Sunbeam

36)

"Kez, Kez, open your eyes," Tess says, untucking Kez's shirt, rolling it up so she could locate the gunshot wound which was seeping blood.

Bea came rushing into the room, handing Teresa a cloth, a pair of tweezers, some bandages and a bottle of whiskey.

"Is she going to be alright?" Bea asks, a tear slipping from her eye.

"She'll be fine, we just need a little space," Tommy assures, and Bea nods, exiting the room.

"Kez, have some of this," Arthur says, lifting the bottle of whiskey to his sister's lips, before passing it back to Tess, who pours it over the wound.

"Hold her," Tess instructs, and the two eldest Shelby brothers grasp onto their sister's arms, keeping her stable when she begins thrashing because Tess was digging around the wound with tweezers trying to find the bullet, "got it."

"Thank fuck," Kez breathes out, shaking Tommy and Arthur's hands off her to grab the bottle of whiskey, taking a rather large gulp.

"I need that back," Tess states, and Kez hands the bottle over, grunting in discomfort when Tess pours it directly around the wound cleansing it before wrapping bandages around Kez's torso.

"It's fucking hot in here," Kez says, removing her shirt, leaving her sat there in her bloody vest.

"This is what you get when you get gobby to men with guns," Teresa scolds.

"In my defence, he was aiming at Tommy, not me, so me opening my mouth technically had no consequences," Kezia responds, reaching into her pocket for her cigarettes and matches.

"You're an idiot," Tess scoffs.

"Agreed," Tommy states, as Arthur nods.

"Now who are the ones getting mouthy to someone with a gun?" Kezia retorts, as there's a knock at the door, "can we come in yet?"

"Fair warning, Kez is still a cocky shit," Tess responds as Bea steps through the door, followed by the rest of the family and blinders, Freddie cradling Karl to his chest.

-

"You've been awfully quiet," Kez states, sitting opposite Bea, who was stood behind the bar.

"Take a wild guess as to why," Beatrice replies, "perhaps it's because no matter how many times we warn you not to do something, you go and do it anyways. You're not invincible, Kez."

"You're mad at me," Kezia hums, "but I know you well enough to know that's not all that's going on in your head."

"You could've died," Bea says.

"I didn't though," Kez responds.

"When I saw the gun being shot, when I saw you stumble, when I saw you bleeding, when I thought you were going to die... my heart sank," Bea states.

"You were worried, that's understandable," Kezia shrugs, wincing in pain, "note to self, stop shrugging so viciously."

"I was worried, but that's not all," Bea admits, "Kez, I was scared you were going to die without me ever telling you how I feel about you. I was scared I'd never get the chance to tell you, that I'd never speak to you again, that I'd never feel your touch. It really put things into perspective."

"You don't need to-"

"I do," Bea nods, "you've been right from the beginning, Kez, and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get to this point, I'm sorry it took you almost dying for me to get here, but I realised I don't know what I'd do without you, I don't know how I'd live without you. When you're not around it's like I can't breathe."