Born Mad

Chapter Twelve: Patience Leads to Results

"It's peculiar..." remarked the doctor sometime later as I scowled down at the fresh cup of coffee in front of me. I should probably explain why I was in such a mood, I suppose.

Well, to start, every muscle in my body protested movement, taking just that much more effort to move in my sluggish state. My left arm gave a sharp pain every time it even twitched. I was being forced to stay awake when I had no hope of doing so, and my mind was on overdrive. Worse? Watson still wanted to make conversation!

I grumbled answers from time to time, not paying attention to anything the Doc was saying.

"Aurora!"

I jumped awake at the shout, hitting my bad arm against the table by accident in the process. I grit my teeth, glaring up at the good doctor. "WHAT?!"

"As I was saying," he began again stubbornly. "It's peculiar how your body works. You should have just been fatigued a little at a time, but instead, you took it full blunt as to quicken the recovery process. It's remarkable, really."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm the Wonder of the Medical World. Now pass me another coffee would ya?"

"Is she always like this, Doctor?"

"Always."

"And you haven't slapped her yet because...?"

"She has a name, and it's Aurora," I interrupted with a growl, downing the cup of coffee that the Doc had given me. "And if ya have such a problem with me, Detective Inspector, why are you helping?"

"Because, as Sherlock said, there's potential."

I yawned bitterly. "Well, ya aren't going to get much better than this. Can I get 'nother coffee over 'ere?"

"Anything to keep you awake," Watson nodded.

The rest of the day was rather dull. I was eventually led back to my little hospital/prison, my pretending to be insane on the way. Watson stayed with me the entire time, our having light conversations just to keep me awake.

"Aurora, I was wondering what you were going to do after you find your parents."

"Revenge."

"Elaborate?"

"I'm going to go there, show them their mistake, and then shoot their most expensive vase. Simple."

"Then what?"

I flashed the Doc a grin and gave a shrug. "I'll improvise. Say, do you think the inspector will be needing this anytime soon? Because I must say that this will be quite useful."

"...How did you get Lestrade's gun?"

"I pickpocket when I'm annoyed. Oh, here's your cellphone back. Karen Zell called a good fifty times in the past hour wondering where you've been. Dump her, I say."

"Aurora, you can't just go around pickpocketing people!"

"Why not? It's worked so far. ...Do you think the idiot that we call Anderson will need his badge back? Say, does this fellow even have a first name? It's not even on his badge..."

"...You're something else."

"I know; isn't it great?"

We spent a good amount of time in awkward silence, and this was only broken when Mister Holmes stormed in with a growl, undoing his scarf and tossing it aside along with his coat. "Think! How to do it? Think!"

"Sherlock, what's the matter?"

"Isn't it obvious, Doc? Snappy-Pants can't get into the cell."

"It's heavily guarded," he snapped (hence the name). "Every single cell in this place is filled with an insane, but that one is empty yet is guarded even more heavily."

I sat up, finally interested as I scrambled off my bed with the Doc's help. "Every other cell you say?"

"Every. Single. One!" He stopped, noticing my smile, and he did the same, his lips curling up into a fond smirk of approval. "Oh, you're good. Brilliant. Utterly brilliant. I can't say that about many people, but you... You're something else."

"Yes, we've established that," I added nonchalantly. "Now, I believe I have a cell to occupy."

Before long, I found myself being thrown inside High-Containment Cell 376A, straitjacket, chained ankles, and all.