Piper

Don't Turn Around!

"You've always had the power, my dear. You just had to learn it yourself."

-Glinda "The Wizard of Oz

Medical supplies moving around in thin air by themselves would scare the heck out of this nurse. It would even freak her out if she knew who Piper was.

Tabitha couldn't resist it anymore. It was as if these figures before her were a test. A signal that made her fidget. She knew non-believers of witchcraft would find the idea of an evil anomaly ridiculous, so it was best to keep this to herself.

This must be Piper's way of keeping her aware that she was here to stay and there's nothing Tabitha nor any witch could do about it.

And she had to think fast before Miss Hudson would learn about this bizarre episode. For if that happened, she probably wouldn't get her 'wings' or that official broomstick for that matter.

She started feeling tense and wobbly inside as she wanted to punch something to let her anxiety out.

Without thinking about it, Tabitha wiggled her nose and prayed that the apparatus would land on the medical tray beside the counter before Nurse Reynolds turned around.

Just as the nurse turned away, both the reflex hammer and the thermometer fell on the medical tray as lightly as a feather. Secretly, Tabitha sighed in relief as she patted herself on the back.

Tabitha =1 Point, Piper = 0

However, she knew that wouldn't last for long as her nemesis would find other ways to taunt Nurse Reynolds.

"I swore I put that thermometer on that table, " the nurse pointed at the corner's end while she scratched her head. "Anyway, I'll just take your temperature and blood pressure."

Picking the thermometer up from its gadget, the nurse motioned Tabitha to open her mouth.

"Please put this under your tongue and hold this stick to keep it from falling. I'll take your blood pressure as well."

Unwrapping the sphygmomanometer from its case, Nurse Reynolds placed the inflatable rubber cuff on Tabitha's right arm. As the cuff was electronically inflated by a device connected to it, the nurse turned around to gather her clipboard and notes.

But, she did not notice that something went terribly wrong. The sphygmomanometer's device applied too much pressure on Tabitha's arm making the cuff look like an inflated balloon.

This shocked the nurse and knew she had to turn the gadget off before the pressure would hurt her patient.

Piper =1 Point, Tabitha lost this round.

Yet, Tabitha didn't feel a thing. It was one of the bonuses on becoming non-human; witches did not feel pain and could become immortal. But she was rather embarrassed for not sensing that Piper would do that on purpose and manipulate the device.

"I hope I didn't hurt you, Honey." The nurse massaged Tabitha's arm easing the nonexistent pain.

"Please don't mention this to the staff, Tabitha. I don't know what came over this machine. Yesterday, it was working just fine. I'll bring this to medical technicians to fix it. Meanwhile, I'll just manually take your blood pressure with the emergency sphygmomanometer. Tell me if I'm hurting you too, Tabitha."

Patting her arm, Nurse Reynolds released the electronic cuff and exchanged it with a manual one.

Once the vital signs were done and the nurse made sure her patient could walk again on her own, she announced Tabitha's results. Looking sternly at the student, she proceeded with her lecture while nodding her head.

"Tabitha, it appears that your results are way above your normal age. Have you been taking anything to make that happen?"

Baffled, the witch's cheeks blushed, yet she tried to hide it by shaking her head no.

"I just hallucinated a while ago Nurse Reynolds, so I think that must be typical for I must have had a fast heartbeat that needs to slow down. The shock must still be in me."

Tabitha hoped her excuse would pass, because the Nurse was annoying.

What is she suggesting?As if I'm on drugs. I gotta get out of here.

With a lowered eyebrow, Nurse Reynolds remained skeptical of that answer, but didn't know what else to say. She couldn't prove that Tabitha was lying, so the nurse let it go but added a warning.

"Okay, if you say so Tabitha. But if anything else goes wrong, I'm afraid I'll have to admit you to the hospital."

And that was the last thing that Tabitha wanted; expose her secret to doctors and other nurses.

With a twitch of her nose, she made sure the nurse would forget about what she said earlier and left her office in a jiffy.

I do not like this Nurse Reynolds, Tabitha. Don't you think we must get rid of her?