Chapter 7

Sherlock had accompanied Molly into the cab from the hospital, supporting her as she walked. Molly felt a little joyous at his arm about her waist as they walked, and the fact that Sherlock wasn't shying away from showing affection for her in public. She knew he was a very private man, but perhaps his love for her was overcoming some of his personal boundaries. He scooted into the seat next to her and leaned forward to tell the cabbie "221B Bakerstreet." Molly started to protest, thinking that they were supposed to be going to her flat and not Sherlock's. She was tired and wanted to crawl into her own bed and sleep for weeks from the exhaustion. Sherlock grinned at her. "John stated he would care for you, but he still needs to assist me and Lestrade with cases. So he will be caring for you at our flat. No worries. I've prepared my bedroom for you. You'll have everything you need."

Molly didn't have the strength to protest, so she didn't. The ride to Bakerstreet was quiet. Molly inadvertently leaned over and placed her head on Sherlock's shoulder and rested her eyes as they traveled, the rocking of the cab as it turned and slowed lulling her to sleep. Sherlock glanced down at her and relished the touch. I never thought I could love anyone. Especially as much as my heart aches for Molly Hooper. Sherlock was amazed at the humanization he had encountered over the last month and a half. All because his interest had peaked in this shy lab girl whom he had worked beside for going on three years.

Sherlock woke Molly as they arrived at the flat. He helped her out, and she pushed him slightly away, wanting to be her own person and make it up to the flat on her own. Sherlock allowed it. I'm still me. I can still do things for myself. I'm not completely helpless yet. Molly sighed. Her head was a tad tight, as if a tension headache would erupt at any moment. She was thankful John had phoned ahead and gotten her medications refilled for her trip home. She tackled the stairs with gusto, but had to rest halfway up against the window sill to catch her breath. This latest episode had really taken a lot out of her. Sherlock gave her her space, merely standing by to assist if need be. She made it up the rest of the way and entered the flat to John sitting in his usual seat reading the paper. Mrs. Hudson was in attendance as well, preparing tea and biscuits to welcome her with. Molly thanked her and gratefully accepted her warm, motherly embrace as she hugged her. I wish my own mom was home. I really miss her. I haven't even told her yet...She wished to spare her mother the pain of learning her only daughter had a terminal illness, but then she also missed her mother being around at all.

John helped Sherlock with the few things they had gathered from her flat prior to her release from the hospital and Sherlock showed her back to his room. He had cleaned, as he seemed to be a rather messy person normally (John seemed to be the clean one about the flat). Mrs. Hudson surely had assisted him for the woman's touch. A dozen roses greeted her with their scent as she entered the room. Molly smiled. She turned to Sherlock and he smiled back at her. "Thank you. They're lovely."

"Not nearly as lovely as you are." Sherlock kissed her softly on her forehead and she cherished it with closed eyes and flushed cheeks. He sat her things down within the closet and turned to her. "If you fancy a rest you're more than welcome to take one. Make this flat your own while you're here." Molly sat on the bed and felt of the sheets. A rest is not what I want, but its what I need. She gave him a halfhearted smile and nodded. He started to exit the room and leaned back in one last time. "Perhaps when you wake you can assist John and I with some casework. I've taken the liberty of bringing some work home if you got to feeling restless." Molly brightened. She did indeed enjoy her job, and feared she wouldn't be able to get back to postmortems and test tubes for a while after what had happened.

"That would be wonderful." She felt more relaxed and a little excited now with the proposition of being able to do what she loved while she was on a medical leave. He smiled warmly at her and then took the liberty of leaving her to herself. She took off her shoes and slid under the covers, loving the silky coolness and the unmistakable scent of Sherlock as she laid upon the sheets and breathed him in. John popped in momentarily, a dose of medication and a glass of water handy. She sat back up and took them gratefully.

"Just your pain medicine and the medicine for the swelling. I've got a schedule of everything and I've gotten the low down from your doctor. If you need anything, let me know." He patted her hand and she thanked him before laying back down. John closed the door gently behind him and it wasn't long before Molly was asleep and resting.


Molly awoke a few hours later to sounds of discussion and clinking of plates out in the living room. She stretch as she rose, noticing that her headache had all but completely disappeared and she felt stronger after resting her body. She took the time to braid her messy slept on hair into a braid and make sure she was decent before heading out to the flat.

Sherlock and John were at their desk having a rather energetic discussion about drugs and their interactions upon a body. They both stopped momentarily to greet her as she entered the room.

"How are you feeling?" John asked. Sherlock stood to pull out an extra seat for her. She sat thankfully and blushed. She still wasn't used to having so much attention from Sherlock Holmes.

"I feel much better, thank you." Molly answered. Sherlock disappeared into the kitchen while John looked her over. He pulled out his medical kit and took some manual vital signs. He seemed pleasantly impressed when he'd finished. "Everything is wonderful. You're as healthy as a horse." John grinned as Sherlock returned with a large plate of food and a cup of tea prepared exactly as Molly liked it. "Sherlock cooked for us this evening. He doesn't like to admit it but he's rather good at it." John chuckled. Molly glanced at the plate and felt instantly famished and took to eating.

Once her meal was finished, Molly felt ten times better. Medication, a fully belly, and the best company I could ask for at a time like this. I'm so very lucky. Why didn't I just become honest with them sooner? Molly couldn't help but feel very blessed in that moment. John cleared her plate and brought her another cup of tea at her request. Sherlock watched her intently as she sipped it. "Are you ready to help us with some casework? Or would you like to save it for another day?"

"Oh I'd love to. I could handle it I think." Molly's face lit up. Sherlock felt relieved. John gave him a look that Molly didn't seem to notice. He then hopped up and fetched Sherlock's microscope from the kitchen table as well as some samples. "What is it I'm looking for here?"

"These are from a case we're currently working on. Drug bust and overdose. We need to identify the drugs the man had in his system." Sherlock brought her books and a notepad and pencil to her. "Is it too much?"

"No no! Not at all!" Molly smile at him, glad to see that he knew what made her feel more human, and less like a specimen to be pitied and studied.

"Now, it's critical that we identify them in order as I've labeled them, please." Sherlock cleared his throat and sat down to filter through a book as John took to pointing a few things out to him. Sherlock and his OCD. Molly smiled to herself. She knew him so well. He knew she would do what he asked as he preferred. She aimed to please.

Molly set to work preparing and identifying the slides. Writing them down in a list order as she went:

Magnesium sulfate

Abiraterone Acetate

Raloxifene

Ramelteon

Yohimbine

Mannitol

Econazole Nitrate

That was simple work. Molly felt pleased with herself for finishing the list. "Finished." She smiled and handed the list to Sherlock. He looked it over and took the pencil, studying the work with a furrowed brow. Her smile faltered. Did I mess something up?

"Are you absolutely sure about that last one?" Sherlock glanced up at her, his usual serious emotionless face overtaking the warm welcoming one he had worn so often lately. She worried. Oh no, am I losing my edge in my work as well? "Look over that last sample again." Sherlock handed the notepad back to her.

"Oh- Okay-" Molly set the pad down and immediately took to the microscope once more. Something was different. There was something faceted and extremely luminous where the slide had previously been. She studied it intensely, unable to figure out what was going on. Is that a-

Molly gasped. She looked at the notepad and noticed that Sherlock had circled the first letter of each drug as he had been studying it. It spelled out simply MARRY ME. Molly looked up at him. He only met her gaze and held it, searching her eyes for an answer, saying nothing. She glanced down at the microscope again, removing the engagement ring that sat where the previous slide had. John must have switched it out while I was speaking with Sherlock. Oh gods...She held it up and studied it. It was an immense diamond in a white gold band at it sparkled endlessly. It must have cost a fortune. Oh gods, I can't. Sherlock Holmes is asking me to marry him and- Tears began to pour down her cheeks. John got up and left the table, as if to give them a moment, but she could feel him nearby behind her, perhaps in the kitchen.

"Sherlock, I-" Molly could barely get any words out. "I don't know what to say." She stared at the ring and then at Sherlock. He moved out of the chair and down on one knee beside her, taking her free hand and holding it within his own clammy hands. He was nervous as well.

"Say what is in your heart, Molly Hooper." Sherlock spoke softly in that honeyed baritone voice of his that Molly loved to listen to. "I have come to realize that you have been right in front of me this entire time and I have never really noticed you. Not until recently, and now that I have found you, life would be dull without you."

"But I'm-" Molly set the ring down on the table and started to cry hard hot tears. Sherlock's look faltered, his eyes anxious and confused. "I'm dying! There is no future with me! I'm nothing, I'll be gone before we were ever able to-" She was beginning to cry so hard she couldn't talk or breathe. Sherlock seemed awkward and uncomfortable, not knowing what to do. Well what reaction did he expect?! Molly was unnaturally angered with him. He knows what's wrong with me and now he pulls this? Twisting the knife a little deeper even if he isn't the one who put it there.

"We can have the wedding immediately if you like. As long as I have you, that's all I ask for. I want you as my wife." He spoke the words as if unsure of them as they came out of his mouth. John only watched the two with a tightlipped frown. "Please, Molly. Spend your days with me. I'll devote myself soully to you." Sherlock went to kiss her hand and she pulled it quickly out of his grasp and stood, knocking the chair backwards.

"No! I won't do it! I can't do that to you..." She wiped her eyes. I've got to get out of here. I can't do this. I can't hurt them like this. She headed for the bedroom, wanting to grab everything that had been brought for her and instead opting for her shoes and her coat which she donned immediately and headed for the stairs.

"Molly!" Sherlock took off after her, worried about her condition, and a little hurt by her refusal. "Where are you going?!"

"Home! I belong there, in my house. I need to be alone. I've lived that way for a while. That's what I know. What I need." Molly cried and slammed 221B's door behind her. She hailed a cab in tears, hardly able to see through them as a cab pulled up. Sherlock did not follow her, she noted as she climbed in and the cab sped off. She spent the entire ride in tears, her heart broken more so for hurting the one she loved with all her heart.

She arrived at her flat not longer after. She stood on the steps and leaned against the door as she sobbed. Gods, I've gone and left my keys and everything I'm sure. She stuck her hands in her pockets and was thankful to find her house key within the left. She entered the flat and dropped the keys as she viewed what had been left behind for her.

The entire flat living room was covered from carpet to ceiling in flowers. All kinds of fresh flowers she could imagine. It was like a jungle. The smell was delightful and fresh as she breathed it in. This only renewed her tears. Sherlock has done all of this for me? She had to hand it to him that for someone as romantic as a doorknob, he had gone above and beyond in his proposal. She noted a letter on the mantle in his familiar calligraphy-like handwriting. She took it and sat in her armchair, that looked strangely out of place within the confines of the flower jungle Sherlock had created for her. She opened the envelope and read:

I searched all over Great Britain for the variety of flowers that surround you. I searched for the most rich and most vibrant and most beautiful, and I came home to your flat with one of each. Although I must say, none of them are as beautiful, or sweet smelling, or vibrant as you are, Molly Hooper. I was blind for so long, and now that I've found you, you are the only light in my world. I've come to realize crime scenes and intellect are all good and well for distractions, but your love and dedication to me is a far better distraction than anything in my life could ever provide. I want nothing more than a life with you as my loving wife. I will forever be your loving and dedicated husband. I once told John I was married to my work. My life's work is now you, if you agree to my proposal. Simply stated, Molly, I love you completely and selflessly.

-Sherlock

Molly dropped the letter after reading it, and as it fell to her feet she burst into a fresh veil of tears. She placed her face in her hands and let the tears fall, unknowingly staining the lovely heartfelt letter.

"Molly." That deep familiar voice spoke up from behind her. She looked up in surprise, turning to see Sherlock standing in the doorway of her flat, wounded and concerned. "May I come in?" Molly nodded.

He entered and stood next to her, looking about at the work he had done earlier. He had had a notion that she might balk and run, and therefore this homage served two purposes. If she ran, she'd be greeted by this and perhaps a change of heart. If she accepted, he would bring her here for an extra surprise to seal the deal. It had partly been John's idea. John was worried. Sherlock had followed behind, knowing she'd come here.

"It's beautiful." Molly sniffed as she took it in once again. "I can't believe you did all of this for me. Never in a million years did I ever think I'd find myself proposed to by Sherlock Holmes. I should be overjoyed. I am, in a way." She sighed. Sherlock watched her. "I just- I don't want you to hurt, Sherlock. Its more painful for me to put the ones I love through my disease process than it is for me to experience it." Sherlock said nothing, simply knelt in front of her as she sat in the out of place armchair and took her hands once more. This time they were not clammy with nervousness, but warm with love and caring. He tilted her chin up so she would meet his eyes. They were on fire once more, that not soon forgotten fire of love and desire that she had come to know these past few weeks.

"I know what you have ahead of you. I know what you face. I will not allow you to face it alone. You have my heart, whether you choose to marry me or not, you have my heart and if you choose to abandon me to suffer through this alone, it will shatter nonetheless." Sherlock spoke to her and she reveled in each deep, dark note and lilt of it. "I will ask one more time, and know that I mean every word." He pulled her close until their foreheads touched in a loving connection. Molly closed her eyes. "Will you marry me?"

Those four words I thought I would never hear. My life is becoming complete. I was sated with merely being close to him and now he is offering me his heart, body, and soul for the remainder of my days. He is blatantly honest at every other time in his life, why would he not be now? Molly took a deep breath to calm her flittering heart.

"Yes." Molly let the tears that were now pure joy stream down her cheeks. She heard Sherlock release his breath at her answer and she smiled. He was just as nervous as I am. She opened her eyes to watch as he pulled the glittering and enormous diamond out of his trouser pocket and hold it up. She offered her left ring finger and allowed him to slide the gorgeous ring onto her finger. He took her hand and kissed it and pulled her into a loving and passionate kiss. The kiss quickly became heated and Molly felt her body awakening from the sad sullen ache that had overtaken her in 221B to one of electric sexual tension that possessed her deepest parts.

Sherlock stood, taking her up in his arms and walking her into the bedroom. She glanced that he had taken time to prepare this room as well, with many lit candles and roses adorning the room in all colors. Rose petals adorned the bed and he didn't bother to sweep them off of the bed as he laid her upon it, urgency making way as they locked once more in a kiss. Molly took precedence and stripped off his clothing quickly. He made short work of hers as well, and soon they lay upon the petal covered bed, naked, hot skin to skin, as he moved slowly inside of her. I want to remember this moment. This very moment. In this moment everything is perfect. There will never be another moment like this. This was the very last logical thought within her mind as Sherlock made love to her, loving every inch of her and filling her up with love and lust all at the same time.

They came together, crying out and mingling their breaths and entwining their limbs as they rejoiced in the afterglow. Sherlock released her hesitantly, as if he didn't dare to lose her once more. He sat up, naked a beautiful upon the bedside. 'I'll be right back. Don't you dare dress." He smiled at her and she giggled, blushing once more though she didn't know what for after what they'd just done. He disappeared into her kitchen and returned with two champagne flutes and a bottle of the same they had shared on their first outing together. Molly pulled the sheet about her as she sat up and watched him pour the champagne to celebrate their engagement. "You know it'll have to be soon. And it'll have to be a small wedding, because I don't really have much in the way of funds..."

"Money is no worry. Mycroft is going to foot the entire bill, as a wedding gift to me. It'll be the one good thing he does for me in this life." Sherlock chuckled. They toasted and sipped their champagne. Wow, that's very generous. Sherlock leaned in and kissed Molly's champagne sweetened mouth.

"That's too much. He doesn't need to do that. I need to foot some of the bill." Molly frowned. She was not one to accept such a lavicious gift without contributing. Sherlock cocked his head to the side, setting their empty glasses aside. He looked Molly head on.

"Okay, so let's make a deal." Sherlock became serious once more. It's almost like flicking off a switch for him. Molly was amused. "You agree to at least try the chemo therapy, and the wedding debt is repaid." Sherlock didn't falter, but held her gaze. Molly considered.

"Agreed." Molly sighed after a time. Sherlock's heart nearly leapt out of his chest at her agreement. He took her into his arms and hugged her so hard she feared she might lose breath. "But I get the white dress and cake and everything."

Sherlock released her and she noted the tear that had slid almost unnoticed down his cheek. "Anything you want. Anything, it is yours." He took her in for another deep loving kiss and round two of celebratory sex followed.

Molly lay on Sherlock's chest afterwards, feeling the rise and fall of his peaceful snoring as he dozed. She was in heaven, she had everything she could have ever asked for. I'm going to try the chemo, for my future husband, for John and for Mycroft for being so generous. She sighed, worried of the side effects the chemo would bring, and the possible let down if it had no effect on the lesions in her brain that were causing her the physical and emotional turmoil they were inflicting upon her. At least I'll be able to say I tried. Molly gazed at the painting that Sherlock had bought for her, placed upon her wall at the foot of her bed. She loved that painting, as it seemed to encompass her acceptance of her fate. Perhaps she would be as peaceful when her time came to meet the night.


I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Molly's emotional turmoil pulls at my heartstrings, but how could she refuse a proposal from the one who has held her heart for so long? I think Sherlock was rather clever in his proposal as well. At least between two science nerds :)

Next chapter comes all the wedding happiness with the ever foreboding dark cloud that Molly cannot seem to shake. I hope you all look forward to it!

By the way, thank you for all of the reviews! Some really touched my heart, especially about how you thank me for not sugar coating Molly's illness. This story can only be told by the realness that people face situations such as these everyday, and being a nurse I see it on a daily basis. These people are stronger than I believe I will ever be.

I was so excited when I got home from work to write this! It was all I could think about on downtime at work. :) Please review your thoughts on this chapter as well!

And thank you all so very much for reading! I'll try my best to update tomorrow with Chapter 8! I've got alot of wedding planning to do!