The evening sun slanted in from the street corner, bathing the entrance of Rayne Clinic in a warm orange glow.
Ethan locked the door and took a deep breath—the air was fresh, faintly mixed with sea breeze and the smell of burning tobacco.
He wrowned. "Hmm? Is that weed? Ah, land of the free."
He wasn't working late today, but he still felt crushed by something heavy.
John Kramer's grim face kept flashing through his mind.
"Please get better soon and don't come back," he muttered as he walked toward the street corner.
The city at dusk was too beautiful—it almost made you forget the shadows of the day. He decided not to take a cab and walk home instead.
A jazz tune drifted from a coffee shop on the corner. The wind lifted old posters, and streetlights flickered on one by one.
Ethan bought a can of cold beer, took a sip, and felt the chill travel down his throat, pushing down the emotions churning inside.
"Another day I wish I could retire tomorrow."
He quickened his pace and crossed the pedestrian walkway.
Several dozen minutes later, Ethan pushed open the door to the fourth-floor apartment and walked in. Howard was there too—now only the Indian guy Rajesh was missing from the four Big Bang Theory guys.
The place was lively—Howard was crouched in front of the TV fiddling with a VCR, Sheldon was scribbling furiously on the whiteboard, and Leonard was in the kitchen preparing popcorn and snacks.
"Hey, Ethan, you're back!" Leonard called out. "How was the clinic today?"
"Pretty good." Ethan took off his coat and rubbed his shoulders. "Just ran into a... pretty difficult old man."
He loosened his tie and sighed. The old man and the word "Jigsaw" circled through his mind.
Not particularly interested in what these science nerds were up to, Ethan headed straight for his bedroom.
He stripped off his clothes one by one until he was down to his shirt and boxers, stretched lazily, and decided to take a shower to cleanse his body and soul.
Walking into the bathroom, he noticed the shower curtain was drawn and heard the sound of running water inside.
Must be Rajesh.
"Rajesh, why are you showering at our place?"
Ethan pushed open the bathroom door and yanked back the shower curtain—then froze completely.
It wasn't Rajesh in the shower. It was a blonde woman washing her hair.
The moment she looked up, water droplets slid down her neck—
"AAAHHH—!!!"
"AH?!"
"SORRY!" Ethan reacted lightning-fast, immediately pulling the curtain closed and spinning around. "I thought you were Rajesh!"
Footsteps quickly approached from outside. Leonard rushed in first, followed by Sheldon and Howard.
"What happened!"
"Who screamed!"
The three of them burst in to find Ethan standing by the door in his half-unbuttoned shirt and boxers, hair disheveled, while behind the shower curtain, a woman was desperately clutching a towel.
"I—I thought that was Rajesh!" Ethan stammered.
"Rajesh?" Leonard frowned. "He's not back yet."
"Then I definitely... got that wrong!"
"Got it wrong?" Howard muttered under his breath. "I wish I could 'get it wrong' like that."
Sheldon frowned. "I've always said we shouldn't allow strange females into the bathroom. This violates apartment cleaning protocol section twelve."
"I'm not a stranger!" Penny's voice came from behind the curtain. "I just introduced myself to you guys this morning!"
"This is all a misunderstanding. Everyone calm down." Leonard tried to mediate while sneaking glances at the gap in the curtain. "Penny's bathroom isn't set up yet..."
"I'm already calm." Ethan spread his hands. "Plus I just got off work and was kind of zoned out. I didn't see anything."
"Gentlemen, I'm still showering!" Penny stuck her head out from behind the curtain. "Get out! All of you, OUT!"
The four men looked at each other, then scrambled out of the bathroom.
"And close that damn door!"
Fifteen minutes later, the apartment returned to calm.
The living room TV buzzed to life with a hum.
"This is Stephen Hawking's 1974 lecture at MIT, back before he got that 'robot voice.'" Howard mimicked a robotic tone as he inserted the videotape.
Sheldon: "Quiet! We're about to witness the echo of greatness."
Ethan sat helplessly on the couch, watching them reverently guard an old VCR. The shock from earlier was somewhat diluted by their geeky devotion.
Just then, the bathroom door opened.
Penny walked out, her hair half-dry, her cheeks flushed pink from the heat.
Leonard immediately stood up, nervous as a high schooler. "Hi, Penny! How, how was the bathroom?"
"Pretty good. Except for the part where four guys suddenly barged in."
Ethan cleared his throat. "Penny, I sincerely apologize. When I got home, I went straight to my room and didn't know it was you. And I didn't see anything."
"That's too bad. I'm pretty proud of my body." She raised an eyebrow and smiled.
Howard leaned in. "Hey, Penny. I'm Howard Wolowitz, Applied Physics, Columbia. You might already be familiar with some of my work—it's currently orbiting Jupiter's largest moon, taking high-resolution digital photographs."
Penny nodded in confusion. "I'm Penny. I work at The Cheesecake Factory."
Under Howard's attempted smoldering gaze, the air awkwardly froze for three seconds.
"I'm gonna go change." She made a swift escape.
By the time Penny came back out in fresh clothes, Rajesh had arrived. He was huddled in the corner holding a drink, his eyes darting between Penny and the carpet. He wanted to say hello but couldn't make a sound, only managing that awkward "social anxiety smile."
The apartment's atmosphere returned to its peculiar balance.
Hawking's voice on the TV was mechanical yet solemn. Sheldon and Leonard sat ramrod straight, Howard clutching the remote.
Ethan leaned against the other end of the couch, posture relaxed, looking like a laborer who'd just collapsed after a hard day's work. A beer can sat by his feet, his expression somewhere between exhausted and spacing out.
He watched Hawking's image on the screen, thinking to himself: What's so interesting about this?
Penny walked over. Her hair was now dry, and she'd changed into a loose T-shirt and jeans. That laid-back, natural vibe brightened the whole living room.
"Sorry," she said with a smile as she sat down. "I think I interrupted your science party."
"It's fine," Leonard immediately replied, his voice jumping up an octave. "We just got to the good part!"
"The part about 'black holes don't completely consume information,'" Sheldon added.
Penny nodded thoughtfully and said with complete sincerity, "Sounds... kinda sexy."
Howard nearly choked on his drink.
Ethan couldn't help but grin. "That's the first time I've heard anyone use that word to describe Hawking."