July 7 - epidemic
Title: Inference
Author: Pompey
Universe: RDJ movie-verse
Rating: PG
Warnings: implications of character death
Word count: 400
Summary: Mrs. Watson comes to Baker Street. Holmes deduces.
Prompt: July 7 - Epidemic
Holmes did not stir an inch when Mrs. Hudson announced that “Mrs. Watson is here to see you.” What did catch his interest was the sound of his housekeeper’s footsteps stopping at the doorway rather than proceeding back down the stairs. There was a rustling noise and a deep, feminine inhalation that sounded rather quavery. Then, at last, Mrs. Hudson exited the sitting room, leaving him alone with that woman.
“Mr. Holmes,” she began in a voice that was low and slightly unsteady, “please come with me?”
Some little demon in his heart stirred him to be cruelly flippant. “Even if I were a marrying man, Mrs. Watson, I should like to think I might resist the charms of my friend’s wife, no matter how stale she finds married life.”
“Don’t.” The one word hissed out with such ferocity and anger and - was that sadness? finally made Holmes turn to look and truly observe her.
Boots poorly laced and sloppily tied. Hat is slightly askew and hair has fly-aways. Inference: She has come here in a hurry.
What bit of dress is visible below her coat is plain in its cut and style, in a dark patterned print. It is a dress meant for housework yet she wears it in public. Faint grime at the hemline. She would not have walked here so the dirt is not a recent accumulation. She has been wearing it for a least a day straight. Inference: She has been homebound for some time, working on an absorbing task, and some emergency has brought her here.
Her face is pale, dark shadows beneath her eyes. She has had more than one sleepless night. Her eyes . . . Dear God, she is blinking back tears. Inference:
“What has happened to Watson?” Holmes demanded, springing to his feet and crossing over to her.
“You haven’t heard about the measles epidemic?”
He had caught wind of it but had dismissed it as unworthy of a space in his brain-attic. He had had measles as a boy and was therefore immune. Surely . . . “Surely Watson had measles as a child!”
Slowly she shook her head and the tears she had kept back for so long finally welled up. “Mr. Holmes, John is asking to see you.”
Watson hates to have an audience when he is sick, or injured, or otherwise weakened. Inference . . . .
Author: Pompey
Universe: RDJ movie-verse
Rating: PG
Warnings: implications of character death
Word count: 400
Summary: Mrs. Watson comes to Baker Street. Holmes deduces.
Prompt: July 7 - Epidemic
Holmes did not stir an inch when Mrs. Hudson announced that “Mrs. Watson is here to see you.” What did catch his interest was the sound of his housekeeper’s footsteps stopping at the doorway rather than proceeding back down the stairs. There was a rustling noise and a deep, feminine inhalation that sounded rather quavery. Then, at last, Mrs. Hudson exited the sitting room, leaving him alone with that woman.
“Mr. Holmes,” she began in a voice that was low and slightly unsteady, “please come with me?”
Some little demon in his heart stirred him to be cruelly flippant. “Even if I were a marrying man, Mrs. Watson, I should like to think I might resist the charms of my friend’s wife, no matter how stale she finds married life.”
“Don’t.” The one word hissed out with such ferocity and anger and - was that sadness? finally made Holmes turn to look and truly observe her.
Boots poorly laced and sloppily tied. Hat is slightly askew and hair has fly-aways. Inference: She has come here in a hurry.
What bit of dress is visible below her coat is plain in its cut and style, in a dark patterned print. It is a dress meant for housework yet she wears it in public. Faint grime at the hemline. She would not have walked here so the dirt is not a recent accumulation. She has been wearing it for a least a day straight. Inference: She has been homebound for some time, working on an absorbing task, and some emergency has brought her here.
Her face is pale, dark shadows beneath her eyes. She has had more than one sleepless night. Her eyes . . . Dear God, she is blinking back tears. Inference:
“What has happened to Watson?” Holmes demanded, springing to his feet and crossing over to her.
“You haven’t heard about the measles epidemic?”
He had caught wind of it but had dismissed it as unworthy of a space in his brain-attic. He had had measles as a boy and was therefore immune. Surely . . . “Surely Watson had measles as a child!”
Slowly she shook her head and the tears she had kept back for so long finally welled up. “Mr. Holmes, John is asking to see you.”
Watson hates to have an audience when he is sick, or injured, or otherwise weakened. Inference . . . .