Dr Simmonds mind had been made up long before he went into that room, but Sherlock's reaction had sealed his fate. Phoning the duty doctor, he listed Sherlock for ECT the following morning, and gave his instructions to the nursing staff. Sherlock was to be kept sedated overnight and to be first on the list in the morning. Enough was enough. They had tried the gentle approach, now it was time to treat this illness properly. The hospital prided itself on its cure rate, and he wasn't going to let one sixteen year old boy ruin his statistics.

At least he won't know anything about it, Clare thought, as she checked on a sleeping Sherlock before handover, but it still sat badly. She thought about phoning Sarah to update her on events as soon as she reached her car at the end of the shift, but for some strange reason she was wary of being overheard. Perhaps paranoia was catching after all. Instead she waited to phone Sarah until she had driven home and was walking down the road to her flat.

'Have they told him?' Sarah asked.

'No, and given his reaction to Dr Simmonds earlier I think thats probably just as well. They're going to do it anyway, Sarah, irrespective of what you or I say. I tried, believe me, I tried to explain why I thought that it was such a bad idea, but the decision is made. I just thought that you'd want to know before you walked on shift in the morning.'

'So there's no point in me trying to talk them out of it?'

'No, you'll just make things worse. Besides we've both made our views very clear in the past. They're just not interested in our opinion.'

'So they're what, going to keep him sedated and then just take him down to the Treatment Room in the morning and give him a general anaesthetic without his consent? Thats fairly dangerous ground even for Neil Simmonds, to say nothing of completely unethical. Can't we do anything, report it to someone?'

'And keep our jobs? No, I don't think so. He's under a section, remember? They can give him any treatment that they think is appropriate for his psychiatric illness, and they have his fathers consent for the procedure anyway. Neil Simmonds even phoned him this afternoon to confirm that he was still happy. Its all clearly documented in the notes - reason for treatment, anticipated benefits, family consent, all of it.'

'I don't like it.'

'No nor do I, but what can we do? Apart from support him thought it.'

'Poor kid. I just hope for his sake that he doesn't know anything about it until the first session is over.'

Walking from the staffroom onto the high dependency wing the next morning, Sarah heard it as soon as she had buzzed herself through the security doors. A horrible screaming noise that could only be coming from one person. What on earth were they doing to him? She ran down the corridor to find the door to Sherlock's room wide open, and no less than seven people in his room, crowded round one terrified teenager, cowering on the floor in the corner, arms wrapped round his head, screaming as if he was being murdered.

Pushing her way through the people she crouched in front of him. 'Sherlock?' She reached out a hand towards his shoulder. He flinched and backed further into the corner, like a wounded animal. Blood was dripping from his hand where he had pulled out his cannula.

'What happened?' she asked Laurie, the night nurse who was closest.

'They came to get him for ECT. He flipped out.'

'I thought you were going to keep him sedated?'

'We thought that he was. He had some more lorazepam at about 4am, but he woke up when we tried to transfer him onto the trolley. Pulled out his cannula, threw himself onto the floor and has been attacking anyone who comes near him.'

'I'm not surprised. Okay, listen everybody get out, go and wait outside the door. Leave him to me.'

'Seriously? Sarah he's been kicking and lashing out at people.'

'He'll be fine with me, trust me. There are just way too many people in here and its freaking him out.'

Reluctantly they all filed out of the room, leaving her alone with Sherlock.

'Someone's gone to tell Dr Simmonds,' Laurie told her just before she left. 'I reckon that you've got about five minutes before he sends in the heavy mob.'

'What is he going to do? Use tranquiliser darts?' Sarah muttered, until she was left alone in the room. She sat down on the floor next to him. Close, but not too close. Respecting his space, trying to radiate calm.

'Sherlock, its Sarah,' she said quietly. 'They've all gone. Its just you and me.'

He stayed as he was. Curled up, arms wrapped round himself, but at least the dreadful screaming had stopped.

'Listen,' she said, choosing her words carefully, 'I know that you don't want this, but there is absolutely nothing that either you or I can do about it. So how about you let me give you some sedation and then at least you won't be aware of whats going on.'

He shook his head vehemently and tried to shuffle further away from her, even though he was already jammed into the corner. She reached a hand out and touched his shoulder again, this time he didn't pull away. 'Sherlock this is going to happen anyway, you know that, might as well do it the easy way.'

He looked up at her then, so young suddenly, so vulnerable. 'I'm scared,' he said, frankly, alarmingly lucid.

'I know that you are. Let me give you this injection, yes?

He nodded reluctantly and she picked up the syringe abandoned on the bed by the night nurse, and lifting up the sleeve of his t-shirt swiftly gave him the sedative.

'Well done,' she murmured, as grabbing some gauze from the injection tray she put pressure on his bleeding hand.

'WIll you stay with me?' he asked.

'Of course I will, and I'll be there when you wake up, and I'll remind you if you've forgotten.'

He was getting sleepy now, his head lolling forward, and she re-arranged herself so she was sitting close to him, arm around him, so that his head rested on her shoulder. There was a tentative knock on the door.

'Come on in, she murmured, 'but lets keep it nice and calm.'

Five minutes later they were lifting Sherlock onto the treatment table. He didn't even flinch as the cannula went in, and he was anesthetised and the shock applied in a matter of minutes. Sarah found herself choking back tears as she watched the procedure. It had never looked so barbaric to her before. And in that moment she made a decision. She would stay in the clinic until Sherlock was discharged, because she wouldn't leave him, but after that she was going to find another job. She couldn't stay in a place that treated patients, that treated children (because many of them were still children whatever the law might say) like this, with so little regard for their wishes.