After a day of thought, John decides to make his reply to Sherlock, after staring at the sketches for an hour or so. By now a few of his unit are making fun of his pen pal, asking the doctor if he's got a woman back home that he keeps writing to, especially since he goes off to be alone every time he gets one of the letters, to read it in private. It's not that he's ashamed of writing to the detective, or receiving the letters, he just feels that the first time he reads it he wants to be alone. It's the same when he's writing his letters. Today he finds a spot in the shade outside one of the tents since it's a decent day as far as days go in the desert, leaning back against an unused generator to write his letter.
~oOo~
Dear Sherlock,
Your sketches were beautiful. Thank you. You have an amazing talent. Have you done anything with it? I know you said you're the consulting detective, but do you ever do anything with your drawing?
I feel as if we've made some odd pact with our last letters. I mean, of course it was an agreement, but it feels deeper than that. It's hard to describe without getting colorfully metaphoric as you put it. And since you seem to disapprove so heavily of that, I'll just have to restrain myself. Just know that it's not a bad thing. I feel like I have more of a purpose. Ah, it's just odd. There's no good way for me to describe it. Naturally.
For the record, I think you're more sympathetic than you let on, maybe you just keep it all bottled up to keep yourself from getting hurt. Given the fact that you're a self-proclaimed genius, I bet it was hard for you to make friends when you were a kid, yeah? Better to shut it all down, shut everyone out, than risk getting hurt. Am I right? Or even close?
I figure that turnabout is fair play and you never said. Do you have any siblings, parents still in the picture? Someone cared about you enough to put you in that facility, I assume. Wife? Girlfriend? Boyfriend? You've made your disdain for that rehab facility quite clear so I assume you didn't check yourself into it.
I hope that is all going well, by the way. That they're keeping you from relapsing and all of that. Oh. Felt I should say, I understand your desire for a cigarette. That particular habit is something I picked up after I joined the army. They told me it would calm my nerves and I figured since there was the possibility of getting shot at, what the hell, why not? I've pretty much kicked it now, except when I'm extremely stressed. Like last time I wrote to you, I think I smoked a whole pack. And now I have to start all over again with that. It's nothing compared to what you're going through I'm sure, but as far as your desire for cigarettes goes, I can sympathize with that. It really is not a good habit, and as a doctor, I could tell you exactly what it does to your body. None of it good.
Since I mentioned it to you, I've been thinking about what I might do if I ever get out of the army. Well, I should rephrase that. When I get out of the army, not if. Probably end up as a surgeon or a GP somewhere. Little house in the suburbs. Maybe a wife. I thought about all of that, having it all, and the first thing that came to mind was that it sounds bloody boring. I think I would have a better chance of shooting myself if I went down that path, than I ever would here. Which leaves me wondering what I would really do. Stay in London, I think. I doubt I could afford it on an army pension however, so I'd have to find a job. A doctor is the only thing I'm good at, so it would have to be surgeon or GP. Then we get back into the boring part again. Maybe I could get a job down at the morgue or something. No, I'm really better with live people than dead. Perhaps emergency room would be exciting enough. I'm just really not sure anymore. The only thing I am sure of is that I don't want to be doing this for the rest of my life. I've already survived a lot, why should I tempt fate? Though I'm sure you don't believe in fate.
I'd like to hear about your deductions, since you skipped over it in the last letter. I'm very curious about why the police consults with you, and what makes you so confident that you can solve cases that the police can't. I'm truly, honestly curious, so please tell me more about that in your next letter. There may be a delay in my response next time, I heard a mention that we might be moving bases soon so the army will have to forward all the mail to the new location. And I am sure you can imagine how long it takes the bureaucracy to figure things out like that. So it might be a bit before I reply to your next letter. Just so you don't worry. Not that I think you would worry, you don't really seem the type to worry. But just in case you are the type, I didn't want you to.
Almost time for my shift, so I had better finish this up so I can grab something to eat in the mess before I am on duty. Thank you again for your letters, I really do enjoy getting them, and writing in return.
Sincerely,
John
~oOo~
It is a few days before Sherlock is allowed to have the letter, after it arrives, since he caused a bit of a commotion. Being him and being bored is not a good thing, leading to him outing two people who were getting drugs from outside, along with saying exactly how they were getting drugs, and so the facility sort of went into lock down until they could find the source and verify Sherlock's claims, then get rid of the proper people, etc. But when Sherlock finally gets the letter, he shuts the door to his room and curls up on his meager bed to read it. It seems that he's found his new addiction, his new drug, in this army doctor half a world away.
I have a bunch more chapters already worked up, but here is the next, I hope you enjoy it as much as the last ones! I really enjoy writing this, and you guys have been awesome. Posting this a tad early this week because I won't have time the rest of the week. Work. Ugh. I wish I could just spend my day writing about these two, lol! Ah well.
Thank you again for the lovely reviews, I love knowing you guys are enjoying this. Let me know what you think of this chapter!
Reviews/Comments welcome!