The white light blinded her as it shone through the small opening of her eyelids. She let out a small hiss before shutting them tight once more. She felt a wave of panic rush through her as confusion settled in. She had no earthly idea where she was, what had happened and who was with her. With a gasp, her eyes shot open wide (damn, the light was really bright) and her chest heaved. There was the loud meep, meep from beside her and found her head rolling over to find the screen which showed a line that would peak with each heart beat made.

"Calm down!" came a deep voice, making her gasp and shoot her attention to her other side.

"Sherlock? Where am I? Why am I here?" she rasped. She must have been out for some time because she was experiencing a major case of cotton mouth and her body was stiff as if it had been moved for some time. Sherlock's large hands grasped her small right one and he rubbed the back of her hand, feeling the bones beneath her flesh, with his thumbs.

"Do you not remember?" came another voice. Molly found Mary and John Watson at the foot of her bed, little six month old Eva bundled close to her mother's chest. Molly shoot her head and found how much the action caused her pain. She winced and slowed down the motion.

"It must be some shock… I would believe that her body couldn't fight the pain anymore or cope with the loss of blood…" John told them. "The body doesn't want to remember. At least her body doesn't seem to want to…"

Sherlock gave Molly a sigh. "Molly, I am afraid that you were shot. You lost a lot of blood and your heart stopped for almost four minutes. Longer than mine when I was shot…"

Molly gave him an absent expression.

"You came back obviously…" he continued with a small smile.

"The moment we got to the hospital, they wheeled you off to surgery," Mary informed her.

John noted the heart monitor to see that it was back to a somewhat normal pace. He gave Molly a comforting smile before stuffing his hands in his pockets. "The doctor should be here soon. They've been watching you like a hawk and that jump in your heart rate should have alerted them that you are awake…"

Molly quirked an eyebrow. "Exactly how long have I been under surveillance?"

"Five days…" all three replied. They paused and glanced between each other as if silently asking who was going to be the next to continue.

"With the combination of the loss of blood and the strain of the pain and surgery, your body naturally kept itself in a mode of hibernation…" Sherlock told her. "But I know that you know that."

Molly was going to reply but was cut short when the door opened to a bald and smiling man with enormous glasses and a clip board.

"Molly Hooper?" he asked. "I am glad to see you up. I hope your guests didn't startle you too much."

"I think I startled myself more than they did…"

"Frederick!" Sherlock greeted with a smile as he stood to shake the doctor's hand. The man chuckled and shook the detective's hand before turning to John to also greet him.

"Colleague. Client…" Mary mouthed to Molly who must have had a very obvious expression of confusion plastered on her face.

"Molly, this is the surgeon, Dr. Frederick McCarthey," Sherlock introduced. Molly gave him a nod.

"You're very lucky, Ms. Hooper. When they rushed you in, I was immediately called by Holmes and Watson just as I was about to take on a minor surgery."

"Frederick is the best under pressure," John said with a smile.

"I have some details here that I am going to share in regards to the results of your injury and surgery," the doctor told her with a more serious expression as he waved his clipboard. "The bullet pierced your abdomen. The angle that it entered was more angled than straight so the bullet travelled in said angle causing it to miss your hip bone and travel through. There was no exit wound but there would never have been one due to your pelvic bone serving as a barrier. We were able to retrieve the bullet and extract it however it did cause some internal damage though not vital to your health and a major risk to your lifestyle…"

He paused.

The room became quiet and a tension rose. Molly found herself taking Sherlock's hand and holding onto it with a strength that it caught him off guard and made him wince in pain as she crushed his bones. Frederick leaned over to John and whispered something in his ear. John gave a nod before giving Sherlock a smile and giving Molly's covered foot a pat. Both Watson's left the room.

"The bullet, though it never completely pierced through, did cause some damage to your uterus and left fallopian tube. After further repairs, they are not completely the same and they will heal," he said with a more serious expression than before which alarmed the two.

"What are you insinuating, McCarthey?" Sherlock asked, reflecting a very intense tone.

McCarthey withdrew a breath before replying: "I am afraid that the damage will make it very difficult if not impossible to conceive."

Molly's hand flew to her mouth in horror as she attempted to hold back a cry. However, she felt the tears fall from her eyes just as the very world around her fell. Sherlock simply hung his head.

"I'll be back in a few hours to check up…" the surgeon finished sadly as he turned to go.

The man was half way out the door before Sherlock gave him a rushed and painful "thank you" and gave a sad nod before exiting the room and leaving the couple alone.

The tears continued to fall down her face as Sherlock carefully climbed onto the bed (he had two small beds put together thanks to Mycroft's help) next to Molly and gently pulled her to him. She cried into his shoulder as he kissed her head.

The pain was overwhelming, the news was overwhelming. "Molly, if this is the price for keeping you, I can say that I come out of it with a heavy heart but not as heavy as if I had lost you," he told her as he spoke into her hair.

"Sherlock?" she choked out.

"Yes?"

"Did you want children?"

Sherlock froze. He had never really mulled that thought over. Never really sat down to search through his mind palace for a room that he could clean out for a child. Or more. His heart hurt with this thought…

"Yes. I believe so."

"Do you still want to marry me then?" she almost whispered.

Sherlock felt something that he hadn't since the day he jumped from a roof before John Watson. Sherlock Holmes felt his heart break into a million little pieces.

"Why would you ask that?"

"It's just… Well, if I can't give you children, doesn't that-"

Sherlock silenced her with his finger on her lips before letting the hand fall on her cheeks and dry the tear stained skin.

"You, Molly Hooper, are to be Molly Holmes…" he said softly. "You are going to be my wife and I though we haven't spoken the vow officially, I believe that we are to live through any obstacle. For better or for worse. Until death do us part…"

Molly felt the biggest smile cross her face despite the pain she was truly feeling. "Oh Sherlock… You really mean it?"

"With every fibre of my being…" he replied with a sweet smirk. "Kiss me?"

"Of course…" she giggled as she pressed her lips against his with great care. "You have always been so demanding," she joked before kissing his lips again.

Molly could feel each and every nerve ending tingle with excitement at the man's revelation. She felt her heart burst with even more love than she thought was humanly possible. But then again, when it came to Sherlock Holmes, however improbable, it must be possible. She knew that she would always love the man… With every fibre of her being.