Brian's POV
I walked down the hall of the hospital after being told to leave by my wife. She had kicked me out of her room and said she didn't know if she could ever forgive me. I left the hospital so lost in thought about the events of this horrible day that I didn't realize until I was in the parking lot that I didn't have a car there. I had been taken by ambulance to the hospital.

Who could I call? I scanned my contacts and looked for someone in my wife's hometown that I could call. I didn't want to call a family member. Penny's ex-husband Jay Benton was one of the first names I came across. We were friends, one big happy family or so I thought. I called him, I needed to find out what his involvement in this nightmare was that resulted in Penny being shot and my marriage ruined. I called, he said he would be there in 15-20 minutes.
My leg, freshly sutured from a bullet grazing it, was starting to burn. I sat down at a bench outside the entrance to the hospital and waited for Jay. It was a typical November day in Ohio and I was just wearing a light jacket. Luckily, everything I had on was black and made it not so obvious that there was blood on my clothes. The tear in my pants making the bandage visible was the most noticeable remnant of this nightmarish day. I should have been freezing but there was too much on my mind to care.

I thought about all the times that Penny or I had been in the hospital in the five years since we met. We had been through some very rough times, but we always pulled each other through. This time she told me to leave. I deserved it, I left her on her own for four months and didn't tell her that her best friend was coming on to me. Her friend Gwyn, who had weaseled her way on tour with my band had lied and manipulated many people in an obsessive quest to be with me. I thought I was protecting Penny and I was too fixated on her friendship with her Doctor to see that Gwyn was playing me. How could I have known that Penny had recovered from her life-threatening illness? Why couldn't I see that her doctor was lying to her and it was all master minded by Gwyn? Soon Jay pulled up and I got into his car, I was ready for some answers, there is a lot to piece together and I intended to assemble this horrible twisted puzzle.

Jay's POV
I was shocked when Brian called and asked me to come get him. I hadn't heard from him since I had to lie to him about why I ended my visit with Penny so abruptly after he asked me to check on her.
He was limping as he walked to the car, I could see a bandage on his leg through a rip in his pants. As he came closer, I realized his clothes were stained with something. I didn't know what to expect.
"Hey man!" I said as he got into the car.
"Hey" he said sullenly.
"What happened to your leg?"
"Gwyn shot me." He said very matter of fact.
"What?" I thought maybe I heard him wrong.
"You heard me, Gwyn shot me. I was brought here by ambulance, that's why I don't have a car."
"Where's Penny?"
He pointed at the hospital, we were still in the spot where I picked him up.
"She's in there. Gwyn shot her too." A car behind us honked for me to get out of the way. I pulled into a parking spot.
"Is she okay? Why aren't you with her?"
"They were able to remove the bullet and luckily it didn't damage any organs. They also had to stitch up the giant gash in her forehead from Gwyn throwing her into a chair leg after she shot her." Brian was clearly shaken. I was in disbelief. "She's going to be okay."
"Good, but why aren't you with her?"
"She kicked me out and told me she doesn't know if she ever wants to see me again."
Brian told me about Gwyn poisoning Penny, getting her doctor to lie to her and tell her she was still sick to keep her in the states and away from him on tour overseas and Gwyn tricking him into sleeping with her. He got a little choked up when he told me of how Penny discovered them in Paris. He was angry as he told me of the nightmare of earlier that day. I was relieved that Gwyn was now in jail.
Before I could even say anything, he asked, "Now, I would like you to tell me the truth, why did you leave California so quickly? What did Adam Gabriel do to make you leave?" He looked at me with determination. "Don't try to lie, Gwyn told me that she used Adam to get rid of you. What was it?" He was getting angry and had thrown me off guard.
I didn't think sitting in my car in the parking lot of the hospital was the place to talk about it.
"Why don't I take you home and we can sit down and discuss this calmly and rationally?"
He took a deep breath, as if to calm himself.
"I just remembered, I can't go home. It's now a crime scene and our bedroom has been destroyed. I don't think I could bear to go there anyway. I guess at some point I need to at least get my car, but we're going to talk first."
"Do you want me to take you to a hotel?"
"No, I want you to tell me what the hell you had to do with Gwyn!" He was very agitated.
"Let's go to my house and talk, Steph is out of town." Neither of us spoke during the drive. As I was driving I remembered the conversation I had with Gwyn after Adam blackmailed me into leaving. Something Gwyn said now made more sense.

"Penny! Penny! Penny! Everyone is always so worried about Penny. It makes me want to vomit! You are such a fucking hypocrite; she considers us friends and we have kept a secret from her for almost 10 years. It fucking serves you right that it came back to bite you."

I pulled the car into the garage and we went into the house. Brian didn't waste a second.
"Well? We're here."
"Brian, I promise I will tell you everything I know. Why don't you go take a shower first? I'll loan you some clothes."
"That's probably an excellent idea. I need to wash the misery of this day off me."

I was relieved that he agreed to take a shower. I wasn't sure how he was going to react when I told him why I left. Gwyn was right, I kept a secret from Penny ever since we started dating. That secret enabled Penny's doctor to send me away to keep me from figuring out what they were up to. I should have just told the truth after I talked to Gwyn, at least they would have known that Dr. Gabriel was up to something. If I had also told them how hostile Gwyn was about Penny, she may not have been able to pull everything off. One thing I knew for sure, Gwyn wasn't just trying to win over Brian, she wanted to hurt Penny. It was revenge and it was my fault. I never realized that Gwyn had held back so much anger at Penny for so long. Penny never knew Gwyn had any reason to hold a grudge and worst of all, I didn't realize it either.

Penny's POV
I could tell Chloe was not happy when she came back into my hospital room.
"Is he gone?" I asked.
"Yes, he's gone. He's devastated Mom. You can't blame all of this on him."
"Why not? One simple truth could have prevented all of this."
"Gwyn manipulated both of you, she knew you and she knew he would protect you from hurt." Chloe pointed out. She made a good point, but I wasn't ready to listen.
"I just don't know what to do. So many things have happened, how much can two people take?"
"You're right, so many things have happened. You kept Merlin a secret from him and look what happened, he never held that against you. If you would have listened to him about Dr. Gabriel, things might have been different too." I tried to speak, Chloe stopped me. "Maybe he should have told you, but he had the best of intentions. He was worried about you and your health! He's a victim in all of this just as you are!" Chloe's was clearly angry with me. "You said yourself, right to him that you love him."
"I do" I couldn't hold back tears any longer. "But I'm not sure if love is enough anymore." The blood pressure monitor started going crazy and my side and head started to throb.
"It's okay Mom, you have to calm down." Chloe's tone softened. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have jumped all over you like that. This has all been very traumatic. Right now, you should just try to sleep."
The nurse came in and gave me a sedative and pain medicine through the IV.
"You need to rest now, Mrs. Haner. You need to let your body heal." The nurse said.
Chloe kissed me on the forehead "I love you Momma." She said and left. I cried until the medicine made me sleep.

Notes