Diagnosis [A Sequel to Just Dessert]
Title: Diagnosis
Sequel To: Just Dessert
Spoilers: Season 2 Finale of Big Bang Theory
Rating: G
Word Count: ~ 810
Summary: This time around Penny didn’t feel totally put upon when Sheldon requested she take care of him as penance for her exposing him to “pestilence and peril”, as he put it.
Author's Notes: FLUFF. I think. I'm still unsure about this whole writing business.
The November following the boys’ trip to the other side of the world, Sheldon caught a cold again. Penny blamed herself - Charlotte at the restaurant had had a long bout with a nasty something or other, and with all the face time she and Sheldon had been making since, well, the Cinnamon Roll experiment, she was sure she had been the conduit and she felt awful for it. Leonard immediately went into hiding at the first sign of doomsday, and Howard and Raj with him, but this time around Penny didn’t feel totally put upon when Sheldon requested she take care of him as penance for her exposing him to “pestilence and peril”, as he put it.
The first few days of it were relatively uneventful. Penny felt that the shift in their relationship paradigm made the interactions between the two of them markedly more bearable even though Sheldon’s petulance had risen to an all time high in direct proportion to the wooziness of his being. Somewhere around the fourth day, however, Penny had begun to refer to him as Doctor, and he, pleased with the idea, began calling her Nurse Chapel. Penny found the play-acting to be her favorite part of every day, and even did a little research online to make sure her representation of Chapel and nurses in general was as accurate as it possibly could be.
On the fifth day, Sheldon seemed to be faring a little better and was wearily attempting to get some rest. Penny did her best to make sure the room was adequately arranged for maximum sleeping and healing and had just made it to the frame of his door when Sheldon's throaty voice piped up again.
“Nurse?”
Penny grinned to herself, half expecting Sheldon to ask for more soup or a grilled cheese or a reprise of Soft Kitty, but his voice had a different lilt to it, like he had something heavy on his mind. She turned and paused in the doorway, leaning her hip and head into the frame, patiently awaiting his request.
“I... I have some new symptoms I’d like to report.”
“Oh! Of course, Doctor, let me get your chart -”
“No, that won’t be necessary. I - I have been logging these symptoms in a spreadsheet for some time, but I require assistance in coming to the appropriate diagnosis.” He did his best to sit up in his bed a little higher, and something in his determined air had Penny rapt with attention.
“You see, upon my arrival in Antarctica I began to experience some unusual sensations that initially troubled me. I awoke each morning unable to go through any of my normal routines without thinking of a particular person first, and likewise in the evenings before bed I found that the brain activity I usually dedicated to going over my research for the day and practicing Klingon and Vulcan had been shunted aside in favor of this same individual.”
Penny’s cheeks went pink.
“I attempted to assess whether or not my brain had been damaged in some way, as the symptoms seemed neurological in nature. Next I thought perhaps my mental faculties for higher reasoning had disintegrated because midway through the expedition I began harboring ill-thoughts towards the space-time continuum, and issued the entire concept a strike for making the summer last so incredibly long. Again, thoughts of this certain person were the impetus behind my every action, and still are to this day.”
Sheldon shifted against the pillows that were propping him up, and his blue eyes locked with hers as he continued. “I am unsure of what to make of these occurrences. What is your medical opinion?”
There was a moment of silence as Penny came to a conclusion. “Why, Sheldon... It sounds... It sounds like you’re in love.” She straightened, but clutched the side of the door for balance. Where was he going with this?
Sheldon tilted his head a little as though he was sending this new piece of information through all the neurons and circuits in his mind. Penny was strongly reminded of Commander Data and made a mental note to tell him so when he was feeling better. Then Sheldon looked back up, and nodded.
“Yes. Yes, that sounds right. My initial hypothesis was correct.”
Penny’s breath caught in her throat.
“I appear to have fallen in love with you.”
It took only a moment for her to cross the bedroom, but to both of its inhabitants it seemed like another summer had gone by. Sheldon turned to her as she sat down next to him on the bed, looking troubled by her lack of a response.
“Do you still agree with the diagnosis?”
“Well, Dr. Cooper...” she murmured, gently brushing his hair from his forehead, her eyes glittering as they searched his face. “I do."
She smiled. “And I think it’s contagious.”
Sequel To: Just Dessert
Spoilers: Season 2 Finale of Big Bang Theory
Rating: G
Word Count: ~ 810
Summary: This time around Penny didn’t feel totally put upon when Sheldon requested she take care of him as penance for her exposing him to “pestilence and peril”, as he put it.
Author's Notes: FLUFF. I think. I'm still unsure about this whole writing business.
The November following the boys’ trip to the other side of the world, Sheldon caught a cold again. Penny blamed herself - Charlotte at the restaurant had had a long bout with a nasty something or other, and with all the face time she and Sheldon had been making since, well, the Cinnamon Roll experiment, she was sure she had been the conduit and she felt awful for it. Leonard immediately went into hiding at the first sign of doomsday, and Howard and Raj with him, but this time around Penny didn’t feel totally put upon when Sheldon requested she take care of him as penance for her exposing him to “pestilence and peril”, as he put it.
The first few days of it were relatively uneventful. Penny felt that the shift in their relationship paradigm made the interactions between the two of them markedly more bearable even though Sheldon’s petulance had risen to an all time high in direct proportion to the wooziness of his being. Somewhere around the fourth day, however, Penny had begun to refer to him as Doctor, and he, pleased with the idea, began calling her Nurse Chapel. Penny found the play-acting to be her favorite part of every day, and even did a little research online to make sure her representation of Chapel and nurses in general was as accurate as it possibly could be.
On the fifth day, Sheldon seemed to be faring a little better and was wearily attempting to get some rest. Penny did her best to make sure the room was adequately arranged for maximum sleeping and healing and had just made it to the frame of his door when Sheldon's throaty voice piped up again.
“Nurse?”
Penny grinned to herself, half expecting Sheldon to ask for more soup or a grilled cheese or a reprise of Soft Kitty, but his voice had a different lilt to it, like he had something heavy on his mind. She turned and paused in the doorway, leaning her hip and head into the frame, patiently awaiting his request.
“I... I have some new symptoms I’d like to report.”
“Oh! Of course, Doctor, let me get your chart -”
“No, that won’t be necessary. I - I have been logging these symptoms in a spreadsheet for some time, but I require assistance in coming to the appropriate diagnosis.” He did his best to sit up in his bed a little higher, and something in his determined air had Penny rapt with attention.
“You see, upon my arrival in Antarctica I began to experience some unusual sensations that initially troubled me. I awoke each morning unable to go through any of my normal routines without thinking of a particular person first, and likewise in the evenings before bed I found that the brain activity I usually dedicated to going over my research for the day and practicing Klingon and Vulcan had been shunted aside in favor of this same individual.”
Penny’s cheeks went pink.
“I attempted to assess whether or not my brain had been damaged in some way, as the symptoms seemed neurological in nature. Next I thought perhaps my mental faculties for higher reasoning had disintegrated because midway through the expedition I began harboring ill-thoughts towards the space-time continuum, and issued the entire concept a strike for making the summer last so incredibly long. Again, thoughts of this certain person were the impetus behind my every action, and still are to this day.”
Sheldon shifted against the pillows that were propping him up, and his blue eyes locked with hers as he continued. “I am unsure of what to make of these occurrences. What is your medical opinion?”
There was a moment of silence as Penny came to a conclusion. “Why, Sheldon... It sounds... It sounds like you’re in love.” She straightened, but clutched the side of the door for balance. Where was he going with this?
Sheldon tilted his head a little as though he was sending this new piece of information through all the neurons and circuits in his mind. Penny was strongly reminded of Commander Data and made a mental note to tell him so when he was feeling better. Then Sheldon looked back up, and nodded.
“Yes. Yes, that sounds right. My initial hypothesis was correct.”
Penny’s breath caught in her throat.
“I appear to have fallen in love with you.”
It took only a moment for her to cross the bedroom, but to both of its inhabitants it seemed like another summer had gone by. Sheldon turned to her as she sat down next to him on the bed, looking troubled by her lack of a response.
“Do you still agree with the diagnosis?”
“Well, Dr. Cooper...” she murmured, gently brushing his hair from his forehead, her eyes glittering as they searched his face. “I do."
She smiled. “And I think it’s contagious.”