In the weeks following the birth of Berta's calf, Tommy started showing up at Evie's place on Saturday nights. Not every Saturday night exactly, but regularly, nonetheless. She figured every Saturday night would be a bit too predictable and domestic for Thomas Shelby, but every other or so seemed to suit him. He would show up at her door, a bottle of whisky in his hand and a cigarette dangling from his lips. Usually at this point Oz would also make his appearance in her kitchen window and she'd let the little devil in after the gangster. The three of them would wait around her kitchen table until someone called on her and so far, she'd been called on every time.
Having him with her had been a little awkward at first. He was great with the animals and usually managed to calm them down enough for her to examine even the most frightened ones. The owners however, seemed to react to his presence in the opposite way – not that any of them would ever protest to him being there. Evie had anticipated this and weighed her options that first night, she could send him away or she could take advantage of the fact that he had a car and was actually able to help her with the animals. Dr. Robertson had assistants for these things but since she wasn't technically allowed to work shifts without him, she hadn't been assigned assistants of her own. In the end, her hesitation about his effect on the owners of her patients had not been big enough to warrant sending him away. After a few Saturdays she even noticed that the owners often complied with her recommendations if Tommy was around when normally, they would give her trouble from the moment she arrived until the moment she left.
Truth be told, Evie wasn't sure how that made her feel. Was she abusing the fact that people feared him just so she could practice medicine like she had wanted without needing to explain that yes, she was a woman AND she had gone to veterinary school? Or could she convince herself that at the end of the day, she needed the extra pair of hands and the animals were off better for his help? It was infuriating but Evie told herself so long as she didn't come to rely on him more than for one night every other week or so, she should be alright, and he'd grow tired of working in the dirt with her sooner or later. Not that he complained but his sharp suits certainly spoke volumes about the path that he'd chosen for his life. That and the peaked cap of course.
In all honesty, having the car was another huge advantage. Evie knew she should get one herself but since she didn't charge most of her clients, she would never be able to afford one and Dr. Robertson would never let her use his. And so, Evie convinced herself to start looking forward to Saturday nights, especially since Tommy seemed as disinterested in actual conversation as she was. They'd talk about the cases, sometimes about the owners too, but that was largely it. Mostly it seemed like Tommy was preoccupied with his own thoughts while they waited or he'd pet Oz, who had quickly grown attached to him.
Tonight had started like most Saturday nights did, Tommy had arrived with a new bottle of whisky, settled on his spot on her couch and she'd read over case files. It was another rainy night and Evie wasn't quite sure if she hoped that they would just be inside all night or if she was still hoping for an emergency. Usually she hoped for the latter but tonight it was hard to imagine having to face the weather – even with the car.
Then, around 2 am in the morning - she was actually dozing off on the couch at the moment - a knock jolted her awake. As always Tommy insisted on answering the door, an annoying habit of his. She disliked it greatly, but she put up with it because she had decided arguing these things was pointless. Just like he knew better than to talk to her clients directly. Not that it stopped him from giving them his infamous icy looks but at least he had respected her wishes to let her do the actual talking.
Tommy opened the door and Evie came over to hear a man explaining that his horse had been injured earlier in the day and was running a fever now. The man kept glancing at Tommy and Evie chalked it up to the fact that most people knew him. Maybe he owed the Peaky Blinder's some money or something of the sort. Poor chap!
'Alright, we'll be on our way', Evie told him and he stared at her a bit longer than she thought would have been normal under the circumstances but she decided that maybe he was worried or maybe he was surprised she was a woman. Most new clients behaved strangely around her, and Tommy's presence usually didn't help with that either. There was a good explanation, she was sure and as much as she hated to admit it, if she wasn't on her own, she didn't feel the need to obsess over these things nearly as much.
In the car Evie sat in the front with Tommy, she didn't usually do this on the way to an emergency but the other man had been so nervous about getting into the car, it had been faster for her to sit in the front. Most nights, Evie was able to extract the majority of the important information on the way to the emergency but this time it seemed the man was either unwilling or unable to provide any pertinent information. He just kept repeating that he could not lose the horse, that it would put him out of work, and that he had mouths to feed.
As they pulled up at the indicated address, Evie caught Tommy's gaze. He seemed tense but had managed not to interrupt so far though she could see it was only a matter of time now until he'd lose his temper.
'Easy, Tommy', she reminded him, and he gave her a quick nod but avoided meeting her gaze. Evie shrugged and hurried into the somewhat dilapidated stable. There were two massive coldbloods, both in rather disastrous condition but one of them was laying on the ground with what looked like a crushed leg.
'Jesus Christ!', Evie exclaimed and rushed to the horse.
'What the fuck is this?', Thomas followed up crouching next to her. She could feel the anger radiating off of him.
'Accident. I can't lose him. One horse can't pull my carriage', the man looked miserable. Evie felt bad for him, but it didn't even begin to compare how she felt about this poor horse. She stroked its head and noticed that it barely reacted to her touch. She'd have to convince the owner to act quickly now. Who knew how long the poor horse had already been suffering while the owner made up his mind about getting help?
'I understand but this horse won't pull another carriage and with how poorly he's doing, I'm afraid the only thing left to do is put an end to his suffering', Evie said as gently as she could while she approached the man again, trying to calm him down.
'No, you have to save him, you have to save him!', he all but yelled and Evelyn could see him becoming even more agitated now. His face contorted into an ugly mask of anger and desperation. Before she could take a step back the man grabbed her by the neck, gripping her throat and pulling her closer. She couldn't breathe, his hands were wrapped around her neck so tightly as he towered over her.
'You save him!', he actually yelled at her now and she could smell the alcohol on his breath, felt his spit hitting her face. The timeline made more sense now, the horse must have gotten injured, the owner must have gone to the pub for some liquid courage before deciding to look for the female veterinarian. Evie put the pieces together quickly and tried to nod so that he would let her breathe again but the man's eyes were now fixed on something – or rather someone – behind her and it made his grip tighten even further.
'Let her go right fucking now. I will shoot you and then the horse', Tommy's voice had gone quiet, it was barely audible, but she was certain that meant more danger than his yelling. Evie wanted to kick the man that was holding her, but her hands were glued around his wrists and her feet barely touched the ground. She wanted so badly to fight back but all she could smell was the alcohol and all she could think was how much she missed her father and how she couldn't breathe. After he had passed, she'd often felt like there simply wasn't enough oxygen in the air but now experiencing the real thing she found herself unable to snap out of it. She barely registered a gun being held to the man's head, directly between his eyes, while another arm wrapped around her waist. She smelt Tommy now, the cigarettes and the whiskey, and she could feel his chest against her back as the pressure around her throat was lifted.
Evie stumbled away from the men, the only thought in her head now on the air and then on the horse. She heard a scuffle followed by a loud thump behind her but focused all her energy on breathing and pulling her own gun out of her bag. The world was reduced to her painful breathing, to the horse in front of her, and the gun in her hand. Everything else was drowned out, non-essential and impossibly far away. Evie lifted her gun to the horse's big head, aiming it between his half-closed eyes, trying not to think about how awful she would feel after she pulled the trigger.
'Good night, sweetheart. May you find more peace wherever this path takes you', she murmured between ragged breaths and pulled the trigger. She didn't even hear the shot, she just felt herself falling sideways into the straw next to the horse. She could hear the second horse kicking in its box next to her, terrified now and she tried to get up, but it was so hard. She realized she was crying then and that's why it was so hard to actually breathe again. The hands were gone but, in their absence, she felt even worse somehow. Inadequate for having frozen in the moment, unable to defend herself when it mattered. She had been fine in France in more dire situations but the alcohol on the man's breath had reduced her to her childhood self, freezing her in place.
'Hey, hey. Focus', she saw fingers snapping in front of her face and felt herself being pulled up into a sitting position.
'Stay with me', the hand was grabbing her chin now, lifting it up to meet impossibly blue eyes. Big and angry and taking up her entire field of vision. She took a deep breath and told herself to focus, to stay in the moment. Let go of her father, let go of her anger, she could torture herself for being unable to fight the man later. Now, she needed to get the horse buried and the other one quieted down.
'The horse', she finally managed to say.
'You did the right thing. Listen…', Tommy started, still holding onto her chin, his other hand on her back, keeping her upright.
'Other one', she shook her head at him, and his eyes left her face for a second to look at the box next to them. She noticed there were speckles of blood covering his face. She herself probably looked similar after shooting the horse but she couldn't feel her face. Her body didn't belong to her right now.
'Yeah', he moved her back against the wall and then disappeared into the box like the big cold-blooded workhorse wasn't dangerous at all. She heard his Romani words of endearment and found herself trying to compare them to the little Italian she knew. It sounded nice, pleasant, and entirely reassuring. It had the same effect on the horse, as she could hear the struggle in the box subside within moments.
Evie looked around now, finally able to take in more than what was in front of her and immediately noticed the owner of the horses laying at the far end of the stable. There was blood covering his face and Evelyn wasn't sure if Tommy had beat or cut him but decided, to ignore that question for now as she needed to figure out how to dispose of the horse. Burial might be easiest; it wouldn't involve convincing someone to burn the horse free of charge and she figured Billy wouldn't mind. She knew he buried his deceased animals near the forest bordering his property. But they'd have to get the horse there first.
'Tommy, we can bury him on Billy's property. He won't mind', she turned around to look at Tommy who was watching her intently as she struggled to get up. Her legs felt like they still didn't belong to her, like they were attached and yet disconnected.
'Yeah, alright. We need to get some men and a different vehicle to transport him.'
'I'll stay here with him', Evie picked up her gun to stow it away in her bag. She hated the thing and had never bothered to learn much more than was required for her to euthanize as humanely as possible.
'Oh no, I'm not leaving you here', Tommy had moved over to the still unconscious man and she watched has he tied him to a post.
'But the other horse…', Evie didn't finish her sentence. She knew the other horse would be alright now and if she was honest, she needed to get out of the stable. Tommy didn't respond to her unfinished sentence and just waited for her to grab her bag and join him by the door where he stopped her under the lamp and looked at her neck. Evie avoided his eyes and stared over his shoulder instead trying not to wince when he touched her neck gently.
'Let's go, Tommy', she whispered. She just wanted to bury the poor horse and then get home to curl up on the couch with Oz. She'd be able to think the night through, to draw the right conclusions about what had happened and how to move on.
'Can Curly come get the other horse?', Evie managed to ask when they started driving away from the stable and Tommy nodded. She knew it meant the owner would likely lose his source of income, but the animals had been in poor condition already and she just needed to know that the surviving horse at least would be well taken care of. Maybe he could have it back in a few days? She would need to make up her mind about that decision. That was if Tommy and his gang let the man live. Evie wasn't entirely sure she wanted to be thinking about the decisions Tommy was likely making right then. She was aware that he probably took it as an attack on him and his reputation that she had been assaulted while he was with her and having caught a glimpse of his temper, she knew this didn't bode well for her attacker.
They stopped at the Garrison where Tommy disappeared inside briefly to round up a couple of his men to drive to the stable and pick up the horse, then meet them at Billy's farm. After that, they stopped by Charlie Strong's boatyard to let Curly know to get the surviving horse. Evie never got out of the car, she was just waiting for the night to be over now.
When they arrived at Billy's, he had already been woken up and filled in by Tommy's men. Evie tried thanking him but couldn't quite find the words since she knew that with the Peaky Blinders having arrived first, it wasn't like the man had had a choice in the horse being buried on his property. She hoped she would be able to apologize to him the next day.
By the time the grave had been dug, the sun was almost rising, coloring the world a pale hue of grey and casting impossibly long shadows. Evie was wearing Tommy's coat over her own and still shivered as she stood above the grave looking down on the horse. She'd already said her goodbyes when she'd shot him, yet she had felt it important to be there for this part. She crouched down to lift up a handful of the wet, cold dirt and tossed it as gently as she could into the grave before nodding to Tommy who also stepped up to throw more dirt. Then he signaled his men to finish the burial and pulled Evie to his side.
'Let's get you home, eh?'