Chapter Two
The Forgotten Flatmate

-.-

The room swims into room. Sherlock blinks, disoriented. Whitewashed walls fill his vision and the reek of disinfectant intoxicates him. Hospital. He can hear sounds. Some, he knows, are in his head. There is a man shouting meaningless words deep inside his mind, but he doesn't know who it is, or why those cries are so desperate. In the real world, he listens to the faint beeping of medical machinery, hushed voices in the adjacent room, and soft weeping less than a metre away.

He blinks and his surroundings snap into clear focus.

Lestrade has pulled up a chair next to his bed and has his head in his hands, unaware that the detective is awake. He is crying – his whole body shaking uncontrollably. Sherlock can only stare at him weakly, in shock. He has never seen Lestrade lose control before. And he can't think of a single reason why he would now. The detective inspector wouldn't be crying over him. Because he just wouldn't. Someone else, then. His wife? But why would he come to visit Sherlock of all people?

Sherlock isn't prepared to wait for answers.

"Lestrade." His voice is weak and he sounds tired. Defeated. But he doesn't know why. "Stop snivelling. It's pointless."

Greg Lestrade looks up. His eyes are red and it looks like he hasn't slept for days. He doesn't bother wiping the tears away.

"You're awake." He croaks. "Sherlock… I'm so… so sorry."

"What?" Sherlock doesn't understand what is going on. The stranger shouting incomprehensibly in his head is making it hard for him to think straight. "Why are you…?" He winces. His head hurts. "Why are you apologising?" He finishes. Lestrade takes a breath, composing himself. He stares directly at the hospitalised man, his eyes pools of sorrow.

"It's John… He… You and him. We found you in that alleyway –"

"Wait." Sherlock interrupts. "Who's 'John'?" Lestrade blinks. He stares at Sherlock, unsure what to say. His mouth opens but the words refuse to come out. "Lestrade? I need to know. Was he your friend?" Lestrade still can't speak. Sherlock softens slightly. "So he was? And he's dead? I'm sorry about that. But why do you want to tell me this?"

"B-But…" Lestrade stammers. "It's… It's John. John Watson. How… How can…? Do you have concussion?"

"No." Sherlock chuckles, convinced that the whole conversation has been staged. But his friend is serious.

"What do you remember about last night, Sherlock?"

"I was on a case." Sherlock answered instantly. "I was chasing down one of the suspects – I can give you details of all that later. But then…" He frowns slightly, and then his face clears as memory floods back. "But he managed to escape in a car. And for some reason I blacked out. He probably gave me narcotics of some sort. I woke up. And…" He shrugs, as if to say 'and here I am'.

"But John." Lestrade repeats. Sherlock looks vaguely annoyed now, but the older man is insistent. "This is John I'm talking about. He's dead. Sherlock. There's no way you've forgotten a whole person, least of all him."

Sherlock reluctantly decides to play along, and a small smirk flits across his face.

"Well. Why was he so special anyway? He's just another body, surely."

Lestrade blanches.

"God. You're serious."

"Are you?"

"Sherlock. He's your… your…"

"Look, however you say I knew this person, it's 'was', not 'is'. You told me yourself. He's dead." Sherlock remarks bluntly. Lestrade nods wordlessly, unable to argue. The tears are back and he brushes them away. "Anyway," The black haired man continues briskly. "I'm intrigued about this man now. You can tell me all about him later on. In the meantime, I'm really really bored. I want a case."

He leans back idly on his pillow. Lestrade gets up and calls a doctor. They check Sherlock over, but there's no evidence of any brain damage, nothing to support the claim that he has never known a John Watson in his life.

Sherlock should be grieving right now.

Instead, he is… bored.

WARNING: There will be major character death(s) in later chapters (... I realise that I've already killed John.. I feel evil)
Thank you for taking the time to read!