A/N: Apologies for being really slow with updates, but I promise I'm still working on this (and am updating as quickly as I have time to). :(
The maternity ward of a hospital was never a quiet place, but the screeches that were issuing from one of the rooms were the most spine chilling noises that John had ever heard. It was only once the double door had swung shut behind him that he recognised the voice that was screaming.
"Oh my god…!" It screeched, "Where the fuck is he?!"
"That… that sounds like Harry…" John murmured suddenly, then sped up walking down the corridor.
"Fuuuuck!" Turning the corner of the door that Harry resided in, john found her standing, gripping onto the metal rim at the end of the bed. "John! Where the fuck have you been?"
"What's going on?" He rushed to her side and put his hands on her shoulders, she was trembling severely. "Harry?! What…" Nurse Williams came bustling into the room at that precise moment, her hands full of analgesics.
"Oh there you are!" She exclaimed, "Harriet was asking for you, but we didn't know where to look for you."
"What's happened?!" John screamed, looking from Harry to the nurse in abject horror and confusion. "I was only gone for about fifteen minutes!"
"I got up to go to the toilet, and well…" Harry panted, her face was bright red and she looked like her knees were about to give way beneath her.
"Harriet's waters have broken." The nurse said bluntly.
"What?!" John yelled. "But – what?! Can't you do anything to stop the baby coming?"
"We've been trying to do that since Harriet arrived, but it doesn't look like we're going to be able to stop it now." The nurse was incredibly calm, but John's head was reeling.
"Where's Kevin? I want him here – I want him to assess her right now!" John demanded, the nurse nodded.
"I've paged him, he's on his way." She replied, "Right Harriet, let's get you back into bed and try and make you more comfortable." She held onto Harry's upper arm and began to help her slowly edge her way around the bed.
"Oh… oh no! It's starting again!" Harry said suddenly, "Oh god, no – this can't be happening! It's too early!" She was half sobbing, placing her hand upon her bump. "It'll be too little! Please… find a way to make it stop!" She begged.
"It's alright Harry." John grabbed his sister's hand and squeezed it tightly. "Everything will be alright – come on, if the baby is on its way then we can cope with that together, okay?"
"No! John… I can't do this!" Harry shook her head and retightened her grip on John's hand. "I can't! I'm not ready for this!" Tears were spilling over onto her cheeks and her breathing was becoming increasingly erratic.
"Yes, you can." John lied, he didn't even know what he was saying – but it sounded like the right thing. "Come on Harry, we can do this together."
"No, I can feel it coming!" She shook her head.
"Then we need to get you sorted right now." Kevin strided into the room.
"Harriet's waters broke about ten minutes ago; I think she needs reassessing." Nurse Williams informed Dr. Ferris.
"Alright Harry, how are you feeling? Are you in pain?" He asked, gently pressing his hand at her bump.
"It feels like the baby's coming!" Harry wailed, "But it's not time yet – I'm only twenty seven weeks!"
"Well, it feels like baby has got different ideas… The head's engaged, so Nurse Williams I think we need to inform paediatrics because the baby will probably need some extra help when it arrives." Kevin told the nurse, but John was shaking his head.
"No… no!" John exclaimed, "Is there nothing you can do to stop the baby coming? There must be something!"
"John… you know as well as I do that once the mother's waters have broken, there's not very much we can do. The results of the tests show extremely high levels of protein in Harriet's urine – she's definitely got pre eclampsia… I'm rather surprised that her midwife didn't pick this up!" Kevin was talking directly to John, who had sunk his head into his hands. "The most important thing we can do now is make sure that mum and baby and both alright throughout the delivery."
"Oh god… oh god!" Harry ran her fingers through her hair, she was hyperventilating. "John, I… can't – this – no…"
"Harry, breathe in – take a breath in and now breathe out." Sherlock had suddenly broke in to the conversation from the other side of the room; John and Kevin had been too distracted. "That's it, now again… In and out." Harry tried to do what Sherlock was telling her to, taking several stuttering breaths in and letting them out.
"Oh…! Oh, I can feel… I think I need to push! What do I do?" Harry scrambled, pushing herself further up on the bed and her eyes widening in absolute terror.
"Right, alright Harriet – let's get you sitting up properly…" Nurse Williams helped to prop Harry up. "It's a contraction – it's a good thing Harriet, it means you won't have to get a C-section." John grabbed Kevin by the wrist and dragged him out of the room, Sherlock followed behind him.
"Kevin, she's not ready… the baby's not ready – it's only seven and a half months." John said pleadingly.
"John, there's nothing we can do now…" Kevin replied honestly.
"Well… I need to know the stats, how much of a chance does the baby have?" John asked.
"It is very premature; we're going to have to get it checked over. It might be completely fine, but it might have some learning difficulties or disabilities – we'll do our best John."
"John!" Harry's voice called out from in the room; he rushed back in and grabbed Harry's hand once more. "It's alright Harry, I'm going to be here with you all the way – you can do this! I know you can!" He encouraged her as she was panting and looking the most scared he had ever seen her.
"Right Harriet, just lay back for a minute, I'm going to examine you." Nurse Williams said to Harry, helping her to lie back onto the pillows. Sherlock shuffled his feet where he had been standing.
"Do you want me to go for a while?" He asked suddenly, looking uncomfortable at the position he was in.
"It's up to Harriet." Nurse Williams paused and looked at Harry.
"I don't care!" She said through gritted teeth, her face was screwed up in pain; Sherlock moved over to the side so he was standing behind John.
"How are you feeling just now Harriet?" Nurse Williams asked, "Are you feeling at the contraction at the moment?"
"Is that what the fuck it is?!" Harry strained, squeezing even more tightly on John's hand.
"Well if you're feeling tightness then that's what it is!" She replied.
"Then yes!" Harry nodded, she let her head fall back against the pillow that was propping her up. John was flicking his gaze between Harry and the nurse –waiting for the latter to pronounce judgement on what was to happen.
"Alright," The nurse said, "The baby obviously has decided it is coming today, you're already six centimetres dilated."
"Oh God…" Harry covered her face with her hands, "I… but I don't have stuff, I've not got everything ready for the baby yet! I've not even moved flats yet!"
"It's fine Harry, we'll sort everything." John reassured her. "You just focus on yourself at the moment." Harry was taking great gasps of air in; her face had flushed bright red and there were beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
"Six centimetres?!" Harry yelled, "Six centimetres! Already?!"
"Some women would do anything to trade for an easy labour Harriet!" The nurse joked encouragingly.
"It… it doesn't feel very – easy!" She refuted.
"Most women know when they're one centimetre dilated, so you've done well in getting to six this quickly!" Nurse Williams took Harry's pulse again.
"Can I have an epidural?" Harry begged.
"I'm afraid it's too late for that love; I'll get you some gas and air though." She told her.
"I had this all planned out!"
"Sometimes baby has plans of its own and mum doesn't really get a say in it." Nurse Williams said apologetically, "You're doing really well Harriet; all you need to do is keep going." She was on the other side of Harry.
"I am keeping going!" Harry told her through gritted teeth. "It doesn't feel right! It hurts!"
"That's good Harriet, it's a good hurt." John tried to be convincing. "It means new life!"
"It doesn't feel like that Johnny…" She appeared to have relaxed momentarily. "Ah, it's stopped…"
"Take a good deep breath, it'll help with the next contraction."
"Johnny… Please, I'm not able to do this on my own." She reiterated.
"Harry, you don't need to do any of it on your own. I'm here to help you all the way, with looking after the baby and with where you're staying and everything, so don't worry about that just now – just focus on yourself." John promised her.
There were footsteps from outside in the corridor and suddenly the room was flooded with more people. Kevin had reappeared bringing a team of paediatric nurses and doctors to look after Harriet.
"Do they all have to be here?" John asked Kevin impatiently. "It's a bit overcrowded!"
"They just want to check Harriet over, then they'll vacate the room but stay around in case they're needed." Kevin explained rather apologetically.
"Johnny… John." Harry whispered, lowering her voice dramatically so only John, and Sherlock stood behind him, could hear what she was saying. "I need you to promise me…" She started, but John silenced her almost instantly.
"Ssssh, Harriet." He had been standing slightly back from the bed gripping her hand, but he perched upon the edge now and shook his head. "You think about the baby just now, nothing else. I won't tell you again."
"Maybe it would be a good idea if you go outside for a couple of minutes John and…" He looked expectantly at Sherlock, but Sherlock didn't move an inch.
"You really think he's going to leave now?" Sherlock commented obviously.
"We're just trying to do the best for Harriet." Kevin said placidly to Sherlock.
"I can understand that, but the best you can do for her now is to look after her and allow John to keep looking after her." Sherlock warned in the manner that was assuming to him, Kevin seemed to cower underneath Sherlock's words. "It is a rather private moment and I think they'd appreciate it if half of the registrars on call weren't in the room gaping."
"Okay, okay." John had half registered what Sherlock was saying to Dr. Ferris, but he was too busy talking quietly to Harry; Kevin had got the message though and proceeded to usher as many unnecessary people out of the room.
"Thanks Sherlock." John murmured in a second of calm as Dr. Ferris shooed out three or four young nurses.
"No bother." Sherlock said.
"Ah…! No, it's happening again!" Harry began to breathe heavily again, "It's another contraction!"
Harry's pale skin had become completely masked by red blotches and her short hair was sticking to the side of her face. She had looked neat, well-kept when she arrived at the flat earlier on in the evening; and now she was completely dishevelled. So many people had warned her about the pains of childbirth, but Harry had never imagined anything quite like this – it was a searing, crunching pain right down in the depth of her bones. If this was what an ordinary childbirth felt like then why the hell did other women do it repeatedly? And why wouldn't they have warned her that it would be like this? Cause it didn't feel at all healthy, or proper, or life-giving – it felt wrong.
"Johnny, you'll help us – won't you? You won't let us go without?" She asked suddenly.
"Harry, stop it. I promise I'll be there to help you and the baby – you'll be sick of the sight of me!" John gave her hand an extra tight reassuring squeeze.
"Harriet, at the next contraction, I want you to push as hard as you can." Nurse Williams was leaning at the other side of the bed to John, encouraging Harry as much as she could. "You can do it, it's just a little further and baby will be with us."
"Why not yet?" Harry complained, resting her head back against one of the pillows, propping her upright.
Sherlock watched in amazement as John seemed to know exactly how to react to her; whether it was just because she was his sister, or whether it was something deeper about him knowing how to connect with another human being, he wasn't quite sure… but as he perched in the armchair beside the bed, he saw John gently stroking the side of her face. Sherlock had always rated John separately as a doctor, and as a friend – in the same way that a scientist would examine two parts of one specimen with differing criteria – but in combining them, Sherlock could understand as he watched where the compassion and care he expounded reached to the point of altruism, but combining that with his medical knowledge was actually slightly bizarre for him to watch. Sherlock, himself, was well enough versed in science and medicine to know that this situation was hardly the desirable one and that there was a great amount which hung in the balance; he could possibly see it even more so than John, as he was an outside observer… Although he was John's friend, he had no over abiding loyalty or familial feelings towards Harriet, or the baby that was about to be John's niece or nephew; and because of that he could watch – with the foreboding creeping feeling that something was going to go wrong gradually washing over him.
Harry was no longer anywhere near the realms of caring how loud she was, or what she looked like any more – from the look on her face, her single priority at this moment was getting this baby out, then she'd be able to sort everything else out.