{Alison}
Penny and Sheldon both walked into the room at the same time. Penny tossed her stuff on top of Leonard's, packed into two brightly colored patterned duffle bags. Sheldon set his things next to hers. That almost was enough to make me stop thinking about Sheldon, this was all her fault. The whole thing was more than a little daunting. She had been told by Howard, Leonard, Penny, Raj, AND Amy that Sheldon was a terrible patient.
The worst thing was how sudden the onset of symptoms would be. She would have no warning, but she would have to convince him that he was falling ill before he knew it. The worst part would be fighting his intellect. He wouldn't fall for anything unless she was perfect. She only had to act until the others were safely in the car driving away.
"Sheldon? Aren't you excited? This is going to be AMAZING!" She squealed, she hoped she wasn't over acting too much, but she knew that if she was going to get a response from Sheldon she would have to give him more than enough emotion to pull a reasonable explanation out of.
"Well I'm not dreading it…" He replied.
That would have to be enough; she sat down on the center of the couch as Sheldon, who had a white board covered with a white sheet set up in the living room in under a minute. Pulling out a tiny projector he opened the power point.
"Alright, we are currently at T-minus one hundred six minutes until departure. Raj and Lucy are set to arrive at T-minus 4 minutes-" He started.
"Question: What if Raj is late?" She asked, pulling for more details.
"That is taking into account that Raj will be late," He answered, his tone was sharp, but he seemed pleased that someone cared. A moment later he started talking about rest stops and sure she listened, but she didn't need to know that. He pulled up the map of the 5th floor of the hotel Mandy owned. He had thought out the most possibly and likely options for the pairs that had agreed to share a room. Raj and Lucy, with Amy and Stuart. It seemed a fitting combination, one that wouldn't be used, but still fitting.
The rooms were quite spread out; he had assigned a color to each room. They had numbers but no one argued. Alison knew the other's silence was out of fear of starting an argument, and she thought that it was cute.
"Leonard and Penny, will be in room Blue, Howard and Bernadette in room chartreuse, Raj, Lucy, Amy and Stewart are sharing the Purple room, and Alison and I will be in room 00BBBB," Sheldon listed.
She stood up immediately, squealing a bit. She gave up on breathing for a second, her chest tight with joy.
"It's a hex code approximation of the color of my teal bath towels!" She said in explanation to the group who were giving her and Sheldon weird looks, "I am deeply touched that you cared enough to figure it out!"
"I hardly had to figure it out, I know the color of the towel, and I know how to state colors in hexadecimal format," he stated.
"Well still, no one has ever done something like that," Alison grinned. Sheldon did things so naturally, and they lined up with the things she loved. In that moment the problem of the evening was far from her mind, she was simply overjoyed.
Sheldon smiled, she had been told that was rare. "Continuing with the presentation," he said pressing the next arrow on the remote. The screen changed to show the map recolored to show the rooms highlighted in their colors. He went on to talk about several different possible necessary changes in orientation and the most logical results, the location of the vending and ice machines and the elevators, on a map of the ground floor he pointed out the locations of the indoor pool and gym, the front desk, and the features of the lobby.
'I only wish this were real' Alison thought to herself.
{Amy}
Sheldon was rambling on about every single detail of the hotel. The rest of the group simply sat eating their tacos, but Alison seemed a bit dazed and distant. It could be assumed she was wishing the trip could go on as planned. After seeing how she reacted to Sheldon's name for the room they were intended to share, and that Sheldon would do that for her, Amy couldn't help but see that Alison and Sheldon might be a better match that even she had been.
Sheldon was endearing in a special imperfect way. Amy was admittedly a bit jealous of Alison, but if it made both of them happy she would have to learn to live with it. She wasn't jealous that Sheldon had named the room for her bath towels, she was jealous of how happy that made her.
That in of its self should be enough to prove that they weren't meant to be. She was in love with the idea of loving Sheldon. He was an amazing person, but in reality he was hard to be in love with. Stewart understood the little emotional things that Sheldon ignored. And sure Stewart was not quite as smart as Sheldon, but at least he had a lovable personality.
She would have to get used to the fact that Alison and Sheldon would realize they were in love. They were already in love, but neither could know it. That wasn't what she wanted, fighting for an affectionate moment with Sheldon… Alison wouldn't have to fight. Amy could tell Alison didn't want a physical relationship, and Sheldon wouldn't know what to do with one. Amy had spent the majority of her relationship just begging for a quick kiss from him, something she never got.
It made her jealous that he had smiled at her like he did. That enforced that they might not crash and burn as a couple.
Amy tucked her head and whispered so softly that she couldn't even hear it, "It's for the best, he'll be happy."
If only she could tell herself that she'd be happy.
{Leonard}
Sheldon has always been called emotionless. They had come to live knowing that pretty much no matter what Sheldon would never show signs of empathy. Not to say that Alison was also emotionless, because she clearly wasn't. Alison was more expressive, and she didn't over expose her emotions. If she was happy enough to warrant attention she crammed it in Sheldon's face.
That was what he needed. Plus she found digital color systems touching. That was exactly the kind of thing only extreme nerds found touching. She had never seen any of Sheldon's favorite shows or movies and reportedly hasn't so much as seen a comic book. That didn't add up. She was a smart as the group, had borderline obsessive technical knowledge, and had, albeit an unfulfilled, interest in science fiction. She would fit in well here.
It didn't hurt that she was taking a huge blow for the group. He had to wonder if Penny would be willing to watch something… Maybe the first of the Nolan batman movies. He realized quickly that the answer would be a definite no. Even though he knew that a reboot would be a safer choice, Penny wouldn't like that. He liked Penny because she was strong, independent, and she was beautiful. Sheldon didn't care about looks, at least not as far as anyone could tell. Sheldon didn't know about romantic love, but maybe neither did Alison.
Time passed slowly, he could see why Alison was getting nervous. They had all finished dinner, and Sheldon had been announcing every passing minute since they reached T-minus 30.
{Alison}
He stood up to take the plates to the sink, a clock beeped and he broadcast, "T-minus 27 minutes" to the room.
Howard had just returned from picking up Bernadette from work. She tossed her things next to Howards and sat down. He took a second to look at the room, blinking a second time as if something didn't quite seem right. Her heart sank at the sight. Often the first symptom of any illness was a general sense of something being a bit off. He washed the plates, a bit slower than he usually did.
"This is like the time you all moved the table an inch to the left to throw me off…" He stated.
"Well you know we couldn't have moved the table, you have been sitting there the whole time," Alison stated with a lightly puzzled look on her face.
"I know, but something just… There is something wrong…" Sheldon said looking as if he was focusing in on something in the distance trying to make sense of it all.
The clock had beeped twice with no acknowledgement from him.
"Are you nervous about the trip?" She spoke softly, standing up and rushing to his side.
He only shook his head in response, she carefully guided him to his spot, he had described it as his point (0, 0, 0, 0) he did it in such a perfect way; it made her almost wish she had such a solidified location.
Time passed, sometimes he announced it, but usually it just beeped away. The others tried to go about their own business, making themselves seem occupied. He sat there, and she sat right next to him, socked feet tucked up next to her. He continued to take unnecessarily long blinks.
"Sheldon, are you sure you are feeling alright? You look a bit flushed…" She noted and placed a hand on his forehead, after closing her eyes for a second she almost whispered, "Where do you keep the thermometer?"
"We are going to start taking things down to the car." Bernadette announced as she looked at the clock and Sheldon's laminated schedule. The others followed her out all holding their things.
10 minutes. There were only 10 minutes before they would be leaving. The luggage was in three piles, cars A, B, and C, A being driven by Howard, containing Bernadette, Leonard and Penny, and C driven by Raj containing Lucy, Amy, and Stewart. Car B wouldn't leave. Well it would leave in her dreams. Sheldon sat silently, he heard the question, and he responded, not wanting to speak he simply looked towards the bathroom.
She walked lightly worried that she would find something she wasn't meant to find, if Sheldon went searching through her bathroom he would, but then again boys don't have periods… 'Plus if he sent me in here alone he truly believes that there is nothing that I shouldn't see, and that it is in the most logical place for a thermometer.'
His elaborate toothbrush case caught her eye. It was brilliant, unnecessary, but brilliant.
"Okay this is Sheldon, so the thermometer must be easily accessible," she mumbled to herself thinking.
After a search of the room she found it sealed in a bag inside a plastic box on the bottom shelf. She walked out of the room, down the hallway, and back into the living room.
"Found it," She declared holding up the box. She then realized that she had missed the most obvious question, simply because she knew the answer, "Do you feel alright?"
"No, although I would like to attribute my minor gastrointestinal disruption to the sudden change in my diet," he stated it so nonchalantly. She couldn't help but be upset, she had caused this, and she couldn't tell him yet.
"So would I, but I think we should still take your temperature, it might be more serious than that," she lied again, it was all too much.
"Sheldon I have to tell you something, but first I need to make a little phone call," She blurted out, grabbing her phone and running out into the hallway. It was hard to dial her smartphone with the duct tape wrapped around her nails.
{Sheldon}
Alison had run out into the hall way, the way she started crying in the conference room,
"You of all people defeated by the common cold? I mean really Sheldon. You are too careful for that."
That wasn't a lie, this wasn't a cold. She knew, but she couldn't tell. How would she know? Her current behavior was further proof that she wanted to keep something a secret. She stepped in to the room a few minutes later.
"I have to tell you something, and you are going to hate me for it, so before I do I need to mention that in exactly 19 minutes the others will be 20 minutes away pulled over into a 7-11 parking lot." Alison said nervously.
"So they are one minute away?" He asked knowing the answer.
"Yes, but basically I'm your ride. If you feel better in 18 minutes then I will have them stop and let us catch up. If not I'll stay here and take care of you, but… there is one thing. I have a huge presentation at the convention, so if you get me sick you have to take care of me and make sure I get there safely," She was hardly breathing. Her words soft, light and panicked, he could tell that she wanted to believe that everything would be okay.
"Well, I don't really have any other logical options…" Sheldon admitted. He didn't want to agree to that, but trusting Alison seemed to be his only option. He was confused, or maybe disoriented…
"Okay," She said, "now tell me honestly, remember when-"
"I have an eidetic memory, of course I remember!" He gasped.
"Okay so when you said minor, did you mean it?" she inquired.
"I did at the time, but the word doesn't fit at all now…" he whispered.
"Lie down…" Alison instructed tossing him a teal pillow from her suitcase. She arranged the pillow and handed him the thermometer, "I'm making you tea, but you can't have it until after that beeps."
He only nodded, he felt sick, too sick for anything but thinking, and even that was becoming a challenge.
"103.6!" She gasped, in a state of total panic lasting about three seconds before she suddenly realized something important, "Heh, this is not a lab thermometer… I've been using Celsius since I started 8th grade… Every once in a while I forget that this is America, home of the least logical system of measurement. It scares the snot out of me when I do that…"
The water started boiling, Alison rushed to pour it into the tea cup.
"Extra ice-cubes, you are sick, we don't need to make your fever worse," She set the cup on the little table next to his spot, smiling nervously. Through the confusion, he realized to be primarily driven by a dizzy disbelief, a drowsy half-aware state, two things stood out: He was definitely nauseated, and that Alison Carter sincerely cared about something. And it was probably him.
A few sips of tea later he could almost think. Alison stepped into the kitchen he wasn't even sure why. The next think he knew he was sending his mind to a million places, simply trying to distract himself. Working out an equation from earlier he started to pace through the room walking circles around the couch. It wasn't long until he noticed that he had a hand to his stomach.
She was clearly pretending not to notice. She was counting forks. He froze in place, it only lasted a moment, he didn't say a word as he ran to the bathroom, and he didn't have to. He heard a fork clatter against the ground, he knew she was following him.
Sorry about the really bad wait, I had some big computer issues (that still aren't resolved) so it took a while to get this done. Having to use the on-screen keyboard for the letter C really kills your motivation to write. I might not get another update out for about 2 weeks. I am not quitting but I just wanted to warn you just in case I get stuck on some RL things. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Next chapter is going to be a little crazy…