Fic | Sherlock Holmes | Jottings from a Doctor's Journal 22/?

[charleygirl]

Title: Jottings from a Doctor's Journal 22/?
Author: charleygirl
Rating: G
Words: 682
Characters involved: Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Watson
Genre: Friendship, fluff
Disclaimer: These characters, while out of copyright, were created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and do not belong to me.
Summary: A collection of scenes and fragments that are too long to be drabbles and too undisciplined to be 221Bs.



ON THE OTHER HAND



“I suggest you stay very still, Doctor Watson, unless you wish me to treat you in the same fashion as your friend,” Harris said, motioning with his pistol for me to raise my hands above my head.

Reluctantly, I complied, leaving the overflowing drawer and the incriminating papers it held. “You won’t get away with this,” I growled, well aware that we had been neatly caught in a trap of the banker’s devising. There was little I could do but brazen it out, as Harris had taken Holmes down with a well-aimed shot to the shoulder mere moments before, and my revolver was out of reach. I glanced anxiously again at my friend, who slumped against the wall on the other side of the room, blood pooling on his coat. I could not tell from where I stood whether he was conscious or not – he still appeared to be breathing, thank God, but he had not moved since the bullet struck him, throwing him to the floor. My gun lay a mere two feet from his outstretched hand.

Harris smiled. “And how precisely are you intending to stop me? You are hardly in a position to negotiate: I have every advantage. Oh, there’s no point looking for help from that quarter, Doctor,” he added, nodding towards Holmes as though reading my mind. He laughed; a girlish giggling which set my teeth on edge. “I read your memoirs in The Strand – I know that Mr Holmes here is right-handed, and I took special care to incapacitate his dominant arm. It appears though that he’s not as clever as you make him out to be. It was child’s play to catch you both in here – you really must try harder, Mr Holmes, or your reputation will suffer!”

Holmes made no reaction.

“The police are moving in on this building as we speak, Harris,” I declared, hoping against hope that Holmes’s message had reached Gregson and the inspector was even now heading this way. “They will not allow you to leave this building except in custody.”

“I doubt that very much,” the banker said, moving to the window and easing back the blind a fraction. The gun never wavered, pointed straight at my heart. “You see, if it hadn’t been for Mr Holmes’s meddling, they would never have latched onto me in the first place. I’ll be away from here and on a boat to the continent before anyone has even realised that the two of you are missing.” He turned back to us, taking a firmer grip upon the pistol, chubby face set now in determination. “I don’t think I’ll kill you: that would be too quick. Instead I’ll give you the opportunity to bleed to death. Is there anywhere in particular you would prefer me to aim, Doctor?”

From the corner of my eye I could make out movement behind the man, but he appeared to be oblivious to it so I kept my position, my hands held high. “Six inches above my head would be a good spot,” I said.

Harris put his head on one side, eyes narrowed. “Do not play games with me, sir. If you are to be flippant then I shall choose for you. A shattered kneecap is I believe exquisitely painful – shall we begin there?” His finger tightened on the trigger, the gun moved downwards and I held my breath.

“Perhaps you would care to discover how painful a shattered skull can be,” said a weak but commanding voice from Harris’s shoulder, startling the banker who began to turn – before he could complete the motion Holmes struck him across the back of the head with the butt of my revolver. Harris crumpled to the floor without a sound.

Relief flooded through me, turning my legs to jelly. “You cut that rather fine, Holmes,” I gasped.

He smiled slightly, and leaned heavily against the wall. “It’s a good job you never thought to mention to your readers that I am ambidextrous,” he said, glancing down at the gun he held in his left hand.

***

Author's Note:

I know there is no evidence in the canon to support the idea of Holmes being ambidextrous. However, in the Granada series Jeremy Brett - a left-hander himself - was convinced that Holmes was right-handed and so insisted on doing some things what was for him the wrong way round. This resulted in his Holmes writing with his right hand, but performing tasks requiring more dexterity - such as packing his pipe and striking matches - with his left. I therefore came to the conclusion that his Holmes, at least, is ambidextrous. :)

Comments

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

i enjoyed this as always, very neatly written.
i've tended to assume that Holmes was ambidextrous and probably for the same reason.

anyhow, nice entry!:))

[charleygirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :)

Holmes being ambidextrous does fit quite neatly with his personality, I think - after all, why would he be just left or right-handed when he could be both? :)

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

as a useful element of disguise i can easily imagine Holmes training himself to be equal handed just as Brett did.

[charleygirl.livejournal.com]

It's certainly a trick that would come in very useful.

[sharpiefan.livejournal.com]

You are a Holmesian observer... I'm left-handed and I never noticed that!!

Must go and watch the Jeremy Brett series again. Are there any episodes in particular where this is clearly obvservable?

[charleygirl.livejournal.com]

The Dancing Men immediately springs to mind - he packs his pipe with his left hand and then goes on to write on the blackboards with his right. Also in Silver Blaze at the end he picks up the cataract knife with his left hand and then transfers it to his right to make an incision in the apple. He also strikes a match with his left. There are lots more throughout - just shows how many times I've watched this series... :)

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

all the close ups of his hands when writing are actually a double's.

[charleygirl.livejournal.com]

I've heard that, but according to Michael Cox JB did actually force himself to write with his right hand. *shrugs* He certainly holds the chalk in his right hand, at least, and uses it to draw on the board in The Solitary Cyclist.

[sharpiefan.livejournal.com]

I think he's likely to be of that generation where lefties were taught to write right-handed.

It's only fairly recently people have been allowed to be left-handed with their writing and stuff.

[charleygirl.livejournal.com]

That's a good point, and certainly a possibility.

[sharpiefan.livejournal.com]

We just caught the second half of Silver Blaze. I didn't see the cataract knife with - it wasn't till after that that I remembered what you said about Jeremy Brett's leftedness showing up. I did see him strike the match left-handed, though... and switch his cigarette so he could take his glass for the toast.

I have to try to get the boxed set. Jeremy Brett is perfect as Holmes, and Edward Hardwicke is a wonderful Watson.

[kcscribbler]

Six inches above the head, lol. *chortles* Pawky humour indeed.

Actually I've often wondered if Holmes was ambidextrous, because supposedly it illustrates two balanced hemispheres, etc. Being usually left-handed myself but able to write and do several tasks with both if I want, it's crossed my mind on occasion.

[charleygirl.livejournal.com]

It certainly seems easier for left-handed people to use their right than the other way round, as I can testify. I'm right-handed and my left is useless for anything requiring more than basic dexterity! My sister is ambidextrous and can write easily with both hands. She always claims it's a sign of superior intelligence. *g*

I can't take entire credit for the 'six inches above my head' line - it was inspired by a similar comment in Blackadder when Edmund is about to be shot by firing squad. :)

[sharpiefan.livejournal.com]

I'm a lefty, and I can write (sort of) with my right hand. As in, legibly but very slowly.

I think it's because most lefties have tried to use their right hand at some point, to fit in with the right-handed majority.

I use right-handed scissors, but write and draw left-handed. My 'mousing' on my laptop touchpad I do left-handed. I don't touch-type, and the majority of my typing is done with my left hand. I deal cards left-handed, though I shuffle them with my right hand (I never did understand that one). Using a (right-handed) ruler to draw a 25cm line, I start at the 25 and draw right to left, finishing at the 0.

And I didn't tell you that I loved this fic. It's perfectly in character for Holmes to have taught himself to be ambidextrous.

[charleygirl.livejournal.com]

Glad you enjoyed it. :)

It's weird when you start analysing how you do certain things. I'm right-handed but instinctively fold my arms the left-handed way, as my leftie mum does, and carry my bag on my left shoulder. I think the latter is because I like to have my right hand free, but I know lots of right-handed people who carry a bag on their right shoulder. Sis is ambidextrous but insists on using a knife and fork back to front with the knife in her left hand.

Maybe no one is exclusively one or the other! :)