A/N: Wow! Thank you for the reviews! :) Just one more helping of angst, and then roads will become smoother. Please keep some tissues handy for this chapter…
..
Once Amy had been given the drug and had been cleaned up, she and Sheldon returned to the suite.
"I'm…I'm going to lie down." Amy muttered.
"Would you like me to get us some lunch?" Sheldon asked, stroking her hair.
Amy shook her head. "I'm not really hungry."
She ambled into the front room and laid down on the couch, gazing out the balcony doors.
Scooby could sense the sadness in the suite, and slowly wandered over to Amy, pushing his nose against her hand, which was dangling off the edge of the couch.
Amy smiled weakly at him, and patted the seat beside her.
Scooby leapt up and curled beside Amy, resting his head on her arm, whining softly.
She began to tear up again, and buried her face in a cushion.
In the kitchen, Sheldon leaned against the counter, arms folded, with one hand curled into a fist against his mouth as he thought hard.
This is all my fault…I should have known.
Oh, how could I have known? This is new to both of us!
He closed his eyes and focused on trying to control his thoughts.
But now, he seemed to completely lack the ability.
Odd.
As far back as he could remember, (which incidentally was when he was a baby!) he had been able to control his thoughts and emotions, but nowadays, he just couldn't do it.
Hearing sobbing from the front room, his heart broke.
Sheldon switched on the kettle and waited for it to boil.
He selected Amy's favorite; Chamomile tea, and put the teabag in a mug, before adding the boiled water.
Stirring, he took it through to Amy, whose face was buried in the couch cushions, her body rising and falling with each sob, and Scooby beside her.
Setting the drink on the coffee table, Sheldon sat on the arm of the couch and gently lifted Amy up so that he could hold her and stroke her hair.
She managed to compose herself and sniffed, taking a deep breath, looking at the mug on the table.
"Hot beverage." Sheldon explained. "It's Chamomile tea. I know it's not exactly going to make things better, but…"
"Thank you Sheldon." Amy sniffed, leaning forward and gratefully taking a sip.
"I want to apologize." Sheldon said now, "If…If I had known, I would have taken better care of you, and I would have taken steps to ensure you and the baby were healthy and happy. I know things have been stressful, and I feel responsible."
Amy looked at him sadly. "Sheldon, none of this is your fault. When I got tested, they warned me that this would happen…I just didn't know that it would be so soon after, or that it would happen so quickly. Work has been stressful, trying to have a baby has been stressful…Neither of us knew I was even pregnant! Please don't blame yourself."
"But I knew something wasn't right for a while, and I didn't warn you or say anything."
Amy shrugged. "What's done is done." She replied, "And still, you weren't to know any better. It's not your fault. It's my stupid body's fault!"
At that moment, Sheldon's cell phone rang.
"Hello?"
He put it on speaker. "It's the gynaecologist. Apparently your phone was off, so she called me" He whispered, before speaking down the phone again; "Sorry, continue."
"I just wanted to say that after further examination of the tissue mass that Amy passed earlier, we found another embryo embedded into it."
Amy looked up, blinking in shock.
"E-excuse me, please could you say that again?" Sheldon stammered.
"There were two embryos unfortunately, Dr Cooper. I'm sorry."
"Oh…Uh…Right. Thank you for telling us... Goodbye."
He ended the call, and the phone slid out of his hand as his breathing quickened and he started sweating, signifying a panic attack.
Amy stood up and rubbed his back, grabbing a paper bag. "Breathe into this."
Sheldon did as he was told, and once his breathing was regulated, he flopped down onto the couch, with Amy lowering herself next to him.
"So…I miscarried two?!" She asked in disbelief.
Sheldon nodded. "Twins." He breathed. "My guess is that you miscarried one, and then when you bled out, the other embryo came with it. There's no way it could have survived out of utero."
Amy looked shell-shocked.
"I can't believe this. This has just gotten a million times worse!" She burst into tears again, locking herself in the bedroom.
Sheldon tried to enter, but she didn't want to see him or anyone for that matter.
He felt torn to pieces, as his own tears began to fall for the second time that day.
He leaned on the dining table, and in a moment of unexpected angst, he drew his hand across the table, knocking the notebooks and pens, placemats and the plastic vase to the floor, where the flowers and water both spilled out onto the laminated flooring.
Scooby jumped, and put his tail between his legs, whining softly as he hid under the coffee table.
"Oh, Scooby, I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you." Sheldon said softly, bending down and extending a hand.
The Fox Terrier timidly crawled out and nudged Sheldon's hand with his wet nose.
He then put his front paws on Sheldon's legs and rested his head on his shoulder.
Sheldon hesitantly wrapped his arms around the dog, finally understanding the phrase 'man's best friend'.
After a moment, he let go and took out his cell phone, dialling a number.
"Hello? Leonard it's me…Amy and I, we…We really need your help." He sobbed, before hanging up the phone.
..
Back in Pasadena, Leonard stared at his phone, frowning.
"What's wrong? Who was that?" Penny asked popping a piece of chocolate in her mouth.
"That was Sheldon." Leonard replied, "He was crying! Like, literally in hysterics. He said he and Amy needed help, and then he hung up. Something is very wrong."
Penny looked at him, worried. "Oh God…Well, what do we do?"
Leonard looked round at their group of friends, who had heard the whole thing. "Who fancies an impromptu trip to Florida?"
..
Sheldon sat outside the bedroom door, his back against the door.
Amy must have fallen asleep, because the crying had stopped hours ago.
It was then that he realized that he had been sitting in that exact same spot for four hours.
Deciding to compose himself and wash, Sheldon stood up and headed into the bathroom to shower.
As he stood under the hot stream of water, Sheldon lost himself in his thoughts as he absentmindedly lathered himself up with shower gel.
He was finally snapped out of his thoughts by Scooby scratching at the bathroom door.
Glancing at the clock in the bathroom, Sheldon realized he had been in the shower for over half an hour!
He wrapped a towel around himself and opened the door.
"Sorry, Scooby." He sighed, as he opened the balcony doors and let the dog out onto the balcony, where he decided to relieve himself on some newspaper.
Sheldon towelled himself dry and threw on some clothes, just as he heard a knock at the door.
He wandered aimlessly towards the door, and opened it, shocked as he stared out at his group of friends.
"Hello Sheldon…We got your message." Leonard smiled.
"You came! All of you!" He lunged forward and wrapped his extremely shocked best friend into a hug.
..
"So, what happened?" Penny asked, as Sheldon let them all in.
"Amy miscarried." Sheldon sadly replied, barely above a whisper.
The group gasped. "We're sorry Sheldon."
"And then the Gynaecologist called and said that after further inspection of the tissue, she found out that there were two embryos…Not one."
"Oh no…" Bernadette said.
"So she miscarried twins? Sheldon, I'm so sorry." Penny rubbed his back.
"Where is Amy now? Did she go out?" Howard asked.
Sheldon shook his head and nodded towards the bedroom door. "She's in there; she hasn't come out in five hours which was only to use the bathroom. She was crying for ages, but then I think she fell asleep."
Penny and Bernadette looked at each other, and both stood straight. "We'll go talk to her." Bernadette said.
"Yeah, we'll stay here with you Sheldon. We'll order something in for dinner." Raj finished.
"I'm not hungry."
"You need to eat." Leonard replied. "You of all people know better than that. Come on…"
..
Penny and Bernadette knocked on the bedroom door, which woke Amy up. "What is it Sheldon?" She asked tearfully.
"It's Penny and Bernadette." Penny called out.
Amy couldn't believe her ears.
Surely she was dreaming?
She rubbed her eyes, and stood up shakily as she unlocked the bedroom door, and sure enough, there stood her two best friends!
"It's really you!" She smiled weakly.
"Sheldon called Leonard earlier…We all caught the first flight to Florida. We know what happened sweetie; we're so sorry."
"I hope Sheldon doesn't think I'm mad at him. I just really wanted to be alone for a while, but I guess I fell asleep."
Her friends hugged her tightly. "We're here now, okay?" Bernadette said, "We all booked rooms, and we'll stay as long as you two need us."
"Thank you," Amy sniffed. "Really, thank you."
"You guys really need to talk about this," Penny added, sitting on the bed after closing the door. "I know it's painful, but you can't let this ruin you."
"I won't," Amy promised, "I don't blame Sheldon, so it's not like we have anything to argue over. I know it was one of those things; neither of us knew I was even pregnant…Especially with twins!"
Penny put her arm around Amy.
"Amy, I know what the doctors told you; but you can try again. This doesn't mean it's the end." Bernadette said.
"I know. I want to try again, just…Just not now. It's too raw." Amy replied.
"We know. Does Sheldon know that?"
Amy nodded. "I think even he knows that."
The girls nodded. "Will he be able to handle his sexual desires for a while?" Penny asked.
"He handled them for 32 years, what's stopping him now?" Amy shrugged.
"Well…People -even Sheldon - are like Pringles; once you pop, you can't stop!" Penny replied.
"That's true." Amy nodded, "But I think he knows. He's fine just cuddling"
"See? That's what is so great about you guys!" Penny smiled. "You took forever to get physical, so now you can just appreciate moments of closeness too. Sex is just a bonus, right?"
Amy cracked a smile. "Right."
"You guys will be okay, you always are. You're the Shamy!" Bernadette smiled, rubbing Amy's back, comfortingly.
Amy smiled again, "I know."
"Just remember to talk to him about your feelings, okay? You two will have a baby one day; we know you will!" Penny finished. "This is just another hurdle to jump over, but you and Sheldon can do it together."
Amy nodded. "Thank you girls, you're the best friends I could ever ask for."
Penny and Bernadette hugged their friend, grinning. "Go team Shamy!" They chorused.