Penny flopped on her sofa, exhausted and cursing her boss. She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this up. Her stints at the hospital were draining her, physically and emotionally, but she couldn't imagine not doing them. She poured herself a large glass of wine and kicked off her shoes. There was a knock at the door and she made a frustrated noise.
"Who is it?!" she yelled from the sofa. "It's me, Leonard. Can I talk to you?" Leonard's voice replied. She felt her heart sink. Now was not the time to talk about their non-existent relationship, but she didn't have the heart to send him away. "It's open."
He let himself in and sat next to her. She looked at him, waiting for him to speak.
"Ok, so I'm just gonna come out and ask…" he looked nervous. "Was there something…going on…with you and Sheldon? Before the accident?"
The look of shock on her face was obviously enough to give him his answer and he waved his hands. "Ok, no, cool. I'm sorry I asked. Let's just pretend I didn't." He got up to leave.
"Wait! Leonard, what the hell made you ask me that?!" She jumped to her feet, feeling inexplicably angry at the suggestion.
He looked at her, bemused. "You really can't see why?"
"No. So please, fill me in."
"Penny…you're there more than any of us, more than Missy and his mom, even. You're telling him all kinds of stuff, stuff you wouldn't even talk to me about when we were dating. I mean, you're giving him sponge baths, for God's sake! Can you not see how that looks?"
Suddenly, she could, and it shocked her. But she regrouped admirably. "You spied on me?!" Leonard rolled his eyes. "No. I saw you, and heard you. The door was open. That's all." He studied her. "You know, it's ok. If you do like him, I mean. I'm not gonna object or anything..." He saw the look on her face, and hurriedly added "…not that that would make any difference. But I wouldn't."
She eyed him suspiciously. "Why not?"
He sighed. "Life's too short, Penny. If this accident has taught me anything, it's that. If you like Sheldon…" he winced "…you should go for it." That wasn't a sentence he ever thought he'd be saying to a woman. Or even a man, come to that.
She slumped back onto the sofa, sighing in frustration. "Look, even if I did 'like' him – and I'm not saying I do! – it's irrelevant. He's in a coma and even if he wasn't, he wouldn't be interested in me. So let's just forget about it, and focus on getting him better. Ok?"
Leonard opened his mouth to argue, but decided against it. She looked worn out. And, frankly, he wasn't sure whether encouraging her would just lead to more heartache; he knew she and Sheldon had a peculiar rapport, but the more he looked at it the more he realised that this was the closest thing to a romantic relationship that Sheldon had ever achieved. No other woman tolerated him, liked him even, the way Penny did, and he let her get away with much more than he did anybody else. He'd even started acquiescing to some of her rules. Hell, with Sheldon that could practically be considered a marriage.
But that didn't mean that Sheldon saw it that way.