Chapter 9
Weeks later while Leonard was at Caltech working in his lab Leo was hanging out in 4A with Sheldon. The two of them were working on physics equations together until Leo suggested that they take a break.
" Hey Sheldon, do you mind if I listen to my iPod through my headphones for a little bit?", Leo asked.
" I suppose not if that's what you want to do for your break Leo.", Sheldon said.
" Thank you.", Leo said as she picked up her wireless headphones off the coffee table and placed them on her head before turning them on. As Sheldon's back was turned Leo scrolled through her playlist before she found a song she wanted to listen to and pressed play before laying down on the couch hanging her head down off the couch facing the coffee table pressing her feet up against the backrest. The song she was listening to was Cyberspace by AC/DC. As Leo began to shake her head to the beat of the music Sheldon then walked up standing in front of his spot on the couch looking down at her.
" Is there a problem Sheldon?", Leo asked as she stared up at her boyfriend.
" Yes, your head is hanging off my couch and that greatly concerns me.", Sheldon said.
" Relax Sheldon, I'm just trying to have a little fun.", Leo said as she went back to shaking her head to her music.
" Well it won't be so fun if you hit your head on my coffee table and give yourself a possible concussion. Please sit up Dr. Fordyce.", Sheldon said as he sat down in his spot.
" Dr. Cooper I'll be fine.", Leo said as she continued to shake her head.
" Alright, fine. If you insist.", Sheldon said as he picked one of his Flash comic books. As he sat there for a few minutes reading he then noticed that Leo was starting to doze off. She was having a hard time keeping her eyes open.
" Are you getting sleepy?", Sheldon asked his girlfriend as he put down his comic book.
" I don't know, maybe a little.", Leo said with a yawn.
" Here, sit up for a moment and put your head right here.", Sheldon said as he grabbed the pillow from behind his back and placed it on his knees.
" Ok.", Leo said as she slowly but carefully sat up and turned her body 90 degrees to the right before laying her head down on the pillow.
" Now what?", Leo asked.
" Take off your headphones and your glasses, set them down along with your ipod on the coffee table and close your eyes. Take a nap if you're tired.", Sheldon said.
" Ok.", Leo yawned as she did so. Sheldon then covered her with a throw blanket before picking up his comic again. But suddenly 45 minutes later Leo shot up to a sitting position groaning in pain. Her hand was on her chest.
" Leo? Are you alright?", Sheldon asked.
" Not really Sheldon. My chest hurts really bad.", Leo said.
" Are you having a heart attack?!", Sheldon shrieked.
" I don't know.", Leo said.
" Well wait here a second! I'll be right back!", Sheldon exclaimed as he moved the pillow and raced to his bedroom. He came moments later with his medical bag that his aunt had given him just in case his work in theoretical physics didn't work out.
" Wrong kind of doctor.", Leo stated.
" Excuse me? Just because I'm a physicist in the same field as you doesn't mean that I don't know anything about the medical field too. I know some things about it.", Sheldon said as he pulled out a stethescope.
" Where did you get that?", Leo asked.
" My aunt gave it to me so that I would have a trade to fall back on just in case if my work in theoretical physics didn't work out. Now just relax a moment and let me listen to you.", Sheldon said as he helped Leo lay back before placing the small metal circle part of the stethescope to her chest. The cold medical instrument touching her skin made her gasp a little but then she relaxed. As Sheldon listened to Leo's heart beat he could immediately tell something wasn't right. His girlfriend's heart beat sounded abnormal, almost like the Pink Panther theme song.
" Oh dear Lord.", Sheldon said as he put the stethescope away.
" What? What is it?", Leo asked.
" Your heart beat sounds very abnormal.", Sheldon said.
" Well what does that mean?", Leo asked.
" It means you need to go to the ER because I really think you are having a heart attack!", Sheldon exclaimed. He ran across the hallway to Penny's apartment and knocked on her door screaming.
knock knock knock " Penny!"
knock knock knock " Penny!"
knock knock knock " Penny!"
" What do you want Sheldon?! I was just about to get in the shower!", Penny agitatedly said as she threw open the door on the third knock.
" You have to drive us to the ER now!", Sheldon said in a panic.
" Oh god Sheldon! Why?!", Penny hissed.
" Because Leonard's not here to drive me and I think Leo's having a heart attack!", Sheldon exclaimed.
" And what the hell makes you think that you whack-a-doodle?!", Penny hissed.
" Because she's complaining of severe chest pain and her heart beats sound really abnormal!", Sheldon exclaimed.
" Oh balls Sheldon Cooper, if this is one of your stupid little immature pranks I'm gonna hurt you!", Penny hissed as she grabbed her keys and purse before storming across the hall to Leonard and Sheldon's apartment.
" Penny why would I lie about something like that?! That's a serious life or death concern!", Sheldon exclaimed from the doorway.
" Oh god this hurts!", Leo screamed in pain pressing one hand into her chest and death-gripping the couch cushion with the other.
" Oh my god Leo! Well don't just stand there Sheldon, get her up from the couch now!", Penny screamed as she ran over to the couch. Sheldon helped Penny pull Leo to her feet and the two of them walked her out of the apartment. They started walking down the stairs with her and out to Penny's car. The second Penny started her car Sheldon pointed out, " Penny your check engine light…!" but Penny interrupted by hissing, " Is on, I know Sheldon! Quit badgering me about that for the umpteenth time already! You should be worrying about your girlfriend Leo right now!"
" Penny we're in a crisis situation right now and you think this is a good time to scream at me?!", Sheldon shot back at his blonde-headed neighbor/friend.
" Well you're annoying the hell out of me right now Sheldon! What am I supposed to do?!", Penny screamed at him.
" Um hello, could you guys not scream at each other right now?! I'm in a lot of pain and about to have a heart attack, not to mention I could possibly have another blood pressure episode to which Sheldon knows what I'm talking about because him and Amy saw it happen!", Leo screamed from the back seat of her friend's car.
" What?! Sheldon what the hell is she talking about?!", Penny screamed.
" Penny now's not the time to discuss that! We need to get to the hospital right now!", Sheldon screamed. They argued pretty much the whole way until the second they pulled up in the parking lot of the hospital Leo slipped into full cardiac arrest in the back seat.
" Sh*t! D*mn it d*mn it d*mn it!", Penny hissed as she jumped out of her car.
" Oh good Lord! Leo!", Sheldon screamed as he jumped out as well helping Penny drag Leo out of the car.
" Godd*mn it someone help us!", Penny screamed. Emergency staff came running out of the hospital when they heard Penny's screams and one of them asked, " What's going on here?"
" My girlfriend is having a heart attack!", Sheldon screamed as he looked down at Leo who was limp in his and Penny's arms.
" Alright alright move! Code blue! We have a code blue! Middle-aged woman in full cardiac arrest!", the EMT exclaimed as he took Leo from their arms and the rest of the staff rushed her into the hospital through the swinging doors of the ER. Sheldon raced in after them in a panic when he heard the code blue alarm going off.
" Oh my god! Sheldon!", Penny screamed as she ran after her friend.
" Leo!", Sheldon screamed as he tried to get into the room but a nurse held him back and said, " Sir you'll have to wait in the waiting room! We can't have any interruptions!"
" No, get off me! That's my girlfriend in there! I have to see her, I need to be with her!", Sheldon screamed as he kept pushing forward against the nurse's grip.
" Sir you need to calm down!", the nurse said as she kept a firm grip on Sheldon's arm.
" It's Dr. Cooper and no, get off! Leo! Dr. Fordyce!", Sheldon screamed as he hyperventilated with tears coming down his face. He was so afraid that he was going to lose the woman he loved.
" Sheldon!", Penny screamed as a tear slid down her face. She couldn't bare to see her friend so upset over this situation.
" Miss, are you this man's friend?", the nurse asked Penny.
" Yes I am!", Penny choked out.
" Well could you please take your friend here to the waiting room? Talk to him and try to get him to calm down?", the nurse asked as she gently pushing Sheldon back toward Penny's direction.
" Sure, come on Sheldon! Let's go!", Penny choked out as she gently took Sheldon's hand and began walking him away from the doorway.
" No! Penny I have to see her!", Sheldon cried as he kept looking in through the doorway watching ER doctors and nurses administering CPR on his girlfriend Leo. Seeing this made him very upset because he wasn't sure if he was going to see her alive again or not.
" You can see your girlfriend in a little bit Dr. Cooper. Just go into the waiting room with your friend right now please.", the nurse said.
" Yeah, Sheldon come on! Let's go!", Penny choked out as she dragged him away. Sheldon cried as Penny wrapped her arm around his back rubbing soothing circles. Sheldon was too upset at the moment to even care about the physical contact against his body. Penny called the others to let them know what was going on and they showed up at the hospital within a matter of minutes.
" Penny what the hell is going on?!", Leonard screamed.
" Leo had a heart attack Leonard! Did you not hear what I said on the phone to you?!", Penny screamed.
" This doesn't make any sense! She was fine when I left to go to my lab!", Leonard screamed.
" Stop trying to make this about you Leonard Hofstadter! This is not helping!", Bernadette hissed.
" Yeah this situation is about Leo right now! She's basically dying in there right now!", Amy screamed.
" Oh good Lord, why did you have to say that Amy?!", Sheldon cried out as he threw his head into his arm sobbing as he sat on a chair.
" Oh god Sheldon! You see what you did now Amy?! You just made Sheldon even more upset by saying that, take that back!", Penny screamed at her neurobiologist best friend.
" Oh god, Sheldon I'm so sorry for saying that!", Amy said.
" Thank you Amy but could you please do me a favor and keep your mouth shut right now!", Sheldon cried.
" Sure.", Amy said before she shut her mouth.
" Ok this has to be a joke right? There's no way that this is happening to Leo.", Raj said.
" Raj this isn't a joke, this is serious. Just look at Sheldon, he's a wreck right now.", Howard said as he pointed at Sheldon.
" Oh good Lord, why is this happening to me?! Dr. Fordyce!", Sheldon cried.
" Sheldon!", Penny cried as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
" Dr. Cooper?", a doctor asked Sheldon as he entered the waiting room.
" Yes what is it?! Is my girlfriend ok?!", Sheldon cried as he lifted his head to face the doctor.
" Well she's stable but in critical condition.", the doctor said with a straight face.
" What does that mean doctor?! Is this heart attack somehow related to her blood pressure deficiency?!", Sheldon cried.
" Unfortunately it does have some connection with it.", the doctor said.
" Well how did that happen?!", Bernadette asked.
" Well we think what may have happened is that blood clot must have formed inside Dr. Fordyce's heart muscle causing it to spasm when her blood pressure dropped which is probably why her heart stopped beating.", the doctor said.
" What's going to happen to her?!", Amy asked.
" Well unfortunately there is one option and that is to give her a heart transplant.", the doctor said.
" WHAT?!", the gang screamed as they stared at the doctor.
" OH GOD!", Sheldon cried out.
" SHELDON! CALM DOWN!", Penny cried.
" NO!", Sheldon cried out.
" Sheldon, buddy, you need to calm down!", Leonard interjected.
" I can't Leonard! I just can't!", Sheldon cried.
" Buddy!", Leonard shot back.
" No! He can't have her yet, she's too young!", Sheldon cried.
" Sheldon who and what are you talking about?!", Howard interjected.
" Leo's fiance Brady! He can't have her yet, not now not ever!", Sheldon cried. Then he looked up at the doctor with tear glistening eyes and cried, " Please, do anything! I don't want to lose her! I love her!"
" Well the proceedure is risky but we'll do everything we can to try to save her life.", the doctor said.
" When can I see her?!", Sheldon cried.
" You can see her after the transplant. We'll let you know if anything else comes up. Ok.", the doctor said as he walked away.
" Ok! Thank you!", Sheldon cried as he then pulled out his cell phone.
" Sheldon what are you doing?", Amy asked.
" I'm calling Mr. and Mrs. Fordyce! They need to know what's going on with their daughter!", Sheldon cried as he searched for Mrs. Fordyce's cell number.
" No Sheldon let me do that, you're just going to end up scaring them to death. Listen to yourself, you can barely talk.", Leonard said as he tried to take Sheldon's phone out of his hand.
" I don't care Leonard! She's my girlfriend so I need to the one to tell them! I don't want her father thinking that I don't care about her!", Sheldon cried as he put his phone to his ear.
Grandma and Grandpa Fordyce's house
" Hello? Sheldon?", Mrs. Fordyce answered.
" Hi Mrs. Fordyce, I need to speak to you and your husband!", Sheldon cried.
" Sheldon are you ok? What's wrong?", Mrs. Fordyce asked.
" I'll explain in a minute, just get your husband!", Sheldon cried.
" Ok… Robert!", Mrs. Fordyce called out.
" What is it Miranda?", Mr. Fordyce asked his wife.
" It's Sheldon on the phone. He sounds really upset.", Mrs. Fordyce said as she handed the phone to her husband but stood by him.
" Sheldon? Is there something wrong?", Mr. Fordyce asked.
" Yes! Your daughter had a heart attack today and she's currently in the hospital in critical condition!", Sheldon cried.
" What?!", Mr. and Mrs. Fordyce exclaimed as they looked at each other. Mrs. Fordyce was on the verge of bursting into tears upon hearing that.
" Well what's going on with her now?!", Mr. Fordyce asked in a panic.
" The doctor said it was related to her deficiency and so she needs a heart transplant in order to survive!", Sheldon cried.
" WHAT?!", Mr. Fordyce screamed.
" OH MY GOD!", Mrs. Fordyce screamed as she ran down the hallway to the bathroom bursting into tears.
" Oh sh*t Miranda! Sheldon are you sure this is happening to Leo?!", Mr. Fordyce exclaimed as his voice cracked a little.
" Yes! Why would I lie to you?! I'm in a relationship with your daughter!", Sheldon cried.
Bathroom
" Get me out of this nightmare!", Mrs. Fordyce cried as she sat in the bathtub hugging her knees into her chest.
" Calm down Miranda, everything will be fine.", Grandma Fordyce said as she placed her hand on her daughter-in law's shoulder.
" This can't be happening, Leo's so young! She's only 31!", Mrs. Fordyce cried.
" What's going on in here?", Grandpa Fordyce asked as he came walking into the bathroom with his cane.
" Your granddaughter Leo is in the hospital! Rob's on the phone with her boyfriend Sheldon right now!", Mrs. Fordyce cried.
" Well what happened?!", Grandpa Fordyce asked.
" She had a heart attack related to her blood pressure deficiency and so she's undergoing a heart transplant at this very moment! She'll die without it!", Mrs. Fordyce cried. She cried so much that it caught the attention of the other Fordyce children. The 5 adults came in asking their mother what was going on and she told them what was going on with their sister which scared the bejeezus out of the three boys and two girls cried. Amanda's husband Donny came in asking his wife what was going on too and when she told him he just wrapped his arms around her. When Mr. Fordyce got off the phone with Sheldon telling him to keep them posted about Leo's condition the whole family began to pray hoping that Leo would be ok. When the word got around to Leo's girl friends Morgan told Kemdan about it but didn't mention Sheldon to him knowing that he would be really upset if he found out that the girl he's been crushing on since middle school was in another relationship. In a panic, Kemdan got on the next flight out to Pasadena hoping that he would get there to the hospital as soon as possible to see Leo.
Hospital
6 hours later…
" Dr. Cooper?", the doctor asked when he came back.
" Yes?", Sheldon asked with a straight face.
" I just came to tell you that Dr. Fordyce's surgery went as planned and she's now in the recovery room if you wish to see her.", the doctor said. There was a spontaneous chorus of relieved sighs and Sheldon exclaimed, " Oh thank goodness! Thank you!" as he pressed his hand into his chest.
Leo's recovery room
Pain shot through her body as Leo began to wake up from the withdrawl of the anesthesia. As she lifted her head off the pillow she saw that her chest was covered with a bandage and she could feel the pain of the stitches underneith it.
' Did I just have a surgery?!', Leo thought in her head as she laid there blinking her eyes.
" Leo gracias a Dios que estás bien!"
" Kem?! What are you doing here?!", Leo asked when she saw her Mexican American friend walk in.
" Morgan told me what happened. Are you ok?", Kemdan asked.
" Yeah I'm fine Kemdan just a little sore.", Leo said.
" Oh Leo, estoy tan feliz de que estés bien.", Kemdan said as he gently wrapped his arms around her.
" Thank you.", Leo said but then when she heard the footsteps of her boyfriend out in the hallway she let go of Kemdan and exclaimed, " Oh god get out now Kem!"
" Why Leo?! Que esta pasando?!", Kemdan asked in confusion as he stared at his friend.
" I can't explain right now! Just get out!", Leo exclaimed as she shooed her friend away.
" Alright alright, Saldré!", Kemdan hissed as he stepped out of the room but before he walked away he saw Sheldon walk into the room from the window.
' Wait a minute who's this guy?', Kemdan thought as he watched the two of them talk to each other. But when he saw them kiss he thought, ' Oh hell no, you got to be kidding me?! Leo está saliendo con ese chico?! I'm gonna strangle that Brisby bitch for not telling me this!' as his heart sank. He couldn't believe that Morgan kept him in dark about Leo's relationship status.
To be continued…