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Sherlock Holmes had never been to The Royal London Hospital before as a non-patient or visitor. He walked through the large entrance and used the arrows to direct himself towards his destination: The Children’s Hospital.
All the walls were brightly coloured, and there were happy drawings and loving messages on the walls, all around merriment, really. Sherlock felt a bit uncomfortable being there by himself, but took comfort in knowing he’d be with John in a few moments.
Thing was, it was Easter Sunday, and John had volunteered to help out at the Children’s facilities during their celebrations and egg hunt. He loved both children and volunteering, so there really hadn’t been much question about that. Sherlock understood that, of course, but he wasn’t good with children, they tended not to like him very much, and he was really looking forward to spending a lazy Easter Sunday eating chocolates with John on the sofa as they watched zombie films (John was endlessly amused by the idea of watching zombies during Easter, which frankly Sherlock did not understand, but it was all right if he could just spend time alone with his blogger).
The receptionist had informed him that the celebrations were taking place in the new playroom, so that’s where Sherlock was headed. He stood by the door, watching what festivities. Sherlock instantly found John, and smiled as he saw how happy John looked wearing bunny ears, helping some children with oxygen tanks find eggs. There were nurses and parents everywhere as well, and children from babies to young teenagers. Some of them really looked sick, and some looked fine, but probably had something that didn’t show.
Sherlock took a deep breath and stepped inside, placing his coat on the hanger and walking towards John, whose smile widened at the sight of him.
‘Sherlock! What are you doing here?’ John asked, eyes bright with joy. Sherlock wanted to hug him tightly at the sight of those ridiculous bunny ears, but he refrained from doing that, and instead just smiled back.
‘Well, you chose to spend your Easter like this, and we haven’t spent one apart in years… I didn’t think this should be the first, especially since it for a good cause, so after much debate, I decided to join you,’ Sherlock explained. John chuckled and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.
‘Thank you, this means the world to me. You know that, right?’
With a grin, Sherlock winked. ‘Yes, indeed, I do.’
‘Oh, you lump!’ John laughed. ‘Okay, then, you can help us out in the egg hunting! But first, you need to dress for the part!’
‘Excuse me?’ Sherlock raised an eyebrow.
John turned around and tapped a chubby, jolly-faced, older nurse on the shoulder, who turned around with a big smile.
‘Maureen, could you get me some bunny years for Sherlock here? It appears we have another volunteer.’
Nurse Maureen giggled and nodded. ‘Oh, that’s wonderful, Dr Watson! I’ll be right back with those ears!’
‘You’re no seriously going to make me wear those…’
‘Think of it as revenge for all the ridiculous costumes I’ve had to wear in the name of your cases,’ John smirked. ‘Besides, the children love it!’
A few minutes later, Sherlock was standing by a group of children, wearing a dark grey tailored suit, £500 Italian leather shows, a Hugo Boss pale blue silk shirt, and a ridiculous pair of white-and-pink bunny ears.
*
‘… and that’s why rabbits cannot produce eggs,’ Sherlock finished explaining to the group of 3-to-5-year-olds sitting around him in a circle. They all looked up at him quietly for a second and he sighed inwardly. Great, now John was going to come here and yell at him for trying to talk to children about science and scaring them.
‘Mr Homes?’ asked a little girl on his right. She had a pink beanie on top of her head because the chemo had left her bald, and there were dark shadows around her eyes, but she was smiling shyly as she pulled on his sleeve slightly.
‘Holmes,’ Sherlock corrected. ‘Yes?’
‘How do you know so much about bunnies?’ she asked, and the other children in the circle perked up. Having just finished the egg hunt, they were all eating their sweets quietly, and had been listening to Sherlock for the past fifteen minutes. He looked down at the little girl who looked so curious and allowed himself to smile at bit.
‘It is part of my work to know a lot about various subjects,’ he said. ‘I am a Consulting Detective, and Dr Watson and I solve the crimes that the police are not able to.’
The children’s eyes widened and they sat up even straighter.
‘Are you like Miss Marple?’ asked a young girl to his right. John had told him about her before, that her name was Emma and that she was really precocious, loved to read Agatha Christie stories, but had a really terrible disease with a really terrible prognosis. Sherlock chuckled at the comparison and nodded.
‘Sort of, yes. But I use the science of observation and deduction to solve my cases,’ he explained.
‘And what does it have to do with bunnies?’ asked a young boy sitting across from Sherlock, who faced him.
‘Well, once, we had to investigate this crime that had occurred in a rabbit farm. More like a rodent farm, actually, because the family that lived there made a living out of selling rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs, basically any kind of rodent, to pet shops. They also worked in the black market, trafficking Capybaras out of the Amazon to the black market. I had to know specific things about the rodents in order to determine the exact conditions of the murder and therefore catch the culprit.’ After he was done, the children stared wide-eyed at him. Oh, brilliant, now they were going to start crying because he was talking about murder. He should never have come…
‘Whoa,’ said the boy who had asked the question. ‘That’s awesome!’
The other boy sitting next to him nodded excitedly. ‘So cool! And you caught be bad guy just by learning about rabbits?’
‘It’s like Agatha Christie!’ exclaimed Emma, happily, almost jumping from her pillow seat. At that, Sherlock chuckled.
‘Yes, that particular case became a rather irritatingly popular tale on John’s blog.’
At the mention of his name, John appeared, followed by Nurse Maureen, who sat down next to the girl with the pink beanie and held her tight. ‘Hi, Laurie.’
‘Ma, Mr Holmes is like a superhero!’ she said excitedly. John turned to Sherlock with a raised eyebrow.
‘Really, how is that?’ he asked.
‘He solves cases just like the fictional detectives, and he knows all about bunnies!’ replied Emma.
‘I told them about the case with the capybaras,’ confessed Sherlock. John only giggled and nudged him on the side.
‘Did you now?’ he then turned to the children. ‘I bet he didn’t even tell it right, just gave you the facts. Luckily for you, I am Mr Holmes’s blogger, and I know all the best stories of his cases.’
‘Tell us!’ said the boys in unison. So John began telling the tale of the capybaras, and more people gathered around them. The children were gripped by the story excitedly hanging on every syllable, laughing and gasping at the right moments. John really had a talent for storytelling, and Sherlock felt his heart warmer and warmer as he watched his partner tell their stories to these young, eager children with bright eyes and a huge smile.
*
When they left the hospital, bunny ears abandoned, it was well past seven o’clock in the evening. They walked outside and stood by the kerb to wait for a cab. John put his arm around Sherlock’s waist and pulled him closer.
‘Thank you for coming today,’ he murmured. Sherlock looked down at him and smiled.
‘It was fine, actually. I did enjoy it, even with those ridiculous ears.’ John chuckled and placed a kiss on Sherlock’s neck.
‘Really, though. I know you think you’re terrible with children, but you made some of those kids really happy today, especially Emma. They don’t get to hear these exciting tales so often, and it really made their day. And you were so helpful in the egg hunt. I’m just really proud of you…’
Sherlock turned to face John, and cupped his face with both hands.
‘If anyone should be proud, it’s me,’ he said. ‘You are amazing, John, and I don’t tell you enough. No-one does, really, and it’s ridiculous. You never fail to surprise me, John Watson.’
John grinned and pulled Sherlock closer. ‘I love you,’ he said before kissing Sherlock deeply and lovingly. They just stood there, tasting each others’s lips and tongues for a few minutes, before pulling apart with huge smiles.
‘How about we go back home, get into our pyjamas, open some chocolate and watch 28 Days Later?’ suggested John. Sherlock laughed and nodded.
‘Sounds like a plan.’
And with that, they hailed a cab and made their way home to celebrate the remainder of their Easter.