Chapter Text
The silence of the night is broken by a strangled cry that claws its way out of her throat and reverberates through the brownstone. The harsh panting that follows breaks into a sob that explodes like shrapnel from a bomb. The twisted sheets around her legs hold her prisoner and awakens the blinding panic that quickly settles in her chest. The sobbing turns into a soft crying until they quiet to tiny hiccups as her heart rate settles from the thumping beneath her chest. The sheets have fused to her sweat covered body and peel away like a layer of dead skin as she sits up on the edge of the bed.
The bedroom door creaks open and Sherlock steps past the threshold. He makes his way to sit next to her on the bed.The mattress dips as the box springs creak under his weight and cause her to jump slightly. He calmly places his right hand on her shoulder and grasps her left hand with the other. She leans into him and his right hand slides across her back to encase her small frame against him. Her breathing has slowed and he gently leans out of the embrace to look at her and removes her damp hair from her face.
He slowly stands up and leaves the room to return with a damp face cloth. He stands in front of her and gently tilts her head upward to slowly drag the cloth across her delicate features. Her eyes stay fixed and unfocused on his chest, while his scan every detail of her face he can in the dim light, encoding it to memory. The grip on her chin falls and he leans over her, gently pushing her shoulder, guiding her to lie back down on the bed. He moves to the other side of the bed to place the cloth next to the lamp on the wooden chair masquerading as an end table. He lifts the soaked sheets away from her body and settles them at the foot of the bed and then carefully lies down next to her. They are both on their backs looking up at the ceiling when he whispers into the dark, “I will do everything in my power to help you though this, Joan.” She does not speak but he feels movement on the mattress and feels her fingers interlock with his. He hears her sigh and within a few minutes they fall asleep, bodies open and uncovered to the darkness.