In Bleak Midwinter

Chapter Sixteen

Arthur kicked the den door wide open and screamed at all the customers to get out. John and Finn followed closely behind, pulling and shoving out whichever customer was hesitate to leave so abruptly. John then proceeded to move the tables around, pushing anything and everything that occupied them off, causing a huge crash which echoed around the room.

Tommy then flung through the door; he was delicately cradling Emily in his arms. She momentarily rested peacefully - it was clear the shock had sent her involuntarily unconscious. Her blood had travelled audaciously from her body and across to his, coating his white shirt and waistcoat in an evident crime scene. His hair had fallen precariously across his head whilst the sweat of loosing her loomed in his desperate expression. James, also covered in blood, watched helplessly from the corner of the room.

The sound of commotion caused the private doors to reveal Polly and Ada, who were peacefully enjoying their afternoon tea, but were hastily interrupted by Arthur's shouting. In an act of misunderstanding, the two women were initially coming out to tell Arthur to be quiet, but they quickly noticed the desperate situation unfolding as Tommy lay Emily, blood soaked and bruised, across the tables John had set up.

"Arthur Shel- what the fuck?" Ada cried quickly as her tone changed immediately.
"Ada, get the medical supplies" John remarked as he passed her quickly, grabbing the whisky in the process.
"Finn! Go fetch Jeremiah and Aberama" Arthur snapped. The boy immediately nodded and obeyed.
Polly ran over to Tommy. She had read from his face that he was completely baffled with what was going on around him and clearly was acting out of understandable stress, rather than his usual tactical thoughtfulness. Polly grabbed his arms and pulled him away from Emily. He was reluctant at first but he eventually gave in.
"Tommy what happened?" She asked sternly.
Snapping back into panic mode, Tommy turned away and back to Emily before being hauled in front of Polly again.
"Thomas Michael Shelby, what the fuck happened?"
He turned away again, and like before, she pulled him back, but this time he was abruptly slapped by the woman.
"I'm not going to ask you again. Talk to me!"
He was momentarily taken back by her actions before he decided to respond. She grabbed his hand to comfort him.
"I don't fucking know! We were attacked. She's been shot. What more to you want me to fucking say?" Tommy snapped violently as his voice cracked in pain.

Aberama, Jeremiah and Finn arrived together and gave James, who was still lingering in the doorway, dirty and threatening looks as they made their way over to Emily. Aberama and Jeremiah assessed the wound which remained prominently wedged between the top of Emily's chest and shoulder.

"The bullet hasn't gone through. We will have to take it out quickly" Aberama announced to everyone.
Just as Jeremiah was handed the equipment by Ada, Tommy flung his hands away from Polly and ran by Emily's side.
"Don't touch her!" He shouted aggressively. "No one is to touch her!"

John, Arthur, Finn and Jeremiah all grabbed Tommy and hoisted him away. They all knew Tommy wasn't in a stable condition to perform such a risky affair. When it came to Emily, Tommy's emotions always got the better of him; he was extremely protective of her and the last thing he wanted to see if her in such awful circumstances. His brothers and Jeremiah had pulled him away for his own good - they saw it as an act of kindness more than a impulsive decision. Though the men wouldn't deny Tommy was certainly capable of pulling the bullet successfully, Aberama stood a much better chance of keeping her alive.

"Let me do it!" Tommy fought.
"No Tom, No" Arthur snapped, holding his brother in a tight grip. "You're not thinking straight brother!"
"We've got to act fast" Polly said, "she'll be awake again and then we really will have a problem".

As Aberama took the heavy metal tweezers to Emily's shoulder, Tommy tried to fight his way back out of his brothers grip. To his own surprise he was dramatically failing to succeed getting past all the men.

Emily immediately woke up with an ear shattering wail as the tweezers came into contact with her open skin. Ada rushed to be by her side, hushing and reassuring her everything would be okay.

Once again, Tommy fought; but this time he was successful. However, to everyone's surprise, he placed himself by the side of Emily's head, kissing her forehead as a sign of comfort. He softly cupped her cheeks and feigned a small, emotional smile with every tear he wiped from her dampened eyes.
When she eventually noticed him, she was immediately calmed... that was until Aberama started to dig around.

Tommy couldn't bare the sound of her screams. It was everything he feared... coming to reality.

Thomas Shelby was a notorious and fretted gangster, however, what terrified him the most was the blatant reality that his line of work would cost him the lives of his family. It was as this point, Tommy understood he had to work harder if he wanted to keep the ones he loved safe - and it was at this point he realised he would kill unconditionally if it meant he could keep Emily by his side.

The devil works hard... but Tommy Shelby works harder...