Drabble: Six Seconds

[spacemutineer]

Title: Six Seconds
Author: spacemutineer
Word Count: 100
Prompt: none
Characters: Sherlock Holmes, John Watson
Rating: PG-13
Warnings/genres: angst, death
Summary/Author's notes: Very dark. Came up with the first line half asleep. Had to wake up to write it (and the rest) down before I forgot it.

Watson died six seconds earlier than Holmes had anticipated. Eleven stuttering heartbeats earlier. Five ragged breaths earlier. Holmes had miscalculated as he crouched there, pressing his scarf into Watson's chest, attempting to buy time. Perhaps it had been wishful thinking as he struggled in vain to bid his goodbyes to the only true friend he'd ever known. Watson, for his part, said nothing, his collapsed lung preventing speech. His eyes did his speaking for him; they told of excruciating pain, relentless fear. Watson died six seconds earlier than he had anticipated, but Holmes was never more relieved to be wrong.

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Thank you for reading! Your comments are always greatly appreciated. If you like, you can read more here at my master fic list.

Comments

[slashykink.livejournal.com]

So sad, so concise, and so well-written.

[spacemutineer.livejournal.com]

Thank you! That means a lot to me. Thank you again.