Sherlock

Chapter 5

I wait for him to pick up, the third ring.

I imagine him sleeping, his dear grizzled face, exhausted.

He might be eating...another fetish of his.

Pizza, probably.

Maybe he is sleeping with someone? Briefly, I entertain the thought.

I am remotely surprised that this doesn't appear to effect me. His allegiance doesn't seem to be connected to his carnal proclivity.

He is a quirky guy.

He could be sleeping with Jude. I really wouldn't be surprised.

He could be thinking of me. I hope he is, anyway. The cell picks up, suddenly.

         “Yeah?”

         “Downey!”, I whisper.

         “Hey!” excited, he whispers back. “How are you? I hadn't heard from you!”

         “I know...”

         “I texted you Sunday night, then Monday. Then I was worried...”

         “Well, I was in a fender bender...”

         “Oh, Good God! What happened??” I never know if he's being serious, or silly.

         “Well, I got hit at the airport. My jeep is totaled...”

        "Oh, honey....I am so sorry..... awww...” he said gently, so sympathetic. He knew how much the car meant to me- how much fun I had with it. “Oh, honey, did you get a rental?”

         “Yes. Its just not the same.”

         “You are ok, right?”

          “Yes, yes I'm fine. Sore. Hey, and they found this thing, when I had tests at the hospital.”

He was quiet, listening.

         “The doctor said it was 'pregnancy tissue' the remains of a pregnancy from early in the year.”

Still no sound from him.

         “Downey, you still there?”

         “Oh, yeah, yes. Of course. You were pregnant??”

         “Yeah, they thought probably June.”

         “Okay, I'm doing the math....”

         “Yeah. Crazy, huh??” I laughed a little, quiet. Nervous.

         “Oh, my god...oh, honey...but not pregnant, anymore?” He was having difficulty absorbing this information.

          “Nope, no.”

         "I don't know what to say. Wow.”

We were silent, just readjusting our reality.

         “I was just thinking that its probably good we are using protection, now...”

         “Yeah...” he just said. “Crazy how things happen.” he was somewhere else, I knew, his little mind tumbling a hundreds times a minute. I doubted he'd be able to finish the conversation. Too distracted by his own thoughts.

         “We can talk about this more later, if you'd like,” I tell him.

         “Yeah, sure,” he said, from some where, miles away. I suspected my news spooked him, but I was thinking he might want to know.