A/N: This is a short two-shot. Deals with themes including death, but no major character death. Thanks for reading.
Amy woke up and her apartment was freezing. At least as freezing as it could be in January in Southern California. Still, it was far too cold for her to be used to, so she pulled her blankets tighter around her. She couldn't get back to sleep and she started shivering, so she got out of bed, pulled her robe around herself and flicked the light switch. It didn't turn on. Neither did the one in the living room. Neither did any of the other lights and appliances around her apartment.
Amy called the number for the people who managed her building. She was met with a message instead of a real person, but she still learned that the power and heat were likely to be out until Monday at the soonest. Amy groaned and sat down on her couch in the dark. She could only see by the light of her cell phone.
It was three in the morning, so Amy didn't know who to call. She thought there was a chance that Penny might still be up, but that seemed unlikely. Her parents, Sheldon and Leonard, Rajesh, and the Wolowitz's were all guaranteed to still be asleep. Still, she had recently received a key from Sheldon to his and Leonard's apartment. Maybe she could go over there, let herself in, and sleep on their couch until she could ask Penny about maybe staying there for the weekend.
Amy packed a bag with a few things and went down to her car. She drove to her boyfriend's apartment building and made her way up to the fourth floor. Then she quietly let herself in, but it suddenly seemed wrong to just be letting herself into their apartment without asking. She decided to stop in Sheldon's room and ask for permission to wait there instead of just going to sleep.
She knocked softly before just opening the door. Sheldon sat up a little and looked at her. He was frowning.
"Sheldon? It's Amy," she said.
"I know who you are. What are you doing?" Sheldon asked.
"The power went out in my apartment. It's going to be out for a couple of days. I was wondering if I could hang out here until Penny is awake and I can ask her about staying the weekend," Amy explained quickly.
Sheldon shook his head, and Amy was a little disappointed that he wouldn't let her even sleep on his couch for a couple of hours. "What are you doing out of bed?" Sheldon asked.
"The power is out in my..," Amy started again, but she stopped when Sheldon pulled the blankets back on his bed.
"Get back into bed," Sheldon said sleepily.
Amy wondered if Sheldon was talking in his sleep. He seemed to be under the impression that they slept together. "Sheldon, I'll just go sleep on the couch," Amy told him.
"Amy, you are being ridiculous. Just get back into bed, and we'll talk about it tomorrow," Sheldon said.
"Are you sure?" Amy asked.
"Yes," Sheldon said.
Amy was still pretty sure that this was the wrong thing to do, but he insisted and she was so tired. She just took off her shoes, sweater and blouse before getting into his bed.
"Thank you," Sheldon said before he put his arm around her and kissed her neck once. Then it seemed that he was asleep again. He had only ever kissed her a couple of times before, so it was a bit of a shock that he did that. The whole experience had Amy unsettled for some reason. She thought about slipping back out of his bed. He was probably going to be upset when he was fully awake and found her there. She started slipping out of his bed when Sheldon tightened his grip on her and pulled her back to him. He was stronger than she could have believed, and she knew she was stuck. It was over an hour until Amy drifted off to sleep.
Sheldon woke up and nuzzled his face further into Amy's hair. He knew it was the dream again. He'd given up on fighting it a lot time ago. This particular one was very vivid. Amy seemed warmer than normal and she smelled better and the colors seemed brighter. It was also strange because she was wearing a t-shirt instead of a nightgown. The dream had always been exactly the same for as long as he'd had it, so these changes seemed a little strange.
Then he remembered. Or at least he thought he did. Something about Amy going to sleep on the couch instead of in his arms and how that was unacceptable. He made her get into bed with him. Was that real? That had never happened in the dream before. Sheldon started inching away from the woman in his bed. When he had his arms away from her, she grabbed the blanket and pulled it around her tighter like she was cold. Sheldon almost regretted taking his arms and his heat away from her.
Then he stayed still for several more minutes trying to figure out why Amy was sleeping in his bed. It was becoming more and more clear that this was reality rather than The Dream. Part of him had been wanting this for months. He felt like he should be grateful that he had somehow pulled it off without even being aware of it. The other part of him was screaming at him: YOU JUST SLEPT WITH A WOMAN.
Then as he kept watching, she turned toward him and was nearly touching him. Her face was still peaceful with sleep. Then her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him sleepily. He could tell that she wasn't quite with him until she moved away from him a little.
"Hi," Amy said shyly.
"Good morning. Can you tell me why you are in my bed?" Sheldon said more calmly than he felt.
"The power went out in my apartment in the middle of the night, and is supposed to be out for a few days. I came over here to sleep on your couch until it was late enough to ask Penny if I could stay with her until it was fixed. I came in here to ask you if it was okay, and you kept insisting that I get back into bed with you. I knew that you were still mostly asleep, but you were so insistent, and I was so cold and tired. I tried to get back out of bed about thirty seconds after I was here, but you wouldn't let go of me," Amy explained.
"Okay. Well, it was a mistake of me to invite you into my bed. I was likely being affected by a dream at the time," Sheldon told her.
Amy started scrambling to get back from Sheldon. Of course he thought it was a mistake to invite her into his bed. Amy knew she had been silly to hold a little hope he would like it the way he had when he kissed her on the train. Then again, he hadn't even liked that enough to do it more than a couple of times since then. Sheldon's bed was smaller than her own, and it was half occupied by her boyfriend. She didn't notice when she had reached the edge of his bed.
Amy screamed as she fell to the floor. Sheldon jumped up and ran around the bed and looked down at Amy. Her eyes were closed as he knelt down, but they opened and she said, "Ow."
"What were you doing?" Sheldon asked. He was concerned about her. They were just talking and she suddenly was squirming away from him and falling on the floor.
There was a knock at the door. "Sheldon, buddy, is everything okay?" Leonard asked through the door.
"Can you come help me get Amy off the floor?" Sheldon asked loudly enough for Leonard to hear.
Leonard opened the door a crack. "Are you guys dressed?"
"Of course we're dressed. Come help me," Sheldon said shortly.
"I'm fine, Sheldon. I just need a minute," Amy said. She knew that she had hit both her head and her elbow pretty hard when she fell, but she thought she would be able to get back up on her own. Amy sat up on her own and was a little dizzy. "Okay. I am going to need a little help. The room is spinning," Amy admitted.
"That's it. I'm calling an ambulance," Sheldon said.
"Please don't. I'll be fine in a minute," Amy said.
Leonard came over and got between Amy and the bed. Then he and Sheldon each took an arm and pulled her up. She sat the edge of Sheldon's bed for a moment. Sheldon started inspecting her head with his fingertips. He was undeniably gentle, but she still winced when Sheldon touched her.
"I'm with Sheldon. Let's get you to the hospital," Leonard said. He grabbed her shoes and helped her put them on. Then he put his arm around her waist and started helping her to the living room.
"I'd rather not," Amy said weakly. Neither of the men listened, and she knew that head injuries weren't the kind of thing one should play around with.
Leonard helped Amy to the couch and asked her to wait while he got dressed. Leonard and Sheldon quickly dressed before returning. Sheldon brought Amy her sweater before they all started for the door. Sheldon wouldn't let Leonard help Amy anymore. He insisted on doing it himself. He even thought about scooping her up into his arms, but he was worried he wouldn't be able to make it down all of those stairs like that. Instead, he just slowly helped Amy down the stairs.
"Guys, I really think you are both overreacting," Amy said as they started to get into Leonard's car.
"Amy, you are a neuroscientist. If anyone knows how dangerous a head injury is, it's you. Plus, we should make sure you haven't broken that elbow the way you are babying it," Sheldon told her. He got into the backseat with her and asked her questions the whole drive to the hospital to keep her alert.
"You guys go in. I'll park and meet you inside," Leonard told them as he pulled up to the Emergency Room.
Sheldon got out of the car and ran around to help Amy. She wasn't even feeling dizzy anymore, but he wouldn't let her walk in unaided. He sat her down and went to talk to someone about getting her looked at. Sheldon returned with some paperwork that he helped her fill out. Then Amy found her insurance card and sent Sheldon back with all of it.
When he came back, Amy put her head on Sheldon's shoulder, and he told her it was going to be alright. That he was there. He'd learned that that was important when he had taken Penny to the Emergency Room years earlier.
Leonard came in and sat next to Sheldon while Sheldon filled him in. They said it would be another ten minutes or so before someone could look at Amy. When they came to get Amy, she got up and followed. She didn't expect it when Sheldon came with.
They were taken to a little room with a bed and a chair. Amy sat on the bed while they waited for the doctor to to come in. Sheldon held Amy's hand, and was unusually sweet to her. He felt a little guilty about her having fallen from his bed. He only let go when the doctor came in and started asking questions. Then the doctor looked at Amy's elbow and her head. She winced when he probed the back of her head with his fingers, so Sheldon grabbed her hand again.
"It doesn't look like you have a concussion, but I'd like to get an x-ray just to make sure. We'll also take a look at the elbow," the doctor said. "Any other questions or concerns?"
Sheldon looked at Amy, but she shook her head. "Thank you, Doctor," she added before he left.
Amy just squeezed Sheldon's hand when they were alone. She was a little scared even though she knew she was fine. She had never liked hospitals much. She supposed nobody liked them a lot. It struck her as a little funny that her lab wasn't much different in ascetic, but a million miles away in feeling.
A tech came to get Amy, and Sheldon went back to the waiting room to wait with Leonard. He filled him in while they waited. Then Sheldon pulled out his phone and started playing with it, but it wasn't holding his attention.
"She's fine. They are just checking. You said they didn't think she even had a concussion," Leonard said.
Sheldon just nodded solemnly. After another fifteen minutes, a nurse came to find him. "Sheldon Cooper?"
Sheldon stood suddenly. "Hi. Ms. Fowler is done with her x-ray. She's asked if you would go back to the room while she waits for the results," the nurse said. Sheldon nodded and followed her back.
The nurse opened the door for Sheldon and he walked into the same little room they had been in before. Amy was sitting on the bed with her knees pressed to her chest and her good arm wrapped around her legs.
"Is everything still okay?" Sheldon asked. He was concerned because she looked so small and scared on that bed.
"I just don't like hospitals much," Amy said so quietly that even Sheldon's advanced hearing almost couldn't catch it.
"Why would you? Germs, florescent lighting, that smell," Sheldon started, but then he noticed that Amy was shaking a little. He stopped talking and just took her hand back into his. Touch wasn't often comforting to him, but he knew it helped her.
"My little brother was sick a lot when I was a kid. I spent a lot of time waiting in hospitals," Amy said.
Sheldon tilted his head at Amy. He thought she was an only child. Then he got it. She was. Now. Sheldon squeezed Amy's hand. He wondered why she had never told him about this before. He didn't know how to respond other than just being there, so he did that.
"His name was Aaron. He was three years younger than me," Amy told Sheldon. He just stood there and listened to her tell him about the brother he never even knew existed. About how when Amy was eight her brother was diagnosed with leukemia and how for three years after that everything became about Aaron's treatments until, suddenly, he was gone.
Amy was in tears when the doctor came in to tell her that x-rays showed that she was just fine. "We'll get you out of here as soon as we can," Sheldon said as he kept hold of that hand. He knew he would refuse to let of it again until they were out the door. Sheldon had seen Amy giddy and angry and sad, but never broken like this. Even he could see it on her face and the way she moved.
They left the little room together. The nurse told Amy to take it easy and get some rest, but that she was otherwise fine to leave. Amy signed some paperwork and they went to find Leonard.
Leonard could see that Amy was shaken up, so he ran over. "Is everything okay?" he asked.
Amy nodded then hugged Leonard which was awkward since Sheldon still had her good hand, but she managed it. She would have preferred hugging Sheldon, but she knew he wouldn't tolerate it the way that Leonard would. Amy just needed to be reassured by a friend. She and Leonard weren't exactly close, but she knew he cared about her.
Leonard rubbed Amy's back while looking quizzically at Sheldon. Amy clearly needed comfort, so Sheldon put his arm around her as soon as she let Leonard go. He felt out of his depth. He didn't comfort people, and people never asked him for it. Still, Amy leaned into Sheldon as they walked out to Leonard's car.
Amy didn't know why she told him about Aaron. She never talked about her brother. Other than family, no one knew of him, and it seemed to be an unspoken pact that even they never spoke of him. Part of Amy wished that she could take back telling Sheldon. At least she knew that he probably would never bring it up. Sheldon didn't like emotion. She had probably scared him enough for a lifetime already.
Amy was exhausted when they got back to Sheldon and Leonard's apartment. Plus her head was still killing her. She wished she could sleep in a bed instead of Penny's couch. Then Amy realized she hadn't even asked her friend about staying the weekend. At least it seemed late enough that Penny would be awake.
Amy went in to Sheldon's room to retrieve her bag, so she could go ask Penny about sleeping on her couch.
"No. You can't go to bed yet. I need to change the sheets," Sheldon said. Then he turned to Leonard and said, "Can you make her some soup while I change the sheets on my bed?"
"Yeah. Just sit down on the couch, Amy. I'll bring it over to you," Leonard said.
Amy just stood in the living room looking from one man to the other. Sheldon walked over to her and gently guided her to the couch. "I know you are tired, but you need to eat something, and I was going to change those sheets today anyway," he said.
"I need to go ask Penny if I can sleep on her couch," Amy said.
"Amy, really? I've committed to take care of you in writing. That does not include having you sleep on Penny's couch. Now, sit here, eat the soup when Leonard brings it over, and then you'll take a nap in my bed. You'll be in violation of the Relationship Agreement if you don't," Sheldon said sternly. Then he got up and walked into his room.
"He's just worried about you," Leonard said. Then he pulled the soup out of the microwave, put some crackers in it, and brought it over to Amy. "He's not the best at showing it. I've got some errands to run. Will you be okay?"
"Yeah. Thanks, Leonard," Amy said. She knew she was in capable hands.
Amy was slowly eating the soup when Sheldon came back out of his room. He brought her some pain killers without her even asking. Then he just sat next to her. He still didn't know what to say about the things she had told him at the hospital. He knew that he should say something, but that had never been his forte. She would know what to say. Even if she had to be blunt about it, Amy would know how to talk to him about it. If only he could ask her.
As soon as Amy had finished the soup, Sheldon took the bowl from her. He washed it before coming back and helping her walk to the bathroom. He brought her her bag so she could change before taking a nap. Amy got dressed in the pajamas and walked into Sheldon's room. He was sitting on his bed waiting for her to come back. When she did, he jumped up and pulled the blankets back for her. When she got into the bed, Sheldon pulled the blankets up all the way to her chin and then tucked her in. Then he placed a kiss to her forehead.
"Will you stay with me?" Amy asked. "Just for a minute?" She felt like a little kid, but being at that hospital today made her feel like a little kid again.
Sheldon looked unsure, but then he nodded. He walked to the other side and lay down on top of the covers. He wanted Amy to fall asleep, so he didn't want to talk to her. They just both lay there being quiet until Sheldon started humming. Then a moment later, he was singing Amy Soft Kitty.