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When Wato awoke to a runny nose and a coughing fit, she was unfazed by it.
Yes, Wato understood the humor behind a doctor being sick, but she was human too and not immune to illnesses. It wasn’t the first time she had gotten sick and it wouldn’t be the last time either.
With some reluctance though, Wato got out of bed that morning with her blanket wrapped around herself like a cocoon. She carefully shuffled downstairs to start her daily routine of making breakfast for herself and maybe Sherlock, if she was willing to eat that morning. The detective was up before her, like usual, and was now seated in her chair, looking over who knows what.
“Good morning, Sherlock,” yawned Wato as she passed by.
Sherlock looked up from the papers she had been reading. Her forehead furrowed as she watched Wato walk past her and into the kitchen.
“What are you doing?” asked Sherlock.
“Making breakfast.”
Sherlock set her papers down and carefully got up.
“You’re sick,” she stated.
“I know.” Wato let out a few coughs and sniffles after saying this. She waved a hand dismissively. “I’ll be fine though. It’s probably just a little cold I got from being out in the rain yesterday. I knew I should’ve worn a different coat.”
Wato bent over, trying to find the pan that she needed in one of the cabinets down below, when she suddenly felt someone pulling her back up. She was then unceremoniously pushed into the living room, until she was seated on the couch.
“Wh-Sherlock! What are you doing?”
“Making you go back to bed.”
Wato stared at Sherlock peculiarly and tried to get back up again, only to get pushed back down. The two repeated that cycle a few times more before Wato finally gave up with a huff and remained seated, too tired to deal with all of this.
Once seated, Sherlock left the room, leaving her bewildered by what was going on. She heard some clattering coming from the kitchen before Sherlock came rushing out again. Wato opened her mouth to try and ask again, but Sherlock ignored her, running to another room. She soon came back with an armful of tiny bottles, which she tossed onto one of the small tables. She quickly grabbed two of them and headed towards Wato.
“Open your mouth.”
“What?”
“Open your mouth,” Sherlock demanded again. “And lift up your tongue too.”
Wato knew well enough that it was pointless to ask or resist. She huffed and carefully did as she was told. Sherlock then opened one of the bottles that she had quickly placed a few drops of whatever it was into Wato’s mouth. Her reaction was instantaneous.
“Bleh! Sherlock!” Wato gagged. “What was that?!”
“It’s oregano oil. It’s supposed to help your cold.” Sherlock opened the second bottle that she had and moved towards Wato again. “Now, take the frankincense oils too. You’ll have to do this twice more today and you should continue that for a week.”
Wato tried to swat Sherlock away, but Sherlock persisted. Once again, it didn’t take long for Wato to give in. The second one wasn’t as bad as the first, but it was still something that Wato would’ve preferred not to have tasted first thing in the morning.
Wato didn’t know when, but Sherlock had run off and was now returning with a glass of water. She held it out for Wato, who stared at it suspiciously.
“It’s just water, Wato.”
Wato sighed and took the glass. She carefully took a small sip, and once she confirmed that it was water and not one of Sherlock’s odd experiments, she quickly drank the rest, washing away the essential oils Sherlock had made her ingest.
Sherlock ran off again and came back this time with a large pot of hot water, which she set on the table after knocking over the rest of her essential oil bottles to the side. She grabbed one of them though and added a few drops of it into the pot. Sherlock then carefully pushed the table closer to Wato before draping a blanket over her and the pot.
“Sherlock, wha-”
“Just sit there and inhale that for a bit. It’s eucalyptus. It’ll help clear your nose and help your cough.”
Sherlock was gone before Wato could even pull the blanket off her head. The slamming of the door signaled to her that Sherlock had really left this time and she shook her head. Sherlock was being odder than usual, but she wasn’t about to complain considering the fact that the eucalyptus was helping her breathe better.
She heard the door opening and closing again, and assumed that it was Sherlock who had come back from wherever it was that she went. Wato heard some pots and pans clanging in the kitchen and hoped that Sherlock wasn’t going through too much trouble for her. She had gotten sick before, but unlike this time, Sherlock had simply ignored her, not worried since she knew Wato was a doctor. She always knew that Sherlock cared, but it was rare for Sherlock to show it in this manner.
Wato sat there for a moment, breathing in the warm steam, letting it fill her lungs. Things were suspiciously quiet in the kitchen, but Wato was too relaxed to worry about it. The warmth of everything and the earliness of the morning was starting to make her doze off, but then the blanket covering her head and the pot were removed. A bowl and spoon were suddenly thrust into her face and Wato took them both carefully. She looked up to see Sherlock running back towards the kitchen, taking the pot with her.
Wato took this chance to see what Sherlock had actually given her and was surprised to find a bowl of soup. She knew that they didn’t have any leftovers from dinner last night and since Wato hadn’t made breakfast, Wato had to assume that Sherlock had made soup for her. The thought of that warmed her up more than the soup could ever do and she took her first bite with a smile on her face.
“Good?”
Wato nodded happily as she continued enjoying her soup, relishing how the hot liquid soothed her throat.
“I never knew you could cook,” remarked Wato.
Sherlock said nothing as she sat in her chair. Wato was used to this though and continued eating her soup, while Sherlock busied herself with looking at something on her phone.
Wato finished her soup quickly and was about to get up to place it in the sink, when Sherlock took it from her instead. She quirked an eyebrow at this, but decided not to comment on it.
“New case?” asked Wato.
She had noticed the slight smile on Sherlock’s face as she scrolled through her phone. She recognized that gleeful look from whenever Inspector Reimon texted Sherlock about a new impossible case for her solve.
“No,” Sherlock snapped. She turned away and quickly schooled her expression.
“No?”
“No,” repeated Sherlock. “Nothing today. Nothing at all.”
Wato knew that Sherlock was unlike most people and she had grown used it to since they’re pretty much around each other 24/7 now, but even Wato would consider Sherlock’s actions to be a bit odd just now.
“Okay,” nodded Wato, pretending not to notice. “Well, I’m not going anywhere today, so guess you’re stuck with me.”
Sherlock said nothing to acknowledge that she heard Wato. The doctor was used to this, but she sighed nonetheless. Glancing around the room, Wato tried to find something to distract herself. She mentally began running through her list of chores and finally decided that someone needed to do the laundry. Wato had barely even moved from her place before she was stopped by Sherlock.
“What are you doing?”
Wato was shocked by Sherlock’s question. She looked over and saw the detective was still looking at her phone as well. How she manages to do that Wato would never know.
“I’m gonna go do the laundry,” answered Wato.
She dropped the blanket that she had wrapped around her earlier and was about to get up, when Sherlock’s words stopped her once again.
“No, I’ll do it.”
Wato stared at Sherlock, in shock due to her statement Sherlock showed no sign of noticing and simply walked away to gather all of the dirty laundry she had strewn across the room. Wato could only watch in confusion as she moved around.
Something was definitely wrong with Sherlock today.
“Here. Read this.”
Wato shook her head and looked down to see Sherlock handing her a book. She took it tentatively and read the title.
“ Extreme Ironing ? What?”
Wato tried to find Sherlock and ask what this was all about, but Sherlock was already gone and Wato could hear her busying herself with the laundry.
Before Wato showed up, Ms. Hatano had mentioned how Sherlock rarely ever did any of her own chores, stating that she had more important things to worry about. Therefore, when Wato showed up, part of their arrangement at 221B involved Wato helping Sherlock out with some of the chores, so she wouldn’t have to pay for living there. Wato never minded doing the chores, but if Sherlock ever offered to help, she wouldn’t have said no either, and since that’s never happened in the past, seeing Sherlock willingly do the laundry now was highly unusual.
Wato wanted to ask what was going on, but she knew how stubborn Sherlock was and she doubted the detective would ever tell her why she was acting this way. Wato wasn’t about to complain though because it was nice to see Sherlock helping her out, but it felt unfamiliar to her and she wanted to know why Sherlock was doing all of this.
For now, all Wato could do was lay down and learn more about extreme ironing, whatever that was.
Wato didn’t know when she fell asleep, but when she awoke, her blanket was draped over her and the book she had been reading earlier had been placed on one of the side tables. Someone had made sure she had pillows as well and Wato smiled to herself upon realizing that it had most likely been Sherlock. Wato has been in the middle of sitting up and stretching when the detective in question showed up.
“You’re awake. Good,” said Sherlock as she walked in. She reached into her pocket and pulled out two bottles. “You can take oregano and frankincense again. Three drops of each.”
Sherlock held the bottles out for Wato to take. Wato frowned, recalling how awful they were this morning, but took them nonetheless. She quickly opened one of them, putting three drops into her mouth, before doing the same with the second. Sherlock handed her a glass of water that Wato hadn’t seen her holding earlier and she greedily drank, desperate to get the taste out of her mouth.
“Thanks.”
Sherlock disappeared before she could finish the words and Wato shook her head at this. Looking around the room, she noticed that things seemed a bit neater than usual. Sherlock’s many papers were actually in a neat stack and didn’t look as if someone had vomited pages after a night of drinking. Her books were moved to the side as well, leaving the floors actually somewhat bare. The laundry from earlier was actually no longer there and Wato had to assume that Sherlock really did do them.
Wato told herself earlier that she wouldn’t ask, but seeing all of this, her curiosity got the best of her. As Sherlock returned with another bowl of soup for her, Wato’s mouth moved on its own.
“Why are you doing all of this?”
Sherlock remained silent, simply setting down the bowl of soup. She then sat down in her seat, pulling out her phone.
“All of what?” Sherlock finally responded.
Wato gestured to the whole room. “The laundry and the cooking and the cleaning and the everything.”
Sherlock said nothing in return, continuing with her task of scrolling through her phone. Wato gave an exasperated sigh.
“Sherlock, I know you hate doing those kinds of things.”
Again, Sherlock remained silent.
“You didn’t have to take care of me today, Sherlock. I know I’m not as smart as you, but even I could tell something was off about that.”
Sherlock stayed silent, turning away from Wato. The doctor didn’t want to pry, but she was concerned that something may be wrong with Sherlock.
Wato thought back to the last time that she had gotten sick to try and figure out what had happened between then and now. No major cases seemed to stand out immediately. They had done a few relatively minor ones here and there, but nothing particularly memorable to Wato, nothing like-
“Is this about Shiina Yuma?”
Wato saw Sherlock stiffen slightly and knew she hit the nail on the head. She frowned, not because of the memories of the case, but because she hadn’t realized that it had been plaguing Sherlock’s mind.
“Sherlock,” said Wato. She reached out to place her hand on Sherlock’s shoulder and Sherlock pulled away from her touch. Wato frowned even more, but waited for the detective to speak. Eventually, she heard her sigh.
“I didn’t mean for you to get hurt,” said Sherlock. “Don’t tell the Inspector or the Sergeant about this, but the truth is that I got lucky that day. I got lucky that Inspector Reimon and Sergeant Shibata showed up when they did. I planned on getting the first one wrong to see if Yuma was bluffing or not, and when she did, I would get it right on the second try. Whether she ran or not wouldn’t have mattered because I knew the Inspector was coming.”
Sherlock shuffled in her seat, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her arms on them.
“But then that didn’t work either and you got hurt again.”
Sherlock fell silent, burying her face into arms. Wato felt her heart break seeing Sherlock in this state. The detective seemed cold at times, but deep down, Wato knew that she cared greatly about her cases, not only because of the mystery and challenge that they gave her, but because she cared about giving people the truth. She reached out to comfort Sherlock again and this time, the detective didn’t pull away.
“You were worried about me,” said Wato. “You’ve been worried about me and you felt bad about not being able to help me.”
Sherlock remained silent. Her expression betrayed nothing. The only sign she showed of hearing what Wato said was the slight nod of her head.
“I’m not angry, if that’s what you’re worried about,” reassured Wato, “and I’m okay because of you.”
“You got hurt because of me. You’re okay because of the police.”
Wato sighed and got up. She pulled Sherlock into a hug and laughed lightly when she felt Sherlock stiffen at the unexpected contact.
“I was saved because of you,” Wato said as she pulled away. “I knew what I was signing up for when I started helping you with cases. I knew there was always a chance that I could get hurt, but I also knew that you’d always be there to make sure I was safe.”
Sherlock finally glanced in Wato’s direction and Wato gave her a happy smile. Sherlock fidgeted slightly under her gaze, but nodded slightly, showing that she understood. She then stood up suddenly, taking Wato by surprise.
“Eat your soup,” commanded Sherlock, “and get some rest. I’ll bring you something to help you relax.”
Wato smiled at Sherlock’s quick change in mood before she ran off again, no doubt to grab some more essential oils. Wato picked up the bowl of soup on the table and began enjoying it. Sherlock returned shortly with three bottles and a few cotton balls.
“What is it?” Wato asked between bites.
“Chamomile, lavender, and peppermint. You’re supposed to rub it on your temples.”
Wato nodded, watching as Sherlock added a few drops of each onto a cotton ball.
“That sounds nice.”
Sherlock hummed in response, setting them down on the table. She then went into the kitchen and returned with a cup of tea, which she set in front of Wato before sitting down. Sherlock scrolled through her phone again as Wato silently ate and when she was done, Sherlock was there to take her bowl to the kitchen.
Wato reached for the cotton balls and applied the oils to her temples. She inhaled, taking in the sweet scents before laying back down on the couch, eyes feeling heavy due to her cold. Sherlock returned and was about to walk past her, when Wato’s hand grabbed her wrist, keeping her in place.
“Stay.”
Sherlock was shocked by the command, unsure of what to say. She looked around the room, spotted the leftover teacup and cotton balls, and made a move towards them.
“But I need to-”
“I know you’re only doing these chores because you feel guilty,” interrupted Wato. “But you shouldn’t be. It’s okay. They’ll still be there when I wake up. For now, just stay with me.”
Sherlock opened her mouth to argue, but upon seeing Wato’s face, she sighed and sat down in her chair. Wato smiled as she watched Sherlock grab a nearby book to read and before she knew it she asleep once more.
Wato awoke later, feeling better than before. She looked over at Sherlock’s chair and saw that it was empty. Worry filled her for a moment, until she felt a weight on her knee. Looking down, Wato smiled when she found Sherlock asleep, resting her head on her as she sat on the floor next to the couch. Her book from earlier was left open next to her.
Sherlock was cold. She was not one for much affection and she rarely showed her feelings. It was hard for her to show that she cared, but Wato knew how deeply she felt and that was enough.