TONI POV:
My vision blurred with each strike, my own breath catching in my throat as Penny's fury unleashes upon me. The once-familiar face contorted into a mask of rage, each blow landing like a thunderbolt against my skin. The pain radiating from every bruise, every cut, a relentless assault on both body and spirit. In the midst of the chaos, my mind races, struggling to comprehend how this happened to get me here. The echoes of Penny's aggression reverberate through my body. Next thing I know I'm hearing my name. "Toni?" I hear as my eyes slowly open. I look up and see Penny standing over me. "Where- where am I?" I ask her. "You know I can't answer that!" She says quietly. "Why am I here all beaten up?" I ask her. "You owe me remember?" She says. "So beating me up was the best way to go about it." I whisper. She squats down to look at me and pulls out her pocket knife. I quickly realize my jacket is off. "You're not a real serpent!" She tells me. "What makes you think that?" I ask her. "You married a Blossom." She tells me. "That goes against everything! We believe in." She adds. "We? You're not a serpent, you haven't been since Jughead kicked you out!" I tell her. She goes up to my tattoo with the knife. "Just one thing?" I ask her. She nods. "Don't take any of this out on Cheryl." I say quietly. "She doesn't deserve any of this!" I add. She nods. "Will do!" She says before she starts to cut my tattoo off. I yell.
As I gradually open my eyes, the sterile scent overwhelmingly fills my senses. The soft beeping of machines echoed in the background, making me realize where I am. Slowly, the events leading up to my hospitalization trickle back into my memory – the screaming and the blood, the smell of the metal and my skin burning. I gingerly raised a hand up to my arm, feeling the bandages wrapped tightly around it. The room felt both familiar and foreign, a place where time seemed to stand still. As I blinked away the haze of sleep, thoughts swirled with questions about my condition and what lay ahead. I quickly began to panic. Cheryl? Is she ok? Did Penny hurt her? Does she even know I'm here? Someone has to know and would have to have called Cheryl!
I lay in my hospital bed, surrounded by the sterile white walls of the room. The pain from my injuries still pulse through my body, but a sense of comfort washes over me as Cheryl, my wife sits beside me. I sigh in relief as I see her. Cheryl's presence brings a glimmer of warmth to the clinical setting, a reminder of the unwavering support she has in my corner. I reach my hand out and she takes it. "Are you ok?" I ask her. She nods. "I am." She says. "What if she comes back, for you? You're having our baby!" I ask her. "She won't!" She tells me. "How do you know?" I ask her. "Penny was arrested and she was the only one involved. She's the only one who wanted you dead." She explains. "She was running the Ghoulies, they were just trying to run their drug empire! They didn't care about the serpents." She adds. I take a deep breath. "How long was I gone?" I ask her. "3 days." She tells me. "Honestly I didn't question you were gone the first night! I figured you got drunk at the bar and passed out at Fangs or Sweet Pea's, but Fangs came by saying he hadn't heard from you and thought you were sick." She explains.
