For Joan

[theodorelasso]

Continued from here.

(warnings: sexytimes. also, panic attacks, brutal violence, attempted murder, discussion of suicide and actual murder... )

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[formersurgeon]

Joan sleeps through Ted's distress, but Sherlock sees. He watches for a moment as Ted frowns and stirs. He can only imagine what is going through the other man's head. Scenes from the gala? From his kidnapping? Or is his mind reaching further back, to when Ted was a teenager and found his father's body?

Sherlock rises silently, and quietly walks to Ted's side of the bed. He stares for a moment, fingers twitching, uncertain. Then he hesitantly reaches out and settles a gentle hand on Ted's shoulder. The intent is not to wake him necessarily, but to rather give his subconscious mind a measure of reassurance and comfort.

[theodorelasso]

Ted stills when Sherlock touches him. He mumbles something incoherent, and eventually the frown fades. He shifts a bit again, but this time it's to get closer to Joan. His sleeping mind able to calm enough to seek the closeness and comfort.

[formersurgeon]

Joan shifts closer in response, her sleeping mind registering his approach and drawn toward his warmth and presence.

Sherlock draws back his hand, watching these two people he cares about finding comfort in each other, even as they sleep. He's glad to have been able to help soothe Ted.

Sherlock returns to his chair and checks the time again. A little over an hour until he needs to wake up Watson.

[theodorelasso]

After that, Ted falls deeper asleep. When Sherlock has to wake Joan, Ted's arm is draped across her, but he doesn't seem to remotely register being moved, just sleeping solidly on.

[formersurgeon]

Sherlock wakes Joan gently, quite possibly the first time he's ever done so. Joan carefully moves Ted's arm and sits up as Sherlock goes to get her pill and water. After she takes her medicine, Sherlock takes the glass from her and hands her his laptop, the police report from Ted's father's suicide on the screen. Joan frowns as she begins to read, but that frown turns into a deep crease of concern and sadness between her eyes. She looks up at Sherlock, who nods grimly, then down at Ted sleeping soundly next to her. What a terrible thing for him to have to carry around in his heart and on his mind. It also sheds light on his dedication to being so kind to everyone.

She hands the computer back to Sherlock and carefully lies back down, facing him. She gazes at his relaxed face then gently touches his cheek, so deeply in love and so sorry for the pain he's been through.

[theodorelasso]

Ted's only response is to tilt his head a little towards her hand, and then sleep soundly on, unaware of what's going on around him.

He sleeps for a few hours more, before he wakes up early, to check on Joan and Sherlock. Seems like his body has gotten used to getting its sleep interrupted by now, so now it wakes him up first.

[formersurgeon]

Joan herself woke up even earlier, which is probably a good sign that her body is healing and doesn't need quite so much rest. When Ted wakes up she's sitting up in bed and reading, and Sherlock nowhere to be seen.

She looks over at Ted as he stirs, and smiles. "Hey," she says softly. "Did you sleep well?"

[theodorelasso]

Ted blinks sleepily up at her and smiles back. "Yeah," he answers, voice gruff from just waking up. He doesn't sit up just yet, just drapes an arm across her legs and gives her hip a kiss, cuddling despite her sitting up. "You?"

[formersurgeon]

"Yeah," she echoes with a smile, gently stroking his hair, running her fingertip tenderly over the curve of his ear. "You don't have to get up. You can go back to sleep if you want to."

He's been letting her sleep whenever she needs it. It's only fair that she offer to do the same now that she's feeling much better.

[theodorelasso]

Still lying there, cuddled up with her and with his eyes closed, he considers this. Her affectionately touching him like that isn't exactly making him want to get up.

"Mmmm, yeah alright," he agrees with a soft smile, not opening his eyes. "Love you.."

[formersurgeon]

He looks so comfortable and happy, and it warms her heart.

"I love you," she says softly, still petting his hair. "So much."

He's taken such good care of her, and she's so grateful. She hopes she can take care of him in turn when he needs it.

[theodorelasso]

Ted doesn't generally sleep in often, preferring to meet days head-on. But something Shaun told him the other day - when your body is healing or fighting an illness, some of the most productive things you can do is actually simply to rest. So he's been trying to take that to heart. He can tell his body isn't quite ready to get up yet.

He falls asleep easily and sleeps quietly and soundly. When consciousness finds him again, it's a lot easier to greet it, and he rolls over, stretching with a satisfied groan.

[formersurgeon]

Joan is glad that he's sleeping. She knows he need the rest to heal, and they can focus on his healing for a while.

When Ted wakes up, Joan is sitting in the chair with her laptop. She looks up as he moves and closes the laptop, giving him a smile.

"Hey! Good morning! How are you feeling?"

[theodorelasso]

He reaches out for Joan's side of the bed, momentarily confused until she speaks up. It's good to see her out of bed. He wonders if she walked herself.

"Mmm, pretty good," he answers, pushing himself up to sitting. He's in a bit of pain, since it's been a while since he took his meds, but not more than expected.

"Hungry," he adds, realising. "Have you had breakfast yet?"

[formersurgeon]

"Not yet," she says. "I've only been up for a little while. And I didn't want to wake you or Sherlock up." She definitely got into the chair by herself. She's still wearing her sleep clothes, though, so she hasn't gotten dressed by herself. Yet.

"Can you help me take a shower after breakfast?"

[theodorelasso]

He's glad Sherlock's getting some sleep too. And he's glad that Joan gets to just.. exist for a bit without having to be watched by them.

"Yeah, that sounds great," he agrees with a smile. "Want to come with me to the kitchen, or do you want to keep doing what you're doing?" he asks, gesturing at the laptop.

[formersurgeon]

"I can come with you," she says, closing the computer and putting it aside. "Help me walk there?"

It might be a bit of a stretch, but Joan is eager for a challenge right now, and trying to walk to the kitchen seems perfect.

[theodorelasso]

Ted raises his eyebrows at her. "You sure? Cause I'm going to be hopping around carefully with one crutch, since I can't catch you if I use both," he points out.

He's not entirely confident without Sherlock on the other side, so he wants to make sure she thinks she's strong enough to make it there. And is aware of the fact that he'll be of limited help. If he was alright, he would gladly piggyback her there, but...

[formersurgeon]

"Mmm. Good point. We might need to wake Sherlock up."

Sherlock might well be awake already. He usually doesn't sleep much, and it's been a couple hours. She's also fairly certain that he wouldn't mind being woken up even if he is asleep.

[theodorelasso]

"I'll go check on him, just let me go to the bathroom first," he says, swinging his legs out of bed, then wincing a little and drawing a breath through his teeth. He gingerly reaches up to touch his ribs a bit, making a face. "Wish I was getting better as quickly as you are," he comments.

[formersurgeon]

She mirrors that wince in sympathy. "I wish you were, too," she says softly. "We'll make sure you get plenty of rest, okay? Is it time for your painkillers?"

Joan is starting to shift into carer mode, and it's a relief. She might be pushing things a bit, but she thinks she's ready, and Ted needs her.

[theodorelasso]

"Past time," he answers. "Cause of, you know, everything yesterday, I didn't end up taking them till a bit later in the day. So by the time I went to bed, it was still too early to take another dose." He gives a shrug. It's not quite long enough that he's gone into full withdrawal, but he definitely doesn't have anything numbing the pain anymore.

He grabs his crutches and carefully gets to his feet. Before he heads to the bathroom, he does swing by to kiss the top of Joan's head. He'll spare her a proper kiss with his current morning breath.

[formersurgeon]

She smiles as he kisses her head, then looks up and reaches out to touch his hand, a responding tender gesture. "Love you," she says softly.

[theodorelasso]

"You too. You know, I feel like we say that a lot, and yet I never get sick of hearing it, or saying it," he says with a chuckle. "Alright, I really gotta use the john though," he adds, and hurries off towards the bathroom.

Once that's taken care of, he takes his pills, then brushes his teeth and shaves. Any further cleaning he can save for the shower. Then he goes to check on Sherlock, and wake him if he's not awake already.

[formersurgeon]

"Me neither," Joan replies with a smile. "I love saying it. And I love hearing it."

Joan has been in plenty of relationships where those words were rarely spoken, if ever. Relationships that were as reserved as the people in them. Joan is herself typically reserved. But this relationship is different. This man is different. She is so deeply in love that it can't help but bubble over into words, and Ted takes such joy in it.

When Ted enters the living room he finds Sherlock in sweatpants, barefoot and shirtless, doing push-ups.