Sherlock paces angrily as he waits for John to come out of surgery for the second time since this madness started. He desperately hopes that this awakening will be less traumatic than the last one. The look on John's face as he awoke from having been conscious through his first surgery will be forever etched in Sherlock's mind.
Based on how John had looked when brought in Sherlock had expected hours of surgery so he is pleasantly surprised when a small female doctor turns up to tell him that John is in recovery and he may see him after having waited only an hour and a half.
They have stopped the bleeding from the liver she informs, Sherlock had been right then but he doesn't feel like congratulating himself on his diagnostic ability. They've also inserted a drain to help John breath properly, if he recovers well they may remove this by the next day but John will have to stay in the hospital for at least a couple of days. He lost quite a lot of blood and his breathing will be affected by the damage done to his lung. The doctor smiles sympathetically up at Sherlock as she assures him that it really isn't as bad as it sounds and that John will be fine.
Sherlock is not convinced and demands to be allowed to see John which the petite doctor is more than happy to oblige him in. Mycroft must have had something to do with ensuring him the privilege to circumvent family only rules. 'Your partner is a very lucky man, it could have been much worse if you had not been so close to us.' She offers and Sherlock nods realizing how Mycroft got him access to John. John might mind, he keeps telling people he's not gay but Sherlock will cross that bridge when he comes to it, right now he just wants to ensure that John is not left alone anywhere where someone might be able to get to him. He wonders if it might not be best to have him transferred to Mycroft's clinic now that the surgery is over.
'What's happened to him?' the woman asks gently 'This wasn't the first time he was attacked was it?' she continues and Sherlock wonders at the stupidity of people in general. John's knee was still in the walking cast, he was peppered with red marks from the shooting the other day and the cut on his face from the brick that had been sent through their window was still not healed and Sherlock had a sneaky suspicion that underneath his jumper John may be hiding more than a few cuts from that window, why could people not draw their own conclusions, it was obvious that John had been attacked before.
'He's been the target of a stalker, a particularly vicious one.' Sherlock explains. 'In the past few months he's been beaten, shot at, stabbed and generally harassed to within an inch of his life simply because I care about him. It's not even him who is supposed to suffer it's me.' The woman frowns up at him but doesn't prod further. It is obvious that the man beside her is very upset about his boyfriend being hurt so she decides she won't ask the obvious question of why he thinks himself responsible for it. It would seem to her that if he is the intended target of the attack on the small blond man in the bed it is certainly an effective attack. The tall pale man before her looks for all intents and purposes as though he is grieving. He does not look like someone who has just been told that his partner is in fact doing better than expected.
Relating the past few month's attacks on John out loud makes Sherlock realise just how much John has been through recently. It is no wonder if he is looking pale and unhappy. After all that is just the physical side of the torture John has been going through and Sherlock has a sneaky suspicion that it is the psychological attack that is getting to John more than anything.
He watches his friend as he sleeps for another half an hour before beginning to stir observing the shallowness of John's slow breathing with trepidation. Then John finally twitches his fingers and his Head turns slightly. 'John, are you awake, can you hear me?' he asks grabbing John's hand in his. It feels surprisingly small in his long slender fingers.
John blinks up at him looking drowsy. 'Sherlock.' he mumbles squeezing the hand that is holding his. 'Don't… look… so worried… I'm… I'm alright.' He continues and Sherlock finds himself biting his lower lip nervously realising that until John opened his eyes he had not felt quite sure that he would in fact be alright and hearing John's laboured breathing isn't exactly putting him at ease.
'Are you in pain?' he asks gently.
'Don't… feel much… of anything.' John replies between laboured breaths 'Hard… to breath… though.' He offers and Sherlock's face contorts in a frown.
'They put a tube in, that was supposed to help. I should call Mycroft, have you moved to the clinic you were in before.' He offers with a concerned look on his face.
John shakes his head. 'No… can't keep… imposing… on Mycroft… must cost… a fortune.' He forces out and Sherlock shakes his own head in turn.
'He's got a fortune, he can afford it.' Sherlock argues but he doesn't push the point. As long as they allow him to stay with John he can accept staying at UCH but he won't do so if they make him leave.
As soon as the staff notice that he is awake John is moved to a proper room, a private room, almost certainly Mycrofts doing and Sherlock is grateful even though he would never say so.
John's breathing remains laboured and Sherlock can't deny that he is worried by it. John and the staff seem fairly unbothered by it, claiming it is normal for someone with a collapsed lunch but Sherlock can't help but feel that the pallor of Johns face combined with the sound of his ragged breathing is making Sherlock himself feel distinctly concerned.
Sherlock stays the night perched in a chair in John's room sleeping very little and constantly worrying over his sleeping friend, hoping against hope that they will somehow find the man responsible for this. It is proving increasingly difficult to stay with John and simultaneously keeping up the investigation. A very small part of Sherlock wonders if he should hand over the observation of John's safety to one of Mycroft's employees but the idea of being separated from the only man he has been able to call a friend since childhood is just too hard and instead he remains in his seat watching John sleep.