Sheldon

Sheldon threw off the covers and immediately leapt out of bed, using the collar of his shirt to cover his mouth.

"What do you mean you're sick?" he asked frantically. Oh dear. Oh no. He had spent the entire day yesterday next to a carrier of some horrific pathogen. And he had slept in the same bed!

He gasped, letting go of his shirt collar and pointing at Amy. "You kissed me last night!"

Amy gave him what appeared to be a sympathetic look. "I'm very sorry Sheldon. I did not realize at the time that I was ill."

He glared at her and immediately pulled his collar back up. "Well, that does me little good now does it? The germs dancing around on your lips are now in the process of battling with my immune system." He groaned, trying not to picture the endless variety of bacteria and/or viruses now happily wandering around in his blood stream. Sometimes an eidetic memory really was a curse.

"This is exactly why I was against kissing in the first place! Look at what has happened. I've been infected. I could be dying as we speak. And all because I decided to play the hero to my proverbial aesthetically pleasing princess! The Mario to my Princess Peach! The Link to my Zelda! Why have these video games led me astray? Oh the horror!"

He left Amy's room and ran into the bathroom. He didn't know what to do first. Shower? Medically induce vomiting? Rinse with mouthwash? He didn't relish the thought of vomiting. Perhaps the mouthwash rinse with a course of antibiotics would do. If he recalled correctly, and he had an eidetic memory so of course he did, he still had several bottles of antibiotics in the medicine cabinet. His doctor had been so kind as to provide enough prescriptions to last through at least ten different bacterial scares. In fact he had almost insisted Sheldon take all the prescriptions, stating something about not wanting to see him in his office so frequently. Sheldon had been touched by the show of care for his well-being.

But what was he doing? He was standing here in the bathroom, thinking about his caring doctor when the bacteria and/or viruses were multiplying at an exponential rate in his system. He went to the cabinet and grabbed out the mouthwash. He swished it around for a full minute, relishing the burn. After spitting it out, he decided to rinse again. He was somewhat pacified when he realized the second rinsing didn't burn quite as much as the first…although, truth be told, by the time he spit out the second time his mouth was almost completely numb, so perhaps the lack of burn was due to the lack of feeling rather than that the bacteria had been banished.

He grabbed out one of the bottles of antibiotics, recalling how he had had to take the prescriptions to ten different drug stores to have them filled, as every single one of the pharmacists had insisted they could only fill one at a time. As he swallowed his first pill he started to feel his panic decrease.

Then he looked down at his hands and realized that he hadn't yet washed them…and then he looked down at his clothes realizing that they were also infected. He would have to burn them…or at least wash them in hot water. He quickly stripped off his clothes and jumped towards the shower.

He turned the water as hot as he could stand it, and began his rigorous showering procedure. After twenty minutes of scrubbing he finally felt clean. He was in control. He had rinsed out his mouth, showered the germs off of him, and had begun his prophylactic course of antibiotics.

He stepped out of the shower and grabbed his towel, taking his time to meticulously dry off. Only when he was completely dry did he realize that, in his haste, he had forgotten to bring his change of clothes into the bathroom with him.

He eyed the clothes he had discarded on the floor warily. It was useless to put those back on as he would then have to re-shower. He sighed. He would just have to wrap the towel back around himself and walk back to his room.

He grabbed his towel and wrapped it back around himself. When he was satisfied that it was securely around his waist, he opened the door and started to head towards his room. When he was a few steps outside of the bathroom, Amy's door opened and she also started to walk out.

Sheldon's eyes opened wide in shock and he leapt back against the wall. Amy's eyes also grew big and her mouth popped open. Why was she shocked? She was already infected. It's not like she had to worry that his germs would leap off and infect her…

He frowned. "Amy, what are you doing outside of your room?"

Her mouth opened and closed several times before she started sputtering, "I…tea…hot tea…you…startled…I…"

Oh dear lord. She had become incoherent. It was worse than he thought. Perhaps she would need to be taken to Urgent Care. Perhaps he should get dressed…dressed…

He looked down at himself and realized he was pressed against the wall with nothing but a towel around his waist.

His head popped up quickly and he immediately crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Amy you should not be outside of your bedroom. You will spread your germs everywhere." He uncrossed his arms long enough to shoo her in the direction of her room. "Go back in there."

Amy looked at the floor. "But I would like some tea…and I'll have to use the restroom as well. We only have one. I can't stay in my room indefinitely. And, I'm really…not feeling…"

He saw her start to sway on the spot. Oh my. She was going to faint!

Without thinking it through he rushed over to grab her as she started to fall. "Amy!"

She looked up at him through unfocused eyes. "Sorry. I don't know what happened…"

He felt her forehead. She felt hot. Dear lord she had a fever. "Alright, you need to go back to bed. The cause of your near faint is likely dehydration. I will go make your hot tea for you. Do you think you can walk?"

She nodded. He let go of her, but she started to sway again. He bent over and grabbed her around the waist, putting one of her arms around his neck. "I'll help you get back to bed."

He tried not to think about all the germs he was in contact with. He turned his head every time he wished to breathe in so as to limit the amount of Amy's germs he would inhale. He would have to take another shower, and, at this rate, do a load of laundry. He was sure to run out of clean towels before Amy got better.

And speaking of towels, his now felt much looser around his waist than it had previously. He was not one to believe in prayer, but he found himself praying to whatever deity would listen that his towel would remain in place.

When they reached Amy's bed he let go of her so that she could crawl under the covers. He straightened and started backing away, holding his towel. Amy flicked her eyes over at him quickly, but looked away just as quickly.

"Thank you for your help."

He had backed to the doorframe by this point. He resisted the urge to flee for a moment longer.

"I do not wish to expose myself any more than necessary. Is there anything else you would like from the kitchen while I am in there?"

Amy thought for a moment. "Perhaps you should bring in several water bottles as well."

"Is there any food you would prefer?"

She shook her head. "Food does not sound at all appealing. The liquids will be fine." She lay her head on her pillow and shut her eyes.

Sheldon took that as his cue to go and immediately dashed for the kitchen. He made sure that his towel was once again secure around his waist and was about to open the refrigerator door when he realized that his hands were infected. He grabbed the hand sanitizer by the kitchen sink. After he was satisfied that his hands were thoroughly disinfected, he decided that he had best get the teapot going for the tea before attempting to grab all of the water.

He was in the middle of setting down several water bottles on the kitchen island when Leonard unexpectedly walked through the door.

"Hey Sheldon, are you ready for wor…what the hell?"

"Good morning Leonard. I don't believe I shall be going to work today. Amy is sick and in need of assistance. And as I spent last night in her bed and allowed her to kiss me, I believe it is best that I remain here. My system is already compromised and I don't wish to further subject it to all the germs roaming around the university."

Leonard looked at him in disbelief. "Where are your clothes?"

Sheldon was opening his mouth to reply when Penny came in. "Leonard, my car broke down." She did a double take. "Please tell me you are wearing pants Sheldon."

"I am not."

Penny shuddered. "You're standing at your counter naked?" She turned to Leonard. "Remind me never to eat over here again."

Sheldon rolled his eyes. "Don't be absurd. Of course I'm not naked. I have a towel wrapped around my waist."

"Why do you have a towel wrapped around your waist?"

"I forgot my clothes before showering."

"So you decided not to wear any?"

Sheldon gave an exasperated sigh. "Of course I'm going to wear clothes. But, as I left the bathroom to retrieve them, a sick Amy Farrah Fowler stepped out of her room and nearly fainted. I was forced to help her back to her room and volunteered to make her hot tea and bring her several water bottles. As I will have to discard this towel for a fresh one and didn't wish to contaminate any of my other clothes, I decided to keep this one on until such time as I could again shower."

Penny looked at him in disbelief. "Let me get this straight. Amy is sick. And you helped her…you actually touched her."

Leonard shook his head. "You haven't heard anything yet. He slept in her bed last night." Penny's mouth fell open. "And apparently they were kissing."

"Shut up!" Penny looked at Sheldon like he was an alien specimen.

"We weren't 'kissing'. It was one kiss. And I was in Amy's bed to help her with her night terrors. And neither of us realized at that time that she was ill."

Penny's mouth fell open further. She looked at Leonard and then back at Sheldon. "So wait. I'm still confused. Why aren't you freaking out? Good Lord. Every time Leonard was sick you started spraying Lysol all over."

Sheldon rolled his eyes. "I never 'freak out'. But your wondering if I have taken precautions proves that you weren't listening. I did state I had taken a shower. And I have also thoroughly rinsed with mouthwash and started my prophylactic course of antibiotics. I was waiting until I gave Amy her tea and water before sanitizing the rest of the apartment. It wouldn't do much good to sanitize it now, when I am going to go back into her room to pick up further germs to spread about.

Penny looked over at Leonard. "I can't believe he's willing to go into her room."

Leonard nodded. "Yeah. Crazy what love will do to you."

Sheldon narrowed his eyes. "Leonard, I believe Penny stated her car had broken down. Likely she came up here to request a ride to work. And as I am no longer in need of your assistance, I suggest you leave now."

He grabbed the tray of water bottles and tea and walked away without waiting for them to leave.

As he neared Amy's room he felt his heart start to beat faster. It was taking all his mental strength not to run in the opposite direction. Then he had an idea. He set the tray down on the floor and ran into his room, careful to touch as little as possible. He grabbed a pair of the latex gloves he uses for reading and put them on. Then he ran into the bathroom and reached into the back of the cabinet under the sink. Ah yes. Here it was. He had a box of hospital face masks. He grabbed one and placed it over his nose and mouth. There. Now he would be free to come and go from Amy's room with minimal exposure to germs.

He came back out into the hallway and picked the tray back up. He knocked on Amy's door, but received no response. He hoped she was alright. He gingerly opened the door and peaked his head inside. Amy appeared to be sleeping. He contemplated letting her sleep, but decided that it would be best if she drank something first and voided her bladder.

He walked over to her and gently shook her shoulder with his gloved hand. "Amy?"

Her eyes opened slowly and she stared at him without recognition for a few moments.

She frowned. "Sheldon?" He noticed that her voice was weak.

He nodded. "Yes. I brought your tea. I thought it would be best if you drank it and voided your bladder before continuing on with your rest. I shall have to sanitize the bathroom after you use it and would rather do so when I am already sanitizing the rest of the apartment."

Amy nodded slightly. "Good idea."

"Are you able to sit up?"

She nodded. "Yes. I should be able to." She used her hands to push herself into a seated position. Sheldon grabbed the tea and handed it to her.

"Shall I set the water bottles on your night stand here?"

Amy nodded again as she started to sip her tea. She cleared her throat and kept her eyes averted as she directed a question at him. "Sheldon, why are you still only in your towel?"

He shuffled uncomfortably. He had almost forgotten that he was still in a state of undress. He cleared his throat. "Well…I shall have to shower again to make sure that I am free of germs and as I did not wish to contaminate any of my clothes, and as the towel is already contaminated, I had decided to keep wearing it."

"Oh." Amy took another sip of her tea. Her eyes quickly flicked up to his face and then back to her teacup. "Where did you get the mask and gloves?"

"I had the masks left over from the Swine Flu scare. And you know that I keep a box of latex gloves next to my bed for reading purposes."

"I see." Her head started drooping. She weakly put her tea cup on the bedside table.

"Amy, you really should drink more."

She shook her head. "I don't think I can. I'm suddenly very hot and very tired." She threw off her covers.

"Perhaps we should take you to Urgent Care. You seem to be rather severely ill."

Amy shook her head. "No. I just need to sleep. I will be fine."

Sheldon sighed. "Very well then…but I will be monitoring your progression and if you start to get worse, I will insist you go. Let's get you to the bathroom to void your bladder."

"Sheldon, I don't need to urinate."

"Irrelevant. We will go and you will make an attempt. This will be in your best interest. You can void your bladder and thus allow yourself the maximum amount of time to rest before you need to leave the confines of your room again."

He walked over to her bed, once again resisting the urge to flee. He motioned for her to stand. "Come on. The sooner you go, the sooner you can resume sleeping."

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, swaying a little on the spot. He reached out a gloved hand to steady her.

"Perhaps it would be best if you put your hand around my shoulders as before. I don't wish for you to faint on the way there."

She nodded, looking at the floor. When she made no move to comply, he raised her hand and put it around his shoulder himself. He then put his hand around her waist again and started moving forward.

The pace she kept was infuriatingly slow. But she kept insisting she was dizzy and couldn't go any faster.

When they reached the restroom Sheldon paused and frowned. "Will you be alright in there alone?"

Amy raised her head to look at him, eyebrows raised. "You are not going into the bathroom with me. I shall be fine." She removed her arm from around his shoulders and proceeded to shuffle into the bathroom. He waited impatiently for her to finish. He was getting more and more antsy to shower himself again and disinfect the apartment. The temporary high from his initial shower and his first antibiotic pill was starting to wear off and he was now realizing just how much he had touched Amy… even if he was wearing gloves and a mask.

When she finally came out, he immediately stepped forward and put her arm back around his shoulder.

"Ok, let's get you back to bed so I can begin disinfecting."

She nodded and they started the frustratingly slow trek back to her bedroom. When they again reached the bed she immediately lay down and closed her eyes. He gingerly grabbed her blankets and pulled them back up to cover her.

As he was walking out, eager to get back into the shower and begin to disinfect the apartment he heard Amy say, "Thank you Sheldon."

He nodded and closed the door.

A/N: You guys, I am so overwhelmed by the reviews. I can't believe I'm at 250. Thank you SO MUCH! I actually had this chapter completed yesterday, but selfishly didn't post because I didn't want to update when the website was being weird and not sending out emails. But anyways, the extra time allowed me to go through it with a fine toothed comb and hopefully avoid the bagillion spelling errors I kept finding and fixing in my previous chapter. So annoying. Anyways, how did this note get so long? Please review. I'm not going to lie, the enormous amout of reviews was what motivated me to write this chapter so fast. :)