Everyone had a big New Year's Eve planned. Mrs Hudson, Molly, Anderson and Donovan were bringing food, Lestrade was bringing some folding chairs and a table, John was bringing some (non-alcoholic) drinks and Sherlock- well, he was supplying the thought.
This wasn't going to be the usual get-together at Baker Street. No, this year, it was going to be a special surprise for a bored Lizzie.
Lizzie lived on her laptop of late. There was nothing to do otherwise, and she had a lot of adventures to write up. Sherlock and John were regular visitors, and often brought some home-made sweets from Mrs Hudson. The lack of internet annoyed her, but the nurses still refused to give her the hospital password.
She grumbled to herself, taking a cookie from the packet next to her. She'd written up every little detail of the last few cases, she'd assessed every motive of every person at every scene. She was irrefutably bored.
She opened FreeCell from her games menu and proceeded to play, although she didn't feel like it. Cards were repetitive, mind-numbing and yet requiring too much attention for it to drone on. She gave up, and shut down the computer. She rested her head on the pillows, and the cheap covers crunched quietly below her head. She yawned, although she didn't feel that tired. A headache was coming on from looking at the computer screen too long. She focussed and unfocussed her eyes to try and recover her mind.
"Hey, Lizzie" Sherlock said, walking into the room.
"Hi Sir" Lizzie said, chirping up a bit
"You don't have to call me Sir, Lizzie" Sherlock smiled. Lizzie smiled back.
"Sorry Sherlock. It's just weird socialising with a teacher outside of class" Lizzie admitted
"Hey Lizzie" John said, entering through the door and interrupting the conversation
"Hi John" Lizzie said, happily noticing something in his arms.
"Hello dear" Mrs Hudson said, entering the room also
"Mrs Hudson!" Lizzie smiled "Thank-you for all the sweets" Lizzie spied some food in her arms. Anderson, Donovan and Lestrade entered the room with Molly trailing behind them. More food.
"What is all this?" Lizzie asked, aiming her question at Sherlock who had taken up the seat beside her. Lestrade set up more chairs and John set up the table, which he covered with a tablecloth. The others quickly placed their foods on the table.
"Since you can't go anywhere for new year's" He said "We thought we'd bring it to you"
"That's such a sweet thought" Lizzie said, slightly embarrassed but mostly appreciative "You all gave up your celebrations for me?"
"Well, it's not so bad" John admitted "We didn't really have plans"
"Speak for yourself" Donovan interrupted. Lizzie felt guilty she'd ruined someone's New Year's plans.
"Having sex with Anderson doesn't count as plans" Sherlock butted in. Her face went red, but it was less noticeable than Anderson's. An awkward silence filled the room, but Lizzie definitely didn't feel as bad.
"Let's eat" Mrs Hudson suggested, and the room was filled with conversation once again. Everyone took great care to ask Lizzie if she wanted anything, because she couldn't reach anything from her bed. The nurses didn't mind so much due to a generous donation from Mycroft, who was too busy to come, but did have a small package for Lizzie instead, containing a USB modem. However, she maturely put it aside for the evening, deciding to set it up the next day when no one was around.
Lizzie found herself very comfortable, even though she rarely joined the conversation. Watching everybody bicker among themselves was rather amusing, and yet still far more friendly than what she was used to at home. But, not only was it friendly, but the conversations were interesting, not simply droning on because conversation was the social convention. Not to mention, Mrs Hudson was a great cook.
It was 11:58 when everyone finally started to settle down. Preparing for the New Year was the entire idea of the party, and yet it was by far not the focus. By the time 11:59 came around, however, the focus had definitely changed. The group watched the clock closely, and when it neared, the chanting started.
"Ten, nine, eight, seven" The group chanted, keeping it relatively quiet as there were people in rooms nearby who wouldn't be staying up to celebrate
"Six five four three" Anderson edged closer to Donovan, Sherlock looked a little bored already
"Two, one" John, Lestrade and Molly bundled up together, Sherlock lingering in the space between them and Lizzie
"Happy New Year!" The group cheered, but it was more tone than volume that made it so. Anderson reached over and gave Donovan a big kiss, and the rest of the group tried to ignore their presence.
"So, do we have any New Year's resolutions?" Lizzie asked, trying to draw the attention away from Anderson and Donovan
"Quit smoking. The good doctor insists it's bad for me" Sherlock smiled, nudging John "What about you, John?"
"Get you to quit smoking" John chuckled. He remembered Lizzie lying on the bed, and he blurted out, "Don't smoke, Lizzie," who, in turn, rolled her eyes. John gave her a suspicious eye before turning back to the general conversation.
"I want to figure out how to work that computer of mine" Mrs Hudson chuckled
"Lose weight" Molly popped in
"Eat fewer doughnuts" Lestrade joined in guiltily. Sherlock chuckled lightly in the background.
"What about you, Lizzie?" Sherlock asked. Lizzie considered this for a moment.
"I want three out of four bullets to hit the target" Lizzie said eventually. Well, that set Mrs Hudson off
"A little girl with a gun?" She screeched "Sherlock, you're infecting their little heads with your fetish!"
"I'm giving them life skills" Sherlock rebutted
"It is a little much, Sherlock" Lestrade joined in
"What if something happened to them?" Molly added
"They're all very mature students" Sherlock fought back
"Sherlock, I told you I didn't think it was a good idea" John added in
"It's unhealthy for them to be playing with guns!" Mrs Hudson fretted
"Oh for goodness sake, they're all perfectly capable of…" Sherlock tried
"It's unsafe! You'd lose your job is the principal knew!" Molly couldn't help but butt in
"If one of them hurt themselves… hurt another student!" Lestrade muttered
"What if one of them went crazy and hit another student?!" Mrs Hudson cried out
"It's all supervised by a professional" Sherlock replied sharply
"What if they went with you on a case and hit a good guy?" John added. Everyone looked at Sherlock. Sherlock locked John in a death stare.
"The same thing as what would happen if the police or you or I hit a good guy" Sherlock replied slowly
"But we're all a lot psychologically stronger than they are" Lestrade rebuked
"And how did we get that way?" Sherlock twisted around to face Lestrade. A silence fell across the room. Lizzie squirmed uncomfortably in her bed. Sherlock wanted to storm out, but he didn't want to leave Lizzie alone with the others so they could change her opinion.
"We're going to leave" Anderson said, holding Donovan. Everyone looked at them in disgust, and they slipped out awkwardly.
"I should leave too" Lestrade said, packing up some food. Mrs Hudson and Molly helped, and the three left about the same time.
"We should let you have some rest" John said, grabbing some chairs to return to the other hospital rooms they'd taken them from.
"Sorry to have brought that up" Lizzie said quietly when he left. Sherlock looked at her
"It's alright, it would have come up sooner or later"
"But they're right. If the principal found out, you could lose your job. Or if we got the guns, and we did something wrong, whether accidently or… on purpose…" Lizzie let the sentence trail off
"If I didn't trust you all, I wouldn't do it. I can read people, Lizzie. If there's a psycho among us, I'd be the first to know." Sherlock started folding up the table to return. John came back for the second round of chairs, and Sherlock took the table. Lizzie sat in silence as she waited for them to return. John came back, smiled at Lizzie and took the last of the chairs out. Sherlock returned soon after.
"I'll leave the cookies" Sherlock said, pointing to tray of cookies on Lizzie's bedside desk. Lizzie grinned, and Sherlock put the lid on the box and slid it within reach of the bed.
"See you tomorrow?" Lizzie asked
"Probably" Sherlock grinned, grabbing an empty plate of his as John came back into the room. The two grabbed their coats and gave the room a brief look-over to make sure the room was as they'd found it. Satisfied, they turned back to Lizzie
"See ya Lizzie" John said, leaving the room
"Laters" Sherlock joked, waving with his spare hand and closing the door behind him.
Lizzie was asleep before she had the chance to feel lonely.