Walking Toward the End

I was woken by a pounding in my head. Hushed voices were audible in the silent room.
"...needed to have been told." John's voice muttered in an edgy tone.
"What are you expecting from me?" Anderson sneered back.
I opened an eye. "Anderson, get out of my room. Your aura isn't good for my recovery."
With a huff, Anderson stepped out of the room.
"Aura?" John smiled.
"He went to a psychic earlier. Can't you tell?"
He smiled and sat in the light wooden chair next to my hospital bed. "Lestrade's gone and left him in charge, God knows why."
I sighed. "All the more fun. Now explain what happened. I remember...I went to my room, after..." My voice faltered. Did John know that Sherlock was alive? The pain medication wasn't allowing me to think clearly. If he didn't, I wanted him to find out from Sherlock. "After I went to the show. They didn't have the cereal, by the way."
John sat forward. "We got a call from Donovan. She said someone had found you in a factory in horrible condition. They mentioned Moriarty and an overdose, but never left their name. He found you with an ambulance in the factory Sherlock found you in when you were small." My chest ached, but I kept from showing it. "There's no way he could have known unless someone had told him."
At those words, Mycroft entered. I know the expression on his face: guilt.
I crossed my arms. "Why did you tell him?"
"I'm sorry, Eveline, I truly am." He wavered uncertainly in the doorway.
I gritted my teeth. "Why did you tell him?"
"It was the only way we could get him to talk. To give him bits and pieces of Sherlock's past."
"You idiot!" I growled. "Did it never occur to you that he could use that against him? Did you never think, not once, that the only reason he was still there was to learn about Sherlock?"
"What would you have done in my place?" He countered.
"Sleep deprivation, Mycroft! He wouldn't be able to think straight! He would be less likely to escape and more likely to tell you something."
"Eveline-"
"Just get out." I pointed to the door.

John stayed with me the rest of the day, talking about how frantic Mrs. Hudson was when she'd heard, he had forced her to stay home while I was recovering, which had taken almost exactly twenty-four hours.
"She kept offering anyone who knocked to come in for tea," he smiled. "I think she genuinely terrified some people."
I had a black eye, along with lots of cuts and bruises, but I had to stay until my fever went down, which would take about another day.

Donovan and Anderson came in and John left for the night.
"We'll need you to tell us everything you can remember," Donovan took out her notepad.
I crossed my arms over my chest. "Why?"
"You know bloody well why," Anderson started before Donovan interrupted him.
"Look, we all know he can't really be back. We need to figure out who kidnapped you."
"So, it was just a coincidence they left me in the factory? The exact same room, the exact same spot, for god's sake! Who else would know? I never told anyone and Sherlock definitely didn't, so what are you suggesting? It was just an accident? Sherlock's come back to haunt me? Did you ever think he could have faked his death? Remember little Carl, everyone was so convinced it was an accident they ignored all that would complicate it. You don't want Moriarty to be back, so you choose to ignore all that would say otherwise." I paused. "Moriarty is back, whether you like it or not. Now get out of my room. I can't tell you anything else."

It felt impossible to sleep that night. The nurse was lovely, she checked in on me often and I started to pretend to be asleep so I wouldn't cause her trouble. The unfamiliar bed, machines beeping into my ear, the I.V. they had me hooked onto, all contributed to my distress. The pain medication attempted to lull me asleep, which made it all the more hard to distract myself. I glared at the wall until I heard a voice that made me shut my eyes.
"I have to see her."
"Sir, I'm sorry, visiting hours are over. You can come again in the morning. She'll still be here."
"I can't come then," he replied. "It has to be now."
I heard the nurse sigh. "I suppose...but if she's sleeping, don't disturb her. I can get you only five minutes."
The door opened seconds later, light dancing behind my closed eyelids. Faint shuffled footsteps made their way to my bedside as the door closed.
"You're awake," he said.
I looked up to see his awfully red eyes. He must have gotten even less sleep than usual.
"Sherlock?" I whispered.
He put his cold hand to my head and nodded. "You can't tell John, or Mrs. Hudson, or Lestrade. You can't tell anyone you've seen me, not until they're safe."
"You've no idea how much pain that put them through. How long?"
"As long as it takes. I have to be forgotten."
His thumb stroked my temple soothingly, I'm not sure how long. It was one of those moments that seemed timeless, no matter how often you looked at the clock, how long you counted the seconds, it seemed too long yet too short. In an eternity, yet only a second, it was time for him to go.
"Give me a sign that you're okay once in a while, alright?" I asked.
"Don't be as ignorant as normal people, and maybe you'll notice the ones I've already sent."