A few days later, vicky was getting ready to go to a doctors appointment. She was just putting on her coat when George comes downstairs
"I'll just get my jacket and then we can go" George says. He hasn't missed a single one of her appointments since they got together. Vicky smiles at him softly and kisses his cheek
"You stay home today" vicky tells him
"What?"
"I'll go with you if you want some better company" Henry said making her smile
"That's alright mate. I think vicky just wants some time alone" Tommy told him as he frowns sadly
"Are you sure? You've never been alone before" George asked
"I'm sure sweetie. Don't worry bout me, I'll be back in a couple of hours. Look after Henry for me. Make sure he doesn't break anything" she said quietly, kissing his cheek before leaving
"Is she alright? Seems off" George asked Tommy
"She's not ill again is she?" Henry asked worried. Tommy ruffles his hair, grinning at the care Henry had for vicky
"No mate. She's fine. I don't know why she wanted to go alone. Maybe she just wanted abit of time to herself" he shrugs. Truth is, Tommy knew exactly why. If George went to the doctors with vicky, then he'd find out her secret. He'd find out what she's done and she wasn't sure if he was ready to hear it. She definitely wasn't ready to say it. And Tommy promised he'd keep it a secret so it had to stay that way.
"Tommy, can i please have my football back now?" Henry had his football confiscated after he kicked it indoors and broke a lamp. Tommy thought about it for a moment before getting the football from a locked cupboard
"Take it outside. If I see you kicking it indoors again, then you'll be grounded. Understand"
"Yes dad" Henry mocked, rolling his eyes and walking off with the football
"Thank you tommy" George said
"What for?" Tommy asked
"For letting us stay here. For looking after Henry"
"You're family. And family look after one another. Look, I know you're worried about vicky. We all are. You just have to speak with her" Tommy told him. George nodded in agreement. He didn't have a clue how to bring it up. He didn't want to pressure her into telling him everything. But he also didn't want vicky handling this on her own. Whatever 'this' is.
A little while later, George and Henry were out in the fields behind Tommy's House playing football. Vicky walked in after having some treatment and counselling. The hospital forced her to have a Councillor to talk about her feelings and how the cancer was affecting her mentally. She hated it. Tommy knew she hated it. But he wouldn't get rid of the councellor, no matter how much vicky begged
"Well, I just had a half an hour conversation trying to convince my councellor that I wasn't starving myself and that the only reason I've lost weight is because of all the vomiting. Honestly, it's like she doesn't read my medical records" vicky groans, hanging her coat up
"Hi aunt pol, do you want a drink?"
"Don't be daft. I should be asking you that" polly replied
"It's fine really. Is everything alright?" Vicky asked. The air was thick and it was clear there was an elephant in the room
"I know" polly said. Vicky gulped, glaring at Tommy
"You promised me you wouldn't say anything" vicky pointed her finger at him
"I didn't tell her anything. She figured it out" vicky sat down with her head in her hands and tears in her eyes
"I don't want all of fucking small heath to know. Not until I've wrapped my head around the inevitable" vicky said
"Of course love. I won't tell anyone. But this is serious vic. We want you to know that we will help you in whatever way we can"
"Can you give me a few more years?" Vicky asks crying, knowing that no one, not even the best doctors could give her what she wanted. Polly hugged her tightly, kissing her head and stroking her hair
"I am so sorry my sweetheart. But it isn't written in stone. Not yet. Doctors are wrong all the time"
"No pol, not this time, we can all convince ourselves that I'll live another year, but the reality will hit us sooner or later. I won't see another Christmas. And it is all my fault"
"No. This isn't your fault vicky. It's a curse" Tommy replied
"It's in our gypsy blood. We live somewhere between life and death. Waiting to pass through. And when our time comes, we accept it. We shake hands with the devil's, and we walk past them" polly tells vicky
"You can't blame everything on being a gypsy. It's our family. Not our gypsy blood. The things we do, to ourselves, to other people, that's the curse we have been burdened with. That's the curse that ruins lives. Not the gypsy curse. The shelby curse" Tommy hugs her, listening to her words. He felt at fault, like he was the reason God was punishing them. He didn't believe. But sometimes, it made the unexplainable, make sense
"I'm going to bed. I'm rather tired" vicky said standing up
"Course love. Sleep well" polly kisses her goodnight and soon, it is just Tommy and polly sat downstairs
"What do I do now?" Tommy asks
"You're asking for my advise?" Polly asked in shock. Tommy hates asking advise. Normally, he doesn't need it. Other times, he ignored it. But his eyes showed how desperate he was for help
"Please polly. I want to help her. I want my girl to live" Tommy begs
"Now, we support her. And we help her in these final months. You're scared. But I can guarantee, that little girl is even more terrified than we could ever imagine. When she's gone, you can grieve. But until then, we make the most of what we have"
YOU ARE READING
Shelby Fire- Completed
FanfictionBefore the war, there was a girl. Her customers knew her as Sapphire, her family knew her as Dotty. After falling pregnant with Thomas Shelby's baby, she runs. No one knows where and Tommy was left believing she had simply grown tired of small heath...
