Penny ran into the hospital, almost knocking people over.

She was yelling, "Leonard!! Sheldon!!"

Howard and Raj turned around, only to see a red-faced, puffy-eyed Penny looking like she was going to assault someone if she didn't get what she wanted.

Penny rushed up to the counter.

"Where's Leonard Hofstadter and Sheld—"

"Penny!" called Howard from behind her.

Penny turned around and saw Howard and Raj. She froze when she looked behind them, seeing Leonard and Sheldon on beds and a group of four or five nurses around the beds. They were covered by a curtain, but Penny could still see them. She felt her legs losing their strength and continued crying in the middle of the hospital. Howard walked over to Penny.

"Penny…"

She was almost hysterical. "Why?"

"Maybe you should come and sit down."

They walked over to where Raj was sitting and Penny put her head down on Raj's shoulder and continued sobbing. Raj froze and fell silent. He realized how distraught Penny must have been and slowly put his hand on her back, only to quickly pull his hand away when she started talking.

Penny picked her head up and stared at her two best friends in the room.

"Howard…what happened? Did they tell you what happened?"

"The police talked to us just before you came in. The other driver's completely unharmed and she said Leonard ran a red light and smashed into her car."

Penny thought about what could have made Leonard run a red light. He never broke the law and he was the best driver she ever met. She realized the only possible explanation was that he wasn't paying attention. He was thinking of something else, and it was obvious to her what was on his mind. She felt devastated.

"Why was Leonard driving? And why was Sheldon with him?"

"They were going to go to the comic book store. We thought it would make Leonard feel better after…you know."

The three of them sat in silence for the next hour, seeing nothing but a white curtain shielding Leonard and Sheldon from them. They occasionally saw one of them being wheeled out into another room and wheeled back in, but they never caught a glimpse of their face.

The doctor approached them to let them know how they were doing.

He looked over at Penny. "Hello, you are…?"

"Penny. Are you their doctor?" Her voice was nearly gone after sobbing for so long.

"Yes, I am. Are you related to either of them?"

"No, I'm just their friend."

"Well, we checked both of them thoroughly and Leonard has a concussion, three broken ribs, and is currently unconscious. Sheldon has a broken arm, a large cut on his forehead, and is also currently unconscious. Unfortunately, we don't know if they will be okay until later, or until they wake up." The doctor asked Penny, "Do you know if Leonard has family around here?"

"Sorry, no. I think they're back in New Jersey, but we aren't that familiar with his relatives." She paused and looked toward Leonard and Sheldon. "…Can we see them?"

"Sure."

The doctor led them into the room, a nurse brought over three chairs, and left them alone in the room.

Howard and Raj walked over to Leonard's bed as Penny stood next to Sheldon's bed. She saw the bandage covering his whole forehead and the cast wrapped around his arm. She started crying again.

"Why? S-Sheldon didn't do anything. This was never his fault. He didn't do anything, and now look."

Howard and Raj looked at Penny.

Howard was worried. "Ar-are you still mad at Leonard?"

Penny didn't stop looking at Sheldon. "Well, no, I guess. But Sheldon didn't do anything! I yelled at him and it wasn't even his fault. And the accident wasn't his fault either."

Howard felt his heart jump a little. "Is she saying the accident was Leonard's fault?" thought Howard. He took one look at Raj and knew he was thinking the exact same thing.

Penny realized that Howard and Raj have been at the hospital for hours.

She turned to them. "Howard, Raj, maybe you guys should go home. Get some rest, eat something. You've been here a really long time."

Howard shifted uneasily. "We can't possibly eat."

"Then just get some rest. Come back later. Please, I don't want you guys to stay here forever."

"What about you?"

"I already had lunch. You guys haven't. You need to eat. Now go."

They knew arguing with Penny wouldn't make things better. Howard and Raj slowly left the room, still staring at their friends.

Penny dragged a chair over and sat in between Leonard and Sheldon's beds. She faced Sheldon. She sat there for another few hours, just staring at them. Nurses had come in and out a few times, checking on Sheldon and Leonard, but most of the time, she was alone. The doctor came into the room and walked over to where Penny was sitting. Penny was staring at Sheldon and didn't notice that the doctor had come in.

"Penny?"

Penny looked up. "Oh, sorry. I didn't see you come in."

"That's all right. I have some good news and bad news."

Penny's heart dropped when she heard "bad news."

"…bad news? Oh, god."

"The good news is Leonard's doing very well. He survived the concussion, which is very good. It seems like he's going to make a full recovery. We expect him to wake up very soon. But…"

Penny was hoping that Sheldon's name would come in during the good news, but instead got hit with the worst.

"Oh, no, no, no."

"I'm sorry, but it doesn't seem like Sheldon's doing very well. The cut in his forehead may have done something much worse than we expected. He hasn't gotten any better since he came in. …I don't think he's going to make it. I'm sorry."

Penny broke down crying and put her head down on Sheldon's arm. The doctor left the room.

"Oh, Sheldon, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I've been so mean to you. I didn't mean it when I yelled at you. Oh, please, please forgive me."

After another hour of pleading and asking for forgiveness from Sheldon, Penny drifted off to sleep on Sheldon's arm.