A/N: The feedback for this story is blowing me away. Not just because I wrote it and I'm excited that you guys like it but because I lived it. I'm not going to take you on the four month long journey that I have been through but these next few chapters, Penny's recovery, are going to be crucial. Thanks for sticking with me!

SPOV

I made my way back into her hospital room and surveyed my surroundings. Penny was asleep in that horrid hospital bed, her legs attached to wires that held weights firmly in place to keep her breaks from shifting. I hoped they were gentle when they moved her, mindful of the bumps along the way.

The couch next to the window had been pulled out to make a bed with two pillows and several blankets placed for my comfort as well. The room was dark, the only lights coming from the TV she must have turned on and the LED numbers from the IV pumps. I read the labels on everything. Nothing was being administered regularly for pain.

The chair next to the bed called to me and I pulled it closer to her and sat down taking in her appearance. Her makeup was smeared, the gash on her head was swollen forming a rather large hematoma, and a small cut on her lip shattered the delicate look of her face. Her arms were uncovered and her right forearm was covered in dried blood. A deep blue hue formed on her skin just above her wrist. Her left arm looked far better and I wondered why they didn't bother to clean her up before sending her up here. Don't they know that it's not hygienic?

My mind made up, I stood and grabbed a large yellow pail in the room that I assume they used to give the occupants sponge baths and set out to do just that. Hopefully I wouldn't wake her. The bathroom light clicked on and I worked to perfect the temperature of the water so it would neither burn nor freeze her on contact. The only soap I could choose from was the standard hospital sanitizer which smelled ghastly but it would have to do. I will need to ask that some of her things be brought here in the next few days to make her stay more comfortable.

Armed with the pail and washcloths, I sat them on the tray next to her bed and dunked one of the white terry cloth sheets in the water and wrung out the excess. I dabbed the cloth around the cut on her lip, barely touching her but cleaning the wound the best I could. My attention made its way up to her forehead and, with even more caution, cleaned that area. When I was finished the only red was where the site of the laceration and nowhere else. Next, I moved her arm over so the majority of the stains were facing up.

I felt a pain in my chest at the blood I could see. I couldn't stop myself from running my fingers over her clear skin and wishing I could take this away from her. If only I could turn the earth backwards and stop her from leaving. I would have seen then, what I see now, that my charade is not worth the effort it takes to put it on.

I dunked the washcloth again and began tending to her arm, having to scrub her skin with a little more force than needed on her face to clean this area. She whimpered a few times and I was worried she was stirring. Once she was wiped clean I dried her off with another washcloth and disposed of the dilute red, soapy, water. When I walked back out of the bathroom her eyes were on me, clouded with confusion.

"You're here." She whispered. I reclaimed the chair and nodded to her.

"You asked me not to leave. I told you I would stay. You can always trust my word, Penny. If you want me here I will be here." I patted the side of the bed for emphasis but I'm not sure why. The moment seemed awkward and my ability to push people away did not prepare me for how to handle such awkwardness. I looked at her and she was crying again. I was immediately alarmed. "Are you in any pain?" I was ready to jump from my chair and track down the first nurse I saw if I needed to.

"No," She closed her eyes and swiped at her face. "I mean yes, but I can tolerate it. I'm… I can't believe this happened. And I can't believe you have been here for me." Pushing buttons on her bed she raised herself so she could speak to me properly. However, it also gave her a better look at her legs and a small scream escaped her lips. "Oh my god, Sheldon its real. This happened! What am I going to do?" She buried her face in her hands and sobbed. Oh I had hoped this wouldn't happen tonight.

I stood and sat down gently next to her on the bed and wrapped one arm around her shoulder and my other hand held her head to my chest as I stroked her matted hair.

"Penny, you will get through this. You are strong. Tomorrow they will rebuild you; they will make you stronger…" I drifted off. "Maybe not faster but that will come in time." I joked. She pulled away from me and blanched at my reference.

"Please do not quote the six million dollar man to me right now." She chuckled a bit. I was surprised she got that. "When am I having surgery? I do not remember them telling me anything about it other than what they would be doing. It's all such a blur."

"Well, the hospital staff clearly needs to be re-advised on their HIPA policies but they seemed to think that I was 'family' as the nurse called me. She told me everything they were doing and what was happening. Normally I would go into detail but you need your rest so I will be brief. They did not schedule an exact time but they expected you to go in first thing in the morning. By hospital standards that is usually between 6-8 AM. Please try not to punch anyone in the throat; they will need their larynx to operate on you." She smirked. "They will take you to pre-op and get you ready and then take you to surgery. They expect it to last approximately four to five hours."

"Will you be there?"

"No, I am not permitted to watch the surgery nor will I be allowed in post-op. However, if you should request me to be there when you come back to your room, I will be."

"Why?" I realized I was still stroking her hair, comforting her when she seemed to no longer need it. I stood up from the bed and sat back in the chair.

"You need your rest." I insisted. A tear slipped down her cheek again.

"Sheldon, I never would have expected you, of all the people in my life, to be the one by my side when my life is shattered. You are an incredible friend but this…" I stopped her, desperate to keep her from going into this at this day and time.

"Penny, there will be plenty of time for this discussion later. There are things I plan to tell you when the time is right now this is not it. You need to focus on you and only you. Please, get some rest. If you need anything I'll be right over here." I pointed to the couch behind me. I saw her eyes begin their protest as she regretted asking me to stay. Before she could open her mouth I stopped her. "I will be fine. It's not my bed and I do not have my Saturday pajamas but I think I can handle a little more chaos today. It won't kill me." I added the last line with a chirp of humor. She meekly smiled and lowered her bed back down and turned off the TV.

In the darkness of the room I removed my shoes and lay down on the couch turned bed and tried to turn off my mind. Sleep would also do me well but all the conditioning in the world could not have prepared me for this day. I drifted off to sleep not fighting the image of her in my apartment smiling or the image of the drill going through her legs.

The next morning we were awoken at 5:49am to a bright and cheerful nurse coming to tell us that Penny would be moved to pre-op within the hour. Penny was stoic as she explained the best she could what she would be going through. Her strength astounded me. I did have to laugh when Penny asked if she was going to be intubated and when told yes she asked if she could brush her teeth. The nurse frowned and informed her she could not but she would bring her mouthwash if she promised not to swallow any of it. When she retreated to her task Penny glared at my laughter.

"I look disgusting. There is no reason I should smell as bad." was all she offered me. I picked up the blankets and folded them up on the couch and began sending text messages to all of the right people, saving Leonard for last. When the nurse returned and Penny's mouth was minty fresh the pre-op nurse came in and began to wheel her out. Penny stopped her and asked for a minute with me. The nurse looked annoyed but stopped and stepped out into the hall way.

I walked over to her and she grasped my hand like it was the only thing holding her to this body.

"I'm scared, Sheldon."

"I can assure you, you will be fine. You will wake up in a few hours and to you it will feel like minutes. Would you like anyone else to be here when you get back?" I asked, hoping she would say that I was once again the only one permitted.

"I'd rather not. But someone needs to call my family."

"Leonard called your father last night. He's planning to leave tomorrow morning, according to Leonard's text message." I left out that her father was less than thrilled to find out that he was not with his daughter and could not offer more information than what I had provided. She offered a small smile and nod and I waved for the nurse pacing in front of the door to come back in.

"I'll see you soon?" She asked as she was being taken away. She didn't hear my response, mostly because once again I found myself at a loss for words around her.

I started to tidy up her room to keep my body busy to suppress my mind. Thankfully my phone rang and the caller ID showed it was Raj.

"Hello Rajesh." I greeted, my normal cheerfully sardonic voice was gone. It would probably never return. I was tired body and mind.

"Sheldon, you sound like hell. I got your message that Penny was going to surgery. Can I talk to her?"

"They just left with her. I must say that I am impressed with the promptness of this hospital. They told us it would be within the hour and she was collected twenty three minutes later."

"Are you staying there? I can come get you and take you home to shower?" How I could have ever assumed that Leonard the better friend out of the three of them was beyond me. Despite his neediness and constant need for acceptance he was a gracious friend.

"Well, I do need a shower and I was unable to change last night so the clothes I have now are not my Sunday best as my Meemaw would say." Raj chuckled.

"I'll be there soon. But you have to promise you'll let me see her when she gets out of surgery. I might not be able to talk to her but I want her to know that I am supporting her." He was begging and I was not annoyed. He cared for Penny as he should.

"I will ask her if it would be acceptable for you to be here when she returns. I cannot promise something that is not in my control."

"I can live with that. I'll see you in a bit." He hung up without waiting for a reply. I gathered up my messenger bag and pulled a composition note book from it making a list of what I would need to bring back from Penny's apartment.

Shampoo, Body wash, toothbrush, toothpaste, pajamas, definitely no delicates as I noted the deep bruising over her clavicle would make wear such a garment uncomfortable. I also made a note to go out and pick up those ridiculous entertainment magazines that she enjoyed and thought about stopping by the book store to pick up something she might enjoy reading. I wrote flowers but scratched that out just as soon as my pen stopped on the s. I shook my thoughts clear and placed everything back in my bag and headed how to wait for Raj.

My phone buzzed as I walked out of the hospital.

Is she in surgery? Will she let us see her? I sighed and typed out my reply to Leonard.

Yes and no. Another buzz.

Are you staying there?

Raj pulled up in front of me before I could type out a response that would most likely offend him and I shoved my phone back in my pocket and climbed into the car. Raj wasted no time letting the inquisition begin.

"What is up with you, dude?"

"What is up? Well, at the moment my head is up. The clouds are up, the…" Raj cut me off. Of course.

"You know what I mean and you know it. Do you have feelings for Penny?" He bluntly asked. I considered him for a moment. This would be a conversation that I would need to have soon so what could it hurt to have practice with it now. I have, after all, made myself socially awkward. Telling Raj might not be a bad idea.

"Raj, what if I told you that my life, as you see it, was a rouse? That perhaps my way of life if a choice not because I over react over chaos and strive for order but because it's easier that way for people to keep me at a distance?" Raj seemed to think about this for a moment.

"So you're saying that your not the anal retentive, self absorbed, schedule strict germaphob that we all think you are?"

"Well, I do believe that my contributions to our scientific community will be of great value one day and I doubt that many people can understand the complexity of-" Raj stopped me again.

"OK, I get it you're still an arrogant asshole. But you're not... you." He summed up.

"Well, I am me. I'm not capable of being anyone else. However if you are confirming that I am not the neurotic being I portray myself to be then you would be correct."

"And it took Penny being in a horrific accident to bring you out of your shell?" I thought about it for a moment, trying to come up with an acceptable answer. I could only find one.

"Penny brought my out of my shell but it had nothing to do with the accident." Raj nodded in understanding and I was glad that the conversation seemed to end with that. I could trust Raj to keep this between us, unless of course he was inebriated and let it slip to Howard. But I wasn't going to concern myself with that.

We pulled up to my apartment and walked up the stairs. I gave Raj the key to Penny's apartment and asked him to gather the items I wrote down in her room. I left him with specific instructions to avoid her personal drawers and retreated to the shower to clean myself up. The thermal was likely history but at least I could try to salvage it with a mixture of peroxide and water but I would worry about that later. I quickly dressed, pulled out my emergency overnight bag and headed back to the living room where Raj was seated with Penny's bag. He looked content to sit and stay for a while.

"Raj, I would appreciate it if you could return me to the hospital. I promised Penny I would be there when she got back." I shuffled slightly, annoyed that my ticks were more second nature now.

"We've only been here for about forty five minutes. You said she would be in surgery for hours."

"Four to five to be exact plus about an hour in post-op." I clarified. Raj laughed and stood with Penny's bag in hand. I questioned his snicker.

"You, my friend have it bad. You are lucky my sister has your roommate preoccupied otherwise Leonard would be more of a problem than he already is."

"Yes, well I do believe that your sister needs to assert more dominance in their relationship as I do not believe it is acceptable in any relationship to watch a mate become jealous for no reason over a former flame. I don't understand, out of all of us, he is the one with more dates."

"You and me both, dude." We closed the door and made our way back to the hospital in an enjoyable silence.

A/N Sorry this chapter was kind of boring. There was filler that needed to be. The next chapter is going to be rough. Just to warn you. It will take me a few days and I will need to work hard to get it right. I've already got a start on it. Let's just say it was/will be rough.