Chapter 37

As soon as his compute booted up, Leonard went to his email and sent Howard an urgent email. It was 11 PM in Geneva and 2 PM in Pasadena.

'Howard, I need you set up a Skype session between me and Dr Gablehauser in the next hour. It is really important.' Leonard hit send.

Howard must have been sitting at his computer, Leonard got a response in two minutes, 'Ok, Leonard, let me see what I can do. Stay on-line.'

Leonard sat back and sighed, now all he could do was wait. He turned to see Penny looking at him, and he couldn't read her face, she just had a blank expression on it.

"Penny, I need to do this." Leonard said looking at her.

Penny had sat and watched him the whole time, she didn't know how she felt, she had been confused and emotional the last few 20-minutes, so she now trying to think things out. She didn't know if she was mad at him or not, or was she just feeling sorry for him or herself. The bottom line was she loved him, even though she was having mixed feelings about what he was doing right now. He was sacrificing himself for her again, and a little bit of that was for Alex too, he always did that, put people, especially her, above his own interests. It was one of the many reasons she loved him so much, he cared about everyone, but sometimes he cared too much and she knew she didn't want him to ruin his career for her. Penny knew she had to 'suck it up' and get over her own insecurities and fears, be the girlfriend Leonard deserved, if she ever wanted to convince him she was the girl he needed for his wife. She wanted them to be a team now, Team Hofstadter, she wanted to be there for him as much as he was for there for her.

Penny got off the bed, not saying a word, and closed the distance between them. When she reached his chair, at the table, she sat on his lap, put her arms around him and kissed him. Penny kissed Leonard, like there was no more tomorrows, it was a deep kiss, a passionate kiss, a kiss that expressed her love for him and it went on forever. Penny and Leonard got lost in that kiss, their whole world reduced to their bodies being so close to each other and their mouths being their conduits to each other. When they finally stopped, they just looked into each others eyes, nose to nose.

"Leonard, I can't take you away from your experiment? You can't leave now. I can't be responsible for you not finishing it. I wouldn't be able to live with myself" Penny thought she would try to reason with him, she didn't want him to give up so much for her.

"Penny, You have to do this acting job, I have to see you get a chance at your dream, I couldn't live with myself either, if you don't take this chance. So just let me have this, OK?" Leonard had explained his case, so now he just watched Penny to see what she was going to say.

The solution became so obvious to Penny, surprised her, "Leonard, I'm going to take Alex home, and you are going to stay here and finish."

"Penny…." Leonard tried to say, but Penny put her finger to his lips to stop him.

"Leonard, It's only logical." Penny said with a small smile, then, "Leonard, I can do this now, it will be OK, I'm not as scared anymore. Really, I can do this."

Leonard looked at her and the determination in her eyes, God, she was so beautiful, he was so crazy about her. But he still felt he needed to take care of her, so he still had doubts. "Penny, I told your dad I would take care of you."

"Leonard, You can put me on the airplane, and have one of our friends meet me at the airport, when I arrive. I promise not to take a parachute with me and try to escape. I won't go anywhere without telling someone, OK?" She was half teasing, but she was also trying to make him feel safe enough to let her go.

Leonard thought about it a minute then looked at her, "How did I ever find a smart and wonderful girl like you?"

Penny smiled, "You're a genius. By-the-way, don't forget, I am smart and wonderful, while you are here, and that I am waiting for you in California." she gave him a pretend stern look, which she was rewarded with by another long kiss.

An hour later Leonard was in front of the computer talking with Dr Gablehauser, and to his surprise, President Siebert.

"Sir, my graduate school student, working with me here, Alex Jensen, was mugged tonight and is in the hospital as we speak." Leonard told them.

President Siebert was the first to ask, "Leonard, is she OK, what happened?"

"Three thugs tried to steal her purse and hurt her in the attempt. She had a deep cut to the head which required stitches and she is in the hospital, over night for observation, to make sure her head wound is not serious." Leonard told them.

"So she is going to be OK, then. Nothing else happened?" Dr Gablehauser asked.

"Yes, she should be OK and no, nothing else happened. But she has asked to return back to California, because of it, and I am going to schedule her to return as soon as the Doctor, approves it." Leonard told them.

"Yes, of course." President Siebert said. Leonard didn't know that President Siebert had a daughter, who was a freshman in college, so hearing about Alex getting hurt just made him think of his daughter.

"Leonard, let us know what flight she is coming back on and we will have someone and a car to meet her." President Siebert added.

"Thank you, sir." Leonard responded

Dr Gablehauser then asked him. "Leonard, how is you experiment coming along? We've been hearing a lot of good information from CERN."

"Sir, I already have enough data for my paper and it is good enough to prove my theory. There is some additional work I need to finish, though before I can wrap this up. I am almost a week ahead of schedule, because of Ms Jensen's help." Leonard told him.

"You know CERN has been asking me for you to stay longer and help them with undetectable subatomic particles in the collider?" Siebert told him.

"Yes sir, but I was never planning on staying that long, I only planned on being here a month at most, so I would need to come back for a little while and take care of some things there before I can commit to staying in Switzerland for any extended period." Leonard told Siebert

Siebert looked at him and said, "I agree. I will talk to them in the morning. You need to come back for a short time. A week, two?" Siebert asked.

"I would prefer two." Leonard said.

"Ok Leonard, and by-the-way everyone here at the University is very proud of the work you are doing, and when I say everyone, I mean the chancellor and board of directors. Keep up the good work." Siebert told him with a smile.

Leonard, Gablehauser and Siebert talked some more about Alex, the experiment and CERN, before they ended the Skype session. Leonard never understood why President Siebert was so supportive of Alex and her situation, but things were now falling into place. He was a little bit happier because now Penny and Alex would be, OK.

Leonard closed his computer, then turned to look at Penny, "Well I think you and Alex will be able to go back on Saturday, after all."

"We should go to bed, it is after midnight and you told that nice Dr Glauser that we would be ready at 8 AM to pick up Alex." Penny said. Leonard nodded.

Leonard and Penny took quick showers and were in bed within a half hour. Penny lay there, in Leonard's arms, her back pressed against his chest, she was tired, but she felt warm and secure, the way she always felt with him. Leonard was tired too, but having Penny in his arms comforted him and he gave her a kiss behind her ear.

"I love you Leonard." Penny said upon feeling his kiss. She had decided she would tell him that every night and every morning, so he would never doubt her love.

Leonard smiled, "I love you, Penny." and he pulled her into him, every slightly more, so that his face and nose just brushed her hair, which made her smile.

They both fell asleep quickly and soundly that night.

Penny barely heard the alarm go off, because she was all snuggled in the cocoon she was in, that was her being in Leonard's arms, pressed against him, and then the covers over them both. Leonard moving to turn the alarm off, is what finally woke her, that and the gently kisses he was planting on her neck. She smiled, she was so happy right now, she couldn't think of any other place she would rather be at that moment. She scooted around so she was nose to nose to Leonard and gave him a kiss. "I love you." she said to him as soon as they broke their kiss.

"I adore you and love you." Leonard answered, and was rewarded with another kiss, this time Penny practically climbing on top of him. The both laid there, their bodies intertwined, staring into each others eyes, smiling and giving each kisses, for about five minutes, until they both resigned themselves that they had to get up. To get enough sleep they had set their alarm to get up at the last possible minute, to get ready, and now they were running late.

Penny and Leonard raced to get ready and actually caught up, but then Leonard suddenly remembered something, Dr Glauser told him last night.

"Penny, could I ask you a favor? Last night Dr Glauser said Alex had blood all over her clothes, so we should probably bring her fresh clothes. I think a girl picking out her outfit would be much better than me. Could you do it?" Leonard asked Penny

Penny really didn't want to pick clothes for Alex, but she sure didn't want Leonard to, especially picking her underwear, so she smiled, "Yes, I can do that." Penny went to the other room and found that Alex had her outfits all hung up together, already coordinated, so she just grabbed one. Penny then opened a couple dresser drawers until she found Alex's underwear and was a little aggravated when she noticed several sets from Victoria Secret. She was about to close the drawer, when something familiar caught her eye, it took a second for her to realize what it was, it was one of Leonard's T-shirts! Anger started to build in her and all she could think of was 'That Bitch', she grabbed the T-shirt, Penny was not having none of that, Alex was not allowed to have any of Leonard's clothes. Penny came back to Leonard's room, with Alex's clothes put in a small carrying bag she got out of Alex's room, she stopped and thought for a minute, then while Leonard had his back turned she stuffed his T-shirt into her bag.

Dr Glauser was parked outside when Penny and Leonard walked out of the Hostel door, he was early. The trip to the hospital took longer this morning, due to local traffic, so they just talked about Alex and the experiment during the trip. Penny sat quietly, trying to calm herself, she was unhappy about the T-shirt Alex had grabbed, because she remembered she had grabbed one of Leonard's after they broke up, so she knew why Alex grabbed Leonard's, and that was what upset her. Penny was just as mad at herself as she was at Alex, she realized how close she had been to losing Leonard. There were a lot of girls like Alex out there for Leonard and her insecurity had almost let them have him, never again she thought.

After arriving at the hospital, Dr Glauser, Leonard and Penny went straight up to Alex's room, she was awake and her doctor was there.

Alex's doctor turned and smiled, "Ms Jensen is in excellent health, she can leave now with you." He then smiled at Alex.

"Doctor is it alright for Ms Jensen to take an flight to America tomorrow?" Leonard asked. Alex eyes got big upon hearing that.

"If Ms Jensen is fine with that, yes she can fly tomorrow. An American doctor can remove her stitches." the doctor then turned to Alex, "Ms Jensen, I will complete the paperwork and you can leave as soon as you are dressed. Take care." he left the room then.

"Alex, we brought you some clean clothes." Leonard said gently to her as he handed over the bag.

Alex took the bag and looked inside, it had a coordinated outfit in it, she looked at Penny, and said to them all, "Thank You."

"We'll be outside when you are ready." Leonard said, then lead their group out of Alex's room.

After they had left her alone, Alex looked back in the bag, besides her clothes was Leonard's T-shirt. Penny obviously put it there, she knew, putting the T-shirt in there was her telling Alex she knew, Leonard never would had done that, he would have left it in her drawer or taken it back. Alex couldn't blame Penny, she would have probably done worse if she was in Penny's place, Alex was just happy she still had the T-shirt.

Alex left her room, with a clear bag holding her belongings, to find her doctor, Dr Glauser, Leonard and Penny all waiting for her. Penny gasped when she saw Alex's bag, because all Alex's clothes were stained red, and Penny again found herself having trouble hating Alex, after all she been through. Alex received her release paperwork, and then was taken to the car for the trip back to the Hostel. The trip back was going to be entirely uneventful, with Alex and Dr Glauser in the front seat and Leonard and Penny in the back seat, holding hands.

"Is everyone hungry?" Dr Glauser said, about halfway back from the hospital. No one said anything.

Alex realized that everyone was waiting for her to say something, because they didn't know how she felt and didn't want to push her. "I am hungry. I didn't really have much to eat at the hospital." she announced

Leonard and Penny both admitted they were hungry, right after Alex spoke.

"Good. I know an excellent Belgium Waffle house, I think you will like." Dr Glauser said with a big smile.

A little over a half hour later, Alex, Leonard and Penny, were eating the best waffles they ever had in their lives. They were all smiles, even Alex, and telling Dr Glauser what a great idea it was to eat there, which only made Dr Glauser's smile larger. Dr Glauser had called the travel office at CERN, just before they sat down to eat, to arrange for Alex and Penny's round trip tickets, return trip, to be scheduled for Saturday. He got a return call just about the time everyone finished eating. Dr Glauser talked for a few minutes in French, then hung up.

"Everything is good. The flight for you two, back to America, will leave, at 11 AM tomorrow morning." Dr Glauser informed them, while looking at Penny and Alex. "Other good news, CERN has made it so you will travel in Business Class, so you will be comfortable." he said smiling.

"Thank you Dr Glauser, and thank the CERN management for me please." Leonard said with gratitude. Penny and Alex also gave him their thanks.

On the way from the restaurant to the Hostel, Dr Glauser asked Leonard if he wanted to stop by the facility for a while this afternoon, but before he could respond, Alex spoke. "Dr Glauser, I would, like to take a couple hour nap, but I would really like to come by and say good-bye to everyone." Alex said to him.

Dr Glauser smiled, "Good, everyone would like to see you, too. It is now 10 AM, I could pick you up at 2 PM, would that be good? Also, Dr Hofstadter, would your Penny like to come, we can give her a tour of our facility?"

"Leonard, can I? I would like that." Penny said a little excited.

"Alex, is Dr Glauser" plan OK with you." Leonard asked Alex.

"Yes, that is perfect." Alex answered.

Then to Penny, "Of Course." he said

They were all in their rooms, in the Hostel by quarter after 10 and Alex was asleep on her bed 5 minutes later. Penny left the door between the rooms open and told Alex to come over if she needed anything. Leonard was proud of Penny. Leonard and Penny ended up taking a little nap of their own for about two hours, then went out to get something to eat, bringing a sandwich back for Alex, if she was hungry when she woke up.