Sherlock was talking to Molly. Again. He had formed the habit shortly after John had left to visit his sister Harry for a few days. Mrs. Hudson came up every day with some food for Sherlock, and to make sure he wasn't planning anything too horrible.
Having Molly at Baker Street was both good and bad. It was good because all of Sherlock's friends (and arch-enemy, in Mycroft's case) rested assured that he wouldn't leave Molly's side, and, in extension, the flat. It was bad because Sherlock, who was refusing any and every case, was constantly bored. Luckily, with Molly's presence, Sherlock wasn't dangerously bored.
Sherlock wasn't bored enough to accept Mycroft's company. He had taken to stopping in every few days to see Molly and, presumably, to check on Sherlock, although he had never admitted that part of it. Every time he stopped by, Sherlock was right in the middle of practising violin.
For the most part, Sherlock was left alone, and this was how he liked it. In one of Mrs. Hudson's reports to John she mentioned that every time she walked past their flat she could hear Sherlock talking inside. "And not like he talks to everyone, oh no," she had said. "He's talking just like he's got someone in there. Someone he respects. Like Nancy Drew."
Sherlock ignored her comments, Mycroft's visits, and John's calls. He was perfectly content to sit inside his flat all day drinking tea and talking to Molly.
"I find it annoying," he said to her one day, "how I have very obviously taken a brief break from my investigating, yet all these people keep on calling up anyway, thinking they're going to get special treatment or something."
And one day, while he was watching television, Sherlock said, "Look at these people. I've never played before, but it can't be that difficult to predict the movement of the ball. There's no wonder that they're losing." Of course, Molly slept on, but Sherlock was quite convinced that she could hear them. John never did quite understand Sherlock's reasoning behind his insistence that Molly heard everything they said, but his reasoning was, "since when have I ever understood anything Sherlock said?"
However, when he received an excited call from Sherlock, he did have to accept the fact that Molly could undoubtedly hear them.
"Sherlock? I can't talk now, I'm with Harry and we were just-"
"I don't care, listen to this. I was talking to Molly and her finger twitched."
"Her finger twitched?"
"Yes, her finger."
"Forgive me if I don't understand the momentum of this. Sherlock, I've really got to-"
"I was talking to her, and her finger twitched, so I said, 'Can you hear me?' and her finger twitched again. Then I said, 'Twitch your finger three times if you can hear me.' and she twitched her finger."
"Three times?"
"Yes, three times."
"What does it mean?"
"It means, John, that while you're there 'socialising' with your sister like a-"
"Sherlock!"
"Socialising with your sister, our friend Molly Hooper is waking up!"
Sherlock was thrilled with this new development, and spent most of everyday talking to Molly. He tried out a few different experiments and verified that her finger twitching was indeed her response to his questioning. She grew tired easily, and at first could only twitch her finger a little.
As the days wore on, however, she grew more and more strong. Soon she could move not only her finger, but both of her hands. Sherlock spent time studying this. By the time John returned, Sherlock had come up with a "fool-proof plan to wake Molly up!"
