"Mummy, where are you?" The little girl walked down the dim hallway, tears streaming down her small, dirt covered face. "Mummy, I'm scared."
There was a loud crash coming from a room at the end of the hallway.
"Please Jim… I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!" A voice came from a distance. Suddenly there was a loud smack and thump, as if a body hit the floor.
"You think you could just leave me, ey? You think you could just jump out a window and runaway?" Jim Moriarty yelled. "You want to leave? Fine, I will give you what you want!"
The little girl walked slowly up to the cracked open door, not knowing what was going on. She peaked through the opening.
Jim dragged the woman across the floor by her hair to a shelf that held a gun. He pulled the woman up to her feet, wrapping a strong arm around her waist. He grabbed the pistol and loaded it. The woman struggled to get away, kicking a screaming.
Jim would not let her go. He pointed the gun at her head and kissed her on the neck for the last time. "Goodbye Catherine." He pulled the trigger.
Jane gasped for air. She struggled to get up but someone was holding her down. Jane opened her eyes to see a huge commotion of doctors and nurses surrounding her.
"Her heart rate is speeding up! Someone please give me the vile I asked for!" The doctor yelled at the nurses.
Jane still couldn't breathe. One of the nurses put an oxygen mask over her, pumping air through her lungs.
A chill went through Jane's veins, as the doctor put the medicine through her IV.
"Jane you need to stop struggling" The doctor demanded to Jane, but Jane's body kept shaking uncontrollably. "Jane? Jane, can you hear me?"
"She's not responding, doctor." A young nurse spoke sternly.
Someone pushed through the circle of nurses. John grabbed Jane's shaking hand. "Jane. I'm here. Shhh, it's okay. You need to stop struggling now." John said soothingly, keeping a soft grip on Jane's hand.
Jane looked into John's soft, hazel-blue eyes.
Her shaking started to subside as John and Jane stared into each other's eyes, as if his presence could heal her.
"Her heart rate is slowing!" The doctor exclaimed.
After a few minutes, Jane started breathing normal again. The nurse took away the oxygen mask. As soon as Jane's heart rate became normal again the nurses and the doctor left the room.
"We will check on Jane every once in a while. If something happen or if Jane needs anything, come find me," The doctor said before he walked out the door.
John nodded at the doctor.
John put his attention back on Jane; his hand was still holding hers. "Jane…" John spoke softly, but was interrupted by Sherlock coming in loudly through the door.
"John," Sherlock said sternly, walking through the door. "I need to speak to you out in the hallway."
"In a minute," John said still looking at Jane.
"No John. This is important."
John sighed. "I'll be right back, Jane."
Sherlock and John walked out the door. Sherlock closed it.
"What is so important, Sherlock?" John asked, sounding very irritated.
Sherlock grabbed something out of his front shirt pocket.
"What is that?" John asked looking at the folded paper.
"I found it in my pocket when I woke up this morning. I would have never noticed it if it hadn't been in my shirt pocket. I never keep anything there."
"Well, what does it say?"
Sherlock hands it over to John. John unfolds it and reads:
My dearest Sherlock,
I'm glad to see that you are taking wonderful care of my daughter. I want Jane to be in good shape when you so kindly bring her back to me. God, I always love family reunions!
Oh and tell your pet, Johnny Boy, to keep his hands off my daughter. She is way too young for him.
I will visit again soon!
Love always,
Jim Moriarty
P.S. You look so adorable when you sleep. ;)
John was so exasperated that he almost dropped the note. "M-Moriarty was here… in this room… while we were sleeping?"
"That's not all. Smell the signature," Sherlock spoke sternly.
John brought the paper up to his nose and smelled it. "That's not ink. That's… that's."
"Blood. Before you woke up, I quickly when to Bart's and tested it. It was the exact match to Jane's blood."
"Oh God no… please tell me your lying, Sherlock. Please tell me that Moriarty didn't come here in to middle of the night and take some of Jane's blood," John said putting his face in his hands.
"The good news is that I checked Jane's body for puncture wounds or any sort of cut and didn't see any. So he had to have got it from somewhere else."
"How could he have gotten into our room though, Sherlock? We had two bloody policemen guarding the door!"
"They must have fallen asleep while on duty."
"Those damn idiots! What if Moriarty did something to Jane! What if he actually took her while everyone was sleeping?" John was yelling now. He clenched his fist, about ready to punch someone.
A nurse walked up to John. "Sir you are disturbing the peace. You either calm down or we will have to ask you to leave."
"Sod off! I have the right to be loud and angry! The girl I love could have gotten kidnapped last night because some bloody idiots that call themselves policemen couldn't stay awake!"
Sherlock put his hand on John's shoulder. He has never seen John act like this before. John looked like he was going to kill someone.
John calmed down a little and said through gritted teeth, "I'm sorry… it will never happen again." John got out of Sherlock grip and walked back into Jane's room.
The nurse walked away, mumbling things under her breath. Sherlock decided that John needed some time alone. He got out his phone and started to text Lestrade to see where he was.
John walked into Jane's room. Thoughts swirled through his head. I can't believe Moriarty was here. Did I really just yell out that I love Jane in front of Sherlock and a nurse? I hope the doors are sound proof. Why is Sherlock so calm about this whole situation?
John stopped at the foot of Jane's bed. She was sitting up now, smelling a blood red, thorny rose. A little smile crept on Jane's face.
John walked over to the chair right next to Jane's bed that he slept in the night before. He sat down.
There was silence between them for a little while.
Jane broke the silence with her soft voice. "My mother's favorite flower was the red rose. My father used to get her one every year for her birthday." Jane looked up at the wall in front of her. "Her name was Catherine. She was so beautiful. She had long, brown hair and hazel eyes." Tears started to stream down Jane's cheeks.
John gently grabbed Jane's hand and held it. This time Jane held his hand, too.
"My mother really loved my father, even though he did such terrible things to her and me…" Jane wiped a tear from her cheek. "He wasn't always bad though. He used to hold my mother in his arms, kiss her, and tell her how much he loved her. When I was younger he would rock me in his arms and sing Irish lullabies to me until I fell asleep." Jane's face turned grim. "That all changed though. On my seventh birthday, I woke up and no one was in the room with me. The whole house was silent. I walked down the hall in one of my father's old, tattered shirts, wearing it like a night gown. I was really scared and kept on calling out for my mother. The silence was broken when I heard I heard a crash and my mother's voice crying out for forgiveness."
Jane choked, closing her eyes. She continued. "She was crying out for my father to forgive her. From the sounds I heard, I think he slapped her and she hit the floor. He yelled and screamed at her. I still remember exactly what he said. You think you could just leave me? You think you could just jump out a window and runaway? You want to leave? Fine, I will give you what you want. I have never forgotten those words. Not knowing what was going on, I ran up to the door that the voices were coming from. I watched as he grabbed my mother, kissed her neck, and shot her in the head. His last words he said to her were goodbye Catherine. I saw her limp body fall to the ground. I saw him kill my mother and I didn't do anything!"
Jane was now sobbing. John got up to go sit on the side of Jane's bed. Before he sat down, he moved the rose out of the way. When he did this, one of the thorns accidently pricked his finger. He paid no attention to it and sat down. Jane held his hand tighter and cried into John's chest.
"Shhh… It's not your fault. You were just a child. Do not ever blame yourself for what your father did," John whispered softly.
"E-Every time I close my eyes, I see the face of my father after he shot her. He was smiling. He looked down at her blood covered body and smiled. I never saw any signs of guilt, just happiness."
John didn't know how to respond to that. There was silence between them for a moment.
The silence was broken by a silent sigh. "But if I really think about it… sometimes I envy my mother. She finally gets to have eternal peace."
John looked down at Jane. She looked somewhat peaceful, with her head buried in John's jumper, as if the sound of John's heartbeat comforts her.
Jane turned her head, revealing the non-bandaged part of her face. John brushed the strands of her dark brown hair from her pale skin.
"John… I…" Jane started to say but was suddenly interrupted by a ring from a mobile that lay on a visitor's chair on the other side of the room.
Of course… another interruption. Let me guess it is probably Sherlock calling. John thought. He was so irritated, he almost decided to let it keep ringing, but he knew he couldn't because it could be something important.
"Hold that thought," John told Jane as he got up from the bed.
He started walking towards the phone but was stopped by a sudden pain in his chest. His heart felt like it was bursting. John held onto something to keep him standing, as he grabbed his chest in pain. He squeezed his eyes shut; the shooting pain was too unbearable.
"John… John what's going on? Are you okay?" Jane asked sounding really concerned.
The firey pain was spreading through his veins. John couldn't hold himself up anymore and dropped to the ground. He yelled out in pain.
"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!" Jane pulled the IV out her hand and removed all the wires attached to her body. She knelt down next to John. "HELP!" Jane kept screaming.
John was in the fetal position on the floor. The pain spread to his abdomen, head, and every inch of his body. He started shaking. John felt like he wanted to die.
John opened his eyes for one second, seeing Jane looking down at him screaming his name and doctors rushing into the room. The last thing he saw was Sherlock bursting through the door.
"John," Sherlock said looking down at him.
John's vision went black.