The Morning After (RP for asthenoseonyourface)

[coatandscarf]

You should have some coffee. -JR

...John? How did you...? Nevermind. When you took my phone. Of course. I already had coffee. RH

One cup? Stingy. -JR

All I need is one, Holmes. RH

I like caffeine. -JR

When are you moving into the office? -JR

Well, I'm packing the things I need now, John, but someone keeps interrupting me. RH

Oh. Who? -JR

Go look in a mirror. Or at Jacob. It's close enough. RH

...Why? -JR

Because it's you who keeps interrupting! RH

Well I'm BORED. -JR

You're welcome to help me pack. RH

Really? Why? -JR

Because you're bored. RH

So? -JR

Just giving you something to do. You're welcome to say no. RH

I'm not saying no. -JR

But why are you helping me? -JR

There a reason I shouldn't? RH *attached is her address*

Comments

[coatandscarf]

Randy's eyes widened, looking over her shoulder at the man. Exposure therapy? The man wanted... her to acclimate to touch again? He extended his hand to her, and she was stunned to hear him say 'wrap it'. Like it was that simple for her to just touch him.

She drew in a breath, steadying herself. "I, uh, need to get at the cabinet under the sink. For a first aid kit." He moved then, allowing her access. She quickly grabbed the kit and opened it, taking out a couple of items for a burn. "Come here." Once again, he was at her side and with a slight gulp, she took his hand. Yet once she began applying the cooling ointment over the skin, her trembles went away, her nervousness gone. The patient's wounds became more important than the patient himself at that point, and she was able to focus on it without issue. Taking the wrap, she began to wind it around his hand carefully, yet swiftly, showing some of her skill in her field of expertise.

[asthenoseonyourface]

He let her work in silence, intrigued as skill overtook instinct. Her shaking hands calmed, her breath quieted, and suddenly he saw the doctor in there...more details, things that weren't there before.

"You're good." he observed, cool and clinical and strangely still as she worked. A heartbeat later he added "You got it right, reopening your practice. Jock fell in the pool when he was three, took swimming lessons to overcome his fear of water."

[coatandscarf]

"I'm not scared of *everyone*, it just..." Randy let out a heavy sigh. "We were called in, the medical unit. Came in, got our guys, and were withdrawing. These guys hit our truck, or so I'm told. I, uh... well, we were all captured. Had a shrapnel cut into my arm. Injured my unlar nerve. It's why my hand shakes sometimes. It isn't all mental. But I was unconscious, and they took me away. Found out most of the others had been killed on the spot. They kept me for a few days, five according to my superiors. I wouldn't know, they kept me in a chest for most of it. When I wasn't in the chest..." She cleared her throat, her gaze falling, her jaw clenching. "I was released because I was a doctor. Not before they made sure I had something to remember them by, though." Her nervousness around men made it fairly obvious as to what that 'something' was.

She lapsed into silence for a few moments, finishing off the wrap, her hand patting his lightly to flatten the wrap over his skin. "I enjoy medical work, I like helping people. I just... don't trust myself completely to do the work right."

[asthenoseonyourface]

John nodded, almost to himself at the end of her story.

"That must have been traumatic, I'm sorry." He almost sounded like he meant it...almost. Janie would have said it, so John figured it was worth a shot. When he was done, however, he lifted his hand to make his point: her work was flawless.

"I'm gonna just assume they're dead, if that's all right." he suddenly declared out of nowhere. Because if they'd hurt her, and they weren't dead...well, he wasn't about to enlist, and traveling to that part of the world was expensive, and he really didn't know her well enough yet to kill a bunch of people for her.

Maybe in a week or two...that was sufficient, wasn't it? He'd have to ask Jock and Janie.

"So how do you do it? The thing." he finally asked, moving to get his coffee again and pick up a danish, offering it to her. "I wasn't as good before I finished college. I still miss things, now and again."

[coatandscarf]

Randy felt a scoff escape her at his statement, her eyes looking up and away as she blinked back tears. "Understatement."

He then floored her, the unshed tears obvious in her wide eyes. "...Sure, yeah. P-probably are, actually." They had gone into that cell not long thereafter, trying to recover the other people they had lost. It had been a partial success, from what she heard.

When he moved to get his coffee, she brought a hand up to rub the tears away. She looked up to see him offer her a danish and shook her head for it. Instead, she reached for her own coffee and took a drink from it. She remained silent at first, trying to think about what he was referring to. The thing... where he wasn't as good until he completed college. She sighed, shaking her head a bit. "Sorry, Holmes, I'm not following. Bit unsettled to follow your train of thought at the moment. What's 'the thing'?" She asked, moving to step out of the kitchen, limping her way towards the living room so she could grab a seat. She'd deal with putting things away later. Right now, she needed to settle down.

[asthenoseonyourface]

John followed her, taking a swig of coffee and wildly grateful she wasn't crying. Yes, there were tears, but she hadn't done that thing Janie did when she cried, where she folded up and clung to him and got his shirt all wet and shook and shook and sobbed and sobbed. That was crying, real crying, and he just...had no idea how to cope with crying women.

"Noticing things." John pressed, not bothering to take a seat. He stared down at her, open and curious and cold. "I've always seen, but I didn't know what I was seeing for years." He paused, growing very still again. "I've never known anyone else that saw the way I do."

[coatandscarf]

Randy motioned for him to sit, taking another sip from the coffee. Seeing things. That was 'the thing'. It was some time before she answered, composing herself with a few more drinks from the coffee. "Noticing things, hm? I've always been observant, especially when it came to people. Always got along well with folks. But I'm not like you are. I can't read things anywhere near as well. I'm more... clinical in my analysis. People are far easier for me to read than things are."

[asthenoseonyourface]

"But there's no difference." John insisted, pacing slowly, even leisurely, ignoring her invitation to sit. "People are things...muscle and bone and tissue, vessels for information. As a doctor, you should know that."

[coatandscarf]

"There's a lot more to people than just what they're physically comprised of, John. If I was just made up of my parts, then whatever I went through in Iraq wouldn't bother me at all," she pointed out, watching him pace over her cup of coffee.