Names?

Arthur stared at his mother as the paramedics loaded her onto the gurney. The little boy had been silent since the ambulance had arrived, unsure as to what was happening. The paramedic placed an oxygen mask over Joan's face as her eyes opened slightly.

"You'll be ok Mommy." Arthur whispered as his little friend nodded in agreement. Joan smiled slightly as Sherlock swallowed hard. He could see his son needed him, his own fears were irrelevant. For the first time in his adult life he had to put the fears and emotions to one side for another. He returned Joan's smile as he held his hand out to Arthur. He crouched down to his level.

"The hospital staff will take very good care of her. I promise you that. Now I need you to do something for me."

"Ok." Arthur sniffed.

"I need you to stay here with Kitty and Archie. Look after them for me. OK?"

"I want to come with you and Mommy." Arthur sighed. "Please, Daddy."

Sherlock's heart seemed to stop in his chest. He had never heard the young boy refer to him as anything other than his name. Hearing the child refer to him as Daddy was unexpected.

"Let us go to the hospital. Look after Kitty and Archie and I will call you as soon as we know Mum is going to be ok? Then you can come to the hospital. Kitty will bring you. Or Marcus. OK?"

"On his bike?" Arthur looked a little placated by the idea as Kitty stepped forward, resting a hand on Arthur's shoulder. A paramedic called, asking if Mr Watson was coming with them. Sherlock rolled his eyes.

"I have to go. That boy is NOT under any circumstances to go on the motorbike. Do you understand me, Kathleen!"

"Yes." Kitty rolled her eyes at the use of her full given name. A moment later she was alone with two small children. "Right, boys. Lets get the place cleared up." She looked at both children. "Ok, ice cream then clean up?"

"I wanted to go with Mommy." Arthur's voice cracked, on the verge of tears. Kitty nodded before scooping the young boy up her arms.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Sherlock sat on the plastic chair in the corridor of the Emergency Department trying not to think about what had happened. He knew Joan's chemotherapy had been going 'as expected'. She had felt tired and nauseated, which was one reason he and Kitty had taken the children to the playground. She needed to rest. He had no idea what had happened in the thirty or so minutes they had been out of the house. He closed his eyes, resting his head back against the cold white wall behind him as he felt someone take the seat next to him.

"Any news?"

"Captain Gregson."

"Sherlock."

"Sorry." Sherlock wasn't sorry in the least. To him, Thomas Gregson would always be the Captain and would be addressed as such. "Nothing as yet. It seems she fell on the stairs at home. Luckily the hall is now carpeted, it could have been worse if it had been on hard floor."

"I see."

"They are running tests. A full blood work and a Computerised Tomography scan."

"A CT?"

"Correct. On her brain and spine to check for damage. They are running a full Sepsis screen too in the event she has an infection."

"I see." Tommy nodded. He remembered the whole routine from when his beloved Paige had been unwell. He sighed, knowing the pain his friends were in. Joan was strong, but she was human. Sherlock, despite being his friend was something of an enigma to him. He had no idea what went through the younger man's mind at the best of times. Sherlock smiled slightly.

"Who told you?"

"Kitty."

"She called you?" Sherlock frowned, his head turned sharply towards the Captain. Tommy nodded.

"Yeah, I'm not going to do anything. She is not a criminal, her VISA is valid as is young Archie's. She said you could use a friend."

Sherlock nodded, touched by the younger woman's thoughtfulness. "He called me Daddy."

"Excuse me?"

Tommy was rarely thrown by the change in conversation but he knew his friend well enough to know that he had a habit of saying exactly what he thought when he thought it.

"Arthur. Today, when we were waiting for the paramedics. He called me Daddy. First time. No one has told him that I am his biological father. No one has told him that I am to be called anything other than my name."

Tommy shook his head, smiling as he listened to his friend. "You don't get it? Do you?"

Sherlock frowned. "Excuse me?"

"When Arthur called you that. When he called you Dad for the first time. How did that make you feel?"

"Shocked. It was unexpected."

"And?"

"I'm processing that - as Joan would say." He sighed. "I felt shocked and proud. And I want to be worthy of the title. God knows my father wasn't. I wont be like him."

Tommy nodded.

"Ok, so be yourself. Don't be like your father. Or rather be just what Arthur needs you to be. And now, with his Mom so unwell, I am guessing he needs an adult to be there for him. To look out for him and let him know that whatever happens his Dad is always going to be there." Tommy watched as Sherlock nodded. Before the younger man could answer a hospital door opened and a nurse called his name.