Leviticus 20:13

One Chance To Be A Father

    Mornings had a habit of plunging John's spirits even deeper, especially when he had to pry his eyes open at five thirty just so that he could make it to work at six. John listened to his alarm clock blare for about five minutes, telling himself continually that he had a little bit of time before he had to get going. Of course there was no use in lying to himself about time management, if he had wanted to have five more minutes of sleep he would have set his alarm clock a little bit earlier, but alas he wasn't intelligent enough to do that and so here he was, nearly breaking down into tears as he slipped his cold feet into his slippers and waddled downstairs. After a cup of coffee and a depressing microwavable breakfast sandwich John returned to his room with a little bit more enthusiasm to change into his work clothes and make himself look as presentable as possible. Of course no one was going to see him, and those who were going to see him probably didn't care because they looked just about as bad as him, however John liked to maintain a good appearance just in case his boss decided to fire people because of their bad fashion tastes. Therefore he wore clean shirts and jeans and always made sure his hair was nicely combed before lumbering out the door and climbing into the sputtering red minivan. John arrived at the diner right before six o'clock, clocking in right on time before donning an apron and walking back behind the counters. Tobias greeted John with enthusiasm of course; however John had no idea where he got all of his energy from. He knew for a fact that Tobias never drank coffee, in fact he had admitted to drinking just water for breakfast, as if that was somehow hydration enough. If John had to drink something so bland every time he woke up he would most likely fall asleep behind the wheel on the way to work and crash into a tree.
"Ready for another day behind the grill?" Tobias asked with a large smile, organizing their eggs and bacon so that they would be easily reachable when the orders started to arrive. John yawned loudly, rubbing his eyes and muttering something of a response.
"Too early for this." John managed finally, staring blankly at the grill and zoning out for a moment or two.
"You have a late one last night then?" Tobias asked curiously, obviously just trying to strike up a conversation without realizing that his questions were leading to a much more dismal topic.
"Ya, I was at the hospital for a while." John agreed, and he could just feel Tobias's curiosity turn to pity.
"Aw mate I'm sorry, didn't mean to bring it up like that." Tobias muttered guiltily, looking around at the kitchen as if trying to find something else to talk about, something a little bit less emotionally taxing.
"No it's fine." John muttered, but obviously that was the end of any socialization between them, at least for today. Orders started to rush in as soon as the doors opened, and soon they were making eggs, bacon, pancakes, omelets, all sorts of breakfast delicacies that John would kill to have right now. Despite his pour excuse for breakfast his stomach was growling loudly, and the smell and sound of sizzling bacon and eggs was ever so tempting. Surely a customer wouldn't notice if they only had three strips of bacon instead of four? Nevertheless John didn't try anything, if he started eating the customers' food he would surely lose his job, and then he would go hopelessly bankrupt and end up in an even worse situation than he was in right now. The orders were finally starting to slow down when he had just set someone's cheese and mushroom on the filled orders window, where the waitresses could come and pick them up and distribute them to the proper customer, when John noticed a familiar man sitting at the counter. Now John didn't know if he should be happy or worried to see Father Holmes sitting there, however something of excitement writhed through his veins as he ducked slightly out of sight. Was Father Holmes here to stalk him, to talk to him, or did he have no idea that John worked here at all? Should he go out there and have a chat or should he stay behind the counter here, and watch from a distance? Would that be considered stalking as well? However John did have a question for him, a rather abstract proposition but a legitimate one all the same. John had looked up what priests could do to help sick people, and although he found no proof that a simple touch from a holy man could cure a dying patient he did find a sort of sacrament that could provide strength and possibly health to his unfortunate daughter. Now of course a priest had to administer this to the sick person, so it was a rather good thing John had begun to befriend this curious priest. John had been planning to go to the church after work to see if he could get Sherlock to come to the hospital with him, however this opportunity seemed to be all too convenient, as if Sherlock had been sent from God.
"Hey Tobias, do you mind if I go have a chat with someone?" John asked hopefully, seeing that there were only two orders hanging from the window, obviously enough for Tobias to handle by himself.
"Depends who it is." Tobias said with a sort of shrug, flipping around some pancakes until they were golden and trying to keep the bacon grease well away.
"What do you mean by that? It's not like I'm going to go talk to a drug dealer or anything." John grumbled in an almost insulted way, and Tobias just shrugged, as if he actually thought that was a possibility.
"No I mean if it's a hot girl then you can certainly go, but other than that there's still orders coming in, and I'm only one dude." Tobias admitted, and John just sighed heavily. He hated to use pity as a weapon, however once in a while he had to play the sick daughter card to get what he wanted and what he ultimately had to do to make sure Rosie was well cared for.
"It's a priest; I wanted to ask him about blessing Rosie." John muttered in a small voice, trying to make sure none of the other cooks could over hear him from the back. Tobias's face fell once again, and John knew that he had this in the bag.
"Ya John, ya I can manage a couple of orders." Tobias agreed rather reluctantly, and John thanked him quickly before wiping his hands on his apron and dashing out the swinging door into the dining room.