It was a silent day in the clinic. John Watson stared at his computer screen, wishing for a patient to show up. Or maybe just for something to do. He felt his hand twitching slightly and tried to ignore it. For three months he had worked at this clinic now. Three months filled with the flu, common colds, hypochondriacs and some very overprotective mothers and fathers.
He sighed heavily. Getting used to the life of a civilian doctor was not as easy as he thought it would be. He did not like to admit it to himself, but he missed the action. He had always thrived while working under extreme pressure. This clinic, he felt, might be slowly killing him on the inside.
The phone rang as he was taking a sip from his already cold coffee. The caller ID was anonymous. He frowned and put down his coffee.
'Hello, this is doctor Watson speaking,' he said as he picked up the horn.
'Ah, hello, doctor Watson. I was hoping I might speak to you directly. How lucky I am,' the voice on the other side did not really sound like he felt lucky. John ignored the man's tone.
'What can I help you with today?' he tried to smile as he said it, he had read somewhere that people could feel you smiling, even through a phone.
'I might actually have something to help you with, good doctor,' said the voice, there was a rustling of papers, 'It seems that you have quite a hard time with paying the rent of your apartment. Tsk, tsk, doctor, isn't that a shame.'
John felt his cheeks become red. He got angry. How did this man know his financial state?!
Just as he wanted to say something very impolite to the man on the other side of his phone, the man spoke again.
'You are wondering how I know this, surely. That is not important. For now, just try to accept that I know almost everything there is to know about you, John Watson. And I don't think I'm lying when I say, I have an offer you cannot refuse.'
John stayed silent for a bit, trying to think of friends who might want to prank him. He came up with nothing. Most of the friends he still had contact with, didn't even know he now lived in London.
'And what is this offer 'that I cannot refuse'?' said John grumpily.
The man on the other side of the phone seemed to be very content with himself.
'I do not know if you are familiar with the village of Baskerville.'
'I'm not,' grumbled John.
'Then I suggest you familiarize yourself with it, as you will be staying there for quite a while. Although I am not entirely sure it is your thing, it is, as they say, a picturesque little town. Devoid of any real action. I believe to most exciting thing to happen there in these last ten years was when some sheepdog getting loose and being lost for a couple of days.'
'What do you mean, I will be staying there? I didn't even give my answer yet. And you didn't even make a proper offer yet!'
'I do apologize, doctor,' again, the man did not sound like he meant it, 'Then I will make my offer now. On the outskirts of Baskerville is a small mansion. It's old, but very comfortable, I assure you. In that mansion has been placed a wounded omega, who needs the care of a proper doctor.'
Something stirred within John when he heard the word 'omega'. Omegas were rare these days and highly praised. The alpha wolf in him, rejoiced at the chance to meet one in real life.
'You are the doctor I had in mind. You have the right skill set,' the man paused shortly after these words as to emphasize them, 'And you have proved yourself cool even under extreme pressure. Ofcourse, you will be rewarded for your work. When you are done, and that might take a while, you will never need to worry about paying your rent again.'
It took John a couple of minutes to think on his answer. Ofcourse he was tempted. There would be an omega, an omega! And ofcourse, there would be money. Money he could really, really use.
Besides, he had a bit of an adventurer in him. Eventually, he decided to go.
The man seemed even more pleased with himself when John gave his answer.
'Ofcourse, doctor, I do not have to tell you that any omega is a precious and delicate being. This omega in particular is important to me. If any additional harm is done to him, I will personally make sure you can forget about a career or even a fulfilling life.'
With those words, the man on the other side, hung up the phone.
John was left angry, confused and very curious about this wounded omega he would be taking care of. The man had said 'him', so a male omega. That was a rare occurrence indeed. John wondered if maybe the man on the phone was the bond mate of the omega. Yet, if that were the case, wouldn't he himself be tending to the wounds of his omega?
Two days after the phone call, John arrived in Baskerville. Upon arrival, he immediately discovered that the town counted about three streets, one pub and a tiny church. It also counted at least seven bed & breakfasts and a handful of tourists, who all came to photograph the moors in autumn.
John stared out of the window of his cab with a sad grumble. This town was indeed not his thing. The pub looked promising though. He might go there once he got settled in the mansion.
The cab took him a couple of miles out of town, unto a dirt road straight through the moors. The afternoon was ending and a light fog came in from the east.
John was unable to see the mansion, until he was right in front of it. He frowned when he saw it. It really was an old building, though it seemed as if someone was taking good care of it. The mansion had steps and a porch, with four giant stone columns that came all the way to the roof. It seemed to have a mixture of classic and gothic influences, as far as John could see.
He got his things out of the cab and discovered that his ride had already been paid. Whoever was behind all this, seemed to have a lot of money and power.
He became more and more nervous as he walked up to the huge door of the mansion. It took a while before he was brave enough to ring the bell. He rang it thrice.
A voice came from inside. It was loud and almost definitely female. His frown deepened, wasn't the omega supposed to be male?
The door was opened by a middle aged and clearly beta woman, who had a very warm smile on her face. She was dressed completely in purple. When she saw John, her smile became even wider.
'Ah! You must be the doctor they sent for! Come in, come in! It's freezing outside, quickly now, step inside.'
John did as he was told and the woman closed the door behind him. In the same movement she took his coat and two of his bags. 'My name is Mrs. Hudson. I'm the landlady, not the housekeeper mind you. Though most people seem to assume I am.'
'John Watson,' introduced John himself with a slight smile.
'Ofcourse I was expecting to see you. He called a couple of days ago, so I'd have time to arrange some extra rooms. Said money wouldn't be a problem! Mind you, he rented out this whole place! Said he didn't want anyone else in here but you and that poor, poor omega.'
Mrs. Hudson kept talking until they reached John's room. She showed him where the bathroom was and where he could keep his stuff. After that she gave a tour of the mansion and showed him where the kitchen was and where he would be doing his laundry ('I am not a housekeeper, mind you!').
Now and then, John would smell a slight omega scent, always coming from rooms with closed doors.
Eventually he had enough of the endless talking of the landlady. He wanted to see his patient, so he could start making treatment plans, maybe get to know him.
'The- eh, the omega, Mrs. Hudson, where is he?' he asked the woman.
Her face fell a bit. 'Oh that poor dear. He usually hides in his rooms all day. Doesn't even come out to eat. I have to cook his food and put it in front of his door. I told Mr. Holmes: I am not a housekeeper, nor a cook. But ofcourse I could not refuse to help a poor thing like that.'
'Where are his rooms?' asked the doctor.
'Up the stairs, the whole left corridor. He probably won't open the door for you though, he doesn't even open the door for me, poor dear. I really hope you can help him, doctor Watson.'
John nodded his head. He hoped so too. If not for the omega, then for himself. This mister Holmes, the man who had recruited him, did not seem like a person who joked around.
John slowly walked up the stairs. With every step, the smell of omega became stronger. His inner wolf howled and scratched at him. It wanted very much to get to know the omega. John suppressed the wolf however. He had no idea what kind of state his patient would be in. Going full alpha, or full wolf, would not be the best starting strategy. It could always be done at a later stage of the treatment.
Yet he could not stop himself of wanting to smell more of the omega scent. It was subtle, slightly musky and had a very, very powerful effect on him. Only once before had he smelled an omega, a female, and her scent had been less strong and more sweet.
John swallowed when he came to the door to the left corridor. It was closed, but the omega smell seeped from under it, through little cracks in the wood, through the keyhole. He could smell that the omega was very afraid and sick. It made his inner alpha howl even more. He wanted to take care of the omega, nurse it back to health, protect it from all danger.
He swallowed. Then he knocked on the door.
There was no answer, so he knocked again.
Still no answer.
The doctor knocked a bit louder this time. He thought he could hear a soft whine coming from the inside of the corridor. There was some scuffling and then all was silent again.
'Hello?' he asked softly, 'Are you in there?'.
Again, a soft whine. 'I mean you no harm. I'm a doctor. My name is John Watson, I am here to help.'.
The answer was more scuffling. The smell of fear became stronger. John felt a twinge of pain of not being able to comfort the scared omega.
'Are you hungry?' he tried, 'I can bring you food.'
Still no answer but a thicker smell of fear. John sighed. How was he able to help his patient, when he couldn't even reach him?! He came very close to tearing down the door, when Mrs. Hudson came upstairs with a tray of food. She smiled at him.
'These are his favourites, I think,' she said with a slight frown, 'At least, he seems to eat all of it.'
She handed the tray to John and walked down the stairs again.
John put the trey in front of the door, hoping that the omega would be tempted by the smell of food. He propped himself up against the wall facing the door, so his own smell would not pollute that of the food too much. Maybe the omega was afraid because he smelled like alpha. It might have been alphas that hurt the omega. It usually were. John cursed under his breath. He waited.
After what seemed like ages, there was a sound of bare feet on a floor. The doorknob turned very slowly. John felt his curiosity return. He pressed himself against the wall in a brave effort not to run for the door.
At first, the door only opened a tiny bit. He could see part of a pale face, some dark curls and two skinny, long fingers. Although the omega saw him, it opened the door further so it could get the food. John frowned deeply. The omega was skin and bones and almost completely naked. Two piercing blue eyes looked at John worried, but after a while decided to focus on the food instead.
The omega clumsily took the food tray with him through the half opened door.
John let the wall go and slowly got a bit closer to the door. The omega immediately froze in fear. John put his hands up as a sign that he meant no harm. The man behind the door, did not seem to understand that very well. Something that was between an whine and a growl escaped his skinny throat.
'No, no,' John said in what he hoped was a reassuring voice, 'I mean you no harm. You are safe. Safe.' He really hoped that, if he kept repeating the word, the omega would understand it. His alpha howled and whined and wanted to come out, so he could smell the omega from up close and built it a nest and keep it safe so it wouldn't be afraid anymore.
Maybe the omega sensed that, or there was something in John's demeanour that made him less afraid. Whatever it was, John was thankful for it.
The omega unfroze slowly and kept backing away from the door, while pushing the tray over the floor of the room.
John was even slower to enter the room. He tried to make himself as small as possible. While walking he made soothing sounds and tried to lull the omega, tried to make it trust him more.
It wasn't an easy job. Every now and then, he would make a floorboard creek and the omega would once again look at him with a fear of death in his pale eyes.
The room the omega had claimed, was completely dark. All the curtains had been drawn. John could hear the wind howling outside. The room was also very cold. It seemed like the omega hadn't turned on the heating, or had forgotten how it worked.
When the omega eventually trusted him enough for him to move around a little more, the first thing he did, was turn the heating on. The other man was so skinny, that John knew he would be very cold.
Once his eyes had gotten used to the dark, he was able to examine his patient from a distance. He wasn't happy with what he saw.
The omega had several wounds and bruises. He was too skinny and very, very dirty. Now that John was close to him, he could smell the sour scent of old sweat and layers of dirt. This man needed a bath, a very long and good one, probably in antibacterial soap. Maybe something against lice and fleas as well, the doctor thought, as he looked at the matted curls of the omega.