Despite having worked at Bart's for the last two years, the hospital looked very bleak indeed as John hurried through the corridors to the wing in which his friend was being held. Lestrade and Mrs. Hudson were both hot on his heels.
When they arrived, John made a beeline for the desk. "Where is he?" he demanded of the nurse, banging the table for emphasis. "Where's Sherlock?"
The nurse was startled. "I beg your pardon?"
"John," Lestrade called to him. "Over here." John looked to see him and Mrs. Hudson standing with Molly not far behind him. He turned on his heel and marched over to them.
"Molly, what do you know? Where is he?" He grabbed her by the shoulders and stared her straight in the face.
"Um, John…?" Molly stammered, blinking. "Would you mind letting me go?"
"Oh." He let go and stepped back, drawing a deep breath and letting it out in a sigh, turning his gaze to the ceiling. "Jesus. I am so sorry." He clenched and unclenched his fists once and continued breathing deeply.
Mrs. Hudson stopped wringing her hands and patted John's shoulder. "There now, dear, we've all had a bit of a shock." She continued patting idly for a moment before resuming her fidgeting.
"Yes, I think we're all a little on edge here," added Lestrade, rocking on his heels, hands jammed into his pockets. "Now then, Molly, if you wouldn't mind filling us in on what you know."
Molly had recovered but still appeared nervous. "I'm afraid they wouldn't tell me anything. They were all rather busy and I was only getting in the way so they made me sit out here and wait. I heard one of them say 'overdose' but I don't know what drug, or –"
"Bloody Hell," John spat. He turned and went back to the desk, addressing the nurse he'd frightened earlier. "Listen, I'm sorry about before, but you've got to tell me where I can find my friend because all this time I thought –" Here he choked on his words. He paused, cleared his throat, and began again. "I need to see Sherlock Holmes. Please." He looked up at the nurse earnestly. "Please, let me see him."
The nurse frowned at him, not unkindly, but as if she was trying to analyse him and show sympathy at the same time. "I'm sorry, who was it you were looking for again?"
Before he could answer, a familiar voice spoke up for him. "Holmes, Sherlock. S-H-E-R-L-O-C-K." Mycroft had appeared, seemingly from thin air, at John's left shoulder. Though his dress was tidy as ever and his voice seemingly untroubled, his face was drawn and pale and he gripped the handle of his umbrella very tightly. He gave John a thin smile. "Hello, John." He nodded at the others.
"Oh, Mycroft, hello. You wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you?" John asked.
"As a matter of fact, John, I –" Before he could continue, a doctor had stepped into the waiting room and announced: "Family of Sherlock Holmes?"
"Yes, that's us," said Lestrade as the lot of them rushed to meet the doctor – all of them quite graceless but for Mycroft, who always seemed to glide somehow.
The doctor seemed to find the rather mismatched band of so-called family rather amusing, evidenced by the slight smirk that broke through her otherwise serious expression. "I have good news and bad news," she told them.
John drew a sharp breath and felt himself, and the others, grow very tense. "What's the bad news?" he asked trepidatiously.
"Well," explained the doctor, "he did in fact overdose on cocaine, which led to what's known as tachyarrhythmia, which is –"
"Fast and irregular heartbeat, yes, we know," John interjected.
"I didn't," Lestrade muttered.
"Yes," continued the doctor – Dr. Norris, her tag said – "and anyway, he nearly went into cardiac arrest, but we managed to get it under control. He's presently still unconscious, but stable for now and being monitored by staff in the critical care unit."
Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. John and Lestrade both swore under their breath. Mycroft seemed largely unaffected – perhaps he had already known the situation before he got there.
"So he's OK? Can we go and see him?" John asked anxiously.
"I can't let you into his room," replied Dr. Norris, "but I can bring you into the ward where you'll be able to see him from outside."
"Well, what are we waiting for, then?" Molly piped up.
"If you'll follow me," Dr. Norris said, gesturing to the double doors behind her and turning towards them, "it'll be just down here."