Brian's POV
I was so glad when we were headed home, I just wanted to check on Penny and relax. Gwyn made me very tense.
“Maybe we could have that swim tonight.” She said.
“What swim?” I asked.
“The one you didn't join me on last night.” She said trying to use a sexy voice.
“We’ll have to see if Penny feels up to it.” There was no way I was getting in a pool alone with Gwyn.
“Brian, you need to have some fun sometimes, you can’t always just sit around playing nurse to Penny.” Before I could tell her how I felt about that terrible remark, we pulled up to the house and she asked about the convertible parked at the front.
I looked at the car and recognized it. "That's Dr. Gabriel's car, I hope Penny is okay."
"Did she call or text you and you missed it?"
I checked my phone. "My phone was shut off; I must have done it by accident. Great, there is a voice mail from Penny. Damn it!"
"We should probably go in and check on her." Gwyn said.

I went straight to our bedroom, of course Gwyn followed me.
Just as I walked in I heard Dr. Gabriel ask Penny where I was. He was actually sitting on the edge of our bed next to her.
I interrupted and let him know I was right there.
He turned around, stood up and looked at me with surprise.
"Brian and Gwyn, you're home! I started getting really sick again and called Adam, he came right over." Penny said.
"Adam?" I asked.
"I told her to call me Adam, we see each other so often I get tired of the formality."
"OkAdam, I assume I may call you Adam as well?" I realized after I said it, that it may have sounded bad. Penny looked at me with a stern, questioning stare.
"Of course,Brian." He said with thinly veiled sarcasm, I tried to stay calm and hide my irritation.
"What's up with our patient?" I felt stupid after saying that.
"Well, she's a problem patient," Then he smiled at her turning my question into a charming comment for him. "but I think she either has food poisoning, stomach flu or possibly a little of both. Her immune system is not strong right now, you need to make sure she is very careful."
I didn’t really like the implication of what he said and Penny must have sensed it.
"Brian is fanatical about making sure I'm careful and take care of myself. No worries on that." Then she changed the subject. "I'm so rude, I forgot to introduce Gwyn to you." Penny then introduced them to each other, both were cordial.
"Penny, I am going to leave you in your husband’sverystrict care, now that he is here." He looked at me and raised an eyebrow.
"Thank you Adam for coming so quickly." Penny said.
"Yes,Dr. Gabriel. I certainly appreciate your closepersonalattention to my wife's care." I hoped he picked up on my sarcasm. Penny was now glaring at me.
Gwyn offered to walk Dr. Gabriel out and they both left. As soon as the door shut Penny spoke and I felt foolish because I knew I had let Gwyn get into my head.

Penny's POV
I wasn't sure what all that was, but it wasn't like Brian.
"What the hell was that? Why did you act that way with Dr. Gabriel?"
"Don't you mean Adam?"
"Aww, my hubby is jealous!" I smiled. "Bri, will you come sit with me?" I patted his side of the bed.
"Of course." He sat on the bed next to me. I held his hand.
"You know there is only one man for me and he's not just a man, he's a Guitar God."
"I know, I'm sorry. I just listened...never mind." He said.
"Listened to what?"
"Nothing, just other people's bullshit. I let them get in my head. I know you would never cheat on me. But I am still not sure about 'Adam' and what his intentions are."
"I don't think he would ever get involved with a patient, especially a married one. It could ruin his career." Penny said.

Just then Gwyn knocked on the door and peaked in. "Do you two mind if I go out tonight? Adam asked me to dinner."
"Of course we don't mind. Go have a good time!" I said. When she closed the door, I said. "See Bri, nothing to worry about. I have to admit that it was fun for you to worry about someone hitting on me, usually it's the other way around. Anyway, I seriously doubt anyone would flirt with me right now. I look like crap.”
"Men try to hit on you all the time, you either don't notice or don't pay any attention." Brian said. "And you are beautiful."
"I don't need to pay attention, I have you. I do notice, but I don't say anything about it. I know there are tons of times women flirt with you or worse and you don't say anything to me about it."
"You're right and it doesn't matter if they do or not, because I have you." Brian looked deep in thought when he said that.
"Junior, is there something you're not telling me?"

Brian's POVWhen Penny mentioned women flirting with me and not saying anything about it, I thought about how I hadn't told her that Gwyn had been flirting with me. I had to come up with something really quick.

“No, I was just thinking about how lucky I am that I have you and you're going to beat this thing."
"I wouldn't have, if it weren't for you.”
“It wasn't me, it was Jimmy.”
“You keep saying that, but you've never told me how that happened." She said. “Did Jimmy tell you while you were in the coma?”
“He didn't just come out and tell me, I don't think he can.” I wasn't sure if it would be good for Penny to hear the whole thing yet. Honestly, it was hard for me to think about it.
“I don't understand, he drew pictures, played charades, crossword puzzle? First word 5 letters; BLANK for your thoughts. Second word 4 letters; BLANK and tired. Wheel of Fortune?” She laughed. I had to laugh and I hoped I could get her to just drop it there.
“Penelope, you're a smart ass! What's a 6 letter word for Brian hasn't had anything to eat?”
“Hungry. But don't try to change the subject.” Her face was now serious. “I need to know, Brian.” I knew there was no way to get out of it this time.

"I lived our future if you weren't diagnosed right away while I was in the Coma."
"What?"
"I thought I woke up and you were singing "Till There Was You" and I made a joke about letting me have the music career."
"Oh my God, I did sing that! That was when you squeezed my hand. That squeeze gave me hope and kept me going." I could see some of the pain and worry that she must have had then in her face. If that memory did that, what will all of this do? I really had no choice and I wasn’t going to lie to her.
"I must have heard you, but I didn't actually wake up. I experienced the next year like it was real. You kept losing weight and I didn't make you go to the Doctor. You were all wrapped up in taking care of me and I was too wrapped up in getting back to work, I neglected you until it was too late."
"And you thought it was all real?"
"It felt as real as the two of us right here together. You didn't tell me you were sick for two months. Gwyn knew and went with you trying to find someone that could help. All the Doctors said it had progressed too far and there was nothing they could do. You were given 6-8 months to live." I saw tears starting to well up in her eyes.
"Oh Bri"
"I overheard you talking to Gwyn and thought you were having an affair with someone. I confronted you when we were in Michigan at the Casino in July. That's when you told me. I was angry and terrible to you, until I realized why you didn't tell me." She was now crying and remembering it made me almost cry too.
"I went through the next 6 months as you got sicker and thinner. It was horrible. Then on your Birthday, our 3rd Wedding Anniversary you died in my arms, like the dream I kept having. I felt the pain and the emotions as if it were real." I held her hand, mostly to confirm she was right there.
"Brian, that must have been terrible for you. I'm sorry." She said and hugged me.
"It had to happen, I had to feel the weight of the future and feel it as if it were happening. After I destroyed your studio in a fit of rage, Jimmy came to me. At the time he didn't make any sense. He said he promised you that he would help both of us and that it was his gift to us. I really couldn't understand how it could have been a gift. He said the rest was up to me. I couldn't deal with it all. I took out your Mustang and drove as fast as I could, like a maniac and was in an accident. I woke up and the rest is history."

"That's why you thought it had been a year since Bianca's wedding. That's why you had me get checked that day."
"If you were sick, I knew the clock was ticking." I said.
"So Jimmy's gift was my life and the only way he could tell you was to have you live through my death while you were in a Coma?"
"Yes and as terrible as what seemed like a year was, I owe Jimmy everything for giving us this second chance."
"I owe him even more, he saved my life." She said.
"My life too. I am thankful every day that you are going to be well. I didn't want to tell you this until we knew you were going to be okay."
"I love you," She said "and I love Jimmy too."
"He loves you and I love you." I kissed her.

Penny's POV
"What's our plans for tonight?" I asked.
"What do you feel up to?"
"I would like to take a shower and then just relax and watch a movie with my husband."
"Is your husband included in the shower?"
"Of course."
"That sounds perfect, a night just for us and I don't have to entertain Gwyn."
"I think she has meetings tomorrow; do you mind if I come hang out at the studio? I love watching when you guys are working on an album."
"I would love that, as long as you feel up to it and aren't pushing yourself." He said.
Then we took an essentially innocent but sensual shower, just loving each other's touch and presence. I had a whole new appreciation for Brian and for St. James watching over us.

Brian's POV
The next morning, I woke up first and let Penny sleep in. I went to the kitchen and Gwyn was already up and drinking coffee wearing a silky thin robe. She already had breakfast ready for us.
"Good Morning!" She said.
"Good Morning. You have breakfast ready again? I thought you weren't into the happy homemaker stuff."
"It's the least I could do. Where's Penny, I hope she's feeling better."
"She is, but I am letting her sleep in, we had a late night. I walked over to pick up the glass of juice on the counter. Gwyn practically tackled me and said.
"I'll bring you breakfast, please have a seat." As I sat down at the table. She poured out the glass of juice. “This one is warm" she poured a fresh glass and brought it to me rubbing up against me as she sat it down in front of me. I didn’t react. Then she left and brought back a plate of food. This time instead of walking up beside me, she leaned over the table. Of course her robe was loose and gave me a full show.
"So how did your date go?" I asked. Trying to steer things away from her peep show.
"It was okay, he's very nice and hot like Penny said. Honestly, he talked about Penny more than anything."
"What about Penny?" I asked.
"He said she had become one of his favorite patients, that he thought of her as a very strong and genuine person. He mentioned that they are the same age."
"What the hell does her age have to do with anything? What else?" I could feel my face getting warm with anger.
“We were talking about the tolls that the illness has had on Penny.”
“What tolls?”
“She's so thin now. She used to have a nice body.” Gwyn said.
“She still has a nice body and she'll gain weight back. She'll look better than ever.” I said.
“That's what Adam said too.” Gwyn smirked. “Of course, he never actually saw her before she lost weight. He said he had seen lots of pictures.”
“I’m sure he has and I’m SO happy that he agrees.” I knew I needed to hold back what I wanted to say. “What else did you talk about?” I could not believe this bullshit.
"He asked how I knew her and we talked about my friendship with her. He said you two seemed like an unlikely couple and was interested in how you met. He said he was surprised that she had tattoos and thought that was your influence. I told him that she already had two of the three tattoos when you met and that she loves your body art.”
I was now totally pissed. "Gwyn, can you do me a favor and not discuss Penny or my personal life with anyone? She trusts you implicitly, I think she would agree that she would rather you didn't."
"I didn't mean to make you angry. Don't worry, I didn't tell him about her ex-husband or when he kidnapped her."
"I would hope not; you know how Penny feels about that."
Just then Penny came into the room. "How I feel about what?"
"I was just saying that Gwyn is our guest and she doesn't have to make us breakfast every morning. She knows how you like pamper our guests."
"I do feel that way, but I also appreciate it. I'm sorry I have been a bad hostess and that I have been sick so much." Penny smiled. "Maybe we can have a girl's day before you leave."
"Actually I'm probably leaving tomorrow." Gwyn said.
"That's too bad." Penny said, looking disappointed.
Gwyn looked at me and I could tell she was waiting for my response.
I didn't know what to say that wouldn't sound rude or encourage Gwyn that I wanted her to stay. "I'll arrange a driver to take you to the airport." It was time to change the subject. "Penz, we've got to get going. I'm sure Gwyn needs to get ready for her meeting."

Penny felt much better the whole day, I was relieved that whatever it was seemed to be gone. She loved being there and I think it was good for her. We had lunch brought in and we're eating when Penny had a phone call.
She answered. “Hi Adam.” I was a little bothered that she didn't waste any time putting his number in her phone. I had to shake that off. She stepped aside to talk to him, but I could still hear her.
“I'm feeling much better today, thank you. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you coming over yesterday. You went above and beyond.” Then she laughed. “I mean it.” She said.
“How was dinner with Gwyn?” She asked.
“That must have been pretty boring, couldn't you find something better to talk about than me?”
“I'm sorry I was the only thing you two seemed to have in common. I was kind of hoping you two would hit it off. Although I'm sure you don't need me to play matchmaker for you.” She laughed again. “Sorry, no twin, there's just one of me.”
Matt sat down beside me. “You okay? You look like you're about to jump out of that chair and kill someone.”
“Shhh” I said.
“Well thank you again for yesterday. I'll call you if it returns. Bye.”
I wanted so much to say something when she got off the phone, but Matt stopped me.
“Brian, I think you should put a smile on your face. If you don't, Penny is going to know you eavesdropped on her phone conversation. At least take a few minutes to calm down before you say anything.” Penny walked up.
“Hi guys, you look like you're in a serious conversation.” She said.
I pulled it together. “We were just discussing some possible changes to one of the tracks.”
“I hope you guys work it out, I can tell your upset Bri.”
“He’s fine Penny, just creative differences. We’ll figure it out. Ready to get back to work Brian?” Matt said.
“On my way.” I said. I kissed Penny on the cheek. “I love you, you know that?”
“I do, but I like hearing it. I love you.” She smiled at me.

I left early in the morning the next day before Gwyn got up, I was glad I had to be at the recording studio early. I really didn't want to deal with Gwyn and by the time I came back home she would be gone.

Notes