Sheldon had tearfully explained what had happened, and the group had all tried to hug him, but he wouldn't allow it.
"No. The only person I will ever let near me that way is Amy, and now she's gone." He had wept.
Bernadette felt so guilty for bringing up the subject of marriage and had apologised to Sheldon.
He shook his head.
"It was my own fault. I should have told her I would marry her one day."
"Sheldon…If you're not ready, you're not ready. Nobody can make you." Penny had reassured. "You know, like with me and Leonard. He's waiting until I'm ready now."
"That's the thing; I don't know! I wouldn't want to mistreat her like my father did to my mother and his own children. He was abusive right up to the day he died. I hate him. I could never do that to Amy." Sheldon said quietly.
"Is that where your fear came from?" Leonard asked softly.
Sheldon nodded. "He's mainly the reason I am repulsed by relationships. He cheated on my mother too. What if I turn out like him? Not only that but I have only just progressed to this stage in what was our relationship, and that was hard enough…Now…" He cut off, the tears rolling down his face.
He wiped his eyes and stood up. "I need to be alone."
Sheldon hurried to his room and slammed the door.
The entire living room fell silent.
"I feel terrible." Bernadette said, quietly. "If I had never brought it up, this wouldn't have happened."
"It isn't your fault, Bernadette. Sheldon doesn't blame you; none of us do." Leonard soothed.
Howard, Bernadette and Raj thought it was best that they leave, so they gathered their things and said their goodbyes.
"I'm going to go to Amy's tonight and look after her, if you and Raj want to hang out." Bernadette said to Howard, as they walked out of the door.
It was just Leonard and Penny left in the apartment now, silently sitting on the couch, heads down.
"I really didn't expect this." Leonard sighed.
"Nobody did. Should we go talk to him?" Penny asked.
"I'll talk to him." Leonard offered, getting to his feet.
Leonard knocked on Sheldon's bedroom door.
There was no answer, but Leonard could hear soft sobbing from the inside.
Letting himself in, Leonard peered at the darkened room, and could just make out the silhouette of Sheldon curled in the foetal position on his bed.
"Hey buddy," Leonard said softly.
Sheldon ignored him.
Taking a few steps into the room, Leonard took a breath.
"I don't think Amy meant it, Sheldon."
"She did." Was Sheldon's tearful response.
"I doubt it. She loves you too much. I know you're feeling hurt right now, but…"
"Yes I am; physically hurt. I have a headache, a lump in my throat, this horrible, dull ache in my chest, and I keep involuntarily crying. My thoughts are muddled…I guess this is what people refer to as heartbreak." He began to sob again.
Leonard moved closer and patted his roommate on the shoulder, gently.
"Call her, Sheldon. Maybe she's already regretting it, and is too scared to call you in case you are angry at her or tell her to leave you alone." Leonard said.
"I'll try…" Sheldon wiped his eyes again and picked up his cell phone, typing in Amy's number.
He waited and waited, until he finally heard Amy's voice.
"Amy?" He asked, "I apologise profusely for hurting you. Please can we meet up and talk? I don't care how late it is. I love you and…"
"Sheldon! Thank God, I was about to call you to apologise. I didn't mean to break up with you, I was hurt. Anyway, I need you to stay on the phone; some guy is following me!"
Sheldon sprang up from the bed. "What!?"
"He's getting closer." Amy hissed.
"Where are you? Wherever you are, run! Come to me!" Sheldon instructed, pulling on his windbreaker. "I'll wait up Los Robles for you!"
"Thank you Sheldon…I'm up Eu…" Suddenly, there was a scream, and Sheldon heard a male voice in the background, and Amy begging fearfully.
"Amy? AMY?" He shouted at the phone.
He heard a smash on the other end, and the line went dead.
He stared at the phone in horror.
"What happened?" Leonard asked.
Sheldon was now pulling on his shoes. "I think Amy's been attacked! She was just about to tell me where she was, and then…"
"I heard screaming." Leonard panicked.
"Oh God, what if something awful has happened to her?" Sheldon fretted as he raced through the apartment.
"Whoa, wait. What's going on?" Penny demanded.
"Sheldon called Amy to make up, and it was going well until she got attacked by some guy following her. We're going to find her." Leonard explained.
"Oh my God!" Penny cried, her hand flying up to her mouth. She grabbed her jacket and threw on her shoes. "Let's go!"
..
"So where did she say she was?" Leonard asked as the three friends bailed into his car and drove out of the parking lot.
"Somewhere beginning with U by the sound of it." Sheldon replied, scanning the streets.
"Right." Leonard frowned.
"Why was she walking? Didn't she bring her car? I swear I saw it just now in the parking lot…"
"I don't know. Maybe she went for a walk to clear her thoughts." Sheldon responded.
Leonard turned up Euclid Avenue, and almost immediately, they saw a human shape sprawled on the floor.
"Oh no…" Penny gasped, her eyes filling with tears.
Leonard pulled over immediately, and Sheldon instantly raced out of the car and over to Amy.
"Oh Lord…Amy!? Say something!" He sobbed, kneeling beside her and holding her head and shoulders up.
"Sheldon, I'm so sorry." She slurred.
There was a huge bruise round her eye; her nose was bleeding, swollen and purple-black in colour. She had a fat lip, blood coming from her head and one ear, and her glasses were broken on her face.
Beside her, lay her phone which was smashed beyond repair, with a visible footprint across the screen, and her purse which surprisingly remained untouched. Amy wheezed, trying to keep her eyes open.
Sheldon just shook his head. "No. I'm sorry. I want to give you everything Amy Farrah Fowler. Please don't die."
He hadn't realised that Penny had called an ambulance, and was in floods of tears as she tried to explain the situation.
"Five minutes." Penny sobbed, hanging up and kneeling beside Sheldon. "Oh my God, Amy. What did this creep do to you?" She gently took Amy's hand and stroked it.
"I can't…" Amy shook her head.
Leonard was now crouched down with his friends, taking off his jacket to get to the sweater underneath.
He wadded up the sweater and placed it firmly on Amy's head injury, to stop the blood flow.
Sheldon lightly stroked Amy's lip. He bent down to kiss her as gently as he could.
It was then that he noticed blood coming from one corner of her mouth.
He looked up and noticed that her leg was twisted out of shape.
He took a deep breath.
"I feel sick." He got to his feet and moved away, steadying himself on a lamppost.
His head spun as he tried to take in the scene behind him.
Taking deep breaths, Sheldon fought through the nausea until it vanished.
All that remained was the heavy ache in his heart and the spinning in his head.
Who would do this to my Amy? He thought. What could my innocent, loving Amy have possibly done wrong?
He returned to holding Amy up until the paramedics arrived.
They quickly examined Amy on the floor.
Securing her to a stretcher, and strapping on some padding around her neck and leg, the paramedics placed her in the back of the ambulance.
"We're her very close friends, we'll follow on behind." Leonard said to them.
"I want…Sheldon…Here." Amy stammered.
"Sure, which one is Sheldon?" One of the paramedics asked.
"Me." Sheldon answered for Amy. "I'm her boyfriend…Well; at least I think I am again?"
"You are. If you'll have me back." Amy mumbled.
"Like you even need to ask." Sheldon answered, sitting on the bench, lining one side of the ambulance, and gripping Amy's hand.
"I'm sorry for breaking up with you. It was out of anger. I didn't mean it…" Amy mumbled again.
"I know." Sheldon answered. "We can talk about that later. What happened to you?"
Amy blinked and a tear rolled down her face. "I don't know." She confessed. "I honestly don't know."