trashchildren | For Joan

Ted gives a shrug at Beard's realisation. It wasn't just that, but also that they wanted to pretend like everything was normal. And Ted wanted to face Rupert. But yeah. He was also bait.

"I think that was the point by then," he answers Nate.

"Anyway, Joan had a hunch something was wrong with the food, so without me knowing, she switched our plates."

He gives a 'there you have it' gesture.

Beard presses his hand to his mouth, now worried about Joan a whole lot more than he was before. Nate blinks, absorbing the significance of that.

Higgins spells it out. "He tried to poison you and Joan wound up being poisoned," Higgins says, shaking his head in distress.

"Oh god, Joan," Keeley says in horror. "But she's all right, yeah? You said she's all right."

Ted nods affirmatively, first at Higgins, then at Keeley. "She's alright, but... It was pretty close for a minute there," he admits quietly.

On the one hand, he doesn't want to worry them, but... He doesn't want to pretend like everything is just fine either. They've both been through a lot lately, and he wants to acknowledge that.

"Oh, god, Ted, I'm sorry," Keeley says. "Everything you've been through, that you've both been through..."

Beard comes over to Ted and puts his hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "She's strong," he says quietly. "You both are."

Ted smiles up at Beard, so grateful for all his support. Would've been a lot harder without him, that's for sure.

"So... That's about it. Not sure what happens next, but I assume there'll be interrogations and eventually a trial," he says. "Though I think Joan and I are just gonna focus on getting better for a bit."

They haven't been interviewed by the cops about the gala yet, but he's sure that'll come soon. But since the cops were already in attendance, and doing all the investigation, it's probably not as pressing.

"Take all the time that you need," Nate says. "We'll hold down the fort, right Beard?" Beard nods in agreement.

"Do you two need anything?" Higgins asks. "There's a casserole my wife makes for people when they're in the hospital or just had a baby or just lost a loved one. I understand it's good enough that people actually see it as a silver lining."

"Thanks, Higgins, that sounds great," Ted answers, touched. In general he's so touched and grateful for their support.

"I'm, uh... not entirely sure what we should tell the team," he points out. Many of them were here when Rupert owned the team in the first place.

"Tell them the fucking truth."

Everyone turns to look at Roy.

The retired footballer shakes his head. "It's not like they're not going to read about it in the press. Former team owner tries to murder current manager? The press is going to be all over it like flies on shit. You can't hide it. All you can do is be honest. They deserve to know. Most of us know that Rupert was a fucking prick. And most of these boys...the ones I know at any rate...will be fucking horrified to learn that anyone tried to kill you, much less fucking Rupert King of Pricks Mannion. Tell them the truth."

Ted blinks in surprise at Roy speaking up, but by the time he's finished, Ted's smiling, and he nods in agreement. He'd like to shield people from all this awfulness, but at a certain point you can't really do that. The team don't even know how bad it got with the kidnapping.

"I guess I'll stop by on Monday morning," he says. "But, for now I'd like to get back to the hospital, so..." he says, getting to his feet, but leaving the crutches for the moment.

"I'm gonna need all of you to come give me hugs," he says decisively, holding out his arms. He knows they won't object. Well. "Keeley, you better give me a good one, since I doubt Roy will indulge me."

"Absolutely," Keeley says, the first to come and hug him, tightly, and she tops it off with a peck on the cheek.

Beard is next, since he's closest, and he gives Ted a hug that's a little longer than he normally would. Nate stands up and awkwardly gives Ted a hug, patting his back quickly before letting go and backing up. Then Higgins gives a similarly awkward hug, due mostly to his general stiff British-ness.

"Oh what the hell," Roy says, and comes over to clasp Ted in a forceful embrace. "Okay, we're done," he says a moment later, backing up and returning to Keeley. She beams at him. He rolls his eyes.

"Ooh, careful with the ribs," he tells Keeley, who adjusts immediately. It is a very good hug though. As is Beard's, but Ted is familiar with that.

Ted makes sure to hug Higgins a little extra tightly, since he's sure he'll have a lot to process regarding Rupert, and Ted wants him to know he holds absolutely nothing against him, and doesn't trust him any less.

He obviously doesn't expect the hug from Roy, but that makes him appreciate it even more, even if he's barely had time to wrap his arms around him before Roy pulls back again.

Having these conversations have drained him quite a bit, but he feels a little recharged from the hugs.

"Alright, y'all," he says, picking up his crutches again. "Take care, and text me if you want to come visit us. I'm sure Joan would appreciate it, just gotta make sure she's up for it."

"Bye Ted," they chorus, Keeley and Nate and Higgins waving and Roy back in his grumpy silence.

Beard follows him out to make sure he gets to the cab okay.

"Hey, so.. I'm not sure how everyone's gonna be taking it, especially Rebecca and Higgins, so will you make sure they're alright for me?" he asks softly. He's sure they're putting on brave faces of support for Ted, not to mention that it's going to take a little bit to process it fully.

He knows he's not in the best position to look after them right now, not just because he won't be present most of the time, but he needs to focus on Joan, and he himself has been through a lot lately.

"I'll keep an eye on them, don't worry," Beard responds just as softly. He figures Ted wants to balance his concern for the effect this is having on his friends with his need to rest and recuperate with Joan, and Beard is happy to assist. "Take care of yourself. And take care of Joan."

"I will," Ted promises. He gives Beard another hug, before he gets into the cab and asks the driver to head back to the hospital. He sends both Sherlock and Joan a text letting them know he's on his way back.

Joan still doesn't have her phone, but Ted gets a text back from Sherlock.

Thnx

When Ted gets back to Joan's hospital room, he finds her being examined by a doctor. He's testing her eyes with a penlight, then having her follow his finger. Sherlock is sitting on the couch, looking on. He hears the sound of Ted's crutches coming down the hall, and looks to the door as the man arrives. He nods in greeting, then turns back to watching the doctor examine Watson.

Ted smiles in greeting but doesn't say anything, instead just sitting down on the couch next to Sherlock. He gives Joan a little wave when she notices him, but he's waiting till the doctor's finished to, not wanting to interrupt.

He's also... a little nervous whenever Joan is being examined. Like they'll discover some dire aftereffects of the poison or something. He doesn't really know much about it to know what could be possible.

Joan notices him and smiles, then turns her attention back to the doctor. He has her squeeze his fingers, then hold out her arms and stop him from pushing up and down on them. She's not able to, and her arms are trembling. He has her touch her nose and then his finger as he moves it side to side, then up and down. Joan frowns in consternation as she's unable to accomplish the task, her hands shaking.

"Miss Watson," the doctor begins as he writes on her chart, but Joan finishes for him.

"Bilateral strength deficit and substandard fine motor control." She gives the doctor a wry smile when he looks up in surprise. "I used to be a doctor," she tells him.

"Oh. Well. On the plus side, your cognitive skills don't appear to be affected, although you might experience things like mild aphasia. And you will probably recover your strength and fine motor skills. But you're likely going to need help at home for a while."

Ted frowns with worry, watching her. He didn't know she was that weak, and it hurts his heart to watch. He's relieved when he says her brain doesn't seem affected, and that she'll probably get better over time. He imagines if it had messed properly with her head, that would've been the worst for her.

"That's alright, doc, we can help with that," he speaks up. They haven't really spoken about what they're doing after this, but Ted has every intention of spending as much time as possible with Joan, probably as much as he can before she gets annoyed at him hanging around all the time.

Both the doctor and Joan look over at Ted, Joan giving him a small yet grateful smile. Sherlock glances at Ted, noting the "we" in his statement. There are a number of implications to that that they will need to discuss...but he's not entirely adverse to those implications.

"Yes, well, that is good." The doctor is clearly trying to suss out exactly who these two men are who are going to be taking care of Joan, but in the end he gives up. As long as they're going to help take care of her, what does it matter? "I will have the nurse talk you through the discharge instructions," he says to all three of them.

Ted nods, and as the doctor seems to be finished with the important stuff, he gets to his feet and limps to Joan's side, to give her a hello kiss and sit down next to her. Just on the edge of the bed though, not getting in properly.

She kisses him back, then leans against him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"All right," the doctor says, backing toward the door. "I will let the nurse know I approve your discharge. It might take a little while, but they should be in sometime in the next couple hours." He nods to Joan. "Nice to meet you. Good luck."

With that he leaves the room.

Joan sighs, closing her eyes, just enjoying his closeness.

Ted wraps his arm around her, leaning against her too, and lets her just sit there in silence for a moment.

"How you doing?" he asks softly, giving her shoulders a gentle squeeze.

"All right," she answers softly. "Tired. Ready to get out of here." She frowns faintly. "Not sure what's going to happen when I do."

Sherlock rises and approaches the bed.

"Whatever you need, Watson," he says. "Perhaps you can stay with Ted. Or perhaps Ted can stay with us."

"Oh, I don't mind staying with you guys," Ted says immediately when Sherlock suggests it. "I don't have an extra bed, so if you want both of us around, that's probably easiest. Plus, I can't be running around all the time anyway."

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