Chapter Ten: Waking Up
Nora watched from the doorway later that evening as Pete was fast asleep in the large bed next to Penny, who was still unconscious. The good news was that her forehead didn't feel as hot, her body had warmed up and she was no longer shivering. The doctor was right - she would be okay, she just had to wake up.
That was what Nora was afraid of.
She tried to think about how Penny would react when she found she was no longer in the caves, but rather in the one place she had refused to go all along, the place she had yelled at Pete for going to. Nora sighed.
She went and made herself a cup of coffee and sat down at her table, wondering where her father was. No doubt, at the bar again. She wouldn't consider her father an alcoholic, he just enjoyed his friends at the bar, and having a few drinks. At least he was a friendly drunk. He had taken to Pete quite nicely, and wanted to meet Penny too. Nora tried to explain her resistance, but her father was too kind to understand. He was under the impression that she would come around if only she met Nora and Lampy. Nora left it alone. Her dad wouldn't understand, Penny was too hurt to open up that easily.
Nora left Pete and Penny alone. It would be good for Penny to see Pete first. She only hoped Pete would be able to get Penny calm enough before Nora had to come in and give her medicine. She didn't know how that was going to go either. Hopefully Pete would convince Penny that everything was going to be alright.
Pete wasn't really sleeping - just resting. He was very tired, but he refused to fall asleep until Penny woke up. He couldn't just sleep, not when she needed him. She would no doubt wake up scared and probably not feel good either. He wanted to be there for her.
But he wondered how quickly she would make the connection - if Pete was there, then Nora would be too. Pete said a prayer for Penny's patience and understanding.
Elliott went back to the caves to get some sleep, but he promised he would be back soon to check on Penny. He was just as worried as Pete was, but now that they were both assured Penny was going to be okay, Elliott could at least get some sleep.
Not Pete, though. Penny was his twin. Her pain was his pain, and he wouldn't leave her side.
It wasn't long before Penny finally stirred, just a little. Pete's eyes popped open and he sat up, looking over. She had been asleep for so long, Pete just watched wide-eyed.
Penny, eyes still closed, shifted slightly, and coughed loudly. Pete's heart was hammering, how was she going to react?
Penny's eyes fluttered open and she looked right at Pete. Pete smiled, glad to see his sister looking at him. Her face was awful white, but at least she was awake.
"Hi Penny." Pete said quietly. Penny took a minute to process what was going on. She saw her brother, blurry, but still there, but what she realized was where she was. It was a place she had never seen before. And what was she doing in bed? Nothing was coming back to her. She felt frightened.
She found her voice.
"Pete?" She groaned. "What happened?" She strained to remember, but she couldn't.
Pete sighed.
"Don't you remember?" He asked. When Penny shook her head, Pete swallowed.
"You were in the caves when the water came in..." He started.
Then Penny remembered.
She had fallen asleep in the caves earlier that day. She had woken up to the sound of violent waves, and that was when she saw it.
Waves were crashing into the caves at rapid speeds and the tides were high. There was no chance Penny would be able to run out. The waves were too powerful, and when she tried, they simply pushed her violently back into the caves.
The cave filled up fast, and Penny had tried yelling for help, for Elliott, but there was nothing. She tried to tread water, when it became too deep for her to stand up, but the waves pushed her around, smacking her up against the walls. Eventually, she had lost consciousness, but she didn't remember when.
Tears began rolling down her cheeks as she remembered, and Pete was right there, throwing his arms around her tightly. Penny clung to her brother, trying to get the words out.
"How..." Was all she managed to get out, and she didn't know if it was the fact that they were twins, or if her questions was just obvious, but Pete seemed to know exactly what she was thinking.
Pete paused, swallowing tightly. The truth was that Elliott had gone in and saved her, but Pete somehow had to explain her presence in Nora's lighthouse. He wanted Penny to like Nora, to be grateful to her, but would her simply taking her in be enough? She had wanted to do that in the first place.
Pete bit his lip, feeling a sting of guilt, but pushed it away as he looked at his sister.
"Nora saved you." He lied. Penny pulled out of the hug and stared at him seriously.
"What?" She asked, feeling her stomach churn.
"We came back from town and saw the cave was filled with water, so..." Pete swallowed. "So Nora ran in and swam around until she found you. She pulled you out and we brought you up here, to Nora's lighthouse. I had to run and get the doctor. He said you were going to be okay."
Penny's expression was unreadable to Pete, and he couldn't help but feel guilty for lying to his twin sister. He hoped Elliott hadn't overheard - hopefully he would understand why Pete lied like he did. It's only for now. He reasoned with himself. Once Penny starts liking Nora, I'll tell Pen the truth.
Penny didn't know what she was feeling. Penny had wanted nothing to do with this woman, in fact, she hated her for taking Pete like that, and for trying to be something Penny didn't want. But she...saved her life? Penny swallowed.
Pete watched for some kind of reaction, but there wasn't any. Penny just stared off into space. Pete breathed out. At least this was a better reaction to Penny freaking out and running away. Pete felt good about his lie.
"Why...why would she do that?" Penny asked quietly, more to herself than anyone else. Pete thought quick. What could he say that would convince her? He cleared his throat.
"She did it because she cares about you. She cares about both of us. Penny, she's not like what you think she's like. You think everybody wants to hurt us, but Nora's different. She wants to help us. She's been so nice to me - she's given me food, a place to stay and she even bought me new clothes. Now she saved your life! Can't you see that she's not trying to hurt us?" He asked. All of that was true, except for saving Penny's life, but he wished Penny could see Nora the way he had. Why was Pete so much more trusting than Penny was.
Penny didn't say anything, she just sat up in the bed and breathed out, as though trying to process what was going on. Pete sighed.
"I'm going to tell Nora you're awake. She asked me to tell her." He said carefully. He tensed up, waiting for Penny to yell at him, but she didn't say anything. It was as though she hadn't even heard him.
Quietly, Pete got up and left the room. Penny knew what he was doing, where he was going. Penny wanted to stop him, tell him to tell Nora to leave her alone, but she wasn't able to get the words out. How could she? What Pete had just told her...what it meant. If it hadn't been for Nora, Penny realized, she'd be dead right now. Then who would take care of Pete?
Penny felt tears in the corners of her eyes, and she steadied her breathing to keep herself from breaking down. Pete was going to bring Nora in here any minute now - Penny could not be weak.
She didn't know what to do. She wanted to run. She wanted to get up out of this bed, jump out the window and run. But she didn't think she had the energy. She felt so weak - every bone, every joint was sore and cold. Her chest was heavy and tight. She didn't think she'd be able to move fast enough before she was caught. Besides, she wasn't sure how she was coping with the fact that she had barely escaped from death. She was alive because of Nora. How horrible of a person would she be if she didn't even say thank you?
Penny groaned, sighed, hit her head hard against the headboard. This wasn't fair. She had too much anger and hostility inside of her to want to be nice to Nora, to want to be grateful.
She hastily wiped a tear away from her cheek and looked toward the window, her heart hammering against her chest when she heard the footsteps getting closer.