June 15th, 2005
John's POV
The one day he does not actually have an appointment with Sherlock leaves him wondering how the younger man is doing between his other duties and patients. He knows that he has an appointment with Mycroft in the morning, and has another long evening appointment with Sherlock in the afternoon. He is also aware of making plans to spend some time with the younger man this weekend.
What to do? Actually, perhaps he should take Sherlock with him on his rounds to visit the homeless. Does he expect the homeless to open up to him? No, but he is quite sure that there are several people Sherlock would find interesting. The only problem might be the keeper that gets to stay with his patient in order to make sure he does nothing stupid. Hopefully this new minder is more intelligent than the last. He had wanted to smack that woman upside her head.
Well that is something he can speak to Mycroft about in the morning.
So he takes care of everything on his agenda, make sure to have a rather productive day, and locks up long after everyone is gone. There are advantages and disadvantages to the fact his home is a small flat above the clinic.
Giving a shake of his head, he heads upstairs and locks his front door behind him, making sure all of the alarms are on for the clinic. He is pretty certain that when his Scottish relatives gave him the building they had not expected him to turn it into a clinic for those with hearing and speaking problems, or to turn the attic part into a place to live. Still, it is his free and clear. As long as he pays his taxes every year, everything is fine, and he will eventually make enough money to move out and into an actual flat.
He had taken nearly all the money they had given him as a graduation present and sunk half into stocks, the other half he had sunk into the building. Getting everything up to code and then starting the process of making it deaf accessible. The broker dealing with the stocks for him had made him several amazing trades, and that had paid for the rest of the upgrades such as the lights on the doors, the computers that had excellent dictation programs, and the specialized phones that are technically landlines but convert spoken word to text and have different colored lights for different features. If there was anything that could make life easier for those who worked at the clinic or sought treatment there, it was acquired.
Making himself a cup of tea, he ruefully thinks about the fact he has the hardest time shutting off the work side of his mind when he is done for the night, which is the biggest problem with living above work.
It's time to shut down work for a bit. Maybe do a bit of reading or work on his book a little bit.
Grabbing his laptop, he works for a bit on the writing, currently he is in the editing stage. He snacks on little things as he types, things that don't require a lot of effort. It's a bit later than normal when he closes everything down and takes his night time shower before heading to bed.
In the morning, he is up at his usual time. That gives him a chance to make breakfast, exercise, and get a quick rinse off before heading into the office downstairs where Chun, the head nurse in charge of the day staff, is getting things ready.
-Good morning, Chun,- he greets the intelligent and affectionate woman, -Pleasant evening last night?-
-Oh yes,- she replies excitedly, -I had a date last night with Salome. It went wonderfully. We've agreed to another one.-
He smiles at her, -That's excellent.-
She nods, then changes the subject, -Your first appointment is already here, I think he arrived before we even opened officially.-
-Bring him back then,- he remarks, -Our newest resident will be here after lunch to begin his first day.-
She nods, -I will let the staff know. Will the newest resident be with one of the older ones?-
-For today just let them get to know the others, tomorrow I will see about assigning them,- He answers after considering the options.
-Got it,- she answers before nodding once more and leaving him at his office to fetch Mycroft Holmes.
A few moments later, she returns with the older man.
The next twenty-five minutes is spent with them discussing Sherlock, the episode as the elder brother refers to it, and ways to assist him in the future. Once the appointment is done, he updates his notes before preparing for his next appointment.
His day passes in a bit of a blur, and he makes sure to welcome the newest doctor in training to their mist, giving the younger man a quick tour and introducing him to the staff. Nathan is hard of hearing, rather than fully deaf, but was intrigued by the clinics concept. When the younger doctor had approached him about doing his residency there along with his time at the hospital, he had easily agreed, and asked Ella to make the arrangements. Of course he had interviewed the younger doctor twice.
After he is done with the newest doctor in training, he returns to his office to prepare for his next appointment, which is probably going to be a rough one. He is actually handing one of his cases involving a young man with hearing loss but who is not fully deaf over to Tangy, a rather diligent resident who has already applied to work here full time once she has completed her residency and graduated. He knows that this will probably not be the easiest transitions, particularly since Tony does not want to change doctors, however he had told the young man when he first came here that he does evaluations and assigns the doctors and residences accordingly, while only keeping a small number of patients himself.
The next hour is a bit insane. There are all of the expected reactions and more. Apparently he has a bigger problem with the fact his new doctor is a woman, than the fact that he has to change doctors. It gets loud according to the vibrations he can easily feel in his desk, and the fact Ella pops her head in to check on them. Still, they manage to work everything out and come to an agreement just before he ran out of time and his last appointment of the day was supposed to show up.
Good thing I am a head on paperwork, he thinks after bidding Toby goodbye and Tangy goodnight. That was so much harder than it had to be. Sighing, he rubs the back of his neck before his mind continues the thought process, I understand why he is scared to a point, after all it had been a female doctor who had screwed up originally, disregarded his multiple ear infections that lead to this point, but that does not mean all female doctors are like that. Well only time will tell.
The light on the door and the one on his desk alert him that Sherlock is here. Pressing the button to turn the alert off and let them know they can come in, he stands as he has every time, a warm smile of welcome curling his lips. Despite the fact they are not speaking, he does enjoy his time with the younger man. After all, having company who is not demanding non-stop attention can be a wonderful thing.
-Good afternoon Sherlock.- he greets the dark-haired genius, motioning to the chair for him to sit down. Turning his attention to Sophia, he queries –Tea please.-
-Of course, right away,- she agrees with a nod, closing the door behind herself as she leaves.
His companion takes his seat, head tilting to the side as he studies him the way he has every time.
The next few minutes are peaceful, he gets his computer files set up and ready while Sherlock takes the time to study him. When Sophia brings the tea, he makes it a point to thank her, and praises the younger man when he nods politely in her direction since it is the first willing interaction he has seen out of him. Following that the first hour of their visit is just as quiet as normal, he works on the paperwork and drinks tea. Occasionally he glances at the younger man to see if he wishes to speak, but he does not put any pressure on him to do so. They even share a rather peaceful and quiet dinner together, a repeat of what they had the last time.
-You don't make sense,- Sherlock eventually signs during one of his glances in the younger man's direction.
-Oh?- he replies, arching a brow at him questioningly and motioning for him to continue when he is comfortable.
Another hour passes before he finally does so, -You aren't trying to force me to communicate, to talk.
He smiles, understanding the confusion behind that statement, -Why would I? You'll speak when you're ready.-
-It doesn't make sense.- Sherlock repeats, annoyance making him frown and glare, brilliant eyes flashing in frustration.
Shrugging, he kindly replies with a question that he thinks will help him understand, -Would you have spoken or would you just have felt stress?-
More time passes, he doesn't actually pay attention to the count, merely keeps an eye out for when Sherlock is ready. He can see the quickness that the younger man is processing in the way his eyes flicker as considers what he knows versus what has been said.
-Stress,- Sherlock finally answers, biting his lower lip he continues, -Stress is all I feel when people try making me talk or talk to me.-
He nods slowly, recording the notes and giving the younger man some time before he poises his next question, -How much stress do you feel in here?-
Blinking at him in shock, Sherlock's frown turns to a scowl.
Again they spend time in silence as the younger man considers that question.
-No.- the younger man just about snaps with how hard he responds, confusion and anger seeming to be his two primary emotions currently.
A small, warm smile curves his lips as he nods in response. –That's good.- is all he states, returning to his quiet work and watching without pushing. They have made far more progress in a relatively short time than he expected. That means there will probably be a step back sooner than later. Still, progress is progress. There will always be times where there is a step forward and a few steps back, that's just part of it, no reason to be upset, better just to be prepared.
The rest of their visit is quiet, nothing else is said between them until just before nine pm, when he asks, -Would you like to join me on my rounds with the homeless this Saturday?-
Tilting his head, the younger man considers it for a minute before slowly nodding.
-Great! Now then, it is rather late.- he replies happily.
A single nod is Sherlock's response as he stands and heads towards the door, barely pausing long enough for him to rise before opening it up. That's alright, he understands perfectly well.
Quickly, he moves around his desk and follows him to the lobby where he discovers a slender man with dark eyes and darker hair, lips curved in a small smile. –Good evening Doctor Watson, I'm Jim Moriarty, Sherlock's assistant.-
-Good evening, Mr. Moriarty,- he greets the new assistant.
-Feel free to call me Jim,- the assistant offers with a smile, -Is it about time? Are any arrangements needed?-
-Jim,- he repeats with a nod, -Sherlock has indicated he would like to join me during my rounds with the homeless Saturday. I leave the office to begin at nine am and complete them by two pm. I'll provide lunch.-
Both of the dark-haired men nod.
-Got it, five minutes to nine Saturday morning, wear comfortable shoes.- Jim remarks with a flash of a smile.
-Yes.- he answers with a nod, -Have a good night Sherlock. Jim.-
-Goodnight.- Sherlock replies, startling him, but making him smile.
He watches as the two leave, eyes narrowing at their backs as he considers the new assistant. There is something off with him, though he is not exactly sure what it is. Just his instincts telling him that not all the screws are as tight as they should be.
Giving a shake of his head, he locks up the building before returning to his flat to relax for the night. It's been longer than he originally planned on, though that seems to be Sherlock's regular effect.
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