Sherlock: Lover Mine [Book II]

Arson

April

Beep... Beep... Beep...

Blip-Blip.. Blip-Blip..

"Wake up. Come on,.. Please?"

Sherlock floundered in darkness for a long time. He knew, rather deduced, that he was in a hospital room. But he couldn't quite wake up, likely due to the pain medications and anesthesia the doctors might have given him. For what, though?

"Sherlock, come on! The doctor's say you'll be fine but Susanna is on her way and when I called her to tell her about what happened, she sounded very upset. So wake up and get over this, you bloody idiot."

Right. He and John had been hunting a serial grand arsonist and had cornered him in a dilapidated building already set to be destroyed. Their quarry ended up setting fire to the leaky gas pipes. John had been outside with the police to catch the suspect if he ran, so he was fine. Sherlock, however, was caught in the explosion.

"Sherlock, you got hit with flying debris but it shouldn't be keeping you under this long. Susanna is on her way."

It was slow, but Sherlock did manage to regain control of his body and start waking up. He felt sore, so he'd probably incurred some nasty bruises where the debris had hit him. He also felt burnt, mostly around his hands and cheeks, where the flames got close but didn't touch him.

Sherlock heard the room door open and shut, followed by light, dainty feet padding across the floor. He knew it was Susanna as the footsteps approached the gurney and the army doctor, "How is he, John?"

"I think he's being stubborn about waking up, is all. The burns will heal up nicely and the injuries he got from the debris are mostly bruises. His scarf and coat saved him a lot of medical bills, you could say, and even those survived the blast."

"And are you okay, John?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was outside. Moron went in without me. Again." Sherlock heard Susanna step closer to the head of the bed.

"Oh, Sherlock, what are we going to do with you?" One cool hand grasped his own and the other lifted to stroke his hair. Her voice was calm and soothing, but it was slightly raspy. She was upset.

John's phone went off and he sighed, "Lestrade needs me and then I'd better get back home. Call when he finally comes around?"

"Of course I will, John."

"Okay then. See you."

"See you."

John left and Sherlock regretted that he hadn't woken up in time for his best friend. But his body wasn't responding as fast as he'd like. At least Susanna was there.

"Come on, darling, it's time to wake up. John was quite upset you didn't wake up for him," She sighed and Sherlock felt a pang of guilt as she sniffled a little, "I'm glad that you're okay, Sherlock. When John called me and said you'd been in an explosion, I dropped everything and came. Rosie's with Missus H and they're worried too. Good grief, Sherlock, you scared us all."

Susanna quieted after that and left for a moment to pull up a chair. She continued holding onto his hand as he fought to awaken fully. It took about half an hour before he managed to drag his eyelids open and take a deep, though scratchy, breath, "Susanna..."

She stood up and came into better focus, "Sherlock?" She was smiling gently, though her eyes were full of concern. Sherlock managed a light, though pained, smile, "I have to tell John you're awake now. How do you feel?"

"Burnt. Sore. The arsonist decided to ignite the gas that had leaked from the pipe systems in that building. You could say he went out with a bang." He managed, trying to assuage the situation. Susanna scowled.

"You almost went out with a bang, Sherlock. That's. Not. Funny." She poked him in the chest for emphasis.

"I was a safe distance from the main blast zone. I'll be fine, Love," He reached for her hand and squeezed it, "Believe me, I have seen much worse. I'll be recovered long before our wedding."

"I'm just happy you're in one piece and breathing, Sherlock. A blast like that? Your suspect's in three pieces, looking like a charcoal brickette. You must have been at least one story down or the walls must have been quite thick if you came out this good."

"The latter."

"Mmm," Susanna leaned over and gave him a gentle kiss. When she pulled away she sighed, "Try not to get any worse before we get married, darling?"

"I'll do my level best."

"Good," She gave him another quick kiss, "Now I've got to tell John and I'll go get you some water. You're sounding a little hoarse due to the smoke and whatever else you undoubtedly inhaled."

"Very well." She smiled and stepped out. He leaned his head back and exhaled, thanking his stars that he hadn't caught up to the arsonist.

Meanwhile, the fire department was called to put out more suspicious flames at a residential complex. Two figures, blending in with the onlooking crowd, made a subtle fist bump before making their exit into a back alley, "Should we be worried since the cops figured Sam out?"

"Forget him. He was only supposed to draw off Sherlock Holmes while we took care of preliminary business. He blew himself up and saved us the trouble, is all. Now we're ready."

"Coffee?"

"Black. Piping hot."

Thank you for reading!!