The halls of St Bartholomew's were quiet. Behind what seemed like hundreds of doors, people died and people lived. Machines beeped steadily and machines gave one long drawn out beep. In a private room where the door was flanked by two police officers, a tall man with curly hair stuck his head out the door
"Oh please" said Sherlock, "a paper bag would offer more protection then you idiots."
One of the police officers coughed nervously
"Procedure Sir, just to make sure no one else gets to the victim"
Sherlock's eye's narrowed,
"And what if someone was to try and get to her? What would you do? How would you spring into action?"
The two men looked at each other; the other man cleared his throat and nervously offered.
"We would assess the situation and, take decisive action Sir"
The taller man smiled grimly,
"My apologies gentlemen. A wet paper bag would be better protection" And with that he turned and disappeared into the hospital room.
John was sitting on the hard hospital chairs that squatted next to the bed. Squish lay in the bed with various tubes leading off into her. She looked smaller in the bed and Sherlock's chest tightened when he thought of the state she had been. Her ribs had been x-rayed and they were waiting for the results, until then they had been tightly bandaged as had the cuts on her back and the worst of the burns.
"John looked up as Sherlock re-entered the room, and resumed pacing the room
"She's going to be ok Sherlock, I checked her over myself and there won't be any lasting damage. A little bit of scarring, but that's to be expected."
"Be expected? John she was held hostage and tortured for over 24 hours by a certifiable psychopath and sociopath, whose self-proclaimed aim in life is to burn the heart out of me, I don't think you can say what's to be expected"
He threw himself down onto the chair next to John's and stared at the girl. The heart monitor continued to beep and Sherlock reached out a hand and took Squish's. He checked her pulse and nodded, but didn't let go of her hand. There was a knock on the door, John stood up as the doctor walked in,
"So?" he asked trying to look at the x-rays, Sherlock instead just stood up and took them off of the stunned man.
"So no abnormalities in the ribs then" he said after a cursory glance, "fractured as we thought, and the ankle?" he extended a hand and passed the tablet to John with the other who also looked at it and nodded, then passed it back to the doctor who in turn passed another x ray to Sherlock.
"As you can see the bone isn't…"
"Yes thank you" interrupted Sherlock, "You can go now" he said over his shoulder as he sat back down again.
"Look, thank you but we'll call you if there's any change" john said as he ushered the bewildered doctor from the room.
"Sherlock was examining the x-ray,
"She's been lucky, the bones only very badly bruised not broken"
"Yes, lucky" said a voice, "always lucky to know that your ankles only badly bruised not broken from your torture with a psycho."
Sherlock immediately turned to the bed. Squish's very tired face looked over the sheets. Her eyes were looking very dark and she looked somehow smaller than usual. Her eyes flicked to the left and right and John realised with a tugging at his heart that she was looking for her attackers. But there was still something in her face that told John she was going to be ok.
"Are you all right? How do you feel?"
"Like I've been mauled by a tiger, an elephant and a bus, but I think I'll survive." She tried to sit up but winced. "Yep definitely cracked the ribs. What's the damage elsewhere?"
"You've got cracked ribs which have been bound up, as have the cuts and burns, we're going to have to watch for infection in those, your ankles just badly bruised on the bone not broken like we originally thought but you are no allowed to walk on it for at least a week." John told her, as he sat down on the other side of her bed. He reached over and took hand, "We were worried about you. Weren't we Sherlock?"
The other man didn't say anything just sat down next to the bed.
"I am so so sorry." He said, as he reached out and took her other hand, "I am so sorry."
"It wasn't your fault Sherlock. I should have been more careful."
He leaned down and kissed her forehead, "I should have taken more care of you."
She squeezed his hand. The bruise on her face had gone from purple to a dark blue, it further emphasised how pale she was. Sherlock's long fingers caressed it.
"He won't ever hurt you again" he said quietly his deep baritone rumbling through his fingertips, "I promise"
There was a knock at the door and Lestrade came in. He looked at the scene and frowned
"The two at the door said you'd woken up. We need to talk to you about the men who umm assaulted you"
Immediately Sherlock was on his feet.
"You cannot be serious! Lestrade my daughter has just woken up from TORTURE that caused her to become unconscious. She has severe trauma to her body and you really think that making her relive it hours after it stopped, is going to help her or you find the people who did it?"
John had also gotten to his feet
"Gents can you please do this outside. It isn't fair to Squish, as her doctor I agree with Sherlock, she does need to rest and this isn't going to help her."
He stood between the two men and looked at the both. Sherlock refused to look away from Lestrade and it was Lestrade who looked away first.
"Ok we'll do this tomorrow, but I mean it Sherlock! Tomorrow." He left the room slamming the door with a bang.
Squish sank down into the pillows her white face almost lost against the starched linen, "Thank you. I don't think I could face it just yet."
Sherlock also sat down, "You don't have to until you're ready. No matter what he says. I swear you don't have to go through it till you want to"
Squish sighed, "I'm just so tired, I feel like I could sleep and sleep."
John reached out and took the hand not held by Sherlock, "Go to sleep sweetheart. I promise you'll feel better and we'll still be here"
"Well where else did you plan on being?" she asked as she began to slip away, "It's not like you have a date."
A little while later, there was another knock on the door, and Molly Hooper stuck her head around the door frame.
"It's the end of my shift. Do you mind if I come and sit for a bit?"
John shook his head and Molly took the last chair around the bed. They sat in silence and Molly then John fell asleep, and only Sherlock had his eyes fixed on the girl in the bed.