Coming to the end. Too few readers to make it worth the effort.

Reparata

"Mrs. Cooper, this is Dorene at the ICU. You need to come down here as quickly as you can. Your husband is awake and frantic because you're not there. He thinks a stalker has you and your son. It's irregular, but can you bring your son along? We need to get him calmed down before he has a stroke!"

Penny stared at the phone, not sure if she were awake or dreaming? Mrs. Cooper? A stalker? 'Can you bring your son along?'

Her questions were secondary to getting dressed and back to the hospital. Nothing else was more important. She glanced at the clock on her night table and noted that she'd slept a full 5 hours and grimaced. She felt like she'd only been asleep for 10 minutes. Her eyes felt gritty and she hadn't washed her hair or anything.

'He thinks we're married? And have a son together? Oh, Sheldon, what have I done to you?'

She got off the elevator and easily found Sheldon's room since it was the one with all the medical staff going in and out and she could hear Sheldon yelling that they were 'all liars and where the hell is my wife?'

A nurse spotted her and smiled in relief and walked to her and practically dragged Penny to the door of his room. "Where's Newt, Mrs. Cooper? He's really worried that something has happened to you and your son."

Penny didn't say anything. Her mind was focused on the man lying in a hospital bed with his head wrapped in surgical dressings and a rapidly-swelling right eye. He'd have quite a shiner before long.

"Penny! Thank God you're okay! Where's Newt?" He tried to get out of the bed but was restricted by a canvas belt that ran around his waist and fastened below his reach. He was struggling and she remembered what the nurse had said about a stroke…

"Sheldon, honey, calm down before you hurt yourself or have a stroke!" She rushed to his bedside and sat on it and grabbed both his hands in hers. The look on his face both warmed and broke her heart. He was looking at her with such love and trust and… fear? She wasn't sure about the last but definitely certain about the love and trust parts.

"Tell me the last thing you remember before waking up here in the hospital, okay?" She hoped he wouldn't remember just who put him here.

He closed his eyes and scrunched up his face and then rocked her world with his reply.

"The stalker had been in our house - in our own bedroom - and we were arguing about you taking the baby to Nebraska until your location shots came up. I heard a man's voice and…that's all I can remember."

"Sheldon, sweetie, maybe you better start at the beginning. What's the first thing you remember after you saw me in my apartment?"

"I woke up in our bed. You were telling me to get up because there were things to be done. You were dressing and adjusting your breasts in your bra cups and I became…tumescent…and you laughed and we made love and then I fell asleep again. I couldn't seem to stay awake."

"Ooooookay. What's the next thing? Can you remember?" What he told her was so 'Sheldon' and she knew he wouldn't lie about something like that. And he didn't say 'coitus', so that was progress.

"You left via studio limo to do some location shots. I don't remember where but I took the time to Google us and…"

"Wait! A studio limo? Exactly what did I do for a living, sweetie?"

"Why, Penny, you're an Emmy-nominated actress with a weekly series on SyFy…Penny, are you ill?"

"No! No, Sheldon, I'm fine. Go on. I went on location in a limo and…"

"…And I kept passing out so I took your advice and went to see Stephanie. She told me to go to bed and not do anything else and not to worry because Newt was with Missy."

"Wait…what caused all this in the first place, sweetie?"

"Um, well, it's embarrassing, Penny, but I was pitching to our son and he hit a line drive and it struck me in the forehead. Penny, if Newt's not a genius he'll still do all right as a Major League hitter. He's so athletic for 3-year old. He takes after you with his blonde hair and big smile and he's…Penny, what's wrong?"

Penny was smiling through her tears at the description Sheldon gave of their 'child'. It sounded like everything she'd want in a son and Sheldon obviously was a great daddy and loved his son – and her, unless she was missing something. He seemed so damned proud of her and their life together.

"N-nothing, Shel. Just so glad you're awake. Those were beautiful dreams you had – "

"NO! NO! They're not dreams. This is the dream. We've been married for 5 years, Penny, and we have a son we both love and we have a beautiful house and successful careers. We got married in Nebraska and you wore your grandmother's wedding dress and it had a million little pearl buttons and-and-and…"

The dress he described was exactly like the one she always dreamed of wearing but it was her mother's not her grandmother's.

The nurse came in with a sedative and injected it into his IV port. "He needs to sleep and this will calm him down, Mrs. Cooper. He didn't rest in a coma so he's exhausted."

"See? She knows that we're married. Where's Newt, Penny? I want to see my son. The – the – stalk…" and he was asleep.

"Morning, Sweetheart, all ready for what comes next?" Penny was whispering in his ear, her arm around his waist and one leg between his. It was a comfortable position for both of them and the bed was sooo comfortable.

"Morning, Penelope. I don't know. What comes next?" He was groggy from sleep and his mind was unfocused, for him a great rarity.

"Whatever you can imagine, my husband. The whole world is yours for the taking. All you have to do is think - and it is." She pressed kisses into his neck and snuggled up closer to him.

"So if I wanted to just stay here forever, I could?" He was a scientist and investigating phenomena was second nature to him. He already had the germ of a theory.

"Sure. Or we could get Newt and fly to the Orient or go see the Nile River or we could…" She whispered a suggestion and giggled.

"But this isn't real, is it, Penny? You're all…not really here, are you?" She bit down on his shoulder and he yelped and rubbed it.

"I'm as real as you need me to be, Sheldon. Here, we're alive and in love and we're forever young and healthy and we have a beautiful son who'll never grow old, or we can watch him grow up, get married, have kids – grandchildren, Sheldon! Our friends and family will always be there for us and us for them. It's beautiful, Shelly. You have a beautiful mind, my darling man, and you use it so well when you're not bogged down with equations and problems and those three idiots who hold you back from true greatness."

"I can't stay asleep my entire life, Penny." He was on the cusp of a great discovery and his excitement was hard to suppress.

"You don't have to sleep, Moon Pie, just turn inward and don't look back. You have the power of your mind, Sheldon. Use it to keep all of this alive. Don't leave us, honey, stay with us always, please?"

"But Penny…"

"Okay, Moon Pie, let's talk 'reality'." Suddenly they were standing before a huge mirror. Both were naked and Sheldon, always easily embarrassed by his own body, tried to cover himself.

"Could 'Sheldon Cooper' ever hope to be with a woman like 'me'?" She cupped her breasts and then ran her tongue over her lips, moistening them. She pirouetted slowly, allowing him to see her toned body from all angles, her cute little tattoo that now depicted the Chinese character for 'Courage'.

"Could someone like 'me' ever fall in love with a pathetic, scrawny geek like you out there in the real world? Nope." Her tone of voice was taunting and reminiscent of those mocking voices from his childhood, hell, from 'always'.

"I have to try…" He'd almost formulated the hypothesis to frame the test of his theory.

"Sheldon, I didn't want to resort to this but…"

Sheldon Cooper, you're a huge frikkin' asshole, y'know that?

It was a real memory and he knew it. "You went over to apologize to her and then…"

'Penny, I have come to apologize. I did not mean to make you angry or to prompt you to use such disgusting language but I realize that you – '

'Sheldon, lean down here a minute.'

"She set you up! She slammed the door in your face, deliberately hurting you! Your precious 'Perfect Penny' is the reason you're here in this hospital." Her tone was vicious but she sweetened and whispered, "Stay here where it's safe and where everyone loves you, honey. We can be together forever. No more pain. No more drama. You'll be far happier here than out there."

"It was an accident, nothing more. I seem to bring out the Nebraska in her more than anyone else. I want to try – "

"You'll fail! She doesn't love you. She'll never love a loser like you. Accept it!"

Penny jerked awake from a doze when she heard Sheldon's voice loudly say 'accept it'. Whatever he was dreaming about was clearly upsetting him. She saw a tear leak from the corner of his eye and track back towards his ear. Even asleep, his face conveyed shock and then incredible sadness.

Penny used a tissue to wipe away the tear and she leaned down and whispered softly in his ear. "I love you, Sheldon Lee Cooper, and I hope you can forgive me someday for all of this and maybe give 'us' a chance? I'd really like to try and have the life you dreamed for us, Sheldon. Please wake up and talk to me, please?"