Bernadette stood at the door to the hospital chapel. She had spied Penny a few moments before, but didn't want to interrupt her in what was clearly a very private moment. However, when her friend fell to the floor Bernadette rushed in. She had never seen Penny look so vulnerable, so weak.
"Penny, it's me," she said softly, putting both hands on Penny's shoulders.
Penny looked up and grabbed at Bernadette, hugging her tightly.
"I need him, Bernadette, I need Leonard, I need him so bad, I never needed anything or anyone so much…."
"I know you do, Penny. It's going to be all right."
"I'm so scared, Bernadette. The doctor was worried. What if I never see him again?" Penny sobbed miserably.
Bernadette held her friend until the sobbing subsided. They sat together on one of the benches.
"What happened?" Bernadette finally asked.
"Well, we were on our way to Vegas to get married," Penny began.
"What!" Bernadette practically screamed. "Without telling any of us?"
She realized immediately that this was hardly the central concern of the moment, and quickly moved on.
"Never mind, not important. How did Leonard get hurt?"
Penny told the story, leaving out the part about the argument. Bernadette looked pensive.
"That sounds just like Leonard, throwing himself in front of a truck to save you. He's something, your man," she said, hoping to cheer Penny up.
But Penny immediately began crying bitterly again.
"That's just the problem," she said through her tears. "I was so mean to him. I said such terrible things. And now those might be the last things I ever say to him."
Bernadette looked puzzled, and Penny explained the fight.
"Well, you had reasons to be upset," Bernadette said, trying to calm Penny.
"Sure," Penny replied. "But it's not just this one fight. He has been telling me for years how much he loves me, how important I am to him, how much he wants to be with me. And I never do the same for him. I bet he thinks it's because I don't feel the same way. But I do. I do, I really do. I just have trouble telling him. And now I might never be able to tell him again."
"I'm such a horrible person. I've been torturing the man I love, the only man who ever treated me right," and she collapsed again into Bernadette's arms.
Bernadette couldn't do much else besides hold Penny. After all, there was some truth to what she said: at least openly, the couple's relationship always seemed one-sided. But Bernadette knew the reality, how Leonard had changed Penny's life, how he took care of her, how she leaned on him for support. The thing was, and this is what Penny knew too, that Leonard was just insecure enough – well, awfully insecure – that he probably didn't really know how much Penny cared about him.
"Look," Bernadette finally said, as Penny calmed down, "so now you will get the chance to make it up to him. You can tell him all these things, and then you'll be even. And, soon, married – but this time with us there, right?"
Penny nodded sadly, but she looked doubtful.
"Let's go back to the waiting room," Bernadette said. "Maybe there's some news."