, by the way. I overheard you informing Mrs. Olson of your problem and I realize what has happened. If your sister is the pretty little girl brought in earlier for a dog bite, I can assure you I will take care of it. After she was brought in, the chart was passed around to see who was free. I did not realize everyone was tied up with patients. You have my sincerest apologies, ma'am. Would it be okay if I took care of it?" He felt so bad for the woman. He planned on getting to the bottom of this lapse in protocol. It was mandatory that when children were brought in with possible breaks and there were no cases more severe, that the child would be treated promptly. It had obviously not been done, and he could imagine how badly she must be feeling. Seeing the young woman nod, he walked down the hall to see his newest patient. Upon entering, he was met with sad, tearful eyes.
"Hello, young lady. I hear you are having some problems. Let's take a look, shall we?" He carefully grabbed her wrist and unwrapped the gauze before doing the same to her other one.
"I'm glad to have an older patient. That way you'll understand what I explain to you. What I'm going to do first is wash away any dirt or little particles of grass or anything that could have gotten into your scrapes. Then, I'll apply some creme to help it heal and make it feel less painful as well. It won't go away completely, but it will feel a lot better. Sound like a plan?" The young girl look embarassed and simply nodded. A shy one, he figured.
"Sir, what about her wrist?" She glanced down at Piper's wrist, which wasn't getting any smaller.
"Oh, that. What we normally do is put a cast on but I'd rather give it a day and do it at another time. The swelling isn't going down and I want to be sure it's broken to begin with. We'll X-Ray it and if it is indeed broken, we will put a splint on it and wrap it lightly so that she won't be able to turn her wrist and injure it more. I've got one hand done. Once I finish the other we can go to X-Ray." He cleaned her right hand and covered it in anti-bacterial ointment. Leaving it unwrapped for the time being, he figured he'd better call and let Radiology know that he was coming up.
"Okay, all done. I'm going to call and get a room. If you'll wait right here for me, I'll be back with her in no time. Ready, uh..Piper, it looks like your name is. Ready, Piper?" He grabbed the wheel chair by the examining table and rolled it over.
"Hospital procedure. Why don't you have a seat and let me do the driving." If possible, she was actually looking more embarassed by not being able to walk on her own.
"Don't think anything of it. Yesterday we had a guy come in with a splinter in his finger. We made him ride in one, too. He let it go so bad we had to extract it and clean it all out." He watched her scrunch up her nose as the visual of such a procedure made its way into her mind.
"Alright. Here we go. Big sis, we'll be back shortly." He waved goodbye and led the younger Halliwell out of the room.
~ ~ ~
"Hmm...definitely broken, young lady. How'd you do this?" He continued to stare at the X-Ray, looking for anything he might have missed.
"I fell." Yep, this one sure was quiet and not easy to get to talk. He wondered how her sister did it. She was probably talkative around her family, though.
"Ouch. That would do it. Let's go wrap this, okay?" He pushed her out of the room and to the elevator. Once they'd arrived in the room, Prue greeted them looking nervous.
"Is it broken?" She knew it was anyway, but she wasn't an expert on the matter.
"Yes. When your sister fell, she put her hands out in front of her to catch her fall. When you're not expecting it, it is fairly easy to do. Your entire body is coming down onto joints that aren't made to endure that much pressure. Something's got to give. We'll get her set up to come in tomorrow to get a cast put on and she'll be good as new." He wrapped her other hand in gauze and placed a bandage around her wrist to keep it immobile. Once he was done, he admired his work. Two days on the job and he was a pro already.
"Thank you so much. I'm sorry about earlier. It's been a rough week. Well, it's been rough for a while but this was just one more thing. I'm really sorry I took it out on the nurse. I just hate seeing her in pain." She still felt bad about that, but it wasn't her fault no one showed up after over an hour.
"Oh, don't worry. It's our fault. We should have been on top of that. I'm glad we got her taken care of. Piper, I will see you tomorrow, okay? Big sis, I will see you as well. Until then, keep it dry and give her some tylenol. Keep the gauze on. I can change it out and give you some more tomorrow when you come in. Okay?" He wished he had more patients like this. He hadn't been on the job long but he was starting to like pediatrics.
"Okay. Thanks again. We'll see you tomorrow." She led her sister down the hall once again. Looking up at the clock, she realized it was after five already. She had felt so bad earlier she worked it out where she could go give Piper her shirt and come back to work. That was shot when Piper got hurt. She had to call her boss and give her the bad news that she wouldn't be coming back to the bank. As they approached their car, she saw Piper was visibly upset about something.
"Hey, when we get home I'll give you some medicine and you can go lay down. It's been a long day for us both." She helped Piper get in and shut her door before going around to her side.
"Let me get your seatbelt for you." She fastened the belt and the two were on their way home, finally. On the way, Prue had to think of a way to reprimand Piper for her behavior.

Twenty minutes later they arrived at the house Phoebe was at. It looked like a nice house and the parents were definitely doing good financially. Some days she wished for a dream house like that. It wasn't like her sisters were a burden, but she wanted certain things for herself. A white picket fence, or any fence for that matter...a family with two and a half kids. Where does the half come from? She looked over at Piper, who had fallen asleep, and felt guilty for her thoughts. Right now she guessed she had everything she needed. She wasn't there for Piper that day when she needed her. Piper had called her in tears and she sat at her desk debating what to do before leaving. If only she'd been there sooner. Someone could have taken her sister. She could have been hit by a car. Thankfully, neither of those happened but she was still injured, all because Prue thought her job was more important. Seeing her sister with bandaged hands and a scraped chin made her even more determined to raise the girls how her mother would have wanted. She quietly slipped out of the car to get Phoebe, while glancing back to make sure Piper was still asleep. As she walked up the steps to the front door, she noticed a little angel on the door of the home. Cute, she thought. Knocking on the door, she glanced down at the doormat and was greeted by a Dodgers logo. She rolled her eyes. She didn't know too much about baseball but she couldn't believe that it was still there. They were in Giants territory and you just didn't go around promoting the "other" team like that. She chuckled to herself quietly. She heard a noise and looked up, finding herself face to face with the Dodgers fan from earlier.
"Whoa, okay, that's weird. He..hello." He didn't know what else to say. All afternoon he'd been thinking about how much he wished to see the girl again from the street. It was like someone was listening in on his thoughts.
"Hi. Looks like we meet again. I'm Phoebe's sister, Prue. This is a nice house you have." As she started talking to him more, she started to notice certain things about him she hadn't before. He had sandy blonde hair that looked to be matted down from long hours wearing a ball cap. Under the hat were two of the most beautiful blue eyes Prue had ever seen. He had a tan as if he spent a lot of time outdoors. She realized she was staring, and aburptly stopped her eyes from making their way further down to check the rest of him out. Later, she thought. Much later.
"You okay? I said do you want to come in?" She hadn't heard a word he'd said and had to repeat it. She instantly felt embarassed and her face grew red. She could feel the heat radiating off her skin as she composed herself.
"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking. Um...I would love to come in, but I've got Piper in the car. She's the sister you met earlier. Thanks again for helping her. That was really sweet of you." She started rambling, as she did when she was nervous. As if were a daily occurance she met the man of her dreams.
"Oh, yes, of course. How is she, by the way?" He knew he'd better let her get her sister home but he wanted to at least get her number.
"She's doing okay. She has to go in tomorrow to get a cast. I guess they have to wait for the swelling to go down or something. I don't know. I was more concerned with how she was doing. She's in some pain but she's asleep right now." She wished she could think of a way to ask if he wanted to go out sometime.
"I'm so glad she's okay. I have one of my own....sort of. I didn't realize that you were Phoebe's sister. Our parents passed away a while back and I'm still learning the ropes. Jessie's my little sister, Phoebe's friend. We have another sister Melanie, but she's off at college...and I'm rambling. I'm sorry." He was so embarassed. There was this gorgeous girl standing in front of him and he was spouting off gosh knows what. He couldn't hear himself speak he was just talking away.
"That's okay. I'm sorry to hear about your parents. I guess that's why I never met you. I called the school earlier and spoke to Phoebe and she said she had a friend that could drive her home and that I'd met the parents before. I had talked to your mom in the past and I never....I mean, every time Phoebe's called your house I just assumed...well, I'm sorry. I know that must be hard for you." He looked like he was well-off with the house but that didn't mean he didn't have worries.
"Thank you, and it's okay. We're coping. Melanie always took care of that stuff while I was in school. So, up until she moved out, she handled Jessie's outings and things like that. I never got the important information, I guess. I still have to remind myself to get phone numbers and emergency contacts. No one plans to be raising their sibblings on their own. It's just something you deal with. I never thought twice, I just did it. I'm not going to risk the chance of losing Jessie. Melanie is older and is independent now, but she still needs me for things also. I just hope and pray I can help her if she ever comes to me with dating advice and things like that. I am so glad she's beyond her teenage years. Well, kind of. She's only a freshman but still..geez why am I rambling? Shut up, Jake!" He sounded like such a fool. If she ever wanted to talk to him again, it would be a miracle.
"Jake. That's your name. I never got your name back there. Nice to meet you, Jake." She held out her hand and he shook it.
"Yep, that's me. Well, let me just get Phoebe and you two can take Piper home. I'm sure she'd rather sleep in her own bed." He turned around and left her standing in the doorway. After a couple minutes of what sounded like goodbye's, Phoebe came out the door to hug her sister.
"Hey, there. I see you had a good time." Phoebe nodded feverishly, remembering the pizza they'd had and the movie they got to watch.
"Good, hon. I'm glad. Why don't you sit in the car and I'll be there in a second. Oh, and please be quiet. Piper is asleep." Phoebe ran off to get into the car, slowly. Prue stood on the steps, unsure of what to say. As she began to speak, so did he. They instantly shut up.
"Sorry, you go ahead." She hated it when that happened.
"Oh, I feel so stupid for asking this. I don't usually do this, but would you...consider...going out sometime? And if you don't I totally understand. You have your hands full and..." he couldn't believe he just came out and asked her out like that. Of course she wouldn't want to date him. She had two little girls to raise by herself.
"Okay. I mean, I'd love to go out sometime." She was gushing by then and her face was growing flushed once again.
"Wow, great. So..Jessie has your number and I'll call you. Tell Piper I hope she feels better." He didn't show it, but inside he was jumping for joy. He hadn't had a date in years and this one seemed like the one for him. There was something about her, he could just tell.
"Okay then. I'll talk to you then. Bye Jake." She waved and walked back toward the car. She wanted to jump up and down and scream, but settled for a silent "yes!" As she got into the car and drove out of the driveway, all her worries vanished. She was in such a good mood. She looked over at Piper, and seeing that she was sleeping peacefully, she decided to let her off the hook. She was normally a good kid and hardly ever got into trouble. While it was a serious offense, she had gotten injured and learned her lesson in a harder way than Prue would have had planned for her. So, she let it go, deciding Piper had punished herself enough worrying about what would happen to her. She looked into the rearview mirro and saw Phoebe smiling at her.
"What?" She hid her grin and tried to be serious, but just could not. She was in such a good mood. She was beaming.
"Nothing." Phoebe started laughing, knowing her sister liked Jesssie's older brother. He was cute.
"Alright, if you say so." She started down at the road in front of her as the three drove home. Every now and then, she could hear Phoebe let out a small gigle to herself. Prue couldn't help but join in.