"Holly shit." I yelled grabbing him around the waist. His body started to convulse against me. I held on like trying to keep hold of a fish. "Shit. Sherlock." Just as fast as it had started he went limp eyes rolling back in his head. I leaned him against me reaching for my phone, which was of course not there. "You better be grateful for this." I hoisted him up, surprised how light he was. I pulled his arm around my neck. His arms and legs felt boney around me. I walked at the fastest speed that I could manage even given his light weight it still would have been impossible to run with him. I needed to get somewhere that I could lay him down and figure out what was wrong, so I decided to continue on to the station. I kicked the door opened trying to make sure not to slam him into anything. "Lestrade!" I called pulling Sherlock in tighter as we joined the bustle of the busy building. "Lestrade!"
"What!" He called. "You better be here to tell me that bloody Sherlock Homes has solved this case."
"Not quite." I said walking into the room.
"Holly hell. What happened?" He said standing up.
"I don't know." I lay him down on the sofa.
"Should I call an ambulance?"
"I think so." I said. Looking Sherlock over. "Oh yeah this." I held out the plank. "I think he was going to give this to you, its a map."
"Thanks." Lestrade said taking it with his free hand the other holding on to his phone. "I'll send Donovan to go check this out... Yeah... Thanks... They said they'll send a car." I nodded pulling Sherlocks gloves off and running my figures over his wrist.
"He's completely dehydrated." I said. Can I even think when I last saw him take in any water or food come to think of it. I lightly tapped his face trying to wake him up to no avail. Lestrade left the two of us well he went to pass the map along. I sat down on the edge of the couch keeping my hand on him, not sure why I felt the need to. I guess to make sure that he was breathing. He was breathing, but not normal. His breathing was shallow and weak. His skin felt cold, I contemplated if I should put his glove back on, but opted just to hold it rubbing it trying to bring any life to his body. My hand brushed up his wrist catching on something. I rolled the sleeve up to find several nicotine patch. Well thats healthy, I thought pulling them off. You better not have more of these on. I grabbed his other arm pushing the sleeve. Oh my god, I took a deep breath looking over the small white upraised scars that went all down the younger mans arm. Without thinking I was running my fingers down each one as if that was going to make any difference. The doctor in me was glad to see that they were clearly old and seemed to deliberately avoid vital areas, something that I knew that Sherlock would be well aware of.
"This him?" A paramedic asked walking into the room.
"Yeah thats right." I said jumping up. "I mean why else would he being lying here?" I laughed trying to lighten the situation. The paramedic just looked at me. They wheeled in a stretcher which they hoisted Sherlock onto. I followed them out of the room and down to the street
"Do you have a car?" One of the men asked. "So you can follow along behind." I shook my head.
"Can't I just go with him?" I asked knowing full well what they were going to say.
"Are you family?"
"No, but..."
"Sorry." He said as they finished loading him up.
"Doctor." I turned to see that Lestrade had joined us. "I'll give you a ride."
"Thank you so much." I said relieved that I was not going to have to hail a cab. It was cold meaning that it would have been harder.
"Of course. This way." We drove along not far behind the ambulance that was speeding down the streets. When we arrived they told us to stay in the waiting room. I expected Lestrade to leave, but he didn't. He just sat next to me neither of us talking.
"Where is he?" Mycroft yelled stamping into the hospital.
"Who?" One of the nurses asked tentatively. He talked quietly to the nurse before being escorted away onto the emergency room, but not before tossing his coat and brief case at his only slightly present assistant who was busy texting away on her cell phone. Never the less she sat down with the rest of us to wait. Nodding her head to acknowledge that we had met. Something that I found surprising given that she hadn't even given me that curtsey when we had met.
"And how have you been Anthea?" Lestrade asked looking over at her.
"Alright." She said still not looking up. "And you?"
"Fine." He answered.
"John?" She asked. I just shrugged I was to worried to be feeling anything. "Mycroft is not happy with you." She said.
"What? What did I do?" She rolled her eyes. Shifting in her seat to look at us.
"You were supposed to be looking after him." She laughed. "Though you know I think that you were doing a decent job. Besides injuries gotten on cases I don't think that we've had one of these since you've come around. Is that right?" She was looking at Lestrade.
"You know I think that you might be right." He nodded.
"So I'm guessing that this means this isn't the first time then." I said. They nodded. "Great." I sighed.
"Fully out cold I think its been years." Lestrade said.
"What about ?" Anthea pointed out.
"Right that." Lestrade nodded. "That has happened a few times."
"Wow so he basically doesn't even care at all for himself and has been trying to kill himself." I said.
"I guess its an accident." Anthea said offhandedly.
"He's way to smart to do anything on accident." I spit the word accident out. I knew him and I've never known him to not think about something. "I'm sure it was a mistake when he slit his wrist to." I said rolling my eyes. They both just looked at each other.
"He told you about that?" The woman said.
"I didn't know him to be that much of a sharer." The older man added. "But I guess its you." He shrugged. Whats that supposed to mean? I though.
"He didn't exactly tell me." I admitted. "I noticed when I was checking up on him." They nodded. "But you both know. He told you."
"Ha as if he would tell me." Anthea said. "I was the one that answered the phone call from the hospital."
"Wow." I said.
"Yeah it was like ten years ago." She said. "I don't think I have ever seen Mycroft so freaked out. I mean passed out that I can deal with, but killing himself..."
"Doesn't it just not fit." I mused out loud. "I mean things don't bother Sherlock Holmes."
"No thats when he changed." She said. "He was different. It was after that he decided he wanted to work with the police."
"He was like sixteen and his brother forced us to let him come along for a few cases. I thought it was a bloody awful idea." He said. "But as always he proved me wrong and solved the whole dang thing."
"I thought you said you knew about the..." I awkwardly motioned to my arms.
"Oh yeah. When he came to us he still had all the bandages on. Not to mentioned his brother defiantly pulled that card when trying to convince us to take him." He laughed.
"Wow I guess I don't know him all that well."
"Does anyone?" Lestrade sighed, Anthea nodded turning back to her phone. "Something very important?" He said looking over her at her.
"No." She smirked clicking away mindlessly. I wished that I could have calmed down, but no. I wanted to be in the hospital room. I wanted to be there making sure that Sherlock was alright. I picked at my nails as if that was going to be the source of any solace. I should have taken care of him. I know how awful he can be about his health.
"If your here with Mr. Holmes you are aloud to go see him." A nurse said walking over to us. I jumped out of my seat. The other two stayed seated.
"Aren't you all coming?" I asked.
"No I don't do hospital rooms." Anthea said. "For a normal person I would just go pick up flowers at the gift shop, but I'm never doing that again." She shock her head.
"What happened?"
"He was in the hospital and I was like trying to be nice, 'cause you know thats what people do. But apparently giving gifts is a complete frivolity and and sappy card are actually bad for his mental health." She smiled rolling her eyes.
"Sounds about right." I agreed.
"I'll be in later. I'll give you guys a few minutes." Lestrade said. Why would we need that, I wondered.
"Just me I guess." I said slapping my pants. The nurse led me through the maze the bustling corridors of the hospital. Sherlock had been moved from the emergency ward and up to another floor that was for recovery. The floor was more calm then the other. It felt like the clinic that I had spent all day working at.
"This room right here." The nurse said motioning to a door. I pushed the door opened. Mycroft was pacing the room.
"How could you let this happen!" He snapped as I walked in.
"Me?"
"You should have taken better care of him."
"I should have?" I laughed. "You have got to be joking." I know that I should have done something. I know that he needs to be taken care of, but Mycroft had no right to blame me.
"Did I or did I not ask you to take care of my brother?" He asked getting in my face.
"Well I suppose that you did." I admitted. "But..."
"No excuses you had one job and you failed!" He yelled.
"What ever!" I wish I had been able to come up with something clever to say. I stomped further into the room grabbing his chart and sitting down on the foot of the bed. Dehydration, thats what I thought, thats what triggered the seizure. Malnutrition, I sighed, only Sherlock could manage to have malnutrition in a house that was fully stocked with food consisting of all of the needed array of nutrients. Oh and the icing on the cake an assortment of illegal substances. "Damn it." I threw the chart on the floor. As a doctor I just wanted to slap him. "And this... this is normal." I said turning back to Mycroft, who nodded. "Great."
"Don't be like that." Mycroft said taking a seat at the top of the bed brushing the hair off his brothers forehead. "Sherlock." He said kissing him the top of his head. "He's stable now." Sherlock blinked trying to lift his arm to whip his eyes, it caught on the IV's.
"Whats that?" He asked looking around. "I'm at the hospital?" Mycroft nodded. "I must have fainted." He kicked me, making me look back at him. "I can't seem to remember did we get to the police station?"
"Yeah kind of." I said. "They have the map, if thats what you mean."
"Great." He sat up quickly. "I think we've been here quite long enough." Mycroft put his hand out restraining Sherlock who melted back.
"Your not going any where."
"Why? I'm fine." He said his eye lids heavy like a sick child trying to talk you into letting them go play.
"On the bright side he probably can't walk." Mycroft said. "A mix of just plain exhaustion on top of everything else should keep him bed ridden."
"Thats not a bright side." Sherlock spat. "John would you please tell my brother that I would like him to leave now."
"Really?" I said.
"Yes." He said kicking me again.
"He wants you to leave." I said complacently.
"Thank you John I'm glad Sherlock has you eating out of the palm of his hand. I think I can see why you failed so utterly at keeping him safe."
"I did not fail!" I yelled.
"Then who did?"
"Its not his fault!" Sherlock screamed. We both looked at him. Could he really admit that this was indeed his own doing. "Its not anyones... fault that is." Of course not. There was a knock at the door and Lestrade entered.
"Is this a bad time?" He asked. "I need to get back to the station so I thought I'd come make sure you were alright."
"Why are you here?" Sherlock asked.
"Call me crazy, but when people that I work with get sick I feel the need to make sure that they're alright."
"I agree that is crazy." Sherlock said nodding. "I want you to know that if you were in the hospital I probably wouldn't visit you."
"I figured as much." Lestrade said. "But as I've told you basically every other time this has happen that's because I actually care about people."
"Oh yes there is that." Sherlock acknowledged.
"Just get better, okay?" Lestrade said giving up.
"I suppose they're going to make me." Sherlock said with a small smile.
"Thank you so much for coming." Mycroft said.
"Of course." Lestrade said. "As I said I should be getting go."
"Best you be running along you are at least a little less incompetent then the rest of them." Sherlock said.
"I guess I should take that as a complement." He said waving and leaving the three of us alone again.
"Are we leaving yet?" The detective asked, making both of us sigh exasperatedly.
"You are not going any where." Mycroft said. "I on the other hand need to get going."
"Your leaving?" I said.
"Yes. Watch over him and do make sure not to fuck it up again." He stood up. "I talked to the doctors you'll be staying the night with him. I don't think that he should be alone even for the night."
"Are we leaving?" Anthea had arrived at the door.
"Yes we are." He said. "Did you get my text?"
"Yep." She said tossing a jar across the room at Mycroft. "At first I thought I read it wrong, but then I figured I should just go to the store."
"Thank you my dear." He said handing me the jar, which I looked down at. Peanut-butter. "Mr. Watson do make sure that he eats that."
"Thats disgusting." Sherlock said.
"And you wouldn't have to eat it if you had just kept yourself in good health." His brother said. "Its a nutrition thing you probably understand better then me." He said turning to me. "But as I said the doctors said he had to eat it. Anyways must be going. Good night boys." He ruffled Sherlocks hair making him slap at his hands. I watched the two other people leave. There was only me and Sherlock now and to make maters worse I was stuck here. Great, I thought moving to sit on a near by chair, this is just how I was hoping to spend my night.