p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" align="left"Sherlock needed to acquire some information that Mycroft had denied him and decided to break into his brother's house. Going to bypass the security system, he noticed that it wasn't activated. Now that was strange with Mycroft's paranoia. It was always on even when he was at home. Someone must have already entered the house. The question was who and where was his brother?/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Quietly entering the hall, he listened. Hearing no sounds, he moved further into the house. At the last minute, he grabbed one of Mycroft's unique umbrellas. Pulling the handle up, a short sword emerged. "Figured there would be something hidden in here."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"He searched with a frightening silence invading the house. No sounds broke into his search until he reached the stairs going up to his brother's bedroom when he heard a noise. Moving quickly but silently, he rushed as quickly as possible toward the sound./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Opening the door, Sherlock discovered with a messy figure surrounded by blood on the floor. The body moaned, and Sherlock hurried to what turned out to be his brother./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Mycroft," he cried out and was answered with another groan, there was no recognition in those usually blue eyes. Leaning over, he felt for a radial pulse and found a barely palpable one./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Unsure what to do, he tried to touch his brother to search where the blood was flowing from, but the scream of pain when he touched Mycroft's chest had Sherlock pulling back./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Grabbing his phone, he called Anthea. When she picked up, he yelled into the phone. "Mycroft needs help immediately. He's bleeding and not waking up."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Sherlock could hear her called on another line and after a few words, she came back to him./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Sherlock, I need to you calm down. Help will be there in a few minutes. Make sure the door is unlocked for them."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""I never relocked it. It was open when I arrived. Tell the ambulance to hurry." Sherlock begged with a sob in his throat./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Within Minutes, the door filled with gun-toting men followed by the ambulance personnel. "Clear," one of them yelled. Sherlock was pushed out of the way as the medics began to work on his brother. It seemed like a replay of when Davison shot Mycroft nine months ago./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"On the phone, Anthea was talking softly to him assuring him she would be there in a minute and see he is allowed to accompany his brother in the ambulance while trying to calm him down. She had seen the longing looks that Sherlock would give Mycroft when he thought no one was looking./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"When they moved Mycroft to a gurney, she asked to talk to the attendant. The phone was pushed back into his hand. "Ride with him. I'll have John picked up and meet you at our hospital."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Afraid to touch Mycroft, Sherlock followed behind them. No liveliness in his step and could be heard to say, "You have to live. You just have too." Stopping he looked behind him and felt himself falling at the saturated blood tinted floor./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Hey there Mr. Holmes. Let's catch up with the gurney shall we." One of Mycroft men had a hold of his arm and supported him as they followed Mycroft./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Anthea left the ambulance first and took Sherlock, who was in the state of shock, to a private waiting room sitting him down. A few minutes later John was escorted into the same room. She nodded to John that mouthed, 'Check him over, he's in shock.'/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"As she left, John said, "Sherlock, you with me? Hey, come on now, talk to me."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""He's dead. I know he's dead. Couldn't lose that much blood and still live," Sherlock muttered to himself./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Sherlock, look at me. Anthea said he's in surgery that means that he can't be dead."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Abruptly Sherlock jumped up and started to pace. Anger colored his face, hand clenched, and voice raised. "I'm going to kill who did this. I'll find them and make them suffer slowly before I kill them." Quickly turning he headed toward the door but John caught him./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Turning, he growled at John. "Take you hand off me before I do something you won't enjoy."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Stop and think. You don't know who did this. I mean Mycroft's house is a fortress, and yet you found no men guarding it or the alarm activated. Organizing this attack was an inside job, Sherlock. Mycroft will need to tell you who is responsible before you can act. Besides with the violence of this attack, he'll be worried they went after you also. I'm not a fool, Sherlock. I know how deeply you care for him and see how much he cares for you."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Before Sherlock could say another word, Anthea and the doctor entered the room. "This is Sherlock Holmes, Mr. Holmes' brother. You're to keep him completely information about his brother." Anthea explained./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"The doctor glanced at John questioningly. "That's Dr. Watson. He's to be included him in the information, also."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""I see. Well, gentlemen, Mr. Holmes survived the surgery but is in critical condition and still may not survive. He'll be moved to ICU after they finish closing him in surgery. He has assigned private ICU nurses by Anthea. At this time, he's attached to a ventilator, drains from his chest as he had a pneumothorax, and stomach to drain the blood from the internal bleeding. A catheter placed, and five IV lines are giving him, pain medication, sedatives to help with healing, antibiotics, fluids, and blood. After he is awake, we'll add a feeding tube until his stomach heals enough for him to eat. The next 24 hours will give us an idea of how seriously his injuries will affect his life. Question?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"John looked over at Sherlock, who nodded. "His injuries?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Taking a deep breath, the doctor glanced at Sherlock, "Are you sure you want to know all the details?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Seeing the anger raising in Sherlock, John placed a hand on him. "Sherlock wants all the details as will the police. DI Lestrade is in the waiting room. If you could send for him, then you will only need to explain it once."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Anthea was out the door before John finished, and a few moments later was back with Greg./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You can start now," Sherlock snarled./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Quietly entering the hall, he listened. Hearing no sounds, he moved further into the house. At the last minute, he grabbed one of Mycroft's unique umbrellas. Pulling the handle up, a short sword emerged. "Figured there would be something hidden in here."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"He searched with a frightening silence invading the house. No sounds broke into his search until he reached the stairs going up to his brother's bedroom when he heard a noise. Moving quickly but silently, he rushed as quickly as possible toward the sound./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Opening the door, Sherlock discovered with a messy figure surrounded by blood on the floor. The body moaned, and Sherlock hurried to what turned out to be his brother./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Mycroft," he cried out and was answered with another groan, there was no recognition in those usually blue eyes. Leaning over, he felt for a radial pulse and found a barely palpable one./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Unsure what to do, he tried to touch his brother to search where the blood was flowing from, but the scream of pain when he touched Mycroft's chest had Sherlock pulling back./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Grabbing his phone, he called Anthea. When she picked up, he yelled into the phone. "Mycroft needs help immediately. He's bleeding and not waking up."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Sherlock could hear her called on another line and after a few words, she came back to him./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Sherlock, I need to you calm down. Help will be there in a few minutes. Make sure the door is unlocked for them."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""I never relocked it. It was open when I arrived. Tell the ambulance to hurry." Sherlock begged with a sob in his throat./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Within Minutes, the door filled with gun-toting men followed by the ambulance personnel. "Clear," one of them yelled. Sherlock was pushed out of the way as the medics began to work on his brother. It seemed like a replay of when Davison shot Mycroft nine months ago./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"On the phone, Anthea was talking softly to him assuring him she would be there in a minute and see he is allowed to accompany his brother in the ambulance while trying to calm him down. She had seen the longing looks that Sherlock would give Mycroft when he thought no one was looking./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"When they moved Mycroft to a gurney, she asked to talk to the attendant. The phone was pushed back into his hand. "Ride with him. I'll have John picked up and meet you at our hospital."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Afraid to touch Mycroft, Sherlock followed behind them. No liveliness in his step and could be heard to say, "You have to live. You just have too." Stopping he looked behind him and felt himself falling at the saturated blood tinted floor./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Hey there Mr. Holmes. Let's catch up with the gurney shall we." One of Mycroft men had a hold of his arm and supported him as they followed Mycroft./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Anthea left the ambulance first and took Sherlock, who was in the state of shock, to a private waiting room sitting him down. A few minutes later John was escorted into the same room. She nodded to John that mouthed, 'Check him over, he's in shock.'/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"As she left, John said, "Sherlock, you with me? Hey, come on now, talk to me."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""He's dead. I know he's dead. Couldn't lose that much blood and still live," Sherlock muttered to himself./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Sherlock, look at me. Anthea said he's in surgery that means that he can't be dead."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Abruptly Sherlock jumped up and started to pace. Anger colored his face, hand clenched, and voice raised. "I'm going to kill who did this. I'll find them and make them suffer slowly before I kill them." Quickly turning he headed toward the door but John caught him./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Turning, he growled at John. "Take you hand off me before I do something you won't enjoy."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Stop and think. You don't know who did this. I mean Mycroft's house is a fortress, and yet you found no men guarding it or the alarm activated. Organizing this attack was an inside job, Sherlock. Mycroft will need to tell you who is responsible before you can act. Besides with the violence of this attack, he'll be worried they went after you also. I'm not a fool, Sherlock. I know how deeply you care for him and see how much he cares for you."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Before Sherlock could say another word, Anthea and the doctor entered the room. "This is Sherlock Holmes, Mr. Holmes' brother. You're to keep him completely information about his brother." Anthea explained./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"The doctor glanced at John questioningly. "That's Dr. Watson. He's to be included him in the information, also."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""I see. Well, gentlemen, Mr. Holmes survived the surgery but is in critical condition and still may not survive. He'll be moved to ICU after they finish closing him in surgery. He has assigned private ICU nurses by Anthea. At this time, he's attached to a ventilator, drains from his chest as he had a pneumothorax, and stomach to drain the blood from the internal bleeding. A catheter placed, and five IV lines are giving him, pain medication, sedatives to help with healing, antibiotics, fluids, and blood. After he is awake, we'll add a feeding tube until his stomach heals enough for him to eat. The next 24 hours will give us an idea of how seriously his injuries will affect his life. Question?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"John looked over at Sherlock, who nodded. "His injuries?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Taking a deep breath, the doctor glanced at Sherlock, "Are you sure you want to know all the details?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Seeing the anger raising in Sherlock, John placed a hand on him. "Sherlock wants all the details as will the police. DI Lestrade is in the waiting room. If you could send for him, then you will only need to explain it once."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Anthea was out the door before John finished, and a few moments later was back with Greg./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You can start now," Sherlock snarled./p