His Doctor~

Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Mrs. Hudson bustled about 221B, trying to clean up as much of the mess as she could without “ruining an experiment”. Her poor, cluttered head hadn’t stopped worrying about her favorite tenants since Jo-Ann answered that phone call. She even left that mysterious cup of tea on the table in case it had some scientific significance. Not that she understood any of it. The landlady was half-way through the dishes when she heard stomping on the ground floor. Before she could fully dry her hands, Jo-Ann walked into the flat, absolutely fuming.
“Jo-Ann-” she said, surprised, then saw Marius follow closely behind, looking distraught. “Marius-” Mrs. Hudson said with a worried tone, but then Sherlock stepped into the door, leaning on the frame and making such a face that she worried he was broken in half. “Sherlock!” she cried, both excited and fearful. “Oh goodness, you look terrible.”
“Morphine. From your kitchen. Now, preferably.” Sherlock demanded with dazed eyes and a strained voice.
“I don’t have any morphine!”
“Then what exactly is your purpose?!” The detective groaned rather loudly.
“What is going on?” Mrs. Hudson huffed.
“Bloody good question.” Jo-Ann glanced to her landlady but kept her head low.
“Jo-Ann and Marius are about to have a domestic, and fairly quickly, I hope.” Sherlock said from the doorway. “The sooner they get their feelings done with the sooner we can solve this.”
“Because this is something I can just be done with?!” Jo-Ann raised her voice a bit. “I’ve got more questions than any of you have answers, so here is the first one: is everyone I’ve ever met a bloody psychopath?!” she asked while pointing at Marius.
“…Yes.” Sherlock replied after a moment and Marius silently agreed. “Now that we’ve covered that-”
“Shut up!” Jo-Ann shouted, causing Mrs. Hudson to jump. The detective leaned back a bit. “And stay shut up. Because this-” she pointed a circle around the room, “-is not funny. Not this time.”
“I didn’t say it was funny.” 
“You.” Jo-Ann ignored him and walked right towards Marius. “What have I ever done? Hm? What could I have possibly done to deserve this?” she looked right into his eyes, but it felt like talking to a stranger.
“Everything.” Sherlock spoke up.
“Sherlock, I’ve told you…shut up.” Jo-Ann sounded as if she were on the verge of snapping.
“No, I’m right.” The detective continued anyway. “Everything you have done up until this point has led you to this.”
“Sherlock, one more word out of you and you will not need morphine.” Jo-Ann threatened, and although Sherlock was sure she was serious, he kept going anyway. Mrs. Hudson looked helplessly between the two as the doctor walked closer. 
“You were a doctor who went to war.” He began. “You’re a woman who couldn’t live domestically for more than a month without storming a crack den and beating up a junkie. Your fiancé is a sociopath who solves crime as an alternative to getting high. That’s me by the way, hello. Even the landlady used to run a drug cartel.”
“It was my husband’s cartel, I just did the typing!” Mrs. Hudson squirmed.
“And exotic dancing.”
“Sherlock Holmes, if you’ve been YouTubing-”
“Jo-Ann, you are addicted to a certain life-style.” Sherlock went back on topic. “You are abnormally attracted to dangerous situations and people, so is it truly a surprise that the man who you grew so close with conforms to that pattern?”
“But he wasn’t supposed to be like that.” Jo-Ann said with a crack in her voice. Marius was supposed to be the calm in her storm. The rock, the crutch, and the support. With such a dangerous lifestyle, both she and Sherlock needed someone to keep them grounded. Mrs. Hudson was an ex-criminal, Lestrade was one of the ones putting them in danger, Mycroft was… well, Mycroft, and even Molly had some strange obsession with dissecting people. They needed someone normal, and Marius was the only one left. No one liked to see the doctor cry and each felt a sting when they saw the tears forming in her eyes. “Why is he like that?” 
“Because… you chose him.” Sherlock explained. Jo-Ann did everything she could to keep hell locked inside her, but it was slowly seeping out.
“I didn’t.” she looked over at Marius, who hadn’t moved from keeping his hands behind his back by the fireplace. “You found me broken on a gravesite and tried to fix me.” She gulped down most of the tears that wanted to fall as Marius kept his head down. “You built me up when I thought I would never recover and you pulled me through. Was any of it real? Were you ever really my friend?”
“Yes.” Marius looked at her now.
“I trusted you.” Jo-Ann shook her head, ignoring his comment. Tears finally escaped her eyes as Mrs. Hudson decided to take her leave. “And now it’s apparently all my fault that you turned out to be a liar.”
“I never intended-”
“A LIAR!” Jo-Ann kicked down the closest chair to her with force that sent it skidding. Marius said nothing, did nothing, only stared at her and tried to hide his guilt.
“Jo-Ann, listen to me.” Sherlock intervened, hiding his own physical pain. “Focus. Right now, what is he?”
“My best friend who has lied to me since the day I met him?” Jo-Ann gritted, stepping in place.
“No, what else?”
“A man I trusted with my life.” She closed her eyes that time, feeling the hurt all over again.
“No, not what he was, not what he means to you. Right now, in this room, at this moment, what is he?” Sherlock asked. The doctor tilted her head with understanding, clenching her fists.
“Okay.” She whispered. “Okay. Your way.” She looked over her shoulder to Sherlock, who tried not to pay attention to the hurt present on her face. “Always your way.” Jo-Ann picked up fallen chair and set it (rather roughly) between her and Sherlock’s seats.
“Sit.” She ordered Marius.
“Why?” He asked quietly.
“Because this is where they sit!” Jo-Ann hissed. “The people who come to us for help. This is where they sit and talk. And that is where we sit and listen.” She pointed to her and Sherlock’s chairs. “Now you are going to sit here and we’ll decide if we want you or not.” Jo-Ann said coldly. “Because that’s all you are now, Marius. You’re a client.” She glared. “So, sit.” The professor nodded silently and waited for Jo-Ann to take her seat before moving at all. The two men sat down, the detective having a bit of trouble with his wounds, and they all were silent.