She felt herself fall to the floor, the poison starting to make its way through her system. The professor was watching her with a bored expression on his face before standing and crossing to her side, bending down. She felt his fingers brush her hand as he pinched her bloodstained kerchief out of her limp grasp before he stood again, walking away from her. He must've signaled for somebody to get her soon to be dead body, because she felt somebody lift her up and carry her away. Others were assisting; she could see that, as another opened a door to an empty black carriage and put her on the wooden floor. The door shut with a resounding bang, and the carriage moved, rocking and bouncing and jostling her around.
Lights from the partially drawn curtains danced around her head as she started to lose consciousness. She was a fighter; she would fight this poison until the very last second, until her last breath. She'd seen it used before, on a man who was unaware of the information he held until the last moment. He'd gone down faster than she had, for he hadn't been expecting her to poison him. With recent events, she'd worried that the professor would soon try to use it on her. And he did, exactly as she suspected. It hadn't made her any more prepared, however; she wasn't careful enough.
Another startlingly painful cough escaped her as the carriage went around another bend. She went crashing against the door, lights twinkling above her from the impact. She knew she wouldn't last much longer.
With a sigh, she shut her eyes and thought of him: the rough stubble on his face, the ridiculous disguises, the way he kissed her just an hour ago…
Irene Adler closed her eyes, preparing for the end.
But the end never came.