I still don't Hairspray or it's characters. This idea was purely EmmaMary's so I definitely credit her for the awesomeness of it :) For you Em!

--Dru


The dark scarlet color of her blood seemed to burn itself into Penny's eyes as it dripped on to the tiled floor next to her. A dizzying pain crept its way into her belly as warm, sticky blood matted her hairline. It hadn't even felt like she hit her head that hard. But when she stared up at the counter she was horrified to see that it too had traces of her blood visible against Maybelle's perfectly clean white. She was trying to surprise Seaweed. Make him a nice dinner even though she had little to no cooking skills. He still loved her grilled ham and cheese.

"Seaweed," Penny squeaked, the sight of her blood beginning to make her queasy. "SEAWEED!" She knew he was out front playing ball in the street with some neighborhood kids. Deep down she knew he wouldn't hear her but Penny refused to move, afraid of dripping blood on the carpet. Her gut was telling her she couldn't just sit there either.

"Seaweed," she whimpered pitifully. No one else was home. She burst into tears, feeling blindly for something on the counter to press against her wound. She settled on an only partially crumpled paper towel. Her heart jumped as she heard the front door shut.

"SEAWEED!" she prayed to god it wouldn't be Little Inez or Maybelle or one of the boys coming in for a drink of water. She stared to cry all over again when Seaweed skidded into the kitchen, out of breath.

"Baby what is it?" but as soon as the words left his mouth he saw the blood and was quick to join her on the floor. "Penny…"

"It hurts Seaweed," she forced herself into his arms, whimpering and moaning as the pain only intensified with her growing anxiety. She felt Seaweed's hand over hers as he pulled back the paper towel to inspect the damage. There was a lot of blood. But having grown up with a somewhat of a klutz for a sister he knew head wounds tended to bleed a lot, even if only minor.

"Can you stand up baby?" he whispered slowly, keeping his voice soft in an attempt to calm her down. His soothing tone was doing wonders to the impending dread in her chest. He avoided making quick movements.

"Oh Seaweed," she moaned, gripping his arm tightly as he steadied her to her feet. "I'm going to die." He pushed her back up against the counter, keeping his hand over the cut on her head.

"You're not going to die baby girl," he gave her a smile as he turned the faucet on, easing her head close to where he could begin cleaning the blood out of her hair. "What were you doing up on the counter anyway?"

Penny sniffled, pain still thumping irritatingly in her head but her hysteria dying down.

"Making us dinner."

"Aw…baby," he had to laugh. "You're amazing." Penny wrapped her arms around Seaweed's waist as he continued running his fingers through her matted hair. Her face remained nuzzled against his shirt, inhaling the familiar sweet scent of laundry detergent and cheap cologne. She felt her eyelids begin to droop slightly.

"Seaweed…I feel sleepy," she whispered. The bleeding wasn't stopping.

"Penny, you need to stay awake though okay?" Seaweed was beginning to panic as he pressed another wad of paper towels to her injured head, blood seeping through almost immediately. "Penny?"

She had grown quiet in his arms.

--

"Where is he? Where's Seaweed?"

Penny was panicking. The white of the hospital walls felt intimidating. The tall blonde doctor monitoring her blood pressure seemed even more so, two nurses stood next to him. She gave a shudder at the similarities they had to Amber Von Tussle. Both were young and squirmed uncomfortably when Penny began to scream.

"SEAWEED!"

"Please," the doctor said his voice oddly calm. "Mr. Stubbs has been taken care of…"

"Taken care of?" Penny spat, whipping her head around to glower at the man at her bedside. "Who are you? What's going on? Where's Seaweed?"

"I'm going to need to stitch up the cut in your head Ms. Pingleton," he said, standing up and going over to a cabinet a few paces behind the Amber look a likes.

"You're not going to touch me," Penny snapped, feeling weak as she sat up in bed. Her eyes were at a constant leak. Suddenly realizing the harsh pain in her head she let out a yelp. The doctor returned to her side.

"Sorry miss. As long as your friend isn't immediate family we can't let him in here."

Penny felt an intense anger boiling up inside of her. For a minute Maybelle's words rung strong in her head. You two better brace yourselves for a whole lot of ugly coming at you from a never ending parade of stupid. She whimpered in pain.

"It's because he's black…isn't it?" Penny asked darkly, her eyes narrowed as she felt a drip of blood race down her neck. She wondered why they hadn't stopped the bleeding even though they had her hooked up to an IV. The nurses shot each other looks of horror. The doctor stared back at Penny, failing to answer as he fell into a coughing fit from swallowing too quickly.

"It most certainly is not the reason," he said angrily, a growl in his tone.

"Yes it is," Penny wailed. "That's exactly the reason! Oh god…if he were white you wouldn't have any problems letting him in here!" Tears poured from Penny's eyes as she her body shook with sobs. Frustrated, angry and scared she began pleading pitifully. "You have to let him in here. I'm scared…his bloods red too you know! We're all the same…he isn't any threat to you. Just PLEASE let Seaweed in here." Her throat was dry and she could no longer produce any more tears. The doctor stared at her intently, both nurses standing side by side in a state of shock.

"Well…I really need to get you sewn up…" he got to his feet. Having heard Penny's cries from all the way down the hall, Seaweed had just reached the door when the blonde doctor pulled it open. Both jumped back a little in surprise.

"Seaweed!"

"Penny!" Seaweed was at her bedside in less then a second, enveloping her in his arms. Once they pulled away Penny saw the obvious pain and fear behind Seaweed's deep brown eyes. She choked on a last wave of tears, locking her arms around his neck again. "I didn't know what was happenin' to you darling…," he whispered against her ear. "They wouldn't let me come with you."

"I love you Seaweed," was the only response an exhausted Penny could muster. The doctor gave Seaweed a glance, holding up the material needed to close Penny's wound. He gave him a nod, crawling up into bed next to her. One of the nurses gasped, barely trying to hide the look of disgust on her face.

"You two may go now," the blonde doctor waved his hand in dismissal. They didn't need to be told twice, giving Penny and Seaweed one last glare before closing the door behind them. Seaweed sang softly into Penny's ear, pressing a kiss to her lips every time he felt her wince from the needle.

"Link and Tracy are in the waiting room. Momma too," he said gently, tracing his fingers slowly down her arm.

"Oh…Seaweed your mother. There was blood all over the kitchen…,"

"Penny…," he cooed gently, watching as the doctor finished the stitching just above her left ear. "There's nothing to be worrying about. And the insurance momma gets from the station covers all of this." Penny gripped Seaweed's arm. She hadn't thought about the money.

"Seaweed…,"

"No baby," he cut Penny off, rubbing her hand as he leaned in for another kiss. "You're okay…that's all that matters."

The next hour and a half was filled with Maybelle filling out ridiculous release forms. No hospital official ever once questioned her or her relation to Penny; all seeming too stuck on the fact that Penny herself was still kissing Seaweed as they waited in the discharge hallway. Around 9 o clock Link and Tracy headed home, seeing that Penny would be okay and felt safe as long as she was in Seaweed's presence.

"You kids ready to go home?" Maybelle smirked from the doorway as she saw Penny half way asleep in Seaweed's arms. Seaweed yawned, gently easing his arm around Penny.

"Yes mam."

"I'm sorry about all this," Penny squeaked softly, her head aching as they headed out into the cool night air. Seaweed nuzzled her cheek, the affection in front of Maybelle making her blush.

"Nah…don't even worry about it," Maybelle put an arm around Penny's shoulder, giving her a quick squeeze. "You're family now." Penny felt like crying but instead grabbed on to Seaweed's hand, anxious to get home and fall asleep in his arms.

"You know what the best thing about all this is baby girl?" Seaweed crooned at her, his prized grin making its way on to his face. Penny cocked him a playful eyebrow.

"What?"

He traced the freshly stitched wound right above her ear.

"Now you'll have another scar. You know…so you're other one won't feel so lonely."

Penny had to grin, feeling the special bond between the two of them only intensifying with each new challenge every day brought.

"You'll have to promise me one thing though," Seaweed said, reattaching his hand to hers, protective but gentle.

"What's that?"

"No more cooking…at least not for a while."

Penny's giggles were the only sound in the quiet night.

"It's a deal."