Amy fainted.
She came to a few moments later to find herself neatly and decorously arranged on her bed, a light throw covering her. She heard rustling coming from the other room. Sheldon, she thought, probably preparing a hot beverage. She closed her eyes. How on Earth do I respond to that? She had a sudden appreciation for Victorian women, whose fainting spells were the stuff of legend – perhaps, it occurred to her, not entirely in response to overly tightly laced corsets, but as a logical delaying action when confronted with something so irrational as to defy description. And, certainly, the sight of Sheldon, in New Jersey, in the hallway outside her door, on one knee, holding out a diamond ring, and saying "Will you marry me" defied all rationality.
What on Earth was she going to say? Why, suddenly, out of the blue, had he done this? It was clear that he, who hated airplanes, had flown cross country. It was clear that the unimpulsive and quite tightly wound Sheldon had experienced something so overwhelming that he had overridden all his inhibitions and, literally, flown to her side.
It was all very astonishing.
What the Hell was she going to say? She wanted to marry him, but she also wanted to be absolutely certain that he was in his right mind first.
She heard him enter the room, a faint aroma of mint and chamomile preceding him. There was no help for it, she had to respond.
She stirred, feigning grogginess. "What happened? What are you doing here?" She had decided what to say, hoping there was sufficient of the rational Sheldon available to appreciate it.
He put the tea on her night table and proceeded to assist her in sitting up, adjusting her pillows to support her back. He looked … concerned.
"You've never done that before."
"No, I haven't. It's quite … interesting." She picked up her tea and took a sip. "Thank you for the tea."
He hesitated a moment, then said "You're welcome."?
She feigned a sip and looked at him covertly, through her eyelashes. He was acting entirely out of character: flying from L.A, proposing, not offering lengthy explanations about the proper way to prepare tea or the merits of the tea he had prepared. It was disturbing.
"Sheldon, what are you doing here?"
"I'm here to ask you to marry me. Remember? Just before you fainted? By the way, why did you faint? It's unlike you."
"And flying cross country, apparently on impulse, for the express purpose of proposing, is unlike you. Before I give you an answer, I need to know why you acted so uncharacteristically."
"Why?"
"Because I want to be sure you mean it and aren't acting under some sort of influence."
He looked at her intently for a moment, then said, "That seems a reasonable request." He paused, gathering his thoughts, and began. "It all started with Dr. Nowitzki."
Amy cocked an eyebrow at him. "Really? Go on."
"Yes. Penny told me that she had a 'romantic interest' in me. I, of course, dismissed that as being entirely impossible. After all, I'm in a relationship with you, making me unavailable to other women – which, I had thought, Dr. Nowitzki understood. Apparently, against all logic, she did not."
Amy continued to look at him.
He blushed: not the most becoming look for him. "She came to my office this morning. And she … umm, she acted inappropriately."
She continued her steady gaze.
"She … ah, kissed me. On the mouth. For nearly a minute." He looked profoundly disturbed as he remembered the incident.
Amy was starting to enjoy his discomfort, just a little. "And what did you do?"
"I excused myself and came directly here."
"So, as far as you know, she could still be in your office waiting for you."
"I hadn't thought of that." He reached for his phone and stopped. "She's an intelligent, if illogical woman, I doubt she stayed after she realized I wasn't coming back."
Amy nodded. "Ok, Sheldon. I have the answer to your previous request."
He looked at her expectantly.
"A conditional yes."
"Conditional?"
"Yes, conditional." She went on "For six months we tell no one. We continue as we are. I'll wear the ring on a chain around my neck. This should be long enough to determine whether her actions frightened you into action or confirmed a course of action you were already contemplating. If, at any time in that six months, you rethink this, we'll discuss it and decide our next move. If, however, you remain committed to this, we'll announce our engagement and, tentatively, set a date."
He appeared to be pondering this statement. He pondered for some time before finally saying, "I don't consider it logical to delay a course of action, once decided, any longer than necessary. I think we should marry before I return to California."
"Consider, Sheldon, how everyone responded when Penny and Leonard went to Las Vegas. Her family was disappointed, as was his family. I believe, for the sake of family and friends, that we should wait until we can have an actual wedding, with both our families and our friends present. How, for instance, would your mother react to an elopement? And your Meemaw – what would she think?"
"I hadn't thought of that… ," He brightened, "Very well, we wait, but not six months. Three months – in August we'll announce our engagement. We can have the wedding between Thanksgiving and Christmas." He got up and began pacing. "That will give you time to do whatever you brides do to plan weddings and the like. It should be just before Christmas break, we could go to Texas for our honeymoon …" He muttered on to himself. Amy rolled her eyes and allowed him to pace and natter for a good three minutes before interrupting.
"Sheldon." He went on, as if he hadn't heard. "SHELDON!" He stopped, shocked at her shout. "I'll accept that three months will probably a decent length of time to determine the validity of your impulse. I'll even accept a Christmas wedding, though that would rush things, especially given that everyone will also be planning seasonal celebrations and festivities," she tried to hide a smile, a Christmas wedding suited her quite well – red, green, white, and silver were colors she liked and the thought of Christmas decorations as a background to her nuptials was far more pleasing to her than the usual pastel palette offered by Spring. "But I absolutely require a say in where we honeymoon – I would like to go someplace neither of us has gone." She stopped and waited, looking at him expectantly.
"But…but," he looked perplexed, "my mother, Meemaw…"
"Sheldon, we'll have the wedding night in our apartment. We could then fly to a mutually agreed upon venue for our honeymoon. We can return home via Texas and stay there a couple of days. Now, it's late, you've had a very long day, as have I. We should get some sleep." She put the teacup on the nightstand and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. "When had you planned on returning to California?"
"As soon as we had completed our nuptials." He looked abashed. "Things haven't turned out exactly as I had hoped, have they." He continued. "I didn't really think of much, I suppose, except that I needed to see you. I didn't pack anything. I don't have my pajamas. I don't even have a change of clothes: or my toothbrush and toothpaste." He was starting to panic. "This is illogical, I am not an impulsive person." He glared at her. "It's all your doing, you seductive minx. Thanks to you I have lost my capacity for rational action."
"It's a temporary lapse, Sheldon, caused by a chemical imbalance. Once your normal brain chemistry reasserts itself, your rational self will prevail." She walked toward the bedroom door, "Now, we have to consider what to do until you return to California. First, I did bring an extra toothbrush so that isn't an issue; you can use my toothpaste." He started to object; she waved him off. "We've had intimate physical contact, Sheldon, a shared tube of toothpaste should not be an issue." She shook her head. "As to clothing: tomorrow I'll pick up socks and a change of underwear for you, then we can go shopping for outerwear." She continued plotting out activities for the next day as he stared at her.
She stopped and regarded him. "Once we've purchased your return ticket to LA, we should call Leonard and arrange for someone to pick you up. There's no sense in paying for another cab. Now, let's get ready for bed. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day."