Chapter forty-one: Somewhere in Between


Thomas brakes in front of Doctor Blake's small weekend clinic. He tries the door, but finds it locked. He peers through the glass window before suddenly kicking the door open, causing her to jump in surprise.

She stares at him as he yells to someone inside the building. "Where the f**k is the doctor?" He demands.

"You can't just-

"Where the f**k is he?" He shouts, causing everyone in the street to jump. Kate supports her waist as she gets out of the car and heads up the stairs, gasping with each step. "Someone attacked my wife!"

"Sir, I'm going to ask you to," Thomas ignores the startled secretary and heads towards the back room. "you can't go in there!"

"Blake!" Thomas bellows.

Kate moans and clutches her rib, carefully moving as fast as she can up the stairs. The secretary's eyes widen. "Oh my God." She hurries around to help Kate. "Here, let me help you."

The back door opens and there's Doctor Blake holding an apple. He takes a look at the scene and exhales calmly. "I should have known it was you Mr. Shelby."

"Some woman attacked Kate in the street." He says as he carefully picks her up, causing her to moan. He moves rapidly towards Doctor Blake. "She thinks she has a broken rib."

"You owe me a new door." Doctor Blake states calmly as he heads back to the room. "Bring her in."

"I don't like him." Thomas huffs as he heads into the examination room.

"You'll like me less in a few seconds." Doctor Blake firmly orders. "Put her down and then go wait in the examination room."

"No."

"If her ribs are broken, I will have to examine her after I bandage her rib cage."

"You will not-

"Thomas," Kate pleads as she reaches for his hand. "please, go wait outside."

"But Kate-

"Please. I need some privacy right now."

He studies her face carefully before exhaling deeply. "If that's what you wish."

Kate nods. "It's what I need. I'm sorry." He sighs and heads out, slamming the examination door. "God!"

"I'm assuming, that he still doesn't know he's a father yet?" Kate nods. "Unbutton your blouse please." Kate nods and does as he asks. She holds her breath as he leans over her to examine her rib cage. Kate inhales sharply against the pain as he touches her. "Breathe." She nods, closing her eyes as she inhales and exhales. He runs his hand along the deep purple area. "Your rib isn't broken. It's badly bruised, but that should be healed in three to four weeks. It'll be sore. I would recommend you stay home and get some rest, but I know for a fact that you won't do that."

"Is my baby alright?" she asked. "I covered my stomach first."

The doc nodded. "Yes, I can see that you protected your abdomen, so, all should be well. There's not even a mark." Kate exhales and covers her eyes as the tears she'd been holding back flowed down her cheeks. "At least one good thing came out of this Mrs. Shelby. You now know how you feel about having this baby. You can button up your blouse now." He heads over to his medicine cabinet and hands her a small tin. "Here's a witch hazel salve, it'll help."

"Thank you." she tucks her blouse back inside her skirt waist.

"Is there any other areas I need to look?"

Kate shakes her head. "She got my arm, but, it's just a bruise."

"Good. Now, I'm going to go let that angry husband of yours in here." Kate laughs lightly as he heads to the door and opens it. She glimpses Thomas leaning against the wall, smoking another cigarette. "No smoking allowed." He points to the sign. "See?"

"And you can go f**k-

"Thomas!" Kate says sharply, drawing his attention to her. "Put out the cigarette." Thomas glances around and sticks it in the fish bowl, causing Doctor Blake to sigh and pull the cigarette out of the bowl as Thomas hurries towards her. "You're such a child at times."

"Are you alright?" He asks as he sits beside her, his eyes running all over her.

She nods. "I'm fine, it wasn't too bad."

"She's got a bruised rib, a few cuts," Doctor Blake assured him. "but nothing serious. She should rest once she's home. Make sure she keeps ice on the rib, it'll help speed up the heeling."

Thomas nods as he lifts her up. "She'll do that doc. Come check on her tomorrow."

"May I remind you Mr. Shelby that I do have other patients?"

Thomas glowers at him. "Do they pay you as well as I do?"

"No, but sometimes, they need me more."

"Apologies, my husband is overly protective of me. But we're in town for the night." Kate says. "I'll call you if anything feels out of the ordinary. If there is something wrong, you can come to the hotel room."

Doctor Blake nods. "Good to know that you and Mr Shelby are taking my advice and taking some time together."

Kate pouts. "We were supposed to go dancing."

Doctor Blake studies them. "If you rest an hour, see how it feels when you walk. If you're not doing any of those wild Jazz dances." She and Thomas both make a face. Neither of them really cared for Jazz, Big Band was as far as they went. "If you have trouble breathing, then let him know."

"Thank you, I'll mail you a check doc." He picks her up carefully. "I'm taking you to the hotel. We'll put that ice and salve on."

"Thomas, put me down. I can walk, I am not an invalid!"

Thomas ignores her as he addresses the secretary. "I'll also have someone stop by to repair the door today."

"Thank you!" the woman says with annoyed look on her face.

She chuckles lightly as he walks carefully down the stairs. "I won't break. Put me down for a moment, please."

"Not until you're in the car.' She shakes her head. Thomas seats her in the back and reaches for a blanket, tucking it around her. "You can lie down here. It'll be more comfortable for you."

Kate reaches up and grips his coat lapels firmly in her hands as she tugs him towards her and kisses him deeply. He runs his hand through her hair, which is hanging down around her shoulders. She wraps her hands around his waist as he breaks the kiss. "I'm alright."

"Mrs. Shelby-

"Tommy, I'm ok." She says gently, trying to get him to calm down.

He exhales deeply and shakes her head. "I'm sorry Kate. I wanted you to have a nice afternoon without any trouble."

"And, you gave me a good afternoon." She assures him. "I had a lovely time until that incident happened. I'm only sorry I won't be able to model my dresses for you tonight."

"Do you know why she did that to you?" He asks firmly. "Did you know her?"

"She was the salesgirl where I bought the dresses." Kate sighs. "The girl apparently has issues with you. You crippled her father, for some reason?"

He shrugs. "Possible, can't remember details."

"So, she had a vendetta and threw coffee on my dress."

Thomas glowers at her. "I swear I'm gonna burn that store down."

"You'll do no such thing." He glowered at her. "The girl who attacked me was fired and left without any pay or résumé."

"That's not enough!" His anger was simmering. "You're my wife!"

"I say, it was enough." Her voice rises. "You cut her face Thomas! Let this be the end of this."

Thomas shakes his head. "No."

"Thomas."

She struggles to sit up and Thomas climbs in the back seat of the car, slamming the door behind him. He's angry, but she knows that he's mostly worried about her. "No one is going to attack my wife and get away with it!"

"It was an attack on me and I've stated what I want to be done." she inhaled. "I love that store and I gave my word to the owner that you'd leave it intact."

"Damn you, Kate." He states darkly. "Damn you."

"Damn you too, Thomas Shelby." He glowers at her as all her suppressed worries came bubbling out. "I love you as I've never loved any man before in my life and that scares the f**k out of me!" He blinks in surprise. "What am I to do if something happens to you and I know it was because of me?"

"Kate-

"By God," she smacks his arm. "you saw what loosing Emmett did to me!" he catches her by her wrists. "If I were to lose you because of something that happened to me, I would never, ever forgive myself." She hiccuped as tears began trickling down her cheeks. "So please, just let it go!" He suddenly pulls her tightly against him as she holds onto him as if she's afraid he's going to slip away from her. "It's not worth it!"

"I've got you," she lets out a shudder as she allows herself to cry, letting out the tension from the last two hours. "I've got you Kate." He kisses her deeply and she pulls him on top of her. Thomas quickly adjusts his weight, making sure he's not putting his weight onto her chest. Gasps and moans escape from her lips as he continues pressing kisses against her face. "You won't lose me Kate."

"How do I know that?" she asks him as he wipes away her tears. "No one knows that."

"It'll take a bullet to my head or heart to stop me and maybe, not even then." He holds her gaze. "Please…don't worry about me."

"I worry about you because I love you." she snaps. "And I know you worry about me too. You're obsessive and overprotective," he opens his mouth to protest, but she cuts him off. "which I love and appreciate. It's such a wonderful feeling to know that someone loves me as deeply as you do. I'm scared that if I lose you… I know that I'll never know or feel anything like this again in my life. I don't want know this feeling with anyone else but you. If you die, I won't want to live anymore. "

He nods, seemingly without words for a moment before kissing her on her nose. "Alright, I'll let it go this once."

"Thank you." she exhales and wraps an arm around his waist. "Now, can you take me out to lunch?"

He kisses her again and sighs. "Let's get you to that hotel room. We can order room service and then we can put ice on your rib." Kate nods and Thomas carefully gets off her. Again, he rearranges the blankets around her. He pauses and looks down at her. "I love you Kate. I promised you, that you'd be safe and I intend to keep that promise." Kate only smiles at him, she can see how he'd lay down his life for her in an instance. She can also tell that Thomas would blame himself if she were to be killed. She promised herself that she'd try not to get put in a situation like today again. Thomas had lost too much, losing her would undoubtedly kill him.