At four hours, twelve minutes, a man in a white coat approached them. He explained that Greg was out of surgery now and that the operation had gone to plan. He would give them no more detail as they were both underage. Sherlock tried every trick in his (sizable) book to get the doctor to let slip something, anything, but to no avail. He sulked for a few minutes after the doctor had left again; and it was during this time that Erin finally noticed the absence of DS Donovan. Well, alright, it wasn't uncommon for Sally personally not to be there, but it was odd for there to be no representatives of NSY hanging around to find out if 'the boss' was still going to be around to yell at them when they got behind on paperwork. No sooner had she thought it than Sally herself stuck her head around the door.

"Hey Erin, love, any new-" Her eyes fell on Sherlock "Oh, so you're back, are you?"

Sherlock raised a haughty eyebrow "Obviously." Needless to say, he and Sally did not get on and, in Erin's opinion, probably never would. It didn't help that Sherlock would insist on deducing her love life.

"Realised it's not easy to live off your own back did you? Or-"

"Sally…" Erin broke in, her tone pleading, but Sherlock waved her down lazily

"No no, Erin, let the Sergeant have her say. Go on, Donovan, tell me what you think of me, do!" He goaded, his eyes suddenly sparkling darkly.

Sally glared at him for a moment "I'm going to go find out about the boss." She stalked out of the door and Erin breathed a sigh of relief. A satisfied smirk played around the corners of Sherlock's mouth right until the moment Sally stuck her head back around the door "They cried for you, Sherlock Holmes, and I bet you don't even care, do you?! You wanna know what I think of you? I think you're an ungrateful little freak!" she spat, with venom. And with that, she withdrew from the room again. She didn't notice the surprise that flitted across Sherlock's face at her words.

"You cried for me?" He asked, after a long moment.

"We did." Erin replied, truthfully. The silence that fell was no different to before, Erin knew, it only seemed louder, the tick of the clock suddenly the most impossibly intrusive sound she'd ever heard. "Where did you go Sherls?" She asked, softly, after a while.

"All over the place at first." He replied, equally softly "Acquaintance to acquaintance and, eventually to a… a friend. It had to be people Mycroft didn't know about."

"Why?"

"Why?" he repeated, wrinkling his nose in confusion

"You'd been better with us, I'm sure Mycroft would have set you up with a place if you'd asked."

"I…" Sherlock looked sheepish

"Pride?"

"In part." He admitted

"Oh yeah? What was the rest?"

"I…"

"You've said that bit before." Erin said, when it was clear he was going to say no more, a jokey half smile grazing her lips.

"I couldn't be near. I'd have hurt you all."

"You hurt us all going away, Sherls."

"I know that, now!"

"So why couldn't you stay?"

"I had to g-" His voice dropped below audible for the last few words of the sentence

"Can't hear you, Sherls."

Sherlock cleared his throat "I had to get clean." He said, clearly and calmly, although he couldn't meet her eye.

"You weren't… using… were you?"

Sherlock nodded, biting his lip and gazing fixedly into the distance. "Cocaine. Long before I came to you." He licked his lips "I never stopped, I got so good at hiding it, but it was getting out of control, and I was happy where I was, and I knew my… little habit, would ruin it all, and- and it just seemed better to… terminate the arrangement, than to hurt anyone. I didn't realise that would…" He turned his head suddenly to look straight at her "I never meant to hurt you both, I swear it."

Erin nodded, slowly. "We'd have helped you."

"I know you would, but, trust me, I was horrible while I was detoxing. No one deserves that… except perhaps Sergeant Donovan." He added, thoughtfully.

Choosing to ignore the slight, considering, Erin simply turned to the main point "So you're…"

"Clean? Oh, yes. Five months clean."

"Wow. Well done you!"

"Thanks."

"And your 'acquaintances', they were okay with you detoxing in their houses?"

"That… didn't work. I tried. Too many of my acquaintances were dealers or addicts for that to be a viable option… No, I detoxed at a friend's."

"I thought you didn't have friends?"

"So did I."

"So who..?"

Licking his lips, Sherlock glanced at the door and then back at Erin. "Promise you won't tell anyone?"

"Sherls-"

"No, no, look it's nothing like that, it's just… Greg will think it was… irresponsible. And it probably was."

Erin gave him a look that, coupled with crossing her arms, said loud and clear she was making no promises.

Sherlock sighed. "I left my last acquaintance as high as the proverbial kite. I didn't know where to go, so I just sat down in an alley and enjoyed the buzz. I hadn't eaten in… a while, I guess I must've passed out… I woke up to this guy-"

Erin made a face

"No, I've told you, it's not like that!" Sherlock said, impatiently "He was taking my pulse, and he must've realised I was awake because he started talking to me… He seemed to know I was high, and I thought he must've been a cop and I… well, I tried to run."

Erin 'tsk'ed disapprovingly

"I know, I know. Obviously, being less than well fed and under the influence, I didn't get very far before I fell on my face again."

"Dignified."

"Wasn't it? Anyway, this guy, John his name is, he was trying to help me up, telling me he was a training to be a doctor - he's not much older than me, just twenty - and he kept saying it was okay. He had a flat, he said, just round the corner, and he said he'd look after me. There were warning bells, of course, but then…" He threw another wary glance at the door, licking his lips again.

Erin spared a second to wonder if the doctor was telling Sally Dad's entire medical history, as well as how the operation had gone, she'd certainly been gone long enough!

"I know it sounds corny," Sherlock continued, dragging her from her thoughts "and I swear it's not, y'know, romantic" he looked disgusted at the very thought "but I just caught sight of his eyes and suddenly… I knew I could trust him."

Erin raised an eyebrow.

"I said it was corny…" Sherlock huffed "He just looked kind, okay?!" He added defensively. Erin suppressed a grin. "Anyway, I went with him and he did look after me. I'd never have gotten clean without him."

"So, you just stayed with a random stranger?"

"Well, Greg was always saying I should make new friends…"

"I don't think that was quite what Dad meant, somehow…" Erin couldn't help but smile. Trust Sherlock to find a way to make total recklessness seem like the logical course of action!

Sherlock grinned back at her, "Perhaps not, but the principle was the same."

"Mm, I'm sure." Erin replied, with the air of one humouring a child.

Sherlock ignored the veiled insult and carried on "I'd have come back sooner, only…" He hesitated and lowered his voice a little, glancing again at the door "I knew one of Mycroft's many access codes, so I looked at some CCTV… with you and Greg in…"

"You spied on us?"

"I wanted to know how you were. I told myself I just wanted to test the waters, see if you might want me to come back, but I suppose I was beginning to realise I cared." He let that hang for a minute and Erin squeezed his hand, gently, letting him know she'd forgiven him "Well, you both looked… happy enough. So I decided not to come back."

Erin looked sharply at him.

"I told myself it was for the best, convinced myself you two didn't need me and my problems, and was… well, I was thoroughly miserable, if we're being honest. I think John was quite worried about me, about the possibility I might relapse, I suppose… and I nearly did. I'd even managed to purchase the stuff. I'd seen only endless patience from him until he found that. I've never felt so guilty in my life. Somehow he got it out of me, that I wasn't going back and, well, it was quite emotional." He spoke the word with such distaste that Erin had to smile. "But he convinced me to come back and at least visit, we were going to do that tonight, but I came to meet John from a class here but there are a couple of Yarders standing guard over someone in A&E, and I overheard one of them saying to the other that DI Lestrade had been in a car accident and… ugh, more emotions." He shuddered

Erin hugged him, suddenly.

"What was that for?"

"Just because."

They were interrupted at that moment by the arrival of Mycroft Holmes, who took one look at his brother and said "About time too, dear brother." Before turning to Erin and enquiring "Have they told you anything new Erin, dear?"

"The op went fine, but they wouldn't tell minors anything else. Sally went to ask a while back but…" Erin glanced at her watch "It's been a long while."

"The incompetent woman has probably gotten herself hopelessly lost." Sherlock said, scathingly.

"Oi, less of that, freak!" Sally's voice came from the direction of the corridor, followed momentarily by Sally herself. At the word 'freak', Mycroft frowned slightly, but was immediately distracted by what came next. "I've been into see him. He's awake, if drugged up on morphine. He wants to see you, Erin, and you Myc" She said to Mycroft before turning to Sherlock "I haven't told him you're back yet. Didn't know if you were staying or not."

"Oh you don't get rid of me that easy, Sally, dear." Sherlock replied, smoothly.

"Oh bitch later you two, I wanna go see Dad!" Erin exclaimed, slipping between Sally and Mycroft and heading out of the door.

"Right, well, if you're staying with the kids, Myc, I'll be off." Sally said. Mycroft nodded his agreement and, towing an indignant Sherlock behind him, followed Erin towards the private room in which Greg lay.