Chapter 15: Too Much

"I'm not running away. I'm just getting on a train and leaving forever."- Sheldon

"Do you think he'll be mad that we're surprising him?" Carly asked Penny in worry as they entered Caltech around two that afternoon. "He hates surprises. It's why I'm not allowed to know when his birthday is."

Penny shrugged, leading her down hallways with purpose. She'd obviously been there many times. "He'll get over it and if not, I'll make him. His girlfriend is here to have lunch with him, he better appreciate it."

Still, Carly felt uncertain. She knew Sheldon. However, hope that he'd be happy to see her kept her following Penny.

It was a week after they'd been caught in the rain. Her car, which had been promised back to her in two days, ended up being seven. Apparently, the shop, where her car was, ordered the wrong size windshield. The only good thing that came of it was that her insurance covered the expenses and Penny was willing to give her rides.

Moreover, there had been a surprise shipment in at her work and she had been pulling doubles to get everything scanned, sorted, and put away. It was exhausting and she had barely seen Sheldon, save for the couple dinners she'd been able to squeeze in throughout the week.

She missed him. The memory of the day they had spent together, regardless of the car and the rain, made her long for him. It was maddening.

So when things settled down at her work and Penny suggested they have lunch with the guys, she took her up on the offer. She needed to see him.

What felt like no time at all, Penny stopped and knocked on a door labeled "Dr. Sheldon Cooper, Particle Physicist". Upon seeing it, Carly's stomach flopped.

"Come in," his melodic voice said from behind the door and Penny threw Carly an encouraging grin before opening the door.

The first thing she saw was whiteboards with complicated math equations written all over them. They looked similar to the ones he had in his apartment.

"Penny? Carly?" Sheldon called in surprise, standing from his desk and walking around it to greet them. "What are you two doing here?" His eyes lingered on Carly's nervous smile.

"We wanted to surprise you and have lunch if that's okay?" She explained followed by uncertainty.

Penny scoffed and waved her off. "Of course it's okay! Right, Sheldon?"

Sheldon eyed Penny's meaningful look, unable to understand why she was looking at him like that. Was he missing something? He glanced to Carly who was looking around his office with interest, biting her lip. "Uh, yes?"

Penny grinned and his girlfriend looked up at him with a smile. He must have said the right thing.

"See Carly! Nothing to worry about!" Penny told her, to which Sheldon's frown deepened.

"What would there be to worry about?"

Carly shrugged lightly at him, further baffling him. "Nothing, are you free to go to lunch?"

Sheldon looked up at the clock, deciding to let whatever she was worried about go. "Yes, it's lunchtime. Let's go."

Penny fondly patted Sheldon on the shoulder, making him tense, but he just glanced at her as she moved away and left the office. "I'm gonna go get Leonard. I'll catch up with you two."

Carly hadn't been expecting to be left alone with Sheldon so suddenly and she looked over at him as Penny disappeared around the corner. "I'm happy to see you."

He looked over at her, his eyes softening. "It's nice to see you too, Carly." It gave her flutters in her belly and she smiled. "How is the library?"

Carly bit her lip, following him out of the office. "It's better, thankfully. I'm pretty exhausted."

At the declaration, Sheldon looked at her again, this time assessing the dark circles under her eyes and the way her hair was thrown into a messy knot at the base of her head. Strands were escaping and framing her face.

She did look tired, but she still looked so pretty to him.

"Perhaps you should head home and get some rest then?" He suggested thoughtfully and she surprised him by taking his hand as they walked down the hallway.

"I'd rather be with you," she told him honestly. "I feel like I haven't seen you."

"You saw me last night at dinner," he reminded her and she laughed lightly.

"That is true, but I meant... we haven't spent quality time together since that Sunday."

"Speaking of that, have you heard any word about your car?"

She shook her head, agitated by the thought. "No. They told me to give them till Friday."

"That's ridiculous. It's Thursday and you haven't heard a word from them? Do you want me to call?"

The sudden look on his face made her wonder if she should. He definitely would kick them into high gear she thought. Sheldon was an expert at complaining.

Thinking better of it, she shook her head again. "No, it's all right. If they don't call by noon tomorrow, I'll have Penny take me over there."

Sheldon nodded, respecting her decision. "I'm glad you came," he told her suddenly and she looked up at him in surprise. He darted his gaze away from the attention to his honest confession.

He didn't know why he had told her that, but as soon as she had appeared in his office, his heart had sped up and his heart had swelled.

He had missed her as well. Carly hadn't even been able to text him while she was working. It had been a stressful week for both of them.

"Me too," she told him softly. "How is your work going?"

Ah, there it was. The question he hadn't wanted her to ask. Sheldon opened his mouth to begrudgingly fill her in but was intercepted rudely by none other than Barry Kripke.

"Cooper! Who's this wovewy wady?"

Sheldon froze and Carly turned to see Kripke approaching them with a smirk on his face. She frowned, not liking the way he looked her up and down.

Sheldon turned around, his hand still in Carly's. "Kripke. This wov- I mean, lovely lady is none of your concern."

"Awe, don't be wike that. Tell me how much you paid for her to hold onto you so tightwy wike that." His eyebrows waggled at them and she felt Sheldon tense, his hand twitching in hers.

"Are you insinuating that I paid a prostitute to hold my hand at work, Kripke?" Sheldon asked him, his voice rising and sounding more irritated than Carly had ever heard him speak.

"Duh," was Kripke's simple response.

"Okay, because that was unclear," Sheldon conceded and tugged Carly closer to his side. "But no, Kripke. This is my girlfriend, Carly Bennett."

Kripke's eyebrows shot up at the term 'girlfriend' and gave them a disbelieving smile. "No way! You have a girlfriend Cooper? How'd you manage that? Did you finawy travel to another dimension and handpick her? Oh wait- you'd have to do weal science for that to work."

Now completely offended on her boyfriends' behalf, she glowered at the man. Didn't he know just who he was talking to? This was Sheldon Cooper for crying out loud.

"Dr. Cooper is a world-renowned physicist and he is entitled to having a girlfriend regardless of what your measly opinion is," she snapped, unable to stop herself.

Sheldon looked over at her, stunned by her defense of him and with such passion. Kripke on the other hand composed his mild surprise to laugh in amusement.

"Ooh, not only is she your girlfriend but she's your protector too! How sweet! You must feel wike a true man."

Sheldon scowled at the man as Carly frowned. "I don't need a protector. She's just telling you like it is. Now get lost."

Kripke rolled his eyes. "Ooh, good one. Well, I won't stay wong. Just wanted to congratulate you on the denial of switching your field to dark matter!" He followed his taunt up with a maniacal laugh.

Carly was startled by the news and looked up at Sheldon in surprise. He looked away from them in clear embarrassment. "Changing fields?" She asked him softly. "You aren't doing string theory anymore?"

"Ohoho, I see I disturbed the peace in pawadise - I'll let you two wovebirds work it out. Peace!" He said lamely, putting two fingers up and disappearing around a corner.

Now alone in the hallway, Carly tugged on Sheldon's hand that was beginning to sweat in hers. He turned in her direction but didn't look at her.

"Sheldon?" She called, worried. "What happened while I was working all week?"

Sheldon was reluctant to tell her. She'd been busy and stressing, plus he didn't want her knowing he was a fraud. A failure for everything he'd been working his whole life for. She had begun dating a man dedicated to string theory and the fact that he was failing at making any worthwhile accomplishments for it had him feeling ashamed.

He hesitantly looked into her eyes, her concern for him feeling like daggers in his heart. If she knew just how much of a failure he was, would she still love him like she said she did?

He wouldn't.

"I just needed a change," he told her instead, taking the cowardly way out. His tone was light and casual, attempting to make it less of a deal than it was. "It doesn't matter anyway. The proposal was denied by the University."

Carly saw the way his eye twitched, felt his sweaty palm against hers, and knew he was covering up something. This was a bigger deal than he was letting on. Not understanding why he'd lie to her, she tried to coax it out of him.

"But you love it. The majority of the time I feel like I'm the second woman to string theory. You've dedicated your whole life to it."

At her words, Sheldon tightened and a muscle in his jaw jumped. He let go of her hand, wiping his hand on his pants as he moved down the hall away from her.

Now really troubled, Carly followed him hot on his heels. "Sheldon! Don't just run away from me. What aren't you telling me?"

Sheldon crossed his arms over his chest as he continued to walk, throwing a glance at her. "I'm not hiding anything from you, I told you everything you need to know."

Carly didn't like the way he phrased his words. "Then what do I not need to know?"

Sheldon huffed. "Would you just drop it? I told you it doesn't matter."

Carly scowled, looking ahead of her as he took her to the cafeteria. If it didn't matter then why was he acting so weird?

She did drop it, for now. She didn't want to ruin their lunch. She had been looking forward to seeing him all week, she didn't need to spoil it.

Intending to find out what was bothering him later, she changed subjects when they stood in line for their trays of food. "Who was that guy earlier? He was rude."

Sheldon narrowed his eyes at the mention of Kripke. "That was Barry Kripke. He is a physicist and is always harassing me."

Carly frowned. "That's irritating."

"You have no idea," Sheldon muttered. "He never spares the chance to jeer in my direction or at my expense."

Carly wrinkled her nose as they continued in line. "Someone needs to teach him a lesson."

Sheldon snorted. "Believe me, I've tried-" He broke off, remembering something, and gave her a tilt of his lips. "You're something else though, Carly. I wouldn't have expected you to defend me like that to someone you didn't even know."

Carly grinned through a light blush at the praise. "I didn't like the way he spoke about you, as if it were impossible for you to have a girlfriend."

Sheldon went silent and looked ahead. She peered over at him, not understanding why he had done so. "What?"

Sheldon blinked and looked down at his tray, speaking in a low, soft voice. "Up until you, it was impossible for me to have a girlfriend. The fact that I found you is astonishing to me."

Carly's heart skipped a beat at his words and she was so full of emotion that she had a hard time forming any sort of response to him. He was surreal. That someone like him could be with her was just something out of a dream.

They spoke no more and got their food. She followed him to a rectangular table and they sat down next to each other. Sheldon began eating and Carly stared down at her salad, chewing her lip, still reeling from what he had said.

"Sheldon," she said quietly, making him look at her in question. "I feel the same way about you, you know? I've lived a very lonely life and... meeting you has changed me. My life feels like it has meaning. I don't want to live a single day without you in it, I don't think I could." She knitted her eyebrows at the thought, not wanting to imagine a world without him.

His eyes widened slightly and then he tore his gaze off of her to look down at his plate again, seeming anxious.

Before they could say anything more, their friends joined them. Soon, the heavy subject turned to light and happy chatter between them all.

Afterward, the guys walked the girls to the doors. Penny paused and looked to Sheldon and Leonard.

"Oh, so I was thinking. I'm not working tonight and Carly's finally able to breathe- we should have a double date! How's that sound?"

"That sounds great!" Leonard told her with a smile, before turning to the taller man. "Sheldon?"

The man in question shifted on his feet, looking uncomfortable with the idea. "I dunno... it's Thursday. It's pizza night."

Penny sighed. "We can get pizza somewhere, Sheldon. There's plenty of Italian restaurants in Pasadena."

Sheldon wrinkled his nose at the thought. "And run the risk of enduring food poisoning on a workday? No thank you."

"Well, you tried," Leonard told Penny in chagrin. She crossed her arms in contempt.

Carly took a step towards Sheldon from Penny's side. "Come on Sheldon, please?"

Sheldon eyed her, his face going from consideration to downright stubborn. "Don't you use those puppy dog eyes on me, little lady! They won't work. I hate dogs and I hate trying new restaurants."

"But what happened to anything can happen Thursdays?" Penny suddenly brought up in hope, catching Sheldon off guard.

Carly hadn't ever heard of this so-called event but it was working in their favor so she wasn't going to bring it up.

"We no longer partake in anything can happen Thursday's, Penny. Thursday's are pizza night."

Penny huffed. "Oh come on Sheldon!" She complained.

"Bernie and I can come," Howard offered. "We're supposed to be having dinner with her parents tonight but I'd try anything to use as an excuse to get out of it."

Carly laughed at his plight. "Good try Howard but Bernadette told me that it was nonnegotiable."

Howard practically stomped his foot. "Dammit, it's like she's here but she isn't," he muttered to Raj about his fiancé.

"Sheldon, what if we leave the decision of the restaurant up to you?" Leonard proposed, giving him a sidelong glance. "That way you can research it, find the up to date health record, and decide for us."

Sheldon tilted his head, thinking over it. "I suppose the idea of researching a new restaurant wouldn't be too terrible - and if it would make you all stop pestering me, then why not? I'm in."

"Yes!" Penny cheered, jabbing her elbow down in enthusiasm.

Carly grinned and Sheldon caught her eyes, giving her a small smile of his own.

"Let's go, Carly!" Penny said with a tug of her hand. "Bye guys!"

Carly broke her gaze from Sheldon and waved goodbye. Sheldon rose a hand in response. Her heart would ache until she saw him again and she didn't care how dramatic that made her sound.

Once back at the apartment, the girls separated to get dressed for their date, and then Carly headed up to Penny's to wait until the guys returned from work.

The women sat on the aqua blue loveseat and watched television. Penny was wearing a red sweater dress with black knee-high boots, her hair waving around her shoulders, looking gorgeous as ever.

Carly was in her blue dress she wore to meet Sheldon's mom, a gray long cardigan over it, and her white sneakers. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail. It was the most she could manage, she was so tired.

She was looking forward to their date and spending time with her friends but she couldn't help but think about how Sheldon was closing himself off to her regarding his work. Had something happened? Did he feel bad about it? She didn't know.

The fact that he was wanting to change fields bothered her for some reason. Not because he was looking for something new but because up until that point that was all Sheldon had been about. The fact that he had just up and tried to change it was shocking- and he hadn't even told her.

Of course, she'd been busy, but with something as drastic as it was, something that was extremely important to him, how come he hadn't even begun to mention it to her?

"Hey, Penny?" She was unable to focus on the Kardashian sisters gossiping and bickering back and forth.

"Yeah?" She asked idly, watching the show intently.

"Can I ask you something? It's about Sheldon." She had no idea if Penny would be of much help but it didn't hurt to try.

"Of course!" She said brightly, tearing her gaze from the tv. "What's up?"

Carly bit her lip, wondering how to word her worries. "Have you heard about Sheldon wanting to change fields?"

Penny froze at the question and then blinked rapidly, straightening up. So that would be a yes, Carly thought.

Why did that dishearten her?

"I heard him talking to Leonard about it. Has he not talked to you?" Penny seemed disturbed by the news.

Carly turned away, miserable. "No, he hasn't. I'm not sure if I was ever going to know. I found out by some rude guy at Caltech giving Sheldon a hard time."

"That must have been Kripke," Penny guessed correctly, rolling her eyes at the thought of him. "Well, I'm sure Sheldon had his reasons for not saying anything to you."

Carly sulked. "Yeah, but what would they be? I tried to get him to talk to me about it but he seemed to just shut himself off."

Penny furrowed her eyebrows in thought, pursing her lips. "Well, I believe it's because he's upset. He has spent his whole life working on string theory and has nothing to show of it. It's sort of like me and my acting career," she added bitterly.

Carly understood what she was saying. She was positive that was what Sheldon was feeling but why wouldn't he tell her about it?

"Right... it's just it's super important to him. Wouldn't he tell his girlfriend about it? At least mention it?"

Penny sighed dismally. "I suppose you're right... but perhaps he's ashamed to tell you. I know I would be if it were me- hell, I am ashamed of my failing acting career. It seems like I'll be working at the Cheesecake Factory to pay my rent for the rest of my life."

Carly gave her a sad look. "Don't say that. Even if acting isn't working for you, I'm sure something will come along and whisk you away from being a waitress. You have a long life ahead of you."

Penny shrugged. "Maybe. But Carl's- look at this way, Sheldon holds himself up to a high standard. He probably assumes you do too. If anything were to tarnish that, it would deeply upset him."

Carly pondered over her words, staring at the tv blankly. She was probably right. Sheldon thought highly of himself. Which he should, he was perfect- at least to her.

"Should I try to reassure him that I think he is perfect the way he is?" She wondered aloud.

Penny tilted her head in thought. "Maybe, maybe not. I worry what his reaction would be if you hinted to him that he wasn't perfect. He'd probably throw himself out the window."

Carly crossed her arms with a pout. "You're probably right. But what can I do?"

Penny reached over and patted her arm comfortingly. "I think just give him time. He's already overcome so much with you by his side. Things even he didn't think was possible. I wouldn't push him."

Carly nodded, agreeing. It wouldn't do her any good to make him more upset. She'd drop it for now and just focus on finding a way to convince him that he was enough for her, just the way he was.

Shouldn't he know that by now?

Even so, she realized she still had a hard time feeling deserving of him. She supposed they weren't too different in that department.

oO0Oo

Sheldon had found a small Italian restaurant that was up to his standards and they were all surprised by how romantic it was. When asked about it, he made a scene of not noticing the white table cloths or the red roses on the tables.

The hostess brought them to their tables and Carly sat down next to Sheldon, their eyes meeting briefly in the dimly lighted restaurant. She didn't think she had ever been in such a fancy restaurant before. If it weren't for the fact that Sheldon loathed places such as this one, she'd ask for them to return, just them two.

"This is so pretty," Penny beamed, her eyes glittering in the candlelight's as she looked around. Leonard smiled dreamily at her from beside her.

"It is. I'm surprised Sheldon picked it," he mumbled, still in disbelief. His roommate was wholly against romantic festivities, despite having his girlfriend now. This was way out of character.

Sheldon had picked up on Leonard's words and glowered from across the table. "I told you in the car, I didn't realize that it was a romantic date spot. I only went by the ratings and the health codes."

Carly peered down at the menu, finding it fancy as well. "Do they have pizza here?"

Sheldon rolled his eyes at her question. "Of course they do. It's an Italian restaurant."

Leonard glossed over his menu. "They do but it's under the children's menu," he told Sheldon, becoming amused.

Sheldon gaped and looked down at his menu, eyes searching. Realizing Leonard was right, he dropped the menu on the table and slumped. "Drat. I knew I should have looked at the menu better."

Carly frowned and looked over at her ruffled boyfriend. "Sheldon, it's not like you to miss something... is everything okay?"

Sheldon froze and then flickered his eyes away, straightening in his chair. "Yes of course everything is fine. With the short notice, what do you expect of me? I'm not superhuman."

Carly, Penny, and Leonard all stared at him then, unsure of how to respond to his sudden animosity. Carly bit her lip and looked down. He was being strange.

Penny cleared her throat. "Ooh, they have wine!" She said enthusiastically over her menu.

No one replied and the waiter appeared shortly after to take their drink orders. Leonard and Penny ordered wine and Sheldon got a diet coke, before bemoaning about how an Italian restaurant such as this didn't have any flatbread. When the waiter asked Carly in desperation to leave them, she ordered a glass of wine against her better judgment.

Sheldon was in a mood and she needed to calm her nerves.

The red thick wine tasted delicate and smooth down her throat. It was nice, she thought, forgetting how it had affected her in Las Vegas.

She was surprised with herself on how easy she spoke to Leonard about her job when he asked her about it, the words exiting her mouth without any sliver of anxiety. It was relaxing. Especially after the hard week she had.

She ordered an alfredo and Sheldon refused to budge on pizza night so he ordered it from the children's menu. When the waiter told him he wasn't allowed, because he wasn't a child, he had practically stomped his foot and insulted the waiter by telling him a full minute long spiel about how pizza originated from the borders of Italy and should have been offered to him at this so-called five-star restaurant.

The waiter, exasperated with Sheldon, surrendered and let Sheldon have his pizza.

Carly was glad she'd had the wine. It was helping her deal with her over boisterous boyfriend. Penny felt the same way but she had ordered two more glasses before their food had come out. Leonard just regretted coming, thinking they should have just let Howard come.

As they ate their food, Penny glanced up to see Carly swaying in her seat. Frowning she lightly kicked her friend from under the table, making the woman start and jump with wide eyes thrown her way.

"Wha- why?"

Penny quirked her eyebrow. "Are you okay?"

Carly blinked, eyes shadowed. "Yeah, why?"

Penny didn't believe her. She looked dead on her feet. She was barely touching her food and her one glass of wine was almost gone. Perhaps she should have had Carly rest instead.

But this was an important night. She needed to tell them something. Swallowing thickly down her nerves, she glanced to Leonard and met his eyes over his second glass of wine.

She gave him a little nod and smile, signally that it was time.

He straightened nervously and looked over at his oblivious roommate who was both busy eating his pizza and looking up something on his phone.

Clearing his throat, Leonard garnered the other couple's attention. "Um, so Penny and I... we have something to tell you two."

Carly and Sheldon both stared at them, unable to decipher what it was that Leonard and Penny looked so nervous about.

Penny slid her hair behind her ear, glancing between them all. "It's actually why we asked you two to come tonight. We want you both to know because..." she trailed off and looked to Leonard, needing his help with explaining.

He blinked a couple of times, trying to remember how they had decided to word it for Sheldon's benefit. "The other day, I... I asked Penny to marry me." At the shocked looks from both Sheldon and Carly, and the gulp Penny took from her wine glass, he scrambled. "Before you start, Sheldon I just want you to know we have decided to keep the living arrangements as they are right now but-"

Sheldon immediately interjected, just as they had foreseen. "Well of course the living arrangements would still be the same! You're engaged not joined at the hip!" He said, sounding outraged at the idea of Leonard moving out of the apartment.

Carly, despite her boyfriends' objections, felt overwhelming happiness for her friends and grinned brightly, grabbing at Penny's hand over the table. "Oh my god, I am so happy for you two!"

Penny felt like crying she was so happy with telling her. "Thank you, Carls. I wanted to tell you before but I promised Leonard I'd keep it a secret to tell both of you in person."

Sheldon was still going on about Leonard's comment about moving out and reciting their roommate agreement in absolute horror. Leonard gulped his wine, having expected this reaction.

Penny rolled her eyes. "Sheldon, he isn't moving out. But you know when the time comes you're gonna have to get over it- roommate agreement be damned."

"Roommate agreement be damn-" Sheldon looked positively livid at her words and snapped his mouth shut. A muscle in his jaw twitched.

Carly saw the hurt in his eyes and she reached out for him, trying to calm him but he shook her off violently, startling her.

"Not now Carly!" He snapped, eyes wild. Then he was on his feet. "Can't I go two minutes without you pawing me like a wild animal!"

Carly's eyes widened, heart stung by his words and the way he was acting.

"Sheldon! Where are you going?" Leonard asked in alarm to which Sheldon shrugged lightly.

"It would appear that would be none of your business-" he told him and then spun on his heel, quickly leaving the restaurant as fast he could.

Carly was frozen in shock, unable to wrap her mind around what had just happened. "I need to get him-" she told them but Leonard called her back.

"He'll probably just take the bus back home. Come on let's pay for our food and go."

Penny swiftly finished her wine off as Leonard fished out cash from his wallet, stopping Carly from putting her own money on the table. "This was our treat," he told her softly and she begrudgingly nodded.

As soon as they walked out into the evening air, Carly searched for Sheldon, hoping to see him waiting for them or something. He was nowhere to be found.

Scared for him, she grabbed her phone out of her purse and tried calling him as she got into Leonard's backseat. He didn't answer.

"Dammit," she muttered. "He isn't answering."

"Sheldon does this a lot," Penny tried to assure her, but it didn't help.

"He's not in his right mind," Carly told her, watching the sidewalks intently as Leonard drove them back towards the apartment. Maybe he was walking home? He didn't have his bus pants.

"He's been off for a few days now," Leonard told them thoughtfully. "It started when Kripke brought his lack of progress in string theory up... ugh we shouldn't have told him about us," he groaned.

Carly bit her lip. She'd never seen Sheldon in such a fit before. He wasn't okay. Heart aching for him she was grateful it didn't take long for them to return home.

She hopped out of the car as soon as she could and made a run for it. She took two stairs at a time, trying to get to 4A in record time. Leonard and Penny followed suit, albeit at a slower pace.

She tried the door handle and it was locked. He either wasn't home yet or he had locked them out. She was going to assume the former. Leonard and Penny caught up with her and Leonard unlocked the door, opening it to a darkened apartment.

Sheldon wasn't there. Panicking, she let Penny guide her into the apartment as Leonard turned the lights on and tried calling Sheldon himself.

"Hey buddy, we're home. Where are you? I'm a little worried," Leonard told him in a voicemail. "Call me back when you can."

Carly sat down on the couch, staring at Sheldon's spot worriedly. She told herself that he was fine, that he was just taking a long time to get home because of the bus route. That had to be it.

Dread was overwhelming her though and she worried something might happen to him. Grabbing her arms, she didn't notice Penny sitting next to her until she placed a hand on her shoulder.

"He'll be fine, Carl's."

Carly trembled. "I hope you're right."

"Hey! I tracked Sheldon's phone with GPS- get this, he's at the train station!" Leonard told them, sounding extremely worried.

Heart jumping to her throat at the information she shot to her feet. "Train station? Why's he there?" Subconsciously she knew though. Why else would he be at a train station?

Penny got to her feet next to her, equally as worried as Leonard. "He can't be..."

Leonard shook his head. "We gotta go."

As Leonard was grabbing his keys again, and Penny was adjusting her dress to leave, Carly's phone rang.

Hoping it was Sheldon, she hastily took it back out of her purse and answered without hesitation, her friends' eyes on her as they hoped the same thing.

"Hello?!"

"Is this Carly Bennett? Rose Bennett's granddaughter?" Asked an unfamiliar voice.

Confused all of a sudden, Carly froze. "Yes, who is this?"

"This is Doctor Diedre from Burbank's Memorial Hospital. Your grandmother is here because of a stroke."

Heart pummeling to her feet, she swayed and almost fell. "What?" She whispered in horror. "She's not...?" She couldn't bring herself to continue.

Leonard and Penny stared at her in concern from the doorway but seemed antsy to leave. Who knew how long they had before Sheldon boarded a train going who knows where.

"No, dear. Her condition is stable. However, as the only relative she has in the state and her emergency contact, we'll need you to come for paperwork on her behalf."

Carly shook, her whole body unable to handle the stress going on inside of her. "Of course! I'm- I'm in Pasadena. I'll be there as soon as I can."

She hung up and Penny immediately rounded on her. "Is it your grandmother?"

Carly choked on a sob and nodded weakly. "She- She had a stroke. I gotta get to her but-"

Penny came for her, grabbing her by the arms to steady her, and gave her a serious look. "You go. Take my car. We'll bring Sheldon back okay?"

Carly felt torn. Her boyfriend was trying to run away and her grandmother needed her. She couldn't be in two places at once even though she desperately wished she could.

Crying she gave up and nodded. Penny threw her arms around her and gave her a tight hug before handing over her car keys. "I'll text you when we get home."

Carly nodded and they all left, driving in two different directions. Carly sobbed the whole way to Burbank, trusting her friends would bring Sheldon back, while also not realizing she wouldn't see him for six whole weeks.