Chapter 26 - Delay
Sheldon had grabbed the cell phone and keys, he had left the day before in the time machine room, when he took the clothes of the other Sheldon. The phone unlocked after the third password he tried, again happy he seemed to think the same in this timeline as the previous timeline. He then went outside the building and made his way across campus to a place where Amy could pick him up, calling her as he walked. "Amy can you pick me up?"
"Honey, did Leonard and Penny leave you there?" Amy sounded concerned.
Sheldon thought fast. "Yes, they seem to be acting a little different today, they were talking and then they then just left the building." he lied, glad she couldn't see his face.
"Oh really, they were talking, that is a big improvement between them. Okay Honey, I'll be right there. Where do you want me to pick you up?"
Sheldon looked ahead, "The student union."
"Really, that is across campus? Is everything okay?"
Sheldon thought a moment, "I went looking for Leonard and Penny only ending up here."
"Oh, okay, I'll be there as soon as I can. Be careful okay, I love you." Amy then responded.
"I love you too." Sheldon responded then hung up.
Sheldon sat down on a bench outside the student union, since it was on the other side of campus, he thought Penny and Leonard would not think to look for him there. He also needed to rest, the power module in his bag wasn't too big but it was really heavy and well built, which meant it was probably expensive, at least Sheldon hoped so. He was going to check out how easy it was to get another when he got back to the apartment, because if it was too easy, he would have to do something else to stop them.
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Penny picked up her husband's phone and keys from the table and then looked at them with mixed emotions. Her and Leonard hadn't said a word to each other for several minutes and Penny found herself hating the silence between them, for the last year she had lived in silence with her husband. When she saw the phone, it had given her an idea to start up a conversation with him, "Leonard, you need to take these, especially the phone, so I can contact you when we are apart."
Leonard looked at the keys and phone in her hands and slowly nodded, taking them and pocketing them. He was at a little loss at what to do now, Sheldon's sabotage of the machine stopping them from starting their search. "Penny we need to get a power module before we can search for your husband and Sheldon."
Penny looked at the computer table, "Can't you search with the computers?"
Leonard shook his head, "The machine works at a greatly reduced power to search for the markers, it is like a radio receiver when it does that, but to do that it still needs power and to get power it needs the power module." Leonard sighed. "Also if we still can't find markers, the alternate plan is to send cameras back to search, but the machine needs to work to do that, also. Without it working we can't send any search and rescue equipment…or people."
Penny just stared at him, going over his words in her head to understand his explanation, then she finally nodded. "Sheldon pretty much shut us down."
Leonard nodded, "I will need a new power module…" Then Leonard thought of something, "Or I will need to get Howard's help."
"Howard, really, you think he can help?" Penny looked at Leonard confused.
Leonard nodded, "Howard is an excellent engineer, he can design and build anything, so maybe he can build us a substitute power module." Leonard then looked at her. "Penny it is not over by a long shot, we are just delayed a little, but again this is time we are talking about, no matter how long our delay, we can still get there on time."
Penny just nodded. "Okay."
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While Sheldon waited for Amy, he devised a plan to delay their physical contact for a little while longer, so he did not make a mistake with her. He thought if he could just get enough time, to get use to living with her, he could maybe perform coitus, at least he hoped he could, because right now if he tried he knew he would run. So as Sheldon waited he rubbed his eyes hard, purposely making them red and inflamed, so Amy would notice and believe he was sick.
It was less than a half hour later that Amy pulled up in the car they had driven yesterday. As soon as Sheldon got in the car, Amy looked at him with a surprised expression on her face. "Sheldon, Honey, what happened to you?"
"Amy, Leonard was sick, and now I am sick too." Sheldon then forced a sniffling sound out, to support his lie and take attention from the small ticks that were still trying to come to his face.
"But you were fine this morning?" Amy couldn't understand what happened.
"I know, but then I was around Leonard…and Penny, who is sick too." Leonard lied.
"Really, but you never go around sick people."
"I made a mistake Amy, and they took advantage of me. They are obviously too concerned about themselves and care nothing of my well being." Sheldon argued.
"Really, Penny and Leonard?" Amy was having trouble understanding that Penny and Leonard would do that to Sheldon.
"I don't know what to tell you Amy." Then Sheldon faked a cough. "Amy we need to go to the drug store and you need to stay a good distance from me so you don't get sick and take a chance with the baby."
Amy didn't like how this was all happening, but he was right, they needed to think about the baby first. She ran her hand on her belly for a second then looked at her husband. "Okay."
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Penny and Leonard were making their way to the car, after unsuccessfully looking for Sheldon in the building for almost a half hour, when Penny's phone started to ring. However, when Penny pulled it out of her pocket, she gasped and had to hold Leonard for support. "What's wrong?" Leonard was immediately concerned.
Penny looked at him, her mouth open, but no words coming out for almost a half minute before she spoke. "It is a text from my husband!"
Leonard grabbed the phone from his pocket and held it towards her, "I thought you said this is your husband's phone?" Penny just nodded, which confused Leonard. "What does it say?"
"It says go to my office, and there is a DVD in the safe that I need to see and then it has the combination." Penny looked from the phone to Leonard. "That's it."
"Do you know where his office is?" Penny nodded. "Well we better go." Leonard and Penny then walked back to the building.
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Amy walked around the drug store with Sheldon, watching him pick up things for his sickness, while staying a little ways from him. She couldn't help think something wasn't right, things seemed not to make sense right now, how her husband was acting and this sickness thing. However, she thought, why would he deceive her, it didn't make any sense, so she dismissed it for now and followed him while he got what he needed.
Sheldon wore a surgical mask on the way home, he told Amy is was to protect her and that it was difficult to talk through it, so silence dominated the car. Sheldon using the time to think about his next steps, because even if he pushed this sickness thing, it would only give him less than a week. Plus he had work to do, so he had to convince Amy he was sick but not sick enough to go to work on Monday morning. Sheldon still had till tomorrow to come up with a plan, that would keep Leonard and Penny from making him leave, while he settled into this new timeline with Amy, he definitely had a lot of thinking to do.
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Leslie had also gone to the drug store that Saturday, although earlier in the day and for something else. She had been sick yesterday morning and this morning too, so she had to eliminate one possibility before she went to the doctor. Leslie now waited, sitting on her bed, for the three minutes the pregnancy test required. Time seemed to take forever and each second passed by like a minute of its own, as she wondered how he would take it if she was pregnant. She was still thinking that when her phone timer went off and Leslie turned the three sticks over, they all said the same thing.