Hello again! Seems like I'm on a roll right now, haha.

Welcome to a new multichapter Shamy story that takes place at the end of season 10, when Sheldon wanted to propose to Amy. But sadly, in this universe something went horribly wrong...

Warning: This is a very angsty and emotional story! Maybe even a bit dark at times. I hope you're still brave enough to soldier through this adventure with me. I promise you'll get rewarded at the end... it's still Shamy, after all ;)

Enjoy reading...

Chapter 1: One Ring to Curse Him:

Sheldon looked out the tiny window and saw how the lights of the city beneath him came closer again.

He was almost there.

It was midday in Pasadena when he started, but after the flight and the time difference of three hours, his watch showed him that it was almost nine in the evening now.

It was torture how long this was taking. He should have done this a long time ago. He should have done this at least before she left for New Jersey. It was the right thing to do. He was in love with her and she was in love with him. What exactly was he waiting for?

Surely not for that catty woman to kiss him.

Sheldon cringed. His lips started tingling again. But not the good kind of tingling that always lingered when he kissed his Amy. It was an unbearable burning of his lips, which he tried to sooth with soap, Purell and even rubbing alcohol. But it was no use. He couldn't forget this wrong taste.

It shouldn't have happened. Ramona Nowitzki had no right to do this to him. Penny had warned him; hell, everyone had warned him. But he had been too naïve. Sheldon never thought that someone would do this. Despite his experience with his parents and more specifically his father's unfaithfulness, he'd never thought that this would ever happen to him. He never showed interest in any other woman; not before Amy and most definitely never since he knew Amy. She was the only one for him and Sheldon thought everyone was aware of that.

Apparently, it wasn't, and Sheldon intended to make this right.

The wheels of the plane came into contact with the ground of New Jersey. A jolt went through the aircraft and Sheldon tightly fisted the little, square box in his pocket; the only thing he brought except for his phone, wallet and the clothes on his back.

Ramona kissed him because he wasn't clearly enough labeled as off-limits for her, but that was about to change. Only one taxi drive separated him from his future bride now.

Sheldon was here in New Jersey to propose marriage to his girlfriend Amy Farrah Fowler.

He paid the taxi driver and entered her apartment complex. With determined, long strides Sheldon was making his way up to her room.

Despite never being here before, Sheldon easily recalled Amy's temporary address from memory and had no trouble finding the right way. As if she was calling him, guiding him to her.

He rounded the corner to her floor.

Sheldon figured that eventually his nerves would get the better of him, but it hasn't happened until now. There was not a single seed of doubt in his mind that could've stopped him. Amy is the woman he wanted to marry, the only woman who would ever be worthy of this ring.

Sheldon stopped in front of her apartment door. She was just on the other side, oblivious to him being here. He missed the 'his noon/her afternoon' call for this. Hopefully, she wasn't too worried.

Now his heart did beat faster. Excitement and anticipation made him smile to himself. Sheldon pulled the ring box out of his pocket and closed his eyes for brief moment. He took a deep breath; in through his nose, out through his mouth. Then he knocked on the door.

"Amy… Amy… Amy."

Swiftly, he knelt onto the ground, opened ring box in hand. He waited for her footsteps on the floor. He waited for her to appear behind the door. He waited for the perfect moment when realization dawned on her surprised face and he would ask her and she would say yes.

He waited… but nothing happened.

Sheldon furrowed his brows. Well, that put a slight damper on his envisioned plan, but no problem. He would simply knock again. Maybe she didn't hear him.

"Amy… Amy… Amy."

No answer.

Sheldon listened for sounds but wasn't able to make out clearly where they were coming from. It was a large apartment complex near the Princeton University where Amy was working for the next three months. If he concentrated, he could hear two people arguing, a television playing and the sound of running water. But it was hard to pinpoint the origin of those sounds.

Sheldon felt a slight itching in his brain prompted by the eventuality that he might had to change his plan. But yet he wasn't stressed by it; he wouldn't give up that easily.

Amy could be sleeping… although they still had to make their goodnight call and Amy wouldn't miss that for anything. Or maybe she just wasn't home yet. Sheldon took a look at his watch.

A quarter to ten. Hm, why would she be working so late?

Sheldon momentarily stashed the ring box safely in his pocket and decided to take the easiest way to find that out by calling her.

The tone indicated that it was ringing. Once. Twice. By the third time, Sheldon narrowed his eyes and took the cell from his ear.

He could hear Amy's phone ring. Inside of the apartment; he was sure of it.

So, she must be home, right?

Sheldon hung up and knocked for the third time. Louder and with just a slight edge of worry in his voice as he was calling her name. Still nothing.

Where can she be?

He tried the door, but, of course, it was locked. No such luck. Could Amy have forgotten her phone at home when she left for work? To make absolutely sure that she wasn't still at the university – because it did happen before that she forgot the time – Sheldon made another call to the directory assistance to get the number of one of her co-workers.

Finally, a voice answered him, albeit a little groggily.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Dr. Zane?" Sheldon eagerly wanted to know.

"Yes. Who's calling at this late hour?" the voice asked him slightly annoyed.

"I'm sorry, this is Dr. Sheldon Cooper. I'm the boyfriend of one of your new co-workers, Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler."

"Yes, I know her…" Dr. Zane spoke warily. "Why are you calling? How did you even get my number?"

"That's not important right now." Sheldon dismissed him. "I'm standing here in front of Amy's apartment to… uhm… to surprise her, but she's not answering the door even though I've heard her phone inside. Could you please just tell me if it's possible that she's still at the university and simply forgot her phone?"

"Maybe she is home and just doesn't like surprises." Dr. Zane noted cynically.

"I don't think so." Sheldon said. His phone made a quiet knocking sound, indicating that he had another caller. Glancing quickly at the display and noticing that it was Leonard not Amy, Sheldon ignored it. "Look…" he said to Dr. Zane. "I'm sorry that I apparently disturbed your sleep, but this is really important. I need to talk to Amy now. Can you please tell me when you've last seen her?"

Dr. Zane sighed deeply, but apparently decided to humor him. "Well… actually…" he began thoughtfully. "We did send Dr. Fowler home early today."

Sheldon frowned. "Why?"

"She had a little accident, nothing serious." Dr. Zane immediately added, upon Sheldon's audible intake of breath. "Dr. Fowler just literally ran into another professor as she walked down the hallway and turned a corner. She fell backwards and hit her head."

"Dear lord!" Sheldon interrupted. "Is she okay?"

"Well, she seemed fine, returning to work just as usually. But later she mentioned that she might be getting a headache after all." Dr. Zane narrated. "Our colleague, Dr. Harris, offered her some migraine pills, but when she still wasn't feeling better, we advised her to go over to the Princeton Plainsboro Hospital across campus to get a check-up. Dr. Fowler wasn't very convinced that it was necessary, but she agreed to go home and rest and promised that she would go to the hospital if the headache doesn't subside."

Sheldon listened to this explanation with withheld breath. This wasn't at all how he had envisioned this. "And that's the last time you've seen her?" he asked in a tensed voice.

"Yes. I guess this was… sometime late this afternoon. Four or five maybe."

Six hours ago, Sheldon noticed. If Amy's not opening the door the headache must have gotten worse and she surely went to the hospital. Right? That's the most sensible thing to do.

The worry in his voice got gradually replaced by edgy panic. "Thanks, Dr. Zane. Goodbye." he said hurriedly and disconnected the call. Sheldon hadn't shoved his phone back into his pocket yet, when he already rushed back through the hallway and towards the elevator.

His never-resting mind spurted out facts about the dangers of head injuries that he wished he wouldn't know. How they can start out pretty harmless, but in some cases, they can quickly develop to fatal inner bleedings. Sheldon tried to tell himself that Amy would be fine, that she got treated at the hospital and reprimanded for not coming to them right away.

This wasn't affecting his plan in the least.

He would go there, find her and after he made sure she was alright, he would still ask her to marry him; this was in any case happening today. Luckily, the Princeton Plainsboro wasn't far away. He could walk there and if he would hurry – and he definitely would – he could be there in ten to fifteen minutes.

The elevator made a sound, ready to take him to the ground level… yet suddenly… Sheldon froze.

But what if Amy didn't go to the hospital?

What if, for some inexplicable reason, she decided to stay home, dismissing her warning headache for a bad migraine and went to bed? She should know as a neuroscientist not to take injuries to the head lightly and that the worst thing one can do was going to sleep before it got examined. Negative effects of head injuries can resurface up until 48 hours after the impact.

Amy knew that.

The doors of the elevator closed again. Sheldon still stood in the hallway, his mind circling around that dreadful possibility and the even more horrifying consequences.

What if she stayed home?

Turning on the spot, Sheldon ran back towards her door. Panic skyrocketed suddenly, as his mind was now tormenting him with images of Amy passed out on the floor, unable to hear or answer him. The closer he came to the door, the surer he got that Amy, in fact, was still here and in danger.

Again, it felt like she was calling him. She wouldn't leave her phone behind. She would at least text him when she was feeling ill and she would definitely let him know when she was on her way to the hospital. Something was not right here; Sheldon could feel it. He could feel Amy in his heart, behind this door, silently screaming for help. She was in danger!

"Amy!"

Sheldon arrived at her apartment again, pressing himself against the door and calling her name. With trembling hands, he shook the door handle, trying in vain to open it. "Amy!" he yelled again, punching against the wood with the whole palm of his hand. "Amy, please open the door!"

He waited briefly, listening for noises on the other side. But there was nothing. His heart was beating in his throat. "Amy, please…" he begged, wildly knocking again. "Please, open the door!" Sheldon threw himself against it. The door rocked, but it unrelentingly remained in place. He tried it over and over again, still yelling her name.

The noise he caused prompted other residents to open their door and annoyingly tell him to keep it down or they would call the police. Some of them observed him warily from afar with their phones already pressed to their ear.

Everyone can hear me, Sheldon thought in full blown panic-mode. Why can't Amy hear me?!

Adrenaline shot through his body. Losing all sanity, Sheldon took a few steps back and charged against the door like a football player. His shoulder screamed in pain, but it got drowned out by his fear. He needed to get to Amy. Twice more, he rammed the door until he heard the satisfying sound of wood splintering. He never thought he had it in him. Once more, twice. "Amy!"

On the third time there was a loud crash and the door opened a crack until it got pulled back by the door chain. Panting heavily due to the exertion, Sheldon pressed his face against the gap and looked inside. "Amy, are you in here? Please… answer me!"

He couldn't see her anywhere, but now that the door was partially open, his brain registered that the sound of running water he heard before was now significantly louder. It's coming from Amy's room!

She's here, I knew it, she's here!

With one more forceful thrust against the door, the chain snapped and the door fell open with a loud bang. Sheldon stumbled inside. He breathed harshly and looked around. "Amy, where are you?" His voice was getting thinner now; fear clutched at his throat.

Finally, Sheldon zeroed in on the dark spots in the carpet beneath another door that must lead to the bathroom. The sloshing of water was the only prominent sound in the apartment. That and his hammering heart.

Sheldon didn't want to look behind the door; too big was the fear of finding that his imaginative mind could be right. He desperately wanted to stay in this reality of oblivion, in which there was still a slight chance, but a chance nonetheless, that Amy was safe and sound in the hospital just one block away.

But in exactly the same second, he already sprinted forward and ripped the door open.

The scenario he entered shocked him enough to stumble backwards.

Water running. Water on the floor, seeping into the bathmat. Water, dripping from the edges of the brimful bathtub. Water, leaving just the tip of Amy's forehead, breaking the surface.

The rest was under water.

"Amy!"

Sheldon lunged forward. Her name ripped from his throat in a scream, but panic only allowed him to whisper. He fell to his knees, blindly reaching for the faucet to close it. Then he plunged with two arms into the water and lifted Amy out of the tub.

She didn't stir, didn't hold on to him. Her limbs just hung down like they didn't really belong to her body.

Sheldon didn't feel her weight. He didn't feel anything.

Panic and all-consuming, overwhelming fear and consternation got so much control over his body that he felt as if he stepped out of himself, watching the scene as an outsider. Because living it, feeling it with his own body and mind how the horrific pain tore him apart, was too much to bear.

Sheldon heard himself yelling at her, shaking her. Watching, as her body reacted to his shaking as if it was made out of rubber. Finally, he placed his hands at her head by her chin and forehead and tipped it a little backwards before he breathed air into her lungs. Then he rhythmically pushed down on her chest.

He saw himself repeating that action. Over and over again. He breathed and he pumped. And he started to cry.

Because she wasn't breathing.

Reality came rushing back to him like a rolling wave, hitting him forcefully on the back of his head. So hard that he got dizzy. That was really Amy, lying motionless on the floor. It was really him who performed CPR on her, because she wasn't breathing. It was really him who made those awful sounds. The crying. The begging.

The floor was wet. His pants were wet. His cheeks, his whole face was wet. Amy was cold and wet. And still.

He wouldn't stop. He would breathe for her until he passed out himself.

Sheldon couldn't believe how far this was drifting off from the plan he had envisioned.

Then… it happened; so suddenly that his own heart stopped for a moment.

Amy's body convulsed. Seemingly, out of its own accord her mouth opened and water spluttered out. Sheldon quickly supported her so the water could flow out easily. Then he held his breath as Amy continued to gasp for air.

She tried at least. Her lungs rattled and heaved. A painful, strained sound, but she was alive. She was alive again.

"Amy? Amy, please, can you hear me?" Sheldon sobbed, his voice trembling violently. He patted her cheek and talked so close above her that he was able to feel the weak puffs of air that erratically left her lungs. "Amy, talk to me. Please, answer."

When it became clear to him that she wouldn't respond, Sheldon reached for his phone. He dialed 911, put in on speaker and then clutched Amy's hand in his.

"911, what is your emergency?" a voice answered.

"Amy…" Sheldon gasped and realized how thin and wheezy he sounded. "My girlfriend, she… she was in the bathtub. She passed out. She's breathing again now, b-but… I don't know for how long." His voice cracked. Devastated sobs bubbled up, disallowing him to inhale properly. "I… I need an ambulance. Now."

"Okay, sir, calm down." The voice spoke experienced and firm. "Tell me your name and your location. I'm sending out an ambulance right away."

"Sh-Sheldon." he whispered. "Sheldon Cooper. I'm at the Rosedale Apartments near the Princeton Campus. A-Apartment 204." Sheldon looked down at Amy's still, unmoving face, his hand resting right above her heart, so he would immediately notice when…

Sheldon swallowed. When Amy was in need of CPR again. Tears rolled over his cheeks. Her skin was so cold.

"Please…" he spoke weakly into the room, not sure if anyone was still listening. "I love her. Please, save her." With his right hand, the one that was not resting on her chest, he gently cupped her face, stroking his thumb over her pale cheek.

"The ambulance is on its way." The female voice in his phone came to live again. "The hospital isn't far, so they should be here any minute. Until then I'm going to hold the line with you, okay, Sheldon?"

Startled by the sound of his surname, Sheldon shook himself from his fixation on Amy's face and answered. "Okay."

"Alright, my name is Tina. We're going to get through this together, okay? Tell me, is there anyone else with you who could help you and Amy?"

"N-No. I'm… we're alone." Sheldon said, biting on his lower lip to stop himself from hyperventilating.

"That's alright. I'm here with you, don't worry." Tina spoke calm and reassuringly. "Can you tell me more about what happened to Amy? Why did she pass out?"

Sheldon could tell that this woman on the phone was trying to distract him from his obvious panic by keeping him talking. "Uhm… she… she hit her head. I-I wasn't there." A pang of guilt settled on Sheldon's already heavy heart. "I-I don't know why Amy didn't go to the hospital immediately. She…" Sheldon wiped the tears from his cheeks. "She passed out in the bathtub. Wh-When I got to her, her face was already under water a-and…"

That's the point when Sheldon's breathing got too harsh and quick again as the horrible images, the first shock when he stumbled in, flooded his mind.

"It's okay, it's okay. Calm down." Tina told him. "Sheldon? Can you hear me? I want you to do something for me. I want you to carefully examine Amy's head and tell me if there's a wound that is still bleeding. Can you do that?"

Sheldon still breathed heavily, but he crawled over the wet floor on all fours to sit behind Amy's head. On the way he grabbed a towel from the rack and covered Amy's naked, fragile-looking body from the waist down. For some reason, he couldn't stand how vulnerable she was looking, so pale and cold on the tile floor.

Sheldon lifted Amy's head and supported it between his legs while his fingers tenderly searched for the spot that must have come into contact with the ground earlier today. Yes, there it was definitely. The bump on the back of her head was distinct, but from what he felt it wasn't bleeding. At least, not anymore. "I… I found the bruise." he answered Tina's question. "It's swollen and it feels very warm, but it's not bleeding."

"Okay, that's good. Now, is she hurt anywhe—"

"Amy? No, no, no, Amy!?"

"What's wrong? Talk to me, Sheldon." Tina requested when Sheldon suddenly interrupted her.

Sheldon's eyes widened in fear and shock as Amy's shallow, irregular breathing fastened at first and then she was again gasping for air as if she was still drowning. Her weak heartbeat underneath Sheldon's fingers fluttered… and then stopped.

"She's not breathing!" Sheldon screamed back into the phone. Tina was talking again. She was telling him what to do, but he had already covered Amy's mouth with his again and he breathed for her.

Same pattern as before. Breathing. Pumping. Crying. Begging.

A whirlwind of emotions, sensations and pain was controlling him. He didn't hear or see anything. There was just Amy… Amy... Amy!

"Sir? Sir, it's okay. We're taking over."

People were suddenly all around him. They wore uniforms and seemed busy and confident. Finally, Sheldon realized that those must be the paramedics the woman on the phone sent to him. Sheldon couldn't even remember her name, although he knew she had told him.

He was making room for the experienced helpers by scrambling backwards over the floor until his back came into contact with a firm, wet surface. The bathtub.

Sheldon's body was trembling all over. His heart was racing and salty tears were sticking to his cheeks. He felt like an empty shell, watching everything go down.

The paramedics worked quickly, trying to restart Amy's heart and pumping air into her lungs until even more water spluttered out and her chest was heaving.

A sign for life.

But Sheldon was beyond comprehending anything anymore.

He was clutching his long legs against his chest, shivering violently and ceaselessly crying and rocking his body back and forth.

What is happening? Why is this happening? It can't be true. It can't be my Amy. I'm here to marry her not to… w-watch her… almost… die. His mind recoiled at the horrific word. No, it can't be true. It must be a dream. A hellish nightmare. What are they doing to her? Where are they taking her?

Sheldon came to reality again as the paramedics started to move Amy. They were still helping her to breathe, but he heard them say that she's stable enough for transport. Amy was lifted onto a stretcher and swiftly carried away.

Sheldon stumbled to his feet in a haze. His legs felt like they didn't belong to him and he was nauseous, but that didn't stop him from following Amy's silent call. Like an object that was inevitably pulled towards the ground by gravity, Sheldon was inevitably pulled along by Amy. Rambling incoherently to the medical staff that he belongs to her and needs to be wherever she'll be, he followed Amy's irresistible force without looking back.

...See, told you... angsty!

I hope what you're thinking now isn't "What, another hospital story? Ugh." Haha, I couldn't help myself. Apparently, I find it fascinating to put the mostly emotionless Sheldon in extremely emotional situations. Sorry about that. Also, poor Amy, I keep hurting her.

Anyway, I hope you still keep reading and if you like this kind of emotional hurt/comfort story then let me know in a review! :) Thanks for reading!