Chapter 11

"Father, I'm going to college."

Professor Rothman almost choked on his water. When he regained his composure, he stared at his young daughter, who stared right back at him. He almost shuddered. Those hazel eyes-Lacey looked so much like her mother it hurt.

Lillian cleared her throat awkwardly and stared at her plate. Rothman knew she would not get into this conversation, at least, not willingly.

"Father, I'm going to college," Lacey repeated, like she wasn't sure if he had heard her.

Rothman stared angrily at his soup. "We have discussed this," He said flatly.

"No. You have." Lacey stood up, and faced him angrily. "You've talked talked about it. You've shared your opinion. Let me share mine."

"It's not open for discussion, young lady. You're not going to college until you're eighteen."

"But-"

"No buts!"

"But it's too late. I was accepted into Harvard."

It was like she had dropped a bomb. Rothman stared at her in shock. Had she really-?

"Did you-apply for a college?" He demanded.

"Yes." She stared at him.

He stared right back at her, more sternly.

"You're not going."

"Father, the University is already buzzing about me. They know that I'm your daughter. And if you don't let me go, a prestigous man named President Malcom will be very dissapointed."

Rothman stared at her in horror. She was defying him. She was openly defying him! Not only that, she was threatening him!

"That's blackmail." His voice was shaky.

"I leave tommorrow morning." Lacey sat down and continued eating, like nothing had happened.

"Tommorrow-that's too soon!"

"It doesn't matter. I'm leaving. And unless you want your chances of a Nobel ruined, I suggest you let me."

"Lacey-"

"Father, I-I-I can't take it anymore! I can do so much with my knowledge, Father! I could discover a cure for lung cancer if I had access to the chemicals at the University!"

"And you can use it on your mother. Oh yes, I forgot! It's too late for your mother. You can't use that cure on her!" Rothman snapped.

Lacey stared at him in shock. "Is that what this is about?" She whispered. "You-you're blaming me for mother's death?"

"I've never blamed you!" Rothman shouted.

"Then why bring up my mother?!" Lacey snapped. "She died eight years ago, Father! I don't even remember her!"

"You should!" Rothman snarled.

Lacey glared at her father, eyes narrowed.

"I'm going to bed early tonight," She snapped. "And I'm leaving tommorow. I'm sick of you talking about Mother whenever we argue. I'm sick of you blaming-"

"I never blamed you!"

"I'm sick of you blaming me for not remembering! I was two when she died! TWO! You don't treat Lillian this way!"

Lillian stiffened.

"Don't drag your sister into this!" Rothman ordered angrily. "She hasn't been as rebellious as you have, young lady!"

"And you know why you don't treat her the way you always treat me?!" Lacey ranted. "You know why Father?! Because she remembers her! You got to cry with Lillian over my mother, and not with me. And that's why you hate me!"

"You have no idea what you're saying," Rothman sneered, but with a slight tremble in his voice.

"It's true though, isn't it!" Lacey didn't even wait for an answer. She whirled around and stormed up to her room.

Rothman didn't even bother going after her. He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair.

"Maybe it's for the best she goes to college," Lillian piped up meekly.

Rothman didn't respond.

Lacey stomped up the stairs and threw open the door to her bedroom. Slamming it shut, she flung herself onto her bedframe and started to cry.

It was so unfair...why did Father move Lillian up a grade level when she couldn't even pass first grade? Why does he keep trying to turn me into my mother? Just because my mother didn't go to college at ten, doesn't mean I can't!

"Knock knock."

Lacey looked up through her tears. Gerald was standing at her door, peering at her with a smile. Lacey flung herself back off her bed and ran to him, wrapping her skinny arms around Gerald and sobbing into his shirt.

"Shhhhhh. It's all right." Gerald's Texas accent was made even more clear in California then in anywhere else, Lacey always thought. She dreaded him having to go back to the Lone Star State, because he was the only friend she'd had in years.

"I just want to go to college," Lacey whimpered. "I want to change the world. I can cure lung cancer, I know I can! I won't be able to use it to save Mother, I know that, but still-I can! Why can't he see that?"

"I know you can," Gerald murmured into her ear. "Little lady, you can to more then cure cancer if you wanted to. And your father can see that, if he wanted to."

"But he doesn't." Lacey detached herself from Gerald and hugged herself. "That's why I have to go."

"You don't have to go. Leaving for college is entirely your choice. The only thing is, you won't be able to see me off to Texas."

"Oh no!" Lacey stared up at him with sadness. "I didn't think of that! Maybe you can stay until I come home, and then you can leave?"

"You want me to stay until you can watch me leave?" Gerald smiled, and Lacey flushed. "I can't stay longer. My program here is done, and besides, I have to get back to Janice."

"Has she given birth yet?" Lacey perked up. "Will I be able to meet your child?"

"I would be upset if you didn't." Gerald ruffed her hair. "And because of that, I'll be coming back soon. Maybe for Christmas?"

Lacey perked up, and nodded. "I'd like that. But promise you'll come back?"

Gerald smiled at her. "I promise. And you'll be a college girl by then."

Lacey winced. "Am I a bad girl, Gerald? I hated manipulating my father, I really did."

"No, you're not a bad girl. You're only ten." Gerald wiped away what tears lingered on Lacey's cheeks. "You just have yet to find your place in the world."

Sheldon felt like he could breathe again when the nurse came back and reported that Amy's only injuries were a fractured skull, bruised ribs, and minor internal bleeding. She would be decharged in a few days' time.

He was eating in the hospital's cafeteria, scoffing at Howard's slightly perverted comment on sponge baths (thankfully, Bernadette wasn't around, the married couple was fighting enough as it was) when Penny came in.

The awkwardness in the air was so thick that you couldn't cut through it with a chainsaw, much less a knife. For a moment, Penny just stood there for a moment, hovering awkwardly next to an empty chair. Then she sat down quickly, and scooted her chair into the table. Leonard scooted into his seat, lookling like he wanted to dissapear.

Penny remained silent, though Sheldon did catch her glance at John, then, almost nervously averted her eyes away from him.

Howard sat back in his chair and shot her a glare. He was obviously firmly on Leonard's side, no questions about it. So was Raj, but he wasn't exactly staring Penny down as Howard was.

Penny cleared her throat awkwardly. "So how's Amy?" She finally asked.

"She'll be fine. She was moved out of the Intensive Care Unit and will be discharged in three days," John replied.

Penny's hand trembled slightly as she adjusted the bracelets dangling on her wrist. Her eyes met Sheldon's and for a moment, she was staring at him. For a moment, Sheldon could see the fear in her eyes.

Then she looked away.

"That's good," Penny said softly, when out of nowhere, Sheldon's phone rang.

"Excuse me.' Sheldon prayed that penny and Howard wouldn't come to blows while he was gone, and he stood up and left.

He checked the caller ID before touching the 'answer' button on his screen. It was President Seibert. Why was he calling? To offer his condolences about Amy?

"Hello?" Sheldon said.

"Dr. Cooper! I have great news! Maybe it'll lift your spirits after what happened to Miss Farrah-Fowler, eh?"

"Your news being-?" Sheldon wanted him to get on with it. Seibert was clearly excited, and by the tone of his voice, he sounded like he was going to wet his pants.

"Your performance at the Worldwide Physics Convention has attracted the attention of the Nobel commitee. They are extremely impressed with your research. So I called you to tell you that they are considering you for a Nobel prize!"

Sheldon's world most likely stopped at that very moment.

"A Nobel prize?" Sheldon gasped out.

"Indeed! The commitee personally called me and said that they would be sending you a form requesting that you submit a nomination. After that, your nomination will be screened like the others, and who knows? You could actually win!"

To say it was a dream come true would be an understatement. It was everything Sheldon had worked for. His entire life had lead up to this. Everything. And. Now. It. Was. Happening.

"I called to let you know beforehand. I wanted to break the news to you myself."

"Th-thank you, President Seibert," Sheldon stammered.

Seibert rambled on and on for a few minutes about how Sheldon recieving a Nobel would honor the university, honor his colleagues, etcetera, when he finally congratulated Sheldon for the last time before hanging up.

Feeling almost giddy, Sheldon practically skipped back to the cafeteria where he immediately could tell the awkward silence hadn't changed.

"You look happy," Leonard observed dryly.

"I was nominated for a Nobel," Sheldon said happily.

The stunned silence that followed his words instantly eliminated all awkwardness. Penny's jaw dropped and John looked impressed. Howard and Raj exchanged surprised glances, and Leonard looked shell-shocked.

"Seriously?" Leonard asked.

"Yes. It appears the Nobel commitee has finally recognized my work," Sheldon said proudly, before remembering that it was Lacey's work they were recognizing, not his. Strangely, the guilt was instantaneous.

"That's...wow! Sheldon, congratulations!" Leonard said, jaw still agape.

"Thank you," Sheldon muttered, trying to banish the guilt to Tatooine.

"Did Seibert call you and tell you?" John asked.

"Yes, he said he wanted to tell me personally before I got the form," Sheldon told him. For some reason, he wasn't so proud any more.

"Congratulations buddy, as soon as Amy is released from this place, we should celebrate! How's Vegas?" This, naturally, was Wolowitz.

Sheldon shrugged. "The train store's not a bad option either."

"God, Sheldon, it's a freaking Nobel! And since Amy just had a near-death experience, I think it's safe to say that a trip to Vegas is well called for!" Howard said happily. Raj nodded in agreement.

Sheldon couldn't help but notice that Penny was remaining oddly quiet throughout the conversation. As Howard jabbered on and on about the wonders of Vegas in attempt to convince Sheldon, with Raj nodding in agreement, Sheldon tuned Howard out and stared at Penny, trying to meet her eyes.

She didn't. She seemed to be purposely avoiding him.

And Sheldon couldn't help but wonder if she suspected that the research he was about to be credited for wasn't his.

But how would she know?

Then Sheldon remembered the text Lacey had sent him once, even though it seemed so long ago when she had texted him.

'I see a Nobel coming your way!'

Was this all Lacey's doing? Was Sheldon only winning a Nobel because Lacey wanted him to?

Looking a Penny, who still wouldn't meet his eyes, Sheldon was having a hard time fighting the guilt.

Lacey needed a break. When she was alive, she enjoyed going to a spa for a back massage. She wouldn't go for the whole facial treatment. Why would she? She was a scientist when she was alive, and scientists had better things to focus on then her beauty.

But ever since she died, well, more accurately, ever since she had regained her totem, she had gained a new type of relaxation.

Visiting her sister's granddaughter.

Lacey had never been one for children, but visiting her eight-year-old great-niece had struck something in her. When she had visited her sister's daughter, her niece, there hadn't been much of a connection. Elizabeth had screamed, and called for her mother. Lacey had tried to explain to her that she meant no harm, that she just wanted to see her niece, but Lillian had come in and it had all gone downhill from there, with her ending up in the tabloids.

Now, Elizabeth had grown up and married, and soon, Lillian was a grandmother. When Robin had been born, Lacey had wanted to see her from the minute she saw her. She refrained from visiting Robin for years, but when the girl turned four, she had seen Lacey by accident.

It had happened when Lacey had left her totem in the child's bedroom in order to follow a lead on John's wherabouts. She had returned when she had thought the child was asleep, and had walked through her bedroom walls in her ghost form, retrieved her locket, and had materialized in her solid form. When she had turned around, there Robin was, sitting up in her bed, eyes wide, and Lacey had known she had seen everything. She was considering knocking her out, when Robin had asked, in a voice that sounded frightened, yet, but slightly intrigued.

"How did you manage to walk through walls?"

Lacey, not knowing what to do, answered Robin honestly. What else could she have done? But Robin had excitedly crawled out of bed and stared up at her dead great-aunt in wonder.

"Would you like to meet Scampers? He's my cat. I think you'd like him. You seem like the type of person who would like cats." She had said it like she was making a new friend. Lacey wanted to laugh at the girl's stupidity and trusting personality, when she was dragged off to meet Scampers.

Scampers hadn't liked Lacey much. His fur had spiked up and he had hissed, but that hadn't fazed Robin. After meeting the cat, she made Lacey meet all of her stuffed animals. Lacey eventually insisted that she had to go and Robin had given her a hug, surprising the crap out of her.

"Promise you'll come back?" She had asked, giving her the puppy dog eyes.

Damn those puppy dog eyes. Lacey had promised, not intending to keep that promise, but somehow ended up back with Robin's dolls. That's when she knew she was doomed. Robin had won her heart. She would never in a million years admit it, but Robin became a new reason for her to stay as a ghost on earth. And while she tried to keep Robin strictly a pastime and nothing more, Lacey would always find herself wandering over to Robin's bedroom for teatime with the little girl's stuffed animals. Naturally, Lacey kept everything else that she did when she wasn't with her niece a secret from the girl, because in her heart she knew the truth-if Robin found out her aunt was a murderer, she would run away with fear. And Lacey would fall apart.

But what happened next almost did the same thing. A year ago, Robin was diagnosed with lung cancer.

Lung cancer. The same disease that killed Lacey's mother was now plaguing her one source of happiness as a spirit. The same disease that Lacey had vowed to find a cure for in honor of her mother, but didn't live long enough to. It was the sickest, sickest irony there ever was. And just like when her mother was diagnosed, Lacey was powerless to stop it.

All she could do was sneak into the Children's Ward at Glendora Hospital.

Robin's beautiful hair, her brown hair that was as soft as a wren's feathers was shaved down to her scalp. There were machines and moniters surrounding the girl, who had grown skinny during her time at the hospital. When Lacey walked into her room dressed in a nurse's uniform as not to arouse suspision, she shuddered at the sight of Robin propped up against a few pillows, lying in her hospital bed, with a bony figure and wires sticking out of her arms, coloring in a Disney Princess coloring book.

"Hi Robin!" She said as cheerfully as she could.

Robin looked up from her picture of Belle, and a wide, toothy smile spread across her face. "Aunt Lacey! You came to visit me!" She wheezed a little as she spoke those words. Then her face frowned. "Why haven't you visited me in the hospital before?"

"I'm sorry, but I had...um...ghost stuff to take care of." Lacey walked over and sat on the edge of Robin's bed. "I'll visit you more, I promise."

Robin kept frowning. "It's because I look bad, isn't it?"

"No, no, you look fine," Lacey reassured her.

"I'm bald." Robin crossed her arms and sulked.

"And you still look like a princess." Lacey pointed at Robin's coloring.

"You think?" Robin's face brightened.

"I know. I bet all the other patients are jealous of how lovely you look." Reassurance. One of the many things Lacey had learned from her time as a ghost, from her time with Robin. She herself believed she had gotten pretty good at it.

Robin flushed, a grin wide on her face. "You're really pretty too."

"Thank you Robin." Lacey let the compliment wash over her.

"No, really." Robin thought for a moment. "Did you ever have a boyfriend?"

Lacey's nose wrinkled. Her eyes narrowed at the thought of John.

"No," She said sharply.

"Really? Did you ever want to?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Why did that kid ask so many questions? Lacey took a deep breath. "Because I didn't care. And now that I'm dead, it's not possible for me to be in a commited relationship with anyone."

Robin nodded slowly. "Okay then." She ran a hand over her shaved head. "Y'know, I didn't want to be bald, but my hair was falling out. Mommy decided it would be easier for me just to go bald. She says that all cancer patients do it."

"It's no big deal," Lacey reassured her. "Your hair will grow back as soon as you get better."

Robin bit her lip. She shifted in her chair uncomfortably, like she was keeping a secret.

"What's wrong?" Lacey clasped her hands together and stared intensely at her niece, watching for any signs of dishonesty.

"I..." Robin's lip trembled slightly. "I don't think I'll be getting better." Her breathing quickened, and one of the monitors started to beep.

The words cut deep into Lacey, and she felt like someone had just thrown a shoe at her.

"What do mean?" Lacey snapped, harsher than she meant to.

Robin blanched. "I-I-I don't think I'm going to get better," She whispered. "I heard Mommy and Daddy talking with the doctor, and the doctor said I might not make it." The little girl was full-on wheezing now.

"What do you mean you won't make it?! Of course you'll make it! Don't be ridiculous!" Was the doctor really stupid enough to let an eight-year-old with cancer hear him telling her parents that she might not beat cancer? Of course Robin would make it!

"It's what the doctor said," Robin's hand shook. "I can hardly walk anymore, Aunt Lacey. I'm starting to have trouble breathing. But...at least I can turn into a ghost and be with you." Her breathing calmed down.

"No! You can't be a ghost, Robin!" Lacey said harshly.

"W-why not?" Now the wheezing was coming back.

Lacey hesitated. Dammit, how could she explain this? How could she tell the girl who had no clue what really went on in the world the truth about how it was torturous to live as a spirit-how every day Lacey wished that she would have just gone to the Afterlife where she belonged. She could have been with her mother, could have actually met her. How couls she explain to a girl who might be dying of cancer how hard it was to let go of a whole life when you made yourself visit it every day?

"It's complicated," She said finally.

"But I could be with you! I can see Mommy and Daddy, and Grandma. I can go on ghost adventures with you!"

"Being a ghost isn't like that Robin. It's-" Lacey stopped abruptly. What was she doing, telling Robin what it was like to be a ghost? Robin wasn't going to die! Lacey couldn't ever picture Robin dying, slowly fading away from cancer, and she damn well couldn't picture it now.

"You. Will. Not. Die." Lacey spoke each word as firmly as she could. "I promise."

"Nurse?" Lacey wanted to strangle the man in the doctor's coat who stared at her quizzically. "Miss Robin has to take her medications now. Why haven't you taken care of that yet?"

"I'm visiting," Lacey scowled at him, and turned back to her niece.

"I'll visit you again soon," She promised.

Robin smiled. "I hope you do. Here, this is for you." She tore out the page in her coloring book, and wrote 'To:Aunt Lacey;Love From-Robin S."

Lacey took the picture, and shot Robin a smile. "Thank you. I love it."

"Nurse, either you give her the pills, or leave."

Lacey glared at the doctor. "Give her them yourself!" She snapped. She stood up, and waved a goodbye to Robin, and left.

Robin won't die, she told herself. She won't.

Lacey took another look at the coloring book picture that Robin had given her. The image showed Belle and the Beast doing a waltz, while the candlestick and the clock watched. Robin had colored perfectly inside the lines, but she had made Belle's hair caramel-colored instead of brown, and her dress scarlet instead of yellow.

For a minute, Lacey stared at the picture of Belle's hand clasping the Beast, and for a split second, Sheldon's face crossed her mind.

Sheldon.

Her break was over. Lacey had work to do. She folded the colored page neatly and put it in her pocket for safekeeping.

A/N-Sorry for not updating sooner! Hope you all understand! Reviews are very much appreciated, and I'm hoping for a lot of 'em!
Honestly, I had no idea Robin would enter this story, but I realized, judging by the reviews, that people were seeing more of Lacey's bad side then her good side, so I wanted her to have a little bit of good in her, at least. FYI, pretty much most of my OC's end up being evil, or complicated, or have serious issues. Seriously, why can I only write complicated characters? Eh, goody-two-shoes characters are boring anyway. So you won't get any Mary-Sues from me, thank you very much.
Why am I rambling on about this?
Anyway, review please!