I Can See You

not dead

John sits in his usual chair, staring out the usual window, with his usual half filled cup of tea held precariously in his right hand. Both of his feet are planted on the ground. A sweater is over-heating his body.

Mrs. Hudson comes up the stairs every few hours to check on the saddened man. She tidies up the already tidy kitchen and dusts off the carefully placed mantelpiece items. She removes the cup of tea from John's hand and places it on the kitchen table. She leaves and comes back in another few hours to repeat the same cycle.

In between her cycles of cleaning rooms and removing tea, John walks aimlessly around the flat, a slight limp in his leg.

The limp had come back ever since Sherlock had been gone.

John unsteadily stands up after Mrs. Hudson goes through her routine and takes his glass cup from the table. He swishes the contents into the sink and doesn't rinse the cup out. He puts the kettle on the stove and stands right next to it while it heats up. His eyes stare straight ahead, even though there isn't anything to stare at. And before he knows it, the kettle is whistling an ugly high pitched sound. He pours some of the water into the cup and sets the kettle back on the stove. He rips a packet of tea open and dunks the bag into the hot water. John then travels back over to his usual seat to stare out his usual window with the half filled cup of tea held in his right hand.

Hours pass slowly. John doesn't really pay attention to the passing time, he just goes through the daily routine that he had been perfecting since the Sherlock incident.

9:09 pm.

9:09 pm there is commotion downstairs. John hears a loud gasp and glass breaking. He doesn't move.

9:11 pm he hears footsteps pounding up the stairs. John thinks he's heard them before, but he can't quite remember when.

And then he does.

9:12 pm John bursts out of his usual chair and spins around from his usual window, the half filled cup of tea dropping to the ground with a loud thud.

9:13 pm a very familiar figure stands in the door of John's flat.

9:14 pm a very rusty smile crosses John's face. One that no one has seen in months.

9:15 pm he crosses the room in three short strides and wraps his arms around the much taller figure.

9:16 pm he says; "Welcome back, Sherlock."