When the ambulance arrived at the hospital Sherlock was wheeled into the accident and emergency department where doctors and nurses were waiting. John followed behind still wrapped in his blanket, shivering slightly because of his wet clothes. A nurse went to block John's entry into the room. "I'm a doctor" he stated.

The ambulance driver looked over his shoulder "He might be helpful." he told the nurse and she moved aside to let John through.

"OK what have we got?" the doctor, a short fair haired man in his forties, asked as Sherlock was wheeled into place.

"This is Sherlock, he sustained a laceration and blow to the head before falling into the river. He was given CPR at the scene by this gentleman" the red haired man indicated John "He's been unconscious since we got to him. His blood pressure is raised and his pupils dilated."

"OK Can you tell me how long he was in the river for?" the doctor asked looking at John

"About 3 minutes maybe." John answered

"And do you know how he sustained the blow to the head?"

"He fell from the metal railings of the bridge hitting his head as he fell. There may be a slight fracture to the right side of his skull."

"Was he a jumper?"

"NO!" John answered angrily "He was chasing a thief."

"Do you know this man personally?" the doctor asked wondering if John really should be in the room.

"Yes, he's my friend but before you say it, I'm not leaving" John looked directly at the doctor with eyes full of determination.

"OK but we'll need you to stay over there out of the way. I can't have you getting under our feet."

John nodded his agreement and took a few steps back, making sure he could see everything that was going on. He wanted to ensure that Sherlock was well cared for. He watched carefully as the doctors and nurses worked, cutting off Sherlock's wet clothes, hooking him up to monitors, drips and oxygen. Once all of Sherlock's vital signs had been recorded, his first medication given and his head wound examined the doctor asked for a CT scan to be arranged as a matter of urgency.

He went over to John "Right..?"

"John."

The doctor nodded "Right John, we'll take Sherlock up for a CT scan very shortly but for now you can sit with him if you like while we get everything arranged."

"Thank you" John replied "Any ideas how bad it is?"

"Not at the moment. I'm sure you know we'd expect there to be some swelling based on the severity of the injury but obviously until we have the CT scan results we can't tell how much."

John nodded. The doctor placed a chair next to Sherlock's bed and then the nurses drew the screen around the two friends.

John sat down and took Sherlock's hand. He sighed. "Oh Sherlock" he muttered as he listened to the steady beat of the heart rate monitor. He looked at his friend, deathly pale, head battered and bruised. "Look at you." he continued as he gently brushed a stray bit of hair away from the cut on Sherlock's head. "I should have been there. I should have been right behind you, not talking to Mycroft. I let you down. I'm sorry." John took a deep breath fighting with his emotions. He couldn't break down, he had to be strong for Sherlock. "I'm here now Sherlock and I'm not going anywhere until you're better OK? I won't let you down again, I promise. You're going to be alright."

John sat with his friend until the medical team came to take Sherlock for his CT scan. John got up and prepared to go with his friend. "I'm afraid I need you to go to the waiting room across the hall now." the doctor told John. "As soon as we know something we'll let you know."

"I need to go with him." John told him "I promised Sherlock I'd be there."

The doctor held John back gently. "That's not possible right now but as soon as the tests are done and he's settled in his room then we'll take you to him." John watched sadly as Sherlock disappeared out of sight. He'd let him down again he thought miserably.

The doctor showed John to the waiting room where Mycroft, Lestrade and Mrs Hudson were already waiting. Mrs Hudson went over to John and placed her arms around him. "Oh John, how is he?" she asked.

John shook his head. "I don't know. He's got a head injury. They're taking him for a scan to see the extent of any swelling." He sighed.

"Here I've got you some dry clothes." Mrs Hudson continued "DI Lestrade said you'd need them."

"I'm fine."

"Don't be silly. You'll catch your death and then you'll be no use to anyone." She went on as she thrust the clothes at John. "There's a bathroom over there"

John took the clothes and turned to leave. "I was no use to him anyway." he muttered to himself as he walked away. Mrs Hudson felt a lump in her throat as she heard him. It broke her heart to see him so lost. Lestrade had told her he'd saved Sherlock's life, how could he possibly think he'd been no use to Sherlock?

"Mycroft Holmes you need to thank that poor man for saving your brother's life" she said as she returned to her seat.

"He was supposed to be looking after him." Mycroft said coldly.

"Hey that's not fair." Lestrade jumped to John's defence. "You know as well as I do that John Watson would do everything humanly possible to protect Sherlock. This is not his fault and if it wasn't for him Sherlock would have drowned."

Mycroft sighed. He knew they were both right. If he hadn't kept John talking on the phone he would have been with Sherlock and he would have protected him. As John returned to the room with a bundle of wet clothes in his hands Mycroft stood. "Thank you John." he said "For saving Sherlock."

John couldn't meet Mycroft's gaze as he took a seat next to Mrs Hudson. It didn't matter what they said he couldn't help but feel responsible.

It seemed like an eternity before the doctor returned. All four people stood to greet him. "OK well as you suspected" the doctor began looking at John "Sherlock has suffered a hairline fracture to his skull. That in itself is not too serious, however, there is some extensive swelling on his brain and a small amount of bleeding."

"How bad?" John interrupted.

"We've placed Sherlock on medication to try and stop the swelling and we will monitor him carefully over the next 24 hours. If the medication doesn't work and the swelling continues we may have to operate to relieve the pressure on his brain."

"That's not what I was asking." John stared into the doctors eyes "The damage. How bad?"

The doctor held John's gaze "You know I have no way to answer that until Sherlock wakes up." he said sympathetically.

Mycroft, Lestrade and Mrs Hudson looked on worried and confused. They hadn't quite understood what John was asking but they could tell by the look on his face it was bad.

John felt his legs buckle beneath him and he sat down heavily on the chair. He placed his head in his hands and ran his fingers through his hair.

The others looked from John back to the doctor. "Doctor, what is wrong with my brother?" Mycroft demanded.

"I'm afraid that with any head injury as serious as this one there is always a chance that there will be some damage to the brain. Unfortunately as I told your friend here we have no way of knowing if that is the case until Sherlock wakes up."

"Sherlock could be brain damaged?" Lestrade repeated in total shock.

Mrs Hudson gasped and placed her hand over her mouth. Tears formed in her eyes. Lestrade looked towards her and placed his arm around her shoulders for comfort. Mycroft just stared at the doctor. He couldn't believe this was happening. His little brother could be ruined because of a case he sent him on.

John sat up straight. He gritted his teeth, took deep breaths and clenched his fists trying to keep his emotions under control. He knew that the most important thing in Sherlock's life was the work and his brain and he couldn't bear to think that it could be gone forever. How would Sherlock cope?