Chapter 7 – Exit Wounds

Greg stood at the step of 221B, hands through his hair. He squeezes his eyes shut to stop the tears from falling. The urge for the tears to fall is so strong he has to bite his lip. After a moment he begins to walk down the road. He looks back briefly and sees a figure by the window. John. John was standing there watching Greg walk away. He turned his head back round and picked up the pace.

Looking at his watch he saw it was 2:30am. No point in going home just yet. Miles and miles he walked, through the park, past busy clubs and eventually he ended up back at his. The road was quiet with no cars going up or down. Slowly, he walks down to his house. He turned the key and let himself in. Greg shut the door and threw his keys onto the coffee table. The whole place was dark so he went to the kitchen and turned a small lamp on. There was half a bottle of Jack Daniels on the side. He looked at it for several minutes before deciding to have a drink from it. His hangover was growing thick and fast and he'd rather get drunk again and deal with a hangover in the morning. After all its not like he will have anything else to do.

He got back at 4am and by the time he had finished what was left of the Jack Daniels it was just gone 5am. Stumbling, he found his way to the kitchen and put the glass in the sink and left the bottle on the side. He turned the light off and headed towards his bed. When he got in it he noticed how cold it was. On a night like this John would usually side up to him and cuddle him. Tonight he'd have to stand it on his own.

Greg lay there for what seemed like hours trying to go to sleep. He kept tossing and turning, trying everything he could to go to sleep. It wasn't working. He lay awake and that's when the tears came back. Trying to blink them away was even more of a struggle than last time so he let them run freely down his face. Eventually, he started to feel worn out so wiped his face with his hand and then settled and tried once more to sleep.

No alarm was set so he woke up naturally at around 10am. After remembering last nights events he was surprised it was this early. It then hit him.

"I'm not going to hold you back any more. Maybe it's time for you to start moving on."

It wasn't even a question. John had said it as a statement. Greg sighed roughly and rose from his bed. He threw on some clothes and headed towards the kitchen. He stood at the sink and that's when the headache hit. Usually he'd have a coffee or tea but today he was going to stick with water. Painkillers seemed more appealing than toast or cereal too.

The painkillers start to dissolve on his tongue as he doesn't swallow quick enough. The taste in his mouth was bad enough to begin with. He swallows them quick and downs the rest of the drink and grabs a refill. Then he makes his way over to the DVD Player and puts 'Run Fatboy Run' on. Greg settles on the sofa and watches the film, only half concentrating. The phone which he left on the coffee table last night chimes.

Sorry. JW

Is that it? All he can say after his speech last night? Greg places the phone back on the table and goes back to watching the film. For the rest of the day Greg does nothing but watch films before finally turning in and going to bed. The next day was mainly just watching DVD's too. After a while it gets quite boring so Greg got up and did some ironing. If he had to have a favourite chore it would probably be that. It doesn't take too much effort but helps you take your mind off things.

The next morning Greg wakes up and heads off to work. It's a sunny day so he slips on his bike jacket, gloves and helmet and take his motorbike to work. His ex never really liked his bike. When they were going through the divorce he went out for rides quite often. At the rate things were going with John, he will be back on it a lot more.

He arrives at work and tried to smile to those saying 'Good morning!' to him. Apart from the sun being out, he doesn't see how it's a good morning. Greg walks into his office without saying 'Hello.' to anyone like he usually would. Donovan walks into his office as he takes a seat at his desk.

'Morning Sir, we received a call about an hour ago about a case but Dimmock took it. He said you'd probably rather catch up on your paperwork.'

'Thanks.' He replied bluntly.

'So, things didn't go so well with John?' Greg just glared at her and didn't say a word. 'I'm sorry.' Sally suddenly went all flustered and went to walk out. She stopped in her tracks as Greg spoke.

'Not your fault. You don't need to be sorry.' and he forced a smile in her direction. She smiled back but in a sympathetic way, before walking out.

When she had left he walked over to the filing cabinet where he keeps all his unfinished paperwork. A mound of it sat before him. He sighed and lifted a handful of it out. Just by looking at it he knew he wouldn't get much else done. He began filling it out when Anderson popped his head round.

'Fancy a drink later?'

'Maybe some other time. Thinking of doing a bit of over time.' Greg said pointing to the paperwork in front of him.

'Ah I see, good idea.' He smiled towards Greg and walked back out to carry on with his own business.

He carried on with his work for a while without any disturbances. Then Sally came back in. She walked in a placed a coffee in front of him.

'Thanks.'

'No problem.' She stood there for a moment looking around the office. Greg took a sip of his drink and looked towards her.

'You don't have to keep fussing you know. I am a big boy, I can handle myself.'

'Right, yes. I'll leave you be.' Sally said nodding and walking out.

Greg sits back for a few minutes enjoying his coffee and having a break from the paperwork. He wants a cigarette but knows if he has one he will be out there all day going back for more. Instead he takes his mind of it and texts Dimmock.

Thanks for taking the case.

Much appreciated. -GL

He wasn't expecting a response as he knew Dimmock was working. Anyway, if he did have some free time on his had hands he wouldn't text anyone as he is highly professional when it comes to his job. After finishing his coffee Greg goes back to filling out more paperwork.

Usually, he would finish at 5pm but today, as he decided to over time, he finished at 7pm. During those two extra hours Dimmock came in and said it was no problem, that he liked to get out sometimes. Sally came in once more before she left and gave him another coffee and Anderson also came to say that the offer still stands. Greg denies the invitation again and then goes back to work. As soon as 7pm comes he has just finished the second pile of paperwork. He places it on one of his colleagues desk for them to file in the morning.

Greg slides on his bike gear again and heads towards his bike. He gets home and catches up on a few of his favourite shows. Tonight he decides to have a hot chocolate rather than a beer. Still can't stomach it after drinking himself silly the other night. He'd say it seems quieter now, without John but to be honest it was the same. They usually sat there in silence. Of course they'd talk when Greg got home from work or when John came round but by later on the evening, when there was nothing left to say, they'd just sit together in silence.

The same routine for Greg carries on for about two weeks. Each night he'd work overtime, if it was sunny he'd take the bike in and he would try and get a lot more paper work done. He did go on a few smaller cases during those two weeks. After all, with the amount of hours he was putting in the paper work pile was getting smaller by the hour.

A/N – Sorry it's been a week. Been a bit caught up. I'm also sorry if this chapter is boring. I am going to start writing part of the next one now. It might be up tonight or tomorrow depending on how much I write. I hope your still enjoying it! Please review if possible! :)