Mr Holmes and Miss Hooper - a Sherlolly Story

Chapter 27

The weekend turned into the week and Loo was worried her sister was running herself dry. Molly stayed at the hospital every night. She came home in the morning for a shower and to pick up Loo and then she drove them both to school. At school, she was teaching all of her own classes as well as Sherlock's year 11s, flitting between her classroom and his, making sure all of them felt okay with the content and the upcoming exams which started in just over a week. That's not forgetting the supply teachers who would come into her normal classes every half hour to ask for help with something stupid. At the end of the day, she would grab her work and Loo and drive straight back to the hospital where they would meet John and Mary. Sometimes Violet and Siger were there too, but they mostly visited during the day when Molly was at school. They would all stay there together until around 6 pm when John and Mary would take Loo back to theirs for some food before dropping her off at home or she would stay in their spare room. Molly would spend all night at Sherlock's side and then the whole cycle would begin again. Loo needed him to wake up now. Not even just for him anymore, but for her sister's health and sanity too. It was Friday again, and Loo hadn't seen Molly eat a full meal all week. They were in the car on their way to the hospital when Loo decided to bring it up.

"Molls, maybe you should stay home tonight?"

"Don't be silly, Loo. I can't do that."

"You haven't eaten or slept properly in a week! I'm surprised your back isn't done in from sleeping in the chair."

"The nurses have been putting out a cot for me since Tuesday."

"Still, Molly!" She didn't mean to get exasperated with her sister, but this was a dangerous loop that Loo had seen before with their dad. Molly made herself ill caring for everyone else and forgetting about herself. "Maybe you should take a break. There's only so much you can burn your candle at both ends. Sherlock's more stable now, his breathing tube is gone and his heart is more steady. You don't have to worry so much anymore."

"I'm fine, Loo."

"No, you're not!"

Molly pulled into a parking bay at the hospital, dropping her visitor's permit onto the dash. She squeezed her eyes shut.

"Loo, I can't not be here."

"Why not?"

Molly turned to look at her younger sister, her eyes were glassy with unshed tears.

"What if he wakes up? What if he wakes up and I'm not there to tell him it's okay? What if he wakes up in the middle of the night, alone, thinking no one cared enough to stay with him?"

Loo took a quick intake of breath, she couldn't argue with that. Not with Molly. Not with everything she'd been through. Molly hadn't been with her mum when she died, and Loo knew that still haunted her, no matter how young Molly was when she lost her. She reached for her sister's hand.

"Okay," she sighed, "but please eat something tonight."

Molly smiled the best she could. It was barely a flick up of one corner of her mouth. "I promise."

The sisters hopped out of the car made their way to Sherlock's room. The night played out the way every other night that week had and soon Mary, John, Loo and little Rosie were getting ready to leave.

"Molls, why don't you walk down with us? You can grab some food from the cafeteria and then come back up, yeah?" Her sister's voice sounded light to the others in the room but Molly could see the daggers in Loo's eyes. She wasn't allowed to say no. She nodded.

"Sounds good."

At the cafeteria, Molly perused what was available before settling on a tub of pasta. She knew Loo would tell her it wasn't proper food but she didn't think she could stomach anything else. She opened it in the lift back up to the ICU floor and was pleasantly surprised when she took her first mouthful. For pasta in a plastic tub off a plastic fork, it wasn't so bad. Her first bite made her realise how hungry she was and she took mouthful after mouthful as she walked back up the straight corridor. It wasn't until she reached the nurses' station that she realised the unusually loud but quiet clamour of a hospital ICU was louder tonight. It wasn't until she was at Sherlock's door that she realised the code blue alarm was blaring from his room, his bed. The paddles were on his bare chest and suddenly her pasta was on the floor. She was frozen in place. Every shock they sent through Sherlock's body sent a bolt of lightning through her. This couldn't be happening. Her head was spinning and before she knew it the world was black around her.