CHAPTER 20

"I'm so glad we stopped for a moment to buy those donuts! Mmm ... I was so hungry" Amy said as she took the last sip of her hot cocoa. "You like sweets, don't you?" Amy asked her little homo - novus as she sat on the car seat.

"Of course you like sweets, just like your dad." Amy buckled her seatbelt and gently stroked her belly. "I know we are in May and he only drinks chocolate in months with an R, but we won't say anything". Amy smiled at the memory of Sheldon. Without wasting any time she started the car. She was anxious to go home.

"I'd like to congratulate you. You behaved extremely well during this trip, except for the morning sickness but I got used to it already". Amy was talking enthusiastically with her baby. "I'm sure you like Aunt Marion. I told you so! She is the best".

Amy often chatted with her baby for a long time, as if they were best friends, as if that little creature could listen and even answer. In this way she didn't feel lonely when she was away from Sheldon and Nicky. Amy could say to her baby, so many things she might not dare to tell other people.

"Too bad your grandmother has been in such a bad mood. She's gone through many difficult things lately. My mother is concerned about Aunt Marion's illness and she's missing Nicky". Amy told her baby. "It is understandable that she was so irritable. Although I think she should get to know your dad a little better before she judges him."

When they reached a traffic light , Amy checked her watch. It was nearly 9 pm and there was not much traffic on the way home, so hopefully they'd get to Pasadena before eleven pm. Amy turned on the radio.

"Your daddy doesn't allow music in the car because he says it's a distraction. But he's not here!" Amy turned up the volume of the radio. "How about if we listen to some music? Maybe… Neil Diamond? Nicky and I really like him."

'Sweet Caroline' was playing on the radio and Amy was driving to the rhythm of the songs of her favorite artist. She was happy because she'd be home soon.

"I love this movie and I can't wait for the next one." Leonard looked intensely at the TV screen. "But, the book is always better".

Leonard and Penny were sitting on the couch watching one of their favorite movies: 'The Hunger Games'.

After taking Nicky and Sheldon to the hospital, and making sure that father and son were safe and sound; Penny and Leonard decided to stay in their apartment and try to relax while watching a movie.

"Well, I haven't read the book but in the movie Gale and Peeta are really cute". Penny smiled flirty as she snuggled in Leonard's arms.

"So, you think they're really cute ... uh?" Leonard looked at her, pretending to be jealous.

"Yes, but they're not as cute as my husband". Penny gave Leonard a sweet kiss on his cheek. "There isn't a guy as cute as my husband."

"Keep going ... I wanna see where this is going to lead us", Leonard laughed, feeling tickles in his neck while Penny kissed him passionately.

"Aw, sweetie... that's not going to happen tonight. I'm very tired and I'm so worried about Nicky." Penny sincerely told him as she got up from the couch.

Penny stretched her arms while yawning; she was exhausted indeed. "Ouch!" Suddenly Penny felt a sharp pain in her back.

"Honey, is your back sore?" Leonard asked; he rose from the couch as if he were driven by a spring.

"Yes, my back's a little sore. A couple of days ago I lifted some heavy boxes at the restaurant and I think that's the cause of this pain." Penny vigorously rubbed her lower back. The pain was annoying but bearable. "Sweetie, there's nothing to worry about. I think I'm getting old. We should go to bed now!" Penny yawned again. She took her husband's hand and rested her head on his shoulder.

When Penny and Leonard walked into their bedroom, they heard a scream coming from the apartment across the hall. "Nicholas! Nicholas!" Sheldon shouted desperately. The sound of Sheldon's frightened voice caused them chills.

"Did you hear that? That was Sheldon! Come on!" Leonard and Penny ran to the apartment of his friend.

Upon arriving to the apartment, the door was closed but Sheldon hadn't locked it. Nobody was in the living room or the kitchen. Instinctively Leonard and Penny ran to Nicky's room.

"Help me!" Sheldon gasp was heard throughout the apartment.

Trying to catch his breath, Leonard asked him: "Sheldon, what's wrong? What happened to Nicky?"

Sheldon was standing beside his son's cradle, holding him in his arms and squeezing him tightly against his chest. The child was wrapped in a blanket but he wasn't moving.

"Sheldon! What happened to Nicky? ... Sheldon!" Penny approached his friend and gently touched Nicky's tummy over the blanket as if to check that he was still breathing. Penny sighed when she noticed Nicky was breathing.

"Tell us Sheldon, please!" Leonard yelled at Sheldon. He didn't say a word. He looked extremely pale and his hands were shaking as he continued hugging Nicholas. He wouldn't let go.

Sheldon sighed very deeply, and, in a broken voice, he began to say: "I ... I fell asleep in that chair. Oh God! Why did I fall asleep? ... I don't know how long was I sleeping, maybe an hour or so. I heard Nicholas crying, but it was more like a scream ..." Sheldon couldn't hold his tears at that moment and started sobbing.

"What ... what happened honey?" Penny asked him; feeling as distressed as Sheldon.

"I… I saw Nicky shaking strongly in the crib, but he was unconscious and he didn't listen to me. I held his arms and his legs so he wouldn't hurt on the rail of the crib, and I tried to calm him down. It was terrifying; I never saw anything like this." While Sheldon was trying to be strong, that experience left him deeply distraught.

"He was shaking for five minutes, probably. Then he fell asleep and he didn't want to wake up." Sheldon wiped his tears with the back of his hand. "Wake up Nicholas! Wake up! I don't know what's wrong". Sheldon kept crying when he saw that Nicky didn't wake up, despite his efforts.

"Sheldon, we have to go to the hospital right now!" Leonard tried to think clearly and help his best friend.

"Yes! Sheldon calm down ... everything is gonna be fine! Let me hold him for a little while, just until you calm down". Penny said as she stretched her arms, willing to carry Nicky. Sheldon hugged his son even harder, refusing to let him go, but finally he let Penny hold Nicky in her arms.

Leonard drove to the hospital as fast as he could, not caring too much for safety and running a few red lights. In the car Nicholas was slowly waking up. The toddler stared at Sheldon for a few minutes and then he fell asleep again.

When they arrived to the hospital, Sheldon entered the Pediatric ward with Nicholas in his arms and Penny followed him. Leonard stayed in the waiting room. Sheldon had managed to calm down a bit; thinking that he had to be strong to take care of Nicholas.

Penny talked to a nurse and told her what happened to Nicky. The nurse led them immediately to the Emergency Room.

Upon hearing what happened, the Pediatrician on call, immediately went to the emergency room and examined Nicholas as he asked several questions to Sheldon.

"How long did the seizure last?" The doctor questioned Sheldon.

"A… about five or six minutes… I'm not sure" Sheldon replied. "I don't know if he hit himself in the crib. I tried to avoid it though. When the seizure was over, he fell asleep for several minutes. My son just woke up in the car but he's still drowsy and he has a fever."

"Has your son had a seizure before?" The doctor said as he checked Nicky's pupils with a penlight. The child was unusually lethargic and limp. He didn't put any resistance to the test. Penny watched it all very concerned, she didn't even know that something like this could happen to a little boy like Nicky.

"No", Sheldon shook his head. "Before I put him to bed, his temperature was 102 degrees but I gave him acetaminophen and when he fell asleep, he didn't have a fever. This afternoon we came to the hospital because he had a really bad cough. The doctor said it was a common cold but I never expected this to happen." Sheldon watched intently as the doctor examined the lungs of Nicholas.

"From what you tell me, I consider your son had a febrile seizure. They are fairly common in children of this age and most likely it's an isolated event. Normally these seizures don't repeat. It seems that his temperature rose quickly during the night and that caused the seizure. However, I am concerned because he's still so sleepy and also I'm hearing something in his lungs that catches my attention. I'll need to run some blood tests and chest X -rays". The doctor seriously told Sheldon.

"A febrile seizure? I think you should rule out something more serious like meningitis or epilepsy. Nicholas has never been so ill, and he's had a fever before." Sheldon paced back and forth across the room. "What did you auscultate in his lungs? Why didn't they hear it when we came here a few hours ago?" Sheldon shook his head; he was exasperated.

"That is precisely what I want to rule out. As you probably know, febrile seizures are the leading cause of convulsions in children of the age of your child but we have to rule out the causes you mentioned. Infections of the nervous system such as meningitis are also a possibility but Nicky doesn't show signs of it. We need to keep him under observation at least for 12 hours. As far as the lungs, I heard a whistling sound and his lung fields are very congested too."

Penny looked at Sheldon and the doctor without understanding much of what she heard. Sheldon seemed to know all the medical terms the doctor mentioned.

"A whistling sound? ... You mean, wheezing, like one can hear in the case of asthma" Sheldon asked while looking at Nicholas. The little boy was breathing with some difficulty. Sheldon thought Nicky might inherit asthma and other illnesses from him. When Sheldon was little, he was sick most of the time but as he grew older he had overcome asthma almost completely.

"Are you a doctor too?" The pediatrician asked Sheldon when he noted that he knew all those terms he was mentioning.

"I'm a doctor, but I'm not a physician. I have a PhD in Physics. I used to be a very sickly kid." Sheldon replied, with his eyes fixated on Nicholas.

"I get it! Well, it could be asthma, or a severe pneumonia, because he's had an acute deterioration of his state. It is difficult to diagnose asthma in young children but don't worry, any of those conditions are treatable", the doctor said with a comforting tone.

Sheldon nodded. Within minutes the doctor ordered a series of lab tests for Nicky and Sheldon watched as the nurse placed an IV line in his little hand. For Sheldon it was inevitable to remember that this scene was repeating for a second time.

When Nicholas was born premature, almost a month earlier than expected, he also needed IV fluids. Sheldon felt like he was the one being punctured with those needles.

Penny couldn't stay there any longer; she couldn't bear to see Nicky full of needles like a pincushion. Penny gave Sheldon a gentle pat on the back and left the room. Sheldon stood there, next to Nicholas, he had no intention of leaving him.

Leonard, who was in the waiting room, rose quickly from his chair and ran to hug Penny with all his strength.

"What happened Penny?" How is Nicholas?" Leonard was breathing heavily and feeling more concerned than before. Penny was taking too long to answer.

"The doctor says it's probably a febrile seizure. He says that happens to children quite often. Honey, I didn't even know that something like this could happen to a baby. I thought it was a common cold." Penny began to cry. She realized that there were many things about children she didn't know.

Penny was nervous, thinking something like this could happen to her children if she ever had them.

"Yes, that happens to children sometimes. But, if it's just a febrile seizure, Nicholas' going to be fine". Leonard hugged Penny and kissed her on the cheek. Penny felt a little better.

Amy came home at 11:30 pm. She noticed that the door was ajar despite the hour and all the lights in the living room were still on.

"Sheldon!" Amy called him, thinking that if the lights were on, maybe he was still awake. "Sheldon!"

When she didn't hear an answer, Amy immediately went to Nicholas' room. Upon entering there, she realized that the blankets on the crib were messy.

"They must have fallen asleep in the other room," Amy thought.

She walked into the bedroom she shared with Sheldon, trying not to make any noise, so as not to wake them up.

When Amy entered the room she could see that the bed was made, as if nobody had been lying there." Sheldon! Nicky!" She called them. There was no answer.

"Where are you?" she asked again and again. Amy was feeling extremely frightened when she took her phone and called Sheldon. Within seconds she heard Sheldon's ringtone. The sound was coming from the living room. Sheldon's phone was on his desk. "Where are you?" Amy repeated.

Amy quickly ran to Leonard and Penny's apartment; she thought Sheldon and Nicky were there. She knocked on the door, several times. Nobody was in the apartment across the hall.

Amy took a deep breath, trying to keep calm and not crumble at the thought that something was wrong. She phoned Penny on two occasions but it went straight to voicemail.

"It's okay Amy, calm down!" She told herself as she called Leonard.

"Leonard! What's going on? Where's Sheldon? Where's Nicky? I looked everywhere and I couldn't find them" Amy was so agitated, that she hardly gave Leonard a chance to answer all those questions.

"Amy! I thought you'd stay in San Diego until tomorrow." Leonard replied, he was surprised by that call.

"I couldn't stay in San Diego. I had to be with Nicholas, he's sick. I just got home. Where are you? I'm worried!" Amy's voice broke.

"Amy, please you need to calm down ..." Leonard tried to tell her the news. "Amy, If you're not able to drive, just wait for me."

"Leonard, please! Tell me what's going on!" Amy interrupted him, she was about to lose her patience.

"We are at the hospital. Nicky became ill during the night and we had to take him to the hospital. But, he's feeling better now. Sheldon is with him." Leonard's voice sounded calm, he didn't want to worry her. "Amy, stay at home and I'll pick you up, right away."

"No Leonard, just tell me exactly where you are. I'm going to the hospital, now". Amy went down the stairs as fast as she could.

Amy arrived at the hospital in just a few minutes and ran to the Pediatrics ward.

"Sheldon!" Amy whispered when she saw her beloved Sheldon sitting in an armchair, next to Nicky's bed.

Sheldon rose from the chair and practically threw herself into Amy's arms. He held her with all the strength of his soul.

"Amy, I'm so scared!" Sheldon whispered in her ear. "He was so sick and I couldn't take care of him."

Sheldon was trembling as he hugged Amy. For Sheldon, pronouncing each word was physically painful.

"No Sheldon, it's not your fault" Amy took his hand firmly. "I shouldn't have let you alone, even for a minute. I knew Nicky and you needed me." Amy started sobbing, unable to contain her tears. "It's my fault."

Sheldon was silent for a few seconds, as if he was meditating on the words of Amy. Suddenly he released Amy's hand and stepped back.

"Yes!" He muttered weakly. "Yes, it is your fault!" Sheldon said angrily.