A bottle of very expensive Bordeaux wine, a romantic comedy, and about a dozen compliments throughout the evening, and John still ended up sleeping on his own sofa. Of course, he'd given Sarah the bed. You couldn't very well ask the woman you were trying to sleep with to bunk out on the scratchy sofa. Why did she have this inclination to drive him mad between her flirty touches and her refusal to even share a bedroom?
John had momentarily considered taking over Sherlock's bed, since him saying "Don't wait up" usually meant that he'd be gone until daylight sometime. But, knowing John's luck, it'd be the one night that Sherlock came home at a decent time and actually wanted to go to sleep.
John checked his phone one last time before pulling up his blankets and trying to go to sleep. The gentle sound of raindrops hitting the window soothed him.
/
Sherlock had been sleeping, arms wrapped around his waist, when he was woken up by the rain. Fat droplets splashed in his face and he reached up with his good arm to block them from landing in his eyes. The water mixed in with the dried blood caked on the side of his head, causing a sickening coppery smell that made him nauseous.
There was a thick tree about ten metres away from him. Sherlock moved slightly in its direction, dragging his body by one arm, before sharp pains all over his body cried out, jolting him to a stop.
He knew that he had to protect his open head wound from mixing with the dirt and water all around him, so he painstakingly pulled off his greatcoat and covered his face with it. His arms and torso shivered at the loss of the little warmth the coat had been giving them and he struggled to find a way to pull his left arm under the coat without agitating his sprained elbow.
The rain soaked through Sherlock's pants and thin white shirt, so icy that his nausea went away and was replaced with an aching coldness that he could feel in his bones.
Sherlock began to shudder violently, unable to stop his entire body from shaking to try to regain some warmth. The shivering jarred many bruises and other injuries and made him aware of a headache that he didn't know he had. Eventually, the darkness claimed him again.
/
Cold. So incredibly cold. It was all he could focus on. His body was shivering as he breached consciousness, squinting in the sunlight, so thankful for the warmth the day would bring. Sherlock looked at the wet ground in front of his face. Where was his coat? Blown away by the wind perhaps? Little mushrooms had sprouted up all along the ground. Earthworms were stranded on the rocks.
Where was John? John should be making coffee about now.
Sherlock tried calling John's name, barely able to get a word past his sore throat. He abruptly stopped himself. No, stupid. He was outside. John was back at the flat. No one was making coffee out in the forest.
Sherlock wondered at the time. What if Lestrade never came back to the crime scene? He would surely die out there, alone and cold, if Lestrade didn't return.
He watched in agony as the sun disappeared behind a cloud. Sherlock shuddered, his teeth snapping together. He rolled onto his side, bringing his sodden knees up to his chest to try and curl into himself. He disregarded any complaint of pain his body may have given him. All his pains were just pinpricks and needles to him now, so much of his body had gone numb.
Sherlock slumped into the forest floor, unable to stay awake any longer.
/
A.N. Blargag: Erm, I would have PM-ed you, but you have that disabled somehow…anyway, I wanted to apologize for offending you, I certainly had only good intentions when I wrote this. No one has ever called me out on not being an English-first speaker, so I thought I usually did pretty well. But, truthfully, English is my second language since I was 15. I tried to base that character's accent and manner of speaking off of the cab driver from PINK. Also, I used an English phrase-book, which I guess is now outdated? So, again, I really am sorry if I offended anyone with my lack of knowledge about the language. I can change the dialogue in the previous chapter if you like. I will try to be more careful in the future. : )
A.N. Part two: My dear friend Pennies_for_eyes drew this amazing art to go along with this story. Check it out! wwwDOTtolkienfanartDOTcom/sherlockholmes/sherlock1DOTjpg