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Medicine
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Barbara fetched some fresh clothes and her washbag from the backpack and almost tiptoed across the corridor to Tommy's room, alert that nobody would be seeing her going in. The door still was open so she simply entered. Quickly she closed it behind her and looked around. In her thoughts she already had thought about his bedroom but it was nothing like it at all. There was no old four-poster bed and no horse paintings on green walls. If the ceiling would not be so high and if there were no stucco decorations and transom windows with ornate handles one could think this room was in a modern town house.
The furniture in a light colour had clear rectangle edges. The modern bed was huge and with just a plain headboard and low nightstands attached to either side. In one corner there were a narrow metal lounger with a long thin black leather cushion and a cube-shaped armchair next to a small round table that seemed to be completely made of glass. Barbara knew both chairs must have cost a fortune because she once had seen them in an article about furniture designers. The walls were all but dark and painted in light colours and the only thing that reminded her of being in his age-old estate was the mahogany desk with a chair with dark red upholstery. There was not much on it though. Under a turned off modern desk lamp there was just a dark green desk pad, a pencil holder that looked as if it was from the sixties, a book and a cuddly polar bear.
Barbara laughed. Somehow this stuffed toy lying there was heartwarming. Even though it may seem to appear nosy she knew she had to ask him later about it but when an image of Tommy sitting there feeding a baby in the middle of the night sprang to her mind she shook her head and forced her curious attention to the framed pictures on the desk. There was his wedding photo of course, and one of his parents, also one with him and his siblings in younger days was there and him at his swearing-in ceremony in his uniform. He looked so young and very dashing, even sexy, Barbara admitted to herself.
But then she almost stopped breathing. There was a picture of herself with him. They were shot from behind while they were standing at a railing of a harbour basin, watching out to the sea into the afternoon sun, the wind visibly ruffling their hair. He was leaning over to her and obviously was telling her something. His face with a fond smile was partly visible but hers looked completely in the other direction.
Barbara remembered that day very well. In their back there was a crime scene and if the picture would show more of the concrete at their feet there would be a big pool of blood. When she had seen the corpse of the poor young boy on that day she had almost started to cry or throw-up and needed a lot of fresh air to calm her nerves so she had walked over two steps to the railing. Her boss had followed and after a few moments of silence had distracted her with a sweet story about himself as a boy and a fisherman in Nanrunnel.
Barbara suspected that one of the SOCOs had made it but Tommy never had told her of its existence. The looks he gave her in that picture stunned her. She never knew how much affection there was. Maybe she should start and look in his eyes more often, she thought, but suddenly felt as if she was invading his personal space - which she was in fact. The scent of his room was overwhelmingly wonderful. A bit of furniture polish, a bit of his aftershave, and so very much from the personal scent she always caught glimpses of when she enjoyed one of their rare physical closenesses like on that day in the picture. It suddenly felt so private here in his rooms that before she entered his bathroom she even almost knocked at the door.
Daze had been right. The water was exactly heated to contribute to her comfort. Barbara just added some of the good smelling salts that stood in small jars on its rim and slid into the tub. Before, she had walked into the bathroom without really looking around. She still felt like an intruder but when the water surrounded her she closed her eyes and only relaxed. She almost dozed off. She remembered how it felt being snuggled into Lynley's side in the small cabin of the snow plough with his arm around her shoulders but then slowly the image morphed into him cuddling with her on a sofa in front of a crackling fire.
"Stop it!" Barbara whispered to herself and shook her head to get rid of her vivid imagination. In the distance she could hear Trevor having fun in what had been supposed to be her bath and silently thanked him for giving her the opportunity to feel surrounded by Tommy although it was slightly disturbing but she could not help it and it was surprisingly soothing anyway. Only when she started to imagine him again, this time standing behind her and giving her back a gentle rub here in the bathroom, she quickly opened her eyes and stopped massaging her nape. This was far too dangerous.
Despite being the intruder Barbara still could not suppress her curiosity so she dared to finally look around and soak up her surroundings. There was this luxuriously huge tub that looked as if the first Earl already had bathed in it, probably with all his mistresses at once. It stood at the opposite side to the door and was able to host at least two people. On the left side of the room, separated from the toilet right next to it by a slate plastered wall, was a large modern ground-levelled shower cubicle with dark slate tiles and no door but just a glass wall to the front. Even here two people could easily use it at the same time. On the right side which Barbara was looking at was a combination of different sized cabinets with square doors and drawers. The rectangular sink had no board and the silver crane seemed to morph out of the mirror that was covering almost the entire wall.
When somebody showered they would be able to watch themselves.
Barbara sighed and the heat that crept up her face did not really come from the water. His stuff standing on the lower cabinet distracted her only briefly from the indecent thoughts that flashed through her mind. She was too tired to fight against them properly and decided that she probably should not be here at all. How would she be able to relax and get better with the admired man ever-present? Looking at his shaving gear in silver, probably real silver, she imagined him with foam in his face and without a shirt on. Looking at his soap she imagined him washing his upper body. Looking at his deodorant she imagined him lifting his arm and letting his naked muscles play. The sight of his aftershave flask intensified the scent that already lingered in the air and even his hair-care products triggered the memory of his hands raking through his short dark locks. Even seeing the laundry bin with a shirt carelessly thrown on it made her think about Tommy taking it off.
After a deep breath Barbara dived under water completely and annoyed by herself she made splashing bubbles before she surfaced again. If she stayed one minute longer in this wonderfully relaxing bath she probably would put herself deep in trouble so she pulled the plug, then climbed out of the tub and dried herself. She was here to get better. She was his friend and nothing more. Whatever else she was seeing was only in her ridiculous mind. She probably even was interpreting too much into her own feelings. She groaned, annoyed by herself, but after putting on her clothes and winding a towel around her wet hair she threw these latest resolution to ignore her silly mind over board and finally could not resist sniffing at the collar of his shirt. She blushed even though she was of course alone and nobody witnessed it.
"What am I doing here?" she quietly asked her reflection. Then Barbara sneezed. It reminded her that she was here to get better and that it was high time to have something to eat and then go to bed.
In the moment Tommy had entered the kitchen he had known he had disturbed some secret conversation between Daze and Judith. The two women had stopped talking immediately but kept a grinning face. Ignoring them with an angry glare Tommy turned on the cooker where the stew was standing on in its huge pot. While he set the kitchen table for two he recognised his mother making a clear gesture to his sister to leave the kitchen right now.
"Will you join us in the library later, Tommy?" she asked getting up from her chair.
He raked through his hair. "Well, I guess, Barbara will be going to bed early today. Maybe I'll drop by after dinner."
"Take care that it's not burning!"
Tommy only had started to stir the stew but his thoughts already were far away from the kitchen. He did not even hear the women eventually leaving. His mind had wandered up the stairs to his bathroom and the woman who was soaking in the tub at the moment. Wondering how she had felt when she had walked through his bedroom he had to smile. Of course she would have looked around before she climbed into the tub. She was a detective and nosy sometimes so she would have wanted to see how he lived. She never had been in his bedroom before. That he hoped she would like his furnishings confused him but thinking about the big mirror in his bathroom made him forget it quickly. An image of her reflection there came to his mind. A very naked image. Realising such feelings for his Sergeant was disturbing. Exciting, thrilling, soothing, but disturbing. She was his colleague and very good friend - how could he think of her that way? He had never thought of her that way. Well, not very often at least.
Completely absentminded he stirred in the pot thinking about Barbara in the tub. How on earth will her stay here be for him when he already was unable to keep his mind on a decent path minutes after she had arrived? What the hell - if anything - had he thought when he had invited her? He had been missing her, he knew that, but he had not known that he would be so extremely happy when she was there, that he had missed her that much. And it was not just because he had images of her in the tub popping up in his head.
"A penny for your smutty thoughts, my brother!" Peter's voice close to his slightly heated ears made Tommy jerk and lose the ladle.
"Ah, get lost, Peter!" He inhaled to grumble on but in that moment Barbara came scuffling into the kitchen. His face lit up in an instant. Turning to Barbara he did not see Peter rolling his eyes but only briefly wondered about the quizzical look Barbara gave his brother. "Oh, you've found them. You'll see, they're quite handy in this cold floored house." Tommy had placed a pair of felt slippers in the doorway to his bedroom.
"Hello Peter!" Barbara said.
"Hiya!" They shook hands. "I'll leave you to yourselves then. See ya later!"
With a naughty grin Peter left the kitchen. While Barbara sat down Tommy served and they just had started eating when Trevor came howling into the kitchen. "Dooorothy! I want my-" He was in his pyjamas and a bathrobe, a ridiculous red fur hat with little jungling bells on his head. He abruptly stopped in the doorway and watched the adults eating. Barbara winked at him which encouraged him to ask "Have you bathed too?"
She nodded. "Yes, and it was wonderful." Tommy's face lit up when she gave him a thankful smile.
"I know that because you wear that towel around your head." the little one explained. "Has your Mummy also told you to cover your wet hair?
Barbara only was abe to nod before Trevor continued to natter, coming closer to the table. He said that Glen did not do it and probably will get a bad cold some day like Barbara had at the moment and if she had been running around with wet hair lately. Without waiting for an answer he told her that his parents were at St Ives for two nights but will be back for New Year's Eve. He only stopped talking about horses, the dog, the snow plough and anything else when Daze finally came to their rescue. She had to put the little chatterbox to bed. He had a different opinion on that of course so he tried to keep up the conversation. "Will you be here tomorrow?"
Barbara smiled but being tired like she was Tommy was quicker with an answer. "Yes, she will. But she's here to cure her cold and you won't pester her continuously, understood?"
"Yes, Sir." Trevor answered and sent a sticked out tongue to his uncle. "Good night."
"Good night, you devil." Tommy hugged the boy and tenderly patted his behind. Then he turned to Barbara. They had finished their bowls and she was just putting them into the sink. "Don't feel obliged to sit with the family, Barbara. You should go to bed too very soon."
"Yes, Sir." Barbara sticked her tongue out and her eyes twinkled mischieviously but unfortunately he did not hug her nor patted her behind. He only led her to the stairs and wished her a good night. If they were lovers, Barbara suddenly thought, he would bend down and kiss me. Tommy did nothing like that and she made no invitating move so they just watched each other with a smile for a slightly longer moment than usual before Barbara sniffed, turned and climbed the stairs.
It had been a long and exhausting day. Barbara went straight into bed and when she pulled up her covers she fell asleep in an instant. Hot baths, sleep, a wonderfully weird family, a caring Tommy - this will become a wonderful time at Howenstow.
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