Disclaimer: I do not own anything from The Big Bang Theory.
Amy awoke slowly the next morning, squinting as the light coming in from the window hit her eyes. Once her eyes were adjusted to the light, she looked down and saw that Sheldon was fast asleep in the chair next to her bed with his head on the bed. She was surprised to see that he had actually had stayed all night, she had figured that as soon as she had fallen asleep he would get out of there as fast as he could. Before she could put too much thought into this, she felt the bed move a little as Sheldon stirred.
"Good morning Amy." Sheldon said, smiling at her "How are you feeling this morning?"
"Not too bad." Amy answered "my chest is sore where this tube is but I can breathe a little better."
"Do you need the nurse?" Sheldon asked, concerned that she was in pain
"No I am okay really." Amy said, smiling at his concern for her "besides I'm sure she will be in soon."
Just as the words were out of her mouth, a man in scrubs walked through the door.
"Hi, my name is Greg." He said "I will be your nurse today."
"What happened to Sally?" Sheldon asked
"Well she was the night nurse." Greg explained "we change shifts at 7. So how are you doing today Amy?"
"Pretty good, it feels a lot easier to breath today." Amy answered
"Good." Greg said, looking at her chart "how is your pain?"
"Well I'm kind of sore all over but it hurts the most where this chest tube is," Amy answered "at my wrist."
"Okay, well I will go and get you something for that," Greg said "and then we will do a quick examination."
"What kind of examination?" Sheldon asked, not pleased with having another guy examine Amy.
"Nothing to invasive, just getting blood pressure and respiratory rate," Greg said "and checking the chest tube and incision from the surgery."
Greg turned and left the room to get Amy's pain medication, Sheldon frowning as he left. Amy smiled to herself, knowing that Sheldon wasn't pleased that her new nurse was a man. She was half expecting him to pull out the relationship contract and tell her that she was breaking some kind of rule in it about having a male nurse.
"Sheldon you don't have to worry about Greg." Amy said "this is just his job."
"I know." Sheldon answered, turning to look at her "you're right, sorry."
"It's okay." Amy said, shocked that he was apologizing again.
"I'm going to step out to call Leonard." Sheldon said "see what time they are coming."
"Okay cuddles" Amy said jokingly, smiling widely when she saw a small smile cross his features.
Sheldon turned to leave the room, passing Greg on his way back in with Amy's medication. Sheldon was almost tempted to stay in the room with them but then he remembered what Amy had said, so he kept going to the waiting room to call Leonard. After finding out that Leonard and Penny were on their way, Sheldon went back to Amy's room to find her sitting up, eating breakfast.
"Leonard and Penny are on their way." Sheldon told Amy "do you mind if I run home and take a quick shower."
"Of course not." Amy said "go get cleaned up, I'm not going anywhere."
Sheldon came over to the bed and picked up one of her hands, kissing it before turning to leave. Amy stared after him, still shocked at this new Sheldon. She smiled to herself, thinking that maybe she had been wrong about him after all.
"Hey sweetie!" Penny said "how are you doing today?"
"I actually feel pretty good," Amy answered "I mean obviously still in some pain, but not bad considering. Hey where's Leonard?"
"Oh we ran into Sheldon on his way out so Leonard offered to give him a ride home." Penny answered, taking a seat in the chair Sheldon had spent the night it.
"Okay good, I need to talk to you about something." Amy started "I assume you guys have talked to the police?"
"Yeah, we talked to them last night in the ER waiting room." Penny answered "the guy we talked to said they would be back to talk to you once you were in a stable condition."
"Okay good, did you tell them about my father?" Amy asked
"Of course I did." Penny answered "I mean it was him right?"
"Yes it was him." Amy answered "and I have proof."
"What do you mean?" Penny asked, confused
"I had a feeling last night," Amy started "I just knew he would show up, I know there is no scientific logic behind it and I can't explain it but I just knew. I planted a couple of video cameras around my apartment, really well hidden but with a view of everything."
"Wait a minute," Penny interrupted "are you telling me you waited for him to show up and hurt you?"
"Yes." Amy said "I waited for him so that when he hurt me this time I would have solid, on camera proof. I knew you would be wondering where I was when I didn't show up and I was hoping you would call the police to come check my apartment out."
"I can't believe you would do that Amy!" Penny said "what if we hadn't gotten there on time? What if he would have killed you while he was attacking you?"
"I know it was a dangerous idea." Amy said "but I couldn't live my life always worrying that he is going to show up, and I really couldn't put you or Sheldon or anyone else in danger. I did what I had to do to end this, one way or another."
"Amy, I don't know what to say" Penny said, tears in her eyes
"I know, and I'm sorry for putting you guys through all of this." Amy said "but I don't want Sheldon to find out, he won't understand."
"How are you going to keep this from him?" Penny asked
"I want you to help me keep him out of the room while I talk to the police." Amy answered "take him for lunch or something. Please Penny, he has just started to act almost exactly like I have been wishing for and I am afraid this will ruin it. Sheldon doesn't understand things the way other people do and he will be angry with me."
"Okay, of course I will help you." Penny said, grabbing one of Amy's hands "but just for the record I am a little angry with you myself, but mostly I am just so relieved that you are okay."
Amy and Penny sat together talking for about an hour before Sheldon and Leonard came back. Sheldon came in and went right to Amy's side, kissing her softly on the lips when he got there. Leonard and Penny watched in awe, both thrilled to see their friend's so happy. It wasn't too long until Howard, Bernadette and Raj showed up. The group sat around talking and laughing everyone so relieved that Amy was still with them. There was a knock on the door a couple of hours late and everyone looked up to see Officer Daniels entering the room.
"Hi everyone." he said, nodding at Sheldon, Leonard and Penny "I'm Officer Daniels."
Amy, Howard, Bernadette and Raj all introduced themselves, then at Amy's look Penny stood and suggested they all go down for lunch and give Amy some privacy. Everyone but Sheldon started heading to the door.
"I will stay with Amy." Sheldon said
"No Sheldon you go with them." Amy insisted "you go and have some lunch and let me talk to the police, I promise I will be fine."
"Are you sure?" Sheldon asked
"Of course I am sure." Amy answered "you go and bring me back something chocolate, okay."
"Okay, I will be back soon." Sheldon said, heading to the door "call my cell if you need me."
Sheldon joined his friends in the hall and they all headed down to the cafeteria, Penny looking back at Amy's room one more time. Once they got into the cafeteria, everyone grabbed a tray and got something to eat. After they all had their food and were settled in at a table, Sheldon cleared his throat and looked up from his plate.
"Everyone I have something to tell you." Sheldon started, and then once he had everyone's attention he continued "I have decided to ask Amy to marry me."