A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while – I've had exams and such. And then I was exhausted :) Oh, and Sheldon may seem a little out of character at some points of this chapter, but remember he's sad and afraid.

Chapter Fourteen: The Waiting Game

It has been the longest day of Sheldon's life.

Alright, technically speaking it has been the same length as any other day, but he feels as though he has been waiting at the hospital for years rather than hours. And he knows the coming night will last just as long.

"She'll be fine," the doctors have assured him, "she just needs some time to recover."

"She'll be fine," Olive has convinced him, "but you need some sleep."

"She'll be fine," his mother has told him, "I'll wait here. You go home and get some rest."

And now he is lying here in the dark, alongside his new wife and one of the only two people in the world who understands him, having been reminded of the fragility of life. Sure, he's had his fair share of accidents; particularly lab accidents. He spent his childhood in and out of hospitals. But the length of his life has never seemed particularly important when compared to the contribution to science he can make whilst living it.

He turns over to look at Olive. She looks so different when she's asleep. He can't even think about losing her again. His mind drifts back to his grandmother, lying in the hospital. Is she lying awake too? Impossible, his brain informs him, she'll be heavily sedated. Fast asleep. Alone.

XXX

Olive isn't really surprised when she wakes up the following morning and finds that Shelly is gone. She knows him. Of course he's not going to listen to instructions at a time like this – especially when those instructions are keeping him away from his Meemaw.

She slides out of the bed and staggers, still half-asleep, to the wardrobe. She blearily pulls out a pair of jeans and a cosy Super Mario hoodie, flicks on her travel iPod dock. Sa Dingding's Blue Horse begins to play quietly as she readies herself to face what she knows will be a long day.

After she has brushed out her long hair and tied it into its usual plaits, she takes a minute to steady herself. Lucille is a sweet, kind old lady. Shelly is a surprisingly sensitive physicist. The Coopers are a close and caring family. It's not fair that something like this should happen to them, and Olive knows that there is going to be a lot of emotion in the house today (not to mention a lot of prayer).

She turns off the dock and hurries downstairs, wondering vaguely if there have been any developments during the night and, less importantly, what there is for breakfast. Penny is sitting at the breakfast counter in the kitchen, wearing skimpy pyjamas and fuzzy slippers, sipping at a mug of coffee and reading a glossy magazine. Leonard, fully dressed, is sitting beside her with a copy of Wired, eating a bowl of cereal. There is something companionable and very couple-y about the scene, and Olive decides to leave them to it.

She wanders down the corridor and finds Mary Cooper curled in an armchair, sitting across from a woman she hasn't seen before. Actually…maybe she has. Olive recognises that pink t-shirt, that black leather jacket. She recognises that soft hair, soft skin, soft eyes…

It's not just the woman who came late to her wedding.

"Mom?"

"Hey Olive."

Olive blinks at her uncomprehendingly.

"What are you doing here?"

Alice Morrison looks at her daughter, searches her familiar features. She hasn't seen her in about a year, maybe less, but it feels like so much longer.

"Honey, you were getting married," she says carefully.

"I didn't send you an invite."

Alice flinches at her icy tone. Olive stares straight at her, stonily. Alice wants desperately to convey how much she loves her daughter, how much she wanted to be present on her wedding day, how much it hurt her when she didn't receive an invitation.

"I'll just…get out of your way." Alice watches the kind Cooper woman depart wistfully. She has spent her whole life fighting for the cause, ever since she saw Mary Poppins as a little girl and heard those immortal lyrics – Well done, sister suffragettes. It has never seemed like a waste before. But now she realises she would trade it all to have what Mary Cooper has – a big and loving family.

"How did you find out, anyway?" Olive asks frostily, crossing her long, pale arms across her chest.

"A blog," Alice admits, "uh…someone called Leonard Hofstadter."

Silently, Olive curses the short physicist.

"I still don't understand why you came."

"You're my daughter," Alice urges, letting herself fall onto a big, squashy sofa, "I wanted to see you get married."

"But you never wanted to see me graduate?" Olive explodes, curling her hands into fists to stop them from shaking so much. "You didn't want to see me play the violin when I got that solo in the school orchestra? After I gave up everything and left with you, just because you're my mom, you weren't there to comfort me when I was sad about leaving Sheldon!"

"It was just a little crush, honey…" But Alice knows it's too late for excuses.

"A little-," Olive can't believe what she's hearing, "did you know, mom, that Sheldon Cooper is the man I just married?" She turns on her heel and flees the room, desperately blinking back tears.

Alice is left in the small, cosy living room, alone. There are crayola drawings on the walls, framed photographs of babies and gap-toothed kids.

"No, I didn't know that," she says quietly, to no one but herself, and then she breaks down.

XXX

Got to find him, got to find him right now.

She pushes through another set of double doors, finds herself in a corridor that looks exactly the same as the last three she's been through. Wheels around, almost falls into a heavily pregnant woman. She's suddenly surrounded by people, and the whole room is spinning.

No. No. Keep it together. Find him.

She runs, doesn't care about the stares she's attracting. Takes a left, then a right, then two more lefts, just like the receptionist said. Yes, that's it! That's the right unit! She finds the ward they are keeping Lucille in and, after taking a deep breath, steps inside.

Fifteen minutes until the end of visiting time, and he is right there, just like she knew he would be. He is sitting by Lucille's side, holding her small hand in his own, spiderlike fingers. Olive approaches them slowly, carefully. She sees that Lucille is still unconscious.

"Hey Shellybear."

He looks up. Her face is red, like Missy used to look after she'd been crying, and her hair is messy. And her hands are shaking a little.

"Olive," he's sure his voice must express his concern.

"How is she?" She asks.

"Stable," he says quietly, "are you alright?"

"Been better," she gulps down another lungful of air and walks around the bed to him, "it's been a rough day."

"Yes, it has." Sheldon looks down at his grandmother, and offers his free hand to Olive, who takes it gratefully. "But the doctors say she'll be able to come home soon."

"Are you doing alright, Shelly?" She asks genuinely.

"She's my grandmother."

That's all the explanation Olive needs, but he's not finished.

"Olive, I wish to name our first daughter Lucille." He doesn't lift his eyes from his Meemaw while he says it. Olive's heart pounds a little.

"Of course, Shelly," she leans down and kisses him gently, "that's a perfect name."

But one small word that her brain hadn't registered before suddenly becomes clear.

"Wait, first?"

"Yes, first." He is totally serious, as always. Olive can't stop herself from giggling, just a little.

"I love you, Shelly."