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It had been a long day, the perfect end to a sleepless night. And to make it worse, she was supposed to meet Sally and a few other friends at the cinema for the midnight premiere of “Captain America: Civil War,” which both she and Sally had been looking forward to ever since the disappointment of “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” But as the day stretched on, the more exhausted she felt.
She yawned and blinked as she stared at the computer. The screen was blurring as she looked at it, and the words on it weren’t making any sense. There was a knock at the door and she turned to see Sherlock standing there, staring at her with wide eyes. “What?” she asked, snapping slightly.
“You look awful,” he said, coming into the room more.
“Thank you,” she said sourly. She yawned again. “My neighbours got a new dog who kept barking all night. It kept me up. And tonight I’m supposed to go to a midnight movie premiere with Sally and I swear, I don’t think I can do it.”
Sherlock looked over at her. “Is my report ready?” he asked.
“I’m trying to write it now,” she said. “But I can go over it with you, if you want.”
“We can go over the results over a cup of coffee,” he suggested. “With quite a few shots of espresso, I’d say.”
“Oh, that would be lovely,” Molly said, standing up. She shrugged out of her lab coat and then moved over to the coat rack to get her regular coat and hang up her lab coat. “I think I may need more than one to keep me going today.”
“Order two, drink one now and bring the other back to the office,” he said. “Or bring two back. I could always carry one for you if you don’t finish your first one.”
“That would be nice,” she said as she slipped on her coat. She moved out of her office and then he followed, and they left the morgue. “Your victim was stabbed sixteen times, but only one of them would have been a fatal stab wound. That would be the one to the heart. The rest were all superficial wounds to the abdomen.”
“Interesting,” he said. “Any other injuries?”
“There was an abrasion to the side of his head, just under his hairline by his ear. He also had black and blue bruises to the backs of the legs, as though he was paddled with something.”
Sherlock perked up. “Paddled?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yes. You can take a look when we get back. I have photographs, though, for you to take with you.”
“Do you have any John Does that I can use to replicate results?” he asked.
“Two,” she said with a nod. “I’ll make sure they’re available when you have paddles to use to test out markings.”
“Thank you,” he said. They lapsed into silence until they left the hospital and made their way to the coffee shop that the employees frequented. She placed her orders for three coffees with two extra espresso shots each and Sherlock added his own before paying for all of them. She looked at him in surprise. “It isn’t a problem.”
“Well, thank you,” she said. “I owe you.”
“You can pay me back by making sure those bodies stay available,” he said with a small smile. He looked over at her. “This film you’re planning to see…have you been planning to see it long?”
Molly nodded. “Sally and I are both Marvel fans. We were rather disappointed with the last Avengers movie so we’re looking at this as a second chance to make things right. We’ve had our tickets for weeks, and I just don’t want to disappoint her by falling asleep on her.”
“I doubt Donovan would mind too much if her girlfriend fell asleep on her shoulder,” he said. “Though she might chide you about actually missing the movie.”
“Oh, she’d lord it over me,” Molly said with a smile and soft laugh. “But she’d be nice enough to not spoil it for me too much.”
He smiled a bit more. “Are you happy with her?” he asked.
“I really am,” she said. “This is honestly the best relationship I’ve ever been in. I’m really glad we got together.” Then her smile got brighter. “She’s going to move into my home soon. I’m quite excited for that.”
“So I suppose I’m losing my bolt hole,” he said.
“You’re losing my bedroom as your bolt hole, yes,” she said. “And Sally has to be okay with you being there. But you can still come over if you absolutely need to.”
“I suppose I could stand your guest bedroom,” he said thoughtfully. His coffee order was finished and he picked it up. “I’m just glad Donovan and I get along better now.”
“Oh, trust me, I am too. I care about both of you quite a bit.” She yawned again. “I hope the coffee is finished soon. I still have more to tell you.”
“Yes, we did get distracted,” he said. A moment later her first coffee was done, and she took it, beginning to drink. When the other two were done she and Sherlock each took one and headed back to St. Bart’s. They set them in the office and then she went to the refrigeration unit and pulled out the body before she showed him the various things that were interesting on the body. He paid particular attention to the paddle marks and then he took the photographs and left. She finished the first coffee and began on the second and felt the caffeine begin to take effect, and so she got back to work.
She finished her day around the same time she finished the third coffee, and so she made her way back to her home on the Underground. She got there at six thirty and felt quite jittery, finding it hard to sit down. After a moment she got her mobile out and then called Sally. It rang three times and then Sally picked up. “Molly?”
“Sally, I had three large cups of coffee with six shots of espresso in them because I barely got any sleep and I was falling asleep at work and now I’m jittery and I can’t sit still,” she said, moving around her sitting room. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to sit still for the movie.”
“Sweetie, I don’t think that will be a problem,” Sally said with a chuckle. “I think by the time we get to a seat you’re going to crash, and you’ll fall asleep with your head on my shoulder.”
“But I’ve had all this caffeine,” she said with a frown.
“I’ll bet you a tenner,” Sally said.
“You’re on,” Molly said.
“If you want, I can come over and help you get rid of some of the nervous energy,” she said suggestively.
“Mmm, that could be interesting,” she said. “Come over, then.”
“I’ll be over in a half hour, then,” Sally said. Molly hung up, trying to get herself under control, but she couldn’t quite manage. She got a quick bite to eat in the kitchen and then a half hour later she heard the door open and she saw Sally let herself in. She gave Molly a wide grin. “Hey.”
“Hello,” Molly said, moving over to Sally. She leaned in and kissed her girlfriend, pressing herself close. Sally grinned into the kiss and Molly pulled back, giving her a look. “What?”
“You seem very eager to see me,” Sally said with a laugh.
“Well, I’m always eager to see you,” she said. Then she yawned and froze. “Oh, no..”
Sally laughed even harder. “It’s only seven o’clock. I doubt you’ll even make it to midnight. And if we do go shag you’ll be exhausted when we’re done.”
“More caffeine?” Molly suggested.
Sally considered things. “Couldn’t hurt. But maybe not as much espresso this time. Or I could make some for you here.”
“Let’s make it here,” she said. “Then we can snuggle as I drink it.”
“Considering that is one of my favorite things to do, I’m game for that,” Sally said, moving away from her to move into the kitchen. “Let me get something to eat, too. I came straight from the Yard.”
“All right,” Molly said with a nod. Sally began to make the coffee while Molly went to the sofa and sat down. She hated it, but soon her eyelids began to droop, and before she knew it she was asleep. She didn’t know how long she was asleep when Sally was nudging her. “Hmm?” she asked sleepily.
“It’s eleven fifteen,” Sally said, and Molly realized she had her arm around her shoulders and the telly was on. “Do we want to go to the cinema still?”
Molly considered it. “It could be fun,” she said with a yawn. “Though I’m nice and comfy here.”
“We can stay here then,” she said. “At least until we go to bed.”
“Mmm, bed,” Molly said, shutting her eyes again, snuggling into Sally. “Hopefully the dog won’t bark again all night.”
Sally laughed. “I have earplugs in the car if we need them,” she said.
“You’re a saint,” Molly said, lifting her head up and kissing Sally’s cheek before settling in again. She knew this was not what their plans had been, but she was glad Sally was there and close and didn’t seem to be annoyed about not seeing the film. Molly was really quite lucky that Sally loved her as much as she did, and she was glad she was in love with Sally as well. She really was quite happy.