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Watson yawned in the middle of writing notes about the latest case he had assisted his new friend with. He was not sure if he wanted to write up a story on this case, but he wanted to have his notes organized just in case. It was getting quite late though and Watson knew he should head upstairs to go to bed soon.
Holmes had gone to bed early today as he did not have a case and was quite bored. Watson had not been surprised by this. When Holmes did not have a case, he occasionally had bouts where he would sleep more than usual and even struggle to rise from bed. It always concerned Watson, but he knew Holmes would spring right back once he had an interesting case.
Watson yawned again and finished up the section of notes he was writing before closing his notebook. It would do him well to sleep on time, especially as Holmes could receive a new case at any moment and Watson did not wish to be exhausted if he had to go out with Holmes in the morning. Watson stood with a wince and took a hold of his walking stick. Despite the amount of time that had passed since he was injured in war, Watson still dealt with lingering symptoms from his injuries. His pain was not that bad today, but he knew relying on his stick would be helpful to keep it from worsening.
Watson slowly made his way towards the stairs but stopped as he passed by Holmes’ closed bedroom door. There were faint noises coming from Holmes’ bedroom, noises of distress. Watson hesitated, unsure of what to do. His instinct was to enter the room and try to help Holmes, but Watson did not know if his help would be welcome, especially as he would have to intrude on Holmes’ personal space to do so.
Watson finally decided it was best to check on Holmes and gently knocked the bedroom door. “Holmes?” he called out. “Are you okay, old chap?”
There was no reply besides the continued whimpers coming from the bedroom.
“Holmes?” Watson asked again. He paused before slightly opening the door and peaking inside.
Holmes was in bed, asleep but clearly distressed. Sweat gleaned off of his face and he was twitching and whimpering.
“Holmes?” Watson said again, slowly approaching the bed.
It was clear Holmes was having some sort of nightmare, but Watson did not exactly know what to do about it. He could wake Holmes, but Holmes did not always react well when awoken and rarely got enough sleep as it was. But it was clear Holmes was quite distressed. Watson shuddered as he remembered his own frequent nightmares of war and injury. He would much prefer to be awoken, even if that meant he did not get quite as much sleep.
“Wake up, old chap,” Watson finally said. “You are having a nightmare.”
Watson gently touched Holmes shoulder and Holmes’ eyes flew open. He flailed, arms coming up to defend himself, before he recognized who was standing beside his bed. Holmes quickly composed himself and managed to give Watson a small smile.
“Apologies, my dear boy,” Holmes said. His voice slightly shook and he was quite pale. “Why did you wake me?”
“You do not need to apologize to me, my dear Holmes,” Watson said. He hesitated before continuing. “I heard you were having a nightmare.”
“Ah, I did not intend to disturb you,” Holmes said, seeming remorseful. “I will try to be quieter.”
Watson frowned. That was not what he intended at all. “It did not disturb me,” Watson said, feeling slightly nervous. Perhaps waking Holmes had not been the right thing to do in this situation. “I thought it would be helpful to wake you as you seemed distressed. I know when I have nightmares, I like to be awoken.”
A look of understanding passed over Holmes’ face. “Yes, I fear I had some slightly unpleasant dreams, but it is nothing of concern.”
Watson sat down on the chair next to Holmes’ bed. He knew it was technically impolite as Holmes had not invited him to sit, but the ache in his leg was slowly increasing and Watson had no desire to fall over, especially when Holmes needed him right now.
“Do you wish to talk about it?” Watson asked. He knew that was the proper response to help someone who had a nightmare.
Holmes looked down and shivered, pulling his blankets tighter around himself. He remained silent for a few minutes before finally speaking. “You got hurt on a case,” Holmes said slowly.
Watson waited for a minute for Holmes to continue, but it seemed that was all Holmes wanted to say. “That does not sound very pleasant,” he finally said. He did not exactly know how to respond to Holmes, but perhaps reassuring Holmes was uninjured would be helpful. “I am perfectly alright, my dear fellow.”
Holmes looked up at him and gave him a small smile. “Your leg is paining you,” he said.
“Yes,” Watson admitted. “But that is not due to any of your cases.”
Holmes huddled up further into his blankets. “I am alright now, my dear Watson,” Holmes said. “You do not need to remain here as I can see you were intending to go to bed.”
Despite what Holmes had said, he still looked quite shaken up. Watson wondered just how horribly he had been hurt in Holmes’ dream to affect Holmes to this extent.
“I do not mind sitting with you,” Watson said. He hesitated for a second before continuing. “I seem to need to rest my leg as well.” That was not simply an excuse for Holmes to accept him staying as his leg was still paining him and climbing the stairs would be difficult. But Watson also knew it would make Holmes much more likely to the company.
Holmes smiled at him again like he knew what Watson was thinking. From what he knew of Holmes, that was very likely the case. “You are welcome to stay here for as long as your leg needs, my dear Watson,” Holmes said.
“Thank you,” Watson said. “Perhaps you could tell me more about your deductions from your last case while I rest.”
Holmes’ expression brightened and he launched into an explanation on his analysis of footprints at the crime scene. He seemed hesitant at first, like he was unsure if Watson truly wanted to hear about his analysis, but got more comfortable after Watson sat back and gave him a reassuring smile. Watson listened carefully, enjoying listening to Holmes talk about how he had used the footprints to identify the suspect and solve the case. Later, Watson would have to ascend the stairs and retire to bed but for now, he would sit with his friend and keep him company for as long as he needed.