Brotherly Love

Old Friends and New Hope

It had been a few days since Mycrofts visit and I was steadily improving, not only physically but mentally as well. I was able to explain what James had relayed to me about my mother, without going into hysterics and Sherlock promised to look into it, to see if there was any truth to the story I had been told. It seemed like it wasn't as easy to get the information as he thought, so he and John left for Ireland to investigate it personally, which left me alone in my not-hospital room. 

I had found out, that I wasn't really at a hospital, but at a safe-house, where one of the rooms had been converted into a hospital room. According to Sherlock, I was officially dead, they had even arranged a funeral while I had been in a coma and for all intents and purposes, Alice Moriarty did no longer exist. The thought should have been reassuring, but I was pretty certain, that James wouldn't be fooled for long and sooner or later he would come for me again.

I wasn't allowed to leave the premises, but seeing as I wasn't able to walk very far on my own, this was not a problem. I spend my days either in my room sitting by the window, reading or just staring outside, lost in thought for hours on end, or I was slowly shuffling through the house until nurse Edwards would find my exhausted form propped up against a wall and after admonishing me for my recklessness, she would guide me back to my room.

Regina Edwards was a resolute woman in her late forties, with short blonde-gray hair, warm brown eyes and the physical build of a rugby player. Despite her intimidating mass, she was very sweet, but only up until she thought I was straining myself to much, at which point she went into full authoritarian-mode. In a voice that brokered no argument, she would lecture me about how I should give my body more time to heal properly, instead of over exerting myself, which would only delay my recovery. I knew that she was right, but I would get restless form time to time, fed up with my own uselessness and so I would wander the hallways, despite the pain I was still in.

No one had come to visit me since Sherlock and John had left three days prior, so I was surprised, when there was a tentative knock on my door one morning. Nurse Edwards usually just barged in, so I knew it couldn't be her. Shuffling to the door, I opened it only to find a timid brunette on the other side, her eyes going wide, when she saw me in all my bruised glory.

"Molly! What are you doing here?" Instead of a reply, the tiny pathologist burst out into tears and I could barely make out, what she was saying through her heart-wrenching sobs. Taking pity on her, I wound my arm around her shaking shoulders and tried comforting her.

"Hey, it's alright, please don't cry. I'm not angry with you, you know."

"B-but y-you should b-b-be! If I hadn't drugged you, n-none of this w-would have h-h-happened! H-he almost killed you and i-it is all m-my fault! I'm so so sorry, A-Alice!" Grabbing both her shoulders with my hands, I shook her a little.

"You listen to me Molly Hooper! None of this is your fault. He would have got to me, no matter if you helped him or not. But if it makes you feel any better, I officially forgive you for trying to protect your friends by doing the only thing you could have done in a situation like this."

She looked at me through tear-filled eyes and I could see that she didn't believe me.

"B-but you are my friend too and I didn't protect you from h-him. S-sherlock was f-furious when he found out and he hasn't even t-talked to me s-since you were taken and rightfully so. I will never forgive myself for letting you down."

Her voice had grown stronger at the end, the tears finally subsiding and I pulled her in for a hug, reassuring her again, that I harboured no ill feelings towards her. After a while, she had calmed down and pulled away from me, a frown on her face, after she thoroughly inspected me. Gently taking my arm, she led me to one of the chairs by the window.