I know, I know. I already have another story up here. I just couldn't let this one go. I've run into a writer's block with the other one but have already started with this one altogether. I have it all planned out and everything, I promise. Please don't be mad at me! I promise you, the next chapter will earn it's "M" rating.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Penny."
Knock, knock, knock.
"Penny."
Knock, knock, knock.
"Penny."
Normally, there would have been an answer to the rapping upon the door. Normally, there wouldn't have been a need for it. Normally, the person knocking would have just grabbed their spare key and just waltzed inside at a whim.
Today was anything but normal.
Heaving a sigh, Sheldon decided Penny was either not home, hungover and still sleeping or was mad at him (for the life of him, he couldn't come up with a conceivable reason as to why). Pondering for a mere moment, it was decided upon that he would venture back on over at a later time. That was, until, he had heard a groan coming from inside his neighbor's apartment. The groan had caused a red flag to go up and a mental alarm to go off.
Wasting no time, Sheldon raced back towards his apartment and snagged the key that lead directly into Penny's. There was almost no fight with the door knob and he found it rather annoying that, onc again, she hadn't listened to his advice. Unfortunately, for him, that thought was lost upon hearing yet another groan. Deep down, he knew there were numerous reasons as to why she could be groaning and hoped that he wouldn't walk in on something that he did not wish to see.
Upon entry, he followed the source of the groaning with his eyes and immediately located the heap of woman upon her kitchen floor. He thought it odd but pushed that thought aside. He wasn't about to let the 'damsel in distress' remain in anymore distress than possible.
"Penny?" He called. He could see her but wasn't getting an answer. "Penny." Trying a second time usually got a reaction from her, but there was nothing. Taking her lack of response as something to worry about (after all, he wasn't the best person in an emergency that didn't involve him), he called an ambulance and explained everything to the best of his knowledge. During this phone call, he made his way over to Penny and looked for signs of life only to discover that she was lying in her own pool of blood.
The person on the other end of the phone said that they'd be there within 20 minutes and for him to stay with her so that she wouldn't slip away. Informing them that he would be there when they arrived, he hung up and test his three other friends a text message that he'd be in the hospital with Penny.
"Sh-Sheldon?"
Blue eyes met a faded green as he looked at her. With a grace neither of them knew he had, he knelt down on both of his knees and gently moved her so that she had her head in his lap. "They told me not to move you; however, you look more comfortable like this. Do not close your eyes unless you are intending to blink."
"Wha-?" Penny's eyes were unusually heavy. She hadn't been able to recall the last time she moved. All she knew was that her head was spinning and she just wanted to close her eyes and go to sleep. Since that sounded like the best idea, she turned her head to get slightly more comfortable and started drifting off to sleep.
Seeing this, Sheldon gently shook her. He was elated to see her eyes open back up and look rather annoyed at him. "I'm just gonna nap, Sheldon." Her eyes drifted back down again and her body fell limp against his lap.
Shake, shake, shake.
"Penny."
Shake, shake, shake.
"Penny."
Shake, shake, shake!
"Penny!"
He was getting no response but wasn't giving up. It would be a cold day in hell before he would allow her to slip right through his fingers. This was his best friend in the entire world and he wasn't going to just let her go. Besides, if he was truly honest with himself he knew that she was more than just his best friend. Perhaps that's what put him into a state of shock. Penny was slipping away and he hadn't been able to do a thing about it. Worst of all, he wasn't honest with her (his Meemaw was always telling him that he should be honest with those that he truly cared about).
All in slow motion, the ambulance had arrived as well as EMTs. One by one, they filed into Penny's apartment and placed her on a stretcher. They cursed about not having a working elevator, "She'll be lucky if she makes it with as slow as we gotta go down these four flights of steps. Who the hell doesn't make sure that the elevator works?" That statement was another stab to his already guilty heart. "If she dies, it'll be a majority of my fault. As well as Leonard's." After all, he and Leonard had built those bombs and placed them in the elevator shaft that one day.
"Are you her boyfriend?" Another EMT questioned. By the look on Sheldon's face the EMT had assumed so, "Sir, if you'll please follow me to the ambulance. You may ride with the girl. I can't promise she'll make it, but I can promise that if she doesn't, you'll be the last person she sees." At Sheldon's nod, the two traveled down the four flights in silence. Sheldon's mind going over every little detail that had happened in the past four years that Penny had lived across from him.
The ride to the hospital had been rather silent. At least, it was for him. He was positive that the EMT's were doing their job to the best of their extent, but Penny wasn't responding. Something had happened to her and he wasn't there to protect her. It bothered him to no end because he could usually hear anything and everything that was happening in her apartment and with her. Was it a robbery? Did she fall and hit hurt herself like she did in the shower? There were far too many possibilities for him to consider. By the time he had gotten done listing everything, the ambulance had arrived at the hospital. Sheldon was told to wait for a doctor in the waiting room as he watched them roll Penny into the emergency room.
Since pacing back and forth didn't seem to be much of an option (he didn't want to venture too far lest the doctor pass him by), he found the most optimal spot that was closest to the door to the emergency room and waited. Mentally, he was willing any doctor to come out and tell him that Penny would be okay and would be going home that night. Realistically, he knew that wasn't going to be happening to night. Tomorrow was, however, always an option.
Soon, the rest of his friend had arrived. They hadn't had a chance to say anythinh since a doctor was approaching Sheldon with his eyes cast downward, "Are you Dr. Sheldon Cooper?"
"Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper, PhD. Yes, I am."
"I'm afraid I have some terrible news for you."
Sheldon braced himself for what was surely to come. He had been unable to save Penny. He had failed to save the 'damsel in distress' and began to think that maybe he was The Joker after all. That thought didn't sit right with him and he mentally shook his head so as to clear his thoughts for a little while.
Leonard, on the other hand, was quick to jump in. "Wait, what happened? What news? Penny's dead?" His glasses had fallen a little onto the base of his nose and so he hurriedly pushed them back up to where they needed to be and continued to look between Sheldon and the doctor. He noticed that Sheldon had a very guilty look set upon his face and that the doctor looked like he wanted to say that his ex was no longer in this world. Being in this situation was all too new to him and he had no idea how to react or what to do.
"Well, are either of you family members?"
Sheldon, of course, was the first to speak. "No, we're her neighbors." He gestured to himself and Leonard, "The other two are just close friends of ours as well as hers." He paused before continuing, his mind clearly wandering (which was weird because he had always been able to focus well upon any one subject). "I was the one who found her and reported the entire incident."
"I read that in the report." The doctor looked towards Leonard and the other two, "Since Mr. Cooper-"
"Dr. Cooper."
"Doctor Cooper brought her in, I only need to speak with him." The three nodded and decided to go locate the cafeteria leaving Sheldon alone with Penny's doctor, "I'm afraid she lost a substantial amount of blood. It's a miracle that she's even alive. You found her just in the nick of time." Upon Sheldon's brightened expression, the doctor added, "However, she's not responding verbally. We're running tests to see if she's aware of anybody's presence. I'm afraid it would seem that she has slipped into a coma."
That did it. Doctor Sheldon Lee Cooper, PhD had finally cracked. Everything in his world had gone black as soon as he was told all of the information. The last thing he saw was the lights on the ceiling as he fell backwards.
Hours later -
"Dude, you'd think something like this would wake him up. I mean, it is his laundry night." Koothrappali commented as he looked at the time, "I mean, he blows up about anything if we're not on schedule. I'm pretty sure being in a hospital isn't part of his daily routine."
"Yeah, but isn't it weird that they put him in the room next to Penny's?" Wolowitz replied with a mouth full of food, "Speaking of which, have you heard anything about her?"
"Leonard's out there talking to her nurse." A slight pause, "Hey! What happened to my doughnut, dude?"
A slight groan of pain (surely, it was a headache), Sheldon opened his eyes. "Where am I? What happened? Where is Penny?"
Koothrappali shot Wolowitz a grin, "You owe me $20." He chuckled before turning his complete attention to Sheldon, "She's in ICU right now. You fainted when you found out everything, dude. It was really weird."
"What are you not telling me?" Blue eyes narrowed at the two people that were looking at him as if he were an alien. Surely it wasn't that weird for him to be asking about a friend, was it?
"Leonard's out talking to Penny's hot nurse. He should be back soon and be able to tell us whatever he found out. Although, they did explain why they wanted to tell you everything and not Leonard." Wolowitz grinned, "You sly dog. Why didn't you tell us that you were dating Penny?"
"I am doing no such thing. The EMT mistakenly took me for her boyfriend and I did not argue with her otherwise I would not have been able to ensure her safety in that ambulance ride up here. Nor would we have been told anything about her condition. Family is always the first to know. As you well know, she has no family here. The closest thing she has to family is, sadly, the four of us." Sheldon explained as he sat up on his hospital bed, "Has no one come to check on me?"
Nobody answered his rant or questions as Leonard walked into the room, "Well, I know what happened." He sighed, "Apparently she was raped earlier in the day and then got fell and hit her head. She also has a large gash on her head as well as about 10 others all over her body. She's in a coma, you guys."
"I'm going to go see her."
"Sheldon, you can't go in there! They wouldn't even let me in to see her."
"They are the idiots who think that her and I are dating. They will let me in, Leonard. In the event that they come looking for me, tell them where I am. I will deal with them as they show." His eyes narrowed, "Got it?" He exited and went looking for Penny's hospital room.
"Dude, I don't think he's going to be the same until she wakes up."
"Raj, he's never going to be the same. His schedule just got ruined. He's changed so much since Penny came into all of our lives and she was his actual best friend. He cares about her. He'll never admit it and I don't even think he's aware of it. You know he won't leave until she wakes up or they pull the plug." Leonard sighed slightly. He was hoping to have another chance at Penny's heart but knew that he had a better chance of being a snowball in hell.
In Penny's Room -
Sheldon watched as her chest rose and fell in a steady rate. He told himself that Penny was only sleeping, that she'd wake at any time. That she'd be get up and get mad at him for staring at her as she slept. The only thing that reminded him that she wasn't just sleeping was her lack of snoring. Truthfully, it scared the hell out of him. Cautiously, he made his way over to Penny's side and checked all her vitals. Deep down, he knew the doctor's had done their jobs but just wanted to check it for his own sanity's sake.
"Penny, this is no longer funny. I know that you are awake and are just toying with me. I do not wish to be punched in the throat again for waking you; however, I will wake you and deal with it if that's what this is going to come down to." His eyes searched her face, as if he'd heard her and was going to reply. Much to his chagrin, there was nothing. She was still breathing steadily and the machine was still monitoring her heart rate. It was a small comfort that he had allowed himself, but not something he wanted to continually hear.
"Doctor Cooper?"
Sheldon turned and saw the nurse (Miss Social) and nodded to her. "I'm sorry, but we have to ask you to leave. It's closing time. You can come back in tomorrow morning if you'd like. We'll give you a call about any updates in her status. I'm sorry that you're suffering this way, sir." The young nurse smiled lightly at Sheldon, who didn't seem to notice. He just nodded at her and then looked back to Penny. Slowly, he bent down and kissed her on the forehead, before whispering to her, "I will be back tomorrow. After 11 am. I know how you sleep. See to it that you're awake." He straightened up and held his head up high and exited the room. He saw Leonard waiting for him and allowed himself to feel better about the fact that he didn't have to take a bus home or (God forbid) call a taxi.
"C'mon, Sheldon. Don't worry about-"
"I am not worried. I am merely concerned with how this staff is handling the situation. I need to get home, my REM cycle will be interrupted tonight."
Leonard sighed. There was no getting through to Sheldon once his mind was set on anything. At some point, he'd have to understand that he didn't have control over everything. Shaking his head, Leonard headed towards his car and knew that Sheldon was following him.
The ride home was rather quiet as well as the ascent up the stairs. As soon as they reached their apartment, Sheldon snagged Penny's apartment key out of their bowl and set about to clean her apartment to his standards. He figured he wasn't going to be able to sleep tonight and cleaning always put him at ease with everything. Heeding his own schedule, he grabbed all her clothes and placed them within her laundry basket. After the basket was filled, he made his way to his apartment and snagged his clothes. With two baskets in hand, he went on his way to the laundry room. After all, as Koothrappali had pointed out - It was his laundry night.
