Forbidden Afflictions // Alfie Solomons Peaky Blinders

(3) Caged and Clinical

Eventually, Alfie scrambled. Nothing he did seemed to work.

It wasn't until Alfie had Dr. Wilson come to Bushey did she seem to be pulled from the den of her depression. All of a sudden, after seeing his face in the center of her home, she wasn't floating above her body or sitting behind her eyes and mechanically making her body move.

She was right there with nowhere to hide.

She started to moan and shake her head as he entered her bed chambers. "No," she mumbled, shaking her head as if she were overcome with a headache. She then wrapped her blanket tighter against her body and repeated herself.

"Freya," Wilson called out, walking inside and letting Alfie come in close behind. "Good afternoon," he said with a smile.

"No," she murmured, shaking her head and forcing her eyes shut as she hid her face.

"Freya, he's 'ere to help," Alfie said with a sigh, noticing how she disagreed with his visit.

"You're late," she said with a bitter tongue, wiping away a tear she wasn't aware had slid down her cheek. "You're too late."

Her entire face felt hot all of a sudden and her hands started to tremble beneath her blanket. Dr. Wilson had never hurt her but she couldn't stand his company. It was eerily familiar and too much of him reminded her of her time at Holloway. "It's too fucking late."

Alfie and Dr. Wilson both turned to each other in question but neither of them knew what context she was speaking from.

"Too late for what exactly?" Wilson asked, tilting his head slightly to show his utmost interest.

She hummed and rolled her eyes as if to keep herself from crying. "Too late to be of any help," she clarified, keeping her eyes on the edge of the windowsill beside her to show that she wasn't interested in sharing company with them.

"I don't think it's ever too late for someone to get help," Wilson said softly, trying to encourage her to seek him out no matter how much she fought him. "Now, I've been told you're having some trouble sleeping and you've been feeling rather down as of late," Wilson added, ignoring her earlier comment and taking another step closer.

"Oh, you're gonna tell me how I feel? You're gonna tell me what I feel even though I haven't seen you since—?" She cut herself off, realizing she didn't know how long it had been since she last saw him. She didn't know what month it was or how long she had been out. She couldn't remember how long she had been imprisoned and she hadn't a clue how long she had been released. Suddenly, she didn't understand what was going on. She hardly knew where she was, let alone what the hell she was doing with Dr. Wilson and Alfie. It was like walking out of one nightmare and into the next.

Wilson watched her face get pale with apprehension. She was becoming emotional and from what Alfie described over the phone, he did something. His presence seemed to bring some sensation back; even if it was anger, it was an emotion nonetheless. He understood then, that getting to her was going to be easier than he anticipated.

"Since?" he added, coaxing her to finish her sentence even though they both knew she couldn't; not in the way she planned.

Her face turned sour with his antagonizing and Alfie had never seen her speak so fluidly since after her release.

"Since well before I was put in prison," she spat, staring back at him as an injured feline might stare at her hunter.

It wasn't what she wanted to say, but it would do.

"Yes," Wilson confirmed in that insinuating, doctor-sounding voice of his. "I see you've been put on mild tranquilizers and a new medication, but there's no record that you've had any prescriptions filled since..." he trailed off, looking down at a notepad he had brought with him. Then he scoffed. "Since we last saw each other... Can you recall how long ago that's been?" he asked.