Meanwhile, Penny found out that Darcy was teaching a first aid course at the hospital and went along. Once again, there was a tension between them, but their kiss was prevented when Dee Bliss walked in on them. She was immediately suspicious, warning Darcy not to become involved with one of his patients, as he could get in serious trouble. However, soon after, Darcy and Penny kissed and began seeing each other in secret, desperate that Karl shouldn’t find out about them. When an important job came up at the hospital, Karl recommended Darcy for it but Penny turned up during the interview, completely throwing Darcy. He took her to one side for a chat, but they ended up kissing again, this time witnessed by Karl. He threatened to report Darcy to the medical board, so Darcy was forced to end things with Penny, against his better judgement, to avoid further trouble.

A devastated Penny began regailing her tales of woe to all of the customers in the Coffee Shop, finding a friend in Steph, who had recently split from Marc Lambert. Darcy later realised that Penny meant a lot to him and began to woo her all over again, arranging for her to be serenaded in the pub. With things back on track, Penny was worried when she found out that Darcy’s mum, Carmel, was coming to town. However, the two women quickly hit it off, despite Penny’s nerves, and they managed to wind up Darcy, leaving him thinking that they didn’t get on at all.

When Darcy ran into a young woman at the pub, there was a spark between them and she came on strong. However, meeting Penny for lunch the next day, he was shocked when the mystery woman turned out to be Penny’s sister, Sindi. Penny was suspicious when she noticed Darcy and Penny’s odd behaviour around each other, but little did she know that her sister was blackmailing her boyfriend. Meanwhile, Darcy was desperate to keep Penny and arranged for a horse-drawn carriage to meet her at Lassiter’s. However, she was upset when he didn’t propose, as she had expected him to, and she stormed off. Later, when Penny saw Darcy giving money to Sindi at the hospital, she was convinced there was something going on, and, unprepared to listen to any more of his excuses, she reported him to the medical board for taking advantage of her as one of his patients. She then disappeared from Darcy’s life for good.