Summary: Continuation from the last chapter.
Word Count: 1794
Disclaimer: I don't own The Big Bang Theory or the characters.
It still worried her that he was forgetting so much, but she was relieved to see that it was different now. He was probably getting better at remembering, or maybe it was like that because there weren't so many things he needed to remember nowadays. He went back to his routine from the past fifteen years, something he didn't even need to think off to do.
It was a Wednesday night, so Penny and Amy went to Bernadette's house while the guys went to the comic book store. Both Halley and Michael were asleep, but as always they needed to be quiet to make sure they didn't wake up – especially Halley since her cries were... unusual and exquisite. Michael's cries were normal, even though they were annoying if heard at five in the morning for more than five minutes. But still better than his sisters'.
The girls were sitting around the table, Bernadette in a comfy chair, similar to the one Leonard sat at the apartment 4A, while the other girls were sharing the couch.
There was wine on the table, but neither Penny nor Bernadette were drinking that much after the nights they had. Amy wasn't drinking that much either, even though her ride would be Leonard. They were talking about work, but eventually, the conversation went to their spouses, specifically Amy's husband.
"I don't know, it's weird. I mean, it's a weird feeling." Amy said.
"Why?" Bernadette asked, and reached for the bottle of wine and poured some in Amy's glass, as to make her talk more about it.
"I have no idea. It's just that, I thought it would feel different, somehow. I was told it wouldn't, but still. Now, after what three weeks of marriage, Sheldon doesn't wake up with a good morning wife, anymore. Sometimes I even forget about it, until I look down and see the ring." She subconsciously looks down to the ring and smiles, something that doesn't go unnoticed by the other girls that look at each other and smile.
"It's normal, Amy. It's called a routine. Unless something changes, you get used to things." Penny tells her, and half smiles.
"I know…" Amy starts but is interrupted by the noise of the door opening and four men arriving.
They are talking about superheroes, as they always do when they arrive at that house on Wednesday nights. They are all carrying a bag from the comic book store and enthusiastically talking about the comic they purchased. Once they notice the girls looking at them, the guys stop their conversation and approach them, sitting next to their spouses on the couch – or, on Howard's case, on the chair. Raj sits on the other chair since there wasn't any more space for him.
"Did you guys enjoy your night?" Amy asks, and they all nod. "You're ready to go?" Amy directs this question to Sheldon, that nods and turns to Leonard.
Penny, Leonard, Sheldon, and Amy get up and say goodbye to the other three, then leave to the car where Leonard drives to the apartment building they all live in. Saying goodbye as they reach the fourth floor, both couples enter their own apartment.
Apartment 4A
Leonard and Penny don't say a word as they change from their normal clothes to their pajamas. They sit down at the couch in the living room, cuddling without even looking at the other. Sighing, Penny chooses a show to watch, not really caring which one. She's comfortable in the position she's in, and she feels her husband's warmth all around her body and feels his breathing that sometimes moves her hair around her neck and tickles. She smiles whenever this happens, but doesn't move.
Penny falls asleep on the couch and wakes up in the same position. Her husband is still there, and she notices that she's still on the couch.
He must've fallen asleep here as well. Or else he would've taken me back to bed. She thinks.
She smiles until she notices her neighbors in the kitchen island staring at her.
"What?" She then registers what's happening. "Wait, what are you doing here?"
"Breakfast?" Amy asks, at the same time as she raises her eyebrows and coffee mug.
"Yeah, okay. Why here?" She asks again.
"It's Thursday," Sheldon answers as if it's the most normal thing in the world. "What you should be asking, or better, what we should ask is why did you both sleep on the couch?"
"You guys should've knocked." Penny reminds them, ignoring Sheldon's question.
"We did," Amy explains, taking a sip from her coffee. "When you didn't answer we took our emergency keys and entered."
"You do know that an emergency key is for emergencies, right?"
"Do I need to remind you that you once used those keys to enter this apartment to steal some milk?" Sheldon points out, and once again Penny ignores him. She gets two mugs that she fills with coffee, and takes both to the couch.
She sets them on the coffee table and softly tries to wake up her husband, that immediately stirs and smiles when he realizes that it was his wife who woke him up. They share a morning kiss, too used to the others morning breath. Penny smiles after this sweet but short moment and hands him a coffee mug that he takes gladly.
They are both sitting on the couch as the other couple stands behind the kitchen island, looking at them as if they were crazy.
Well, at least Sheldon was. Amy was looking at them with a sweet smile, glad they were like this and not fighting.
Deciding to give them some privacy, she pushes her own husband away from that scene, even if he was reluctant. Leonard and Penny don't even seem to notice they were gone, too lost in their own world.
As soon as the couple finishes their breakfast, they head to the bedroom to change to their day.
Leonard tries to find his grey hoodie, and Penny is just sitting on the bed looking at her phone and occasionally glancing at her husband. Finally, she gives up and asks.
"What you doing?"
He looks at her. "Have you seen my grey hoodie?"
She looks at him as if he was going crazy. Maybe he is, she thinks, but immediately puts that thought aside. "You're wearing it."
He looks down and opens his mouth in surprise. "I don't remember putting it on." Penny looks concerned at him, but he doesn't notice this as he resumes his morning, puts on a pair of pants, sneakers and finally leaves the room to brush his teeth.
He comes back in less than three minutes, without putting gel in his hair – which was very unusual.
"Hey, Leonard? You forgot to put on gel." She points out, and he just smiles.
"I didn't. I know you like it like this." It's her turn to smile, and he silently high-fives himself in his brain for that. He totally lied, he did forget. But he knew she was worried about it and didn't want to add more worry to her.
He has noticed this change in him for the last couple of weeks, suddenly forgetting things. But he wasn't just worried about that. The fact was that his own grandmother had had Alzheimer – eventually causing her passing. He was terrified of those thoughts, and unfortunately, those weren't the ones he forgot about. No, he forgot about lunches he set up himself, about what time he had to go to work.
He didn't say anything to anyone, but he had called a doctor and set up an appointment for that very same day – which he made sure to remember by setting up various alarms throughout the day.
Eventually, he left for work. After lunch, he left his lab and went to the hospital. He sat on the waiting room to get inside, and then he sat again to wait to go inside various other rooms to do exams. Blood tests, MRI's, things like that. It took almost all day, and as he was leaving the hospital he saw Penny there. Panicking, he ran out of the hospital as fast as he could.
When he arrived at his apartment after picking up Sheldon at the university, Penny was already inside. She looked at him and stormed to their bedroom, which made Leonard sigh knowing he was in trouble. Taking off his jacket and bag, he went after his wife.
The door was half closed, and Leonard carefully opened it. Inside, he found his wife sitting on the bed looking angrily at him. He doesn't even open his mouth.
"What were you doing at the hospital?" He opens his mouth, that immediately closes as she speaks again. "And don't you even dare to lie to me, mister!"
"I was running some tests." He tells the truth, knowing very well there's no point in lying.
"Tests? What tests?" She is now looking at him worried, once more, instead of angry.
"You were not the only one to notice that I was forgetting things. So, I went and set up an appointment. The doctor made me run some tests to see what was causing memory loss."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want you to worry." He says, sheepishly.
"Worry? Didn't. Want. Me. To. Worry." She says slowly, as the word sank. "All I've been doing for the past few weeks are worrying. And now you're telling me not to worry. Did he at least tell you what's wrong?"
He looks at her, knowing very well that she's terrified as the seconds go by and he's silent. But Penny says nothing, doesn't even move.
"Yeah, he has an idea why. Apparently, there's some medication that I've been taking that can cause this, but he wants me to come back tomorrow just to make sure. In the meantime, I can't take that."
Penny lets out a breath she had no idea she was holding. She thinks back to that same morning, the thought of her sleeping on her couch with her husband. She wonders if she'll be able to sleep on their bed if he was gone if whatever was causing him to forget was actually a disease without a cure that would eventually take him away from her. She can't even think of it without wanting to cry, and as soon as those thoughts pop into her head, tears appear in the corner of her eyes, and her husband's arms are already around her, his hand stroking her hair softly. He mumbles some sweet nothings in her ear, and she lets out another breath.
They stay that way for a long time, even though it feels like a moment.
The End
After reading the other chapter, I also felt the need to continue the story and try my best to explain why Leonard was forgetful – I only wrote it like that to make Penny worried, it was just a filler, honestly.
I made some research on Alzheimer and similar diseases and some sites said that some medication can cause people to forget things. Since it's known that Leonard takes a lot of medication, I liked that option. Hope I didn't leave anything on the open this time – regarding Lenny.