"But Tasha leads the morning meeting." Sherlock said from his spot at the long table located in the art room.
John was sitting next to him holding the morning meeting agenda in his hands. He didn't WANT to read the paper but Hank and Maggie were insisting that he do so to get a 'feel for things'. The only problem was Sherlock was practically whining about the fact that he was going to 'run' the meeting. "I don't have to…" He said passing the paper to his left where Tasha was sitting.
"Sherlock, John is going to read the morning meeting agenda, Tasha will read the non-violence agreement." Maggie said but could already feel something brewing in the tall, curly haired gentlemen.
Sherlock stood up, grabbed the paper from John and threw it at Tasha. "Read it."
"Sherlock…" Hank said in a warning tone.
"Don't 'Sherlock' me." He said shaking his head, "This is not how it works…not at all." With that he walked out of the room his robe flowing behind him.
He wasn't sure why, maybe it was habit? But whatever reason John got up and rushed after Sherlock even as orderlies were calling to him to stop and come back.
John found Sherlock standing in front of one of the big picture windows that looked out onto the grounds of the hospital. "What was that?"
"What?"
"You know what I mean."
Sherlock turned to look at John, "I like things done the right way…you leading the morning meeting is not the right way."
John sighed, "Sherlock sometimes things are different."
"They aren't supposed to be." Sherlock replied as he moved away from the window. "I'm going to lie down." With that he left John wondering what in the world was going on.
John continuously looked down the hallway leading to Sherlock's bedroom as he tried to color a picture of a butterfly with Jennifer and Tasha later that morning. He wasn't sure how he had gotten roped into the coloring session with the girls but either way his heart wasn't in it.
"We're better off without him coming out." Jennifer said to John. She could tell the older man was looking for his 'friend' by the way he was looking in the right direction.
"What?"
"Sherlock, we're better off if he stays in his room."
John really didn't like the sound of that, mostly because he could never KEEP Sherlock in his bedroom when they had shared the Baker Street flat now he was actually spending time in it? "He stay in there a lot?"
"Not enough." Charlie said from where he was seated reading a book.
"Oh be nice." Tasha warned playfully. "He isn't that bad."
"Can be." Jennifer said making a face. "Don't you remember yesterday…"
John really didn't want to hear the gossip about his friend so he decided to go 'check on' said friend. He situated his oh so fashionable scrubs and walked to Sherlock's room. He knocked on the door and waited for a response. Even though they knew each other in the past he figured it was against the rules to walk into each other's rooms, especially without being asked in.
Sherlock sat on his bed writing in his journal when there was a knock on his door. "What?" he asked in a bored tone, but not necessarily unfriendly.
"It's John…can I come in?"
"Not really." Sherlock said not making any move to leave the spot on his bed.
John sighed from the other side of the door. "Sherlock I'm sorry if I upset you this morning…with everything, please talk with me."
Rolling his eyes, Sherlock put down his notebook and carried his pen to the door. "Have to check-out the pens."
"What?" John was surprised to have Sherlock at the door and then didn't understand the pen reference until he saw the writing utensil in his friend's hand. "Oh we cannot have them without checking them out?"
Sherlock nodded, "Well not in our rooms anyway and YOU might not be able to have one anyway…suicide risk and all."
"How did you know…"
"You told me this morning you tried to commit suicide and that color of green has never suited you." Sherlock said nodding to John's scrubs.
"Oh...right." John also looked at his clothes. "Said I could probably have my own things tonight."
"Not after what you pulled this morning." Sherlock smirked.
John glared. "You fucking scared me to death first with the whole 'I'm dead' thing and then showing up at the same bloody hospital as me. You know my temper."
"Yes I do." Sherlock walked with John to the nurse' station and turned in his pen. "How about I tell you things."
"Huh?"
Sherlock looked around the ward, "About the ward so you aren't completely lost like normal."
John rolled his eyes but nodded. "Okay tell me."
"Well you know you cannot have pens in your room without checking them out the same goes with anything else sharp."
"What about shaving?"
"Once a week with an orderly watching." Sherlock said and then glanced behind him at Jennifer and Tasha. "Same goes for the girls."
John made a face thinking of the poor girls having to sit with another person to shave their legs and underarms. "Right so pens and shaving…"
"We can watch movies in the TV room anytime we want to as long as it's not a group or a meal." Sherlock continued. "The art room sadly is closed unless there is a group going because of the nature of the items in it."
This John understood and he nodded his head. "Makes sense."
"The orderlies are normally very nice and work well with the patients but sometimes the nurses' can be rude."
"Sherlock!"
That was Hank, who had happened to be walking by.
"You just don't like them because they give you medicine you don't want."
Sherlock shrugged
John couldn't help but laugh but then decided to ask a question more personal. "Why are you on medication and what are you on?"
"Lots of reasons and lots of meds." Sherlock said showing he wasn't going to talk about that subject by his body language. He then noticed something and smirked. "Speaking of meds here comes the doctor and by the look of things it's for you."
John remembered Doctor Hillard had said he would talk with him later on so Sherlock was probably right. "I guess I will talk with you later."
"Guess so." Sherlock said as the doctor approached them. "Ta ta." He turned and walked the other way.
"John can we speak for a couple of moments?" Doctor Hillard questioned with a kind smile.
"Okay…"
Doctor Hillard led John to a small room off across from the art and TV rooms. Inside the room there were two wing back chairs a small table and various colorful photographs hanging on the walls. It was a rather comforting room with soft lighting and John felt safe the second he stepped inside which he found a bit weird since here he was about to meet with a psychiatrist, definitely not one of his favorite types of people.
Doctor Hillard closed the door after flipping a sign on the front of it that said 'In Session.' Once he took a seat John did the same and they looked at each other in silence for a second.
"You wanted to talk?" John asked trying to not get frustrated since all he wanted to do was run out of the room…nothing against the room.
"Yes I do." Doctor Hillard said with a smile. "I am trying to decide if I should be worried by your behavior this morning since I have not seen any of that behavior in the past few hours."
John sighed, "I told you why I did that."
Doctor Hillard nodded, "Right…Sherlock coming back from the dead." He then added. "But is your temper normally that strong?"
"Sometimes," John admitted thinking of all the times he had gotten mad at Sherlock over the years. Sometimes to the point of kicking chairs and other furniture. He told Doctor Hillard of these situations and he wrote them down on a pad of paper.
"I think I hear a pattern." Doctor Hillard said with a smile.
"What?"
"Sherlock Holmes MAKES you display outlandish behaviors."
John rolled his eyes, "Well yes that is obvious. I cannot live with him or without him."
"John have you ever found yourself liking Sherlock on a different level?"
'Yes I want to fuck his brains out.' John said to himself but in reality he stood up and charged for the door. "That is not a good question Doctor, I am leaving." With that he stormed out of the room only ten minutes after they started.
Of course the first person he bumped into…literally…was Sherlock. Both of them fell to the floor, John on top of Sherlock looking down at him.
"Guys!" Hank exclaimed as he walked over and plucked John off of a shocked Sherlock. When John was safely on his own feet again he helped Sherlock up. "John where's the fire?"
"Sorry," John honestly. "I didn't mean to." He was afraid they were going to seclude him again for bumping into somebody on accident.
Hank smiled, "It's all good John, just be careful. Now how would you guys like to go outside?"
"We can go outside?" John questioned both Hank and Sherlock who actually both nodded their heads. "Oh that's kind of cool."
Over the next few minutes Maggie, Hank and a new orderly named Carl gathered everybody up and they all headed up the main door, down the stairs and out into a fenced in yard.
"Okay everybody stay within eyesight of at least one of us. We'll be out for probably half an hour." Carl stated before heading over to a locker and got out basketballs and other various things to 'play' with.
"I feel like I'm in primary school." John stated as he saw the Frisbees and basketballs. "But kind of cool."
"I mostly just wonder around." Sherlock admitted. "Not much for basketballs and flying disks."
"No I guess you wouldn't be." John said but smirked, "But your favorite game in the whole world is 'Operation'. Anybody here know that?"
Sherlock glared at John but didn't say anything. Instead he started to do what he said he did and that was wonder around. This time though he had a shadow with him. He wanted to ask John why he was following him everywhere but deducted two things. One was that John was new and needed somebody to show him around and two was that John was used to following him around outside the hospital, why not follow him around on the inside as well?
"Real sorry about trampling you earlier." John said as they walked around the few paths they had in the fenced in area.
Sherlock shrugged, "No harm done…but what had you rushing out of your meeting with Doctor Hillard like that?" he asked curiously.
John blushed bright red, "Oh nothing…he just got to me so I left."
"Nothing doesn't leave you blushing like that, John." Sherlock pointed out, trying to get John to talk. He used to be able to get John to admit anything and everything.
"It was nothing," John said not budging one bit because there was no way he was going to tell Sherlock that he wanted him in the worst way possible and had since they first met. As he thought this he thought of Mary and he felt sick to his stomach. He DID love her but he would always love Sherlock…he just never planned on telling him. "Let's play basketball."
Sherlock did not understand the topic change and he was sure he had already said he did not play with basketballs. "John…"
"I know you don't play…well I don't either but it sounds like a good way to get some exercise."
"Basketball?"
"Yes."
Maggie, Carl and Hank looked on in complete and utter shock to see Sherlock Holmes playing basketball, or at least shooting hoops anyway. They had to laugh a little because it was obvious Sherlock was playing the game for the sake of his friend not because he really wanted to play.
"Sherlock you're good at this." John said as he watched his friend make yet another basket.
"Can we be quite done?" Sherlock questioned not taking the praise like he always did. "I need to take my normal walk before we have to go in."
John got the idea that Sherlock wanted to be alone so he nodded at the other man and then headed over to talk with Charlie. He did talk with the other man for a minute before his eyes focused on Sherlock who was wondering the other side of the yard looking flustered and anything but happy. "What in the world is wrong with him now?" he questioned out loud but really meant to simply think it.
Charlie laughed, "What ISN'T wrong with Sherlock? That guy is simply strange. Like right now I bet he is trying to 'solve a case' on the mating patterns of ants."
John didn't laugh as he watched Sherlock, yeah something was really off with his best mate.