When dawn came, Tommy was finally out of the jaws of death. Mary had worked tirelessly to save the gangster's life and found herself with his blood on her hands, her skin pale as the moon. Her eyes were red from crying and from staying awake for so long with little to no break. She had to work on Tommy's body, alone, in the bleakness of winter. She had to ensure he didn't die from his wound or from the bitter cold. She had to ensure her own survival because if she died, then Tommy would too. There was a telephone in the safe house; she used the last bit of strength she had at dawn to call him once she was sure Tommy was stable enough to leave him out of her sight.
Alarmed, the eldest Shelby tried to reassure Mary about coming as fast as he could, which could still take half the day in a car ride. She mindlessly hummed her approval and hung up the phone. Her face was covered with white streaks from tears she had cried that night. She looked around them. The safe house was nothing but desolation. There were bodies on the floor, with a bullet or more lodged in their bodies. These men attacked Tommy and Mary at their safe house, and after the initial shock of being found, Tommy and Mary quickly did as they had rehearsed. Both grabbed their guns and hid behind a wall. Mary was to protect herself and shoot if anyone came closer. She managed to kill two men who tried to take her by surprise and then hid under a table, so Tommy would not be too worried about something happening to her.
He fired his gun, and the deafening sound of gunshots managed to hurt her eardrums. It was only when there was no more firing sound that the nurse tried to move out of her hiding spot. Everyone was either painfully groaning or already dead. She carefully walked on top of the corpses and found Tommy sitting on the floor. He took a bullet to the chest and was bleeding profusely. He was pale, alarmingly pale, and was holding onto his wound as tightly as he could. The nurse did not have time to panic. Instead, she went to work on Tommy. It was rudimentary, but she quickly filled a bowl with hot water, grabbed her first-aid kit, took Tommy to the nearest table, and helped him lie on his back. She went to wash her hands, and on her way back to the table, one of the dying men grabbed her ankle and begged her to save his life.
Mary's eyes opened wide, and she kicked the man's arm and rushed to Tommy. Operating on Tommy was grueling. She managed to remove the bullet and stitch the torn flesh back together. Luckily for him, the bullet did not tear a vital organ apart, so his chance of survival increased, and Mary could perform the surgery on him. He passed out several times, and the brown-haired woman tried to slap his face to keep him awake. She apologized for hurting him and for not being able to make him more comfortable. She apologized for not being what he needed and perhaps for failing him. She begged him to stay alive because they still had so much to live for together. They still had so much to do. It took her two hours to remove the bullet and stitch him perfectly back together.
It took her another two hours for an improvised blood transfusion. Tommy ended up falling asleep, and the dying man was now long dead. A deafening silence fell upon the safe house. Mary decided against climbing on the table, and instead sat on a chair next to his face. She slid her fingers into his and leaned her head on the table, right next to his. Mary did not sleep. She could not. Arthur came, but Mary did not register that. She did not register that the Peaky Blinders he came with took care of the bodies. She did not see them clean the safe house up, wipe out the blood on the floor, bury the bodies. She refused to be taken away from Tommy's body and refused to stop holding him until he woke up. Arthur sighed and put his hand on her shoulders.
"You need to drink something, Mary. You're pale as death. Your lips are dry. Come over... Mary. Drink something."
"I can't... I can't... I need him to wake up, Arthur. I need him to wake up." -She pinched her lips together and looked up at his face-
"Can I at least check for injuries? You tried your best to save me brother, but I have to make sure you're not wounded."
"I'm fine!" She yelled, holding onto Tommy's hands tighter. "Please...Don't take me away from him."
"Mary. Do you think he would like to see you in a bad shape?"
Arthur's voice was softer, his eyes wet with emotion. He cared for the woman, like he would care for Ada. Mary was family, and if he was to lose yet another brother, Arthur did not want to lose a sister. He did not want anything to happen to Mary. Even worse, what if Tommy woke up and Mary died in his arms? He would never forgive Arthur for not taking care of his woman, so the eldest Shelby grabbed Mary's shoulders tighter and forced her back on her feet. She screamed and kicked and tried to push Arthur away, but he refused to give in to her and instead looked at her body for traces of a bullet impact or any other type of wound on her. She was pale, deathly so from the blood transfusion, but she did not have any wounds. She did not seem to be injured.
"Release her!"
Tommy's voice echoed through the room. He had gathered enough strength to yell at his brother and to reassure Mary that he was alive and well. He had been awake for a couple of minutes when his brother and his missus were arguing about her taking a break. He noticed that it was morning already and that he might have been in and out of it for a couple of hours. He groaned and shifted on the table as he wanted to sit on it. Mary pushed Arthur and rushed to the table so she could help Tommy sit. He grunted as his freshly dressed wound stung, but he tried to keep his head held high. Mary cupped his cheeks with blood-stained hands.
"You're alive. You pulled through." He nodded, and her lips trembled. " I thought I had lost you. I couldn't... I couldn't live without you... Thank God..." And she fainted. Arthur was able to catch her before her body hit the floor, and he carried her in his arms. She was beyond exhausted and weak from the blood transfusion and needed to rest, and as soon as she woke up, she needed to eat.
"The safe house is compromised. We'll use this place to lure our enemies in. Take Mary back home; Frances would have fixed something for her so she can eat upon waking up. I'll go to the Garrison. Get a doctor for me, fresh clothes and whisky, and bullets. I'm going to find out who did this and flush them out."
Arthur did as he was told. He would see to it that Mary was safely brought back home and that he could ensure his brother had everything he needed. He had no idea who could have tried something like this, but was ready for the fight to come. Tommy kept his concern for Mary to himself. She simply fainted and was not injured. He gathered that it was just exhaustion and nothing more serious than that. Before Arthur took her to the car, Tommy managed to stand up and stroked Mary's cheek with his calloused and dried-blood-stained hand. His eyes were filled with murderous intent as his heart was filled with revenge. He had to get the people who threatened Mary's life. He had to kill every single one of them and hoped that it was not Michael who was behind it because if it was, he would not spare any thought for Polly Grey's son. He would not spare any for Polly either. He would simply retaliate until there was nothing left of Michael Grey.
-TBC-