Chapter 2: The Long Road To Italy Part 2

When the two men returned to the car fifteen minutes later, both of them were smiling warmly. Sheila, who was walking around with Rosie again, just looked up for a few seconds, then entered the car.

It was now 12:30 AM and if they wanted to reach their destination in time, they had to move on. Sherlock stretched his long legs one last time, before he also entered the car and started the engine.

They were driving for a while, when Sheila couldn't hold on any longer and fell asleep. Rosie didn't care. She was giggling and singing like it was normal for a two-year old girl to be up at this time.

"She's going to be a party girl," Sherlock mumbled amused.

"No, she's not. She will be intelligent enough to concentrate on school and later become a doctor like me," John replied.

"We will see in a few years," the detective replied.

They were silent for a few minutes, before John started to talk again.

"What's happening to Kyan now?"

Sherlock shrugged his shoulders, "I guess he will stay with Mycroft and finish school. He might be blind, but he has the brain of a Holmes."

"Are your parents talking to you again?"

The detective's face instantly changed from happy into sadness. The blogger saw it and regretted his question. "Sorry Sherlock. That was a bad move."

"It's been more than two months now and I tried to call them a few times, but to no avail. They ignore me."

John recognized that the detective was trying to sound strong.

"Hey, I'm sure they will reach out to you when some time has passed. I know it's hard for you but let's be aware of the fact that it was your sister who killed your uncle Rudy and not you."

"It's just hard to be ignored like this. It kind of feels like I'm a freak to them now."

"No Sherlock, you aren't. Don't think this way. They still love you, they just need more time."

"Let's focus on our trip again. So, what are you expecting from our first holiday together?"

The doctor looked surprised at the detective. "Well, a lot of sun, ice cream, good Espresso of course and a lot of water. You?"

"I want to visit the Trulli in Albero Bello. And maybe Albano in San Marco. And there is this beach, where you can dive near a stranded ship. I think it's called Alimini."

"Sounds to me like you have been there before," John stated.

"No, this is a totally new adventure for me. But I did a lot of reading, searching for the right places to have a relaxed holiday. And in Puglia the crime rate is also very low."

"You were thinking about vacation a long time before?"

"To be honest, right after Culverton Smith."

"I remember blaming you, that you were promising me a beach," John whispered.

The detective nodded but didn't respond and when his best friend started to yawn again, the detective tried a second time, "John, you're exhausted. Just close your eyes for a minute and I'm sure you will be feeling better."

"I have to stay awake…I can't…sleep…Not…yet…" And as soon as the doctor had finished those words, he fell asleep.

Sherlock just smiled satisfied and drove on, Rosie still giggling in her seat.

When John Watson awoke the next time, the sun was already shining.

"Shit! How long was I out?" The doctor turned round to find Sheila and Rosie still asleep.

"Well, we talked until 2 AM and now it's almost 11 AM, so I would say nine hours of fine and deep sleep," Sherlock replied dryly.

"God, I'm so sorry Sherlock. I wasn't planning to fall asleep."

"Hey, it's okay, you hear me? I had some breaks and I am fine."

The doctor looked around. "So, where are we right now?"

"We're at Bari now. Just two and a half more hours and we're there," Sherlock informed.

Now John looked surprised at the detective. "How long did you sleep?"

"Sleep? I didn't sleep," the detective replied.

"But if I calculated right, we should already be in Torre Suda, so what did I miss?

"You missed the exiting part of a massive car crash at Pescara. Three dead people and seven damaged cars. What else do you need?"

The doctor silenced immediately.

"Don't worry. You were all asleep so no harm done here. I was able to sleep three hours while I was waiting for the road to open again."

"Why didn't you wake me?" the blogger asked astounded.

"Because you needed to rest. That's why it's called holidays."

Now Sheila and Rosie started to wake up, too.

"Guys, what time is it?" she asked while looking out of the window.

"It's 11AM and soon we will reach our destination," John told her.

"Well, guess Torre Suda has to wait a little longer. It's time for me to use the toilet and of course I'm starving," Sheila informed. "And of course, I think Rosie would like a new diaper, too."

"Don't worry, we will find a gas station and then you are allowed to do whatever you want," Sherlock replied with a grin.

John looked at his best friend. Sherlock was pale and the dark rings under his eyes a contrast to his white skin. He must be so exhausted, the doctor thought to himself and sighed. It was useless to tell Sherlock Holmes he needed sleep, same with food and water.

They found a gas station ten minutes later and when they stepped out, it had already heated up to 40° Celsius.

"Now I know the benefits of an air-conditioned car," John mumbled while trying to breathe.

"I thought you'd like it," Sheila now interrupted, while changing Rosie's diaper in the backseat.

As soon as John recognized what his girlfriend was doing, he appeared shocked. "You aren't changing the diaper in the car, are you?"

Sheila didn't look up, "Why not? I don't trust those toilets and this is for your daughter's safety," she replied cool.

Sherlock and John looked at each other and when the first scents of the full diaper reached their noses, both men started to choke simultaneously.

"That's the reason I never wanted kids," the detective panted.

"O for God's sake Sherlock. It's just for a few years and then it's over," John tried to defend himself.

"Every corpse smells better than this."

John looked up at him and started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" the detective was irritated about the sudden change in John's behaviour.

"Well, last time when they pulled that corpse out of the dung heap on that farm, you vomited on the floor because you couldn't handle that smell." The blogger was laughing even more now and Sherlock suddenly had to laugh, too. Must have something to do with the weather here, the detective thought.

When Sheila had finished, she grabbed the old diaper and shoved it under the men's noses. "Next time you can do the change." And with those words she walked away to find the toilet.

John and Sherlock stood on the spot, staring at each other. "I guess we overreacted a little," John whispered.

"She's acting John. Just acting, you hear me?"

"How can you be sure of that?" the blogger wanted to know.

"Because she's a woman and every woman is a drama queen," the detective explained.

"A drama queen?"

"Yes…"

"I know a drama queen and she's not female. Not at all," John said dryly.

Sherlock looked at John with a questioning look on his face.

"You know what? Forget it." John smiled at Rosie, who was playing with a bug on the ground.

"Remember Rosie, don't hurt it. We are not killing insects on purpose," Sherlock reminded.

"Are you telling my child that she isn't allowed to kill mosquitos, too?" the blogger was serious.

"Of course not. Are you insane John?"

The doctor shrugged his shoulders, "Just asking."

Meanwhile, Sheila had returned to the car and looked curious at the two friends. "So, aren't we eating? I thought Mycroft would buy us everything we want."

Sherlock grinned, "Here's the card. Take it and enjoy your breakfast or whatever you like."

Sheila looked at Sherlock, "Aren't you eating?"

"Still not hungry. We have a little bit more than two hours to drive and I need to be able to concentrate. If I eat something now, my brain would be busy with digestion."

John sighed. It was useless. If his friend had made the decision to starve, he had to accept it. He grabbed Rosie and with his other hand took the credit card. When they were out of sight, Sherlock yawned and tried to stretch his legs. They were slightly swollen and he knew what that meant. Before the vacation, Sherlock had a phone call with Dr. Steven Strange, hoping to be cleared.

Steven, always the careful type when it comes to Sherlock, hesitated first but then agreed. "No stress, a lot of sleep and relaxing you hear me? No cases! You're still recovering, as is your friend. If I clear you two for vacation, I want you to get some strength back."

The detective had promised to take care of himself this time and so far, he had done everything to avoid his doctor's advices. While he was massaging his sore legs, he checked the people around him. And suddenly something caught his eye. There was a man, pacing around his car restlessly. He had sweat on his forehead and his hands were trembling. Something was wrong and the detective tried to figure out the puzzle. He could see the man was stumbling, so he assumed the man was experiencing some kind of dizziness. His trained eyes now focused on the body and he discovered that the upper part of it was slightly bent forwards. Chest pain, he instantly recognized and when he focused on the jugular vein, there were signs of swelling.

Alarm bells were starting to ring, when Sherlock combined the symptoms with what he had stored in his mind palace. There could only be one thing wrong with the guy and the detective started to run for him. When the man saw Sherlock, he asked him, "Are you a doctor?" and collapsed on the ground. The detective instinctively felt for a pulse and checked the man's breathing. There was no pulse nor breathing and he immediately cried out for help. An Italian man was approaching him and asked, what was wrong.

"Call for my friend, Dr. John Watson. He's in the restaurant with a woman and a little girl. Tell him he is needed urgently," Sherlock explained in Italian. The man nodded and started for a run, while the detective started CPR.

Three minutes later, the doctor came running for them. "We can't leave you one minute alone, can we?"

"I'm sorry, but you chose to be the doctor, so it's your vow to help people," Sherlock replied while continuing his life saving efforts.

John caught sight of the man on the ground. "Jesus, what happened?"

"If I'm right, he's having a heart attack," Sherlock explained.

"I take over, you go grab my bag and make sure Rosie and Sheila stay away," the doctor instructed.

The detective did as he was told and handed his friend the bag. While he was informing Sheila, John knelt down next to the man and started an IV. When Sherlock finally returned, the doctor was still working on the patient, his face very grim.

"It's not looking good. How long until the ambulance arrives?"

"They said around six minutes," Sherlock informed.

John shook his head. "That's too long. He won't make it. Go back to the restaurant and ask for an AED. I'm sure they have one."

The detective ran back to the restaurant while John tried anything possible with no real medical equipment.

When Sherlock returned with the device, John connected the AED with the man's body. The AED checked the patient and a shock was advised. When the blogger pushed the button, the man convulsed for a second and then a normal heartbeat returned. John was smiling brightly, when the man slowly opened his eyes and asked, where he was. The man was Italian, so Sherlock translated for his best friend until the ambulance arrived. John gave the paramedics a quick update and then the ambulance drove off.

"Now that was a holiday start with a bang," John said relieved.

"You were amazing as always John," the detective encouraged.

"Yeah. Can I eat now? I'm starving and my pizza is getting cold."

Sherlock just nodded and looked after the doctor who just saved a life. A short look at his watch told him, they would reach Torre Suda at 2:12PM now…

How could he have been that wrong? When they finally were back in the car, almost two hours had passed since first arriving at the gas station. Rosie had decided to explore the playground, John had one Espresso too much and was now walking restlessly up and down, until the first shots of caffeine were filtered out of his body and when the doctor finally was heading for the toilet, the detective received an emergency call from his friend just a minute later. No toilet paper again and the blogger was sitting there alone. Sherlock tried to supress the urge to burst out in laughter and when Sheila gave him a questioning look, he grinned at her and said, "Just the doctor in need of help."

When he entered the restroom, a very desperate John Watson was sitting at the end of the line, sighing deeply. "Please tell me it's you, Sherlock and not anybody else."

The detective grabbed a paper roll and handed it to the doctor. A second later the detective could hear water flushing and when the doctor stepped out, he was more than just relieved to see the detective.

"You should reduce your Espresso consuming," the detective said with a grin.

"I didn't know I would react that much. Never happened before. You know me. As a doctor I drink a lot of coffee."

"Don't underestimate the Italians," Sherlock replied while patting his friend's shoulder. Together they walked back to the Mini Cooper, where Sheila was already securing Rosie in her child seat.

"So, what was the emergency? Seems to be one when you text Sherlock instead of me," she teased.

"I was out of paper again. Guess it's normal here to search for it," John replied calmly.

"I don't understand why you didn't look for paper before you entered the cabinet," the detective interrupted.

"Because, if I would have done this, I would have peed myself. That's what you wanted to hear, right?" the doctor was sounding a little bit angry and Sherlock decided it was time to drive on.

"I would say we continue our journey, so we are able to go to the beach for some hours before we visit our home."

Everyone nodded and a few minutes later they were on the road again, ready to meet Salento.

It was 2:36 PM, when they finally arrived at their destination. Sherlock had already found a public beach at San Giovanni and when they drove into the parking lot, the first surprise was waiting for them. A young guy appeared at their window and when John gave him a questioning look, the man just stretched out his hand and said, "Cinque Euro."

"Sherlock, he says something about Euro," John whispered to his left.

"He wants 5 Euro for the ticket," the detective explained and handed John the money.

"So, every time we want to visit the beach we have to pay," John asked speechless.

"We're not in London anymore John. Get used to it," Sherlock mumbled while looking for a free spot to park the car.

When they finally stepped out of the car, the sun was burning down on them.

"O great, we will get sun burned," John said not amused.

"We have to use a lot of sun screen here. Our skin isn't made for such kind of holiday," Sheila laughed.

The four started to walk along the wooden web, which was showing them the way to the beach. The look was something, they never had seen before. Seagulls were flying in the blue sky, the water of the sea clear and blue as well. The sand was tidy and soft under their feet and people were sitting around, covering the beach with their coloured umbrellas.

"So that's why they called it the Maldives of Salento," Sheila whispered impressed.

"It's not only the water, it's about the whole region. Just look at the agriculture here," Sherlock informed while preparing a spot on the beach for their umbrella. While Sheila was already covering Rosie in sun screen, John decided he couldn't wait and jumped into the cold water. For the first time in a decade, the doctor felt relaxed and he wasn't sure if he would ever return to London.

When Sheila, Sherlock and Rosie were covered in sun screen, they followed John into the water.

"Someone needs to wear a watch. We're supposed to meet the owner of the house at six," Sherlock informed, while enjoying the cold.

John, still not creamed, looked at the water and cried, "There are fish in the water! Look!"

All were looking excitedly into the water where the doctor was pointing with his finger.

"I see them, too. O my god! That's incredible!" Sheila couldn't believe it.

Rosie was also very excited and tried to catch them.

"John, it's really time to use some sun screen," Sherlock reminded his friend one more time.

The doctor nodded and stepped out of the water, but the detective could see that it was already too late. John's back was covered in red and from what Sherlock could see, the doctor would soon get some nasty blasts on his back…

They stayed for over three hours, enjoying the water and the atmosphere. John looked at his watch and gave the signal it was time to leave. No one was happy and when they were finally back at their car, it was impossible to enter. The sun was so intense, that they had nearly 50° Celsius inside and there was no other option as to start the car and turn on the air conditioner first.

A few minutes later the car had cooled a little and it was possible to enter now. Sherlock looked at his watch, "Just in time. We will reach Torre Suda at 6:03 PM." The engine started and soon they were on the road again, finally reaching their home.