Promises Series

Promise of Love - Miracle

The title of this chapter is "Miracle" by The Temper Trap.

Sherlock strode into the school determinedly. He walked straight to the office, John trailing behind him.

"Mr. Arkman," he greeted the man at the desk. "Where's Julia?"

"She's in Dr. Newberry's office at the moment. If you would just wait a few mo-"

"Why is she speaking with him alone?" John questioned.

"Dr. Newberry thought it would be-"

"He thought wrong," snapped Sherlock. The detective threw open the right door and stalked inside.

"Mr. Holmes!" exclaimed Dr. Newberry. "As nice as it is to see you again, I have to admit these are not the circumstances I'd expected."

"Why are you speaking with my daughter alone?" Sherlock demanded. He looked down at the girl, whose gaze was fixed squarely on her hands. They were scratched and bruised.

"Well, I wanted to get the whole story before the parents showed up."

John frowned. "She'll just need to explain it again with us in the room, won't she?"

"The thing is, kids tend to fib a bit when their parents are in the room. I find it's better to ask them questions myself."

"That's ridiculous," John put in.

"She's more likely to be truthful with me than with you," Sherlock said. "I am an adult she trusts. Why would she be more honest with you?"

"She should be able to trust me as well," Dr. Newberry defended. "Julia?"

"I don't know you very well," Julia replied quietly. She glanced up. There was a cut on her cheek and a red ring around her neck. "All due respect."

Dr. Newberry frowned. "Well, now that you're here, Mr. Holmes and..." He trailed off, looking at John expectantly.

"Dr. Watson."

"Now that you're both here, we can talk about what happened earlier."

Sherlock sat down on the couch next to Julia. John took one of the chairs in front of the headmaster's desk. Julia moved closer to Sherlock, but winced at the effort. Sherlock set his jaw.

"John, could you check Julia's wrist?" he asked. As John nodded, Sherlock turned to the headmaster. "Did you think to call an ambulance?"

"Pardon?"

"She's in pain. Her wrist is sprained," John said. "You haven't thought that maybe she should be in hospital?"

"N-no."

"Obviously not," Sherlock replied scathingly. "You're more concerned with interrogating her."

"Sherlock," John said. "Sit down."

The detective was vaguely surprised to find himself standing, his fists clenched at his sides. He sat in one of the chairs in front of the headmaster's desk, frowning.

"Julia, can you tell me what happened, please?"

"Amelia and I were walking to lunch, and I heard voices, so I told Amelia to get Will and Kieran. Some girls were cornering Lena-"

"Who?" Sherlock questioned. "The girls. Who were they?"

"Mary, Georgia, and Charlotte. They had Lena cornered, and they were hurting her, so I pushed Mary away from h-"

"You shouldn't have done that," Dr. Newberry scolded.

Sherlock glared at him pointedly. The other man turned red and shut his mouth.