Pennies

Shot

"He'll be fine."

The doctor speaks to Penny and Brenna.

"Will he recover?" Penny asks him.

"Well, he had a bullet wound in his upper leg. You two should be happy he's not dead from bleeding."

"Thank you, doctor."

The doctor walks out of the room and the two girls get some time to spend with David. He doesn't wake up for about five more minutes. When he does, he moans in pain.

"Ugh," he says.

"You're okay now. You're in a hospital," Penny says to him.

"A hospital?! I can't be here. I have no money!"

Brenna and Penny look at each other, both realizing the situation. They have to tell David about the plan with the house and how they would now have to use that money to pay for his hospital bill.

"David, we need to talk," Penny says, nervous.

"What?"

"We've been saving up money for you to buy that shack by the boathouse," Brenna explains.

"...Why?" David asks, confused.

"Because we want you to have a happy life," Penny says to him.

"A house doesn't make me happy. Food doesn't make me happy. You two make me happy. Ever since Penny gave me the $20, I knew we'd be best friends. That's all I ever wanted in life, was a friend. And now I have two," David says, tears in his eyes.

"Oh my gosh... David... David we will always be your friends," Penny says, tears now in her eyes. Penny hugs David in his bed. Even though he's in pain, he hugs back.

"Thanks Penny," David says, crying both from happiness and pain.

"Well, I've got to go home now," Brenna says to the two of them.

"Alright. I'm going to stay here with David," Penny says to Brenna.

"Yeah, I'm going to stay here too," David says, humorously.

"I know that, silly. Well, see you guys later."

"Bye!" they both say in unison.

Brenna leaves the room. Penny looks out the window and sees her car start up not long after she leaves. Penny then takes a step away from the window and takes a deep breath.

"I think I'm going to go talk to the desk about how long you have to stay here."

"Okay!"

Penny then leaves the room and walks to the elevator. She gets in and hits the lobby button. When the door opens, she walks to the desk by the entrance.

"Excuse me," Penny asks the person at the desk. "How long until the man from the regatta shooting gets out of here?"

"Who, David?"

"Yes."

"He gets out tomorrow around 5 P.M."

"Okay. Thank you!"

Penny goes back to the elevator and pushes the third floor button. The elevator rises and, upon arrival, the door opens. She walks down to room 2711. When she arrives at the door, she opens it and it squeaks. This makes David wake up slowly.

"Hey David," she says with a golden voice.

"Hey Penny. What time do I get out of here?"

"Tomorrow around 5 P.M."

"Ugh."

"I know, you don't like it here, but you need your rest. I'm going to stay here for the night to make sure you're safe."

"No, you can't. You'll get in trouble."

"So?"

"So I'm not letting you. Go home."

"No, I'm not going home. There's nothing you can do to make me."

"Fine. When you get in trouble, don't blame me."

"Alright, well it's about 10:00. We need to go to sleep."

"Okay," David says, extremely tired.

David rests his head on his pillow and sleeps belly-up. Penny sits in the chair next to him. She closes her eyes for a bit. Right before she falls asleep, she hears a beep. Then another. She opens her eyes and sees David, in the bed, clutching his chest. Penny jumps out of the chair and calls for a nurse. When she picks up the hospital phone, she can't speak. Her mind is too cluttered with the thought of losing David. She screams, but nothing comes out. Suddenly, she watches David go limp and stops hearing the repeating beep noise, which is now replaced by a constant beep.

Penny sits straight up in her chair, eyes wide open. She looks over at David, who is sound asleep. She looks at the monitor next to him and hears it beeping. It was just a dream, she thinks. She wakes David up, just to make sure.

"What?"

"Oh thank goodness. I had a dream where you had a heart attack and died."

"No, I'm perfectly healthy, except for my leg."

"Okay, good. Let's go back to sleep."