And so our heroes arrive at the Urgent Care Center in town, where after a few minutes, they wait in one of the exam rooms for the doctor to examine Penelope.
Penelope lay on the examination table, wearing a surgical mask because she was sick. She hated how the mask rubbed on the frostbites on her nose, ears, and cheeks, and she hated how ill and tired she felt.
"I know you're tired and not feeling well, but just rest up, Penny." Peter stood by exam table Penelope was laying on and stroked her hair. "The doctor will be in really soon."
The Ant Hill Mob, with the exception of Zippy, sat in one of the chairs in the room. The chair was big enough to provide room for all of them due to their size.
"Zippy will be back just as soon as he gets our luggage and takes that and the dogs back home." Clyde told Penelope. "He should be here anytime soon."
The minute Clyde said that, Zippy came into the door of the exam room.
"Our luggage and the dogs are back at the Pitstop Manor." Zippy told everyone else. "How's Penelope doing? Is she gonna be okay?"
"The doctor should be here shortly, I hope…" Penelope coughed and sneezed through her mask, which only made the frostbite on her nose hurt.
Finally, a female doctor entered the room.
"Hello, Penelope Pitstop?" The doctor greeted Penelope.
"Yes, ma'am." Penelope nodded.
"Doctor Riley's my name." Dr. Riley introduced herself. "And you're in because you have some frostbite on your face and a cold. Isn't that right?"
"Yes, that's right, doctor." Penelope's throat hurt when she spoke, causing another coughing spell through her mask.
"It is urgent that I take a look at those frostbites first thing before it gets worse, so if you'll please remove your mask, Miss Pitstop?" Dr. Riley washed her hands and put on sterile medical exam gloves.
"Okay." Penelope replied as she took her mask off.
She flinched as Dr. Riley examined her face. Peter gently rubbed her shoulders and whispered "It's okay" in her frostbitten ear.
"The sooner we get treatment started on you, Miss Pitstop, the better. The way we cure frostbite is through thawing out the area with warm water." Dr. Riley explained. "I'll give you some pain relievers prior to the procedure, as rewarming frostbitten areas is very painful, and we, as well as your friends here, will make you as comfortable as possible."
Penelope took the pain medicines Dr. Riley gave her with a grateful, but nervous face.
"We'll be right back with some washcloths and warm water, and we'll begin the treatment." Dr. Riley looked back as she left the room.
"Fellas, little ole me shouldn't be frightened, but little ole me is…" Penelope sighed.
"It's all going to be okay, Penelope." Clyde walked over and assured her. "Just lay back and rest a bit. We won't leave you, kitten."
Penelope didn't know whether to be comforted by her friends' words or not. Back in her days as a Girl Ranger, one of her best friends got frostbite that had to be rewarmed, and it was very painful to her that she was crying and tense through the whole process. The experience did not put Penelope at ease because she was scared for her friend. She put her hair in a high messy bun and struggled to shake off that unpleasant memory and relax despite her cold and her frostbite.
Minutes later, Dr. Riley and a small team of doctors and nurses came in with a table of buckets of warm water and washcloths. Dr. Riley extended the end of the examination table so Penelope could lay comfortably on her back.
"Are you ready, Miss Pitstop?" Dr. Riley scrubbed her hands again and put on another pair of gloves.
Penelope took a deep breath and nodded slowly.
"Penelope my dear. It's okay, beautiful darling." Peter murmured in a quiet, calming voice as he kissed her eyes, kept her hand in one of his and used his other hand to stroke her hair. "I'm not going to leave you alone, babe, and neither will the Ant Hill Mob. Just relax now, love. We're here, Penny.
Penelope felt much more soothed by her boyfriend's kindness, protection and love for her. As the doctors and nurses dipped their washcloths in the warm water and brought them to her nose, cheeks and ears, Peter kept stroking her hair, kissing her head and whispering soothing words while she squeezed his and Clyde's hand hard. The entire Mob also comforted her with their kind words and their love.
The entire rewarming process took almost a half hour, and soon Penelope's face was wrapped in gauze bandages. She was thankful that her frostbites had been treated, however, each time she sneezed, it hurt her nose. Some of the Ant Hill Mob looked sadly and fearfully at her mummy-like appearance.
"Fellas, it's okay, y'all know it's only little ole me." She calmed them, but then let out another sigh. "But I wish this didn't happen. I don't wanna spend the little ole holidays looking like this. It's too embarrassing."
"Penelope, we all think you look absolutely beautiful even with that gauze." Peter wrapped one arm around her.
"And it hurts when I cough and sneeze. Frostbites and colds just do not mix."
"Okay now, Penelope, let's see about your other symptoms." Said Dr. Riley as she took her stethoscope and listened to Penelope's heart and lungs.
It even hurt Penelope's throat to take deep breaths and it only made her cough. She lifted her mouth slightly as Dr. Riley took her temperature.
"You have a slight fever, Miss Pitstop." Dr. Riley looked at the thermometer. "And it's impressive considering you were locked in that freezer in near-deadly temperatures."
"In a way that's a good thing, Penelope." Clyde grinned as Dr. Riley took Penelope's blood pressure and pulse. "You're not cold like you were before coming in here."
"Well, Miss Pitstop, it appears you have the signs of the common cold." Dr. Riley confirmed her diagnosis. "You are really fortunate to be alive after this incident and that your condition has not worsened."
"Had I not came to her rescue when I did, she would not have survived." Peter told Dr. Riley.
"As soon as Penelope comes home, she needs to stay warm and get as much rest as possible, and the frostbites she endured will need to stay covered, but you gentlemen will need to check for infection." Dr. Riley told the Ant Hill Mob and Peter. "I'll prescribe some antibiotics to ease her cold, and she'll need to take some pain medications for her frostbite."
"Right, doctor." The Ant Hill Mob nodded with Peter.
As soon Penelope and her boys left the exam room, her spirits were still down even though her frostbite was cured. Each time she sneezed, it hurt her nose, and when she coughed, her cheeks hurt. In addition, she couldn't stand how the gauze around her entire face felt or how she looked no matter how much the men told her how beautiful she was.
"Penelope, I know what we can do to help with that frostbite." Peter spoke up.
"What's that, Peter honey?" Penelope wondered.
"We're going to see Professor Pat Pending. He mentioned last night when he and I were working on the woman's light problem that he had a gel that instantly removes frostbite." Peter explained. "If we go see him, he'll give us the gel and you can easily recover from your cold without having to deal with the pain of your frostbite interfering with it."
Penelope let out a tired, stressed sigh.
"Okay…" She reluctantly agreed. "But please make this quick, boys. I feel so stressed and so tired."
"We'll make it quick, Penelope." Pockets patted her shoulder. "Don't you worry!"
A while later, our heroes reach Professor Pat Pending's lab and humble home.
Penelope and the boys arrived in Chuggaboom to the lab of Professor Pat Pending. Once everyone boarded out, including Peter, who kept his arm around Penelope, Clyde ringed the Professor's doorbell. That doorbell played "Deck the Halls."
"Duh, the Professor sure is full holiday spirit." Dum-Dum commented.
The door opened, and out came Professor Pat Pending to greet them all.
"We hope this isn't a bad time for us to come." Clyde told the Professor.
"Oh, of course not my friends." Pat assured them. "I may be a busy inventor and scientist, but I'm never too busy for any of you. What brings you to my humble lab, and what happened to Penelope?"
"What happened to Penelope is exactly why we're here." Peter replied.
"You'd better bring her inside and you can explain what happened." Pat led everyone inside.
Once everyone got inside, Peter and the Ant Hill Mob told the Professor about how the Hooded Claw captured her and kept her tied up and locked inside of a freezer and decreased the temperature of the freezer enough to try to freeze her to death and how Peter rescued her just in time.
"And as a result of the Hooded Claw's traps, Penelope ended up with a bad head cold, and frostbites on her ears, her nose and her cheeks." Peter finished the story. "We did see the doctors at Urgent Care and they were able to rewarm her frostbites, however, her face is sore and sneezing and coughing only makes her frostbites hurt more."
"Peter told us that you have some kind of gel that gets rid of frostbites instantly." Clyde mentioned. "That's why we came to you."
"Well you all came to the right place." Pat was astonished to hear about Penelope's recent peril and her getting ill and injured from it. "I'll bring you to the exam room and have her make herself comfortable on the table. Come with me."
The heroes soon reached the medical exam room in the lab. Penelope sat comfortably on the exam table, but she once more started coughing and sneezing, and she moaned in pain from the frostbites.
"I can imagine how painful that must be, having to deal with both frostbite and a head cold." After washing his hands, Pat put on sterile medical gloves and turned to Penelope. "Let's remove those bandages and examine your face, and from there we'll begin the treatment."
"Please, Professor, be very gentle with her." Peter held onto Penelope from behind and looked at Pat with a protective look on his face. "Her face is really tender."
"It's okay, Peter, I know what I'm doing." Pat assured them. "Hold your breath now, Penelope. Removing the bandages may hurt a bit, but I'll be gentle."
Penelope nodded, indicating that Pat gained her consent. She took another deep breath as Pat gently removed the gauze that was wrapped around her face. Once the gauze was off and Penelope no longer looked like a mummy, he looked at the gauze pads that were lightly taped over her nose, ears and cheeks and carefully removed them. From there, Pat examined Penelope's ears, nose and cheeks, which were red and had blisters starting to form.
"So these frostbites were caused by the Hooded Claw locking her in a freezer!?" Pat frowned. "I thought Dick Dastardly was bad, but trying to do some innocent young woman in for whatever reason…that's going too far."
"This time the Hooded Claw went too far." Peter muttered as she kept Penelope close to him.
"Indeed." Pat removed his gloves, washed his hands again and put on another pair of clean gloves before taking out a tube of gel. "Now for the treatment."
He approached the exam table Penelope sat on and squeezed the gel onto his gloved finger.
"Now Penelope, in order to treat the frostbite effectively, I have to coat the entire area with this gel." Pat explained to his patient. "You may feel a slight stinging sensation after the gel is applied, but that means that the gel is working and the frostbites will be gone within one minute."
"Do what you must, Professor." Penelope gave a weak smile. "We all trust you."
As Pat carefully applied the gel on Penelope's nose, ears, and cheeks, Peter held her and stroked her body as she whimpered from the stinging sensation from the gel. The stinging sensation was a good sign, as that meant that the gel had done its job in removing the frostbites.
"There we go, easy does it." Pat smiled as he handed Penelope a mirror.
"Oh, it's never even got frostbite in the first place." Penelope grinned a bit as she looked in the mirror, her face now clear of the blistered frostbites. "Thank you ever so ever, Professor."
Her grin was broken by a sneeze and a cough, plus feelings of fatigue and stress. She felt herself welling up with tears and she buried her face into Peter's chest and started crying.
"Penny, it's okay…" Peter whispered as he dared not let Penelope out of his embrace.
"I can't take this. I wanna go home." Penelope wept.
"It's time we took you home, Penelope." Clyde sighed as he and the rest of the Mob prepared to leave with Penelope.
"I'm not at all surprised by Penelope being so upset." Pat told the boys as he comforted Penelope. "Being injured from those frostbites, her illness, the Hooded Claw's scheming, almost losing one of her best friends, and possibly some holiday stress, too. I suggest she go straight to bed as soon as she gets home."
Everyone else in the room agreed as they left.
Penelope was not any better emotionally as she and the boys loaded into Chuggaboom. She once again broke down sobbing into Peter's chest. The stress of the entire day had taken a toll on her.
"Hey, it's alright, Penelope." Peter whispered as he cradled Penelope's head to his heartbeat. "It was a bad day, I know, but we'll be home very soon. We're all with you, my dear, and we've got you."
"We love you very much, Penelope. We know you're scared, sad, tired and unwell, but we'll be here to help. It's okay, kiddo." Clyde rubbed her back and as Yak-Yak agreed to drive, the other Mobsters joined in the back with everyone else and consoled her with gentle touches and kind words.
Poor Penelope. She really needed to go home, and home she, Peter and the Ant Hill Mob finally are.
Penelope's crying had lasted most of the car ride home, but thanks to the comfort of Peter and the Ant Hill Mob's love, it ceased the minute they arrived at the Pitstop Manor. Peter led Penelope inside the house, the Mob following them. Angel and Duke went up to the humans with worried expressions and whimpers.
"Penelope will be okay. She's just sick, that's all." Clyde bent down to pet the pups comfortingly.
"It's unusual seeing Penelope cry so much." Peter thought. "She's normally so brave and so strong."
"Penelope may be brave, strong and tough as nails, but she's still a human being. A human being who experiences pain, stress, fear, and sorrow." Said Clyde. "It's not always easy for Penelope to be brave and strong all the time. She'll still get scared, she'll still have her bad days, and she'll still have stress and frustration. Our skin can't always be thick, but that's okay. That's something I've told her once."
After taking her prescribed antibiotics, Penelope went upstairs to her room to change into some warm pajamas. She was now seen in a pink long-sleeved shirt and warm white pajama pants with pink rose prints on them and she tucked herself into her bed after turning on her electric blanket. Exhaustion from the afternoon and her cold overcame her and she felt herself drifting off to a well-deserved sleep.
Peter crept into Penelope's room, smoothed her hair back and kissed her hot forehead. For the first several minutes, he watched over Penelope as she slept. He couldn't help but admire how beautiful and peaceful she looked when she slept, and he was so thankful that her face, though pale from her cold, no longer had frostbites. Pat's gel did the trick.
"Peter, Peter are you in there?" Zippy called him, the other Mobsters following him.
"Shh…" Peter shushed them defensively.
"Sorry, Peter, but we just wanna talk to you." Clyde beckoned him.
Peter looked at the slumbering Penelope.
"She seems to be okay. Let's take this outside her room." Peter whispered as he and the Mob tiptoed out the bedroom and quietly shut the door behind them after letting Angel and Snowflake in.
"Okay, chaps, what is it?" Peter asked the Mob.
"We just wanted to tell you how brave you were out there." Clyde replied. "The way you confronted the Bully Brothers and intimidated them into telling you where Penelope was. Neither of us could help but admire your courage."
"I was just doing what I had to do in order to rescue Penelope and protect her." Peter told them honestly. "If I didn't, she wouldn't be here today, and I'd be without her. She means the whole world to me, and if anything was to happen to her, then I would not be far behind."
"We understand, Pete." Clyde acknowledged with the other boys. "As both Penelope's protectors and your best friends, we know how much you and Penelope mean to each other."
"She's so lucky to have a great man like you." Softy sobbed.
"You'll do anything, and everything, to keep her safe." Zippy complimented.
"Yeah, even yelling at the Bully Brothers and scaring them." Dum-Dum smiled. "Your courage can't compete with ours."
"Those Bully Brothers got scared and gave in because of how strong you are." Clyde agreed with what Dum-Dum just said. "Look at us, if any one of us stood up to those fiends the way you did, even altogether, no way would they take us seriously. We'd probably get beat up or tossed in the dumpster."
"Someday you chaps will be brave enough to confront the Bully Brothers and the Hooded Claw yourselves." Peter encouraged the Ant Hill Mob. "I see all seven of you going to great measures to rescue Penelope and make sure she stays safe, even if it means risking your own lives. You constantly put Penelope's needs and welfare first and yours at the very bottom."
"It's part of our jobs as her protectors. But mostly, it's because she's a great friend and we love her more than anything."
"Exactly, and both your love and my love for her shine through when we work together to protect her." Peter grinned. "Please, boys, next time you see that hooded fiend or his henchmen, face your fears. Don't be afraid to confront them, to show how brave you are and how much you care for Penelope. If you chaps stand by each other, there's only three of them and seven of you, so you and your heroism will prevail over their evil."
Peter's pep talk brightened the Ant Hill Mob's spirits.
"Thank you, Peter." Clyde beamed. "You're right. Next time we see that villain of villains and those dunces he calls his henchmen, we won't be scared. We'll confront them, and we'll show them that try as they might, their evil will not win over our brotherhood and our heroism."
"Yeah." The other Mobsters nodded.
Two hours later, Penelope woke up from her nap. She grinned with bright eyes as she saw Angel and Snowflake all snuggled up with her in bed.
"Hi, girlies." She pet her dog and cat and scooped them into her arms.
"Hi, Penelope." Peter walked into the bedroom and sat next to Penelope on her bed. "How are you feeling?"
"Still coughing and sneezing, but other than that I'm doing alright." Penelope answered. "If anything, I'm a bit hungry."
"That's good, and I see you've got some company here." Peter gave Angel and Snowflake gentle scratches behind their ears. "Now that you're awake, you should come downstairs. We've got some chicken soup ready for you for dinner. The no-salt kind that you prefer. Plus the Ant Hill Mob has a little surprise for you in the living room."
"I wonder what the surprise could be." Penelope giggled for the first time since early this afternoon.
"You'll find out." Peter led her downstairs.
Once she and Peter reached the living room, Penelope gasped with a surprised and thankful smile when she saw the surprise the Ant Hill Mob had for her. The entire living room was dark, but the Christmas lights on the windows and on the Christmas tree brightened it up. The long, big couch had lots of blankets and pillows to make Penelope comfortable and on the small coffee table were a box of tissues, a remote control and Christmas DVDs for her to watch. The fireplace burned with enough heat to keep her warm.
"What do you think, Penelope?" Clyde smiled.
"Oh, fellas I love it!" Penelope went inside the living room and settled herself on her cozy couch. "Thank you so much!"
"You're welcome, Penelope." Softy cried.
"Anything to keep that smile on your face." Pockets patted her arm.
"Don't get too comfortable, Penelope." Clyde chuckled. "You've gotta eat some dinner. That chicken soup will be good for your cold and we even have tea with lemons, honey and cinnamon for your throat."
"Can I eat in the living room, boys?" Penelope asked. "If I eat in the kitchen with you, you all will catch my little ole cold."
"Hey, you're the sick patient. Do what you want. You can enjoy some soup and tea and enjoy your favorite movies and TV shows."
"Thank you fellas." Penelope looked down at the Mob with a smile. "You're the absolute best friends a gal could ever have."
Penelope enjoyed eating her soup at the coffee table while watching some of her favorite Christmas movies on the living room's big screen. About two hours after dinner, she brushed her teeth and got settled back on her couch and into her blankets and prepared to watch another Christmas movie with Angel and Duke cuddled up with her and Snowflake lying on top of the couch.
She then saw the Ant Hill Mob, who were bare chested and only had their pajama pants on (as they preferred to sleep at night) and paused the movie so she could speak to them.
"Don't forget to take these before you go to sleep." Clyde handed her a glass of water and nighttime cold medicine.
"Thank you Clyde." She graciously took the medicine with the water.
She then looked at Dum-Dum.
"Dum-Dum, come here." She beckoned him. "I was so sick, hurting from those frostbites, tired and my emotions were all over the place that I never got a chance to talk to you."
Dum-Dum climbed onto the couch and curled up beside Penelope, who took him into her arms and held him to her stomach.
"I'm so happy that you're okay, Dum-Dum." Penelope murmured as she stroked his bare back. "After the Hooded Claw tied you up and left you in the woods, I was so worried about you. I felt so bad that I couldn't save you, but thank goodness the other boys were there and found you when they did."
"I was scared. I thought some coyotes were gonna come eat me." Dum-Dum looked up at her. "But it wasn't a coyote. It was Duke. He caught my scent and found me all tied up. Penelope, I was left in the cold just like you were, how come I didn't catch a cold or get frostbite like you did?"
"It was a nice day out despite the winter weather and the snow, and I was trapped in a freezer that was much colder than that." Penelope answered.
"I'm glad you're okay and that you're warm again." Dum-Dum felt so content being all snuggled up with Penelope and the dogs. "Do you think you'll feel better before Christmas?"
"I know I will, Dum-Dum." She cuddled him and the dogs close as they looked at the glow of the Christmas lights and of the fire, which did its job in keeping them warm. "And we're gonna have a great Christmas this year! The Hooded Claw will not ruin it for any of us!"
She then realized her movie was still paused.
"Would you like to watch a Christmas movie with me?" She asked Dum-Dum as she pulled out a spare blanket from the couch and gave it to him.
"I sure would." He draped the blanket over himself and nestled into her embrace as she kept one arm around him. "I don't wanna leave you tonight. I'm way too comfortable. And if the dogs and cat are here, I'm staying."
"Sounds like a great idea."
"I think we'll stay with you tonight, as well, Penelope." Clyde smiled. "There's no room for all of us, plus two dogs and a cat on the couch, but we'll bring down the air mattresses and make ourselves comfy. Besides, the more the merrier."
"Oh goodie! It's like a little ole sleepover." Penelope's eyes grew even brighter. "I'll be glad you fellas are joining me."
"Here, chaps, let me help you get those air mattresses down and ready." Peter, who also preferred sleeping with no shirt, came to the Mob and moved the coffee table to the right side of the couch.
After some time, the boys got their air mattresses down and ready in the living room, and made themselves comfy with the blankets and pillows they also brought with them. Soon they were all watching the movie, the fire keeping them all warm. Dum-Dum was the warmest because of the blankets and the heat of Penelope and the dogs, so he slipped of his pants, revealing his boxer briefs, so he wouldn't get too hot.
It was no use fighting the nighttime medicine any longer. Halfway through the movie, Penelope closed her eyes and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep. Because Dum-Dum was relaxed from Penelope holding him and the fire's warmth, he was the second to fall asleep.
Peter looked back at Penelope and Dum-Dum all snuggled up together as they slept, and he wasn't even the least bit jealous. He came to the end of the couch, smoothed her hair back again and kissed her head.
"Good night, you two." He softly whispered. "Sweet dreams."
Clyde looked at his two sleeping friends and liked what he saw.
"What are you and Peter looking at, Clyde?" Pockets asked.
"Shh." Clyde brought his finger to his lips. "This is just so sweet. We almost lost them both, and that was their fear. It's great to see moments like this. They needed each other."
The boys agreed. After several minutes, the fire and the exhaustion of the day lulled them all to sleep. Nobody even bothered to turn off the movie or the Christmas lights.
The next morning, Penelope slowly awoke to a grand sight. Dum-Dum was still sleeping peacefully between her and the dogs, Snowflake still slept on the top of the couch, true to her typical cat self, and the rest of the Ant Hill Mob and Peter were still sleeping on their air mattresses. She went to stroke Dum-Dum's cheek, causing his eyes to flutter awake.
"Penelope?" Dum-Dum yawned.
Before long, the other men started waking up themselves.
"Good morning Penelope." Softy wept.
"Yeah, good morning…" Snoozy echoed through snores.
"How's our pretty patient feeling?" Clyde greeted her with a slightly tired smile.
Penelope sneezed and coughed, but still managed a smile.
"Other than this cold, I'm a lot happier." She looked at them. "I'm sorry you darlings weren't able to go on your hunting trip. And Dum-Dum, I'm sorry our skating lesson had a not-so-good ending."
"It wasn't your fault Penelope." Dum-Dum replied. "It's the Hooded Claw's fault."
"Besides, dear, you have all winter for us to have a hunting trip and for you to help Dum-Dum be a good ice skater." Peter kissed her now healed-up cheek.
"That's very true." Penelope nodded.
"We still haven't gotten our Christmas shopping done for Penelope." Yak-Yak laughed.
"Since we had to go home, we can go shopping for Penelope today." Pockets got an idea.
"Good idea, but…" Clyde was concerned about the sick Penelope and placed a hand on her forehead. "Penelope's still sick with that cold of hers. That fever's still there."
"It's nice of you fellas to look out for me and that you wanna take care of me, but it's only a little ole cold." Penelope eased the Mob's worries. "I'll be okay, honest."
"And I already got my Christmas shopping done for Penelope, so I can stay with her and help her when she needs it." Peter added. "It's a triple win for everyone."
"Yeah!" The Ant Hill Mob looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
"We'll get ourselves showered up and ready, then we'll join you for breakfast." Clyde told Penelope and Peter, then looked at his men. "Remember, there is going to be a line, starting with Zippy and ending with Dum-Dum."
"What!? Why do I have to be last?" Dum-Dum complained as he got down from the couch.
"You constantly use up the hot water every time!" Clyde scowled at him.
"Aww, that's not fair…" Dum-Dum groaned.
Penelope couldn't help but giggle at them as she got up to take her antibiotics and went to the kitchen to get some breakfast.
"Yesterday had a happy ending, after all." She thought to herself. "And since the Mob is going Christmas shopping for little ole me and Peter's staying, today is going to have a happy beginning and ending."