Ten Past the Hour (Mycroft Holmes Fanfiction)

Chapter 16

The police arrived without sirens just as Amy felt her knees give out from under her. Sherlock caught her and held her up against his chest, shaking her gently. She looked at him blankly, feeling... nothing. She didn't feel anything.

Mycroft Holmes was dying.

He was going to leave her to pick up the pieces of her own. Without his smile, his warm blue eyes...

She focused on Sherlock, her mind finding comfort in the piercing gaze that reminded her so much of Mycroft's. She stood up straight on her own, forcing calm into her heart and mind. She held the pieces together, silently telling herself there would be time enough for letting them fall later. Right now, she needed to be with Mycroft.

"Amy!" Sherlock shouted.

She blinked. "Go. Get Hollens. I'm going to the hospital."

The lift dinged and opened. An older man stepped out and then hesitated. Jordan reacted instantly, pulling her gun and firing into the air. Screams rent the air.

"Everybody down!"

Like a cockroach scurrying from the light, Kristopher Hollens made a break for it. Jordan aimed carefully and fired. Hollens cried out and fell, clutching his leg to his chest. The police rushed in and Jordan took command of the scene, directing them easily. She nodded to Amy and Sherlock.

"Go. I'll handle this and meet you at the hospital."

Sherlock nodded and took Amy's hand. He pulled her into the car and ordered the driver to take them to the hospital. Amy took the time she had to pull herself together into a semblance of strength. Sherlock watched her carefully, his hand wrapped tightly around her wrist. He looked up at her and sighed.

"You're not the fainting or panicking sort. I'm glad."

She managed a shaky smile. Sherlock's approval was something she had unconsciously desired and now she had achieved it, even in this terrible moment.

They reached the hospital and Amy ran to Mycroft's room. Sliding to a stop, she felt her world fall away as the high pitched drone of the cardiac monitor reached her in one steady note.

"No." She stood outside the glass door and watched as John, pulled into helping where he could, prepared the defibrillator and nodded to Doctor Kuser. "No! Mycroft!" Her palms slammed against the door. The doctor tried again. "Mycroft!" She shouted, feeling the door vibrate as she slapped it again.

Nothing.

They pulled Doctor Kuser away. He shook his head and turned slowly to meet her gaze.

A hand wrapped tightly around her arm and held her steady. She shook her head, feeling something rip her heart out. Her lungs felt crushed, refusing to breathe.

Stars imploded. The world went dark. The ground fell away and left her in a burning chasm of loss. And still she waited.

Her eyes followed Kuser's to the clock.

6:10.

She read his lips as he spoke to someone, recording the moment.

"And ten minutes past six... Mycroft Holmes d-"

Something beeped.

The chest behind her shuddered and she vaguely recognized Sherlock's voice.

"Come on..."

It beeped again.

Amy's eyes, like everyone else's, went to the monitor to the side. A heartbeat. There was a heartbeat.