Reeve reverts to another spluttering-in-shock episode, so I answer, "It's Jett. He fell over, and we think his knee has become infected."
"Can you two bring him out and get him onto the 'copter?"
"Of course," I say.
"Good. I've already called the doctor, so he should be waiting for us once we get home."
"H-how…?"
Penny and I turn to Reeve. Poor guy. He can't even speak.
"Honey." Penny grabs Reeve by the arms and gives him one firm shake. "We can talk about this later. But right now, I need you to go inside with Wilkin and bring Jett out here so we can get him looked at, okay?"
Reeve nods dumbly, then I take his hand in mine, and we run back inside.
An hour or so later, the three of us are in Penny's living room, recovering after what will go down as the most exciting, intense, crazy night of my life.
The doctor was waiting for us when we arrived. He flushed out the graze, dressed it properly, then started Jett on antibiotics and pain relief, warning him to rest and watch for it getting worse. He left about five minutes ago.
Penny is in the kitchen making us another cup of hot chocolate.
"I'm so glad you're okay," I say.
"Same," Reeve concurs. "I feel awful that I did such a bad job cleaning the wound up."
"The doctor said it wasn't your fault," Jett reminds him gently. "You did the best you could with what you had. Don't blame yourself. Please."
Penny returns with a tray. I push to my feet to help her but sit my ass down when she throws me a look that saysdon't even try to.
She's one incredible lady, that's for sure.
Once she's handed us our mugs, along with plates of homemade lemon drizzle, she sits down to join us.
"You have some explaining to do, missy."
Penny chuckles at Reeve. "And here you were, thinking I was some boring little old lady."
"Never boring or old," he interjects. "But geez, Granny. Since when do you fly a helicopter?"
"Since I was a wee sixteen-year-old lass back in Scotland," she tells him, the pride unmissable in her voice. "It's how I met your grandfather…"
What follows next is only fitting, an exciting, intense, crazy story to finish off the night. Turns out that after meeting Thomas, they quickly fell in love, wed, and left together for America. Thomas built a successful business, but his work extended into what she called "diplomacy" but was more like espionage. They were happy, raising four children and living a life that straddled two polar opposite worlds.
"Even though your grandfather officially retired many years ago, we kept our network of connections. Your grandfather did a lot of good work in his later years. He was always passionate about philanthropy, and he finally had time to get more involved. Now that he's gone, I like to do what I can." She turns to Jett and me and smiles. "Like helping house people who need to disappear."
"And you still have a helicopter license?" Jett asks, which seems like an oddly specific detail to get fixated on. But it does raise a good point.
"Technically, no. I didn't renew it when it expired several years ago. But before you get all upset about it," she says, cutting Reeve off before he even gets the chance to say anything. "I'll remind you it was an emergency, and I was on my own property."
He exhales through his nose. "You could have gotten yourself killed."
"That's true," she says, a sparkle in her eye. "I also could have taken you all down with me."
"Granny."
She cackles to herself, getting up. "Stop being such a worry wart. We're all alive, and Jett is doing much better."
"Jett is enjoying his painkillers very much," Jett says, his eyes slightly glazed.
