"Were you planning on telling me any of this?"
Sherlock was ten feet away and gaining a lead as John struggled to keep up with him.
"Telling you what?" Sherlock asked as John caught up.
"About the case. The one that you dragged my name into without permission."
Sherlock shrugged. "She was single and clearly interested in medicine. I thought that having a potential mate lined up would make her more willing to speak with me. And I was right."
"She was a murderer," John said.
Sherlock smiled. "Yes," he said, "but we caught her, didn't we?"
John had no answer. Holding a grudge against Sherlock Holmes was useless and a losing battle. He would always be wrong no matter what he thought he friend did.
"Coffee?" John said as he pointed up the street.
Sherlock didn't say anything.
"My treat. I need a little pick-me-up."
Sherlock looked down at his watch and then up at the street. "For a minute."
"Good enough," John said as they walked towards the shop.
As they crossed in front of the alley separating 2nd Street from 3rd Street, John felt a tug on his jacket and then the sensation of being pulled. It was dark in the alley so it took him a moment to realize that it wasn't Sherlock dragging him. Just as he got his footing, John was pushed up against the brick wall and a hand wrapped around his neck.
"Give me your wallet."
John tried to make out the man's face in front of him but it was shrouded in a mask and the shadows from the walls clouded it even further. He knew better than to fight back when he was unarmed and caught unprepared. The man clearly had a gun and pressed it up towards John's chest as he fumbled for his wallet.
"Now!" the man screamed.
John's hands shook so badly that he had trouble getting the wallet from his pocket. It seemed stuck. The harder he pulled the more it seemed wrapped in the lining.
"It's stuck," John muttered as he yanked even harder.
"Bullshit."
John felt the butt of the gun crash against the side of his head and the pain was immediate. He fell to the ground on his side. From this vantage point he could see Sherlock's shoes illuminated by the thread of light from the alley entrance. His feet danced back and forth desperately. He was being hurt but John couldn't see what was happening.
"Sherlock!" he shouted.
That just made the mugger angrier. He bent down to John's eye level and stuck the gun against his temple.
"Please," John pleaded. "Just take my jacket. It's all in there. "
He pulled off each sleeve and threw the jacket to the side.
There was a sickening thud sound from across the alley and a yelp and a cry that were distinctly Sherlock's. Then another thud.
"Stop!" he said.
John's mugger smiled. "Or what?"
The man lowered the gun towards John's chest.
"Just take it. Please leave us alone."
The man shook his head. "I don't think so."
John wanted to run or fight back but he could hardly move.
There was a shot across the alley and then John could see Sherlock's figure slump to the ground.
"No," he whimpered.
The mugger lifted John's drooping chin with the barrel of his gun. "Well then why don't you join him?"
John didn't have time to react.
There was a shot.
It was so loud. His ears rung and throbbed and the smoke from the bullet swirled all around his head. There were footsteps that ran out from the alleyway and onto the street.
They were gone.
John tried to sit up and that was when the pain hit. They had shot in him the chest. He was losing blood fast. There wouldn't be much time. John went for his phone but it was gone with the rest of his jacket.
"Sherlock?" he croaked.
No answer.
John grabbed the ridges in the brick and forced himself to his knees and then to his feet. Every step felt like a marathon as his body's oxygen quickly depleted and his organs shut down. He griped the brick with white knuckles and took one step at a time until he reached the street.
It was so bright.
So loud.
He stood at the intersection between the alley and the city and stared out at the crowd around him. It all seemed to move in slow motion.
"Please help me," he muttered as he fell to his knees in exhaustion.
A woman looked over for an instant and continued walking. A few moments later she came running back with wide eyes of terror. She threw her shopping bags to the side and kneeled in front of him.
"Darling, what happened?"
"Mugged," he said.
She caressed his cheek. "Let me call an ambulance, alright?"
He pointed back towards the alleyway. "He's hurt, too."
She squinted her eyes but in the darkness. "Okay," she said.
A few more people crowded around the two of them. She pointed towards the alley. "He says that there's someone else back there." There were footsteps that moved past her.
John let his eyes droop closed as he heard the woman on the phone getting help. He let himself fall into her arms and rest against her legs. She laid him on the ground and placed her hands on his chest as she spoke.
It would be okay, he thought. They'll save us.
And then darkness.