"She's so beautiful Leonard." Penny smiled. "Still got the corduroy suit, huh?." she laughed.
"Penny." Leonard whispered aghast at the sight of his wife. "How can you be here?"
Leonard surveyed his surroundings and concluded that he must have fallen asleep and be dreaming and yet it felt so real.
"I came because you needed me." Penny continued. "And to tell you that you don't need to blame yourself anymore. What happened to me wasn't your fault and what happened today wasn't your fault either. You need to quit feeling guilty sweetie." She scolded gently.
"I'm a terrible Father Penny." Leonard blurted out. "I've messed up so much."
"No way. You're a terrific father Leonard and Grace she adores you. You're the only one who doesn't see it."
Penny walked away from the bed and toward the window.
"That night in the gas station you wasn't ready to say goodbye, but I think the time has come now. I think we need to say goodbye. You have to let me go."
Leonard shook his head defiantly, tears streaming down his face.
"No, I can't." he insisted. "I still love you Penny with all my heart…I always will."
"I love you too Leonard. Life is a journey sweetie and you need to keep travelling on. And I must too."
Returning to Leonard Penny bent down to kiss him.
"Just hang in there Hofstadter. The sun will rise again I promise you."
Leonard closed his eyes taking in her presence and savouring the moment. He could smell the scent of her favourite perfume. A second later he opened his eyes only to find her gone.
"Dr Hofstadter are you ok?"
The nurse responsible for Grace's care had returned to check on her patient. Leonard got to his feet and walked out into the hall. Apart from a cleaner mopping the floor it was deserted.
"She's waking up Dr Hofstadter." He heard the nurse calling for him to return.
In the few seconds it took Leonard to return to her bedside Grace had opened her eyes. This time when he cried it was with tears of relief.
"It's ok sweetie. Daddy's here. You're safe honey." he soothed.
A doctor entered the room to examine Grace, reporting that while she was still unwell, she was out of immediate danger. It was his intention to discharge her from the PICU the following day.
"Leonard, how is she doing?"
It was Bernadette and Howard standing in the doorway who had been patiently waiting for news of Grace. Behind them in the hall they had been joined by Sheldon, Amy and Raj.
"She's going to be ok." Leonard answered with an exhausted smile.
The friends breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Venturing into the room with the aim of breaking the news about Amber Bernadette touched Leonard's shoulder.
"Leonard there's something you should know." She said.
"Is it Amber?"
"It's over." Howard answered, joining his wife. "Amber's husband is dead."
"And Amber is she ok?"
Howard sighed he hated to be the bearer of bad news, particularly after everything Leonard had already been through that day.
"Amber's been shot. All we know is she's been taken into surgery. We won't really know anything until the morning."
Leonard closed his eyes as he absorbed the news. From the little he knew of what had happened, Amber had saved Grace's life be ensuring that she got out when she did. A few minutes later and it may well have been too late. With Grace sleeping peacefully, the nurse offered to show Leonard to a room for parents that wished to stay overnight.
"No thank you, I think I should stay." Leonard answered.
"Leonard you're exhausted. You need to get some rest." Bernadette encouraged. "Howie and I will stay with Grace."
Promising to come and wake Leonard should Grace awaken, Howard and Bernadette took up vigil at Grace's bedside.
"It really scary to think that we might be sitting here one day with one of our own kids." Said Bernadette after a period of contemplative silence. Even though she was only a few weeks pregnant she felt different somehow and could already sense the tiny life that was now growing inside her
"Yeah, I know I was just thinking the same thing." Howard replied. "Being a parent is like the most important job you can ever have."
"Oh I nearly forgot." Bernadette reached down to the floor for her purse and took out 'soft kitty' which she had managed to retrieve from Leonard's house earlier; gently she tucked it under Grace's arm.
"You know I really don't know how Leonard's coped after what happened to Penny." Howard began. "I know I couldn't if I lost you."
Bernadette squeezed Howard's hand.
"Howard I'm not going anywhere I promise you."
"Penny probably thought the same about her and Leonard; you know that they had all the time in the world and look what happened. Do you remember how they used to fight over the stupidest of stuff?"
Bernadette smiled sadly." Yeah, like that time we went on double date with them after Leonard had found out that Penny believed in psychics."
Howard took out his cell phone and scrolled through his pictures. "Do you remember this?" he asked.
It was a photo of Penny and Grace cuddling Mickey Mouse at Disneyland that Leonard had texted him that day. A few short hours after the picture had been taken and Penny was gone.
"I do." Bernadette answered.
The sight of the last picture of her friend had brought tears to her eyes. She still couldn't bear to think about the brutal way in which her life had been so needlessly taken.
"I mean it Bernie I want us to make the most of every moment we have together. I know we can't say that we'll never fight, but I think we should remember this moment. We should remember how precious life is and how dammed lucky we are to have each other."
Bernadette and Howard slept the night in chairs at Grace's bedside and didn't wake up until Leonard returned shortly after 7am. He still looked tired, but not as dead on his feet as he had been the night before and had changed into the fresh clothes which Raj had picked up for him. There had been some news on Amber she was out of surgery and was reported to be in a stable condition. Leonard planned to try and get to see her later, but for now he needed to check on his daughter.
"She slept the whole night through." Bernadette told him.
Grace began to stir. Leonard took her hand in his and stroked it.
"Hey you."
"Daddy."
"Howard and Bernadette are here too. We're so happy you're awake honey."
Grace looked around at the beaming faces around her bed.
"I want to go home." she said.
"You will go home real soon sweetie, but only when the doctors say you're all well again."
Sensing that Leonard wanted some time alone with his daughter, Bernadette and Howard excused themselves and headed to the cafeteria for breakfast.
"Grace, do you want to talk about what happened yesterday at the house?"
Grace shook her head.
"You don't have to be scared honey the bad man is gone now." Leonard assured her.
"What about Amber?" asked Grace.
Leonard wanted to be as honest with his daughter as possible without scaring her anymore than she was already.
"Amber is feeling sick like you at the moment, but she's going to be ok honey."
"Was the bad man the one who shot Mommy?" Grace asked pensively.
"No, he wasn't. But the police have the men who did now so they can't hurt anyone ever again. Do you understand honey? There's no need for you to be afraid, ok?""
Grace nodded her understanding before yawning and closing her eyes.
"You know how much Daddy loves you Grace and Mommy too, she might not be here anymore, but I know she loves you very very much sweetheart."
Leonard bent over to kiss his daughters forehead and as he pulled away he caught a glimpse of a figure standing in the door. It was Penny but this time she didn't speak, instead she blew a kiss in Leonard and Grace's direction.
"Goodbye Mommy." Grace said sleepily.
Leonard looked his daughter with bewilderment. Had she sensed Penny's presence? When he looked back at the doorway Penny was gone. Somehow he knew it was the last time and that that he wouldn't see her again. And although he still ached inside, the pain was beginning to subside and he realised that someday soon Penny's memory would be of comfort rather than merely a source of pain.
As he watched Grace sleeping Leonard wondered if this was what it felt like when someone began to let go of the past and move on. Maybe Penny was right. Finally the time had come to say goodbye.