Chapter 8
Tiptoeing to the double doors, Flora pushes up on her toes, twisting the door handle and pushing it open gently, peeking her head around the door to peer in, eyes searching for her big brother. Eyes landing on him, leaning against the doorway to his office, Flora steps into the shop, pushing the door shut behind her as she creeps to the wall, shuffling through the gaps between the men standing around, to get to Tommy. Finally reaching him, she pauses beside her brother, silently lifting her arms up to him. Glancing down as he senses her presence beside him, Tommy frowns at the paleness of Flora's face, wordlessly reaching down and lifting her up onto his hip. Flora lets her body relax against his, tucking her head in his neck, Tommy tightening his grip on her, continuing the conversation he had been having with the men stood around him.
"Why are you not at school, eh?" Tommy asks as the men disperse, keeping Flora's body close to his, heading in the direction of his office.
"Aunt Pol says I'm poorly." The little girl sniffs against his neck, Tommy frowning as her forehead presses against his jaw, the heat radiating off of her making his concern grow.
"Aunt Pol says, huh?" He asks, dropping into his chair and turning her in his arms to face him, nodding in reply. "You feel poorly?" At Flora's affirmative nod, Tommy's sighs, pressing his lips to her burning forehead. "Lets get you back into bed, eh?" Rising from the chair, Flora lets out a squeal of protest, throwing her arms around her big brother's neck and clinging to him for dear life, her head now tucked back against his own. "Come on now, the best place for you is bed." He tells her gently, cupping the back of her head as she shivers in his arms. "The doors'll be opening and shutting all day in here, you'll just get cold. But we can tuck you up in bed, with a book, and a teddy, and a warm mug of milk. That sounds nice, eh?" Hesitantly nodding against Tommy's neck, his sister relaxes slightly in his arms, turning her head to peer up at him.
"You gotta work?" She mumbles, letting out a whimper as Tommy nods, running a hand across her back to sooth her as he heads wordlessly for the door of his office.
"I've gotta work, and you've gotta rest." He tells her, pulling the betting shop doors shut behind him and heading for the stairs. Letting out another shriek of protest, Flora tightens her grip on Tommy as he attempts to lower her to the bed, the older Shelby rolling his eyes at her actions, reaching behind his head to unclasp her hands and drop her gently to the bed. "No." He states firmly as she scrabbles to rise to her knees, his sister deflating visibly at his words and sinking back onto her heels. "Lay down. Come on now." He orders, tucking his hands under her arms, lifting her to lay on her back, pulling the covers up to her chin. He turns, finding her favourite teddy and a book to place beside her bed, faltering as he glancing back down at his sister, his steely exterior cracking at the sight of tears rolling down her cheeks, her tiny fingers poking out above the quilt tucked under her chin. "Hey, no, none of that. You're ok." He protests softly, dropping to his knees and brushing a knuckle under her eyes to catch the falling tears.
"I don't want you to go." She whispers, letting her head loll to the side, Tommy's heart breaking further as she struggles for breath, letting out a hacking cough. Her tiny body sinks into the mattress in exhaustion, her eyes fluttering closed as Flora rubs at them, letting out a pitiful mewl; reaching her hands back out to Tommy, he doesn't hesitate this time to scoop her up, bed covers and all into his arms, letting her rest her tiny, exhausted body against his chest. Swaying her wordlessly in his arms, Tommy places a kiss to the top of her head, cupping her head to his chest with his free hand. Feeling her body finally fully relax against his, Tommy lifts his sister again, shushing her squeaks of protest to lay her back into her bed, teddy tucked up beside her underneath the quilt.
"I'm going to get my work, and bring it up here." He tells her softly, brushing her hair back from her sticky forehead and tucking it behind her ear. "I'll be right back. You won't even miss me, I'll be that quick." He jokes playfully, earning a small tired smile from Flora as she nods in response, eyes glued to Tommy as he rises from the floor, padding quickly out of the room and back down to the shop.
Within minutes, Tommy had returned, ledger and pencil in hand; dragging her desk chair over to the bed, Tommy feels Flora's eyes following him as he moves around the room, first lighting the fire, the settling into the chair, kicking his boots off and lifting his feet to rest on the edge of the bed, ledger placed on his lap, pencil in hand. "Close your eyes." He commands softly, eyes now glued to the figures in front of him, knowing that now she knew he was staying for a while, Flora would at least try to rest.
Nearly an hour had passed since Tommy had started working in Flora's room, the young girl having fallen asleep within minutes, when their aunt appears in the doorway, faltering at the sight of her nephew with his feet kicked up on the bed.
"What are you doing here?" She asks, stepping into the warm room and crossing her arms over her chest. Rolling his eyes at her greeting, Tommy drops his pencil onto the open page of the book, turning his head to look back at his aunt who was stood with her eyebrow raised, waiting for his answer.
"Hello Pol, nice to see you too." He jokes, copying her stance and crossing his arms over his chest. "I heard we have a poorly Flora, she came into the shop to look for me." He explains quickly as Polly opens her mouth to interrupt, holding up a hand to silence her. "Wouldn't let me go back to work so I figured I'd stay here with her, work from home if you will." Scoffing under her breath, Polly swats at Tommy's feet, her nephew dutifully dropping them to the floor to let her pass, watching carefully as she repeats his earlier actions of brushing the hair off of Flora's sticky forehead, frowning at the heat still radiating from it.
"I'll fix her up some medicine, and put the soup on. See if we can't get something hearty into her." Humming in response, Tommy nods his head, leaning forwards in his chair to brush the backs of his fingers over Flora's flushed cheeks.
"She looks bad, Pol." He whispers, moving his fingers to run gently through her hair, glancing briefly up at Polly who gives him a small smile.
"You've been through worse yourself when you were her age, she'll be ok." She reassures him, dropping a hand to his shoulder and squeezing gently.
"But she's so tiny." He protests, clearing his throat to clear the croak that was threatening to escape.
"She'll be ok." Polly repeats, squeezing his shoulder once more. "We'll make sure of it."
It takes days for the fever to finally break, Tommy remaining by Flora's bedside until finally she turns the corner. Coming to a stop outside Flora's bedroom door, Ada leans against the doorframe, listening to Tommy murmur softly to their sister, carefully feeding her spoonfuls of soup as she rests against the headboard.
"Hey Florrie." Ada calls as she watches Tommy place the empty bowl on the side, both siblings turning to look up at their sister as she drops gently to the edge of the bed, reaching a hand out to brush over Flora's hair. "I've got a nice hot bath ready for you." She tells her, smiling up at Tommy who replies with a tired smile of his own. "Go and get some rest, Tom." She states, holding her hand up as he opens his mouth to protest. "I've got Flora, we're going to have a bath and then snuggle up together in bed. She'll be ok, but you look like hell, you need to get some sleep." Hesitantly, Tommy glances down at Flora who had tucked her thumb in her mouth and had moved to lean against Ada in the time she had been talking. Nodding slowly, Tommy pushes himself to his feet, allowing himself a moment to stretch out his aching muscles, bending to press a kiss to Flora's forehead.
"I'll be back soon, ok?" He whispers to her, Flora nodding sleepily in response as he straightens again, throwing Ada a small, grateful smile as he leaves the room.
Upon reentering Flora's room a few hours later, Tommy is pleased to find his sister still sitting up in bed, picture book in her lap, mouthing the words to herself as she follows them with her finger. Dropping onto the bed beside her, Tommy tucks his arm around her, Flora immediately letting her body collapse against his, head tucked against his chest as she continues through the book. Running a hand over her head, Tommy presses a kiss to her hair, breathing in the familiar smell of soap, tugging on one of her plaits playfully to make her giggle; frowning slightly, Tommy lifts his hand to her forehead as a cough chases her giggle, wracking her body. When the coughing finally stops, Flora sighs deeply, her head snapping up in the direction of the window at the telltale sound of children playing out in the lane. Lifting her head to look up pleadingly at Tommy, she lets out another sigh at his sympathetic look followed by a shake of his head. "Sorry Flora, not today." He tells her gently, pressing another kiss to her head. "Not with a cough like that." Letting out a huff, flor drops back onto the bed, covering her face with her arms.
"But I'm bored!" She draws out, letting out a shriek as Tommy playfully digs his fingers into her sides.
"Let's play a game then." He decides as she shies away from him, rolling towards the wall.
"What game?" She asks, curling up onto her side, hands tucked under her cheek.
"Snakes and ladders?"
"We played that yesterday!" Flora protests, rolling onto her back again with a sigh. "I want to go outside!"
"And play what?" Tommy asks, pulling her back towards him, letting her climb into his lap.
"With Finny!"
"Not today." He tells her again with a shake of his head. "You're not running around the lane while you're still poorly." With a huff, Flora drops forward to rest against Tommy's chest.
"Can we play I spy?" She finally concedes, peering up at Tommy who nods.
"I spy with my little eye-" he begins, eyes snapping down to Flora's as she lifts her hand to clasp over his mouth to silence him.
"Outside!" Flora states, smile wide across her face as Tommy raises his eyebrows, sighing in defeat.
"Five minutes." He states, cupping her chin gently as she wiggles in his arms. "That's it. No more. And then back to bed. Got it?"
"Got it!" She repeats with a bounce, curling her pinky finger around Tommy's. Rising from the bed, Tommy lowers Flora to the floor, moving to the chest of drawers to pull out her thickest jumper, woolly hat, scarf and gloves. Pulling her to stand in front of him, Tommy kneels before Flora, first pulling the jumper down of her head, and then methodically placing the other necessary winter garments onto his sister, followed by a pair of thick socks, boots and her winter coat. Content that she was well and truly bundled up, Tommy swings Flora into his arms, heading out into Watery Lane, where he drops down onto the front step of the house, settling Flora in his lap, her back flush against his chest as they both breath in the crisp winter air.
"Finny!" Flora exclaims as he brother races past, running backwards with a smile at her call, coming to a stop in front of his brother and sister.
"Florrie!" He shouts in reply, glancing briefly up at Tommy who reads his brother's expression, nodding once to answer to his unspoken question, smiling as Finn, not even considering the friends around him, launches himself at his sister, flinging his arms around her. The pair, who were usually inseparable, had had to be apart for the better part of a week, Polly banishing Finn to Tommy's unused room to prevent the other youngest Shelby catching the same illness Flora had picked up.
"Go and play with your friends Finn." Tommy states softly, running a hand over Finn's head as he gently pushes him back int the direction of his friends who were playing at the other end of the lane.
"Can Finny sleep back in our room now?" Flora asks, her eyes following her brother who had raced back down to the other end of the lane, yet had paused just ahead of his group of friends, and was looking back at Flora, in Tommy's eyes, to check his little sister was ok. Giving him a subtle thumbs up and a nod, Tommy settles Finn's fears, the younger brother turning once more to join in the ball game. Turning his attention back to Flora, Tommy shifts her on his lap, curling an arm around her as she rests back against his chest once more. "One more night." He replies to her question. "Lets get this cough gone and then we'll think about it, alright?" At Flora's nod, Tommy hums, clearing his throat. "Ok...I spy with my little eye-"