1AN: Just a little fic. I wrote this immediately after watching Reichenbach.
He almost squeezes back.
When John grabs his hand, he knows it's John even with the pain and disorientation.
But he's supposed to be dead. He cannot move his eyes. He cannot resist in any way as he's manhandled by various bystanders. He cannot breathe too deeply. And he absolutely cannot squeeze John's hand.
But he almost does it anyway. Because nearly dying- really dying?- is scarier than he thought it would be. (He's always underestimating his own emotional reactions- no, not always, only when there's John) Falling off a building is, after all, hardly an exact science so even though he'd calculated it all out- angle, force, velocity- he can't be entirely certain the darkness creeping in from the edges of his vision is just unconsciousness or something much more permanent.
It's in that moment of uncertainty he almost squeezes John's hand, because if he did miscalculate he wants John to understand. Then someone else pulls John's hand away and he'd lost his chance.
That's alright though, Sherlock thinks as his vision fades completely, because John isn't like him. John doesn't see it all- not like Sherlock does, not like Moriarty did- but the important thing about John, the special thing about John, is that John always understands.