Chapter 2
Knock knock knock "Amy!"
Knock knock knock "Amy!"
Knock knock knock "Amy!"
Knocking on her door was a relief to his system. He hadn't been able to reach Amy all day. As per the relationship agreement, Amy was required to check-in with him at least four times per day: first thing in the morning, around lunch, around dinner, and at bedtime. Other contact was acceptable throughout the day, as necessary or as desired, but these four wellness check-ins were the bare minimum contact required. Lately, they had exchanged quick texts quite often, but the last time he had heard from her had been this morning, after the small earthquake they had all experienced. She had reported in-again as is stipulated by the relationship agreement as a subclass for National Disasters- and advised that all was well in her lab, though the monkeys were more hyper than usual. The earthquake had been relatively minor, and therefore, he had put it from his mind and continued his work.
Subsequently, she had not texted him at lunch. He hadn't worried right away, but when three missed text messages had gone unread, he hadn't been able to stop thinking of her. What was she doing? Where was she? Why wasn't she answering? She had not been on any form of social media all day. She was not returning any text messages, and his calls were going straight to voicemail. At first, he was quite miffed, and he attributed her lack of contact to some sort-of rude, passive-aggressive reaction to something she that angered her. However, as the day went on, he had discovered that none of their social group had received any contact from her either. That's when the worry began. Was she hurt? Had their been some accident in her lab?
As her emergency contact, he would have been notified if she had been in an automobile accident, or if she had received any medical attention at a nearby hospital. He kept himself calm by assuming that it was good news that no one had reached out. Yet, he was still growing more and more concerned. With his concentration failing, he had decided to leave the university earlier than usual. He had demanded Leonard do the same, and by 4:30, they had left the University and arrived back at their apartment. Once there, he attempted to reach her via Skype, text, messenger, and through his phone and landline, with no success. Expressing his concern to Leonard, his friend had offered to drive over to Amy's apartment in Glendale.
Now, standing in front of her door, staring at the number for Pi, he waited anxiously for her to answer. No answer came. He knocked again, this time more forcefully on the off chance that she was resting, or sleeping due to illness. With no answer forthcoming, he glanced at Leonard, who stood beside him. Leonard's face was riddled with worry, and his brow was creased with confusion.
"Leonard, why isn't she answering?" Stricken, Sheldon was near panic.
"I don't know, buddy. Do you have a key?"
"Yeah, I do. It's for emergencies, though. Is this an emergency? What if she's just angry with me?"
"She hasn't contacted Penny or Bernadette, either, and that's unusual, Sheldon. I think you should use the key. Amy won't be mad."
Needing no further urging, he pulled his keyring from his pocket. Opening the door swiftly, he expected to find Amy playing her harp, or singing sad songs, as he had the last time he couldn't reach her. That time, she had been hurt by the girls over some silly wedding nonsense. Instead, what he saw filled him with dread. Her apartment was trashed. Furniture was overturned, and her bookshelves were nearly bare, as most of the books were scattered across the floor. Her desk had been upended and her computer was on the floor. Even her harp- which weighs 80 pounds!- was on its side. There was dark brown water everywhere. Water had soaked the carpet and her sofa. The whole place was a sodden, stinky mess. He made his way into the room, slowly and carefully sidestepping a few pieces of furniture and some puddles. He looked around, overwhelmed and confused, and then glanced back to where Leonard stood at the doorway, with a look of shock upon his face.
"What the hell?" Leonard said, moving hesitantly into the apartment.
"I don't know?! Amy didn't mention anything! And her apartment?! I can't get ahold of her, and I don't know if she's ok…" His thoughts came rushing out of his mouth, each faster than the last so that he was tripping over his words. Panic was overwhelming his senses and he suddenly felt he couldn't breathe. Something awful had happened in his Amy's apartment, and none of it made any sense. Leonard rushed over to Sheldon's side.
"There, there. It's ok. There's an explanation. I'm sure Amy is fine. Maybe you should sit down? Breathe Sheldon, breathe." Leonard looked around futilely searching for a dry surface on which Sheldon could sit down. There seemed to be nothing dry at all. Just as Leonard was starting to feel overwhelmed and panicked also, an enormous man stood in the entryway to the apartment, blocking the light from the hallway. Suddenly the room became very dark.
"Who are you and what are you doing in this apartment?" His bulking presence was intimidating. Leonard looked over at Sheldon and watched as Sheldon raised himself to his full height.
"I could ask the same of you. I am Dr. Sheldon Cooper. This apartment - or rather, what's left of it," he gestured to mess in the apartment, "belongs to my girlfriend, Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler. I have a key." Holding up the key as evidence, he looked at the man's empty eyes and decided he was definitely more ape than man.
"I am Geoffrey Pantalone." The man all but grunted his name out before continuing, "I own this apartment complex. Ms. Fowler is one of my tenants- well former tenants."
"What happened here, and what do you mean former tenant?" Loaned asked. his tone accusatory.
"And where is Amy? Was anyone hurt? Is she ok? Is she here somewhere?" Sheldon's questions continued to rush over each other, his concern for Amy very apparent.
"The earthquake happened or didn't you notice?" Mr. Pantalone chortled sarcastically. "It's probably cost me over a million dollars in damages. Thankfully only a few tenants were in the apartments when the earthquake started-only a couple of minor injuries. It caused a water main break, the pipes busted, now there's water everywhere. The whole complex is damaged. We appear to be directly atop the fault line, and there was some structural damage too. With my luck, this whole place'll be condemned. The fire department just left after confirming it was structurally safe about an hour ago. I've been contacting the tenants. By law, I gotta accompany each one to his or her apartment to collect and save as many personal items as they can, and so they can catalog/ photograph as much of the damage as possible for their own insurance companies. Ms. Fowler is next door at the building office right now, filling out paperwork. I came up here to open up for her. Does she know you're here? She didn't mention anyone coming to help."
"She doesn't, no. How long has she been here?" Sheldon asked, visibly relaxing at the knowledge that Amy was fine.
"We contacted her to advise her of the damages and asked her to come by to start the paperwork right away. Many of the tenants have been here for awhile. That office is not a fun place right now, let me tell you. Too many people crammed into a little space, and tempers are wearing a little thin. What this world needs is a little more patience, ya know what I'm saying?" Mr. Pantelone rolled his eyes. Just as he finished his sentence, Amy appeared in behind him, still unaware that Sheldon and Leonard were in the apartment.
"Mr. Pantalone, I'm ready to see my apartment now." He moved to the side, allowing her to see Sheldon in the doorway. Their eyes met, and a look of surprise crossed her features. "Sheldon? What are you doing here?" She broke eye contact, looking up at Mr. Pantalone, thinking he may have contacted her boyfriend. Before she could ask anything though, she was pulled tight- and rather awkwardly - against Sheldon. Not knowing what to do- displays of affection from Sheldon were so rare- she just patted his shoulder. "Sheldon?" she asked quietly, confusion clear in her tone.
"Amy, I was worried." As though he were suddenly aware that he had captured her against him, he stood and pulled away immediately. Accusingly, he looked at her, "You missed our check-in, and haven't returned any of my calls or texts all day."
Thrown off-balance from his still shocking display of affection, Amy took a step closer to him. She played a hand on his chest before answering, "Oh! Sheldon, I'm so sorry. It's been the craziest day. Between the earthquake, my wrist, the Health Center, and then finding out about the apartment and, and this…" she looked around, her expression devastated as her eyes took in the ruination of her things. "I… It slipped my mind. Additionally, somewhere in the midst of all of this, I have misplaced my phone. I am sorry that you worried. I'm fine."
Sheldon seemed to take in her words, and his breathing returned to normal, but then his eyes widened and he reached out for her wrist, covered in the air-cast. "I'm your emergency contact! Why wasn't I notified that you had been injured? Did this happen in the earthquake? I thought you had reported all was well!" Surprisingly gentle, Sheldon looked over her hand, carefully inspecting it.
"It's just a sprain. It happened during an aftershock, but Bert was there…"
"That gravel monkey! He's always around, isn't he?!" Sheldon interrupted, rolling his eyes.
"Sheldon! He helped me and insisted that I go to the health station and get it looked at. Nurse Transo gave me an X-ray. She made me promise to return in a week to check on it. It hurts quite a bit, but it's ok. I've also had a headache, but that's probably because I haven't eaten all day. I'm pretty tired, but I promise Sheldon, I'm ok." Her eyes pleaded with him to understand.
"Hey, now that you see she's ok, can we move this along? I got other tenants yet." Mr. Pantalone was clearly in a hurry.
"Oh, of course," Amy said, looking at him briefly before turning to Leonard and Sheldon. "Will you help?" Both nodded in the affirmative, and Amy started efficiently handing out instructions. Between the three of them, they had collected many of Amy's most personal items and stored them in garbage bags. They had taken pictures and cataloged her ruined belongings for her insurance company, and had as much as they could clear out ready to go within a half hour. Then they made plans with Mr. Pantalone for a return trip in two days' time, where Amy might be able to take a few of her heavier items to storage.
"It's gonna be a long process, Ms. Fowler. I won't know for about six weeks if we can even save the place. I won't be holding anyone to their contracts if you would feel better looking for a new place. I can also contact you if a vacancy comes up in one of my other complexes."
"Thank you, Mr. Pantalone." With a quick goodbye, the trio made their way out of the apartment laden with Amy's things. They loaded the bags into her car. "That's everything, then. Thanks, guys. I guess I need to make some calls. UGH! The idea of staying at my mother's makes me nauseous. And that drive to work! It's awful." Looking glum, Amy's eyes were unfocused as she shuttered. She really didn't want to stay with her mother, but she just didn't see any other option. She couldn't afford to stay at a hotel until she was able to find a new apartment.
"With your mother?" Sheldon questioned. He couldn't let her stay so far away. Surely that drive would mean that his own schedule and their interactions would be interrupted. That wouldn't do, not at all. Besides, as she was injured, he was obligated to care for her. "I don't think that's a good idea. You'll just have to stay with us."
"With you? I don't know, Sheldon. I have no idea how long it will take me to find a new apartment. You know how hard it is to find anything in this area that's reasonable." And I can't afford to switch to a hotel if it's all too much for Sheldon later. Sheldon had already indicated that he wasn't ready to be roommates with her. Her wrist suddenly screamed with a shock of pain, and she pulled it against her, hissing and wincing at the sudden onset.
"Amy, let's not decide this tonight," Leonard spoke up, always the voice of reason. "It's already late. You're obviously in pain, and you've had a hell of a bad day. Wolowitz and Raj are already on their way to our apartment with dinner. Come on over, we can eat, and you can stay the night. We can figure everything else out in the morning. I can stay at Penny's, and you can stay in my room." As Leonard was speaking, Sheldon was nodding in agreement, but when Leonard mentioned that Amy could sleep in his bed, he was taken aback by an odd stab of disappointment. Covering quickly, he tried to appear disinterested in the details. Why would he be disappointed? He had no intention of sleeping in the same bed with his girlfriend. His fantasies were only that- illogical fantasies, and he certainly was not ready for that big of a step, if he ever would be.
Having reached a temporary accord, the three got into their respective cars and made their way to 2311 Los Robles Dr, Pasadena.
