Amy & Penny

Chapter Fourteen

Penny pov:
Kamal's eyes widened with concern as soon as she saw what - or who - she was looking at.

"Penny?!" Kamal blurted out in confusion. I panicked and put my finger over my lips motioning her to shush. She realized her mistake and corrected her volume. "Penny, what are you doing here all by yourself?" Kamal asked in a lower tone. I could hear the concern in her voice.

"I lost Amy." My voice broke as I started to cry. Kamal reached out to comfort me, but I back-pedalled in fear and hit my back on the jug behind me. I winced in pain from the bruises and Kamal's face showed sympathy and worry.

"It's okay, Penny. Please, let me help you, it's not safe here." Kamal offered. I hesitated but eventually let my gaurd down. I've always known Kamal to be a kind person, but I felt uneasy in a situation like this.

She quickly scooped me off the shelf as gently as she could, and held me against her chest. She then whisked me away to the back of there store where it was dead, near some kind of maintenance closet. I knew she was trying to be gentle, but her rushing away made for a bumpy ride. She made sure no one was watching and pulled me away from her chest, holding me in her cupped hands. I was hyperventilating and crying, and Kamal had a look of deep concern and panic.

"Oh, no! Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" She asked in a panicky tone. I shook my head no, and tried to calm myself down. The hyperventilating slowed down, but my eyes still had tears. "Penny... what happened? Where is Amy?"

"I don't know. Some kid took me out of Amy's purse and manhandled me. She ran away with me in her tight fist and almost crushed me. Then she just left me here." I explained.

"Amy didn't see her take you?" Kamal asked in bafflement.

"No, I tried to yell for help, but she didn't hear me. She left."

"She left the store?!" Kamal asked in shock.

"I don't know. I don't know where she is or if she's coming back for me." I said as tears spilled down my face. My anxiety was starting to spike again.

"It's okay. I'll help you find her." She said. She gently stroked my cheek with her gigantic finger. The tears continued to stream down my face.

"I... I'm..." I tried to express my anxieties to her about being left behind, but my mind couldn't even put together a coherent sentence. Kamal's face softened.

"Please don't cry, it's going to be okay. It's not that she left you on purpose and you'll never see her again, no. She loves you, and we'll find her, I promise. I will call her, okay?" Kamal softly reassured me. I nodded.

"Okay." I quietly agreed, wiping my tears. She seemed to understand my thoughts while I'm unable to communicate them.

"So, please stop crying, okay? I hate seeing you so upset like this." Kamal said, gently wiping my face with her thumb. She then carefully hugged me against her chest. Then she used her free hand to call Amy.

Amy pov:
"Penny, if you can hear me, please come out. You're really starting to scare me." I said, getting more worried by the second. I continued to crawl on the ground, searching under the shelves.

This didn't make any sense. How could she have gone missing, she was right here. My biggest fear was that someone stepped on her or ran over her, and she was lying dead somewhere. I could never forgive myself if that happened. My phone started to ring and I saw that it was Kamal. I declined the call, I was in no place to talk about work. She called again and again, so I finally answered as I stood up from the ground.

"Sorry, Kamal. This is not a good time." I said apologetically.

"Amy, don't hang up. I have Penny." Kamal informed me. I felt a huge wave of relief.

"Oh, my god. Thank you, meet me at my car." I said and hung up. I abandonded my cart of groceries and ran for the exit.

I then waited patiently in my car for Kamal and Penny to come out. I figured this was the safest way to get her back. Kamal carefully approached my car with Penny in hand, holding her to her chest. She used her free hand as a protective wall to hide Penny from people watching. She finally opened my car door and sat down in the passenger seat, gently closing the door.  Kamal held Penny like she was a delicate glass object, carefully holding her hand out for me to see Penny. I wasted no time and scooped Penny from Kamal's hand.

"Oh, Penny, thank God! I thought I'd lost you!" I hugged her against my chest. Then I felt her pushing away and squirming.

"Amy... too tight!" Penny said in a muffled voice. I immediately loosened my hold on her and held her in my cupped hands.

"I'm sorry. I'm just so happy to see you. I'm so glad you're okay." I said. But when I got a closer look at her, I saw red and brownish marks all over her arm. "Wait... these bruises. Penny, what happened? Who did this to you?!" I ask in horrified panic. Then I looked at Kamal.

"I promise, it wasn't Kamal. She saved me! It was a kid, she grabbed me way too tight for too long." Penny explained.

"How? I still don't understa-"

"She reached in and grabbed me right out of your purse. I tried to yell for help but I guess you couldn't hear me. I tried so hard, Amy, but you were walking away. The kid wouldn't let me go." She explained some more. I felt so horrible and guilty.

"Oh, my god. You called me for help?" I asked gently and she weakly nodded. "You called me for help and I didn't hear you. I'm so sorry I didn't hear you, I promise I wasn't ignoring you." I said apologetically.

"I know... I know that now." Penny said.

"At first she thought you were leaving her behind." Kamal chimed in.

"I would never do that. Penny, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to lose you or leave you behind. I didn't mean to ignore your cry for help from that kid. How did you get away from her, anyway?" I asked curiously.

"Her mother thought I was a doll and made her put me back on the shelf because I might belong to someone else." Penny explained.

"Well, she's not wrong about that." I said.

"That's when Kamal found me on the shelf with the laundry soaps. Anyone else could have taken me after that girl, but Kamal saw me first. She saved me." Penny reminded me.

"I'm so glad you're okay. I feel so awful. I made you think I completely ignored you when you were in danger. I am really, really sorry, please don't hate me." I apologized again and hugged her again. I made sure to be more gentle this time.

"I don't hate you, Amy. I could never hate you, after everything you've done to help me. I was scared, but never hated you." Penny assured me.

"Do you forgive me?" I asked.

"Yes, I forgive you." She said. Hearing that helped me feel a little better and not so anxious.

"Let's go home, that was a horrible adventure." I said, then turned to Kamal. "Thank you so much, Kamal, for saving Penny and bringing her back to me. You're a really good friend." I said.

"Of course, I couldn't just leave her there. It was dangerous, and she was alone and scared." Kamal said.

"Well, we really appreciate it. Would you like a ride home? It's the least I could do." I offered.

"You sure? I was just going to take the bus." Kamal said.

"Yes, I'm sure. You're already in my car anyway, might as well take you home."

"I'd love that. Thank you." Kamal said. I carefully handed Penny off to her, started the car, and began the drive.