Chapter 7

"Mrs. Hudson," he started, his voice raspy from not being used all day, "could you please go and get the man?"
"Of course, dear." She turned to walk out of the door, not even getting through it before she heard Sherlock's sobbing.

"John," Sherlock choked out. He grabbed his cold hand in his own, but it felt… different. He didn't really notice though. He placed his head down on John's shoulder and froze. His hope started to build back up when he realized that the skin on John's left shoulder was perfectly smooth, not scarred like it should have been. He tentatively pulled the sheet back to reveal that there was no scar on the soldiers shoulder. This wasn't John.

The man and Mrs. Hudson came back into the room and Sherlock spun around so quickly it made him dizzy.
"Are these all the dead bodies?"
"Yes sir."
"Did any of them come in wearing a wedding ring around their dog tags?"
"Now that you mention it, there was one man with a ring on his tags, but the tags were severely damaged. The ring was fine though, he must have protected it in the blast."
"Show it to me!" Sherlock said impatiently. He had to know. The man got the bag containing the mysterious soldiers belongings and pulled out the dogtags. As he said, the tags were beaten up but the ring was near spotless, only a few small scratches. It was John's ring. As if he needed more proof, he looked on the inside and saw the engraving My Blogger. "This is John's ring! Quick, the soldier who came in with these, where is he?"
The man checked the room number on the bag. "Room 314, he got out of surgery hours ago but he's still unconscious thanks to the drugs."
"What happened?"
"Several broken bones and possible internal bleeding. Maybe more."
Sherlock and Mrs. Hudson were running up to the room 314, shoving nurses out of the way until they finally got there. Sherlock tried to get in the door to his John but was stopped by a nurse.
"You have to let me in!"
"Are you friend, or family?"
"I'm his bloody husband now let me in!"
"Sherlock, dear, calm down," Mrs. Hudson instructed.
"If that's the case you can go in but please try not to wake him up, he's very weak."
"Will he survive?" Sherlock choked, almost fearing the answer
"Yes, we managed to stop the bleeding and reset his bones, but please be gentle."

Sherlock and Mrs. Hudson walked in the room to see a very beaten up but still alive John. The tears that had paused themselves were now running again at the sight of his John alive. He ran over to the bed and was about to wrap John in a giant bear hug when he remembered to be gentle with the sleeping man, so he gently laced their fingers together, and it felt so right. He pulled on John's hospital gown a bit and was met with the familiar webbed scar that ran on John's shoulder. Mrs. Hudson smiled before leaving Sherlock alone with his husband.

Sherlock gently soothed back John's recently cleaned hair and kissed the back of his hand. At the familiar and comfortable feeling, John started to wake up.
"John," Sherlock whispered, still soothing his hair, "John, wake up sweetheart, wake up." John's eyes scrunched up and slowly opened as he turned to look at Sherlock. He smiled a weak smile and tried to speak, but no words would come out. Sherlock got him a glass of water and helped John drink it.
"Hey, love," John rasped.
"Don't ever scare me like that again, understand?" Sherlock tried to sound serious, but between the tears, the cracking voice and the small relieved smile that crept onto his face, it didn't work as well as he had thought. He leaned down and kissed John's forehead, not wanting to restrict his breathing.
"I'm so sorry, Love."
"Don't be. You kept your promise, that's all I could have asked for."
John tried to shift over on the bed, but it was to painful. He had five broken ribs, a broken leg, burn marks on his arms, a gash above his eye, a fractured knee cap (on his non-broken leg) and a dislocated arm.

Sherlock sat on the edge of the bed and leaned down to John, then kissed his nose delicately, as if he would break if handled too rough, which he might have. He nuzzled his nose into John's hair and breathed in his husbands scent. He like that for a few minutes, staying as close together as the injuries would allow, when Sherlock felt the doctor shake. He looked down to see tears running down John's cheeks silently as his whole body shook. He wasn't sobbing harshly, but he was obviously upset, as to be expected. Sherlock wrapped him in a light hug and shushed him quietly, letting the doctor know that he was still there, and that he wouldn't leave. He soothed John's hair and rubbed his thumb over his neck, doing anything he could to comfort the soldier and return the favor for the month before John had left.

When John's tears stopped, Sherlock moved down on the bed so that he could look John in the eye, those beautiful, tear-filled bright blue eyes. "I love you, so much John. And I will be here with you through this. Alright?" John nodded and smiled his thanks. Sherlock lifted his husband's chin gently so that John was forced to look him in the eyes. "I married the most beautiful man alive when I married you." John smiled again and replied with "I could say the same about you." Sherlock smiled this time and placed a gentle, chaste kiss on John's chapped but still soft lips.

Okay here's the plan. This is the last chapter for this story, but I'm going to write a sequel that revolves around John's recovery, titled, oh so cleverly, 'Recovery'. Hope you enjoyed this story!