Everything in italics, is a dream 😊

Once again, she found herself on the same old cobbled street, stood below the softly glowing streetlight. Yet this time......this time she was surrounded by snow. Soft flakes falling from the dark sky. Slowly, she held up her hand, smiling, as the intricate forms landed on her palm, glistening for a moment, under the flicker of the lamp, before melting away into nothingness.

"In the bleak midwinter..........." (Y/n) turning at the sound of the voice; yet finding no one around her. Her bare feet, of their own accord, moving her forward into the thick drifts that encircled her.

"Hello..........." She called out. Wrapping the shawl that covered her shoulders, a little tighter around her form. For though she was not feeling the cold, it seemed to give her a sense of comfort.

"Hello.......is anyone there.......? Please.........please, I'm scared........." (Y/n) called out again. The snow seeming to be falling thicker, fast than it had been a moment before, as she continued to move forward though the white scene.

"In the bleak midwinter.........." The melancholic voice said again. (Y/n) turning to this time find a man dressed in a long overcoat and cap. He the same man that had always been there.

"Please............"

"In the bleak midwinter............."

"I......I don't understand. What do you mean........please........"

"I am resigning myself ta death. I have lived far longer than I should. But you.........your time has not yet come.........." The man told her, as he looked up. (Y/n) taken aback by the storm that lay behind his beautiful, yet sad eyes.

"I don't want to die. I don't want you to die either. Please, there must be something I can do. Something that will save both of us......." She countered, as she took a step closer to him; hesitating for a moment, before placing her hand on his chest. A warmth spreading through her, as he took her hand in his.

"Wake up........just wake up..........."

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Light........that was what she could see behind her closed lids, as once again, consciousness came to claim her. A soft groan leaving her lips as she did her best to block it out, willing her arm to move so that she could conceal her face from the terrible brightness. The breath catching in her throat, as a painful twinge caused her body to stiffen. She had felt the pain before; the last time that her mind had come out of its deep slumber, she was sure. Though this time, she was relieved to find that it was much more manageable. Though whatever it was that had happened to her, she hoped it would never happen again.

"In the bleak midwinter.........." There it was again. The voice in the back of her mind. The voice of the sad man. Yet this time it was followed by him telling her to wake up. Telling her to open her eyes. And as much as she wanted to keep her heavy lids closed, she could not stop herself from doing as he asked. Her eyes slowly opening.

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Tommy yawned, as he got to his feet and stretched out his aching body. He had spent another night in the uncomfortable chair by his bed; for as much as Arthur and even his aunt Polly had told him that he should get some proper rest, he couldn't bring himself to move from her side. Tommy fearing that if she moved, she might pull on the stitches again, and if he was not there, she could bleed to death; and he could not have that.

Slowly, he made his way over to the window, pushing back the curtains; surprised to see that the first snow of winter was covering the streets, and making the usually grey buildings, look brighter. Tommy reaching for a cigarette, before a soft groan caught his attention. The head of the Peaky Blinders making his way back over to the bed, as he saw the woman doing her best to raise her arm. Her body suddenly stiffening, at the movement.

"Hey......wake up........open your eyes........" Tommy said quietly, as he took a seat next to her, on the bed. His hand reaching up to brush some of her hair, back behind her ears.

"In the bleak midwinter.........." His brows furrowing as the words left her lips. They had been uttered in a tone that was barely above a whisper; yet they had been there. The words that he had said to himself, more than once; words that helped him resign himself to his possible death. Yet coming from her, they sounded as though they were the first line in a sonnet that would come to speak of better days. Of light, life and love. Tommy finding himself smiling as her eyes slowly began to open.

"It........it's you........" She said, as she raised her hand, and placed it on his cheek; just as she had done when he and the others had found her surrounded by blood, in the street.

"You.......you aren't dead..........the bleak midwinter didn't take you.........."