A/N: back to friend Watson now.
As disoriented as I was, I could only imagine my opponent was feeling much the same after I had struck his nose twice. I attribute his failure to effectively invalidate to his own pain and confusion.
I rolled over, mostly out of instinct, and just barely escaped the blunt object crushing my head again. I scrambled to my feet rather slowly and took off as fast as my weakened equilibrium would allow.
I had not run even a few meters before I heard my attacker following. His pounding footsteps spurred me on, though I felt I was running in a somewhat zigzag manner.
I made for the wall, hoping that the sounds of our scuffle would not attract more members of the household. I'd more than I could handle with just the one.
I was in mid-step when simultaneously the back of my ankle felt as if it was torn in half and the sharp sound of a gunshot reached my ears. I staggered a few steps, gasping in pain, then collapsed into a bush.
The twigs and leaves that pricked me as I crashed into the hedge were nothing compare to the searing pain coming from the back of my foot. I instinctively reached for the offending area. When I drew my hands back, they were red with blood.
A/N: I usually subscribe to the theory that Watson injured his leg and his shoulder as a soldier, despite the lack of mention of this wound in STUD.
But I was reading my Baring-Gould the other day, and came across the notes on Watson's wounds, and they presented several theories on how the leg wound came about. So it got me thinking…
The leg wound was first mentioned in SIGN, which we can say with fair certainty was set in1888, but we hear neither hide nor hair of it before this. It's not preposterous to suggest that Watson acquired this wound after being discharged from the army. We know that it is not odd for Holmes' cases to possess a certain quality of danger. Baring-Gould puts it better than I can "Holmes' solicitude for Watson at the time of the adventure of The Sign of Four suggests that Watson suffered his second wound while assisting Holmes on a case (compare Holmes' reaction to the wound received by Watson in 1902 during 'The Adventure of the Three Garridebs')".
Now, CHAS dates vary greatly from what I've seen. There are no specific mentions of the year. Chronologists have to base their dates on trifles. I've seen dates ranging from 1886 to 1891. It is possible, then, that CHAS was before SIGN, and therefore, Watson received this leg wound in CHAS. Whew.