The lights of the ambulance flashed brightly. Leonard and Mrs. Coleman were talking with one of the paramedics. Howard was on the phone. Amy had Raj by the arm and had her face buried in his shoulder. She couldn't endure the sight of the paramedics lifting Sheldon onto the gurney, strapping him down and carting him to the ambulance. Raj looked a little uncomfortable being so close to Amy but he did his best to comfort his friend.

"I just got off the phone with Bernadette," Howard said when he approached Amy and Raj. "She told Penny what happened and they both got people to cover the remainder of their shifts. They're going to meet us at the hospital." Raj nodded to give Howard an "okay."

Leonard joined them after they finished speaking with the paramedic. "Alright, we'd better get to the hospital," he said when he heard the sound of ambulance doors slamming shut. Mrs. Coleman had already gone back to her bakery across the street. Howard, Raj and Leonard escorted Amy back to where Leonard had parked his car. Howard jumped on his Vespa (which was also in front of the comic book store) and the other three piled into Leonard's car. They drove as fast as the law allowed them to all the way to the hospital. Once there they scrambled out of their vehicles, ran into the building and dashed up the stairs. They raced through the hallways to the waiting room where they found Penny and Bernadette.

"Oh, Howie!" Bernadette exclaimed when she saw her husband. She ran into his arms and cried. "I can't believe this!"

"I know, Bernadette. I can't believe it either," Howard said. He kissed her forehead and then led her back to her seat.

Leonard looked at Penny, who stood up and ran towards him. He held out his arms for her to run into, but she ended up running past him. It took him by surprise for a moment until he saw Penny throw her arms around Amy.

"Oh my god, Amy. I'm so glad you didn't get hurt," she said. "But I can't believe what happened to Sheldon. This is horrible." She looked at Amy, who had tears streaming down her face. Penny gave her one more hug before she finally let Raj lead her to a seat near Howard and Bernadette. She went over to Leonard. They embraced for a moment before Penny pulled away and said "I called Sheldon's mother. She's going to catch the first flight here that she can get. She sounded so worried."

"I'm guessing she's more than worried," Leonard said. Penny glared at him. "Not helping. Got it."

Penny looked over at Amy. She had her face buried in her hands. Bernadette was consoling her. "Seeing Amy like that…it's breaking my heart. It makes me realize just how important Sheldon is to her. I hate this, Leonard! I absolutely HATE this!" She was upset now; crying, in fact. Leonard hugged her again and tried to calm her down. "I'm sorry, Leonard," she sobbed.

"For what?" he asked.

"For crying like this. I was trying to be strong. But, Amy's my best friend. Seeing her so upset is so hard for me to deal with. And Sheldon…god, he's practically family to me. He's like my annoying brother. The whole situation is just killing me inside." She wiped the tears from her eyes.

"It's okay, Penny. Nobody said you weren't allowed to be upset about this. Everyone's a mess right now. Go ahead and cry." He kissed her on the cheek. They joined the rest of the group. They sat around for a good few hours before Mary Cooper bounded through the doors.

"Where's my baby?" she begged.

"We haven't heard anything yet. It's ridiculous," Leonard told her.

"Well, how did he get hurt?"

"We're a little short on the details. All we really know is that he was attacked by muggers or something. Amy was there too but she got away before she was hurt."

Mary looked at Amy. She wasn't sobbing as much as she had been but there were still tears falling from her eyes. Mary hurried over to Amy and put a hand on her shoulder. Amy looked up at Sheldon's mother with saddened eyes. Mary smiled weakly. Then she slowly turned and sat down away from the group of friends. She folded her hands together and bowed her head.

Then she began to whisper prayers. The gang fell silent and continued to sit around comforting each other and waiting for news on their dearest Sheldon.

"Dr. Hofstadter?" a man's voice came from across the waiting room.

Leonard leaped up and hurried over to the doctor that had called his name. Everyone else followed him. After they had all gathered around the doctor, Leonard asked "How is Sheldon? Is he going to be okay?"

"Dr. Hofstadter, Sheldon is in a very unstable state. We've done everything we can to help him. He is currently on life support."

"Damnit!" Leonard said through gritted teeth. He noticed everyone around him tense up. He let out a frustrated sigh before he asked "is there any chance that he'll survive if he's taken off of the life support?"

"There is a chance, but it is very slim. He had a lot of internal bleeding that we've controlled quite a bit and his heart rate is still really low. We want to keep him on it for a little longer to see if there are any changes. But by the way things look now it is likely that Dr. Cooper will not survive. I'm sorry."

A wave of sadness overcame Sheldon's friends and family. Bernadette let out a whispered "no." She put a hand over her mouth and closed her eyes. Howard put his hands on her shoulders and stood close behind her. Penny started crying. She put her arms around Leonard and nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck. He wrapped his arms around her and then kissed her on the top of the head. A few tears streamed down his cheeks. Mary closed her eyes and tried to hold back her tears. She could only hold them back for a few seconds before they were trickling down her face. Raj put his hands in his pockets and shifted his eyes to the ground. All were speechless.

And then there was Amy. She stood motionless, clutching her fists and holding her breath. Her tired eyes became worried and lost in thought. Her whole body started to tremble. Tears filled her eyes but she forced them back. She wanted to scream. Every inch of her body was tense. She fought back every urge to cry out, but everything that had built up inside of her found a way to the outside. Her knees dropped to the ground and she burst into tears. Mary ran over to her side and put an arm around Amy's shoulders. Amy rested her head on Mary's shoulder, her cheeks drenched in tears.

Not Sheldon, she thought. Not MY Sheldon.

...

Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad people are enjoying this. I never mentioned before that this is my first fanfic so I was really nervous about posting it. I apologize for this chapter being pretty slow and long. But I wanted to capture everyone's emotions and show just how much Sheldon means to everyone. Stay tuned for the next chapter and bring on the reviews! :)