It had been two months, three weeks and four days since anyone in Pasadena had seen Doctor Sheldon Cooper in person. He'd Skyped them all to say that he'd arrived safely in Galveston, but that was just a brief chat during their Friday night classic video game, and all he'd really said was that he would be staying with his Meemaw for a little while. He continued to text Amy every day for the first few weeks, but that dwindled to every other day, then once a week; until the contact stopped altogether.
Amy tried her best to be supportive of her boyfriend at first; she knew how overwhelmed he would be with everything that had happened over the past six months and finally he decided that it was all just too much to deal with and he had to get away for an 'emotional re-boot' as he liked to call it. She just hadn't thought that he would have stayed away for so long; the gang had tried their best to keep her spirits up but after a while she eventually started to withdraw from them too, feeling that without Sheldon at her side, she no longer fit in anywhere.
For the last month she had been incredibly busy at Caltech finishing off the latest of her addiction studies and preparing to submit the final results to the board. She'd started missing lunch dates with the guys and they fully understood her commitment and though nothing of it; they'd all had deadlines of their own to meet and just brushed it off as one of those things. Then she started to skip out on Monday night Thai, Tuesdays at The Cheesecake Factory and even Pizza night with the girls; the fact that she also missed Chinese on a Friday on the last four occasions hadn't registered because they all knew that Amy wasn't a big fan of playing video games in the first place. But eventually even Penny finally clued in on the fact that no one had seen Amy outside of her workplace for at least five weeks; the gal from Nebraska collared Bernadette outside the hallway one Wednesday evening and pulled her inside her apartment to have a little 'girl-time'. The guys had been travelling over to Comic Book Central on the other side of town for new comic night, and Bernadette had just dropped Howard off with Leonard.
"What's going on with Amy?" Penny demanded as Bernadette made herself comfortable on her aqua coloured couch.
"Sorry?" Bernadette looked up, puzzled at Penny's harsh tone. "I thought you and Leonard were looking after her while Sheldon's away? Isn't she your best friend?"
"Well, yeah…" Penny hung her head a little sheepishly as she admitted that she was probably not the world's greatest of best friends. "It's just that with all the excitement of getting engaged, it kinda only dawned on me tonight that Amy's skipped nearly five weeks of meeting up with any of us. Leonard said that he's only seen her briefly in the lab or passing down the corridor and she's always seemed to be in a big hurry; she hasn't had lunch with them for weeks."
"She turned down spending the weekend with us as well, we thought it might be nice to have Sunday lunch over with Debbie and Stuart; but she said she was too busy. I can't believe it's been five weeks though…"
"Believe it sister, I'm going over to Amy's now to find out what's going on in that busy little brain of hers. You coming along for the ride?" Penny grabbed her purse and waited for Bernadette to let Howard know where they were going.
"Howie, Penny and I are heading over to Amy's for a chat. I'm leaving you with the car, try not to make too much of a mess inside it this time, please?"
"Okay, jeez one little spilled drink and you'd think it was the end of the world." Howard muttered to Raj as Bernadette slipped past him to leave the apartment.
"It was a milkshake ya putz, and in case you didn't know – milk sours! It would've been fine if you had admitted it sooner, but no you just had to leave it a week to tell me…"
"Sorry ma…my Bernadette." Howard apologised again, nearly slipping up and calling Bernadette 'Ma', a habit he was trying to break – if only she didn't sound so freakishly like his Ma whenever she got angry…
"Come on, Bernie – let's leave the boys to their toys." Penny grabbed Bernie's arm and pulled her out of the apartment before World War III erupted. They hopped into Penny's car and drove over to Glendale to try and find out what Amy was up to.
The pounding on her front door woke Amy from the restless nap that she'd fallen into when she arrived home from the lab. She peered at the clock on the wall and saw that she'd been napping for nearly three hours and had managed to skip dinner again; making it the third time that week that she'd missed her evening meal. She wearily trudged to the front door and peered through her spy hole to see Penny and Bernadette waiting to be let in.
"Hey bestie, what brings you over to the dark side of town?" Amy asked tiredly as she pulled the door open to let her friend's enter her apartment.
"Well, if Mohammad won't come to the mountain…and all that. What's up, Ames? You don't look too good…" Penny kissed Amy's cheek as she walked through and frowned as she saw how pale and wrung out her friend was looking. Her skirt was a wrinkled mess and her normally tight fitting plaid blouse hung loosely on her almost skeletal looking frame.
"I've just been super busy trying to get the last of my reports finished and submitted on time; it was quite a push but it's over now thank goodness. I guess I'm just feeling a little run down, under the weather so to speak. President Siebert has granted me a week's absence before my new project is due to start so hopefully I can catch up on some lost sleep." Amy sank wearily down onto her beige couch and let her head flop back against the cushions.
"You look like you could do with catching up on some good square meals too," Bernadette said frankly as she checked over Amy's pallor, noting the dark shadows under her eyes and how her bones showed through her skin around her wrists.
"I've been so tired these last few weeks, that all I've wanted to do is hit my bed as soon as I've got in. The last couple of nights I've even fallen asleep on the couch…I just need a couple of days to get myself together and I'll be right as rain again." Amy murmured as she heard Bernadette rustling around in the kitchen, looking for something to tempt her with.
"Why don't you come over and spend a couple of nights at the apartment with Leonard and I? We've really missed you, Ames and Leonard was only saying the other night how much he enjoyed that chicken casserole you made last month."
"Yeah, all of us could do with a break from the takeout menu's. How long did it take you all to realise that Leonard has been keeping everything to Sheldon's exact schedule? I mean, four take out's a week is hardly a well-balanced diet; even if you do have a salad on the side." Bernadette called over from the kitchenette as she waited for the kettle to boil. "Tea or cocoa, Amy? What about you, Penny?"
"It's only June, so it's not going to be Cocoa…" Penny called out, referring to Sheldon's whimsical habit of only drinking cocoa in months containing an 'r'. Amy managed a brief smile, but Penny immediately felt guilty for bringing up a sensitive subject, and vowed to try and keep references to Sheldon out of their conversations.
"Chamomile, please." Amy requested and Bernadette soon carried a small tray over to set on Amy's small coffee table.
"Here you go, and I've added some honey as I know that's how you prefer it. There's a bagel there as well, I want to see you eat every bite or I'll call Howard's Mother and have her send you over some brisket." Bernadette handed Amy a mug of tea and threatened her with a fate worse than death…Mrs. Wolowitz's brisket had brought many a man to his knees and it was nothing to scoff at. Amy paled at the thought and took a careful sip of the warm tea.
"Urghhhh…" As soon as the tea hit her taste buds she felt an overwhelming wave of nausea hit the back of her throat and felt lightheaded.
"Bernie, grab the mug…I think we have a hurler on our hands!" Penny warned and Bernadette managed to grab the mug at the same time as Penny lunged forward to prevent Amy from toppling off the couch. She helped Amy rise to her feet and supported her weight as the other woman staggered into her small bathroom where she immediately proceeded to vomit profusely into the toilet bowl. Penny held Amy's hair back, and tried hard not to gag herself; she had always had a sympathetic gag reflex and know she knew exactly how Leonard felt all the times he'd done the same thing for her.
"Okay, get it all out of your system…" Penny averted her gaze as she gingerly rubbed Amy's back in small circles. "Bernie, gonna need a little help in here!" She yelled out through the open doorway as she began to feel a little lightheaded herself.
"Let me take a look. Go sit yourself down Penny, before I have two puking besties on my hands." Bernadette gently nudged Penny out of the way before she took a seat on the edge of the bathtub. She reached over to run a washcloth under the tap and placed it on the back of Amy's neck.
"Mmm…nice…not near the door…tell Penny." Amy murmured as she rested her head on the edge of the toilet bowl as Bernadette fastened her hair out of the way with a hair clip.
"What was that, honey?" Bernadette leant in a little closer, not able to make any sense out of Amy's ramblings.
"The couch, the spot nearest the door is Cuddle's spot."
"Okay. I get it now. Do you want to rinse your mouth out a little?" Bernadette offered Amy a cup of mouthwash, which she accepted gratefully.
"Think I'm just gonna sit here a little while…and take a little nap…" Amy sat on the floor with her back against the edge of the bath with her eyes closed tightly. "Just until the world stops spinning around…" Bernadette left Amy in the bathroom and walked quickly back into the living room, to see Penny perched on the arm of the couch talking to Leonard on the phone.
"Okay…I love you, too…see you in a while…"
"Don't hang up yet, Penny. Tell them we need them all over here pronto; and to bring separate cars. We need to take Amy to the Emergency room to get her checked out. I think I know what the matter is but I need them to confirm it for me." Bernadette reached over to stop Penny from disconnecting the call and from the sound of things, Leonard had heard every word and was telling the guys to pack away their books and get over to Glendale on the double. Penny hung up and turned to Bernadette.
"Bernie, you're scaring the living crap outta me. You've got to fill in the blanks a little for me here, no college degree remember?"
"You don't need a college degree to be able to work this one out. Do you remember Amy synching all of our phone calendars when she dubbed us the 'Three Menstruteers'?" Bernadette flipped open her phone to reveal the grumpy face icon, indicating her menstrual cycle was in full spin. Penny grimaced as she flipped her phone open to reveal the same icon.
"Yeah, so we finally synched up, what does that happen to do with anything?"
"No wrappers in the bin, and I know Sheldon made her take him over to that warehouse place and persuaded her to buy a whole ton of tampons. There's a huge pile next to the bathtub, but no wrappers."
"Holy crap on a cracker!" Penny exclaimed as she leapt up from the couch to pace around the small confines of the living room. "She suddenly hates the taste of honey in her tea…she's falling asleep on the couch…Oh My God! Sheldon finally manned up…we're gonna have a baby!"
"What!" Leonard let himself into the apartment just to hear Penny announce that they were going to be parent's and felt himself go a little wobbly.
"Steady there, physics boy. Not 'we' as in you and me; but 'we' as in all of us. Amy's pregnant." Penny caught Leonard just as he was about to topple over and reassured him that she was definitely not carrying a little Hofstadter inside her womb.
"Oh My God! A Shamy baby!" Raj squealed as he clapped his hands together in delight, his excitement dwindled as he realised that Amy was nowhere to be seen. "Where's the baby mama now?"
"She's resting in the bathroom after spending the last ten minutes puking her guts up. Now, where's Howie? There's a lot to do, and I want to get Amy checked out as soon as possible."
"Here I am my little cupcake, now where's the fire?" Howard strolled into the apartment and saw everyone standing around with a combination of worry (Bernadette), shock (Leonard), surprise and delight (Raj) and back to worry again with Penny.
"No fire, Howie just a very sick little Amy. Now, I want you and Raj to begin packing everything up and start loading the cars. Penny, I want you to pack an overnight bag for Amy and help me get her on her feet. Leonard, you are going to call Mary Cooper and see if she knows what hole Sheldon is currently hiding himself in. Don't tell her why you're asking, say that it's just university business or some such crap. Well, what are you all waiting for? Let's move, people!" Bernadette glared at everyone until they were all rushing around, preparing to bend to her will. Leonard headed out into the hallway to make the call to Mary as everyone else started to pack up the apartment.
"Hey, Mrs. Cooper. It's Leonard here, I was..uh, just wondering whether you knew how I could get hold of Sheldon these days?"
"I'm sorry sugar, but I really don't have a clue. We haven't seen him in almost a month, he spent a few weeks staying over at his Meemaw's and then just up and left in the middle of the night. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, just some stuff that I need to speak to him about…" Leonard said carefully, but something in his voice told Mary that he wasn't telling her the whole truth.
"Don't lie to me, Leonard. I've raised three children of my own, so I can tell when someone's not being straight with me. Now, I'll ask you again, what's going on?"
"Amy's sick…and we just thought Sheldon ought to know…even though he probably doesn't give a damn considering how he hasn't had any contact with her in the last month or so."
"Language, Leonard."
"Sorry, Mrs. Cooper. We're just real worried about her and thought Sheldon should hear it from us, rather than someone else. You really don't have any idea where he might have headed?"
"Sorry sugar, I don't. It nearly broke his poor Meemaw's heart when he snuck out like a thief in the night, so I can only imagine how poor Amy must be feeling. Can you tell me what exactly is wrong with the poor girl?"
"Not for sure, we're waiting for some test results to come back. Listen, if you see or hear anything from Sheldon will you let me know?" Leonard was desperate to get off the phone, certain that Mary Cooper was just as smart as her son when it came to manipulating people into revealing hidden information.
"That I will, Leonard. Give Amy my love and tell her Mother I said hello."
"Amy's Mother moved to Europe last year, but I'm sure she'd appreciate the sentiment."
"The poor dear! Have you called her to let her know what's going on?"
"No, Amy and her Mother aren't very close and haven't been for some time. They exchange letters occasionally but I don't think they've actually spoken for some time now, I know Amy was pretty upset when her Mother forgot her birthday."
"Oh, I see. Well you keep me informed when you can, and I'll do the same. Speak to you soon, Leonard."
"Yeah, goodbye Mrs. Cooper." Leonard disconnected the call and slipped the phone back into his pocket as he saw Penny helping Amy through the apartment. He immediately saw that Amy was even frailer than he had previously thought and ran over to lend a hand by wrapping his arm securely around Amy's waist to take her body weight.
"We'd better take my car so that she can stretch out along the backseat. Ready, Bernie?" Leonard asked as he gently steered Amy out of the apartment and toward the elevator; closely followed by Penny and Bernadette.
"Did you manage to make that call?" Penny whispered as Bernadette helped Amy to get comfortable in the back seat of Leonard's car.
"Yeah, she's got no idea; apparently he left Texas more than a month ago. They've not heard a thing from him either." Leonard whispered back as he checked his mirrors before pulling out into the late evening traffic. Penny hid her concern as she looked over her shoulder at the sight of Amy stretched out across Bernadette's lap; she shook her head at Bernadette's raised eyebrows and heard a gentle sigh coming from the deceptively delicate looking woman, as she gently stroked the hair away from Amy's brow. Amy remained silent for the whole journey, and left the checking in process entirely up to Bernadette when they reached the Emergency Room. It was only when she started suddenly vomiting again without warning that the attending physician moved her up in the triage line and whipped her straight into a cubicle for examination.