AN: Two chapters posted tonight, to make up for the fact that I might not be able to update for a while, due to a paper I need to complete by Moday afternoon, which I'm not looking forward to at all. These are major chapters, however, so that should make up for it.

Mark and James arrived at the hospital a short time later. Already, a crowd was gathered around the fire-damaged building, and police cars and fire trucks were all over. The two men immediately nudged their way to the front of the crowd, so they were pressed up against the police tape that had been set up around the scene. For a long moment, they scanned the number of people who were standing around the hospital grounds, being interviewed by police officers or sitting by one of the ambulances, being checked for injuries or breathing from an oxygen tank to combat the smoke that had entered their lungs.

"Where is she?" Mark asked, nearly in a state of panic.

"I don't know," James whispered. They were just about to cross the police line to start searching for Penny, when…

"Dad! James!" To their immense relief, the two men saw Penny appear from a small group of nurses nearby, running over as fast as she could, and enveloping James in a tight hug. In response, James held her as close as she could, while Mark grasped her arm. After about a full minute, Penny and James stepped apart, enabling Penny to give Mark a brief hug as well.

"Are you okay?" Mark asked, the worry still evident in his face.

"I'm fine," Penny answered, looking at her father and boyfriend in turn. Her face was still smudged with ash from the fire, and she smelled strongly of smoke, but she appeared otherwise unharmed.

"What happened, Pen?" James asked, brushing some hair out of her face.

"I don't know. I was starting to visit the patients to give them their afternoon medications when the alarm went off."

While Penny, James, and Mark were talking with one another, over by a tree a few feet away, Hannah stood watching with a face full of malice. After glaring at Penny and James for a moment, she slinked off, with no one seeing her leave.

"So, she's okay," Emily sighed in relief as she received the news on Penny. "Thank heavens. I was so worried when I saw that on the news."

At the current time, Rodolfo, Zack, and Lucia were still off at school, so Emily was alone in the Condo, with the exception of Sammy. When James had heard about the fire, before heading straight to the hospital to see if Penny was okay, he'd called Emily up, asking her to pick Sammy up at preschool.

While Emily and Mark talked on the phone, Sammy was sitting on the couch, being entertained with the Disney movie Homeward Bound.

"We're going to be here a bit longer," Mark explained. "The police want to question Penny to see if she saw anything strange. I overheard some of them talking, and they found evidence that the fire was intentional. So I suppose they'd want to see if anyone knows of anyone who'd want to burn down the hospital."

"Okay," Emily nodded, wondering how anyone could do something that extreme without caring about all the hospital patients who could have died. "I'm going to call Maureen, Joanne and Benny. They'd probably want news, too."

"Sounds good. We'll be home as soon as they're done interviewing Penny." After Emily had gotten off the phone with Mark, Sammy looked up from his movie.

"Is Penny okay, Mrs. Cohen?" He asked.

"Yes, she's fine," Emily replied. "She'll be back soon." With a happy smile, Sammy went back to his movie and Emily started dialing the number for Maureen and Joanne's pad. Before she could finish, someone knocked on the door. Thinking it was Maureen, being true to herself and heading straight over after hearing about the fire, Emily crossed the room to open the door. Instead of Maureen, it was a young blond girl, whom Emily recognized as the girl Joanne had said she'd helped out at the subway station.

"Can I help you?" Emily asked in confusion.

"Hello," Hannah smiled at Emily. "Is Sammy here?" Immediately, Emily arched an eyebrow.

"Actually, yes, but I don't see why…"

"Oh, good," Hannah interrupted. "I'm here to pick him up. James asked me to watch him for a while. I'm an old friend of his, you see."

"I'm sorry, but I don't think James would have arranged for anyone to pick him up without telling me," Emily pointed out. "After all, he was the one who asked me to pick Sammy up from school."

"Well, that probably would be true, usually," Hannah agreed. "But you have to admit he may have forgotten to tell you that I'd be stopping by, seeing how he'd be too concerned with the fire at the hospital that his girlfriend works at. So, I'll be picking Sammy up, just like James asked me to."

"I'm sorry to inconvenience you for coming here," Emily apologized as she started to close the door. "But since James never said anything about you coming over, I can't let you leave with…" Before Emily could shut the door, Hannah suddenly pushed it open again.

"Listen, lady," Hannah dropped her polite tone and started speaking angrily. "I came a long way to pick up Sammy, and I'm not leaving without him." With that, Hannah tried to force her way inside, only to have Emily block her way and shove her back into the hall.

"If you don't leave right now," Emily threatened, "then you'll be leaving with a police escort, because I will call them." With that promise, she shut the door with a slam. Emily started to reach for the door lock, but before she could lock the door, it nearly flew open again as Hannah launched herself at the door, trying to force it open. For a few moments, the two women struggled with the door, both of them pushing their full weight against it until Emily successfully managed to bolt the door. The moment the door had been locked, Emily quickly moved to the couch, throwing a protective arm around Sammy, who had been watching in confusion as to what was happening.

"Whatsa matter, Mrs. Cohen?" Sammy asked innocently. Emily didn't answer right away. She was still shaken from Hannah trying to break in to take Sammy. When she'd calmed down enough to answer Sammy's question, there was a knock on the door. In a heartbeat, Emily was on her feet.

"Go away!" she yelled through the locked door.

"What?" Joanne's voice answered. "Emily, it's us! Open up!" Feeling a wave of relief, Emily unlocked the door for Joanne and Maureen.

"Quick, get in," Emily hissed urgently, nearly pulling Maureen through the door. The moment the two of them were in, Emily quickly shut the door again and relocked it.

"Emily, what's wrong?" Joanne asked, seeing her anxiety.

"Is Penny okay?" Maureen added in worry. "We saw the news, and…"

"Penny's fine," Emily spoke quickly. "Mark called and said she'd gotten out before the fire spread too much. But I'm not worried about that right now. Did you see anyone out in the hall when you came in?"

"No," Maureen shook her head. "It was just Joanne and me out there. Why?"

"That girl you helped at the subway station, Joanne," Emily dropped into a chair, too stressed to support her weight any longer. "She was just here. She tried to force her way in to take Sammy."

It was nearly dark by the time the police had finished interviewing the hospital staff. James drove his taxi cab down the street, with Mark and Penny riding in the backseat. Every few minutes, James found himself glancing back at them through his rear-view mirror with a soft smile on his face. He felt immense relief that Penny hadn't been harmed in the fire, and usually, he would have wanted to spend the rest of the night just holding her, thankful she was alive. In this case, however, he was perfectly happy just watching her and Mark having a small father/daughter moment, with Mark visually grateful that Penny was safe. James had always held a soft spot in his heart for watching fathers and daughters who were that close interacting.

As the cab turned onto the street the Condo was located on, James' smile faded at the sight of a police car pulling away from the building.

"Why's a police car at home?" Penny inquired, seeing the car as well. Quickly parking along the curb, the three of them exited the cab and immediately headed upstairs to the Condo, wondering what else could have happened on top of the fire at the hospital. When they entered the Condo, they found Emily, Maureen and Joanne on the couch, with Joanne's arm around Emily in an attempt to calm her down. Zack, Rodolfo and Lucia were also standing nearby.

"Emily, what happened?" Mark asked urgently, crossing the room to her side.

"Someone tried to kidnap Sammy," Zack explained.

"Sammy!?" James paled instantly. "Where is he?"

"It's okay, James," Joanne assured him. "He's in Mark and Emily's room, taking a nap." Without a word, James poked his head into the indicated bedroom to check up on Sammy, giving a relieved sigh upon seeing him sleeping soundly.

"Who would try to take Sammy, away?" Penny vocally wondered.

"It was that girl," Emily spoke up. "Remember that girl that Maureen pointed out at the family dinner at the Life last weekend, that one who Joanne had helped at the subway station? It was her."

"What!?" James cried out, spinning around with a look of fear on his face.

"She said you had asked her to pick Sammy up," Emily added. "I didn't think you'd have done that without telling me, since I was watching him. When I wouldn't let her in, she tried to force her way through the door." For a moment, James looked as if he was going to be sick, and sank to the floor, his back against the wall.

"Hannah," he moaned.

"Who's Hannah?" Lucia asked. Instead of replying, James put his face in his hands, breathing heavily. Filled with concern for her boyfriend, Penny crouched down next to him.

"James?"

"Penny, I'm so, so sorry," James finally looked up, his hands still covering his mouth, resulting in his voice being muffled. "This is all my fault."

"What are you talking about?" Maureen stared.

"That girl who tried to take Sammy," James began. "Her name is Hannah. When I think about it now, I'll bet anything that she started that fire. She knew I'd be concerned about you, Penny, and that I'd go down to the hospital myself. She set the fire to try and make sure I wouldn't be around, which would make it easier for her to take Sammy."

"Why?" Rodolfo's eyes narrowed in clear confusion. "Seriously, why would she want to kidnap your brother, James?" James, in response, squeezed his eyes shut. When Penny looked closely, she saw a thin film of tears squeezing out through his eyelids."

"James, please talk to us," Penny urged, trying to comfort him. It took a while before James responded to Penny's touch. When he did, his voice was filled with sadness.

"Penny, I'm really sorry." Despite speaking in a whisper, everyone could still hear what he was saying. "I lied to you. I've lied to you from the very start. From the moment we met. I've lied about who I am, who Sammy is."

"I don't understand." Penny found herself unable to take her eyes off of James, and neither could any of the other Bohemians. "What do you mean?"

"Sammy," James spoke in a shaky voice. "He…he's not my brother. He's my son."

AN: And now, a virtual smorgasbord consisting of every dessert known to man for LifeIsTooQuick, for correctly guessing that Sammy was James' son instead of his brother. Nice one, my friend. (Hope I can call you that by now.) Never, ever doubt your instincts!