Posted by Bowen Cates on 4/3/2008, 6:07 pm, in reply to "Chapter 21 part one"
24.207.121.197
Theodore could not tell if this new symptom of the detective’s mistreatment was an improvement or not, but at least Holmes seemed at last to be conscious of his surroundings.
Theodore had never seen this side of Lestrade, the caring, frightened side, and it worried him beyond description, if Lestrade was frightened, then how should the rest of them be feeling?
Holmes moved again suddenly and the inspector loosed her hold slightly to try to give him a bit more room, this proved to be rather a large mistake, as he immediately attempted to force himself into a sitting position.
This, of course, resulted in Theodore taking hold of him by the shoulders and lowering him a bit too quickly to the floor.
Deidre let a small cry escape her lips before she could stifle it.
Theodore was just about to open his mouth to explain to Holmes that it was going to be alright and that he shouldn’t move right now, when the detective grabbed hold of Theodore’s arm so tight he almost screamed.
“Theodore…”
Lestrade tried to get her friend to relax but when she had said that she was glad Holmes was stubborn, she had not realized the severe truth of her statement.
The detective maintained his grip on Theodore’s upper arm with a determination only desperation could create.
“Theodore...” he insisted again, in a barely audible whisper. Drawing a shallow, shaky breath Holmes continued “Moriarty…knows…about…about you…he knows you began…events”
Theodore was not surprised; indeed, he had been expecting it ever since Moriarty had singled him out from the group as more then just the newest addition to Holmes’ irregulars.
He relaxed and whispered back, the guards did not seem to mind, and had by now, no doubt shrugged off the talk as that of delirium on the part of the detective.
“I know, it’s alright, I know.” Theodore assured him quietly.
“No!” He persisted, his voice sounded hoarse and painfully quiet “he…doesn’t know he…cause…will kill you…here…if…finds out
Theodore lowered his voice even more “you mean.” He said putting his mouth right by the detective’s ear “that he has no plans to kill me in this century yet?”
He nodded weakly “he…thinks he will…able to…before you…cause the damage.”
“Okay, Mr. Holmes, I understand, I understand, just rest now, you shouldn’t talk.”
Holmes nodded one last time and closed his eyes, at which point Lestrade immediately pulled him back into his previous position.
“I don’t want him lying on the cold floor, it’ll make things worse.” She explained hurriedly. It seemed to Theodore that she was almost making an excuse for herself, as if she thought that they might think that she had some other motive and was trying to drive the idea from their minds.
Suddenly Theodore heard Greg muttering something; it took him a moment to realize that the assistant was talking to Deidre. “It’s alright, Mr. Holmes is okay, shhhhhh, it’s okay”.
Theodore swerved around, he hadn’t realized that the three guards, zedders that they were, were laughing and pointing. Their eyes scrunched up as though this was the most amusing thing is the world.
Deidre was looking at Holmes as if her whole world was falling apart, she must have been trying to keep herself together for quite some time. She had seemed so brave through this whole ordeal that Theodore had never even suspected, but there she was, hands limp in their bonds, her face to the ground, the very picture of despair.
Theodore stood up and walked over to her, he got down on his knees again once he reached her, so that his face was only about a foot from hers
“Hey,” he smiled, kindly “did I tell you the joke about the psychiatric hotline?”
Deidre blinked in surprise, but shook her head; Greg had an expression on his face that said quite clearly ‘thank god…’
“Well” Theodore continued, “A guy picks up the phone to call the psychiatric institute and an operator’s voice comes up on the line.”
Deidre looked at him blankly.
“Uh…I mean, okay…a guy activates his video phone and contacts the psychiatric institute of New London, a computerized operator appears on the screen…”
Deidre nodded, a smile was beginning to creep across her face despite her uncomfortable position “then what?” she sniffed quietly.
Theodore had to hand it to her; she had masterful control.
He took a breath and continued “the operator says:
Welcome to the psychiatric hotline...
If you are obsessive-compulsive, please press 1 repeatedly
If you are co-dependant, please ask someone to press 2
If you have multiple personalities, please press 3, 4, and 5
If you are paranoid-delusional, we know who you are and what you want. Just stay on the line until we can trace the call.
If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a little voice
will tell you which number to press”
Deidre’s face broke out into a wide grin, “That’s hilarious” she laughed.
Even Lestrade was betraying signs of a smile, and Greg was down right suffocating he was laughing so hard.
The guards seemed to be enjoying it too, otherwise they would have shut Theodore up long before he had finished.
Only Holmes, who seemed to have slipped back into the bleak isolation from which he had so briefly immerged, did not join in the fun.
Theodore took this opportunity to lean in very close to Deidre’s ear “don’t worry, we’ll get everyone out of here, 1800 Holmes too, I promise, it’s going to be okay, as long as we all help each other.” He whispered.
Deidre pretended that Theodore had told her another joke and laughed a bit louder, but he could see in her eyes that she had heard him.
In fact, He was so busy looking at Deidre, that he did not hear Lestrade clear her throat in warning.
Nor did he hear the telltale footsteps entering the room behind him.
He did not even hear the guards snicker with delight at the thought of what was about to happen.
It was only when he heard the loathed voice that he turned around.
“Sorry to interrupt your charming little talk.” Moriarty grinned evilly “but I have a schedule to keep, if you wouldn’t mind Mr. Trent, this way please.”
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