Penny Takes the Stage

Chapter 28: Seeing Cameron

Penny woke up to find Cam sitting by her bedside.

??

How could that be? Last she'd heard, Cam was in surgery, and she could tell from the look on Yoko's face that the situation was dire. Cam was in surgery, with a plastic surgeon fighting to save his face and his life, and there was no way in the world he could be sitting by her bed crying.

Could she be dreaming? Could she have dreamed that she'd woken up, but actually still be in a drug-induced sleep?

Then she noticed that  dream Cameron was wearing a pretty sleeveless blouse with a lacy peach overlay that real life Cameron didn't own, along with light blue denim capri pants that, again, her Cam didn't own. And, upon closer inspection, this Cameron had a smaller nose and more delicate features in general than her Cameron, along with darker hair, hair that was really light brown more than the blond that Penny was used to.

Plus, she seemed to have breasts.

Which was a weird detail, even for a dream.

"Yoko, she seems to have woken up."

And when Penny heard the voice, the last piece of the puzzle slipped into place in her groggy mind.

This was Genevieve, Cam's sister, who was studying to be something over in England.

Yoko suddenly materialized at Cam's sister's side, looking relieved.

"Hey, Pen, how you feeling? You want some water?"

Penny nodded. She was parched.

Penny poked a straw into a bottle and held it to Penny's lips.

"Cam?" she asked as soon as she was finished drinking.

Genevieve's face crumpled and fresh tears began to flow as soon as she heard her brother's name.

Yoko put a comforting arm around the taller girl's frame as she spoke to Penny.

"He's out of surgery, and they've done everything they can for now. He's in the hospital's burn unit, recovering, but they're not letting anyone in to see him yet, because of infection risk. And that's all we know."

"Burn unit?"

Yoko nodded. "They're best set up for Cam's level of--injury, with the grafts and stuff they had to do, so that's where they've put him for now. I don't want to tell you any more because I'd probably get it wrong, and I don't know much, so let's just leave it at that, okay?" Yoko's voice was firm. "Your family's on their way from San Diego, they'll be here in a couple hours, and the police want to talk to you as soon as possible, too. Oh, and in case her face didn't give it away, this is is Cam's sister, Genevieve."

Penny smiled at Yoko's pronunciation of Cam's sister's name. She said it the American way, "JEN-eh-veeve," instead of the French way that Cam pronounced it, "JHAN-vee-ehve," which Penny thought was prettier, but she supposed it didn't matter, since everyone pretty much called her by her nickname, anyway.

"Hello, Vivi," she said, holding out her hand from the bed. "I'm so sorry we have to meet under these horrible circumstances."

Vivi only nodded, unable to speak, as she shook Penny's hand and came in to kiss her on both cheeks. "Me too," she responded, and Penny could hear that Vivi had a bit more of an accent than her brother.

"Simon's out getting us some coffee," Yoko explained as she and Vivi took seats next to Penny's bed.

"When can we see Cameron?" Penny asked, sitting up.

"We were going to check again after you talked to the police."

Penny nodded. "Okay, let's get that over with, then," she said, gesturing toward the door where she assumed they were waiting.