SORRY! I've been so busy, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and thank you so much for the following and reviews, you make me so happy.
Penny woke with a start; the sound of the door slowly opening pulled her from her slumber, the room was dark. Penny looked up to see Beverly Hofstadter walk into Leonard's room, Beverly was looking at her son lying hooked up to the menagerie of tubes, tubes that were keeping him alive. Beverly walked straight over to Leonard and placed her hand on his face then gently bent down to kiss him, it was only then that she noticed that Penny was in the room. The two women looked at each other and nodded in a quiet hello to each other.
"Penny we came as fast as we could." Beverly's gaze returned to Leonard, her hand stroking his hair.
It was a touching love between mother and son, one that Penny never thought she would ever see from Beverly toward Leonard, and one that Leonard could over dream of.
Penny wiped the sleep from her eyes and looked at her watch, 5.12pm; she had been there all day. Thankfully all her yoga practice meant that although she woke up a little sore she wasn't as sore as she should be considering she had slept sitting up in a chair, draped over Leonard. Beverley grabbed a chair and sat next to Leonard, taking his hand, stroking it.
Penny stood up; she needed to give Beverly some privacy. "I'll just go home wash and grab some food and drink, do you want bring anything back?"
Beverly looked up distracted. "No, Leonard's father is just getting us some coffee and trying to find something decent to eat. If that is at all possible, perhaps you could just grab some toiletries for Leonard, he will need them when he wakes up."
Penny moved out from around the bed and stretched her back. "He slept well, which I think is good." She said hoping that is really was good that he slept well, she didn't know, she just needed to make conversation, anything to keep from remembering why they were there. She glanced over at Leonard lying there, and Beverly stroking her son's hair. The tears came quickly she blinked them away, opened the door and walked into the brightly lit hallway.
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Penny walked into 4B; it had only over a day since Sheldon had knocked on her door asking for a lift to work, yet it seemed an eternity ago. There were three messages on her answer phone, one from her mom, and two from work. She phoned her mom first and filled her in on Leonard's illness and then phoned work, they agreed to let her take another day off, and then give them a call tomorrow night; she loved her new job and new employer.
Under the shower Penny washed away her tears, she wasn't going to cry. After grabbing a quick bite to eat she made her way to 4A, she knocked on the door and waited for Sheldon to answer, he didn't, so she used her emergency key and opened the door, the apartment was dark. She made her way to the bathroom and opened the cabinet, grabbing at some toiletries for Leonard; it was when she saw the Luke Skywalker shampoo and conditioner that she broke down. She had to sit down on the side of the bath andshe cried and cried, she hadn't cried like that for years. After about 5 minutes she stood up and grabbed some more things that Leonard might need. She walked out into the living room just as Sheldon walked into the apartment. Sheldon looked at her in silence and she at him.
"Penny you've been crying, a lot! Is Leonard OK?" He asked.
Penny stood still and started to cry. "Sheldon." She sobbed.
It was then that Sheldon did something unexpected, he walked up to Penny and slowly hugged her.
He was silent at first, whilst Penny cried into his t-shirt, then he said quietly "He will be ok, he has to be ok, he's my ride to work." Penny smiled and looked up at Sheldon. "I love him Sheldon; he has to be ok, because I love him."
