Nicotine // [michael gray / peaky blinders]

Thirty

"Hello?" I answer the phone in what feels like the middle of the night.

"Florence? It's Ada. I'm-I'm at the hospital with Tommy. Something horrible has happened. He said that he has a fractured skull, concussion, internal bleeding and he thought he hemorrhaged in my house." She says and my heart drops.

"You're at the hospital? Where?"

"London. Whichever one is closest to my house." She says. "Are you going to come?"

"Yes. I'm waking Michael now." I say before hanging up, rushing back up the stairs.

"Who was it?" Michael asks and I head to the closet.

"Ada. Said she had to take Tommy to the hospital. Fractured skull, concussion, internal bleeding." I say, pulling a random dress on and he gets up as well, dressing himself and we groggily leave the house, heading towards London.

-

"Hi." I say to Ada when Michael and I have finally gotten to her home.

"What happened?" Michael asks as Ada ushers us in, tea already on the table.

"I don't know." She shakes her head. "I'm going to go tomorrow, to check on him, but I told him that he was a soldier, that he won medals, that he was in a tunnel crash. I'm fucking terrified. He could barely walk. He asked me for cocaine."

"Jesus." I breathe. "We have to call Pol tomorrow morning. Should we bother with Arthur and John now?"

"Not John, it's too late. The kids will wake up. And Linda would probably end us all if the phone rang now." She says and I nod, resting my head on Michael's shoulder.

"I'm fucking terrified." I sigh. "I have no idea what could've happened. He told me he was going to see Linda. And then I got the call from you. I have no idea what was in between." I say and she shrugs.

"I don't either." She sighs. "You two should go up to bed."

"Yeah. Come on, Flo. We can go see him tomorrow." Michael mumbles, kissing the top of my head.

-

The next morning, I feel like I'm half alive. I rise, get dressed and we go straight to the hospital. They're still working on him.

"I hate it here." I whisper, sitting in the corner of the waiting room with Michael. Ada's across the room, playing with some blocks with Karl.

"You've been staring at the floor since we got here, are you alright?" He asks and I shake my head.

"The last time I was in a hospital, it was because my mother was drinking all night and had fallen down the fucking steps in my house." A tear falls from my eye. "The next night she died in a tablet and alcohol induced sleep. They might as well have killed her while she was there." Another tear falls as Michael brings me into his chest, hugging me tightly.

"I never knew that was what happened."

"Yeah, well." I sniffle. "Don't talk about it much, do I?" I ask, wiping my face.

"You can cry more. I won't make fun of you." He says and I swat his chest.

"Yeah, you better not make fun of me. I'm carrying your kid."

"Amazes me every time you say it." He puts his chin on my head. "We're having a kid."

"Yeah." I sigh, leaning into him. "A girl. I can feel it now." I put a hand over my bump. "We're having a girl." Michael's hand joins mine and I give his a little squeeze.

"A girl." He smiles. "Yeah. I'd like a girl."

"You'll get what you get." I poke him in the chest.