24
Although Molly's conditions was more than good, Mercy University Hospital's doctors thought fit her spend the night there in order to check her and ensure she rested appropriately. Molly had stubbornly insisted she was fine and could make the journey back to London, but the doctors had been more stubborn than she was. So with a huff of annoyance and a roll of eyes that made Sherlock smile, Molly gave up and had let them put her in a single room, in a quiet wing of the hospital, at Mycroft express request, so that she could be supervised without annoying or endangering other patients.
Sherlock fidgeted with his fingers muttering to himself, annoyed by how long it took the nurse who, like a worthy worker bee, fluttered around Molly, adjusting IV, oximeter and instrument to take her blood pressure at regular intervals. As soon as the young woman closed the door behind her and Sherlock and Molly were left alone, he let out a sigh of relief to which Molly replied with a short chuckle.
But he didn't even have time to take a step towards her or open his mouth to tell her how sexy he found her wearing hospital nightgown, that the room filled with people again. Anthea came first, knocked and entered without waiting for them to tell her to.
She smiled at both of them and expressed her joy to Molly that everything had gone well. Then in her usual efficient manner she handed Sherlock a bag with the logo of a well-known clothing store, "I think you should change, Mr Holmes. This is the best I could find considering the time and the fact that today is Sunday" and then hung a similar one from the back of a chair, "These are for you, Dr Hooper". After Molly thanked her Anthea turned on her heel and opened the door letting in DI Lestrade, Sergeant Donovan and a short sturdy man with moustache and goatee but totally bald who introduced himself as DI O'Brien.
Sherlock found himself having to step literally aside as the three encircled her bed. He knew it was important to talk to the victim in the immediacy of events, yet the presence of the cops irritated him. He would have preferred to be alone with her for a while and then be the one to ask her the necessary questions, perhaps after having giving her some rest.
And all that commotion around her, the greetings, the questions about how she was and what she had felt in those moments underwater, all topped off with their open expression of relief she was now safe and sound, made him even more nervous. The mordant remark, "Oh, everybody's being nice to each other. How wonderful!", slipped out of his mouth before he realized it and Molly gave him one of her reprimand looks as she suggested that he go and wear the dry clothes Anthea brought, "I'm sure I can handle them by myself" she added softening a bit her face's expression.
By the time Sherlock went back to Molly, the three cops were in the corridor discussing about the stakeout of Molly's room, in front of which already were two uniformed officers. Lestrade beckoned him to come closer letting him know they had acquired new data on Janine thanks to an informant from O'Brien.
"We are told her maternal grandmother still lives here in Cork" Lestrade said, "The old woman at the time went against the marriage between her daughter and Moriarty senior, so it seems that grandmother and grandchildren have never been in good terms. But…Janine is on the run" the grizzled cop shrugged implying that maybe Sherlock ex-girlfriend, in her current situation could make an exception and seek help and refuge even from a person she hated, "It's worth a try. What do you think?".
Sherlock thought about it for a few seconds then replied "Let me tell Molly and then I'm with you". He turned his back on them and ambled towards her room where found John sitting next to her on the bed. Molly's hands in his. Both of them had watery eyes.
He froze in his steps feeling his stomach tighten as he saw his best friend and the woman he loved together, emotionally connected. Oh, but his reaction was not caused by jealousy! No. It was elicited by the fact he knew they were talking about Mary and the dream Molly had while she was underwater and was losing hope of being saved.
She had talked about it with Sherlock on the ambulance ride. Just as Molly had saved Sherlock's life by appearing in his Mind Palace when Mary had shot him, the late Mrs Watson had saved Molly's life by encouraging her to come back to him. "It is what it is" John had told Sherlock some time before, but the truth was that the thought of Mary would never stop reawakening in him his sense of guilt for her death.
Sherlock swallowed a lump in his throat as Molly noticed his presence in the room and, releasing her left hand from John's grasp, hastily wiped away some tears that had slid down her cheeks. She smiled at him, sniffling a bit, and then reached out to Sherlock as she whispered softly his name.
He bridged the distance between them with two long strides, while John turned away to wipe his eyes and put himself together. Sherlock's gaze fell on her bandaged wrists, the wounds she had gotten in trying to free herself were not deep but nevertheless needed care.
He took Molly's hands in his and bent down to kiss her knuckles, "Are you feeling better?" she nodded moving her hand to his cheek, "You need to sleep and eat, Sherlock. You haven't done neither one nor the other for more than fifteen hours!". "You know how I am when I'm on a case but I will. I will do both I promise. But first Janine must be neutralized. And then I have to take you home" he said as he gently stroked the outline of her bottom lip with his thumb.
John was not as much hearing the topic of their conversation as much as he was impressed by how Sherlock spoke to Molly and touched her. Oh, God, witnessing all of this every day from then on would have been really weird! He cleared his throat, "I'm going to have a coffee. I'll leave you alone" he said starting to move to get out.
"Wait" Sherlock raised a hand to hold his friend back, "The police thinks there's a trustworthy lead as to where Janine is hiding. I would go with Lestrade to check it…" John nodded in agreement, "Come on then! What are we waiting for?" he asked, already feeling the adrenaline rushing through his veins.
"I need you here, John. I need you to take care of Molly" Sherlock said looking the man in the eye, "I don't trust those two out there!" he explained waiving his hand dismissively towards the door, "I don't trust anyone else when it comes to Molly's life" his tone was serious despite his lips were curled in a warm smile to his beloved pathologist, "Can you do this for me, John?" he asked looking back at his friend.
John nodded in agreement and Sherlock sighed in relief as he leaned over Molly, "Try to get some sleep. I'll be back as soon as possible" his lips descended on hers, capturing them in a sweet and short kiss. She reciprocated him but when he pulled himself up, Molly held his hand in hers "You will be careful, won't you?". In different circumstances and times John would have expected a rude response from the consulting detective and certainly not another kiss and a breathy "Of course I will".
He walked Sherlock out of the room imagining from his expression he must tell him something he didn't want Molly to hear. And as a matter of fact, they had taken a few steps when he asked him "Did you bring your gun as I suggested in my text this morning?".
John crossed his arms across his chest and nodded, "Do you really think I might have to use it?" he asked as Sherlock hastily buttoned his coat, "I'm afraid so. Janine is even more dangerous than before. Her fiancé is dead and she will have even more thirst for revenge".
The two men looked each other straight in the eyes, "You can count on me" John said seriously, "Good. Keep your eyes open. Call me right away if you see or hear anything suspicious. Anything, John, do you understand?" Sherlock lowered his hands to hold his friend by the upper arms but he didn't have time to answer because Lestrade had come up beside him asking "Coming?". Sherlock looked at John once more and then, turning his coat's collar up, he followed Greg Lestrade and the other cops outside the hospital where two cars were waiting for them.
It didn't take them long to reach the plain terraced house on the outskirts of town that O'Brien's informant had referred to as Janine's grandmother's house. It was just after half past nine in the evening and the residential area in which it was located seemed already half asleep. Most of the residents were probably preparing for the night or were already sleeping as the next day would be a Monday of work and school.
The two police cars parked beside the kerb in front of the house. Everyone got out, taking great care not to cause any noises that would have put Janine on alert and could have caused her to flee. There seemed to be no one in the house. Everything was surrounded in silence and darkness. There were no lights or TVs on. No fire was burning in the living room fireplace visible from one of the garden windows.
Sherlock was unarmed, so he had to wait for the cops to break in and Donovan to give him the green light before entering the house. The rooms were perfectly tidy and sorted out. There was no one on the ground floor. DI O'Brien silently motioned for his officers to move carefully to check upstairs. He remained downstairs until the figure of Lestrade appeared at the top of the staircase, "You better go up" he told him.
Entering where Lestrade directed him, Sherlock's attention turned immediately to the elderly woman sitting in a bedroom chair with full padded armrests. With extreme delicacy, Sergeant Sally Donovan was untying the knot of the cloth used to gag her. Sherlock saw the small bruises formed in the corners of the poor woman's mouth. As he noticed those on her ankles and wrists caused by tight binding of the ropes used to keep her still and now lying on the floor, presumably kicked away from Sally.
Mrs Doyle whimpered as she softly thanked Sally, who was gently stroking the back of her hand with her thumb. Sherlock eyed a bottle of water and a glass on the nightstand and hurried along to pour some and hand it to the old lady, "How do you feel, Mrs Doyle? Are you hurt?" he asked kneeling beside her chair.
Sally gaped at him, unprepared to hear words other than harsh and sharp come out of the consulting detective's mouth, "I know what you went through was terrible but I really urgently need to ask you a few questions about your niece Janine". Mrs Doyle's shrivelled thin fingers tightened tightly around the glass and she turned to look at him but before the old woman could say a word, Sally stepped in between "It would be better to wait for the ambulance to arrive, Sherlock, don't you think?".
The old lady's eyes widened and reached out to him, "You…are you Sherlock Holmes, young man?" she asked as he took her hand in his and gave her a polite smile "Yes, ma'am…that's me". Mrs Doyle leaned her head back and closed her eyes for a moment. Then she licked her lips and looked Sherlock in the eye again, "My niece left me a message for you".
"What message is that?" Sherlock asked with his heart starting to pound in his chest and already feeling the hair on his arms stand up. "She told me to tell you…wait, I have to use her exact words" she closed her eyes again and then opened them again whispered "Ah, yes, so…It's going to start very soon, Sherlock. The fall. Because I owe you a fall, Sherlock. IOU".
Sherlock jumped to his feet. The sinister meaning of Janine's message, a threat actually, was unfortunately very clear to him. "Thank you, Mrs Doyle" he said patting the woman's hand lightly, then turning his back he walked quickly to the door. Phone in hand, he called John but got no answer. He tried again and again, but kept ringing in vain.
He rushed down the stairs. He heard Donovan calling him back aloud but he couldn't stop. He had to go back to the hospital. Donovan ran after him, "Sherlock! What did Janine mean that she owes you a fall?" she asked out of breath as she pulled him by his coat's sleeve after reaching him at the front door.
Sherlock stopped without turning. Eyes closed. Hands clenched into fists. "It means Molly is in danger…it means Janine is going to force Molly jump off the hospital roof!" he said in a rush. Just giving voice to that thought sent shivers of sheer terror down his spine. "Let's move then and get that bitch!" ruled Sally giving him a pat on his back.