Part Seventeen:
Sherlock's P.O.V.
"So she's doing well?" John asks me as we leave the hospital again. We've visited Kathryn a few times now during her stay at the hospital.
"You've seen her."
"Well, yes but… you two seem to have gotten close. She doesn't tell me much," he sighs sitting in the cab.
"Maybe she just doesn't have much to talk to you about. We talked like this when she used to come to the flat before you knew I was alive. Maybe she just looks for more… intelligent conversations," I suggest.
"I can hold an intelligent conversation," he remarks, "What do you really talk about?"
"Her family."
"Her family? They're all dead, what could you possibly know about her family?" he asks.
"The things in the file," I begin, "and the mother worked with Mycroft. Her father was a friend of Molly's."
"Of Molly's? Have you introduced the two of them? I'm sure they'd hit it off," he suggests.
"No. I'm waiting until she's a little more mobile. Molly wanted a little more time to find old pictures and things. She said she wanted to have something to show her when they met," I explain climbing out of the cab.
We don't speak again until we're inside the flat. When we enter John begins again, "when do you think he'll try and contact us again?"
"Moriarty? I have no idea. I'd assume he won't have the courtesy to wait until Kathryn can walk again though," I say putting the tea on.
"If he won't wait then how do we know she's safe?" he asks sitting in his chair.
"We don't. I've arranged with Mrs. Hudson to have her stay in 221 A until she's walking again. I want to be able to keep an eye on her."
"And she's alright with that?" he asks opening his blog on his computer.
"Haven't told her yet."
"Why not?" He asks surprised, "She doesn't seem like one who's willing to live with people like us watching her every move."
"She's stayed with us before," I say.
"Yes, because she saw a man in her apartment, not because she wanted us to take care of her," he snaps. The sound of my phone in my pocket interrupts his next sentence.
I can wait.
-JM
"It's him?" John asks seeing my face.
"He's going to wait until she's strong," I say realizing what he's doing to her.
"That's good, right? She'll be safe until she's capable of protecting herself, right?" John asks.
"He'll hurt her when she's vulnerable. He's trying to get her when she feels safe, so he can break her heart…"
"Break her heart?" John asks, "Sherlock. I'm not following."
"He's coming back when she's safe. She'll believe her life is good. She'll trust everyone. She'll love again. That's when he'll break her," I explain.
"So Moriarty is aiming to break her heart, not kill her?" John questions.
"He may be aiming to do both, but I think he wants to watch her suffer first."