:Accident:

Penny was just placing a couples order when her manager walked over quickly. "Hey, Queen! Your boyfriend works over at the university, right?"

Penny looked up. "Ex-boyfriend, but we're still friends, why?"

Martin looked worried. "It was just on the news, there's some sort of brouhaha going on over there."

Penny felt a fear shoot down her spine. "What do you mean?"

Martin shrugged. "According to the news, some sort of chemical spill, and now some guy has gone whacko and is destroying the place."

Penny dropped her order pad and pencil. "Oh god. Sheldon."

Penny shoved her way through the crowd and looked for a familiar face, any familiar face. Near an ambulance she saw Leslie Winkle being attended to by an EMT. She squeezed past some reporters and a couple of crying grad students. "Leslie!" she shouted. Winkle turned and waved her closer. "What happened?" Penny asked breathlessly.

"Some chem students were fooling around and caused an explosion. Cooper was in the hall and got caught in the blast. The students are dead, but he's…well, I don't know how to explain it! He changed, okay? He changed." Leslie looked panicky and scared.

Penny's blood ran cold. She looked around and slowly made her way around the perimeter. Ten minutes later she found Leonard and Howard. They both looked shell shocked. They stammered about Sheldon losing his mind, and tearing through the department. Penny found an EMT and left them in his care. She moved closer to the building, and waited. The moment the police officer's attention was diverted, she crossed the barrier and slipped into the building. The hall was empty and quiet. Penny flashed to every stupid horror movie she had ever seen. Good lord, what the hell was she doing?

She knew the rules! The blonde, especially the non-virginal blonde always dies! Penny took a few shallow breaths. No, this was not a movie. This was Sheldon. Her best friend. The man she secretly loved. He was in trouble and she was NOT going to abandon him.

A crashing noise to the left caught her attention. She spun around and gasped. It was Sheldon, but yet not. His clothes were tattered, mostly due to the bulging muscles. His hair was in disarray, and his hands were curled into fists. It was his eyes though, that made her cry out. They were like blue flames. They glowed in the dim light.

He stalked closer, menace and anger in each step. "See a Penny, pick her up. All day long you'll have good luck," he said in a sing-song voice. Penny struggled not to bolt. She was shaking with tension and fear.

"Sheldon? Sweetie? I was so worried." She kept her voice soft and soothing. Sheldon burst out laughing. It wasn't a happy sound.

"Were you?" he asked with deliberate coldness. ""Poor Penny so worried about her crazy whack-a-doodle neighbor. How sad for her." He was only a few feet from her now. "Why should you care about me?" His voice got louder and deeper.

She could see his veins bulging out on his neck and temple. He stopped five feet away. Anger and pain warred within his expression.

"What possible reason could you have for caring about me?!" he screamed.

Tears streamed down her face and she sobbed fretfully. She could only whisper. "Because I love you."

He roared with fury and disbelief as he charged. Shots rang out loudly, making Penny scream and fall to her knees. Acrid smoke and the smell of blood permeated the hall. Penny looked up through her hands and screamed again. She scrambled across the floor and gathered him close. Sheldon gurgled and gasped. He looked up at her with his fiery eyes. Slowly he raised one shaky hand and touched her cheek.

So….rry," he mumbled. "Love ….me?" he asked before coughing spastically.

Penny clutched him tightly to her. "Yes, Sheldon," she said tenderly. "I love you. Only you. Forever you."

He smiled softly and drew in a shaky breath. "Love you…"

Penny sobbed as he grew limp and the breath left his body. Officers were forced to pull her away from him.

Penny sat down on the porch swing and looked at the setting sun. She swung slightly and sipped her coffee. The sky was turning dark when Meemaw joined her. After a moment she reached over and took Penny's hand in hers. "Tough day, Penny Blossom?"

Penny leaned over and laid her head on Meemaw's shoulder. "Six years ago today, I met him," she said softly.

Meemaw squeezed her hand. When Penny had shown up 17 months earlier, she was broken. It was two weeks after Sheldon was buried. Penny had been little more than an empty shell. Meemaw had taken her in, partly because of her own heartbreak, but also because this young woman had loved her grandson. Still loved him.

Meemaw looked out over the yard to the small graveyard. Her husband was buried there, along with Mary's. The third grave was covered in bright red flowers with yellow rhinestone centers. Only when it was too dark to see anymore did they stand and go back inside.

I recently re-read The Strange Case of Dr, Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Couldn't stop thinking about it, especially after the Pasadena Man chapter.