Chapter 35
Dropping to her knees in front of Bonnie, she pushes herself to kneel between his legs, dipping the cloth in her hand into the warm bowl of water. Lifting the cloth, Edith gently presses it against Bonnie's face, softly wiping the blood away. Hisses as she presses the cloth to a particularly deep cut on his lip, Edith tensing at the action, giving him a sympathetic smile.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Bonnie whispers in reply, reaching his hand out to curl around her cheek. "I feel bad-"
"Stop. Why?" Edith asks incredulously, her head snapping up to meet Bonnie's eyes.
"I should be looking after you." He replies gently, brushing his thumb over her cheek. "Your brother-"
"Stop." Edith repeats with a shake of her head, tears stinging the back of her eyes. "Don't say it. Please. I'll start crying again and then I'll never stop."
"I'm sorry." Bonnie whispers, letting his eyes flutter shut as Edith gently drags the cloth over his face again. "How bad is it?"
"Nothing's broken." She says softly, running her fingers gently over his face, pressing against his skin. "Your eyes are a mess."
"They feel it." He jokes, Edith scoffing under her breath as she drops the cloth on to the table, dropping back on to her heels. "And my nose? It's fine?"
"Feels fine to me, should probably get Pol to check anyway. Does it hurt?"
"A little." Bonnie replies with a shrug. "It'll feel worse in the morning."
"I bet."
"Come here." Bonnie whispers, cupping Edith's cheeks as he pulls her up into his arms. Stood in front of him, Edith lowers herself gently into his lap, curling her arms around his neck as he holds her close.
Pausing in the doorway to the stables, Charlie smiles to himself at the soft humming coming from the hay bales at the end of the building. Heading slowly in that direction, he thinks back on the many times he had made this same journey during Edith's childhood, finding her hidden away in the hay bales, humming away to herself as she drew or played (sometimes finding Curly, who should have been doing jobs around the yard, tucked away having a tea party with his youngest niece).
"Does your brother know you're here?" He calls, making Edith jump, lifting her head from the bale she was laid across, shooting him a sheepish smile.
"Which one?" Cocking his head to the side, Charlie fixes her with a pointed look, dropping to sit beside her as she shifts up to make room for her uncle.
"Thomas."
"No."
"Edith." Charlie draws out, shutting his eyes momentarily in frustration. "He'll have half of Small Heath out looking for you."
"He's not called you yet, has he?" Edith asks rhetorically, already knowing the answer; her uncle would not be as calm as he was now if he thought she'd actually gone missing, or worse, been found by Changretta and his men. "I didn't think so." She retorts, lifting the cigarette in her hand up to her lips. "Finn knows. He walked me over here. With Bonnie, and Isiah, and Bobby."
"He'll be looking for you." Charlie reiterates, giving Edith another pointed look, his niece rolling her eyes as she shakes her head. "He can't lose you t-"
"I know." Edith snaps, letting her eyes flutter closed with a sigh, lifting them slowly to meet her uncle's. "Sorry." She whispers, flicking her cigarette butt onto the ground. Pulling herself up to sit beside her uncle, she lays her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes again.
"Tired?" He mutters, patting her knee gently as she nods, humming under her breath.
"I dreamt about John and Arthur again last night." She whispers in reply. "But I couldn't talk to them. Not like I did with Ma. Do you think that means something?"
"I don't know, sweetheart." Charlie replies, shifting to curl his arm around her shoulders. "What happened in the dream?"
"It was Christmas Day. We were all together. All of us. Ma, Pa, Martha, John, Arthur, everyone, back in Watery Lane. But it was like I was under water; I could see everyone, but I couldn't hear anything, it was all muffled." Taking a shuddering breath, Edith pushes herself to her feet, brushing the hay off her skirt. "Think you can walk me home? I've got papers to sign for Tommy. Money to count."
"You should try and get some sleep, Edith." Charlie replies softly, rising to stand in front of his niece, gripping the tops of her arms gently.
"I can't." She whispers, tears pooling in her eyes. "Every time I close my eyes I see John lying on that metal bed. And Arthur. Bleeding. On that damn floor-" Trailing off, a sob rising in her throat, Edith collapses into Charlie's arms, her uncle immediately catching her, wrapping her up in his arms.
"Let's get you home."
Standing her ground, Edith lets her mind wander elsewhere, attempting to block out the pained groans coming from the two men fighting in front of her. Why Tommy had insisted she come to this final meeting with Changretta, she would never know, especially without Ada being here too. Yet here she stood, Finn on one side, Pol just in front of her, all three tense as they watch the fight break out in front of them. It took everything in her not to fall into Finn's arms, or better yet, let out some form of ear piercing scream, hopefully enough to get the two men to stop fighting for long enough that Finn could step in and help Tommy (not that she thought their older brother would appreciate that). Just as she was preparing herself to somehow intervene, the door swings open, Edith letting out a gasp as he oldest brother steps into the room. Meeting his eye briefly, time slows as Tommy pulls Changretta up to full height, Arthur lifting his gun and firing.
Letting out a whimper as Changretta falls to the floor, hands flying to cover her mouth, Edith drops to her knees with a sob. Clasping her hands in front of her, she ducks her head, whispering a prayer in Romani, just as she had done days before.
"Edith, come here." Arthur grunts, ducking down to her height. "Come here, love. Eh? Come to me." Pulling her up to standing, Arthur holds Edith tightly to his chest as she sobs, clinging to his jacket, his hand running gently over the back of her head as he soothes her.
"I thought I lost you." She sobs into his chest, Arthur tightening his grip on her as she shakes in his arms.
Laying in bed with Bonnie later that evening, Edith's brain was a mess with thoughts flicking back and forth between the past month, and the future. Letting out a sigh, Edith lays her leg over Bonnie's moving her head from the pillow to rest on his bare chest, Bonnie bringing his hand up to wind through her long hair as she does so.
"Let's get married." Edith states suddenly, pulling back to look Bonnie in the eye, his eyes widening at her statement.
"What?"
"Let's get married." She repeats adamantly, winding her fingers through the hair on the back of his head. "I want to marry you Bonnie. Life's too fucking short, and I don't want to waste anymore time." Taking a deep breath, Edith runs her hands over her face. "I love you Bonnie Gold. More than anything. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Forever." Nodding slowly, Bonnie rubs his hand gently along Edith's thigh, leaving his other hand in her hair to cup the back of her head, pulling her in for a deep kiss.
"Wait there." He tells her, pushing her gently off of his body, rising from the bed and moving to the chest of drawers on the other side of the room. Edith lays, frozen, in the middle of the bed, heart pounding and mouth dry as she awaits Bonnie's return. Looking up, Edith smiles as Bonnie climbing back into bed beside her, carefully gathering her back into his arms. "Here." He states, holding a small velvet box out to Edith who raises her eyebrows in shock. "Open it." Letting out a choked sound, something between a sob and a gasp, Edith pries open the box, revealing a beautiful oval shaped diamond, surrounded by tiny circular diamonds. "I was going to ask you on Christmas Day." Bonnie whispers, taking the box back and pulling the ring free of the cushion. "But then..." His silence filling the gap he had left, Bonnie shrugs, holding the ring up to Edith. "I had this whole speech planned out, but you've uh...you've shocked me a little Edie, I'm not going to lie." With a laugh, Edith cups his cheeks in her hands, pulling his in for a kiss.
"You gonna ask me then?" She whispers teasingly against his lips, Bonnie laughing in response as he moves back off the bed, dropping down on to one knee with the ring held up to Edith.
"Edith Mary Shelby...the absolute love of my life...will you marry me?"