Penny didn't know what to do. Part of her wanted to scoop Cameron up in her arms and hold him; she felt like this was the only way to keep him safe, to keep anything from happening to him. On the other hand, she was afraid, terrified, really, of touching him, of doing anything to him at all.

She held her breath and put a hand gently on his back, relieved to feel the warmth that emanated from it, relieved to feel the soft up and down motion that indicated he breathed still. Then she agonized over leaving him to go search for her phone, because she felt like her hand on his back was the only thing that was keeping him breathing.

Part of her knew that she was in shock, and that she wasn't thinking rationally, but that didn't change how she felt. She was afraid to move, she was afraid to stay still; she was afraid Cam would die, she was afraid he would bleed to death; she was afraid Frederick would come out of the bathroom to kill them both, she was afraid of everything.

She didn't know how long she sat there with her hand on Cameron's back, but finally something brushed along her leg, and she jumped, letting out a little scream, which in turn caused Cam to twitch under her hand, like a mini convulsion.

It was Carol Channing, who looked unnerved and skittish, who had left tiny, bloody cat footprints all over the living room on her way to her.

This got Penny moving, and she rose, going to the dish by the front door where she usually deposited her keys. She was relieved to find her phone next to her keys. She tried the door, and found that the knob wouldn't turn, and the keyhole had something viscous poured all over it. There was a nearly empty tube of super glue on the table next to the dish. She quickly punched in 911 on her phone.

She quickly gave the operator her address, and told her, "My ex-boyfriend broke into our apartment and cut up my boyfriend's face with a knife. He had a gun. Please come, there's blood everywhere and my boyfriend Cam is unconscious on the floor." She tried to concentrate on keeping her voice calm and even, knowing that she was already very loud.

"Miss, is your ex still on the premises?"

"Yes, he's on the bathroom floor, he tripped over the cat and fell."

"Listen carefully, you need to get your boyfriend and get somewhere safe. I'm sending help now, but you need to get out of there immediately, do you understand?"

"No, you don't understand, my ex fell and hit his head really hard, I think he's dead, so please just come!" Now Penny knew she was shouting but she couldn't help it. Her hand was also cramping from how hard she was holding the phone. She hobbled back to where Cam was lying on the floor and she knelt again next to him, putting her hand on his back, which was still warm.

Thank god. Thank god.

"And Frederick fucked up the door so it won't open," she told the operator. "I can't open it, it has glue all over it."

"I'm sending the fire department, don't worry, miss. You should be able to hear the sirens already, can you hear them? Just stay calm, can you do that?"

"I'm trying, I'm trying," Penny answered, beginning to cry, which at least kept her from screaming. And she could indeed hear sirens in the distance.

Thank god.

Next to her, Cam was making strange whooshing noises, scary wet noises.

"I have to go, Cam's trying to say something," Penny said into the phone.

"No, miss, stay on the line with me until the paramedics or the fire department arrives, okay?"

"I can't! Cam needs to tell me something, don't you understand?" Penny was shouting again. "I have to go! I have to go!"

"Just calm down and stay with me."

Penny heard a great pounding on the door, like someone was chopping on it with an axe or something. This sent C-Chan scrambling away, probably to hide under the couch. Penny noticed that the chunk of sky she could see through the sliding glass doors looked garish and over bright, almost green, and she wondered if it was going to snow or something. She thought this was odd.

Snow in September?

The front door gave way with a mighty crack, letting in a rush of warm air from the hallway, and suddenly the entry was full of firefighters in heavy coats, despite the temperatures. Right behind them were paramedics and policemen, too.

Wow.

They approached Penny where she knelt next to Cameron, who had remained motionless through all of the commotion.

No no, please.

Cam.

The next thing Penny knew, she was being pulled away from Cameron, and she heard screaming. She felt a sharp pain in her cheek, and the screaming stopped.

Was that her? Had she, Penny, been the one screaming?

"Sorry about the slap," one of the paramedics said.

Penny just shook her head, looking around. She was seated on the couch.

How had that happened?

"Just the one DOA in the master bath," she heard one policeman say to another.

Did they really talk like that? She thought that kind of dialogue only happened on TV.

"Where's Cameron?" she asked the paramedic. "What's happened to Cam?" Penny was approaching panic. She looked around, but didn't see him anywhere. The huge puddle of blood was still there, with smears all over the place, but her boyfriend had vanished.

Had she imagined all that?

"Relax, Miss Patrick," the paramedic told her. "He's on his way to the hospital. "You did right not to move him. Keeping his face on the cold concrete, low to the ground, was the best thing. We're going to take good care of him, don't worry."

Penny nodded. Good.

"Now, do you hurt anywhere? Are you injured?" The nice paramedic, who's name was Davidson, asked her.

"No, I'm fine, please let me go and be with him," Penny responded, rising. She took a step and staggered at the pain in her right foot.

"Miss Patrick? Something wrong with your foot?" Paramedic Davidson asked, pushing her back down on the couch. "Let me see, please."

"I have a little cut, it's nothing," Penny answered, lifting her foot.

"Oh, boy," he said when he saw her foot. "I need a kit over here, stat," he called over his shoulder. "Looks like a deep lac, I think we might need another bus."

He looked Penny over more carefully and found the abrasions on her knees as well. He shook his head and chastised himself for not checking her out more thoroughly at the beginning.

"I think you should cut yourself some slack," the police officer next to him remarked. "Anyone who saw the state the guy was in, it makes sense you'd miss a few cuts on the girl, you know?"

"Right, but she's gonna need stitches on the bottom of her foot for sure," Davidson responded. "I should've noticed her bloody footprints weren't just from stepping in his blood."

He turned back to Penny. "I'm sorry for not noticing, Miss Patrick. You have quite a deep cut on the bottom of your foot. You're going to need to go to the hospital so they can make sure all the glass is out, and you're going to need to have it cleaned, stitched and wrapped, okay?"

Penny nodded in resignation. At least she'd be at the hospital with Cam.

"Is Cameron going to be all right?" she asked. "Is he--is he going to live?"

"I don't know anything about his status," Davidson said, becoming very professional. "Let's get to the hospital and someone can check for you, okay? If I let you keep your phone, can you call someone to be with you when we get there?"

Penny nodded, and called Yoko from the ambulance. Yoko was her usual sensible self, and didn't waste time with superfluous questions, but merely said she'd be at the hospital in twenty minutes, and was.

"Dear lord, Penny, thank the baby Jesus you're okay," she said with tears in her eyes, hugging her friend as she got her foot stitched up.

"Shh, don't cry, don't cry," Penny soothed, hugging her back and kissing her. "Can you just please find out about Cam? No one will tell me anything, and he looked so bad, so bad, Yo--"

"Okay, okay, I will, don't fret," Yoko responded. "And I called Simon, so reinforcements will be here soon."

Under Penny's direction, she also called the theatre so the understudies could take over for tonight, and then she called Cam's sister Genevieve in London and Penny's horrified family in San Diego.

"Anyone else?" Yoko asked an increasingly groggy Penny, who had been given painkillers for her foot and knees.

"No, but what about Cam?" Penny grasped at the front of Yoko's shirt from the bed where she lay.

Yoko took a deep breath.

"Cam's in surgery, kiddo, we'll know more in a few hours, okay? You just rest for now."

"What kind of surgery?"

"He's with a restorative plastic surgeon, one of the best, so stop worrying."

Yoko didn't tell her that Cameron had lost a lot of blood, so much that the surgeon had been worried about him surviving the surgery. He was also worried about infection. Penny didn't need to know about such things now.

"Okay, okay..." Penny's voice had faded off into incoherent mumbling, but she'd released Yoko's shirt and turned away, closing her eyes at least, so Yoko was hopeful that she would at least get some rest before she had to deal with a hysterical Penny.

"Yoko!"

Yoko, who'd started to turn away herself, turned back.

"What?"

"Please make sure the door gets replaced, and take care of Carol Channing. She must be so scared. If they can't replace the door, take her to your place, okay? Your roommate won't mind, will he? For a little while? Will he?" Penny's eyes, which had drifted closed, were now wide open with concern for her cat.

"I'll take care of C-Chan, no worries, just relax," Yoko assured her friend.

"And you'll tell me about Cam right away? You'll wake me up to tell me? Promise?" Penny's eyes were still wide open, agonized. "Please. I love him, Yoko. I can't live without him."

Yoko grasped her hand. "I know, Pen, I know. Now get some rest."

Penny finally closed her eyes again, and Yoko went to find Simon, who was waiting outside the doors where Cameron Aldobrandeschi was having surgery, hoping against hope that his friend would survive the surgery that would save his face.