"Are there--are there a lot of people outside?"

Penny could hear the apprehension in his voice, and she knew that Vivi could too.

"Not too many," she answered, keeping her voice light. "Just the usual assortment of reporters and fans, you know."

What she did not tell him was that, in addition to "the usual assortment," there were also a lot of paparazzi, photographers who didn't work for any particular paper, but who were hoping for a lucky picture of Cameron Aldobrandeschi's face that they could sell to a tabloid for a large sum of money. Word had gotten out about the state of his face, and it had turned into quite a story.

"Prince Turned Model Has Face Slashed by Girlfriend's Stalker!" screamed one headline.

"Handsome European Royal Mutilated by Crazed Stalker!" read another.

Of course, there were no end to gorgeous before photos of Cameron from his runway days, and even a few of him with Penny that had been dug up from social media. The internet had done the rest, and it was an international entertainment story now, with everyone clamoring for an interview, and the entire world, it seemed, wanting a picture of poor Cameron.

There seemed to be a bit of confusion about who Cam's girlfriend was at the moment. Everyone knew that Frederick was Penny's ex, but the fact that Claire was hanging around, coming and going from the hospital, answering questions and referring to herself as Cam's girlfriend had led some to believe that she was in fact his current significant other. It didn't help that Penny spoke to no one and gave no information when entering or leaving the hospital.

"Please, brother, don't worry about them, okay?" Vivi interjected. She was packing the last of his things in preparation for leaving the hospital. "This hospital has an underground entrance, we've hired a car with fully tinted windows, and your apartment has a garage entrance as well, so with any luck, no will even know we've left here or arrived there, yes?"

Penny nodded hopefully at Vivi.

She looked over at Cam, careful to keep her expression neutral. The sutures which criss-crossed his face had pulled even tighter has his face swelled, so he looked even worse than before, if that was possible. In addition, some of the sutures were infected and were oozing slightly, which did nothing to improve things. His left eyelid was drooping a little because of the cut that ran right across the middle of it, which of course could not be sutured so close to the eyeball; all in all, his face was not a prepossessing sight.

However, if a person looked at the actual suture sites, as Penny had been told to do, you could see that even the infected spots were closing in nice, tight seams, and that, eventually, all of the lines would be small and fine. The surgeon had done a good job. Cam was on oral antibiotics for the infections, and the sutures would soon come out and the swelling would go down as well. The subcutaneous sutures had already begun to dissolve, and there was no nerve damage to his eyes or face, which was incredibly lucky.

Penny knew that he actually looked good, if she knew where and how to look. It was just hard sometimes.

"Ready?" she asked brightly.

"You should be in a chair as well," Cam said darkly, gesturing toward her foot.

"My foot is fine," Penny protested with a laugh. She had actually neglected to care for her foot as she'd been told, forgetting to clean it and change the dressing, and not bothering to fill the prescription for the ointment she was supposed to put on it daily, and it had gotten infected all over again after she'd been home a few days. Her doctor had given her a stern talking to after he'd had to debride it all over again, clean it up and rewrap it.

"Now, you keep it clean, keep it wrapped, and put the medicine on it like I prescribed, or we're just going to have to amputate this poor foot of yours next time, is that clear?" he'd joked.

And Penny's younger sister, Hazel, who'd been with her by then, had answered for her.

"Not a problem, doctor, I'll see to it." And she'd glared at her sister.

"You look so much like mom when you do that, you should see yourself," Penny had teased.

"I don't care how much you insult me, I'm making you take care of your fucking foot," Hazel had retorted, giving her older sister a slap on the shoulder.

Penny's family had arrived from San Diego in a state of shock and terror, expecting to find their daughter and sister at death's door. They were relieved that it was only her foot that was injured, though of course they were horrified at the state of her boyfriend.

"This wasn't how I wanted to meet him for the first time," Hazel had fretted, wiping her blue eyes as she turned to her sister in the corridor of the hospital.

"I know, kiddo, we just have to hope he'll be okay," Penny had comforted.

"I never liked that Frederick," her father had intoned. "Come on, mother, let's go get some coffee," he said to his wife.

She nodded, turning mournful eyes on Penny. "Will you be all right, Penelope?"

And as much as Penny was happy her family had come to rally around her, she was relieved when they'd headed back to San Diego three days later, leaving her free to tend to Cam, to deal with Claire and the police and the reporters. Her loving dad, nervous mom, and wonderful sister were just too much of a distraction when she had these other, vital things to take care of.

"Do you at least have crutches?" Cam asked darkly, pulling Penny out of her memories of her family.

"I don't need crutches anymore," Penny laughed. "I can hobble around just fine, it's all taped up nice and tight, no germs are getting in there, don't worry."

So they went down to the cavernous underground garage, with Vivi pushing her brother's wheelchair and Penny doing her best not to limp next to them. Cam sat in the very back of the black SUV with the black windows, and Penny and Vivi sat next to him with their faces obscured. People from the car service sat directly behind the driver and passenger as decoys, and they managed to get back to the loft without being chased or harried in any way.

"See? No problem, I told you," Penny said to Cam as she and Vivi got him settled on the loveseat in the living room of the loft.

However, Vivi made the mistake of turning the television on, and Cameron saw a story about himself on an entertainment show that evening, complete with a graphic description of what Frederick had done to his face, though of course there were no photographs. They really played up the playboy prince angle, showing him waterskiing in Italy, skiing in France, nightclubbing in London, and of course all of his very sexiest runway looks.

"Oh shit," Penny said as she walked in with some iced tea for him and caught the tail end of the story.

"What was that?" Cameron asked. "When did our story become a national news story? An international news story, actually? And so much of that was all wrong! They said that Claire was still my girlfriend, and that you were living with Frederick when he attacked us! They made it sound like you were two-timing him or something!" Cameron was getting very worked up.

"No, Cameron, you have to stop, let me get you a pill," Vivi said, turning toward the kitchen for one of the little green pills he was supposed to take if he got agitated.

"No, I don't want a fucking pill, I just want to know when and why we got so famous, and if the whole world now knows my face looks like a mincemeat pie!" Cam thundered.

"Brother, you must, please, remember what Doctor said," Vivi responded, entering the room with the pill. "Please," she repeated, holding out the pill. She looked at Penny for help.

"Come on, Cam, you know that the extra blood flow can really mess up your stitches, take the pill." Penny added her words to Vivi's, hoping they would help.

"Please, Cameron, your face is getting red, the stitches on your forehead are starting to bleed!" Vivi cried. "Please!"

Cameron looked at his sister's face and finally acquiesced, reaching for the pill and swallowing it with some iced tea.

"I'm sorry, Vivi, please don't cry," he said, patting the sofa next to him. "God, I'm so sorry to put you in the middle of this. How long have you been here? Two weeks already, you have to get back, don't you?"

Vivi shook her head stoutly. "I got an emergency extension on a couple of things, I'm fine," she told her brother.

She had told Penny, however, that she was in danger of losing this first semester entirely if she didn't get back within the next week. "Please don't tell Cameron, though," she begged. "Becoming a doctor seems like the most trivial thing in the world right now, you know? He's my only family, the only real blood relative I have in the world, except for some distant great-uncles and cousins somewhere in the Czech Republic about whom I couldn't care less right now."

And she looked at Penny out of her brother's beautiful brown eyes, and Penny couldn't say no.

They sat together for a few minutes, just relaxing, and Penny could tell that the pill was finally starting to take effect after about twenty minutes.

"Well, darling Genevieve," Cameron finally said in a much softer voice, "I don't know about extensions, but I do know how hard you worked to get into medical school, so please, please go back, hm?" He kissed her temple. "I'll be fine here, and you can't stay forever."

"But who will take care of you? I'm your family," Vivi protested.

"I'm here, I'll take care of him," Penny said, surprised.

"I'll be fine," Cam repeated as if Penny hadn't spoken. "Please go back, yeah? I'll be much calmer once I know you're safely back on Pudding Island dissecting frogs or whatever it is you do."

Vivi nodded, hugging her brother. "Okay, I'll go back, but not for long. Not for long."

Cam chuckled and released her. "Now go pack."

"What, now?" Vivi asked, surprised.

"Yes, now," Cameron answered. "I want you on a plane tomorrow, please."

As soon as Vivi was out of the room, Penny asked, "What was that all about?"

"What?"

"Both of you ignoring me when I said I'd care for you?"

"We weren't ignoring you," Cam answered, looking at her with his good eye. "I know you'll care for me, Penguin." He reached for her hand, the one with the bracelet on it, and carefully kissed it.

Penny sat where Vivi had been moments before, and Cam put his arm around her, but to Penny it felt artificial, as though he were doing it for her benefit.

She didn't feel like she belonged there.