Medical Center
"Adam, Tatiana's a little scared. Can we come over tonight?"
Adam was mid-shift when Heather's call came through out of the blue.
By now, it was routine: every Wednesday and Thursday, she'd fly straight to New York with Tatiana.
But today was only Monday.
So, being the extra-thoughtful person she is, Heather checked in early, clearly worried about throwing off his plans.
"Of course you can!" Adam said, feeling a twinge of guilt. He flashed a quick smile into the phone. "You and Tatiana are welcome anytime."
As a master of time management, he had that confidence locked down. 😎
Sure, choosing to be a doctor and save lives for lifespan points had seriously cramped his free-roaming style.
But on the flip side, it gave him the perk of controlling his own schedule.
Why?
Because nothing trumps saving lives!
Emmm.
If one of his buddies broke the routine and called him up out of nowhere, who'd dare say it wasn't a life-or-death emergency?
Flawless logic, no notes!
"Alright then," Heather said, laughing lightly. "We'll be there tonight. You'll need to give Tatiana some extra TLC—she's been a little spooked."
"What's up with her?" Adam asked, instantly on alert.
"She's been having nightmares the past couple of days," Heather said, her voice tinged with worry. "In her dreams, she turns into a butterfly. Then she either gets swatted dead or trapped in a spiderweb, struggling while this spider creeps toward her with its jaws wide open… Anyway, it's not the first time she's woken up freaked out."
"Sheldon Cooper!" Adam blurted, piecing it together and laughing despite himself. "Did Sheldon tell her that butterfly story?"
"Yup," Heather sighed. "Ever since he brought it up, the nightmares started."
"Damn it!" Adam smacked his forehead, groaning. "I knew introducing Sheldon to them was a mistake."
Yup, you heard that right!
Sheldon and Tatiana were buddies now.
With her condition, Tatiana didn't make friends easily.
So last time, Adam had a lightbulb moment: the perfect pal for her would be Megan, that superpowered girl with no pain sensation.
Same background, same age, similar struggles—one's all about justice, the other's pure kindness.
Total BFF material!
Of course, Megan had to pick up Sheldon's OCD and germaphobe habits first—build that lifestyle armor to keep herself safe.
As long as they didn't live together, and Tatiana didn't pull a Howard and prank Sheldon nonstop, they'd get along just fine—no drama.
With Adam playing matchmaker, Tatiana and Megan had already met up. They usually chatted over the phone.
Every Wednesday and Thursday, Heather would bring Tatiana to New York to hang out with Megan.
As one of her few friends, Megan soon introduced Tatiana to Sheldon remotely.
Now the three of them were tight, connecting mostly on Wednesday comic nights.
That's when Tatiana and Megan would team up to read the latest issues, then hop on a video call with Sheldon to geek out over the new plots.
Tech changes everything!
It was only 1999—video calls weren't exactly standard household stuff yet.
But as Heather's adopted daughter, Tatiana having one made sense.
Adam had even hooked up Sheldon and Megan's places with the gear too.
It was a sneaky little bribe to reel Sheldon in—video calls were so cool back then.
Think about future Sheldon: never offline, breathing VR air, touching virtual flowers and butterflies, and that rare forest trip where he's glued to his phone, freaking out as the signal bars drop.
A total internet addict like him? In '99, getting a video call setup was pure bliss.
And in an era when video calls were rare, who else could he even ring up besides Tatiana and Megan's specially rigged homes?
That one trick turbocharged the "Three Musketeers'" bond.
The other night, somehow, the trio got onto the topic of butterflies.
Sheldon flashed back to when he was 11, fresh in college, taking that philosophy elective with the hippie chick professor.
She'd told him the butterfly tale—dreams, reality, and all that deep existential stuff.
Then he'd shared with Tatiana and Megan this recurring dream he used to have:
He couldn't tell dream from reality, stuck in an infinite nesting doll of dreams-within-dreams.
The kicker? He'd "wake up" in the dream, only to find himself as a butterfly with his face, lying on the pillow.
Terrified, he'd beg his sister Missy on the next bed for help—only for her to grab a flyswatter, cackle like a maniac, and smash him flat.
Sisters are the worst! Even in dreams! 😡
Back then, it got so bad that when his mom called him for school, he'd just lie there, refusing to budge.
He'd "figured it out."
Dreams or waking life.
Living or dying.
Philosophers or butterflies.
It's all the same—meaningless.
"All appearances are illusions."
Lying there like a salted fish or dragging himself to college? No difference.
Why bother getting up just to wake into another dream layer?
Sheldon Cooper—later self-proclaimed "Leonard's muscle bodyguard" (despite barely jogging)—wasn't about to waste energy on pointless dream loops.
Too exhausting!
Better to chill in bed.
Plus, it spared him from dealing with those annoying hippie profs and all the dumb Earthlings out there.
Emmm.
In the end, his dad George shattered that zen phase with some good old-fashioned "physical persuasion."
Guess they both believed in physics, but Dad's level was next-tier—maximum convincing power! 💪
Megan, bold and carefree as ever, just laughed off Sheldon's story.
But sensitive little Tatiana? It stuck with her.
After the call, she dreamed about it that night—and kept waking up in a panic ever since.
Heather had tried comforting her, but it wasn't cutting it.
Her first instinct was to call Adam, but she hesitated and rang Juno first instead.
She knew Adam was all-in on the save-lives mission and hated bothering him unless she had to.
Juno didn't have that hang-up—doctoring was just a fun hobby for her, not the obsessive calling it was for Adam.
On Juno's advice, Heather realized Adam was the better fix here.
Not that Juno couldn't handle it—she could crack any psych puzzle given time.
But Adam, the lone guy in their crew, had that dad-vibe aura. When it came to calming a scared kid, he'd work wonders fast.
(End of Chapter)