Hi lovely readers,
Thank you so much for all of your reviews on the last chapter, it really does mean so much so a huge, huge thank you!
This prompt was requested by a guest and is a follow up to Everything To Me and Nightmares so maybe read those first if you haven't already. I hope this is okay and what you were after.
Enjoy reading.
"Arthur got a sticker today for being kind. Apparently his friend was sad at lunchtime and he helped cheer him up, I don't know exactly what he did but he was so proud of himself. I know you would have been…will be so proud of him."
Sheldon didn't quite know how long he had been here, sat by her side, holding her hand and talking to her about anything and everything that came to his mind. The seconds seemed like minutes and the minutes felt like hours, had he even been here for an hour? He couldn't tell you.
Sheldon had always thought it was odd when he heard that people spoke to those who were unconscious, could they really hear you? Did it really make any difference? But yet here he was, just talking to her. He wasn't sure how much good it was doing but he needed this, he needed her to hear every word because just moments ago, he thought he would never talk to her again.
Now he knew she was going to be okay, Amy was going to be okay, that's what the doctors had told him and for the very first time since finding her at the bottom of the staircase, Sheldon had the tiniest bit of hope. She had survived major surgery and from what he had been told was recovering as well as could be expected, he knew the road ahead would be a long one but she was going to be okay and that was the most important thing in the world.
He had been in the middle of rambling on about how they would now spend their life together, that after so long together it had taken something as horrible as this to happen for him to almost want to restart. Amy always wanted to be spontaneous and go away for the weekend with some times less than twenty four hours notice, Sheldon had often put it off, he promised her and himself that he would never do it again.
Over several hours, he had come to realise how incredibly short life was, it seemed to have been a lesson his life was desperate to teach him. Losing his father so young had definitely hammered home that fact but coming so close to losing Amy, well, it had absolutely terrified him and he was now more determined than ever to give her the whole world.
He was in the middle of telling her all of this, gently stroking his thumb back and forth against the back of her hand, grazing over her wedding band, when he suddenly felt her move. At first it was the tiniest movement, the twitch of her finger, it was so gentle that Sheldon thought he had imagined the whole thing. He stopped his thumb from moving and carefully held her hand, he wanted to feel it again, he was desperate. Waiting patiently, a few seconds passed before he felt it again, this time it was more than just a twitch, her whole hand was moving, now making an effort to hold his, her body started to stir. She was waking up.
For a moment, Sheldon was frozen in shock, he didn't know what to do. Did he need to go and get someone? Did he stay right by her side? After all, he had promised her that he wasn't going to leave her side. He decided to stay put, to carefully hold her and just see what happens next. He not once let his eyes move from her delicate frame, watching as she slowly began to open her eyes, for that moment alone it was as if time stood still.
"Sheldon" her was voice quiet, almost as if she wasn't sure she would be able to speak, she squeezed his hand and he instantly felt relief from the fact she knew who he was.
"Hello" he offered her a small smile before going back to tracing circles on her hand with his thumb.
"Oh" she whimpered. "My head hurts so much" she began to raise her arm, wanting to shield her eyes from the light. As soon as her arm was above her head, she saw the needles, the iv, the tubes and wires connected to her, running deep under her skin. Then all she felt was pain, her arm was starting to hurt, the whole area feeling painful and bruised, it was only now it occurred to her, now her mind was finally catching up that she realised she was in hospital. "Sheldon" she panicked, moving to sit up in bed abruptly.
"Hey, be careful. Please be careful," Sheldon gently placed his hand on her shoulder and helped ease her down back onto the bed. "Just go easy, okay, please take it easy," Amy looked up at him, her eyes really seeing him for the first time. He looked tired, exhausted, physically and emotionally drained. There were red circles around his eyes suggesting he had been crying, even after all their years together, she had only seen him cry a handful of times. There was something in his voice, a look on his face that told her something horrible had happened to her.
"Sheldon, I don't know…Why am I here?" she asked, tears filling her eyes and her voice shaking as she struggled to remember the events that led to her being here on a hospital bed. One of the last things she could remember was getting ready to go and pick up the children from school. Oh god, the children. "Where are Emily and Arthur? Are they okay? Has something happened to them?" she asked quickly, the tears now rolling down her cheek.
"They're fine. They're okay," he reassured her gently. "They're with Leonard and Penny," he stopped as he processed her first question. She didn't know why she was here, he could feel her eyes on him, searching for answers. He cleared his throat. "You had an accident," he started to explain slowly, he understood this would be hard news for anyone to hear. "We found you at the bottom of the stairs."
"We?" she hadn't miss the plural, a slip of Sheldon's tongue.
"Emily and Arthur" more tears fell down her cheeks as she came to the realisation that whatever state she had been in, her children had witnessed it. That thought alone broke her heart, physical made her chest ache. No child should ever have to see their mother like that, should never have to be exposed to what their life would be like if their mother was no longer in it. "You were unconscious" he continued. "Once the ambulance arrived and we'd got you to hospital, they took you through to the operating room" he took a deep breath. "Amy, you had a bleed on your brain,"
She couldn't process the words. It felt like she was watching some horrible news story, some dramatic soap opera. She couldn't connect the dots, couldn't comprehend that the events that Sheldon had been reeling off had happened to her. It couldn't be true, she couldn't have come this close to not being here. To not saying goodbye to everyone she loved. To never seeing their beautiful faces ever again.
"I'm so sorry" her bottom lip quivered, she didn't even want to think about what he had been through. She couldn't help but think about how she would feel if the roles had been reversed. The pain was indescribable, she couldn't, didn't want to imagine her life without him in it and for Sheldon, that had been his reality.
"You don't have to be sorry" he reached forward and cupped her face in his hands, brushing away her tears. "You don't have to apologise for anything."
"Am I going to be okay?" she asked, reaching up and holding on to his hand that was against her cheek. She didn't want to let him go, she wanted to stay in this moment forever with him. She wanted to really take in every single thing about him, every feeling, every touch.
"Yeah" he nodded giving her a huge smile. Amy swore she saw his own eyes fill with tears. "The doctor say you're doing great, everything is how it should be. You did amazing. I'm so proud of you" his smile never once faltered. "I thought I was going to lose you. I love you. I love you so much,"
"I love you too" a tear trickled from her eye on to his hand. "I won't leave you again. I promise."
—
It was a few days later when Emily and Arthur were able to come into the hospital and see Amy. Despite the initial excitement from the children, both Sheldon and Amy wanted to be cautious, they wanted to make sure she was as okay as she could possibly be before the children came in to see her. The last thing they wanted was to build up their hopes and have something terrible happen again, they both hated the fact that that very thought was still very much in their heads, they figured it probably would be for quite some time.
However, like the strong fighter Amy was, she was doing great and neither one of them could see why they should delay the children any longer. They had been spending their time with Sheldon and Penny over the past few days and Amy was all they had been talking about. Amy owed her best friends the world, their ability to stop their own lives, their own little family to scoop up hers in their time of need was truly the definition of what friendship was, it was more than that, it was family and Amy wasn't sure how she could ever repay them for such an act of kindness.
"You need to be really careful" Sheldon told them as they made their way up to Amy's hospital room in the elevator. Emily was stood to his left clutching a bouquet of flowers that she had insisted on buying for her mother with her own pocket money and Arthur to his right holding a teddy bear for Amy that was almost dragging on the floor. "Although mummy is getting better, she still needs to take things easy so no jumping on her okay," he explained.
"You've already told us this dad" Emily moaned, rolling her eyes. Sheldon had reminded them both of this numerous times on the drive to the hospital, he just didn't want to take any unnecessary risks. He would wrap her up in bubble wrap if he could.
"I know, it's just very important" the elevator doors pinged open and out they walked into the brightly lit hallways. It was now that Sheldon realised how quiet the children had become, gone was the excited chatter that filled the car and in its place silence. He had to understand how scary this all was for them, the last time they saw their mother, she was unconscious, unresponsive and barely still alive. Looking at their little faces, all wide eyed and some what scared, he stopped in his tracks, causing the two little children to stop also. He crouched down so he was on their level and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "I know this might be a little scary, okay. It's okay to feel like that but mum is doing okay. She's better and hopefully she'll be home real soon" he told them watching as they nodded their heads. "I know she's so excited to see you both" he smiled watching as they to smiled back.
"My tummy feels funny daddy" Arthur told him, still holding the teddy bear in his hands.
"I know, I think that's just because your nervous. It's okay"
"I can't wait to see her dad" Emily chimed excitedly as Sheldon rose to his feet and took hold of Arthur's hand, leading them to Amy's room. He had prepared them as much as he could, he hoped they knew what to expect, maybe at their tender ages, what to expect was so far from their minds.
Sheldon gently pushed open the door to Amy's room. As soon as her eyes landed upon their gorgeous little faces her face lit up with a light that Sheldon had been yet to see. Suddenly, she was his Amy again. There was a light behind her eyes, a genuine smile upon her face, a glow to her. These little children were the light of her life and exactly what she needed.
"Hi" Amy beamed, her eyes sparkling as she smiled. "Oh come here, I've missed you both so much" they both rushed over to the bed, stopping as their fathers words about being careful played in their heads, even Arthur had paid attention. As Amy patted the bed, both children gingerly climbed on top, as soon as they were in reach she wrapped her arms around them both, pulling them as close to her as physically possible. "Oh wow, are these all for me?" she asked as she noticed the teddy and flowers abandoned at the bottom of the bed.
"I bough you the flowers with my pocket money" Emily looked up at her mother and smiled. It was a smile Amy didn't even know she had missed until she saw it.
"And I got the teddy bear" Arthur smiled as he sat up, seeming rather proud of himself.
"Thank you so much! I'm so lucky" Amy squeezed them both a little tighter.
"Will you be home soon?" Emily asked. "I miss you"
"Soon. Hopefully really soon" Amy told her as she kissed the top of her head. "How was school today? Tell me everything, what did I miss?" Amy asked, with both children tucked under her arm and Sheldon sitting by their side she had everything she ever needed, everything that she came so close to losing, everything that she would never let out of her sights again.
Thank you so much for reading. As always reviews are always welcome and so appreciated! I love hearing your thoughts :)
Stay safe,
Lots of love