Chapter 34

"Where's dad!?" William said as he walked through the door, seeing his mom and sister with his aunts and uncles in the waiting room.

Penny quickly jumped off her seat and ran towards her son, hugging him tight while crying uncontrollably. "Sweetheart!" Penny cried.

"It's alright mom, I'm here now." said William as he tried to console his mother. "Tell me everything. Is dad gonna be okay?"

"They had to do a bypass surgery in his heart. The doctor said they found a couple of blacked arteries." said Penny, trying to calm down. "But the doctor said he's going to be okay now. We're just waiting for him to wake up in the ICU." said Penny as Sarah ran to hug her brother.

"Come here sis, don't cry, I'm here now." he said while hugging his sister tight.

"It's my fault. I'm so sorry." Sarah said while crying.

"It's not your fault." said William.

"It is. If I didn't..." said Sarah, hesitating a little since all her aunts and uncles are there.

"Don't worry, mom told me everything." he said while lightly rubbing his knuckles on her head.

"She did?" asked the young lady while wiping her tears.

"Don't worry sis, dad's health is more important now." said William. "I'll deal with you later." he said, giving her a stern look. Sarah slightly backed off, surprised by her brother's warning. William took out his phone and quickly took a picture of Sarah, puzzling all of them. "This is priceless!" he said while looking at the picture on his phone.

Sarah took a deep breath and punched his arm. "You're a jackass!" she said. "That wasn't funny!" she yelled.

Penny smiled, trying hard not to laugh. "Hey, at least I got you to think about something else other than dad." said William, pulling Sarah close and kissing her on her temples. "Come here." he said before greeting his aunts and uncles.

"Thanks for being her aunt Amy, uncle Sheldon." said William while hugging them.

"Of course we'll be here. Leonard's like a brother to us." said Amy.

"She's right. He's always been there for me, even if I sometimes treat him bad." said Sheldon.

William then turned to Raj, shaking his hand. "Where's aunt Shanti?"

"She had to stay with our daughter." said Raj.

"I see, thanks for being her uncle Raj." William said.

Raj tapped him on the shoulder. "Don't mention it, let's just hope Leonard wakes up soon."

William then turned to Howard and Bernadette. "Aunt Bernie, uncle Howard, thanks for being here."

Howard stepped forward. "No problem William." he said before William turned to Halley, anxious as to what her ex-boyfriend would say.

"Hi Halley." said William.

"Hey Will." Halley said.

Sarah leaned over to Sheryl and whispered in her ear. "This is so awkward." she said as Sheryl lightly nudged Sarah on her side.

William and Halley turned and faced Sarah, giving her a stern look. "We heard that." said the former couple.

"Okay fine...I'm sorry." said Sarah.

William took a deep breath and turned to Penny. "I want to see dad." he said.

"Okay sweetheart, let me tell the nurse." said Penny before going to the nurse's station, telling them that her son wants to see her husband. A nurse then went back with Penny, leading William into the ICU to get him prepared.

After getting prepared, Penny and William made their way into the ICU. William was speechless when he saw his father on the bed with different tubes and wires connected all over him while the monitor screens silently display their readings.

"Mom, tell me what happened." said William as he touched Leonard's forehead.

Penny sighed. "Your sister and I had a fight when I found out that she did it with Jason."

"Did Jason forced her?" asked William.

"No. Sarah said it was her decision." said Penny.

William took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. "I guess dad couldn't take the news that her daughter is not a little girl anymore huh?"

"I guess. Sarah ran away when we confronted her but Leonard ran after her. Then I heard Marty barking and whimpering, that's when I saw your father unconscious on the floor." Penny said, trying hard not to cry.

William pulled her mother, putting his hand over her shoulder. "Boy that dog is really something huh?"

"Uh huh...we should probably get him some treats or a new toy maybe." said Penny while resting her head on his shoulder. "How's Erin by the way? Are you two doing okay?"

"Yeah, I'm kinda making it up to her for the past couple of weeks now." William said, laughing a little.

Penny looked at her son, slightly amused. "Did you forget her birthday?" she said, teasing her son.

"No, it's kinda private mom." said William, trying to hide his anxiety of discussing his personal life with his mom.

"Aww come on sweetie!? Maybe I could help?" said Penny.

William sighed. "Fine, I kinda ignored her while I was doing some stuff on my board when she was getting a little...handsy..." he said.

Penny raised her hands, telling her son to stop. "Okay, that's enough."

"I told you didn't I?" William said. "Just don't ask me about it anymore mom. it's weird enough as it is."

"Fine." said Penny, leaning her head back on his shoulder while they look at Leonard. "Your dad kinda did that too, way before we got married."

"Really? What did you do to him?" William asked.

Penny smiled. "Let's just say that your father learned a lesson that he never forgot until this day."

"Alright I got it." said William. "Happy wife, happy life!"

Penny was surprised with what her son said. "Wait, are you two getting married!?"

"No!" William exclaimed.

"Okay, I'm just making sure." said Penny.

"Mom, if ever I'm getting engaged, you'll be the first to know." he said.

"Good. Now let's get out of here and let your dad rest." Penny said as she held onto her son's arm while they make their way out of the ICU.

"I'm gonna talk to Halley." he said as they were removing their safety gear.

"What?" said Penny. "I don't think that's a good idea?"

"Relax mom. I'm just gonna settle things between us. You know, so we both can move on..." said William.

Penny sighed, realizing how much her baby boy has grown into the man he is now. Penny was suddenly filled with memories of her son growing up, from the time he was born, when he called Bernadette 'mama', when he took his first step in the backyard, up to the countless times that she and Leonard had to rush him to the hospital for having a fever or some mild sickness. She remembered the day when she picked up her son from school and he showed her his perfect test score, making Penny cry with happy tears at how could an amazing child come out of her who's not intellectually gifted like the rest of their friends. She thought that she didn't deserve to have a son like William but every time her son tells her how great she is, all her insecurities and self-doubt just disappears.

"Okay sweetheart. I understand." said Penny as they leave the ICU, "Just don't fall for her when she cries okay?"

William laughed a little. "Don't worry mom. Erin would know if I did something stupid."

Penny laughed. "Never mind Erin, do you think you could get away from me?"

"I know mom. I had many years of observing you and dad." he said, making his mother laugh as they join the others in the waiting area. William went straight to Halley. "Halley, is it okay if we talk privately?"

"Hold on..." said Bernadette when Halley cut her off.

Halley looked at him and understood what he meant. "It's alright mom." said Halley before standing and walking away with William following close behind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They went to the cafeteria and got themselves a couple of sandwiches and some fruit juice before sitting down on a vacant table.

"How are you doing?" asked Halley.

"Fine I guess. I'm just glad my dad's out of trouble now." said William.

"Why isn't Erin with you?" said Halley.

"Well, I had to get on the plane as soon as my mom told me about my dad...so we didn't have time to plan our trip." he said before reaching out to touch her hand. "Halley, I want to say sorry...about...about everything..."

"It's alright. I'm gonna be fine." Halley said. "Me and Sarah kinda fought about it."

"Yeah, she told me." William said.

"I'm sorry about that." said Halley, touching William's hand and giving him a weak smile.

"So, is that it?" William asked.

"I guess." said Halley when she suddenly saw Sarah and Sheryl at the corner of her eye. She quickly looked at them at the other side of the cafeteria, only for the best friends to get down, trying to hide from her sight. "Sarah is really something huh? She's neck-deep in trouble but she still finds the time to sneak around and put her nose in other people's business." she said as William turned around as saw the two hurriedly walking away, red-handed.

"Don't worry, I'll let my mom lay it on her." William said making Halley laugh. "If you want, we can get some chips and sodas while we're watching them hash it out." he added making Halley laugh more as they decided to come back to the waiting area, sitting beside Bernadette.

"So?" asked Bernadette.

"We're okay now mom." said Halley as Howard and Bernadette leaned over, kissing her on the cheek.

"Are you alright sweetie?" Penny asked her son.

"I'm fine mom." said William. "Do you wanna know what Halley and I talked about?"

Penny looked at William, confused by what he said. "Uh, what did you talked about?" she said.

"Ask those two." William said, casually pointing at his sister and her friend. Penny immediately gave her daughter a death stare, trying to keep herself from losing her temper again. "Relax mom, do you think Sarah would do something like that when she's already neck-deep in trouble?" he said as Sarah sighed with relief with their aunts and uncles laughing at them, somewhat forgetting the moment when they almost lost Leonard.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Penny decided to go home and rest for a while, taking her children with her since they couldn't do anything at the moment but wait until Leonard wakes up. The gang also decided to do the same, telling Penny and her kids that they'll come back the next day, hoping to hear some positive news about Leonard.

William decided to drive, knowing that his mother might be too tired, deciding to pass by a drive-thru so they could get something to eat before going home. After parking the car up the driveway, a number of their neighbors went to them, asking about Leonard's condition. Penny told them everything, making them sigh with relief that Leonard would pull through after all. After hearing all the well-wishes of their neighbors, the family then went back into the house, tired and exhausted after dealing with the day's craziness.

"I'm gonna take a quick shower and go to sleep. You guys do what you want." Penny said absently as she climbed up the stairs. "We'll go to the hospital first thing in the morning."

"Okay mom. I'm gonna take a shower too. I'm so tired from my trip." said William. "What about you Sarah?"

"Same. I'll shower after you're done and then I'm gonna turn in." said William's sister.

Penny turned around and went upstairs straight into the bathroom, mixing the hot and cold water before taking off her clothes. She stepped into the warm stream of the water and felt her muscles and joints slowly relaxing. She thought of Leonard and started crying, slumping on the floor and feeling helpless as she never felt so afraid in her life before, thinking that if her husband wasn't so lucky, she would never know how to move on.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Sarah entered her bedroom feeling drained as she fell face down on her bed, feeling tired and guilty of causing her father's predicament. She then heard a low whimpering sound only to see Marty by the door looking at her, scared and anxious.

Sarah smiled at her pet. "Hey Marty, come here." she said, motioning for the dog to come near her.

Marty slightly backed away, afraid her big sister might lash out on him again.

Sarah got off the bed and slowly walked towards him, being careful not to scare him again. "I'm sorry if I yelled at you. I never should have done that." she said while slowly bringing her hand forward for the dog to smell.

Marty slowly licked her hand and wagged his tail, whimpering a bit and eventually warming up to her sister.

Sarah smiled and picked him up, hugging him tight and smelling his fur. "You're so great." she said while carrying the dog onto the bed. "Do you wanna sleep here with me?" she asked. Marty barked at her, licking her face while she put him on the bed. "Okay, no need to smother me with your drool, but you can't pee or poop in here, do you understand?"

Marty stood up and barked at her, wagging his tail and telling her he understood her point.

"Good, now you stay here while I go and take a shower. I wanna sleep all night because we're gonna go back to the hospital tomorrow. Hopefully dad will wake up soon." she said before going out of her room.