In Small Heath | Peaky Blinders

twenty-four; nurses to the rescue

The door to the busy betting shop swung open with such force, that it began to shut itself on the three people hobbling their way through it. Luckily for the petite blonde, Arthur used his leg to stop the door from breaking her nose, and Bash stuck out an arm blindly, hoping for a little bit of luck.

Polly, who had been busying herself with a cup of tea and the newspaper, looked up at the ungodly sight and sat straighter in her chair - frozen in the spot, her legs unwilling to move and help.

Ada noticed the look on her aunts face and jumped up to help, after all, she had completed one nurses course in the church hall. She was basically a fully qualified nurse already, she just needed someone to fetch her the iconic red hat and blue pinafore.

"Finn, mate, get us some chairs." Bash's voice cut through the clattering of items, and the pounding in his own head.

He knew Finn would be lurking somewhere, probably trying to get the very best viewing spot in the room, so the sound of hurried pitter patters against the floor was a much welcomed sound. Bash knew Finn longed to be thought of as useful, as did he, so this was the very best he could've done given the circumstances.

"Elizabeth Grey, I take it?" The blonde nurse spoke, placing Arthur down on the chair first before guiding Bash to the next.

Pollys head turned to face her, her legs now kicking into action to lend a hand, wherever useful, a brow raised in almost a silent question.

"Dont worry, I won't report this to the gods above," what the nurse had wanted to add was that she was hired by a very particular man to take care of only Sebastian Shelby until the doctors saw fit, "I was wondering if you had any Vodka, or rum? Light, preferably."

Polly shook her head, all they had at the betting shop or house, was ale. Lots of ale, but nothing stronger, not with the way Arthur drank on the weekends.

"No, sorry love, I can send Finn to go and get some —"

A second was all it took for the nurse to wipe her bloodied hand against the white pocket of her frock before quickly extending it towards the elder for a quick hand shake - and a quick handshake it was, her attention going almost entirely back onto the Shelby brothers who sat moaning and groaning.

Arthur more so than Bash.

"Oh, how rude of me! I'm Elsie Gilbert, Sebastian's nurse. I was on my way to do a house call when I found the pair."

Ada made a literal note of that as she was walking past with an old ripped up bedsheet, and a bowl of hot water. She'd remembered somewhere that hot water was good for something, she had only gotten past the choking section of the lesson before she'd been kicked out for giggling.

John watched as the little nurse worked her way through his brother's faces, prodding and poking to make sure nothing was too badly broken, or beyond her abilities to fix. He could've been there too, helping, but it was more of a woman's job than his. He did always find that broken noses made him a little queasy, even if it wasn't his own this time.

"Don't it hurt?" John finally decided to make his presence known, walking behind Arthur, slamming his hands against his shoulders. Which, after he did it, he realised how bad of a decision that had actually been.

He'd probably just made the situation worse, but at least that meant the cute nurse got to stay a little longer.

"Course it fucking hurts, you daft prat." Arthur braked for a wheeze of air before continuing, "I didn't do this for fun, you know? It was them fucking coppers, the new one."

The brother all eyes were on stayed silent, of course it hurt him, but he was used to the constant irritant that came from the pain caused in France all those months ago, so he didn't necessarily feel like exclaiming that he too was in pain, even with the same and a different form of it. He felt like it was now Arthur's turn to feel like a burden, even if only momentarily, it meant the weight was lifted off of his shoulders and onto someone else's. Someone who could carry it far better than he could.