"How many?" Molly asked, coming to stand beside another nurse.
"Twelve. A bomb went off and men got caught in the blast. Most were far enough away, but there was one that was close. He's already been placed in a special room." Molly nodded and began to make her way to one of the men that was sitting on a cot.
"Shards in the leg?" She asked, inspecting his bloody leg. He gave her a nod and she began to roll up his pants so that she could get to his calf.
"Hooper!" Molly turned over her shoulder to see one of the older doctors jogging towards her.
"Yes Dr. Erikson?" Molly's brows knitted and she slowly turned back to the solider sitting in front of her.
"I need you to see to someone else. I can have another nurse take care of this one" he gestured to the solider sitting on the cot.
"But I can't just le-"
"Hooper. I'll make sure" He absent mindedly pointed at the solider "…what's your name?"
"George" the solider answered.
"Well Melanie can take care of George. I need you" he pointed to Molly "to take care of Sherlock Holmes. He was the one closest to the blast."
"Ok" Molly nodded and followed Dr. Erikson away. Molly had to stifle a laugh when she heard George give a flirty "Hello" to Melanie who giggled in response.
"Soldiers will do anything to get a little something extra" Dr. Erikson smiled, shaking his head.
He led Molly down a hallway and opened a door. The room had a small window with the curtains closed, leaving very little light shining on the man lying on the cot.
"He has gashes up the left side of his body from the blast and the debris" Dr. Erikson explained to Molly as he stepped into the room. "He has bruising on his right side. After the blast happened he was propelled by the shock of it and landed hard on his right side. He has a small cut on his cheek and a large bump on his head. He's unconscious right now, but his he'll wake up eventually. When he does, you can dress the wounds and get something cold for his head. If he becomes too much, just come get one of the other doctors and we'll come help you." Dr. Erikson concluded before he began to walk out of the room.
"Why am I doing this sir? I'm just a nurse." Molly asked.
Dr. Erikson smiled. "We both know you are qualified enough to be a doctor. I have surgeries to perform. I don't have enough free time to try and take care of a man who isn't dying. Besides, I thought you would be the best for this job."
"Thank you sir. I'll try not to let you down."
"You won't." Dr. Erikson said before leaving Molly alone with the injured man. Molly stood there awkwardly, playing with her dress. She looked around the room, trying to find something to do. In the corner she found a small stool that she placed at the foot of the cot and waited for the man to wake up.
Molly was jolted awake by panicked cries. "What's going on?! Where am I?! What happened?!" The patient, 'Sherlock Holmes', Molly reminded herself was trying to get off of the cot with little success. Every time he moved, he would hiss in pain and seemed to find a new injury. He began to waver and seemed as if he was going to faint. Molly ran over and began pushing him back onto the cot. "There was an explosion and-"
"Who are you? What are you doing?" He asked trying to keep himself upright. When Molly put her hand on his chest and tried to push him back down he grimaced in pain. "I'm sorry" Molly said quietly and backed away from the cot. This left Sherlock reclining slightly with one leg on the cot and one leg off. He sat there in silence before whispering "I can't remember my name."
"You might have shot term memory loss. You did hit your head pretty hard." Molly gave a reassuring smile while her eyes drifted to a large bruise on his head "Your name is Sherlock Holmes and my name is Molly Hooper. Now, I'm going to get some anesthetic and look at your injuries, okay?"
"My mind is all I have; without it I have nothing." Sherlock's breathing picked up and so did his heart rate. He lifted his hand to find that it was shaking and turned in panic to Molly. Molly took his hand in hers. "You're going to be okay. Your memory will come back soon, you just need to give it a little time. I promise, you are going to be just fine." Sherlock felt himself calm down and nodded. Molly slowly let go of his hand to make sure he was still ok. She gave his a reassuring nod and quickly left the room to get some supplies for his injuries. She came back with rolls of bandages, a rag, and a bowl of warm water.
"I'm going to roll up your pants leg and I'm going to clean the large wound. I'm only going to look at the large cuts. The smaller once we can deal with later on." After his pants were up to his knee she dunked the rag in the water and began to wipe the blood off. Sherlock hissed in pain and gripped the side of the bed. "Sorry" she whispered before continuing.
"Do you mind if I take a look at your chest?" Molly asked as she finished wrapping Sherlock's leg.
"That's rather forward don't you think, Ms. Hooper?" He smirked. She looked at the ground, feeling her face reddening.
"You know what I meant." She replied quietly. Sherlock smiled and began to attempt to take his shirt off.
"Let me do that." Molly said as she watched Sherlock grimace. She nimbly unbuttoned his shirt and slid it off his arms trying to cause his the least amount of pain. "Sorry"
"You seem to have a habit of apologizing for doing your job. It's quite annoying."
"Sor-" Sherlock gave her a look "Yes I do…I'm going to check to see if you have any broken ribs on your right side. It's going to hurt." Sherlock nodded and she began gently prodding him. She tried to ignore the sounds of pain he was making and bite her tongue to stop from apologizing.
"I can't tell anything. We'll have to wait for the swelling to go down. For now, I can clean you up and wrap the cut." She was just beginning to bandage his chest when Dr. Erikson came in with another man. Sherlock sat up straighter and blurted out "Mycroft?!"
"Hello dear brother." Mycroft said, swinging an umbrella. "Now, Ms. Hooper, I'd like to make a proposition."
"Um…anything sir" Molly said as she continued to wrap Sherlock.
"I'd like to take my brother home…now."
"Right now?" Molly tied the bandage off and turned to Mycroft, her eyebrows knitted in confusion.
"Yes, Ms. Hooper" Mycroft sighed "right now."
"But your brother is hurt. He is in no condition to travel, let alone leave his bed for a long period of time. He has gashes all over the left side of his body, bruising and possible a broken rib or two-"
"A broken rib?" Mycroft turned to Dr. Erikson "You didn't say anything about a broken rib." Dr. Erikson shrugged "I told you she's smart."
Mycroft turned and scrutinized Molly. When he was satisfied, he turned back to Dr. Erikson "Does our decision from before stand?"
"That's not mine to make. It's hers." He nodded towards Molly. "Ms. Hooper, seeing as my brother is in a battered condition" Sherlock scoffed and rolled his eyes "I suggested to Dr. Erikson that you accompany us home and take care of my dear little brother until he is completely healed. Do you agree?"
"I can't just…I can't just leave the hospital."
"We will pay you, Ms. Hooper."
"This is a very good opportunity Molly" Dr. Erikson interrupted.
"The hospital cannot spare doctors and almost all of the nurses are incompetent for the condition of my brother. You obviously have the qualifications to be a doctor and Dr. Erikson recommended you, so the question is, are you coming or not?" Mycroft said, tapping his umbrella on the ground.
"But I won't be there for a long time."
"Mycroft can't take care of me" Sherlock explained to Molly "he'll leave as soon as we get back home; 'Government business' apparently. My mother is incapable of taking care of me so someone else will have to take care of me"
"…okay, I'll come."
"Good. We're leaving now." Mycroft turned and began to walk away.