Penny looked at Carey and Brent carefully.

"Really? You mean it?" She wasn't sure what to feel as she looked carefully at the producers. She stroked C-Chan, who purred contentedly in her lap. Yoko sat next to her, holding her hand. Vivi sat in the easy chair. "You're releasing both of us from our contracts?"

Carey nodded as he picked up his coffee cup and took a drink. He gestured to her leg. "You're in no shape to work, are you?"

"And, though I doubt if he knew we were there, we've been to see Cam, and obviously he isn't, either," Brent added.

"But I will be in a few weeks," Penny said. "The doctors said that, as long as I take care of it, my foot will probably be pretty much healed by the end of the year."

Brent and Carey looked at each other. "Look, let's be frank, okay? Everyone knows what things are like between you and Cameron, how you feel about each other. And he's got a long road ahead of him. He's going to need you, Penny," Carey said.

"And Cynthia told us that part of what made both of you so good was the other person," Brent continued. "I mean, even we got you back in January as Jackie, how effective would you be in the part without Cameron as Harry? Do you honestly think you could bring the same magic to the stage without him, especially if you're worried half out of your mind for him?"

"Honey? You want to fight them on this? You want the part back in January? Is that what you're saying?" Yoko asked, putting a hand on Penny's shoulder.

Penny shook her head. "No. I was actually worried they'd make me come back when I didn't want to," she admitted. "I know Cam's going to have a lot on his plate, and they're right, I want to be there for him. I mean, Vivi's here now, but she can't stay forever, she has to get back to school, and who's going to tend him then?"

"We're not monsters, Pen," Carey said, sitting back. "We'd never force you to remain in the part under these circumstances."

Brent shook his head. "All of the investors and Cynthia are in agreement."

"But, and I don't want to sound like I'm tooting our horns here or anything," Penny said hesitantly, "weren't Cam and I the main reason people were interested in the play? Weren't we the big draw?"

Brent smiled. "You were. You are. But Donna and Gil aren't half bad." Donna Sutherland and Gilbert Henley were their understudies. "They've been kicking ass the past week, and got nice write ups in the Times and and some online sites, so we'll see how it goes. The main thing is for you and Cameron not to fret about the play, and just focus on getting well. If, a few months down the road, things are looking good for you guys, we'll talk about new contracts and getting you back in the show, okay?"

No one said what everyone was thinking, which was that there was no way Cam would be anywhere near ready to take his place back in the show in a few months.

❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️

"So Cam, they've let us both out of our contracts, we don't have to worry about the show," Penny finished, grasping his hand.

Cameron had been moved from the hospital's burn unit to the ICU, and people no longer had to wear special clean gowns to see him, though there were still stringent rules about the number of people and how long they could stay.

Penny and Vivi were sitting with him, just chatting, trying to keep his spirits up and keep his mind off his condition. His bandages were coming off permanently today, so his wounds could breathe and hopefully heal faster, and he was going to be able to see himself for the first time.

Claire, unfortunately, had insisted on hanging around, and had checked into a nearby hotel and was being a nuisance at the hospital on a daily basis, though Penny supposed it was nice for Cam to have another person to visit him and care for him, possibly.

"But you'll be well in a couple months." Cam's diction had improved immensely, and he could now be clearly understood. The dressing on his face was clear of his mouth, though Penny could see how misshapen and abraded his lips still were. "You could go back to the play in January, or even late December."

"But I really didn't want to do the play without you, you know?" Penny responded, keeping her voice light. "The magic was us together."

"Are you saying they let you go because I couldn't come back as well?"

"No, not exactly." Penny knew she had to step carefully so as not to raise his ire. "It was mutual, I suppose." She squeezed Cam's hand. "Look, Cameron. I love acting, and I love theatre, but right now, I love you more, and we all know you're not going to be ready to take the stage in January, right? And I want to be with you. So just let me."

Cam was silent.

"Wouldn't you rather have me taking care of you, Cam?" A voice came from the doorway.

Penny and Vivi turned.

It was Claire.

This time it was Vivi who spoke. "Look, today is a big day for him, so maybe you should go, you know? He doesn't need to be upset right now."

"I know today's a big day, why do you think I came early?" Claire responded, shaking her sheaf of blonde hair back. "I'm just saying, maybe Cameron might want someone other than Penny, who would just be a great, big reminder of the person who did this to him, taking care of him, that's all."

"Why would Penny remind him of the nutter who did this to him?" Vivi asked.

"Because he was her ex-boyfriend, of course!" Claire exclaimed as if it were obvious, walking into the room. "He was obsessed with her and stalking her, that's what made him fixate on Cameron in the first place!"

"Oh, for fuck's sake Claire," Cam said weakly from the bed, trying to rise to a sitting position from the bed and pulling some equipment over. This in turn made something start beeping ominously.

"What?" Vivi turned to Penny. "Is this true? I thought he was some crazy actor who was upset because my brother got the part over him? Was really an old boyfriend of yours, Penelope?"

"He was both," Penny tried to explain. "God, Cam, don't do that! Please lie down!"

A nurse entered the room. "What happened? You can't sit up, Mr. Aldobrandeschi, please lie down." He got Cam settled and the equipment plugged in again.

"All right, everyone out for a few minutes, please," the nurse ordered. "The patient is upset. Now!" he barked, and the three women were relegated to the hallway.

Vivi was obviously very upset still. "Penelope, you never told me this. Frederick Berenson was an old lover of yours? He came after Cameron because of you?" She waved toward Cam's room. "This is all because of you?"

Claire leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "Forgot to mention that detail, I guess, hm Penny?"

"Did you actually leave him for Cameron?" Vivi asked. "Did you? Were you shagging them both at once?"

"Oh, juicy," Claire exclaimed. "Were you, Penny, you naughty girl?"

"What? No, of course not!" Penny answered. "After Frederick lost the part to Cam, he wanted me to leave the play, but I couldn't, I'd already signed a contract. So he got mad at me and broke up with me, and threw me out of our apartment, too. And I had no where to go, because he told all of our friends not to help me."

"So you asked my brother to take you in," Vivi finished. "You dragged him into your problem."

"It wasn't like that," Penny said, shaking her head. "We just became friends. He was--your brother was--nice to me."

"My brother is nice to everyone!" Vivi shouted, moving close to Penny's face. "And this is what he gets for it--he's in agony, suffering so much, disfigured for life, probably!" Vivi's face collapsed into tears as she covered it with her hands. "My beautiful, wonderful brother, who never hurt anyone..."

Claire came forward and put an arm around her shoulders. "Come on, Genevieve, let's get you a cup of tea, shall we?" And they moved away down the corridor, leaving Penny alone.

The nurse, whose name was Aaron, finally came out. "Are you Penelope?" he asked.

Penny nodded.

"He's asking for you."

Penny entered the room, where Cam was all cleaned up, dressings on his face changed, sheets straightened.

"I'm sorry," Cam murmured, voice a little blurry. Penny knew his voice and reactions well enough by now to know that he'd been given something to calm him down.

"For what?"

"I heard my sister yelling at you. I don't blame you. Frederick was just crazy...that's all."

Penny sat once more, nodding.

"Stay with me?"

Penny nodded again.

"I'm scared about the bandages coming off..."

"I know."

They sat in silence until Vivi and Claire returned.

"No more shouting, please," Cam said as soon as they entered the room.

Vivi just nodded and sat. Claire, too, pulled up a chair and sat.

A few minutes later Dr. Garcia entered with a nurse and asked if Cam was ready for the dressings to come off.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose," he answered, and Penny realized that he hadn't been drugged just because he'd sat up and gotten upset about what Claire had said; he'd been given something to relax him with this moment in mind.

"Now you two are next of kin and you can remain," Dr. Garcia said, gesturing to Vivi and Penny. "You, however, will have to wait outside, and they can decide after whether or not you can come in, all right?" she went on, pointing at Claire.

Claire rose and went out to the hallway.

Penny and Vivi had been warned that Cameron's face would not look good, but they were not to respond in any negative way, and that this was very important. "If you think you're going to wig out in any way, then tell me now, and we'll arrange for you not to be there," Dr. Garcia had said that morning. "Is that clear?"

Both had nodded, holding hands.

Penny noticed that Vivi did not hold her hand now.

"Okay, now your face is going to feel very sensitive, since it hasn't been exposed to the air for over a week," Dr. Garcia was telling Cameron. "It might even hurt. We're going to give you some injections for the pain as soon as we get you all unwrapped, okay?"

Cameron nodded, reaching for Penny's hand.

Penny wondered if Vivi resented the fact that her brother wanted to hold her hand.

"Okay, here we go." And the doctor began carefully snipping away at the bandages that covered Cam's face as he squeezed Penny's hand very tight.

She squeezed back, rubbing his knuckles. She bit her lips together, wanting to see, but not wanting to see at the same time. She remembered how he looked when she'd seen him last in her apartment, and told herself that nothing could look as bad as that.

Nothing.

His face was like a map of white parchment with angry red roads on it. There were deep red gouges criss crossing his cheeks, his nose, his chin, and his upper lip, making it look like he'd had harelip surgery. A deep gash ran across his left eye, and she knew he was lucky not to have lost his sight.

Oh my god.

One of the cuts went up into his hairline, causing a scar from which no hair grew. Some of the cuts were raw looking and oozing, still, and because the stitches were small and tight, every single slice and cut was completely visible and obvious.

Penny looked at Cameron's face and sighed, smiling through her tears.

"So nice to see your beautiful face at last," Penny murmured, kissing his hand.

Cam gave her back a small smile, unable to manage a bigger one because of all the sutures in his face.

"Brother, you look really good, truly, much better than you did with all the bandages all over your face," Vivi added, placing her hand over Penny's. Penny moved her hand so Vivi could touch his flesh.

"You ready to see yourself?" Dr. Garcia asked gently.

Cam took a deep breath and nodded.

The attendants raised his bed and gave him a mirror.

"Now, it's going to be a shock, but it's important to not cry if you can," Dr. Garcia admonished. "The tears are bad for your stitches."

Cam nodded again.

She handed him a mirror, which he slowly raised.

Cam stared at himself, and blinked rapidly, swallowing a couple of times, breathing shallowly as he turned his head a little from side to side.

"Oh dear god," he murmured. His eyebrows drew up a little, Penny could see, and she sat on the bed, putting a hand on his leg.

"Penguin," he breathed in a choking gasp.

Vivi moved so Penny could move up and carefully hold him as he carefully balanced his chin on her shoulder.

Suddenly, there was a shallow scream from the door.

"Oh my god, look at your face!"

It was Claire.

"I--I couldn't wait any longer, I had to see, but my god, what a mess, Cameron!"

"Someone get her out of here!" Dr. Garcia barked, and the nurse, Aaron, strode to the door and pushed her out, closing the door firmly in her face.

Cameron's body heaved with silent sobs as Penny held him, and she saw Aaron return and push something into his IV through a syringe as Dr. Garcia nodded.

"Shh, shh, you heard Dr. Garcia, this is so bad for you, please," Penny begged.

Cam nodded, drawing deep breaths, trying to stop.

He finally released her and wilted back onto the bed, looking at Penny and Vivi, who moved up to sit next to Penny so she could look at her brother.

"Thank you, both of you, for being with me," he murmured, relaxing before their eyes as whatever he'd been given began to take effect.

Finally, as Penny and his sister watched, he closed his eyes, the only beautiful thing left in his ravaged face, and slept.