Notice: contains spoilers for "The Speckled Band."
John Watson woke with a start, his heart racing as panic readied him to fight for his life if needed for it had been the distinct sound of his door opening that had woken him. He knew it was just Holmes, but he was still on edge and cursed softly as he lit his lamp. "What's the matter with you?" he murmured, then took a deep breath. They'd recently finished a dark and dangerous case and it wasn't Holmes' fault that he'd let it seep into his dreams. "Why are you here?" he asked more reasonably. "Has something happened?"
Sherlock Holmes didn't answer him right away, wasn't even really looking at him, his gaze landing somewhere above Watson's head.
"Holmes? Alright?" Watson asked quizzically. He turned to see what his friend was looking at, but there was nothing there. Turning back to Holmes, the detective's whole body seemed to shake slightly and he blinked a few times.
"Holmes! Look at me."
"Huh?" Holmes murmured, finally angling his head to look at Watson. "What do you need? Are you okay?"
"Me okay? Yes, I'm fine. It was you who walked into my room in the middle of the night."
"Oh."
"Were you sleepwalking?"
"No. Preoccupied. I'm sorry." His words were slow and low and slightly slurred, and Watson was getting more and more worried.
"Holmes…"
"It's that damn snake, Watson," Holmes said so softly his friend barely heard it. "I keep thinking about that damn snake. How it came down the wall; you should have seen it, Watson. The length of it; it could have wrapped around a man with ease. And the girl sleeping under it. What kind of monster would have ever thought of such a horrible plan? That damn snake."
"Oh," Watson breathed, noticing that Holmes had his cane in hand, the same one that he'd been using when he'd fought back the Indian swamp adder. "It's not here, Holmes. It's dead We're both quite alive."
"Good. I was checking."
"Okay."
"Okay."
"I'm going to go back to sleep now, Holmes."
"Okay."
"I'd prefer it if you left."
"Oh."
Watson went to turn off the lamp, but Holmes didn't move. The doctor sighed, rubbing his eyes and rising slowly. He was awake now, in any event, and Holmes' behavior was problematic; Watson knew he needed to examine him. He wasn't expecting Holmes to lunge forward and grab his arm so hard he suspected he would bruise.
"I shouldn't have taken you," Holmes said seriously, his voice a soft hiss. "You didn't see it, but you were close, too close. I'm so sorry."
"You were closer," Watson replied soothingly as he pried his friend's fingers free from his arm. "You drove it away, and we're both alive. Helen Stoner is alive. So thank you, for you're the one who saved us. Come, let's descend to the living room. I need to examine you; I think you may be in shock. Sometimes it can be a delayed reaction to severe stress, you know."
"Watson?"
"Yes?" Watson asked as he led his friend downstairs. The way Holmes had woken him and how they were descending together almost mirrored how the whole case had started, and Watson wasn't very happy about that.
"Keep the lights on tonight," Holmes requested.
"I will, Holmes."
"Stay near me. Stay awake."
"I am staying near you, that's why we're here now. There we go, sit down. I'm going to look into your eyes." They sat side-by-side on the couch and Watson gently laid his hand on Holmes' forehead to check his temperature. Holmes, however, must have taken the gesture as calming or affectionate or both, because he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Watson in a hug.
"I'm glad you're alive," he murmured.
"So am I," Watson said with a chuckle. He should, he thought, be annoyed with the other man, but he couldn't bring himself to be. Sherlock Holmes had always been a good friend to him, and he wasn't about to turn him away when he needed him just because he'd never been this protective or emotional before. It was, admittedly, very strange for Watson to see his commanding, self-assured friend like this, but if Holmes couldn't lean on him then who could he?
Watson attempted to peer into Holmes' eyes, but the detective had snuggled into the hug and was already slipping off to sleep. Watson sighed, wondering if he should wake up his friend. He was almost certain he was seeing the symptoms of delayed shock, but Holmes could also simply be suffering from exhaustion; Watson didn't know when his friend had last rested. In any event, the recent case they'd just concluded had obviously affected him greatly. And even though it hadn't really been his fault and he had seemingly shrugged it off, Watson knew the death of Grimsby Roylott also weighed on Holmes' conscience. Death always did, even when in self-defense, even when the wicked fell into the traps they laid for others, even when the world was left better off without them.
Watson felt Holmes' pulse before finally deciding that his friend would be fine. He drew a blanket off the back of the couch to throw over him. He grabbed one for himself, too, and made himself comfortable. He wasn't sure if Holmes would be embarrassed to wake up and find that he'd fallen asleep on his roommate, but he didn't care. Holmes had been the one who wandered into his room at three in the morning, after all, and he deserved to be embarrassed about that.
Watson would never find out if he was, however, for when he woke he was on the couch alone and Sherlock Holmes was his usual, self-assured, commanding self. He never brought it up, and so neither did Watson, but from then on every time Holmes would take his arm when danger was nearby, Watson never shrugged him off. Even when Holmes would give him orders that didn't seem to make sense Watson followed without question, for that night had only made him trust Holmes more. To know that Holmes cared so deeply only endeared him to Watson more instead of diminishing him. And when Holmes started, albeit very slowly, to show and accept affection more freely, Watson made sure to be exactly the friend Holmes needed him to be.
Author's Note:
After being ill for awhile, I wanted to write. With seemingly no inspiration, this is what came out. Thank you for reading, and I sincerely hope you enjoyed.