Breakdown

It was indeed fortunate that Dr Gallo had had a couple of cancellations, For on one Tuesday morning, Bernadette brought Penny in to see her, so Dr Gallo could see Penny's current state of mind.

Penny looked disheveled, her top had wine stains on it and her skirt was all creased as if she had slept in it, while her hair looked as if she had been dragged through a hedge backwards.

Bernadette sat Penny and herself down on the little sofa. And turned her attention to Dr Gallo who was wide eyed with shock.

Dr Gallo was stunned. "What happened, the last time I saw Penny she was happy and excited and going with her husband to look at the house they wanted to buy?, Has the sale fallen through?", Dr Gallo asked Bernadette.

"No things are fine with the house, no it's Leonard, he had to go to England, to a conference at Cambridge University, as Dr Perkins who was supposed to be going, took ill and had to drop out at the last minute and they badly needed someone to go in his place. And as Leonard already had a high profile due to the excellent work he had completed with Dr Hawking, they sent Leonard instead.

As it will be huge prestige for Cal Tech, not to mention the possible increase in funding too, so Leonard although he hated to leave Penny, He felt he had to go, as so many people were relying on him", Bernadette informed her.

Then added, "also Dr Perkins assistant Alex Jones went with him too".

"Where's Leonard?", Penny asked Bernadette.

Dr Gallo examined her notes for a few minutes, before asking Bernadette, "Is this the girl who hit on Leonard a couple of years ago?".

"Yes you're right, but Alex is married now to an English physicist, Dr Stephen Jones, and Leonard is married to Penny and I know he loves her very much so there will certainly be no repeat of two years ago. But Penny has been so stressing over them traveling together, and staying in the same hotel, and that this is the result", Bernadette told her, indicating Penny with her left hand

Dr Gallo looked at Penny, she had dark circles round her eyes and she seemed jittery and quite scared. This anguish of Penny's was certainly out of the ordinary, and Dr Gallo puzzled at why Penny's demeanour had deteriorated to this level?.

Dr Gallo felt stymied and at a loss at first to think what to do. Penny's friend, Bernadette seemed quite worried for her friend, so it was definitely out of character for Penny seemingly from Bernadette's point of view.

She read through her notes again then as she was reading her notes from Dr Leonard Hofstadter the solution leaped off the page as she read his words.

'Penny tries to hide her feelings, it almost seems to me as if she raises a wall so we can't see how she feels. In fact it did take her quite a while to tell me she loved me, though she later admitted to me that she had known she was in love with me for a lot longer than I thought, she just seems so afraid of letting people get too close '.

Dr Gallo knew that anyone in the habit of continually hiding their feelings without talking them out, increases the level of stress on themselves, much like a pressure cooker and now Penny had been lately enduring such acute anxiety over Leonard and Alex, something had to give and Penny had had a breakdown as a result.

Dr Gallo remembered how Penny told her a few weeks ago, that she was terrified that one day Leonard would wake up and leave her. No wonder Penny's in a state if she has been bottling up all her fears like this.

"I think we will have to call Dr Hofstadter and ask if he can come home now, Penny needs him badly"

"Do you have his contact number at all", Dr Gallo asked Bernadette, her face clearly concerned.

"No, I did check through Penny's phone but couldn't find anything, I'll get onto Cambridge and see if I can find out where he is staying", Bernadette informed her.

"I wonder, is it possible at all that you could have Penny at your home until Dr Hofstadter returns. I am very reluctant to give Penny stronger sedatives than she is already taking, and what especially troubles me is that she seems to have been drinking alcohol with them too, she must avoid any alcohol at all, while she is taking the medication. Now then my niece runs a yoga class and many patients I have had have found yoga to be beneficial not only to the body, but the mind as well, so I would like her to attend two classes a week.

"Where is Leonard you told me he would be here?", Penny repeated, her agitation increasing, and the tears began to run down her cheeks.

"I had to tell her Leonard would be here to get her to come at all", Bernadette exclaimed, her face stricken at having told Penny such a cruel lie.

Then turning to Penny, Bernadette told her soothingly, "Penny why don't you stay with me for a little while and I'll get Leonard to come for you OK?". Penny turned to look at Bernadette, a flicker of hope in her eyes and nodded slightly.

Dr Gallo felt her heart lurch at seeing Penny's distress that Leonard was not there.

"Do you need help?", she then asked Bernadette.

"No I think I can manage", Bernadette replied as she rubbed Penny's back to calm her.

Dr Gallo once again stood at her window and watched as Bernadette struggling by now to get a crying Penny into her car, while Penny's desperate cries for Leonard, drifted up towards Dr Gallo. And once again the handkerchief was retrieved from her purse, to wipe her eyes, as Penny's distress cut her to the core.

With so many delegates it was not until the Friday that Bernadette discovered the name of the hotel where Leonard was staying, often over the last couple of nights Bernadette had stayed up till six in the morning ringing Cambridge University.

On the Friday evening Leonard Hofstadter walked into the foyer of the hotel and looked forward to a shower and a hot meal and planning to read up some of his conference notes, when the Hotel manager beckoned him over, Dr Hofstadter I have an urgent message for you to call a Dr Bernadette Wolowitz.

Leonard's first thought was for his wife and urgently searched for a telephone as his cell needed charging.

Leonard listened as Bernadette related to him Penny's condition, their visit to Dr Gallo, and the struggle she had to get Penny to bed and sleep. Leonard could not stop his tears as Bernadette told him how Penny was frequently calling for him.

Leonard thanked Bernadette then he rang Alex, there were only a couple of discourses that Leonard had yet to do and he was quite confident in Alex's ability to stand in for him.

And as he thanked Alex and rang off, Leonard vowed fiercely to himself that he would never ever leave his Penny again.

In record time Leonard had packed, checked out, and was at Heathrow airport waiting to board his flight..

He examined the present he had bought Penny, a teddy bear dressed in the uniform of the Coldstream Guards, his other present for her, an expensive bottle of perfume lay carefully packed in his hand luggage. Until finally he got the message to board his flight.

Once in the air, Leonard due to his worry over Penny found himself unable to sleep and he sat back in his seat, closed his eyes and wished to all the stars above, that they hadn't canceled Concorde, he still had another ten hours to go.

Penny came to, with a blinding headache and in a strange bedroom.

She vaguely remembered going with Bernadette to meet Leonard, then remembered through the mists of her memory that Leonard was in England. Penny, still irrationally believing that Leonard was with Alex, began to cry. What with the stress of living opposite Sheldon and trying to avoid him, the house sale hitting a couple of snags delaying the completion date by three weeks, and then Leonard's sudden departure to England, added to that the news that Alex was going too, finally became too much stress for Penny to cope with. She heard Bernadette knock before asking if she could come in.

"Hi Penny, how are you doing?, here I brought you a coffee" Bernadette told her placing the cup on the bedside table.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't take any more, I don't know what to do, where's Leonard?", Penny whispered.

"I called him, Leonard is on his way back from England". Bernadette told her.

Penny frowned at Bernadette's information, "Leonard?, but won't he be angry with me for taking him away from the conference though", Penny asked. And looking as if she was going to cry again.

"Penny, you know your Leonard better than that. He'll be worried sick about you for certain", Bernadette told her soothingly.

"Why were you so worried about him and Alex?, You know she is happily married now?, and Howard told me that after the conference she is going to look for houses in England as her Husband will be returning there in a couple of months time", Bernadette puzzled.

"I know, I Know. We bumped into them after I visited Leonard in his lab, and she introduced me to her husband", Penny admitted. Then continued, "I really am so stupid at times, hope Leonard won't tire of me, with me being in such a mess", she said plaintively.

At this Bernadette's anger blazed. "Now you hold on there Penny, Leonard loves you more than life itself. You don't need me to remind you of the cold upbringing he had, do you?", Bernadette demanded,.

Penny shook her head.

"Penny you were the one who opened the door to a very happy place, that until then Leonard could only dream about. As you told me about his relationship with Stephanie, I think she was in love with the idea of a relationship. And I am quite sure that if Leonard had not ended it, she would have realized that a relationship with Leonard was not what she wanted. Priya too, did not love Leonard, she was just trying to change him into the person she perceived to be the ideal.

But you loved him unconditionally. I know you pretend to not like his costumes or his science fiction movies and programs, And even though his work as a physicist baffles you at times, but I know you Penny that you love them, just as you love him just as he is, short, bespectacled, asthmatic, and lactose intolerant, because it's him, all of it. It's what makes Leonard unique. And that's the Leonard you love dearly, and that is why Leonard absolutely adores you in return.

And that is the Leonard, who will remain by your side until hell freezes over", and at that Bernadette left, to leave Penny to meditate on the things she told her.

Penny sipped her coffee, and thought back over the years, she had thought at the time she had lost him to Priya, but Bernadette was right, for did not Penny herself feel irritation over Priya's refusal to love Leonard as he was.

And Stephanie concerned her too until Leonard admitted he felt trapped by the relationship.

She remembered being drawn to him the day she moved in to 4B, Sheldon just reminded her of an insect, while Leonard, though nothing like the guys she used to date, was shy, which she somehow found adorable, his mop of curly hair which made her want to run her fingers through, and when she borrowed the guy's shower, although only wearing a towel, she felt so safe and so comfortable with Leonard, that when he left her to wash she was surprised to find herself missing his company. Penny's eyes opened wide as she realized that Leonard had been special to her for a long long time. So by the time Alex had come on the scene, and set her cap for Leonard, Leonard Hofstadter had become firmly entrenched in the very center of Penny's heart.

Ten Hours Later at LAX

Leonard wearily collected his cases from the carousel

and headed for the arrivals lounge and as he came through the exit he spotted Bernadette waving at him. "Hi, how was your flight?", Bernadette asked him as they began to make their way towards the terminal exit.

"Too long, Where's Penny?", Leonard asked looking round.

"I'm sorry Leonard, she was so exhausted from the all the stress yesterday so I let her sleep". Bernadette informed him, noting the anxiety written all over his face at Penny's absence

As soon as they got to Bernadette's, Leonard headed for the room Penny was staying in and as soon as Leonard wearily climbed into bed with Penny. She despite still being deep in sleep, turned towards him and snuggled against him in his arms. Leonard kissed her forehead, then calling Bernadette to enter, after hearing her soft knocking. "I wondered if you wanted a drink?", Bernadette whispered, then seeing the contented smile on Penny's face, Bernadette gave an audible,"Aww", that's the first time she's smiled since you left", then she had to leave quickly as she felt her tears begin to well up.

Leonard Yawned stretched and opened his eyes to see the two beautiful green eyes of his wife staring into his with a smile on her face.

"Hi sleepy head", she said, then crushing her lips on his in her hunger for her husband. "I've missed you so much", she said as they came up for air. Then added "I'm sorry if I forced you to return, I couldn't help it, I needed you so bad, it hurt".

"Hey, Hey, don't be, I'm sorry I left you behind, when you were so obviously struggling to cope", Leonard said giving her a hug.

"I'm so lucky I found you", Penny told him, her voice almost breaking with emotion.

"No Penny, For I firmly believe that we were so lucky to have found each other, despite our differences and our insecurities, we have become so close we are almost like one person", Leonard summed up.

"Leonard!", Penny exclaimed as his words touched her heart.

Then as she was laying in Leonard's arms, Stuarts words echoed from her memory. "The two of you make one great person, for Penny brings Leonard out of his shell, while Leonard makes Penny think more deeply about things", 'Yay! Team Lenny for ever' she thought to herself, then she smiled and snuggled closer to Leonard.

Penny took Dr Gallo's advice and together with Bernadette and Amy started attending the yoga classes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings though Bernadette's exercises were a little more gentler due to her pregnancy. The yoga exercises helped Penny a great deal in order to learn to relax more, and not to get so worked up over things, and by the second week, Penny had managed to convince Leonard to go to them too, (By the simple argument that if she was going to get fit then he was too and emphasized this by pointing out the spare tyre round his middle. And it was good for the both of them too, not only as to physical fitness, but because the shared interest brought them even closer if possible.

On her next appointment with Dr Gallo, Penny attended with Leonard, who really needed to understand why Penny had a breakdown of sorts.

Dr Gallo though could only guess that the breakdown could have been due to a number of factors, hormonal imbalance, mineral deficiency, or poor diet.

At this point Penny admitted that she had not been eating properly what with worrying over Leonard and the house, and when she was worried Penny as usual turned to the wine bottle.

"Well, I think it's quite likely that that's the reason for your breakdown Penny, poor diet and too much alcohol. "How are things going with the house?", Dr Gallo asked Leonard, but just as he was about to reply Penny excitedly told her, "We're moving in next week, I'm so looking forward to sitting out in our garden on a nice sunny day", then she added giggling, "while Leonard works in it of course", Penny turned to Leonard and gave him a smile, while Leonard gave her a fake grimace in return.

"Well I wish you good luck in your move then, and Penny how are you finding the yoga classes?", Dr Gallo asked.

"Oh they're great and Leonard comes with me too, we're really enjoying them. Aren't we Honey?", Penny asked Leonard.

Leonard sheepishly explained that he needed to lose a little weight", then added, besides with all these fit guys hitting on Penny I need to look my best", he told her.

Penny was aghast. "they could never replace you sweetie, never", she told him quite firmly.

Four weeks later, and Penny's final appointment with Dr Gallo.

Once again Dr Gallo knew something was up as soon as Penny entered Dr Gallo's office, for Penny her eyes shining and looking the picture of health at once reminded Dr Gallo of an excited child waiting for the go ahead to open her presents.

Suddenly female intuition struck, and Dr Gallo excitedly stated "You're pregnant!".

"Penny beamed yes, we're so excited, I still can't believe it, it's so wonderful", Penny confirmed, while bouncing on the sofa in her excitement.

"And I have to do the same yoga exercises as Bernadette now", she added. "And It's so cool that I can do them with my bff

"Congratulations that is wonderful news. And at least you have a good incentive to keep off the wine now", Dr Gallo pointed out.

Penny blushed with embarrassment, but said nothing.

"How about the finances?, How are you going to manage?", Dr Gallo asked, but assuming from the excitement on Penny's face, things seem to be OK there.

Well because Leonard had achieved good results from a new experiment, and his successful trip to Cambridge, and besides that as he is now married, he became the ideal candidate to be offered tenure with a large increase in salary. It's really made things a lot easier on that front.

"I'm so pleased for you Penny everything seems to be as it should. So I do not think you will be needing any more sessions for me", Dr Gallo told her as she got her handkerchief ready.

Penny shook Dr Gallo's hand, not failing to notice Dr Gallo's eyes tearing up. Then Penny left to join Leonard who was picking her up.

Dr Gallo and her secretary watched as Leonard hugged and kissed Penny, before the couple left.

"I Know you tell me off for getting too involved, But I can't help it. Isn't that the most cutest couple you ever saw?", Dr Gallo explained.

Her secretary just nodded her agreement, and continued wiping her eyes.

Prologue

Though Sheldon apologized later to Penny and Leonard, things were never quite the same again between them, for Sheldon had deeply hurt Penny and for that Leonard found it extremely hard to forgive him. A year later Sheldon took up a post at Cambridge under Dr Jones, and together with Amy they moved to England.

The next few months Penny & Bernadette doing their exercises, their abdomens distended with their pregnancies became a familiar sight to Leonard. While Leonard true to his vow, Never ever left his Penny again.