trashchildren | For Joan

"Of course. Give me a shout," he says with a cheerful smile as he heads outside.

He knows how frustrating and embarrassing this part was for him, and it must be worse for her. Now of course, being on the other side of it, he doesn't find it remotely embarrassing.

When Joan is done and has flushed, she looks at the wheelchair for a long moment. Maybe she can do it herself. It wouldn't be too difficult, would it? Just to get from the toilet to the chair? Pull up her bottoms herself? She can do it, can't she?

And she almost tries.

But she knows it's her pride talking, and that it would be way more embarrassing to have to go back to the hospital because she tried to be tough and fell and broke something.

"I'm done," she calls.

Ted returns and smiles. "I was thinking, if you want to take a shower, we could grab a stool you could sit on and we can shower together," he suggests. "Not necessarily now, we can eat breakfast and stuff first, but later if you want."

He knows she hasn't actually showered since before the gala, and can't imagine she feels great.

"That sounds amazing." She does feel pretty icky, and she's sure there's still gunk on her chest from where the electrodes were. A nice hot shower with Ted there sounds perfect.

"Alright, ready?" he asks, helping her switch back over to the wheelchair then letting her wash her hands.

"I've been making smoothies for breakfast," he says. "Just need to finish them." He couldn't very well use the mixer was still asleep after all.

Again she tries to help as much as possible and is barely able to hold on. It's a really good thing she didn't try to do it on her own.

"That's great!" she says as she washes her hands. "Sherlock will like that, too. Well. As much as he likes anything."

"Hey, as long it's nutritional fuel, right?" he says with a chuckle.

He waits until she's done, then grabs the wheelchair. "Alright, Watson caravan taking off," he says playfully, wheeling her back. It may be obvious that he's more used to taking care of sick kids than sick adults, based on his positivity and silliness levels. Then again, those are usually pretty high anyway.

The good thing about the wheelchair is he can put his weight on it instead of using the crutch, as long as he doesn't go to fast.

"Exactly," she chuckles with him.

When he wheels her out so playfully, she can't help but laugh, absolutely delighted. She can intellectually understand how Ted might be too much for some people, but she cannot help but be cheered up by his positivity and silliness. She's so lucky to have him.

Heck, his constant optimism was too much even for his wife. He gets that not everyone works the way he does. But it's so ingrained in him.

He wheels her out to the living room to where Sherlock is sitting. "Watson caravan now arriving at Holmes Station," he says cheerfully. "Hey, do you wanna move over to the couch, or stay in the chair?"

He imagines the couch is somewhat more comfortable, but if they're going to shower in a but, it does require even more lifting around.

Joan grins. Even Sherlock lowers his head to hide a half-smile. Joan sees that and her grin widens as her heart warms. He even got Sherlock to smile in spite of himself. That's an accomplishment.

"Staying in the chair might be easier," she says, having the exact same thought about the shower. They're going to have to be lifting her a lot. Might as well cut down on it when she can. And the chair isn't too terribly uncomfortable as long as they're not out here too long.

"Alrighty," Ted answers, and leans down to plant a kiss on the top of her head with a soft 'mwah'. "I'm gonna go finish breakfast," he says, carefully limping towards the kitchen. (And that's the downside to using the wheelchair for support. Suddenly he will be somewhere else without a crutch.)

She watches him head for the kitchen, smiling fondly.

Sherlock watches him, too. "Interesting man you've brought into our lives, Watson," he remarks.

"Yeah," Joan agrees. She glances at Sherlock. "Isn't he great?"

"He certainly has laudable qualities," he concedes. "Even if I feel like I need sunscreen lest I be burned by his cheerfulness."

Joan laughs at that, giving Sherlock a look before turning her attention to the kitchen again.

Ted sets about finishing up breakfast. He was more or less done, besides the actual mixing of things. Lots of yummy fruits, strawberries, and oatmeal. And then some very loud noises as he runs the blender. He serves it up in three big glasses, complete with straws.

"Hey Sherlock, come help me with this?" he calls to the living room once he's all done.

Sherlock heads into the kitchen. "Ah, yes," he says. Ted can hardly carry the smoothies, considering his need for a crutch. "Let me see..." He looks in a few cabinets before finding a tray. "I've got this if you want to go out and join Watson he says, putting the glasses on the tray.

"Thanks, bud," Ted answers, and goes to give Sherlock's shoulder a friendly slap, then redirects halfway and gives him a salute instead. He has to remind himself not to be too touchy feely with Sherlock. He grabs a crutch and heads to the living room.

Sherlock flinches a little when it seems like Ted is about to touch him. Then he gives a nod and tight smile to the salute. He appreciates that Ted modifies his behavior in recognition of Sherlock's peculiarities. It makes his enthusiasm a bit more bearable for the man whose senses are ofttimes painfully sharp.

He follows Ted out, carrying the tray. He sets it down on the table then sits down again.

"Those look delicious," Joan says.

"Hopefully thine eyes do not deceive," Ted answers with a soft chuckle, handing one of them to Joan, before grabbing one for himself and sitting down on the couch.

He looks at the seat next to him, then at the wheelchair, and gives a hum. He just realised a drawback of remaining in the chair. No cuddling.

Joan holds her smoothie carefully, not wanting to drop it. She notices Ted's glance at the empty couch next to him and his hum, and she smiles.

"Would you like me to sit next to you?" she offers. Yeah, it would mean some extra carting around, but what the heck.

"Nah, it's okay, we can catch it up later," he says with a smile. They've been spending almost every moment together lately, and while he's certainly not complaining, he's not that needy. Besides, they'll be showering together soon.

"Don't keep me in suspense though, give me your verdict," he adds, gesturing at the smoothie.

She carefully sips some of the smoothie, grateful for the straw.

"That is really good," she says. "I like the balance of the fruit with the oatmeal. The texture is really nice. Not too thin, not too thick."

She takes another, longer sip.

Ted gives a small fistpump of victory, then tastes it himself. He gives an approving hum. "Yeah, that turned out alright!" he says with some excitement. He gestures at Sherlock to try it too. "I haven't experimented too much with smoothies, but I bet I could make lots of different ones be real yummy."

"That's one of the best things about smoothies," Joan says as Sherlock takes a sip of his and nods in approval. "The possibilities are endless."

She drinks some more.

Ah, a nod of approval! Great, all around good reviews.

"And as long as you don't completely fudge up the ingredients, it'll end up edible. Um, drinkable," he muses, sipping his. He narrows his eyes thoughtfully. "Mmmm, fudge smoothie.." That'd definitely be a dessert kind of smoothie.

"The only problem, of course, is it's always gonna be a smoothie," he adds. A single taste concoction of smooth thick liquid. He starts missing other kinds of foods after a while.

"You mean a milkshake?" Sherlock says to the fudge smoothie comment, his tone acerbic. Ted doubtless notices that's Sherlock's default.

"We definitely need some non-smoothie options," Joan agrees with a smile.

Ted barely even registers Sherlock's acerbic tone at this point. He focuses more on the contents of the statement. And at that particular statement, he just smiles with amusement. It's a fair point.

"I was looking up stuff that's easy to digest and eat," he says, stirring his smoothie idly. "Found a fried chicken and egg rice bowl recipe that looked real yummy." He's already practically putting together a menu.

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