you wanna make a memory

"You want your first guest to be a dude laid up with a busted ankle? Rolling around on a knee scooter?" He laughed softly, joking to cover up the fact that he felt touched that she would make an honor so generous. Especially because he knew she meant it. "A couple of weeks of your cooking though, that's hard to pass up." He laughed as he brushed his thumb over the back of her hand, starting to realize fully that he did have feelings for her. He thought he had just been feeling his usual crush impulse. But the way Penny had shown up for him in the past few months, especially in this moment now and when he had gone to seen his mother, had moved him. He felt an ease with her that he wasn't used to and he felt it more than ever right now. "I think I'll have to talk my Dads into releasing their love for babying me but I like my chances, so, count me in. Prepare my quarters," he teased.

"Good thing you're not just 'a dude' then, hm?" she remarked, though she had to hold back the laugh that threatened to burst through at his self-deprecating jokes. He had been a steady presence since she'd arrived in town, and she felt it was the least she could do to repay him while also relieving some of the stress on his parents from having to care for him on their own. "They're welcome to come over whenever they want to take care of you. I won't isolate you completely, don't worry." She smiled, giving his hands a squeeze. "It'll also help me to make sure that things are accessible. Think of the snacks and drinks you'll want to have on hand, and I'll make a grocery run too before you get released. I should probably let some others come visit and check on you... Will you be okay without me for a little while?"

"What the fuck?" He couldn't wrap his head around it as she told him, already certain she was right about it not being a mugging. "Yeah that sounds like a bunch of bullshit. I think you'll just have to talk to Mikki yourself. I mean when she wrote that article, I'm sure someone was paying attention." It was all that made sense to him and he had read the article pretty thoroughly when it came out. "Life just keeps throwing punches," he sighed "and I'm fucking useless in this bed. They said recovery could take six weeks." He groaned and looked over at her again, reaching for her hand. "Six weeks without working with you at the B&B sounds like my own personal hell."

Penny hadn't even considered the possibility that her daughter's article was the catalyst for the events that had unfolded over the weekend, but Will's statement made a light bulb go off. She would check in with Mikki once she'd been able to get some rest, but she didn't want to overwhelm her while here. She knew how much Mikayla hated going to hospitals after all the time she'd spent with Penny during her chemo. She gave Will's hand a squeeze, grateful for the grounding effect of his touch. "Well, you could always come stay there. Be my first official guest," she suggested, smile coming to her face. "You'll already need someone else to make you food and get you whatever you need, so why not make it seem like a vacation instead?"

"You can take up all of my time if you want," he told her without thinking much of it. As soon as she had walked into the room he had felt a calm come over him and he was just glad she could be there with him. His eyes widened as she spoke about Mikki and he sat up quickly, coughing as he did. "Is Mikki okay? Is she here?" He was suddenly more aware than eh had been but the IV and wires he was connected to reminded him to sit back. "What happened?"

Penny's cheeks flushed at Will's comment, and though she was flattered, she tried not to read too much into it. After all, he was doped up with a lot of pain meds and he had a habit of being complimentary even without them. "She's a little roughed up and she has a concussion, but she'll be okay. I believe they'll be releasing her soon, but she's been in the ER since her boyfriend brought her in." She sighed, shaking her head. "He said it was a mugging, but I'm not entirely convinced. This is Tonopah Valley, for Christ's sake. It's so small, you'd have to be really ballsy to mug someone here and think you could get away with it."

A shrug pulled at his shoulders, never one to be particularly good at receiving praise. Besides, considering what he'd had to do to get her home, it felt strange. "That's alright." He responded. "You're still number one on the emergency contact list." The male remarked lightly, nodding towards the door. "Go on, I'll wait out here so you can have some time to yourselves."

She was, wasn't she? Penny tried to take some comfort in that fact, that the relationship with Mikayla hadn't been damaged beyond repair. With a final small, worried smile, she made her way into Mikayla's hospital room, embracing her daughter and thanking whatever higher power existed that she was still alive.

Niko held her gaze unflinching, though for a split second he could have sworn he could see a hint of doubt on her face. "Apparently." He said with a shrug, not about to dig himself into a deeper hole if his assumption was correct. The male was a practiced liar, of course, but the one thing he learned was most effective when getting a story across was to keep the information sparse. "Mostly superficial wounds, bruises. Probably a concussion, like I said, but nothing she can't recover from." Physically at least. Lips pressed into a tight line when Penny asked if Mikayla would even want to see her, and he forced the corner of his lips into a slight, reassuring grin. "Of course she will. She needs her mom."

Penny turned to look at the door of the room Niko had indicated, taking in a deep breath to prepare herself. Although he described the injuries as superficial, she could only assume that seeing her baby hurt at all would be hard to swallow. "Thank you for getting her here," she spoke before looking over at him again. "Knowing she's got someone who will be there in emergencies... it's reassuring."

There was another wave of guilt that came over him. Never did he want anyone to be worried over him, especially because of the life choices he had made. No matter how it all had turned out, no matter the fact that he was in the hospital, he simply didn't want to be the cause of any tears. Elliott took her hand, pulling her into a hug. "I'm sorry." He said, brushing the hair on the back of her head. "I know you do and I... I'm sorry for everything. You know I always cared for you too. That never changed. And just..." He pulled away from her, breathing out a heavy sigh. "This is just a mess. A mess I have to sort out." With the Enterprise, with Giovanni. It was something he was going to have to deal with head on. "Thank you for your help, too. Thank you for being here and helping Lydia... And thank you for looking after our daughter all these years." After another pause, he looked at her. "I'm sorry for being upset, too. I know it wasn't easy. I'm sorry I've made it harder for you."

Penny hadn't been expecting the embrace, but she fell into it easily, her face finding the crook of his neck like it always had when they were younger. What she expected even less than that was to hear his apology. When she pulled back to look at him, wiping her cheeks clear of the tears that remained there, she quietly listened and took in everything he had to say. There was still something left unspoken there with whatever mess he referred to, and though she wanted to know everything, she knew now wasn't the time. "You had every reason to be upset. I didn't handle the situation well back then, and if I could go back to change it, I would," she admitted, letting out a sigh. "The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt either of you. You've always meant so much to me, and she's my whole world."

It took Elliott a few moments to understand where he was and who it was talking to him. "Shit." He placed her hands over Penny's, trying to indicate that he was going to try to be better. Yet still, he didn't like the feeling of the IV's sticking in his arms or the simple fact that he was there. "How...?" He wasn't even sure if Penny was the right person to ask. Everything was so messed up and he felt pain not only from the injuries, but from everything which had occurred. "Are you okay? Were you hurt?" Because really, he didn't know if they'd have gone for her, too. After all, she was Mikayla's mother and given what Giovanni had done, he wouldn't have put past him. "Lydia..." He said again, looking around the room before his eyes finding Penny's. "She's okay, too?" He hoped.

Penny didn't know why she was surprised when Elliott asked about her; he had always been the more empathetic of the two of them when they were younger. Maybe it was the fact that he was asking her when he was the one that was in the hospital and had been beaten almost beyond recognition. "I'm fine. I was-- We were at the festival." Admitting it sent a rush of guilt through her all over again and she furrowed her brows, holding in her tears. "I'm here because I still care about you, pendejo," she let out a small laugh, though it only served to force a few tears from her eyes. "The hospital called when Mikayla was admitted, and then Niko said your name... I've been trading shifts with Lydia so she can rest. I'll let her know you're awake."

"Apparently she got mugged," he lied, the words spilling so easily from his lips. That was the cover that he and Stef had thought to lead with, the one they'd made sure to tell both Mikayla and her father the moment they were present enough. "Her and Elliott. I don't know the details, she called me from a payphone. He's down the hall." Niko crossed his arms, shaking his head. "She should be cleared to be discharged in a couple hours."

"Mugged?" she repeated, her brows furrowing. It had been a while since she had last lived in the area, but if there was one thing Penny was sure of it was that muggings rarely happened out on the streets in Tonopah, even with the gang violence. She was dubious, but she was too worried about the two to voice it in that moment. She ran a hand over her face, holding her hand over her mouth for a couple of seconds. "How bad is it? Will she even want to see me?"

He laughed at her words before he needed to cough a bit. "That was a good one. You brought me snackies? Oh hell yeah," he replied, laughing at his own words before coughing again. The pain medication was definitely doing its job as he thanked her for the honey bun. "I think I'll be okay. I think if I know my Dads they're gonna be back with a feast. Are you okay?" He reached out for one of her hands, his eyes closing for a moment before he was smiling at her again. "I don't remember seeing you at the festival. Were you there?"

"I don't doubt that at all. You've got a lot of people who are worried about you out there, so I won't take up too much of your time, I promise." Although quietly she hoped he would ask her to stay. "I was there, yeah. I guess I chose a good time to go to use the restroom, though. I was inside when the storm started. We never had anything like that in New York, but I remember experiencing one or two when I was a kid. I forgot how terrifying they could be," she chuckled some, though it faded easily. She bit her bottom lip before speaking again. "I'm worried. Three of the people I care about are hurt right now and I can't do anything to help them." At the look on his face, she elaborated. "Mikayla and Elliott... they were hurt. Last night or the night before, I'm not sure, but I was at the festival when it all happened. I had no idea they were gone until the hospital called."

"Will? The guy who works for you at the B&B?" Devon was pretty sure he had heard her talk about him but he had yet to look into him. "Well you having fun is not why this happened, Pen. It's this fucking town full of people who only hurt people to solve their problems." He didn't mention the article, considering how much he had encouraged her around it. He reached out for Penny's hand to give it a squeeze. "You want me to figure out who did this? I mean I have a pretty good idea but I can still get us more information."

Penny nodded, running her fingers through her hair before settling her chin in her palm. "I know," she sighed, squeezing his hand gently. "I just... can't stop thinking about her getting hurt while I was there. If we were talking, maybe I'd have known she was gone, and she wouldn't have had to go through all of this." She looked to her friend, a smile turning the corner of her lips upward. "Anything you can find would help. Her boyfriend seems to know something, though he didn't go into much detail with me. I'd honestly rather know how she got wrapped up into all of this in the first place."

@heyymikki

It seemed like nearly everyone Penny cared about had ended up in the hospital after the festival weekend. She was grateful that Will and Mikayla's injuries hadn't been quite as severe, but she'd be lying if she said her heart hadn't sunk when she discovered Elliott's state. She'd been by to visit the past few days, taking over when Lydia needed to work or be home with her son and sending periodic updates, but every day passed without much change. At least he was stable, the doctors reassured them, but it was little help in easing her concern.

where: tonopah valley emergency room who: @penelopebeaumont & niko dimopoulos

Penny had already been in the hospital visiting Will when she'd gotten the call. With her and Mikayla hardly speaking over the last few months since their blowup, she'd had no idea anything was even wrong let alone what could have landed her in the ER, so she rushed to get there as soon as she could to get some answers. She was surprised to see Niko in the emergency room, though the explanation and the fact he didn't appear to be too worried helped ease her own. "What happened? They wouldn't tell me over the phone, so I got over here as soon as I could."

"At least she's safe now," Devon told her as he refilled their glasses. Devon felt a bit ashamed that he had told Mikki to be bold and she had ended up in danger but he wouldn't beat himself up too much until he talked to her and got her perspective. "Guess I chose to stay home on the right day, the sand shit was kind of bizarre. Been a while since we had one of those. I feel like asking if you're alright is a bad question so how about - what can I do for you in this moment? You name it." @penelopebeaumont

At least there was that. The amount of guilt Penny felt, though, at having been at the festival while her daughter was in danger likely wouldn't go away any time soon. "Honestly, I'm not sure. I know it's only a 'time will heal' situation, but between her and Will getting hurt, I feel helpless," she replied with a sigh, picking up the glass once he was done pouring. "And here I thought I was going to allow myself to have some fun for a change."

"Guess it's a good thing we were just about finished with the renovation, huh? Cause apparently I got a bunch of recovery ahead." Will's smile was weak but still present as he saw Penny standing in the doorway of his hospital room. He had been lucky enough to have a surgery that morning for his ankle and though he had thought he was going home, the doctors had wanted to keep him longer to monitor his breathing after all the sand he had inhaled. He felt like he had gotten his shit rocked anyway so he wasn't entirely in a rush to go anywhere,not the mention the dosage of pain medicine they had him onw. "Please tell me you brought a sweet treat, Pen. I am dying for a sweet treat right now." @penelopebeaumont

"If you wanted to call off work, all you had to do was ask," she teased right back, hoping that it would help to keep Will's spirits up. Having heard what happened at the festival, Penny made sure she was there as soon as he was allowed visitors to make sure he was okay. It had meant many hours of worry with no real answers since she wasn't family, but she had to know. She settled into the seat beside his bed and pulled a few snacks she'd grabbed from the vending machine before arriving. "It isn't much, but I can always order something for delivery. I didn't want to leave and have you think nobody was here to check on you." She offered him the honey bun, opening up the package first. "Sixteen Handles delivers, but the ice cream might not hold up all the way here."

He simply nodded at the admission, not about to overstep and offer some sort of unwarranted advice. That just wasn't his speed, nor did he think it was appropriate at the moment. Mikayla and Penelope would find their way back to one another, that he had no doubt about. "She's stubborn. It'll pass." Niko pointed out, sure that it wouldn't come as much of a surprise. She had to learn it somewhere, didn't she? "Not holding me up at all. You probably have more of a claim to this place than I do, anyway." She was blood, after all, and in Niko's family that demanded a specific kind of respect. "But, um -- it was nice to meet you. Hopefully we can do this more...formally in the future."

"Where do you think she gets it from?" Penny replied with a laugh and a shake of her head, knowing full well how Mikayla's temper could be once she was set off. "No, this is fully her space. I want to respect that, hence..." she motioned towards the key she'd left on the counter. She hoped maybe someday in the future that Mikayla would give it back to her, but ultimately she knew that her daughter was an adult with a whole life outside of her now. The least she could do was allow her to have that independence. "I do, too. When things calm down some, we can do dinner together," she offered. Grabbing her purse, she smiled at him. "Thank you for taking care of her. It's good to know she's got someone in her corner." With that, she gave a quick wave before heading out the door.