December 29
From Book girl fan: A long journey has just begun.
Watson groaned in his sleep. The bed in his new flat share was certainly an improvement over his old lodgings but still he tossed restlessly.
War was harsh. Men had to make choices for which none were prepared. Who would live; who would die. Doctor Watson still had nightmares.
A sudden hot poker stabbing into his shoulder woke him from his restless dreaming. Sweat beaded on his forehead and dripped down his ashen face as he tried to keep from waking up his new flatmate – one who had the ears of a wolf on high alert.
The pain gnawed at his brain. It seared into his shoulder. It burned into his core and radiated in electric shocks down his extremities. Most of the time, Watson managed to keep his shoulder to a dull ache, a constant pounding of his appendage. But, at night, if he slept just a little bit too much on that side, it was like a knife, tearing asunder his shoulder joint, inch by inch.
Watson got up as quietly as possible. He breathed the cold damp London air. A splash of water on his face helped distract his mind from other matters.
As his arm began to settle down again, his mind focused back on his recent acquaintance, and now, flatmate.
"What a strange man," he mused. Intense. Intelligent. Often tinkering around with his chemicals or researching the crime annals… it was no wonder he called himself a consulting detective. It suited him.
And yet, Watson wondered what wounds the man might have suffered on his life's path so far. Did Holmes have regrets about the choices he'd made? Did he ever wonder about a case gone sour? What drove Holmes to investigate… to make solving crimes his life's purpose?
Watson's face dried and colour returned. The pain had subsided to a dull throb. Watson crawled back under his covers. He resolved to learn more about his new flatmate. It would be his goal to become an investigator, a researcher. He determined to research him– to penetrate the mystery of Sherlock Holmes.
It was going to be a long journey; but, he had time.