This fan fiction is my result of the Secret Santa writing challenge on the BBC Sherock Fan Forum. It's my gift for NotYourHousekeeperDear and her prompt was 'a bit of romance and angst'. I hope she liked it and I hope you will too :-)

Thank you very much to shouldbestudying and kittykat for beta-reading.

Please note, this is my first fan fiction and I am not a native speaker, therefore every advice for improvement of grammar, sentence structure or spelling is appreciated :-)

Warning: Mention of severe illness.

1. A waste of time?

John had just finished his breakfast and was about to get ready for work as Sherlock called from his favorite spot on the sofa. "We are going to meet Lestrade at the Yard in an hour."

John looked at his partner and sighed. "You are going to meet him. I am going to work."

"You have work today?" Sherlock asked in astonishment.

"Yes," John replied and pointed towards the small calendar on the kitchen wall.

"Oh!"

Sherlock, though gifted with a massive intellect and a remarkable ability to notice and remember even the tiniest details at a crime scene, was somehow not able to memorize whether John had a shift at the hospital or not (or maybe he just deemed the information as unimportant and deleted it right away). So John put the calendar on the wall and marked every day, he had to go to work.

John only took a part-time job at a hospital near Baker Street. It was ideal; he could assist Sherlock with his cases and keep practicing as a doctor. Although Sherlock sometimes complained about John having not enough time for him, he also knew that John was very devoted to his work as a doctor. And of course, Sherlock would never really try to keep John away from his profession. Everything that made John happy, made him happy too.

Their relationship had changed a few months after Sherlock's return from his death. It took a while until Sherlock was able to figure out these strange new feelings towards his flatmate. And it took some more time until he was able to confess. First, Sherlock had tried to ignore the confusing emotions that bubbled inside him whenever John was around. Then he tried to get rid of them by avoiding John's presence. He spent long evenings in the lab and didn't ask John to accompany him to crime scenes anymore. Until one day John was fed up with Sherlock's behavior and suggested leaving Baker Street because obviously Sherlock did not need him anymore. On that point, Sherlock was finally able to tell John the truth about his feelings towards him. It took a night's sleep and some hours of shock and musing, until John could admit to himself that he reciprocated.

After being a couple for almost 8 months now they had developed a fairly good routine in their relationship - anything far from ordinary of course, but normal enough for them.

"When will you be back?"

"My shift ends at 3pm. But I have an appointment with Sean afterwards to discuss my examination results."

Sherlock rolled his eyes. "Waste of time," he said.

John sighed again. They had this discussion already. John, as a responsible doctor, always made a general medical check-up once a year. He tried to convince Sherlock to do the same, although he already guessed his partner's reaction.

"That's completely ridiculous! We are both in an absolute perfect health. Such an examination is a total waste of time!"

John had resigned that argument rather quickly. He had hoped Sherlock would be a bit more reasonable after the events of last winter, where a very though case of flu rendered the detective bedridden for almost a week. After that Sherlock had admitted that a flu vaccination (which he had refused as dull previously) could be (perhaps!) an appropriate precaution next time.

"However," John said after putting on his jacket. "I should be ready at about 4pm; shall I meet you at the Yard or Bart's?"

"I'll text you."

With a quick kiss on Sherlock's temple and a ruffle through his partner's curls, John left.

"You are in pretty good health, John," Sean said and smiled at him.

Sean O'Mara was a former colleague of John from university but both men lost contact after John joined the military. Sean had started to work in the hospital a few weeks after John. They were more than surprised as one day both accidently bumped into another, John leaving the elevator, Sean entering it. Since then, they kept close contact and sometimes went for a drink after work, frequently accompanied by Mike Stamford.

"Blood pressure, cholesterol level, blood sugar, everything within the optimal range," Sean continued while he looked at the test results. His smile had faded a bit.

"But?" John asked noticing the small frown on his colleague's forehead.

"Your liver values are not OK," the other doctor answered. "Look." Sean handed the paper to John and pointed at some figures with his biro.

"Mmhh, yes, I see. They are a bit too high," John agreed with a frown.

"You had any problems recently? Fatigue, pain?"

John thought for a moment, then shook his head. "None at all."

"Well then," Sean said. "It's most likely just a spontaneous deviation or even a mistake in the analysis. But I will draw another blood sample and send it for a second analysis, just to be on the safe side."

"Right, go ahead," John nodded and rolled up the right sleeve of his jumper. Of course he knew that irregular results could happen without any actual cause.

"If you don't hear anything from me within the next few days, everything is fine," Sean said after labeling John's fresh blood sample. "Otherwise I'll call you."

"Fine. Going for a pint again soon?"

Sean grinned. "Sure!"

With a tiny bit of worry John left the hospital. His phone beeped. It was 4pm exactly; of course, Sherlock had took him by his word.

Barts. Lab. Meet me there. SH

On my way. JW

John had hardly entered the laboratory, before Sherlock begun to tell him about the latest case. A car mechanic had been stabbed in his garage. John asked about some details that Sherlock deemed unimportant and had left out. Then they started with the experiments Sherlock deemed important to do. He was bent over the microscope and several test tubes while analyzing different types of engine oils. John on his side handed him ingredients and took notes about the results.

Quarter to nine, after Molly's third attempt to get rid of them and John's loud growling stomach, Sherlock finally gave in to leave the lab.

"By the way," Sherlock asked while the two men waited for a cab to arrive. "How were your examination results?"

John had already forgotten about his conversation with Sean. "As you said," he answered without thinking. "Perfect health."

Sherlock huffed. "I told you so, total waste of time."

On their ride home, Sherlock was franticly typing on his phone, John wondered whether he should have told Sherlock about the abnormal liver values. But finally he shook his head. Don't be silly, he told himself. It's nothing. No reason to worry.