The nurse 'escorted' Raj back to his exam room and then closed the room door. The man was concerned about his friend and that was commendable but from what she'd heard from the doctors who were discussing the results of their initial exams, both scientists had been exposed to unknown amounts of radiation and gamma rays and were under strict quarantine pending further tests.

Priya was pacing back and forth and finally Penny grabbed her and sat her down. She was driving her nuts with her pacing and muttering in Hindi. She suggested that Priya distract herself and tell her all about her relationship with Sheldon.

"It is not as it seems, Penny. I was trapped into an 'arranged marriage' by my parents. The man is ancient and I've only met him once when I was a child and he was old even then."

"My God, do people still do that? What about love, Priya? You marry someone you don't know and you're expected to be a wife and bear his children and you don't really know him let alone love him?"

"India has a much lower divorce rate than in most western countries. It's just that…I have a career and I will only marry for love."

"So where does Sheldon come in to the picture?"

Penny laughed so hard she nearly fell off the hard plastic chair in the ER waiting room. Priya's description of Sheldon's reaction had started her giggling but the comments Priya and Sheldon had thrown back and forth at one another were giving her fits of laughter.

"So you blurted out 'Dr. Sheldon Cooper'? Wow, talk about brain farts!" She was laughing so hard she was afraid she'd pee her pants.

"Penny, it's not funny. His was the only name I could think of. I feel so guilty for using his family against him but Rajesh told me it would be the only way and I was desperate to avoid my parents' selection of a husband."

"But Priya, why didn't you just tell them 'no, I don't love him, he's old, and I'll only marry someone I love'?"

"I was raised to obey my parents in such things and besides, I owe them so much for what they've enabled me to do. I could not say 'no' in good conscience."

"So how did the great introduction on skype go?"

"My mother was suspicious since we seemed so rigid and uncomfortable with each other. She thought we were fighting and so, to calm her fears and further distract her…I kissed him."

"O-M-G! You kissed him? What – what was his reaction? I'll bet he didn't have a clue how to handle that situation."

"He – he kissed me back after just a moment's hesitation. He has 'clues', Penny, and he's so subtle and when he kissed me back…"

"He kissed you back? – we are talking about Sheldon, right?" She didn't like the look on Priya's face when she was talking about 'The Kiss' like it was sacred or holy or something and she was in the throes of rapture.

"It was like I was the only woman in the world and his only purpose was that one kiss." She sighed and Penny went into a mental funk.

Sheldon could not have feelings for Priya 'Vampire Woman' Koothrappali, he just couldn't! She had no clue why she felt the way she did, just that – holy crap on a cracker – she was jealous!

"It felt like he was worshipping my lips with his lips and tongue and – "

"Tongue? Sheldon Cooper, who goes through hand sanitizer like I go through moisturizer, used his tongue?"

Priya nodded her head, still somewhat dazed looking. "And it was like being made love to with just a kiss. Penny, were he not such a conceited, arrogant, narcissistic and selfishly 'advanced' Neanderthal…"

"What?" She wanted to know but didn't. It was like wanting shoes but knowing her electric bill was due.

"I would take him to my bed and see what else he can grow adept at doing. Such focus…such concentration…"

Penny had a vivid imagination and it just went into warp, imagining her and Sheldon in her bed.

"Enough, Priya, enough. I get the picture. I've seen him stare at an equation on a white board for hours and hours and never even acknowledge the rest of the world. His focus is legendary."

His 'legendary focus' had apparently abandoned him. He was having difficulty concentrating and every time he moved his head he had to close his eyes because of the vertigo he experienced.

"Dr. Cooper, can you tell me the date? Who is the President of the United States? What state were you born in? Where do you work? Do you know - "

"Enough! It is April 18, 1868. The President of the US is Andrew Johnson. I was born in the Republic of Texas and I work for the Vicksburg & Shreveport Railway as an engineer on a 14-wheeled steam locomotive manufactured by Babcock & Wilcox of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania."

The doctor turned pasty white and scribbled some notes hastily on a clipboard and then took out a cell phone and made a call for a psych evaluation.

Sheldon looked up at him with a crafty smile. "Bazinga! My name is Dr. Sheldon Cooper. The current president is Barak Obama. I am a theoretical particle physicist at CalTech where my colleague and I were recently blown through a wall and into a corridor after an unfocused COIL-Gas laser fired prematurely. How is our project? You know it as 'Dr. Winkle'? She was behind the shields operating the system to test and validate her programming."

"I do not find that one bit funny, Dr. Cooper. However, since the MRI and other tests show no injuries or anomalies, we're discharging you to bed rest at your residence for at least 72-hours." He scribbled notes on his chart and then wrote a prescription for muscle relaxants. He figured that the 'Joker' would appreciate them once the pain and stiffness set in.

"And Dr. Koothrappali and Subject Winkle?"

"Dr. Koothrappali is explaining something to his lawyer and Dr. Winkle is being kept overnight for observation."

"You should run a full body scan on her. You'll be surprised at how far the science of robotics has come. For example, she requires doses of Castor Oil several times a day in order to prevent the overheating of certain hydraulic systems and don't be one bit alarmed if she denies it. She or more accurately, it, is the hush-hush secret project we've been working on for the Marines. She believes she's human. Why, she can even produce tears!"

The doctor had heard about a 'secret project' being run out of CalTech, but a robot?

"Surely you're kidding me – again? A robot? That's a human being cussing and threatening to de-ball her doctor!"

"First, don't call me Shirley, and second, a robot is hardly descriptive of a corbomite alloy skeleton mimicking actual bone covered in synthetic 'skin' that resembles human tissue except under the strongest electron microscope and a brain that performs exactly like a human brain until it's mission programming kicks in."

"Keep her quiet and I'll have someone bring a truck by from the Project and fetch her tomorrow. Oh, and do not believe a single thing she says. She's programmed to be duplicitous and divisive. She was designed to infiltrate and destabilize enemy units. Her designation is 'Bitch Mark-1'."

"Very well. We'll keep her in the detention wing until a representative comes to pick her up. You can rest assured that I won't say a word about the secret you've shared with me. Thank you for trusting me."

"Just remember, 1 - 2 ounces of Castor Oil by mouth every few hours or she'll freeze up and screech like a howler monkey."

Author's Note: From Wikipedia - It is not a preferred treatment, because it can produce painful cramps, fecal incontinence and explosive diarrhea. Its action can go on for hours, sometimes unpredictably and powerfully causing an involuntary bowel movement at inconvenient locations and during sleep.

Just sayin'

"I've noted your instructions on its chart. Can I do anything else for you, Dr. Cooper?"

"Yes. I would like copies of my MRI as well as that of the cyborg – for security and comparative purposes, of course."

"Of course. I'll have copies made to disc and have then delivered by bonded courier."

"Excellent!"