End's Beginning – Chapter 10
As Sheldon watched his friends form in a spontaneous circle of prayer, he knew it wasn't the time to interrupt and express his views on evolution and Darwinism. Instead, as a way to humor the group and show support, he joined them and spoke the prayers that his devout mother and Sunday school had taught him. As a man of science, he saw religion as a panacea, a primitive, man-made belief system for the weak minded. But joining in prayers to a deity whose existence he doubted really wouldn't hurt anything. In his experience, God was never changed by prayer, but the person who prayed was. And if he was able to assist in helping his friends gain some level of peace in this situation, then he could easily bear the level of discomfort he felt.
But, if prayers did matter, he knew the person to call.
His mother.
If it was prayers that they wanted, with Mary Cooper, then it was prayers that they were going to get.
The praying ended, Sheldon stepped back. "I'm going to call my mother," he announced. His friends nodded solemnly.
Sheldon's words prompted Penny into thought and then to action. Her family, especially her father, really liked Leonard. Despite the hour, they would want to know.
Retrieving her pocketbook from the chair where she had left it, Penny was once again relieved that she didn't take it from her shoulder when she was in Leonard's office. Going through her bag, she removed her phone. She had turned it off earlier, hoping to save some of the low battery.
She turned the phone on and it glowed to life.
The 'Missed Calls' screen displayed first. Scrolling through the list, Penny saw the numerous unanswered calls from both Amy and Bernadette.
Then her heart stopped and restated with a hard thud in her chest. She gasped, the sudden and startling sharp intake of breath alerted everyone in the room and distracted Sheldon from placing his call.
"Oh my, God! I missed a call from Leonard!"
Everyone gathered around her, staring at the pink phone in her hand.
"When is it from?" Sheldon asked.
"9:23 PM."
"You were at the University then?"
Penny paled. "Yes."
"See if he left a message," Howard spoke quickly.
With a trembling fingertip, Penny touched Leonard's smiling photo on the screen.
Leonard's voice arose from the phone. Clear and commanding, there was urgency to his voice.
"Penny. Something's wrong in here. Get out of the building now."
There was shocked silence from the group. Bernadette put a hand over her mouth and Amy put one to her chest. The phone trembled in Penny's hand.
But the call didn't end.
In his distraction, Leonard never hit the disconnect button.
His cell phone recorded everything.
Transfixed, the friends gathered tightly around phone in Penny's shaking upraised hand, their faces lit by the glow in the darkened room, straining to hear the recording.
There were sounds. Just sounds.
Someone running … maybe?
Then a startling loud slamming noise and wood cracking.
Arguing voices … someone yelling … something … and someone crying hard, painful sobs.
"Penny! Does that in any way resemble the arguing voices you heard when you and Leonard first entered the building?"
Penny nodded 'yes' just as Amy murmured. "Sheldon! Be quiet!"
And then two voices, neither one Leonard.
A crying voice. "… I told you I didn't know how to use it … and it's burnt my hand … badly …"
A hissing voice. "… you are such a useless piece of shit … wasted my time releasing the lab animals … they're here! …"
Leonard voice now, speaking with false cheer. "Hey, Thomas. Nice to see you again. It's been a long time."
"Thomas! Who is Thomas?" Sheldon interrupted.
"Shush! Sheldon! Not now!" Howard barked.
"Two years."
"Two years? Really? That long?"
" … you burnt your hand … why don't we go and get that checked out?"
"Nope … we got something to do …"
"With that carton of acetone peroxide you have in there?"
At Leonard's recorded words, all the scientists in the group gasped and reacted strongly, with looks of alarm on each of their faces.
"Oh my, God!" Bernadette breathed.
"So that's what did all the damage," Howard said softly.
"What's acetone peroxide?" Penny asked.
"I'll fill you in later," Amy offered.
" … you recognized it …"
"Hard to miss with that bleach odor."
" … going to try to stop us?"
" …from doing what, exactly?"
"Blowing this place up."
"Leonard probably interrupted them from their work," Raj commented.
"Shhh," Howard interjected, listening close to the phone.
" … never be anyone's first choice, but I can try."
"Try as hard as you can, little man."
Then just sounds, like a large pop and running again.
"You son-of-a-bitch! You're not going to stop us!"
Just noises again, followed by a solid thud and a painful scream.
Leonard's voice again, clear and strong. "Get out! Get out! Get out! Hurry!"
And then, Leonard yelling, "PENNY! GET OUT OF THE BUILDING NOW! HURRY!"
The fire alarm blared over the phone.
Seconds later, the roar of an explosion.
Then quiet.
The call disconnected.
The grim recording ended. There was stunned silence from the group as the horror of those final minutes was revealed to them. The phone was shaking badly in Penny's hand and it slipped out of her grasp. Raj caught it midway on its flight to floor. The recorded voice on the phone was issuing choices regarding the status of the call and, pressing the number one, Raj saved the message.
"Oh my, God!" Bernadette was the first to speak. "We have to get this message to the police."
"If we hurry, the detective Penny spoke to might still be in the Emergency Room," Amy suggested. "Penny, do you want to come? Maybe point him out?"
Penny had once again crumpled into a chair and had her hands covering her mouth, rocking slightly as she cried, giving no indication that she had even heard her friend.
Amy looked at her distraught friend. "Never mind. I'll go and try to find someone. I'll be right back."
"Thank you, Amy," Bernadette called after her. "I'll stay here with Penny," she said as she took the seat beside her and once again covered her back with her body, rubbed her arms, and whispered comforting words.
"Leonard recognized one of the people and called him 'Thomas'," Howard said.
"And 'Thomas' said he'd been away for two years," Raj added. "Sheldon, can you think of a 'Thomas' that left the University two years ago?"
Sheldon searched his eidetic memory. He shook his head. "No. I don't seem to recall anyone."
"Me either," Howard agreed.
"I can't remember anyone," Raj added.
As they were talking, another large group of distressed friends and family members were being shown into the waiting room. No words were exchanged, but the two groups made eye contact and nodded at each other, acknowledging the common thread that bound both groups in the waiting room this night, their shared concern and worry for their hospitalized loved ones.
Supported by family members, a sobbing woman was escorted to a seat by the windows. Her family clustered around her, they spoke calming words to her in Spanish.
"That must be the family of the second victim," Howard noted.
"Why do you say that?" Bernadette wanted to know.
"Some of them are wearing the uniforms of the University cleaning crew," he said as he watched one of the women leave the group and started to walk towards them, her eyes fixed on Penny.
"Thank goodness you are safe! When you ran away from us in the parking lot, I was so worried."
Penny opened her eyes at the vaguely familiar voice, accented with Spanish. She looked up.
"Beatriz!" Penny said, surprised, as she stood up and pulled the woman into a hug. She turned to her friends. "Everyone, this is Beatriz! She's the one who found me and pulled me out of the building."
Everyone spoke at once and, one by one, gave their thanks to the woman. Bernadette jumped up and hugged her too.
"I heard the police say there was a second person injured," Penny stated. "Are you here for him?"
"Yes. Just after you left us, we found Gabriel laying in parking lot. It's my friend Anna's son," Beatriz pointed to the crying woman by the window. "He's a security guard at the University."
"Oh no! We all know Gabriel," Howard said.
"He's a very nice young man," Sheldon added.
"What happened," Raj asked. "He wasn't in the explosion, was he?"
"No we found him away from the building, in the parking lot. It looked like he had been hit in the head with something. There was blood everywhere. He was talking but didn't know what had happened. When he got to the emergency room, he had a seizure. They said he had a skull fracture and that pressure was building up. They took him to the operating room to relieve the pressure."
"Oh no! That's terrible. I will keep him in my prayers," Bernadette said.
"Thank you," Beatriz smiled kindly at the petite blonde. She spoke to Penny. "Are you here for Leonard? I saw the two of you walking to his office before …," Beatriz searched for the right word, "… everything."
Penny was surprised. "You know Leonard?"
"Oh yes! We were talking one day and he told me about the University's Outreach Program. He helped me to get my daughter Julia enrolled. She now goes there two days a week to study Astronomy. She loves it."
"Oh, that's wonderful!" Penny said.
"Good for her!" Bernadette added.
"Have you heard anything about Leonard yet? Martin," Beatriz pointed to the group of people standing by the windows, "said he saw him being carried out and the paramedics working on him. He said it looked very bad."
Sheldon cleared his throat before he spoke. "The surgeon did come and speak with us. It seems Leonard was in the area of the explosion and suffered some grievous blast injuries as well as smoke inhalation. Recovery, it seems, will take months. However, the doctor did say 'critical but stable'. One can only hope that there is real significance and meaning to that phrase and just not a generic platitude meant to placate."
"I know. I was there. The fire was in the hallway and he yelled at me to leave just before the explosion. He already had the fire extinguisher out. That's when I ran and tried to find you," Beatriz said as she looked at Penny, "I knew you were alone."
"We heard him yelling on the phone 'get out, get out, hurry'", Howard added. "So he was talking to you! I was wondering who it was."
"Did you hear anything about the other guy yet? He seems to have disappeared."
There was stunned silence from the group. "What other guy?" Sheldon asked.
"The one Leonard was fighting with."
"Wait! What!?" Penny yelled.
"Leonard was fighting with someone!?" Raj and Bernadette said in unison, sharing their disbelief.
"Leonard. Fighting with someone." Sheldon spoke slowly for clarification.
"Yes. A tall skinny man. He looked like Abraham Lincoln. Leonard hit him in the side of face with the fire extinguisher. He fell to the floor screaming."
"What!" Penny yelled.
"You're kidding!" Bernadette added.
"That is so badass!" Raj sounded pleased.
"Oh my, God!" Howard yelled. "Nutty Abe! It's Nutty Abe!"
Raj and Sheldon shared stunned looks.
"Who's Nutty Abe?" Penny wanted to know.
"Nutty Abe! Oh my, God!" Raj looked at Beatriz. "Did you have the chance to tell the police this?"
"Yes. I described him although I didn't know his name."
"That's just what we called him. We don't know his name either. But Leonard called him 'Thomas' on the recording," Raj clarified.
"Sheldon! Does that help? Do you remember Nutty Abe's name? Thomas …?" Howard prompted.
"No. Unfortunately I only knew him by the moniker you so aptly gave him. Beatriz, not counting Leonard's, there were two voices on the recorded conversation. You only saw one other person with Leonard. Not two?"
"No there was just one."
"Nutty Abe may be more disturbed than we thought," Raj added. "And if I remember correctly, he had a fondness for attacking people with a hammer. Maybe that's what Gabriel was hit with."
"He was chasing Leonard with one. I saw it."
"Oh my, God!" Penny cried as she fell back into the chair and putting her face in her hands.
"On another worrying note, on the recording Leonard said 'acetone peroxide'. If you know the chemistry, anyone can make it in their home," Howard added for Penny and Beatriz. "And if Nutty Abe made a batch of that up, there might be more in his home or garage. It's very unstable. And if there is enough of it, it could level a city block."
"Very good, Howard! That's an apt observation," Sheldon said with a surprised tone in his voice.
Bernadette scanned the entrance. "I hope Amy comes back soon! We need the police here!"
As if on cue, Amy turned the corner accompanied by Detective Emilio Guzman. Amy made the introductions.
A short, middle-aged man with curling salt and pepper hair and a tough, no nonsense attitude, Detective Guzman listened to the recorded phone call. He then made a quick call to his liaison at the Department with instructions to contact the University to get information on a 'Thomas' that was dismissed from the University about two years ago, stressing the need for urgency due to the concerns raised about acetone peroxide.
After getting Penny's consent, Detective Guzman kept the phone as evidence in a criminal investigation and gave Penny a receipt for her personal property. He took statements from everyone regarding their past association with Nutty Abe. The phone call, the details and insights the group provided made a clearer picture of the events at the University.
Thanking everyone for their cooperation, and reminding them to contact him if they should remember anything that would assist them with the investigation, the detective ended by saying he would be keeping Dr. Hofstadter in his prayers. After making visit to Gabriel's family and speaking to them in Spanish, the detective quickly and quietly exited.
Howard couldn't resist. He asked the group happily, "Is it just me or did we just have a Scooby-Doo moment?"
Raj laughed softly and nodded. "Yes. It was very Scooby-Doo."
Penny wasn't amused. "No. We didn't."
Bernadette and Amy glanced at one another smiling. "It felt very Scooby-Doo."
"I agree," Amy added, a smile in her voice.
"You know, Nutty Abe could easily be any of the crazed Scooby-Doo villains. Miner-Forty Niner or the Evil Puppeteer for example," Sheldon helpfully added.
"We put our heads together and solved the mystery!" Howard was practically dancing.
"Pathetic. All of you. Pathetic."
…..
The long, slow night ground on.
There was a small break in the monotony while Penny, Bernadette and Amy were filled in on the back-story of Nutty Abe. And the discussion of what group costumes to wear to Stuart's New Year's Eve Party at the comic book store provided a distraction. Everyone, except Penny, thought going as the Scooby-Doo gang was a slam-dunk. When Penny said she would absolutely, positively, no-way-on-this-Earth would she be Daphne and she wouldn't even consider going, Raj happily offered. Sheldon had reservations but was out-voted by everyone else. Penny abstained from the balloting. Aside from Raj being Daphne, it was decided that as Leonard would likely be in a wheelchair, he could be either Scrappy-Doo or The Evil Lighthouse Keeper. His choice.
The mindless distraction ended and their conversation trailed off into silence, each one of them pulled deeply into their own world of haunted thought. The television was droning on about the explosion and Penny begged them to turn it off. Amy complied, and switched the station to a music channel.
Sheldon twisted and fidgeted in his chair as he listened to the soft music.
Amy, sitting beside him, looked at him. "Sheldon, are you all right?"
"Fine. Thank you," he said twitching, as he met her eyes.
A lie.
He was far from fine, thank you.
Unraveling the mysteries of the universe was child's play when compared to personal reflection. That was far more difficult.
And painful.
He planned to spend the night wrestling with theory, trying to show that gravity can be expressed by quantum mechanics.
But this night, this unholy night, had sent him hurtling in an unexpected and completely unwanted direction of reflection.
When had it started?
He felt a hot spike, of something, in his chest when Leonard told them about the grant he received. Howard subsequently accused him of being jealous. Was that spike jealousy? Is that how it felt? Whatever it was, the spike grew hotter and blossomed, consuming his every thought through the rest of the evening. It made him argue with Leonard and made him point out all of his roommate's failings. When Leonard left the apartment furious, the hot spike cooled. He felt better.
And now.
There was no hot spike but he felt … what?
He felt … pulled down.
That was it.
Pulled down.
What was that? What was the pulled down feeling?
Was that guilt? Did he feel guilty?
Amy told him he was guilty of being jealous and failing to support a friend. But nothing else. She said he wasn't responsible. Leonard had made his own decisions.
But it doesn't feel that way. It doesn't feel that way!
When will it not feel that way?
And there was what Bernadette had said. Leonard had given him friendship.
Was that better than a Nobel Prize?
Sheldon remembered when Leonard first brought Howard and Raj into his life. And how had he reacted? When Leonard told him he brought the sofa because there was no room for company, he barked back it was by design. Then Leonard pulled Penny into their group. His response was he didn't want to invite her to dinner. Penny then brought Bernadette in and Howard and Raj added Amy to their number.
He tried to make friends on his own. Sebastian, his roommate before Leonard, painted 'Die Sheldon Die' on the bedroom wall. Then there was his attempt with Kripke, Stuart, and Zack. That didn't work out so well either.
If he won a Nobel Prize, he face would thicken textbooks and encyclopedias. His name would be the correct answer on some eighth grade science test. But his work would be expanded upon and changed as new discoveries were made.
That's the way it was meant to be. He would be just one of a thousand names in a dusty, forgotten book.
Music from the television played softly behind him.
" … until you've seen … this trash can dream come true … you stand at the edge … while people run you through … "
Steadfast in her devotion, Amy sat by his side. Sheldon reached over and took one of her soft hand in his. Amy gasped and looked down at Sheldon's hand encircling her smaller one. She looked up at him surprised.
"and I thank the Lord … there's people out there like you …"
He squeezed her hand lightly.
"… I thank the Lord there's people out there like you …"
He glanced around the room. Raj was back at the windows looking at the stars, Howard and Bernadette held one another tightly, and Penny lost in her own pain, sat staring at the floor.
And Leonard.
Leonard lay somewhere close by, dying because of him, as a team of surgeons tried to save his life.
His friends.
All of them. His beloved friends.
" … and I thank the Lord ... for the people I have found … I thank the Lord for the people I have found …"
…..
A/N – Everything used without permission, The Big Bang Theory characters and, in this chapter, the lyrics to Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters. Just having fun with both of them for a bit. And as always, thank you for reading this far and I hope you are enjoying the story. Please consider sending anything my way: comments, reviews, constructive criticisms as they all will be happily and gratefully accepted.