Numbers 13:31-33
A/N: I'm so sorry that it took so long to update, a combination of having to much to do and a lot of writers block led to this perhaps being the hardest chapter to finish. As such I understand if most of you got bored of waiting and lost interest. Still to anyone left, here is Chapter Eighteen.
Now I hope it all holds together, and I hope you all enjoy it. Just a warning it might get a bit much in parts if any of you are slightly Squeamish. I'm sorry about that.
I'll try not to leave you waiting so long again after this.
Chapter Eighteen: We Have Nothing To Fear…
"We're back!" Penny called out walking into the warehouse, "We're in luck we managed to…" she trailed off, the room was empty. "Leonard? Howard? Hello?" Suspicions growing inside of her mind, slowly Penny walked over to door. Clasping the handle she hurled the door open. Her eyes opened wide in horror, "Oh my God!"
Penny rushed over to Leonard's side; kneeling down beside him she quickly checked his pulse and breathing. Happily there were both steady. Gently she cradled his head and began softly tapping against the side of his face. After a few tries Leonard let out a groan, his eyes sleepily opened. "Penny?" he managed.
"Yes, Leonard it's me, I'm here. Are you okay?"
"Everything hurts," he groaned, "but I think I'm fine. Nothing seems to be broken."
It was at this point another scream erupted in the room, a very high pitched one. "HOWIE!" Being distracted Penny hadn't noticed Bernadette enter. Frantically she turned on the spot; Howard lied there against the wall, still clutching his arm. He was also unconscious.
Helping Leonard to his feet, Penny turned him around towards them. Leonard staggered, but Penny let him put his arm around her shoulder and together they managed. Bernadette was now kneeling by here husbands side.
"He's breathing," she said, "but he won't wake up."
"Look at his arm," Penny said. Bernadette had been so distracted by the sight of her unconscious husband that she had completely missed his arm. Although he was still trying to clutch it in place, its position was all wrong. All three of them could tell it was broken.
"Oh, Howie." Bernadette leaned into her unconscious husband's chest. Penny and Leonard just stood there watching. Still feeling dazed Leonard was forced to lean against Penny; she staggered slightly but quickly found her balance.
"What happened?" a voice suddenly cried out, Penny and Leonard turned around. Bernadette ignored her to focus on Howard. Amy was standing in the doorway, her eyes frantically shooting around the room, her glassy brown eyes laced with terror. "Where's Sheldon?" she finally asked.
"He…He woke up," Leonard choked. He let go of Penny and slumped down onto the floor. "He woke up and surprised us. He was still wild, he sent us flying and then…" Leonard broke off, and simply pointed to large hole that had appeared in the brick wall.
"He ran through solid brick?" Penny said in disbelief, "But? But, I was able to knock him unconscious not two hours ago, what's going on?"
"Clearly he's getting better." Leonard replied.
"Or getting worse."
"Well, we've got to go after him." Amy said, "We can't leave him out at night in his condition, he'll hurt himself."
"Or hurt somebody else." Penny replied.
"Hold on, what about Howard." Bernadette piped up. "He needs to go to a hospital."
"Bernadette's right, you take the truck and go get him some help. We'll catch up with you later."
Gently between the three women, they managed to lift Howard up and partially drag, partially carry him out back. It was a slow process; fear of damaging his already broken arm meant they didn't dare go any faster. Amy was getting increasingly worried, but she knew this was important. Finally they managed to get him in. Penny handed Bernadette the keys and she drove off.
Returning to the other room they found Leonard had managed to get up, he had developed several painful looking bruises, but apart from that he seemed mostly fine. Each grabbing a flashlight, together the three of them set off, through Sheldon's hole, hoping to find him.
"Here look," Penny said, shinning her light on the floor. There was a dark red stain upon the dirt.
"It looks like…Blood?" Amy said, "Sheldon's blood!"
"He must have cut himself when he broke through the wall." Leonard said.
"So not only is he lost, out of control and out of his mind, but he's also slowly bleeding to death?" Amy voice shifted as the sentence went along, by the end it sounded like a yelp.
"It's quite small; I don't think he's in any danger of dying of blood loss soon." Penny chimed in.
Amy looked at her worried, but Penny gave her a reassuring nod. Leonard however had already begun walking past the stain, his eyes scanning the ground "here look there's another one."
He looked up at the others "Its looks like we've got a trail to follow."
By the light of their flashlights, the group carried on, constantly on the lookout for the faint patches of red that showed where Sheldon had been. Sometimes they got lucky and would find other clues: noticeable footprints, broken shrubbery etc. and sometimes the trail would go cold and they would have to retrace their steps and start again.
It was a long slow process, and the further they went, the further apart the blood stains got. Amy stayed close to Penny the whole time, the last few days had been emotionally exhausting for her. The months break in Canada, had given her time to relax and get used to some stability, even if she hadn't realised it then. Now that had been torn up and thrown into the air.
This new life terrified her, more than anything else had terrified her before. But at least up until this point Sheldon had been with her, now he was hurt and probably insane. What if he wouldn't get better? What if this was permanent? What if…
Amy cut herself off, these thoughts would do nothing but make her feel worse, right now she had to focus on finding Sheldon that was all that mattered. Amy couldn't help herself but wonder how much blood Sheldon had lost. He clearly lost a lot back when he hit his head at the warehouse and despite Penny being right, and the blood stains being small, they still went a reasonable distance and all that must add up.
They had just entered the outskirts now, looking around the group was starting to get worried. What if he encountered someone in his state? He had already broken Howard's arm, he could seriously hurt them. Or what if someone pulled a gun on him? Usually he would just be hurt, but there was no way of knowing how much punishment Sheldon could take in his present state.
Unfortunately it was at that point that the trail went cold. The blood stains just stopped. The group tried walking in each direction, but there was no sign of them. "He must have healed," Leonard said,
"How are we going to follow him now?" Amy asked.
"I think we might have already found him," Penny murmured. She was standing the furthest down the alley way, and unaware to the others she could see what was at the end. Amy and Leonard walked up beside Penny.
In front of them, out of the alley and up ahead the road was taped off. Officers were walking about, and there were people taking photographs. The ideas ran through each of their heads in less than a minute, and frantically Amy broke into an all-out run, yelling at the top of her lungs, "SHELDON!"
By the time Leonard and Penny caught up, an officer was already restraining a frantic Amy to stop her crossing the tape. The officer was desperately trying to calm Amy down, who had collapsed into the state of just shouting to be let through.
Seeing the danger, Penny quickly grabbed her from behind and tried to pull her back. Amy was still very frantic, but Penny managed to somehow keep her in control. Carefully she led her away back into the alley. Leonard quickly stepped up. The officer was a tall man, he looked somewhere in his early forties, he had brown hair and large bushy moustache. Leonard felt a bit uncomfortable looking up at him, but he needed to know what happened.
"I'm sorry about my friend, she's been having a very trying few weeks." Leonard quickly muttered.
The officer eyed him suspiciously, "very well." He finally said, "Just kindly try to keep her under control." He turned to go.
"Wait!"
Slowly the officer turned around again so he was facing Leonard. "Is there anything I can help you with, Sir?" he said with gritted teeth.
Leonard gulped, "I'm sorry, but could you tell us what happened. We're out looking for a friend of ours, he's delirious and could potentially have gotten himself in trouble."
The officer frowned, "Is this friend of your high?"
"No, no, nothing like that, he hit his head badly and sort of stumbled off, we've been looking for him. Can you tell us what happened here?"
The officer paused, "Very well, it wasn't anything to special, and there was a collision. Apparently there was a guy crouched down in the road, the driver didn't see him until he suddenly got up. Neither saw the other in time. The driver claims there was nothing he could have done."
Leonards eyes opened wide, "Don't worry," the officer began "both of them are still alive. The guy was still breathing when the paramedics got to the scene; they took him down to the Nathaniel Northwest hospital, the one near the university. I'm afraid that's all I know about the matter."
"Thank you officer," Leonard managed, he paused, "how exactly do you get to the hospital?"
The officer paused, "There should be a late bus running, if you take it, it will take you directly there. Look if it is your friend, I hope he's okay. The Driver claims not to have been driving too fast, and he didn't look that bad from what I saw."
Leonard nodded, he was about to go, but the policeman wasn't finished, "however if he is, we will need to question him once he is in a fit state to talk, you understand."
"Certainly," Leonard managed, "Well thank you officer."
Leonard turned and walked back to the others, Penny had clearly managed to calm Amy down somewhat, but Leonard could see that she not stable at the moment. The emotional strain of these last few months were a dangerous thing for all of them, Leonard was honestly surprised he was taking it all so well. He could tell he would need to be very tactful not to set her over again. Leonard paused, trying to choose the best words he could for the situation.
"I think I know where Sheldon might be." He finally said.
The others turned to him, "where?" Amy whispered.
"According to the officer they took somebody down to the Hospital, now before you worry, they said that they weren't too badly hurt."
Amy big brown eyes opened wide, she tried to speak only let out a single gulp, before just freezing. "Come on," Penny said, taking her hand is if she was a child. "Let's go down that hospital." Together the three of them walked off Penny leading the glazed eyed Amy along.
The hospital waiting room was surprising empty, there was only a few people sitting there. It was a somewhat oddly lit room with bright blue walls, amongst every few chairs was a small table with a couple of magazines on them to read. Behind the desk, sat a middle aged woman, she looked bored.
Leonard was about to head over to the front desk, only for a squeaky voice to call out there names. Out of the corner a diminutive blonde and her slightly taller husband walked towards them. Bernadette was holding Howard's side as he was staggering slightly. Howard had his arm bandaged up, and was in a blue sling. His eyes didn't look completely right.
"What are you guys doing here? Where's Sheldon?"
"We think he was in an car accident, and might be at this Hospital." Leonard replied,
"Oh my!" Bernadette replied.
"Well I'll go see what there say." Penny said, she headed towards the help desk.
"So how you doing Buddy?" Leonard asked.
"Howie?" Bernadette prompted.
"Um, oh I feel better now." Howard groaned, "The doctor gave me something for the pain, it's made me feel a bit…um well…"
"Woozy?" Amy suggested.
"What she said." Howard groaned, unceremoniously he slummed into the nearest chair.
Leonard stepped in a bit closer to Bernadette "What did the doctor say about his arm?"
"It's not good," she replied, "it's been seriously fractured, it will be months before it heals and it will probably never be as good as it was before."
"Did you have any problems explaining it away?"
"No, thankfully due to his history of injuries they quite easily believed that he simply fell badly."
Leonard looked to the side before leaning in closer "Bernadette, can you keep an eye on Amy, she's not really handling all this that well."
"I know," Bernadette muttered, "I can feel her emotions remember?"
Leonard stared confused "I thought that had worn off?"
"Well we learned recently that it hasn't. It's fading, but it's still not gone. And I can tell you she's really not taking it well."
"Anyway I'm worried seeing an injured Sheldon may really hurt her, so if it does could you…"
Bernadette nodded, "don't worry I'll be ready."
"Thank you,"
Penny had returned from the desk. "So is it him?" Leonard asked with baited breath.
Penny nodded, "It sure looks that way according to the receptionist they took in a Caucasian Male in his early thirties with brown hair and blue eyes. Who was described as somewhere just over six foot tall, thin and a bit scrawny looking, and was shirtless at the time of the accident."
"How is he? Can we see him?" Amy quickly interjected.
"Well she spoke to the doctor; apparently someone will come down to see us in a short while."
"But how is he?" Amy almost cried.
Bernadette stepped forward so she was closer to her. "We'll find out in a little while. Don't worry he can't be doing too badly or else they wouldn't let him have guests. Right?"
The others nodded reassuringly.
Having nothing else to do, the group sat down and waited. Time always seemed to go slowly in a waiting room, with nothing else to do the group just sat in anticipation, all except Howard who was still trying to focus his thoughts. However it was nearly forty minutes before the doctor walked in.
She was a young woman, somewhere in her mid-thirties; she had darkened skin and brown hair. She looked around the room then upon spotting them walked up. "Ah hello, I understand you're the party who can help us identify that poor man who was involved in the accident."
"Um, yes we think he might be a friend of ours." Leonard said getting to his feet.
"How is he?" Amy suddenly snapped, the doctor looked at her in confusion. "How is he?" Amy repeated.
"Um, well the patient's doing fine. He doesn't appear to have anything broken, no ruptured blood vessels or damaged organs. Despite the collision; we haven't had chance yet to fully examine and assess the full potential damage he received you understand, but so far it all looks good. In fact it's practically a miracle he wasn't more badly hurt. He's present sedated."
This did reassure Amy; however it caused Penny, Bernadette and Leonard to turn pale. "Um thank you." Leonard managed.
"I still feel fuzzy, I think I'll stay here," Howard groaned from his seat, "Come get me when you're done."
"Okay." Leonard replied.
The doctor turned to leave, Amy and Bernadette followed her. But Penny and Leonard held back. "Is it actually possible to take a collision with next to no damage?" Penny asked.
"Depending on what angle you were hit, how fast the car was going and how you landed, yes. But it's still extremely unlikely. I wouldn't put any odds on it."
"So his durability has recovered then?"
"Sure looks like it." Groaning Leonard lowered his glasses and rubbed his eyes.
"Leonard, he's in a hospital, what happens if they try to give him an injection or something? They are going to realise he's not pure human."
"We'll have to hope we get lucky."
"But what if we don't?"
"We'll have to hope we do."
"Excuse me, are you coming?" The doctor called.
"Sure, right behind you." Leonard called back; quickly he and Penny ran off after her.
Sitting down, Howard watched them leave. He kind of wished he could go with them, but not in his state. Sitting there, he let his mind relax. Through the hospital door a figure slipped in. He was tall very tall and thin, almost pencil thin. For some reason, Howard felt this particular man caught Howard's attention. And with his dazed eyes, he watched him.
He was dressed in long grey trench coat, and was wearing a large scarf, which was so tightly wrapped around him, that it practically covered his face. He was also wearing a large hat, with a tipped rim, so the little bit of his face not covered by the scarf was also barely visible. As he walked across the room, Howard strangely found his eyes drawn to this man.
And then just for a second, he turned and Howard caught sight of his eyes. Suddenly Howard's skin turned pale, and he began to shake. For an unexplainable reason, he felt consumed by terror. And then it was over, the man turned back and carried on before finding a seat and sitting down. Sitting there Howard, looked around trying to make sense of what had just occurred.
The five of them walked down the corridor, Penny and Bernadette held back to reassure Amy, while Leonard walked up front with the doctor. "So I need to know for reference, who are all of you and who do you think are patient is." The doctor asked.
"Well Doctor…" Leonard began.
"Perkins," she replied.
"Well Doctor Perkins, my name is Leonard Hofstadter; this is my friend Dr Rostenkowski-Wolowitz, Dr Farrah Fowler, and my girlfriend Penny. We think your patient, is another friend of ours, a Dr Sheldon Cooper."
Doctor Perkins gave them a confused look, "were scientists from Pasadena," he quickly added "we all had some vacation time booked up on the same time, so we all decided to go on a sort of road trip."
"I see," Doctor Perkins replied she eyed them suspiciously. They were walking along a long grey corridor now. Apart from them it was mostly empty. "Tell me what happened to your friend?"
"Well…he…" Leonard hesitated, "he tripped and hit head against the wall, in the hotel we're staying at. He was bit delirious, and while weren't watching he just slipped out. By the time we realised, he was gone. We managed to follow his trail and then a man matching his description was in the accident, as such we think it's him."
Doctor Perkins continued to eye them with suspicion; Leonard could tell she wasn't sold on their story. He honestly didn't blame her.
"Tell me," she began. "There was one interesting thing about this patient; he has two burn marks on his back."
"Burn Marks?" Leonard said trying to sound as surprised as he could, "Were they an effect of the Collison?"
"No," the doctor replied, "from the scaring there at least two or three days old. And these are quite serious burns; we're talking about fourth degree right down to the bone and muscle. We've of course treated them, but I was wondering if you could tell me how they occurred."
"I have no idea," Leonard replied, "he wasn't involved in a fire or anything that could cause that serious a burn, as far as I know, and he didn't mention getting burnt."
"It's just," the doctor went on, "with those sorts of burns being left untreated, while there would be very little pain itself from the burn after it occurred, due to all the nerves being destroyed you understand. The actual process of burning would leave most normal men in an intense state of agony. Are you sure he was fine before this supposed accident?"
"Well I can honestly say he didn't show any signs of being in pain once over the last few days. Tell me what could cause burns that severe?"
The doctor shrugged "could be chemical, or exposure to extreme heat or an extremely intense flame for long enough. Point is this is a very serious wound, if they weren't so small he would need intensive grafting." She paused for a moment to let the effect of her words sink in "There never going to properly heal you know, the damage is simply too intense. He will be badly scared for the rest of his life."
She paused once again, "so if there is anything you know about, we need to hear it."
"I told you, I know nothing about it."
"Mr Hofstadter, you have to understand when dealing with a wound of this severity that we have to…"
"I'm sorry; I don't know anything, your just have to ask him when he wakes up."
Dr Perkins paused, and then decided to give up. There was no more conversation for the rest of the walk. The hospital lifts were slow, but eventually they reached the right floor, after that they emerged onto another equally grey corridor. Dr Perkins carried on down it, till they reached the end.
"Okay, he is in that room. Now you understand due to Hospital standards, I can only allow two of you in at a time, so two of you will have to wait out here."
"I'll go in." Amy frantically interjected.
"So will I." Leonard quickly added. Penny and Bernadette nodded, that was best. "Now once you've confirmed or denied his identity, you two may also have a look. But after that you will have to leave, he is presently under observation, we're going to need to hold him at least until tomorrow, possibly longer depending on the test results."
"We understand." Leonard replied, uncomfortably.
Suddenly there was a loud crash. All eyes turned towards the room, frantically Leonard, Amy, Penny and Bernadette ran for the door, leaving a bewildered Doctor Perkins stunned. Ripping it open the group ran in. "Wait your all not allowed in." Doctor Perkins managed.
However they all stopped dead in the doorway. The room was empty, the bed was empty, and the window had been shattered. The curtains were blowing in the wind and outside the rain drops were plummeting down. Frantically Amy ran over to the edge and stuck her head out frantically looking, in the pitch black night she saw nothing. "Sheldon!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, but over the roar of the wind nobody would have been able to hear her.
Penny and Bernadette pulled her away, she was already crying. "Oh my god!" Doctor Perkins screamed, "That's…that's not possible, we gave him enough sedative to knock him out for the next twelve hours at least."
"Quick," Amy yelled, "You've got to get someone down there. He'll be hurt!"
Snapping out of her daze, Dr Perkins turned and ran off down the hall. The group fell silent and waited, after a few minutes she slowly came back in. "I've sent a team outside for him."
"Do you think he'll be okay?" Amy asked slowly, her big brown eyes piercing into the Doctor.
"We'll do all we can," Doctor Perkins replied. She hesitated "But you have to understand the chances here." She said softly. "He just came out of a serious road collision, his body was pumped full of sedatives and painkillers, and I'm afraid we're five stories up. The chances of him surviving a fall from this height are well slim, even without all the other strains. I'm afraid there might simply be nothing we can do."
"NO!" Amy screamed, jumping forward she grabbed the doctor by her jacket and yanked her close, "he could have, he could have. He could have!" she began frantically repeating it. Doctor Perkins face had turned pure white. Unable to move she just stood there in this apparent mad woman's grasp.
Bernadette and Penny quickly dived forward, pulled Amy back and began trying to comfort her. The shocked doctor just stood there staring. "Sorry," Leonard said, "She's his girlfriend." Doctor Perkins nodded faintly.
Slowly the group made its way out of the room, Bernadette and Penny, leading the distraught Amy. The shaken Doctor Perkins followed. Leonard however hesitated, walking over to the Window he also looked out, and then slowly making sure to grasp hold of the side first, he leaned out into the storm. "Where are you buddy?" he mummed to the night.
Coming back in, he suddenly noticed a red mark on his hand. Confused he leaned in and sniffed it. Blood? There was no blood on the floor, or the windowsill. Where had the blood come from? Cautiously, Lenard once again looked out the window, before slowly leaning out just a bit further than before. And then turning his head to face the side of the wall where he had just rested his hand.
It was too dark to make out anything, but rubbing his hand against the brickwork confirmed his suspicions, against the wet brick, amongst the rain was a trace of blood. What was that doing there? Had Sheldon cut himself when he jumped through the window? Yes that seemed reasonable, but then…
"Are you coming?" Penny called.
"What…oh, sure I'm right behind you." Leonard replied, quickly running off after the others.
"Wait, he jumped out of his window?" Howard gasped. This revelation was just enough to snap him out of his groggy state.
"Yeah, they've sent paramedics out, so he should be okay." Leonard replied.
"Assuming he's still alive."
"We've seen him take a lot of punishment before, surely this won't be too bad, he'll probably just break a few things."
"I hope so," Howard groaned, "trust me, that is bad enough."
As Howard slummed back in his chair, Leonard turned back to face the others. Penny had taken Amy to get her a cup of tea, so it was just him and Bernadette. They would be back in a moment.
Doctor Perkins was still standing by the counter, her eyes frantically watching the desk.
Bernadette went to speak, before thinking better of it. So they just stood there in silence.
And then the others returned, Amy seemed a bit better, but Leonard couldn't help but wonder how she was feeling. "Any progress," Penny asked.
Leonard shook his head, "none so far, but according to the doctor they will phone in at any minute."
Grasping him by the arm, Penny led Leonard over to the corner. "Leonard what are we going do?"
Leonard paused to think, he had been mulling it over ever since they had gotten down. "I don't know." He finally managed. If Sheldon made it out of this with barely a scratch, then there was no way they wouldn't investigate. If Sheldon was badly injured but healed to fast, they would investigate. And if he didn't make it…No he would make it.
Every option seemed to end with them loosing, some worse than others. Leonard continued to rack his brain, but kept coming up blank. What were they going to do?
Leonard's fearful thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing.
All eyes turned. Doctor Perkins quickly grasped the phone. "Yes…What? No that's impossible. Look I was outside that room, I heard it with my own ears…but he must be there…that's not possible…look there is no need to take that tone…I'm telling you he has to be there. Well look again, look everywhere…you have? But…"
"What's the matter?" Amy cried, her mind already conjuring up unpleasant images.
Putting down the phone, Doctor Perkins turned to face the group. "They…They can't find his body. I mean him, they can't find him."
"What?" the whole group shouted. Several disgruntled people turned to stare, annoyed. But none of them noticed.
"Apparently the paramedics have searched underneath the window, around the grounds and everywhere it was possible for him to fall to. And there is no one there; they found some pieces of broken glass. But apart from that, it's like he disappeared into thin air."
There was a pause, then Doctor Perkins continued "look I've got to sought this out, your welcome to say and wait to see how it turns out. Or you can leave if you wish, and if you leave us a number, we'll let you know when it's over."
"Thank you, doctor." Leonard said. "We're probably just wait here."
Doctor Perkins quickly ran off, transfixed the group slipped into the safety of the corner.
Eyes quickly ran across the five faces, first one way, and then the other.
Then finally in a hushed whisper Penny spoke "He couldn't have…"
"We saw them burn off, they couldn't have grown back this quickly...could they?" Bernadette added, speaking in the same tone, making sure no one else could hear them.
"But then where is he?" Amy almost cried. Several people looked up from their seats. Quickly Bernadette took a step closer, and put her arm around her friend.
"He must have flown off," Penny said, returning to former hushed tone. "It's the only explanation."
"But then where did he go to?" Howard asked.
"Perhaps we should go back to the warehouse," Bernadette suggested, "he might be waiting for us."
"But what if his mind hasn't recovered?" Howard groaned. "He could be anywhere in the city…heck he could be anywhere in the state by this point, he was able to fly hundreds of miles in seconds and that's while carrying us. Without the weight who knows how far he could get? By this point he could be anywhere in the East Coast."
"Regardless of where he is, we have to find him." Amy declared, this time making an effort to keep her voice quieter, "We must! He's in danger!"
"But where do we start to look? How do we find him?"
The group carried on in this panicked frenzy, it seemed almost certain that Sheldon had quite literally flown the coup. However one person didn't speak. As they spoke, Leonard's mind was wiring. And his extra piece was just enough to give him a very different insight to the puzzle lying before them. "Or has he?" He finally said.
All eyes turned to him. "Leonard what are you talking about?" Penny said.
"You just said that must have…but why must he…what if…of course!" And with that Leonard turned and ran out of the building into the rain.
Not having a clue what was going on, the others followed him. Bernadette helped Howard along, he was feeling better, but the pain killers had left him weakened.
Through the rain and the wind, Leonard pushed on. Turning the side of the building he came up behind it. Looking up and then along, he tried to pace the scenery with what he had seen from the window with what was in front of him. It was difficult in the rain, but thankfully it was no longer as heavy as it had been.
The others watched in confusing, they huddled together as the rain fell and the cold wind whipped against them.
Finally Leonard found what he was looking for. Quickly he pressed himself in close to the wall, searching and seeking for some sign or clue that he was right. The rain might have washed it all away, but for once Leonard got lucky. Letting out a triumphant chuckle he stepped backwards before turning back to the others.
"Okay, what the hell are we doing out here?" Penny snapped confused by her boyfriend's unusual behaviour.
"I know what happened to Sheldon." Leonard happily declared.
The group erupted in to cries of "You do?" and "How?" and "Well what happened to him them?" among other things. All the time Leonard stood there, a sort of smile on his face.
"Leonard what are you talking about?" Penny said stepping forward to hear him better from the wind.
Leonard paused, making sure he had it all planned out before he said it. "Back when we were up there, after you left, I found some blood on the side of the window. Now at the time I had no idea how it could have gotten there. Obviously the cut was sustained when he broke the glass, but how did the blood get there? Then when I heard he was missing I let my mind open to all possible methods of escape and suddenly one idea clicked."
"Now we know he was in there, and we know he escaped. But that leaves the question how." Leonard paused to let his words sink in "You see, we were all looking at this wrong. He didn't fall and he didn't fly. So tell me, how else could he get down from up there?"
No one replied, "Leonard I know you're proud of your achievement, but it's raining and we're getting wet. Could you just tell us?" Penny said rolling her eyes to the side.
"He climbed down." Leonard replied, "Here take a look." He pointed towards the wall. Slowly the group made their way over to the wall, at first there was nothing, just a wet brick wall, but one by one there eyes fixed upon the drainpipe. The black metal was like everything else, wet. But to the left side there was just the slightest trace of red that the rain had failed to fully wash away.
"He managed to climb all the way down from up there, all four stories? And not break this drainpipe? Surely it wasn't built to support his weight?" Bernadette said in disbelief.
"I imagine he managed to drop a way down," Leonard replied, "and no, but it's quite old, it's solid metal and attached directly to the wall. With a bit of luck it's possible."
"Okay, so he climbed down. Where did he go?" Penny asked.
Leonard paused, he hadn't got that far. But thankfully someone else had.
"There," Amy replied she pointed at a complex of buildings. They were some distance from the hospital. All eyes looked at her.
"What is that?" Penny asked.
"Looks like the college that cop mentioned." Leonard replied.
"Amy," Bernadette said, still worried about her friend's unstable feelings "why do you think he's other there?"
"Think about it, he's hurt, he's probably scared. He knows he's at his most vulnerable and that means he's in danger. Where would he go to recover? Where he would be safest, that place has got to have chapel and Demons can't enter holy ground."
Not saying another word, the group hurriedly made its way towards the complex. The rain was still pouring down on them, and all of them wanted to get out of it as soon as possible. In their haste, none of them noticed as a tall shadowy figure slowly slithering behind them.
Slowly the group crept around the side of the buildings, well aware how it would look if they were caught trespassing. Thankfully the streets were deserted, most likely down to the rain if nothing else. It took them ages, but finally they found the chapel.
It was quite small building, right on the outskirts between the main auditorium and another building. It looked at least a hundred years old, built in the old style. However the whole building was fenced off. Clearly the building was being renovated.
This would have been a sign of game over, if it wasn't for the fact the gate was open and the chain was lying by the side, snapped cleanly in two. Slowly the group crept forward, over the broken slab, and wet dust that littered the ground. The heavy old door had been flung open. The insides were dark.
Slowly the collection of hands fumbled the walls for a switch. Finally there was a click, and the holy building was bathed in slight yellow glow. The chapel looked much as you would expect one to, stained glass windows, rows and an altar. Though apart from this it was quite bare, clearly everything else been removed due to the renovations.
And there, kneeling in front of the alter Sheldon. His head was sunk down to the ground. He had not moved, and didn't seem to notice them. Slowly all five pairs of eyes watched their friend. And then Leonard stepped forward, almost cautiously he approached the kneeling physicist. As he got closer, certain details became clearer to Leonard, even in the dim light.
Sheldon was still dressed in hospital scrubs, thankfully of the more conservative kind. However even these were ripped, they were likewise soaked. On first glance it had looked like Sheldon was praying, but upon getting closer, it was now clear to Leonard he had more or less collapsed awkwardly out of exhaustion.
Still he seemed not to notice Leonard's presence. Looking at him, somewhere in the back of his mind Leonard could hear a distinctive voice telling him not to go any closer. He didn't know what state Sheldon was in, nor did he know what the effects of disturbing him would prove to be. Only a few hours earlier, had Sheldon's thin but terrifyingly strong arms grasping hold of him and hoisted him into the air.
Leonard had no idea of what might happen would he be better? Or was he the same as before? There was no way of knowing without trying. Plucking all his courage, Leonard slowly crept over until he was standing right next to Sheldon. Still Sheldon did not seem to notice him.
From the back the others waited with baited breath, no one knew what the results of disturbing him would be. Slowly ever so slowly, Leonard leaned in and cautiously placed his hand down on Sheldon's shoulder.
The reaction was immediate. Sheldon's eyes opened wide, and at that instant he rose up from the floor. Stretched up wards, Leonard had to crane his neck to keep up with his friend, at this close. Casually Sheldon turned on the spot, so he was now facing Leonard directly. For a moment he looked confused, almost as if he had been woken from a deep sleep. Then they focused upon Leonard.
Looking up at his deep blue eyes, Leonard was once again reminded of how much Sheldon towered over him. Sheldon didn't move, but he didn't look right, his face was frozen, so much so he resembled a marble statue more than a man.
Time seemed to slow down, nobody said anything, and nobody dared speak. It was completely between Sheldon and Leonard. And neither of them moved. Then suddenly Sheldon lurched forward. His outstretched arms grasped Leonard and pulled him in.
Leonard let out a yell and tried to struggle, Penny almost jumped forward. But both were stopped in their tracks, by the sound of a soft voice that suddenly spoke "It's good to see you again old friend, all of you." Sheldon continued to hug Leonard, his eyes had begun to water "I was afraid you were dead."
Letting go, Sheldon straightened up. Leonard stepped backwards. "Are…Are you okay?" he finally said.
Sheldon gave a slightly sombre look, before replying, "I'll live, but no, I'm not okay."
Slowly he strolled around the chapel; the whole group watched him confused something was different about him. And then his eyes fell on the open door, breaking into a haste he suddenly slammed it shut.
Then he resumed his causal strolling around the room. The group just continued to watch him, expecting him to do or say something. But all he did was walk around twice more, before going back to standing next to Leonard.
Finally, bored of waiting, Howard spoke "Um, mate." he said "now you're up again, you could please sprinkle a little of your blood on my arm, so I can get it out of this itchy cast?"
Sheldon paused, and slowly turned around to face him "I'm sorry Howard," he said solemnly, "but I can't do that."
"What?" Howard snapped, this news snapping away the last of his induced docility. "What do you mean you can't?"
"I just can't do it." Sheldon replied, slowly he walked over towards the wall. "When I lost my wings, I lost everything. I'm now more or less an ordinary human, well I still have my mind, that's still greater than everyone else's. But apart from that, and a few enhancements, I'm mortal."
This news shocked Howard, slowly he looked down at his arm, stuck in that tight cast. Memories of the doctors talking about how it would never truly heal flooded through his mind. Up to this point, he had seen it as simply a short set back. Looking down he now saw a wound that would never truly heal."
Leaning in Bernadette gave him a hug "it will be okay Howie," she whispered.
"Will they grow back?" Penny asked, "Your wings I mean."
Sheldon shook his head solemnly "No, by the same cures that Azazel's cast, meaning that they burned off my back, means that they won't."
"Okay, but then if it's a curse, can't it be broken?"
Sheldon turned to face Penny, "With my former abilities, probably. But in my present that would be impossible. I'm stuck this way till the day I die." He paused and looked at the door "which has probably come a lot sooner."
"But Sheldon surely we can't…"
"Can we stop talking please!" Sheldon suddenly snapped.
He turned on the spot and went back to staring at the wall. Surprised the group was taken a back. Slowly Leonard walked over to his side. Still staring at his arm, Howard slumped downwards in to a corner; Bernadette crept over to comfort him.
Penny was about to join Leonard, when she saw that Amy had vanished. Turning she saw the door was once again open. Silently she crept out into the rain, making sure to close the door behind her.
The rain was still pouring down; looking around Penny could see no sign of her mousey friend. "Amy?" she called out. "Amy?" No one replied. Stepping forward, Penny walked past the fence, her eyes darting through the dark and the drench. Where had she gone?
"Amy? Amy? Amy? Where are you?" she called, this time louder. And she saw her, there was Amy, she was standing under the ledge of another building, huddling herself away from the storm. Penny ran over, "Amy, what are you…" Penny was cut off as she got closer, Amy was crying.
"Amy," Penny said softly, "what is the matter?"
Slowly Amy looked upwards, "Penny…." She whispered, "he…he didn't even notice me."
Penny stared at her friend baffled, "Amy what are you talking about?"
"After all that, after all he went through, he…he didn't notice me. It was like I wasn't even there. After all my grief and worry, he shared none of it. He didn't think about me."
Penny paused, and tried to think about what to say. Amy had been through a rough couple of days, she had spent hours lying by his side when he was unconscious. The fact he had ignored her when they met up again, had clearly hit her hard.
Slowly Penny leaned in, and hugged her crying friend.
Leonard looked at Sheldon; he was no longer staring at wall as instead now he was looking upwards at the stained glass windows. It was the picture of two angels, one was holding a scroll and a harp, the other was holding a sword. Sheldon was focused on the one with the sword.
As Leonard looked, he could see Sheldon's eyes water.
"The archangel Michael," Sheldon whispered, "Prince of the seraphim."
"Sheldon," Leonard almost whispered, "What can I do."
"Nothing," Sheldon replied solemnly, "There is nothing anyone can do." He looked up at the Angel, before repeating "nothing."
Once again, he bowed his head and resumed staring at the wall. Slowly he reached his hand back over his back, and began to gently stroke the stubs where his wings used to be.
Amy was feeling better now. She wasn't crying any more, but Penny could tell she wasn't well.
"Now Amy," Penny began, trying to be tactful "I know it hurts. But it's not he's forgotten you. It's just he's been through such a horrible ordeal that he can't think anyone but himself at the moment."
"He clearly thought about Leonard." Amy said coldly.
"Well that's different, he was just the closet one to him. No doubt he would have reacted the same way if any of us went over. He was just happy we were still alive. You know him, he won't admit it, but right now he needs support. He's recovering from a horrifically traumatic loss. He needs us, he needs you."
Amy looked up at Penny. "You sure?" she almost choked.
"Of course I'm sure. Now, come on let's get out of this rain."
Amy nodded her head. Together the two of them were about to walk off, when suddenly there was a loud squeaking sound.
Turning around the two girls almost let out a shriek. A huge black rat was perched on a small pillar watching them. It was such an ugly thing its wet black fur stuck out and it had nasty yellow pin like teeth. It was so fat it looked like had eaten a whole cow, and it long twitching whiskers. Its black eyes watched them menacingly.
"Yuck," Penny said, "come on Amy." She turned to walk away, only to come face to face with another ugly black rat. It was just standing their staring at them.
"Come on we're go around." Penny said, slowly the two girls tried to walk around this second rat. Only to hear another squeaking, turning they saw several other rats crawling out of the rubbish bin. "My god doesn't this place deal with pests? I thought there were standards of health and safety." Penny shouted.
"Um, Penny." Amy said, slowly she pointed behind them. Penny turned; the sight of what she saw almost caused the eyes to drop out of her head. Where the first rat had stood, there were now dozens of them all spewing out of the bushes and onto the pillar a huge horrible, black clump of great big fact rats. And they were coming towards them.
Slowly the two girls began to back away, the rats continued to advance. There little fangs now gnashing together. Turning the girls tried to run, only to find themselves facing more rats. Another huge clump had managed to sneak up on them, ugly black and brown things, eyeing them up like they were road kill. Frantically Penny grabbed Amy by the hand. "Run!" she screamed.
Practically pulling Amy along, they ran down the third path. The rats immediately ran after them forming one huge black horde that was right behind them. Frantically the girls continued to run, where they were going they had no idea.
Where the hell had all these rats come from? Why were they chasing them? Why?
Penny was still trying to make sense of all this when they came to a dead end. Slowly the girls turned, forced to except the inevitable. The huge swarm of rats came scurrying at them. Screaming the girls tried to kick them away. But there feet seemed to go through the rodents.
And then the horde reached them. They came in dozens at a time, scurrying up the girls legs into their clothes, tearing them apart as they ran along and up. Amy and Penny yelled in pain. Frantically they tried to pull them off, but the rats just kept coming. There claws scratched deep into the girls flesh, blood began to trickle out. Mixing with the rain water, it turned the puddle red. This just excited more rats who began happily lapping the mixture up.
Teeth dug in deep into the skin, more blood tricked out. More screams and yells of pain, and more rats. They were all over there bodies now. Frantically shaking Amy and Penny tried to at least loose some of them, but instead both girls lost there balance and were pulled down. At this point the whole horde swarmed forwards. All over their bodies and faces the rats ran, there claws cutting in there skin, there feet trampling over them. Neither Amy nor Penny dared to scream, fearful of a rat entering their mouths. As the horde continued to swarm the girls tried to struggle, they tried to do anything. But it was hopeless. They were trapped. Trapped by a thousand angry rodents gnawing at there flesh and lapping up there blood.
Unable to do anything but watch, as they were slowly eaten alive.
And then suddenly they were gone. Both women sat up bewildered. The rats were gone, there cuts and bruises had vanished and their clothes were fine. The sensation of the thousands of rats running over them just disappeared into a puff of smoke, and now they were just sitting there on this pavement, in the rain.
But before either could speak or make any sense of what was going on, suddenly two strong arms grabbed them both from behind. And with that they vanished into thin air, leaving behind only a quick scream and a low cold chuckle.
Sheldon continued to stare at the wall, Leonard continued to stand there beside him, he had no idea how long Sheldon planned to do this for. But he knew he could leave his friend. Then finally Sheldon spoke "I can't hear it." He almost whispered.
"Hear it? Sheldon, hear what?" Leonard asked.
Sheldon turned to face him, "You're heartbeat," he replied. "I've always heard it. Ever since that day we first met. It has a nice steady rhythm very organised, very proper. I liked it since I first heard it. I often enjoy hearing it merrily beat along. Now I can no longer do so. I'll never be able to hear it again."
"Sheldon's it's going to be okay." Leonard replied.
Sheldon looked at him, "is it?" he asked; he turned around "I mean how is it going to…" he suddenly stopped dead. "Where are they?"
"What? Who?" Leonard asked,
"Amy and Penny, where are they?" Sheldon urgently repeated.
"Oh they're…" Leonard trailed off, "they must have gone out, and we didn't notice."
The colour drained from Sheldon's face. "WHAT!" he screamed, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY WENT OUT!"
Leonard was practically knocked over by the force of his voice.
"Sheldon? What's the matter?" Bernadette asked. Howard to sprung up at this.
"They…They…went out there? But it'll get them." Sheldon shouted. "Why did they go out? There in danger!"
Turning he ran towards the door, only to stop dead in his tracks. Again he tried to reach for the door, only to stop mid way. His eyes didn't leave it, but his hands wouldn't move.
"It?" Leonard shouted.
"Yes! It! Why do you think I ran from the Hospital. It found me there?"
"Wait, you mean a demon?" Howard yelled
"Yes of course I mean a demon. How many other its do you know that are after us?"
"Oh my god." Leonard gasped, he ran forward, pushing his friend aside, as he ran out into the rain. "Penny! Penny! Penny where are you?" he screamed to the night.
But nothing replied.
Sheldon slowly stuck his head out, immediately his eyes fixed upon something. "We're too late." he whispered.
"What? What do you mean it's too late?" Leonard shouted back.
Sheldon pointed at what he had spotted. There carved on the opposite wall of a building, was several words written in some sort language that Leonard couldn't read.
"Sheldon," Bernadette asked, having gone out to join Leonard. "What does it say?"
Sheldon paused before reply "It basically translates as 'I have them, come and find me. And you will find them.'"
"Sheldon," Leonard almost shouted, "why didn't you tell us there was a demon close?"
"I thought you already knew." He replied "Why did you think I was so happy to find you were still alive?"
"Hold on," Howard said, "who exactly has them?"
"Ecke." Sheldon replied.
"Ecke?" Came the response.
"Ecke," Sheldon replied, "A Mesopotamian storm demon. The bringer of fear."
Okay I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm sorry it had to end like this, but it was getting to long and it had been far to long since I last updated.
So here you are. I'll try and get the next one out in a week or two.
Please review