AN: ACD is the rightful owner of everything Sherlockian... I'm just borrowing.
I took a deep breath. "Austin was my mentor when I was in the pediatric oncology program at Children's Hospital. He was a newly hired attending physician and I was one of the chief residents in my last year of the program. We hit it off right away."
I paused, casting my eyes to my feet in shame. The next part of the story was always the hardest to tell.
"So you and Dr. Reingold had an intimate relationship. So what?" he remarked casually, as if he were shrugging it off as if it were unimportant.
With all his amazing deductive abilities- which I had witnessed over the last twenty-four hours- I couldn't believe he hadn't figured it out yet. "I was married, Holmes. It was an affair." I whispered, refusing to look up as tears threatened to roll down my face.
"Obviously you ended it." Holmes' voice was surprisingly soft.
I nodded, comforted by the seeming lack of judgment in his simple statement. "But not before it destroyed my marriage."
He changed the subject. "What is the significance of the 15th?"
"Our affair began on the 15th of June. He would send me flowers on the 15th of every month."
"Have you spoken to him since?"
I shook my head, still a bit emotional. "Why do you think I took this medical examiner job when I could have had any job in pediatrics that I wanted?"
The doctor-patient relationship is built solely on trust- something that I did not believe myself capable of achieving anymore. It was just easier to deal with the dead than children; I couldn't hurt the dead. And then I saw in his eyes that he understood; it was as if he, too, shared a pain similar to mine that he chose to run from.
It was a fleeting moment, as Holmes jumped up from his chair, excited about
some new idea that undoubtedly just hit him. "Come, Dr. Watson. I would like your help.
I know just how we can catch Dr. Austin Reingold."