Chapter 1

"Sheldon Cooper, you're a huge frikkin' asshole, y'know that?" Penny slammed the apartment door on her way out leaving Sheldon somewhat perplexed. He was unaware of any social convention that he'd bent or broken that would result in such a declaration from her.

His three friends pretended to be interested in the ending credits of the movie. Leonard wondered if Sheldon had any idea just how badly he'd fucked up this time.

"Sheldon," Leonard began, squinting at his friend, "we all agreed to watch this movie after we lost the bet. We all agreed to the terms of the bet. You broke your word to her and your comments throughout the movie totally ruined her moment of triumph. You are a 'huge frikkin' asshole'!"

"I second that," offered Wolowitz. He blew his nose and picked up his empty water bottle and Styrofoam container of Chinese food and walked into the kitchen. He didn't want anyone to see how the movie had affected him. He hated chick flicks when they made him cry in public.

"Sheldon, you should go to her and apologize right this minute. You were totally out of line, my friend, and she was right to accuse you of being an enlarged anal pore."

Raj tidied up his takeout container and empty water bottle, uncaring that his friends might see the tears in his eyes. He was Indian and an Indian man was not afraid to display his emotions.

"Fine, if I violated some unknown social construct then I shall be the better man and apologize." He didn't feel he should apologize but then his friends were much more attuned to the social side of life than he was. He was a theoretical particle physicist and that was enough for him.

Knock, knock, knock, "Penny." The triplet of knocks and repeat of her name came unconsciously as did his acknowledgment that there were exactly 11 steps between their apartments. He kept track of such things.

Penny opened the door and he immediately felt uncertain. Her eyes were swollen and red and she had obviously been crying.

"Penny, I have come to apologize. I did not mean to make you angry or to prompt you to use such disgusting language but I realize that you – "

"Sheldon, lean down here a minute." She was going to punch him in the mouth. She hated him with a passion right that minute almost as much as she loved him other times.

Sheldon leaned forward, his head barely in the apartment and looking downwards. He was steeling himself for the inevitable onslaught of a Penny-hug but instead of hugging him, she lost her temper and stepped back and slammed the heavy steel-clad door, whacking him in the head, causing him to fall backwards and land on his back. His head struck the unforgiving tile floor with a sound much like a dropped cantaloupe. He was out like a light.

"Sheldon, honey, wake up. How's your head this morning?" She brushed the hair off his forehead and examined the purple and yellow knot. It looked sore and her lips brushed a kiss across it to 'make it all better'.

"Hurts." He had a headache unlike any he'd had before. His hair even hurt. He hadn't opened his eyes because he just knew that the bright light in the hallway would hurt.

"Well, next time you pitch to Newt, remember that thing on your hand has a purpose, sweetie. Catch the baseball in the glove, not the forehead." Penny had just showered and was wearing the kimono robe he'd brought back from his trip to Tokyo right before Newt was born. She turned, shook her shoulders and let the robe flow to the floor and started getting dressed. The studio limo would be picking her up in a few hours.

'Newt? Who the hell is Newt?'

He dragged open an eye and saw Penny drop her robe and stand there staring into a dresser drawer as if making a monumental decision. Her body was breath-taking and Sheldon's reaction was atypical for him.

"You're an incredibly beautiful young woman, Penny. I never realized – "

She selected a pair of panties and turned and slipped them on, unmindful of his one-eyed stare or the look of embarrassment when he realized he was staring at his neighbor with 'lust in his heart' and that his sheet was 'tenting' rather prominently.

"That's sweet, stud, but I'm still going. It's only for a week, Shel, and it's not like I'll be on the moon. It's just on-location shots that can't be duplicated locally," Penny said as she slipped on her bra and fiddled with the cups until she felt comfortable.

She glanced over and saw the impressive tent in their bed and walked over and sat down on the edge and grabbed his rigid cock and laughed at the look on his face. "Want some help with that? It looks…painful." Her voice was full of laughter and she leaned over and kissed him soundly.

He fell asleep, cradling her gently against him.

"Get up, Shel, and shower. We have things to do. I left a list of emergency contact numbers and I'll have my cell with me all the time so call me if you feel lonely. In fact," she whispered, "call me tonight and every night I'm gone and we'll have phone sex just like when you went back to the Pole. It won't be nearly as good as last night – or this morning - but it beats nothing, right?"

Pain lanced through his head and he tried to answer but nothing seemed to work and he slipped back into the blackness.

"Sheldon, please wake up. Please?" Penny was holding his hand and her supply of tears never seemed to dry up. Sheldon had been unconscious 36 hours and it was all her fault. The doctors had assured them that he was doing as well as could be expected and that the intra cranial bleeding and pressure had been treated and relieved resulting in minimal damage.

So why won't you please wake up for me, Sheldon?

Flashback

Penny had flopped down on her couch, satisfied that slamming the door in his face let him know that his 'apology' was not accepted. She wiped the tears off her cheeks and buried her face in the pillow. She couldn't believe he'd been so…damned unfeeling!

She must have fallen asleep because noises and voices in the hallway awakened her and she stumbled to the door and glanced out the peephole and then threw the door open.

Paramedics were lifting Sheldon Cooper, already strapped to a backboard, onto a gurney. Raj and Howard looked on from the doorway of his apartment and Leonard stood by, wringing his hands and looking like he was going to cry.

"Leonard, what happened?" The paramedics counted to three and lifted Sheldon onto the gurney and then prepared to strap him down for transport down four flights of stairs.

"He came over to apologize to you and when he didn't come back Raj went to see if you'd killed him. That's when we found him lying on his back, bleeding all over the place. I called 9-1-1 and they got here pretty fast. What happened? Did you slug him or something?"

"No! He apologized and I closed the door. I was taking a nap and heard the noise. Is he going to be all right?" She'd slammed the door. Hard. Did she do this?

"Sir, you can follow us to the hospital. We're going to Pasadena General. Check with the emergency room and they'll tell you where he'll be," one of the paramedics told Leonard.

That had been 36 hours ago and each hour had dragged by waiting first for the surgeon to tell them he was okay and then waiting for him to wake up. It had been the longest 36 hours of her 25 years.

She leaned over him and whispered in his ear. "Sheldon, I did this and I'm so sorry, sweetie. Please, I know you're pissed at me but could you please just quit sleeping and wake up and yell at me or something?"

"Sheldon Lee Cooper, get out of that bed this instant! Honestly, I didn't think I tired you out that much last night, honey. I'm leaving soon and I want to go over my schedule and the emergency numbers again and maybe we can talk a little more about this summer, okay?"

Sheldon sat up and stared at the bright bedroom. One entire wall was a series of French doors that opened out onto a patio and pool and the others were painted a nice bright yellow. He looked down and saw he was naked and he pulled the sheet over him in embarrassment.

"Sheldon, maybe you should swing by the office and have Stephanie take a look at that head. You've been acting weird and I hate leaving you when you're not feeling well." She sat beside him and wrapped her arm around him. She didn't like the size or color of the knot on his forehead.

"Now, Newt's over at Missy's and she'll bring him back tomorrow afternoon. Work on your acceptance speech some more. Try not to make so many Star Trek references, honey. Shatner didn't win the Nobel Prize, you did. Only three weeks until we fly to Stockholm, baby, and then I get to watch you get the Prize. I'm so excited."

His mouth moved but no sound came out and Penny immediately went into full-blown panic, sure something was wrong with his beautiful mind.

"That's it! I'm calling Stephanie right now and the limo can just come back for me tomorrow. We're going to the doctor, Doctor Nobel Prize Winner."

"No! No, I'm – fine, yeah, fine. I just forgot about all of the stuff we have to do before going to Stockholm." He was lying but pulling it off beautifully. Not a twitch or a shudder.

"Well, work on the speech, my darling genius, and let me take care of the rest. Are you sure you're feeling okay? That was a hard line drive your son hit you with. If he can knock the ball that hard at three, imagine what he'll be able to do when he's 12 and starts Little League!"

Question answered. 'Newt' is my son and is three years old and can hit a baseball. Must take after his mom, the slugger.

"What are you smiling at, stud?" Penny was throwing clothing items into a large leather suitcase but watching her husband like a hawk. She knew he was lying. After almost 5 years of marriage, there wasn't much she didn't know about Dr. S.L. Cooper, PhD and Nobel Prize Winner-designate.

"Just thinking that Newt must take after you, Slugger. I love you, Penny."

The doctors had hooked Sheldon up to some brain gizmo. They told her the name but she hadn't been listening. All her attention was focused on the man she'd been trying to seduce. She'd rigged the bet, stacked the odds in her favor, and won and she and Sheldon had sat side by side on the couch watching Love Story, Penny's all-time most favorite chick flick.

She hadn't been able to get rid of his three friends despite hints that a rock would have gotten. She planned on letting her emotions go during the movie and hoped Sheldon would comfort her. It was the first step in a long plan of seduction.

He was mumbling something, the first sign she'd had that he was still in there, somewhere, and she leaned over and gasped when she heard 'I love you, Penny' clear as a bell.

"Oh, Sheldon, I think I love you, too." She laid her head on his chest, listening to the steady beating of his heart and squeezed herself onto the bed beside him and finally fell asleep.

Updates dependent upon interest.