Coraline Murphy

53.

Alfie waited for the footsteps to disappear before swinging his legs from the chair they'd been resting on so that his feet hit the floor, his mind racing. "Fucking hip," he muttered, his face crunching in pain as the familiar pain ran from the hip down the back of his leg, dissipating around his calf.

He waited for the pins and needles to reduce in his feet before pulling himself to be standing up, thinking over what he'd just heard. If he was understanding correctly, Coraline had not simply disappeared through anger at Tommy Shelby all those months ago. She'd disappeared to keep her family safe, and to ensure that Tommy could have a relationship with her son. And now, the manipulative bitch, Grace, had threatened her again to do the same. The tingling was gone and he pulled the curtain around so that he could see Coraline, sat huddled in her hospital bed, her eyes huge and face pale. 

"Coraline," he walked towards her, dragging one of the chairs behind him. "Sweetheart," he sat heavily. "Just give me the word, nod, squeeze my hand, fucking anything, and I'll go and put a bullet through that whore's brain."

She looked at him, her gaze seemingly going straight through him, but she gave no indication that that is what she wanted him to do, and he stayed put.

"You want me to tell Tommy?" 

She shook her head, and he took that as a sign that she was listening, understanding him.

"Right..." he sat back, resting his hands on his thighs. "I'm going to ask you questions. Just yes or no, like. I need you to answer them if ye can."

She didn't respond. 

"Did you disappear because Grace threatened you?"

There was a pause before Coraline nodded, her gaze averted. 

"Why didn't you come to me?" She looked up at him, and he kicked himself for not asking a yes/no question. She was looking at his side, where is gun was hidden, and he realised that that was her answer; he wouldn't hesitate to kill Grace, and for some reason, Coraline didn't want that.

"Did you go back to your father?" Again, she nodded hesitantly, and he felt sick at the thought of her being in that house with that monster for so many months, and part of him felt hurt that she hadn't felt that she could reach out to him. "And he did this to you?" He knew that answer before he saw the nod. 

"So what do we do now, Coraline?" He sighed heavily. "You won't let me kill 'er, and you won't let me tell Tommy. You can't go back to your father. No." He was speaking to himself now, he realised, noting how her eyes had gone vacant again.

"You'll come to London with me." He decided, thinking of his townhouse, his kindly housekeeper and his dog. What could be better for Coraline at this point? "You'll stay as long as you wish. Just until you're better or for as long as you like - whichever is the longest. I can contact that nurse, the one who cared for ye when you were shot. You remember her?"

The idea was growing on him as the pieces fell into place.

"We can go to Margate. You remember my place by the sea? You loved it there before. We'll get you nice and strong. What do you reckon?"

He felt a small hand take hold of his and squeeze gently. When he looked at her pale face, he saw that her huge blue eyes were tearful as she nodded. 

"Right, that settles it then, love. I'll get the doctor and we will get you discharged and away today. I don't think you're safe here for long."

Alfie got to his feet, and headed out of the room to find the nearest doctor to get the discharge started. He quickly located one, who lead him to a desk in a reception area and put together paperwork that he was asked to sign.

"Before you sign this, Sir, I need to go through some things with you about Miss Murphy's condition."

Alfie steeled himself. 

"I personally wouldn't recommend her leaving hospital so soon; we expected that she'd be in hospital for at least another three weeks so that we can monitor her recovery. You will need to provide details for the medical personnel you will engage for her care. We will send her notes over to them."

"Right," Alfie scribbled down Dr Goldmann's name and address. "Don't know his telephone number off the top of me head." The doctor indicated that this was fine, and he set the pen down. "Will you tell me what we are looking at here?"

The doctor looked apprehensive at divulging details about a patient, but quickly reassessed his priorities as he looked at the rings and bruised knuckles of the large man in front of him.

"Well, er. Most of the bones are healed with the exception of her ribs. They're taking a longer time than the rest of them. Her wrists and ankle which were broken will be weakened for some time and she'll need gentle exercise to strengthen them. The only issue with that is that the rest of her body is so weakened by the starvation and the rest of the torture, she'll need plenty of support and rest."

The doctor checked through the notes before continuing. "Her blood pressure is very low due to the lack of nutrients her body has received, and this can cause nausea, fatigue and fainting. It will be a slow process to heal her body."

Alfie nodded, taking it all in, and wondering suddenly whether he could actually do this. Was he being fair to Coraline and giving her the best chance of recovery? He quickly shook himself. What was her alternative? 

Thanking the doctor, he signed the last of the papers and went back to Coraline's room. 

"Alright, Rory?" He greeted. "I've settled it with your doctor. You're going to be discharged today on the understanding that you have a nurse and care in London. I'm not leaving you here with that mad Irish woman gallivanting around with that gun."

That got a small smile out of her, and he relished it. 

"I'm going to call your Tommy." The smile left her face. "I'll just tell him that you're wanting to recuperate by the sea and that your doctor has cleared it."

Coraline was looking down, unable to meet his gaze.

"Unless you want me to tell him everything I heard?"

Her head snapped up and she shook it frantically, her eyes wild. 

"Why not, sweetheart?" His voice softened and he sat down next to her, taking her hands in his. "He could make this all go away."

She kept shaking her head, her eyes filled with tears. 

"Who are you keeping quiet for, Coraline? Your family is safe - I won't let anyone hurt them, you know that."

Coraline roughly rubbed the tears away that were running down her face. 

"She threatened to take him away. I can't do that to Tommy." Her voice was croaky, and so quiet that Alfie barely heard her.

Trying to save the excitement of her speaking for later, Alfie tilted her chin gently so she was looking at him.

"Take who away, sweetheart?"

"Charlie."