Penny signed Sheldon out of the hospital and he was mostly silent as she did this. He only spoke up to say a random fact about hospitals or to criticise an aspect of the hospital. What Penny wanted to know was how Sheldon had gotten unconscious in the first place. Sheldon had already given a report to the police but she wanted to hear the story from his own mouth. She was sure that it had something to do with Amy, who she couldn't help but hate due to jealousy. She now actually understood the feeling Leonard felt towards Sheldon throughout the past few years.
Sheldon got into Penny's car and she began to drive.
"You missed the road to go to Caltech." Sheldon criticised.
"I'm taking you home." Penny told him.
"I can't go home!" Sheldon disagreed. "I've missed days at work! I need to continue finding topics for my new paper!"
Penny felt a wave of confusion from that statement because he'd already decided to write about parallel universes, but she didn't bother to argue and continued to drive to their apartment
"Please take me to work!" Sheldon exclaimed. She shook her head to represent no.
"Please, Penny." He begged. She saw Sheldon would be persistent.
"Fine!" Penny said. "But no working overtime and you're going home with me at 5pm!"
"I agree to that!" Sheldon said. "Not that it would matter. I don't ever work overtime."
"Well you've been working overtime the past few days." Penny argued with his statement.
"I've been missing for days!" Sheldon argued "Haven't you been missing me?"
"I've been missing you but not because you've been missing." Penny explained.
"Why have you been missing me then?"
"Because you've been hanging out with Amy Farrah Fowler all the time." Penny stated like it was obvious.
"The monkey biologist?" Sheldon questioned "I've seen her at work a few times but I've never spent time with her or even talked to her..."
"Did something happen to your brain when you were unconscious?" Penny asked "Because I've seen you talking to her. I saw you at her house!"
"Nothing is wrong with my brain. Dr. Sweeny said everything was fine." Sheldon stated. "And I've never been to her house."
Penny's mind was running in circles. She had no idea why Sheldon was being dismissive of Amy and it was starting to annoy her. She needed more information. "Can you explain what happened to you that made you unconscious?"
"Of course." Sheldon said. "After being applauded for my paper disproving String Theory I was struggling to find a new direction for my next paper. Last Wednesday I was making no progress and decided to go for a walk to clear my thoughts. When I returned you, Raj and Howard had all left the university. My office door was locked and this made me feel very confused. Then I felt foolish because I remembered that I forgot my keys and left them in my office which meant I had locked myself out. I'd decided I had no choice but to go home. I forced myself to travel on the bus and on the way there…" he paused. "…my memory is blurry from there."
"Tell me what you know." Penny said.
"I think my memory is faded because I recall being drugged. I remember being taken to someone's house and they were angry that I disproved String Theory because they'd been working on it for years. They beat me up and locked me in a room. I escaped last night but because of my lack of food I must have collapsed." He continued to explain.
"You have to be lying." Penny said "You didn't disappear on Wednesday. I've seen you since then. Heck, if you want more proof: Howard, Raj and Leonard have all seen you since Wednesday."
"That is odd." Sheldon thought aloud. "For the first time in my life my eidetic memory is failing me."
Penny thought for a second. Maybe Sheldon wasn't as fine as Dr. Sweeny thought.
"I recall a neuroscience article where I read…" Penny began thinking of a reason before Sheldon interrupted.
"Please do not badger me with insignificant brain nonsense!" Sheldon argued.
Penny sighed. When did Sheldon become so annoying? Was it when he began hanging out with Amy?
"I think you might have a memory gap." Penny said quickly before Sheldon could stop her again.
"Explain your hypothesis." Sheldon requested.
"Well I think whatever happened to you caused you to forget things. There is a gap in your memory between Wednesday where you remember taking a walk and last night where you must've returned to your locked office and found no one to take you home, so you took the bus." Penny explained.
"I don't know…" Sheldon thought. "I definitely spent a few days in that kidnapper's house…"
"Clearly you think it was longer than it was, because of the pain you felt." Penny justified.
Sheldon shook his head. "I can't believe that is true..."
"SHELDON!" Penny exclaimed. "CAN YOU PLEASE STOP ARGUING WITH ME! I'M TRYING TO HELP YOU!"
"Okay Penny. I'll stop." Sheldon said "On a side note, are you menstruating? Would explain your anger…"
Suddenly Penny indicated and stopped at the side of road in a fit of anger.
"GET OUT!" she shouted.
"Penny. I don't understand." Sheldon looked hurt.
"I don't have the emotional energy to deal with your s-word right now!" Penny exclaimed "So, walk to work!"
"Well I guess that answers my question." Sheldon said. He unbuckled his seatbelt and got out the car.
Penny continued to drive to Caltech but did so angrily which meant she was not noticing that she was speeding and getting overly annoyed at everyone on the road.
She didn't understand what was happening with her and Sheldon. When had Sheldon become such a hassle for her? Or maybe she hadn't realised that he was a hassle until he began hanging out with Amy?
#
Amy walked down to the lobby of the science building that Penny worked in and waited for Penny to return. Sheldon was in Amy's office waiting for Amy to find out from Penny whether the 'other' Sheldon had returned. Eventually Amy saw Penny walk into the building. She saw a look of anger on her face.
"Good morning, Penny." Amy made it look like she was walking somewhere and not waiting for her.
"What now?" Penny questioned with a scowl.
"I just wanted to greet you." Amy looked down. "I know you don't like me that much but I thought it'd be good to act civil."
"At any other time I would agree!" Penny began to explain angrily. "But my stupid boyfriend is annoying and I am only realising it now!"
"How so?" Amy asked.
"Well, I was driving him home from the hospital because he was found unconscious." Penny began to explain. Amy's eyes widened in shock. This meant the other Sheldon was here. "I kept trying to help but he kept arguing with me. I threw him out the car and made him walk."
Amy began breathing faster than she should have. "So where is he now?" Amy asked.
"Still walking here I assume!" Penny said.
"Ok, great." Amy smiled.
"Great?" Penny asked with confusion.
"I mean… well…." Amy tried to think of a lie. "… well… I need to go to my office to work. I'll see you later." Amy turned quickly and walked hastily away from Penny. Penny was too angry to care about this odd interaction and stormed off to her laboratory.
#
"Ok I just returned all of the 'other' Sheldon's items to his office." Amy told Sheldon.
Sheldon had transferred any documents he'd made since arriving to Amy's computer and then wiped the other Sheldon's computer of anything that had been done since he'd arrived. Even the clothes he was wearing that dsy, which belonged to the other Sheldon was returned. Luckily Sheldon had the clothes he wore when he arrived with him for safekeeping so he was now wearing those.
"So now I need to sneak out the building." Sheldon said. "But how! Someone will see me!"
"Dave is parked in the parking lot. We'll just have to walk out the building like nothing is wrong. And when doing so we won't go near the physics department." Amy explained.
"Great plan." Sheldon said sarcastically. "Walk around and hope nothing goes wrong."
"We'll have you got anything better, Mr. Genius?" Amy asked.
Sheldon thought for a second but shook his head. "No." he said. "And also, it is Dr. Genius."
"Let's go then!" Amy gestured to the door. She looked in the hallway outside her lab and saw no one walking around. Amy walked out and Sheldon followed. Amy walked in front of Sheldon so she could warn him if someone like Penny or Leonard was walking down the hallway. Sheldon checked behind him every 20 seconds to do the same thing.
The two were very lucky. There were some people walking down the hallways but they were either biologists or administrators who did not recognise Sheldon. The two had made it to the building's exit. Amy walked out and checked for anyone and then gestured for Sheldon to walk out of the building. The two walked to the parking lot where they saw Dave's car parked and they got inside it. Amy and Sheldon both breathed a sigh of relief when they finally sat in the car.
"A pleasure to drive you Dr Cooper." Dave smiled.
"Please just drive to your university Dave!" Amy demanded. Dave turned on the car and began to drive. She turned to Sheldon. "When we arrive at his university, you and Dave will go to his lab. I will drive back here and collect all your equipment and boxes for the generator." She explained. Sheldon nodded at the instructions.
The car had stopped at an intersection, with a stop sign, that connected the university's roads to a main road. Dave stopped and began to look left and right. There was a lot of traffic so he had to stop and wait.
Suddenly Sheldon's mind began to panic. Walking down the main road and towards the university was a man who looked very familiar. The man looked exactly like the person who he saw everyday in the mirror. Also the man was walking towards the car and he was staring intently at it like he'd seen something suspicious. Sheldon began to breath in and out as he thought of what to do. He decided to duck his head so he couldn't see him through the windows.
"What is wrong?" Amy asked.
"Look to your right." Sheldon whispered to her. She turned to see Sheldon Cooper walking towards them with a look of purpose on his face.
"I know myself." Sheldon said. "I probably won't hesitate to go up to a car if I think I saw something odd."
"We have to drive!" Amy demanded.
"We have to wait for the traffic, Amy!" Dave said. "I don't think we need to die over this!"
Amy saw in the distance that there was a space in the traffic but also that this universe's Sheldon was getting closer.
Parallel Universe Sheldon was a few metres away from the car when the gap in traffic came along. Dave put his foot on the accelerator quickly and drove away. Sheldon waited for about half a minute before sitting up again. Amy, Dave and Sheldon's hearts were all beating at a fast pace due the commotion.
"That was so close!" Amy said in between panicked breaths.
"We almost got caught." Sheldon said. "But we made it. Thank you Dave for getting us out of there."
"No problems Sheldon Cooper." He smiled. "A thank you from you is like adulation from a God."
"Okay, Dave." Amy couldn't help but laugh at his comment. "Your fanboy comments are getting creepy."
"It is okay Amy." Sheldon said. "I love praise." Amy kept laughing.
The car continued to drive until it reached Dave's university.
#
Leonard knocked on Penny's laboratory door and waited for her to open it. When she did, he saw an annoyed expression on her face.
"If you don't want to see me I can come back at a better time." Leonard told her.
Instead of telling him to go away Penny smiled. "Oh don't worry. I thought you'd be someone else." She gestured to the inside of her office and Leonard walked in.
"How was your trip to the hospital?" Leonard asked.
"Well Sheldon was unconscious because someone drugged and beat him up." Penny told him.
"Was he okay?" Leonard asked with concern.
"He was fine. Fine enough to make me angry at him." Penny told him.
"How so?" Leonard queried.
"He began to argue with me anytime I tried to help." Penny explained "So I threw him out the car and told him to walk." Leonard couldn't help but giggle at this.
"Well I'm sure he was fine." Leonard said. "I saw him with Amy Farrah Fowler earlier and they were chatting like they'd known each other for years."
"So he has arrived back." Penny thought aloud.
"You went and came back very quickly." Leonard added. "I was afraid you'd sped there and back."
Penny shrugged. "I didn't speed there but I did go through an orange light even though I probably shouldn't have." She told him. "I was worried about Sheldon. But now I'm just angry at him so I did speed when I drove back"
"Well if you need someone to talk to, I am here for you." Leonard offered.
"Excuse me!" someone said loudly behind them. The two of them turned and saw Sheldon Cooper at Penny's door. "What is this troglodyte doing in your lab?!"
"Hello Sheldon. Please interrupt my nice conversation with Leonard with pointless yelling!" Penny exclaimed sarcastically.
"Do you even remember what this sorry excuse for a man has done over the course of our relationship?!" Sheldon argued. "He shouldn't be anywhere near you!"
"I'm am deeply sorry Sheldon." Leonard said sincerely. "I was an angry fool. I was jealous that you were with Penny and I tormented you and I deeply regret it. Please let us be friends again. Like we were before."
Sheldon shook his head. "I refuse to let you be the bigger man. And because I don't want to forgive you, this argument is over!"
"Sheldon!" Penny said. "Be nice!"
"And what if I don't?" he asked.
Penny gulped. "then… then… then I'll break up with you."
Sheldon's eyes opened with shock. "Fine! I forgive Leonard!" he said but Penny could tell he didn't mean it. "Anyways I came here to talk to you about something important Penny."
"What?" Penny asked with anger.
"When I was walking to Caltech I saw something odd." He told her. "I saw me."
"What do you mean?" Leonard asked.
"Stay out of this shorty!" Sheldon demanded.
"What do you mean?" Penny instead asked.
"I saw me in a car. I was sitting down in the backseat and when I saw me I ducked down to stop me from seeing me. Does that make sense?"
Penny shook her head. "No."
"Typical." He shook his head. "Experimental physicists and their smaller brains…!"
"GET OUT OF HERE SHELDON!" Penny shouted.
"But don't you think it is odd…"
"You probably were hallucinating or something…." Leonard suggested. "You were probably still a bit rattled from the hospital…"
"No! I saw me!"
"See what I mean about the arguing." Penny said to Leonard and Leonard nodded. Penny then walked straight up to Sheldon.
"Are you going to kiss me?" Sheldon asked. "I've missed that…"
"No! I want you to leave my office!" Penny said. "And if you don't, I am calling campus security."
Sheldon didn't move so Penny gave him her angriest glare. He felt scared so he turned and walked out. "That woman is menstruating. I knew it!" Penny could hear him say as he left. As soon as he left the office Penny knelt down on the floor and began to cry. Leonard knelt down with her and gave her a hug.
"What has happened?" Penny asked. "Why am I so annoyed at him? Why do I want to just snap him in two and never talk to him again?"
"I think you need some space from him." Leonard suggested. "Maybe you need to take a break. To step away and evaluate the relationship from the outside."
"That is a good idea Leonard." She said. "Thankyou. I love having you as my friend again." Leonard hugged Penny tighter. Suddenly Penny was overtaken by feelings. She saw how caring Leonard was being towards her. She leant towards Leonard and was about to put her lips on his. Leonard reactively pulled away before she could kiss him.
"I'm sorry Penny." He said. "I can't do that to Sheldon."
Penny realised what she had just done and kept crying. Had she just ruined her new friendship with Leonard?
"I should go." Leonard said as he stood up. "I have to continue the work for the Chemistry department."
"Okay..." Penny said in-between tears.
Leonard took a deep breath and saw that Penny should not be left alone, not in this state.
"Do you want to come with me?" he offered. "You can come along and watch how I do my financial work. Get your mind off this Sheldon debacle."
Penny stood up. "Okay, Leonard." She said as she wiped a tear from her face. "And I'm sorry for what I just tried to do."
"Let's not speak of it." He said. "Okay?"
"Okay." Penny agreed. The two walked out and towards the Chemistry department.
Wow. What a whirlwind of a chapter. I had so much fun writing this. The new Sheldon causes some trouble. Penny seems to be confused about her emotions and how she now feels about Sheldon. And then she tries to kiss Leonard. And Sheldon saw Sheldon. What will he try to do about it? And can our Sheldon make it home to his universe and to his Amy?
Thank you for reading. I appreciate all the reviews. I was thinking it is like Sheldon in The Champagne Reflection where he reads a small comment about Fun with Flags and gets really excited. Also I begin university again today. This will unfortunately mean less often updates. It makes me sad but my university work comes first. But I still hope to write when I can. If you wish to leave feedback please review, favourite and/or follow. Thank you all again.
Clint Cooper.