I seriously cannot believe the response this story has gotten. Thank you all soooo much. And thank you to hokie3457, barmadude, SRAM and tonstar17 for reviewing since the third chapter was put up and thank you all for your very kind words. Love you all!

"Dan?" When I came into work the Monday was to go and talk to my boss. So I knocked on the door and then opened the door slightly. "Can I come in?" He nodded from behind his desk and pulled his reading glasses of. "I guess… Well, how much did Bernadette told you about what happened on Friday?" I sat down in the chair opposite side of the desk from him and fought to talk without letting those blisters make me lisp or anything.

"She told me enough." He leaned forward and put his elbows on the desk while looking to me. "How are you feeling?" His eyes had a distressed look in them and something I didn't quite recognize… hold on! Was he worried about me? Crap Penny! Why did you have to get yourself into this? You've even worried your freaking boss!

"I'm okay." I said, and tried to nod to show him. "Ow! "I had moaned and my hand shot up towards my neck before I had the time to stop myself. "Okay, still a bit stiff and such but… that's understandable I guess. And, for your information, I'm not drunk. I just sound like it" Dan nodded slowly and didn't seem so sure about what to say. "...I guess the worst part is everybody worrying about me." Dan finally smiled and leaned back in a more relaxed move- finally! "But…" And here was the distressed Dan back! "… I'm not going to be able to… well, drive and… make commercial or sell for a while. I can't drive for another six months after the surgery and those happened February the twenty seventh so if nothing turns up then I could probably drive again… August the twenty seventh." He nodded and I sighed. "I just thought I'd let you know in case…"

"Hmm… We should be able to work that out in some way." He took his glasses on again, riffled in some papers and then looked back at me. "Don't worry… What did you think I would do? Fire you for not being able to drive?" I just shrugged- something like that! "Because if I did that- which I won't. I would be in more trouble than you and would be thrown out of here head first… So don't worry. Was that all you wanted?" I nodded. "Okay Penny. Then, don't be afraid to ask for help or anything if you need it." I nodded. "And…" He sighed when his phone rang and one more time when he checked who it was and answered it. "Daniel Whitley, the answer is still no. Please stop calling me, have a good day." He hung up just as I was on my way out of his office but when I suddenly remembered something I came to a sudden halt.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." I answered. "I just realized something. I'm pretty sure you don't want to hear it." Something glittered in his eyes- and yes, he was the sneakiest person I had ever met! "Before I went to the hospital I was wearing a pyjamas in form of grey shorts and a grey shirt with Mickey Mouse on. I never got into that ugly hospital gown and was still wearing that pyjamas when leaving about twenty four hours after coming there. Which means, during my twenty four hour long hospital stay, I was wearing the same clothes- in the hospital! In stomach flu season! Disgusting!"

Dan just raised an eyebrow. He seemed very amused by what I had just told him- and I couldn't believe I had just told him. I was so embarrassed! And so, I could see him biting his lip and his shoulders trembling. Oh well, at least that would mean he wasn't worried about everything around me and that part was good. So I just left the room and when closing it I could hear the muffled sound of his laughing and well… After all… Some people would just do anything to keep their bosses happy and I guess that I would have to give them a few tips then!

Most of the coming week I was either at work wondering if that letter about the time for x- ray had arrived, checking the mail to see if it had come, or on my couch, grumpy with my arms over my chest about that it hadn't been coming today neither and I just wanted to get this over with- like now! But was disappointed every single day. Until at last at Friday exactly a week after those seizures when I tiredly walked up all of the stairs to my flat and found a thick envelope that had something more than just the letter in it on my door matt.

I opened the envelope and poured out a small flask from it. It was filled with some sort of clear fluid and I pulled out the letter and read through it. I had time to come to the hospital for x ray at Wednesday at nine A.M. I was supposed to blend out the fluid- contrast, with three liters of water and drink it little by little during two hours before the x-ray. Hold on… three liters of water?

I eyed through it one more time, yep! Three liters. Yay me!

"Three liters of water" I complained to Bernadette when she came over a few hours later. "Three liters!" I sighed and tried not to care about the very good wine bottles that stood around my flat but that I couldn't drink in risk of having another seizure. "And I have to drink that sip by sip for two hours before nine. Which means I have to get up somewhere around seven." I sighed. "I hate my life!"

"You can't hate your life for this." I sighed and lifted my head from the kitchen bench after hitting my head lightly towards it when Bernadette started to talk in her squeaky voice. "You know, there are loads of people fighting worse battles than you are." I just glared back at her- couldn't that Polish girl be just a very annoying Polish girl from time to time. "I mean… loads of them haven't got three liters of water. Or any water at all so you know we are quite lucky."

I moaned and hit my palm down towards the bench. "If you're gonna be like that you can leave." I mumbled and closed my eyes. "Of course I know there are people fighting a lot worse battles than what I am but saying that I can't complain because people are fighting worse battles than I is like saying I can't be happy because there's always someone that is having a lot more to be happy than me." I sighed. "And right now I do hate my life."

"You'll see." Bernadette continued but a bit more careful this time. "I'm sure it will get better." I sighed. I wasn't so sure what I had wanted or needed her to say, but it was for sure not what she actually had said and I mostly felt like showing her to the door. But fact remained that she was my best friend and doing that would make me no better than her stating that I shouldn't complain about having to get up to drink flipping three liters of water. "Okay, those were stupid things to say but… sometimes it's hard to know what to say to comfort sometimes."

I nodded. I understood her, and actually. I was having quite some trouble with knowing what to feel and think the next few days as well. It felt as if I should have been out of my mind with fear of finally getting to know what this lump was, but still it was like whatever thing in my brain who controlled the feelings wouldn't let me feel afraid. And I was going mad in confusion. At the same time I heard from yet one person yet the other on how it would taste with the contrast and how I would feel. So at last I decided I needed something else and went on Facebook to ask most of my friends' stab what they thought.

In a few days I will have to drink three liters of something that I've heard doesn't taste good at all. I'm going to buy some sort of candy to bring with me and get away the taste with. What sort of candy do you think would work?

I kept it like that, that way I wouldn't have to explain to half of my stab of friends why I had to drink contrast and at the same time at least there would be some chance of me getting some tips. Even though I had as good as already decided on twizzlers and Hershey's peanut butter cups. One hour later I checked again, and people had sent in their tips, both good and bad ones.

Candy canes?

Don't eat or drink what doesn't taste good

Don't eat or drink what doesn't taste good

Gum?

Don't eat or drink what doesn't taste good, but if you have to a few bags of crisps should do it

Sour cabbage? ¨

Hold on, sour cabbage? Oh yes, someone had said sour cabbage. I didn't like candy canes, or anything that tasted like mint. Which was probably not the best thing right now since mint had a way with taking over the taste no matter what you had been eating or drinking. Gum, well, that wasn't a too bad idea. And I thanked each and every one of the people that had given their ideas. Told them what I was planning, and told those others that I didn't have a choice on whether I would drink it or not.

"You start drinking at about two hours before you have a time at the hospital…" I read out loud just after getting out of bed the next day. I had bought a bag of nonstop, a bag of sour patch kids and a bag of strawberry gum. I also had turned the alarm on just in time to start drinking, and was just reading through the letter one more time to see if I had everything right. "Blend the contrast with one liter of wat… wait? One?" I breathed out when I read through the letter both one and three times- it said one liter. Where on earth did I get three from?

So, I picked up a one liter coke bottle from my deposit and poured up water in it. And there came the next problem…

"Leonard." I went over to Leonard and Sheldon's apartment and held up the small glass bottle. "This is what I need to blend into water and drink- oh and by the way, I read it wrong. I should blend it into one liter of water, not three. But I can't drink it at all right now because I can't get the bottle open. Can you help me?" Leonard put his breakfast down and came over to help me. But stopped halfway here looking me up and down.

"So that's where that pyjamas went" He said, his voice full of suppressed laugh and I looked down on the tartan- printed grey, green and blue pyjamas I was wearing. "Oh well, I don't mind. Now to see if we can get this little thing up. " He took the bottle and started using his fingernails. But didn't get any other result than what I had gotten before.

Leonard then handed the bottle to Sheldon. "Do you think you could find a way to get this little thing open without smashing it?"

"Leonard, Penny. I am a Theoretical Physicist. I have an IQ of 187. I think I can get a simple glass bottle up." Sheldon took the bottle into his hands and twisted it slowly in front of his eyes. Then he looked up at us and just handed the bottle back to Leonard. "That was not funny." He left to go into his room and left us continuing worrying about how on earth we were going to get that stupid bottle up.

"I have an idea." Leonard suddenly said and I crossed my fingers that it would work while he pulled up a knife from a kitchen drawer and with a bit of work he managed to get it in between the glass bottle and the cork so he could bend it off. "Now." I thanked him and poured whatever fluid into the water with just water and took a sip. "How does it taste." I took a few nonstop candies. "That bad?"

"It actually doesn't taste too much at all."

That was not the same thing I said almost two hours later sitting in the waiting room. Stupidly enough I hadn't thought about the fact that most of the contrast would end up in the bottom of the bottle and with that it just tasted worse and worse while I didn't have any candy to cover it up with.

"Disgusting." I grimaced. "But that's the last sip." Just as I had said that I heard someone call my name. "Okay, that's me." The nurse stood in the door in the inner wall in the waiting room. "Are you coming Leonard?"

"I'll be waiting right here." Leonard told me, I wanted to tell him to come but heck, I was a big girl who could go into the doctor's office by myself. And with that I sighed and followed the nurse into the x- ray room.

Mostly a filler, but it had to be done to get on with the rest.

Random fact

I seriously find what Bernadette told Penny about not complaining extremely annoying. But it somehow feels in character for her to try and well… comfort Penny with reminding her of that there is always someone going through something worse.