“Shoulder’s fine, miss Vera.” Shay replied, not quite ready to make eye contact with the woman he thought he loved. After the other night, he wasn’t sure what to make of her any longer, and coming into her flat, smelling of the very same illicit substance that got her into all of these messes to begin with just helped to erode what faith he had that she really cared. And so, he reverted back to his usual self, the stoic and dutiful member of the gang that simply did what was ordered without fuss. 

For four days, Shay struggled with both his wound and Vera brushing him aside with the others, and here she was not even knowing the day, all of her feelings and thoughts washed away in a haze of acrid smoke. A part of him wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her, to see if anything of the kind and tender woman who showed him such compassion still existed, or if that person vanished when the pipe came out. It was impossible not to feel slighted.

When Sam asked if Shay could assist with making breakfast, the Irishman simply nodded, resisting the urge to light up a smoke to relieve the tension that gripped his chest. He was busy igniting the stove top when Sam spoke up once more, stepping close to keep the conversation confidential as his sister disappeared into a cascade of running water that would drown out her ability to hear what he had to say.

“I don’t plan on being distracted from the job, Sam. It’s too big of a task to bungle up with personal feelings and hearsay from a strange witch of a woman. Miss Vera doesn’t need to know what she isn’t told from the source. Whatever the case may be, Sam, I wish you luck in getting to the bottom of that mystery.” He said, cracking open the eggshells on the edge of the skillet and depositing the contents on the rapidly warming surface. 

Breakfast was soon prepared, a quick job between the two men, so that when Vera emerged, she was beginning to resemble the woman Shay grew to care for. Their eyes met briefly, and Shay chided himself for giving into the temptation, to see if she were still there. A part of him wanted to scorn her, to let her know he deserved more from her indifference, but another part of him wasn’t ready to dismiss the few days they had together as a mere coincidence. Why the hell did things have to be so complicated?

The three ate quickly, and largely in an awkward silence, knowing full well they only had a bit of time before they needed to depart. Shay felt like protesting about not being the one to drive, simply because he did not relish the idea of sitting in the back seat with Vera, especially with Sam in the car. Whatever needed to be said couldn’t from that alone, and what had initially been an assignment he felt quite sure of himself on was now up in the air, as he found it increasingly hard to concentrate on the reading materials he purchased to try and lie his way through their visit to the von Goethe’s. After quickly eating and washing down the meal with a quick glass of water, Sam and Shay finished cleaning up the dishware and prepared to depart. They were already dressed for the occasion, and it was simply a matter of Vera to get changed herself.

When Vera emerged from the room, it was hard to reconcile the drugged out husk that greeted them with the stunning woman in the dress they had purchased for her earlier, and it was true; she cleaned up immaculately. Shay needed to buy a new blazer, vest, and button down shirt after his gunshot wound, and it still was quite tender to try and move his arm. It was better than being dead, to be sure, and that was still something that bothered him; there was no reason he should have survived the encounter, yet here he was, in his own purgatory with a pair of dueling siblings he had grown to care for in their own respective ways.

Soon, they were in the car, which Shay dutifully got the door for Vera and climbed in on the opposite side, staring out the window as London’s snow-blanketed streets rolled by. It was deceptively peaceful, and he knew too well that that pure white powder could be so insidiously tainted so fast by the blood of man, and in some dark alley, the traces of his mortality were concealed from days of miserable weather.  It would take the entirety of the two hour drive to build up an affectionate attitude towards Vera again, he was certain. There was still too much on his mind he just could not find it in himself to look past, as much as his heart screamed at him to do just that.