Again, thanks for the reviews everybody! I'm not happy with the beginning of this chapter, it feels a little lame for some reason. But I'm hoping the rest of the chapter makes up for that. Enjoy!

Penny got up out of her chair, now crying tears of joy for Sheldon.

"Sheldon…you're awake!"

"Yes, I am, but why are you crying?"

Penny sat on Sheldon's bed and hugged him. "I thought I was going to lose you."

Sheldon was confused. "Come again?"

Penny gripped his arm and looked down at him. "The doctor said you were going to die."

Sheldon froze. He looked around him, only to realize that he was in a hospital. He fell silent and tried to remember what happened. Sheldon looked down at the bed and slowly pieced together what happened that day. He remembered that he yelled at Penny.

"Penny…I'm sorry I yelled at you. I'm sorry I made you mad."

"Sweetie, you have no idea how worried I was about you." Penny gently touched his cheek. "Don't worry about what happened. I'm just glad you're okay."

Sheldon saw the red light, Leonard in the car next to him, and he remembered. Sheldon's once bright and happy eyes turned to gloom when he looked behind Penny.

"Leonard?"

Penny saw the despair in Sheldon's eyes and held him tighter. Her tears of joy were gone when she realized she had to tell Sheldon about Leonard. But she couldn't. If Penny could barely take the news, how would Sheldon react?

In a small voice, Sheldon asked, "Is Leonard okay?"

Penny held Sheldon even tighter and closed her eyes as she prepared to tell him.

Her voice quivered. She opened her eyes and looked directly into Sheldon's eyes. "I'm afraid not. He woke up before you did, but he…he…he's in a coma right now. And the doctors told me that…" Penny stopped and held his hand. "He might not make it."

Sheldon's heart dropped. "What? No. That's not physically possible. Penny, I happen to know quite a bit about the human body despite being a physicist, and in my experience, doctors can be wrong. Leonard's strong! He'll make it!" Sheldon grew increasingly mad. "NO!! I refuse to believe them!" Sheldon looked at Leonard. "Leonard!!!"

"Sheldon…" Penny looked into Sheldon's eyes and saw the fear inside of him. In response, she hugged him and put her head next to his. "Sheldon, they said he only has about one or two days left."

Sheldon calmed down and looked at Penny with desperation. Quietly, he said, "But…but…Penny, I don't want another roommate. Leonard's perfect. Besides, I don't like change, you know that."

Penny looked at him with tears in her eyes. She sniffled. "I know, sweetie. I'm sorry."

Sheldon looked down, feeling a lump in his throat. He tried not to cry, but could not stop thinking that he could lose Leonard in this very room. Tears started rolling down his face. Sheldon's voice shook as he asked, "…who's going to take care of me?"

Penny rubbed his arm and tried to make him feel better. "It's going to be okay, sweetie." But she knew it wasn't. Nothing was ever going to be the same again. "We'll figure it out, Sheldon."

Penny got off Sheldon's bed and pulled the chair over next to his bed. She put her head down on his arm. Before she knew it, she was fast asleep again.

While Penny was sleeping, the doctor had come in to monitor Sheldon, after being alerted that he had woken up.

Sheldon couldn't sleep. He kept looking over at Leonard and down at Penny. He saw how peaceful Penny looked, sleeping on his arm. Her hair was messy, yet beautiful. Sheldon had never felt this way before. No one, besides Leonard, had ever cared for him so much. Sheldon was surprised at how much Penny cared for him. He felt, for the first time in a long time, grateful for Penny's generosity. His way of thanking her was a gentle pat on the head. "Thank you, Penny." He listened to Penny's gentle breathing and slowly drifted off to sleep.

…

Penny woke up a few hours later and sat up, still holding Sheldon's arm. She looked at him and she saw his kind face, enveloped in his peaceful sleeping. She smiled, remembering when she needed help one day and Sheldon helped her. She was low on money again and was behind on her bills. Penny didn't feel like asking Sheldon for more money, so she ended up working extra hours at the Cheesecake Factory. She was still low on money, even with the extra hours, so she did something unimaginable to her before. She cut back on food. Penny had skipped breakfast and lunch that day. As if things couldn't get worse, she locked herself out of her apartment. Penny went over to Leonard and Sheldon's apartment. "Sheldon, where's Leonard?"

Sheldon was eating some Thai food and watching an episode of Star Trek. With his eyes still glued to the TV, and still shoveling food into his mouth, he replied, "He went to pick up something in his office, why?"

"I locked myself out of my apartment. Do you have my spare key?"

Sheldon's eyes still didn't leave the TV. "In the bowl, next to the door."

"Thanks." Penny fished out the key from the bowl and just before she opened the door to leave, her stomach growled. Penny sighed. She put her hand to her stomach. She hadn't noticed that Sheldon turned off the TV.

Sheldon looked over to Penny with a confused look on his face. "What was that?"

Penny turned around, her face turning red with embarrassment. "My stomach…"

Sheldon paused for a few seconds as he put the pieces together. "Are you hungry or is food that you previously ate not digesting well?"

Penny stared at him. "…I'm hungry."

"Why? Haven't you eaten yet?"

"No…I haven't eaten at all today."

"But it's one o'clock."

"I realize that, Sheldon."

Sheldon stared at her. "Why haven't you eaten yet?"

Penny sighed. "Because I have no money. I'm working extra hours, but I was still low on money."

"So you decided to give up food?"

"…Yeah."

"Penny, do you realize that to survive, you are required to eat?"

Penny glared at Sheldon.

Sheldon looked down, avoiding her death glare. He looked at the food he was eating and looked back up at Penny. He held up the food he was holding. "Would you like some?"

Penny's glare quickly vanished. "Really?"

"Sure." He paused. "We have other food, if you don't want this…"

"No, no. That's fine." Penny smiled. "Thank you, Sheldon."

She walked over to the couch and sat next to Sheldon. He handed her the food and turned the TV back on. Penny smiled and ate as she watched the rest of Star Trek with Sheldon.

Penny gripped Sheldon's hand tighter and smiled at him. When he wasn't completely annoying with his condescension, he was a really good friend. Sheldon was helpful and kind, qualities that Penny often overlooked. She was glad to have a friend like Sheldon that she could go to for help.

The doctor walked into the room when he saw that Penny was awake.

"Hi, Penny. I have some news about Leonard and Sheldon. We've checked on Sheldon many times since he woke up, and it definitely looks like he's going to make a full recovery. He's gotten much better. Leonard, however…it doesn't seem like he's going to come out of the coma. He's gotten progressively worse and I think his time is up."

Penny started crying again. She knew that Leonard didn't have much time left, but she couldn't bear to hear it again.

The doctor left the room and Penny sat in her chair, her hands still holding Sheldon's arm. While Sheldon was sleeping, Penny constantly looked over Leonard. She couldn't possibly sleep again. She continued to hear the same words uttered to her when Leonard previously woke up. She felt more and more guilty that she ignored him simply because he was getting better. Deep down, she knew she wanted a life with Leonard. She believed that he was really the only one who cared about her. But ever since being hit with the news of Leonard's evident death, she had been reconsidering. She looked back at Sheldon. Penny got up out of her chair and moved closer to Sheldon. She leaned in and kissed his cheek. For the past hour, she had been thinking about what Sheldon had done for her. His kind gestures didn't stand out before, but they did now.

Penny sat back down and, for a second, glanced at Leonard. His time was nearly up.

Penny wanted to slow down time, just to keep Leonard in the room for a little longer, but she knew that it was no use. Just then, Leonard's vitals dropped and Penny was faced with that dreadful flat line on his monitor. She heard it again. That beeping ringing through her ears. She saw her entire life with Leonard flash in front of her in a mere ten seconds, from the moment they met to the argument in front of her apartment. She felt herself jump out of her chair, but she wasn't aware of anything she was doing.

Nurses had already surrounded Leonard's bed. Penny was on top of Sheldon's bed, holding Sheldon close. Sheldon had woken up to the commotion in the room. He woke up to find himself clinging to Penny and Penny clinging to Sheldon.

"Clear!" Penny closed her eyes. "Clear!" Sheldon frantically prayed for his friend. "Clear!" Penny covered her ears. "Clear!" Sheldon started crying. "Clear!" Penny and Sheldon held each other close.

It was like Penny had drifted in and out of consciousness. She didn't remember jumping onto Sheldon's bed. She didn't remember seeing the nurse pulling out paddles. She didn't remember the nurses trying to save her best friend.

She only heard herself screaming.

Penny opened her eyes, her tears making her vision blurry. Her voice gradually disappeared. She wanted to scream, but it was like someone stole her voice. She was whispering instead. She heard "Clear!" for what seemed like the hundredth time.

Sheldon was gripping Penny's arm. He was wailing like a child. But he didn't care. He was screaming to Leonard, hoping his voice would bring Leonard back. His voice soon disappeared. He heard "Clear!" for what seemed like the hundredth time.

Penny held her breath, and heard the doctor's voice. Sheldon held his breath and heard the doctor's voice.

"Time of death…"

Penny found her voice. Sheldon found his voice. They both screamed. "NO!! LEONARD!!"