Only Yours

22

Sherlock's P.O.V

Although the hospital waiting room is almost empty, it feels crowded. John is sitting on an orange chair, biting his nails and looking at the clock anxiously. I am pacing, running my hands through my hair and continuously looking at the door. I know I should calm down, try and reassure John that everything will be alright, but how can I when I know that it might not?

I may not know much about infants, but even I know that when twins, which are smaller than single babies anyway, are born over two months early, it can lead to serious health risks.

A doctor comes into the room and smiles at me. 'Mr Holmes?'

'Yes, yes, what's happening?' she looks a little scared as I move closer to her, peering at the paper in her hands, but I am so worried my brain is not working. I can't tell what any of it means.

'Um, Karen has been in labour for six hours and they think the babies are just about ready to come out.' I glance at the clock; half past one. I wonder what our sons are doing right now. William is probably trying to reassure Jonathan that everything will be fine, trying to stay strong to stop his brother from worrying.

I wish they were here.

'Are the babies going to be ok?' John says from behind me. The doctor nods slowly. 'They are premature, but from what we can tell they both seem fine. We have incubators and a team prepared for when they arrive, just in case. Now would you like to follow me?'

We follow the doctor through the winding halls of Bart's. A body is wheeled past us as we wait for the escalator, but I don't even try to deduce or solve the death. I am focused on our new children.

Next to the private room is a bathroom. We are told to wash our hands before we go in to see Karen.

When we enter, the room is already full with doctors and incubators and nurses. Karen looks at us with wide eyes.

'I am so sorry, I was playing football with Kenny and he kicked the ball, he hit me-'I want to tear her to pieces for endangering the lives of our children but John gently touches my arm, stopping me. 'Its fine, Karen. Everything will be fine, apparently. Not your fault.'

It is and she should pay. I am about to say this to her when she screams.

I step backwards, surprised, while the other doctors swarm around us. The young female doctor who fetched us from the waiting room steps back from our screaming surrogate and addresses John. They've apparently decided that he is the sane one of the two of us. 'The first one will arrive in a couple of minutes. If you want to hold them, you'll have to take off those suits.'

I had forgotten we were still wearing our funeral clothes. John rips off his jacket and tears off his shirt immediately, exposing his chest. Despite the seriousness of the situation, I still manage to think, he looks as good as he did when we first met.

John and I have known each other for eight years. We met when I was 27 and he was 32. Then, he walked with a psychosomatic limp and he was covered in scars but I still found him attractive. Physically as well as mentally.

'Sherlock!' I look up from his chest. 'Hmm?'

'Get ready!'

'Oh, right!' I pull off my shirt and sit down in the chair next to John. He grips my hand.

Karen gives one last piercing scream...before the room is filled with a baby's wail.

'Here is your little girl. Who wants to cut the cord?' the doctor smiles at us and holds Saphira out to us.