38 – The Retro-Sheldon Hypothesis

Penny hopped in the elevator at 2311 North Los Robles for the very first time. As the doors closed she thought that it felt wrong. This wasn't a part of the home she'd known for so long. With so many other aspects of it about to change she immediately decided that from then on, unless there was a very good reason not to, she'd go back to taking the stairs.

The door to Apartment 4A was open. Sheldon was sitting in his spot, at least geographically it was his spot. The couch and most of the other furniture was gone. Sheldon was sitting on a lawn chair.

"Hi, sweetie. That's new."

"Excuse me, it's not new at all. In fact, this is the first piece of furniture I purchased after I moved in. I had it in the back of my closet and after the men from the storage company took away everything else I realized I needed a place to sit while I awaited your arrival."

Penny looked around.

"Sheldon, they took away everything, not just Leonard's stuff."

"As I told you, I have leased storage space for myself as well as Leonard. Those items which remained intact are better off being stored while construction work and painting is done here. I've also had them take away the items from my bedroom. This will make the renovation work and painting proceed more efficiently."

Sheldon sounded cold. Logical. And he hadn't risen to kiss her when she came in.

"I'm just kind of surprised. I'm so used to this apartment being so, um, filled with yours and Leonard's stuff. Like this it just doesn't seem right."

"I thought it best to reduce it to a blank slate in order for us to begin construction of our new living paradigm. Was I incorrect in this assumption?"

Something was very wrong wrong. With Sheldon. Penny thought for a second and thought she maybe figured it out. One thing she knew was that she had to get Sheldon out of there.

"Shelly, let's get out of here and go pick up the car. We have a long weekend ahead of us with no plans and I have some good news."

Sheldon got up from the chair, looked around, went to the door with Penny, turned around and locked it behind him. His actions were almost mechanical. He went to push the elevator button when Penny said "Let's take the stairs."

They walked down the stairs quietly and Penny was a little worried. It seemed to her that as Sheldon had stripped the apartment of its furnishings he had also wiped away everything that had happened to him since Leonard had moved in. She guessed that just as she had started processing her trauma by breaking down in tears, Sheldon was doing the same thing in his own Sheldonian way. She needed to try to get him back to present-day Sheldon as quickly as she could if she could, but they also had a task to perform and needed to perform it as quickly as possible.

She drove out to the lot as quickly as she could without getting pulled over. They walked into the office and the paperwork was ready for her signature. She signed, handed over a check which she was very proud came out of her own bank account and not Sheldon's, accepted her new car keys and was happily led to her new old car. She had initially planned to enjoy a leisurely drive back to the hotel with the convertible top down but decided on the spot that speed was a necessity. She motioned Sheldon, who had been almost silent the entire time, into the passenger seat and walked around to the driver's seat. She adjusted the seat and then the mirrors, started the car up, looked to see the "Check Engine" light was not on and started for the hotel.

She made it back in record time, parked and they started walking to their suite. She started thinking "What if he stays like this? What if I've lost my Sheldon and I'm stuck with the old one that I didn't even know? And I haven't even got Leonard here to help."

But when they walked into their suite she could see Sheldon visibly relax.

"Sweetie, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Have you considered what our activities will be this weekend?"

"Well, I was thinking that we'd stick around the room, at least tonight and tomorrow and have a lazy time of it. We haven't really just relaxed in almost two weeks and I thought we could use it."

Penny could see a smile start to form on Sheldon's face.

"Penny, that is a marvelous idea. Perhaps tomorrow I'll just wear my Saturday pajamas all day."

Sheldon came over and kissed Penny on the cheek. Her Sheldon was back.

"Shelly, what happened back at the apartment before. You didn't seem right."

"I took out the lawn chair and sat in my spot and began considering all that had happened since I had last done that. I was so deep in thought that I barely registered that you were there. I'm very sorry. That was rude of me."

"Shelly, it was more than that, wasn't it?"

"For a moment, all of the horrible things that have happened to you, to us, recently fell away and a feeling of contentment came over me. I felt much as I had in the time just before Leonard moved in. There was a kind of peace to it."

Penny began to cry.

"And you liked it more than you like things now?"

"Not at all. It was empty. It was a false peace. I…I just had a bit of difficulty bringing myself back to the present."

"And you don't feel that kind of peace now. I get it."

"Penny, as I said, it was empty. There was no happiness. There was no love. There was no you. Thank you for getting me out of there."

"Shelly, you know we both process stuff differently. You kind of know how I do it. Messy and loud and with crying. You put things away as though they never happened. Both ways are probably pretty unhelpful."

"You're most likely correct. I do not wish to go to that place in my mind again. I never want to feel that empty again. I suspect that the sooner we enter into a therapeutic paradigm the better I will be equipped to prevent that journey."

"I'm really happy to hear you say that. My boss Ida set us up with appointment on Monday to see some people she recommends, three people named Anderson that she says are really good, and a little weird."

"I have been doing my own research in this area and I have run across their names. They are quite highly regarded in their profession. I would very much like to meet them. Meanwhile, Penny, I would like to lie down for a bit."

"Okay. I'm going to check on a couple of things and make some phone calls."

"I was hoping you'd lie down with me."

"Okay. How about this? I'm going to arrange for room service to bring us dinner at about nine. We can lie down until then."

"I'd like a barbeque…"

"Sheldon, remember sweetie, this is our "Embrace the Chaos" weekend. Let me surprise you with dinner, okay?"

"All right. I'll be in the bedroom."

"I'll be there in a minute."

Penny called room service. She knew exactly what she wanted and how she wanted it. She also called Manuel the hotel manager and asked him if he could supervise the arrangements just to be sure that nobody that shouldn't be was involved. Manuel told her that he had started at the hotel long ago as a room service waiter and that he would actually take care of everything personally and not to worry about a thing.

Penny went to the bedroom, took off her shoes and lay on the bed next to Sheldon.

"Shelly, did you get any sense of how long it'll be until we can get back to North Los Robles?"

"The structural repairs have been completed and painting will begin tomorrow. The new fixtures and appliances are expected to arrive mid-week and will start to be installed then. Painting in the bathroom and the kitchen will commence then. If all goes as planned we will be able to have our furnishings brought in starting next weekend and our possessions from storage a week from Monday. Again, this is if nothing goes wrong."

"What about 4B?"

"The landlords have agreed to do all that Nora requested and you were quite right, they are very happy they will have a police officer living on the premises. Apartment 4B will be ready for habitation approximately a week after 4A is."

"I'm sure Nora will be very happy to hear that."

"I've already informed her. She has given notice at her current residence and has, in fact, already moved out. She told me that she really doesn't have much beyond basic furnishings so I arranged for them to be stored along with our things until she is ready for them."

"But, Sheldon, I'm pretty sure the police department won't pay for a hotel for her after we leave. Where will she stay for that week until 4B is ready?"

"Penny, I hope you don't mid but I've offered her our new guest room for that period of time."

"Okay, now I'm sure that the right Sheldon is back. Old Sheldon would never have done that."

"Does my plan meet with your approval?"

Penny leaned over and gave Sheldon a big wet kiss, which he returned.

"Does that answer your question?"

"I believe it does. You said earlier that you have news."

"It can wait. Suddenly I feel a little tired. Shelly, if you hear some noise out in the living room later, it's okay. Manuel is going to have our dinner ready for us at nine and I gave him and only him permission come in to set it up."

"That's acceptable. Manuel has throughout my dealings with him proven to be dependable and trustworthy. I am quite satisfied with the job that was done with our laundry and regret that we will no longer have that service available to us when we depart."

"Shelly, you'd willingly give up your laundry night? I don't believe it!"

"Bazinga!"

"Another one of your classic pranks."

"After your chocolate pudding episode yesterday evening I realized that I was out of practice."

"Yeah, we haven't had a lot of Bazinga opportunities lately."

"I hope that will change soon."

"Nap now?"

"Nap now."