By request of Scooter12345, a sick fic!
Summary: We've all read fics of Sweeney caring for Mrs. Lovett in a time of her illness; now it's the barber's turn to fall ill!
I must say, this isn't my best work! I was experimenting with giving Mrs. Lovett a more of a Cockney accent; and I wrote a lot of this when I was sick myself, so I don't know how well my concentration really was. all well, love it or hate it, please review it!
slight sweenett
Mrs. Lovett opened her eyes. Her head felt heavy and her muscles felt like spaghetti.
But all in all, she decided to get up today.
She had been in bed all week, ill. Thank god it was just a mild case; it could've been a lot worse.
Her eyes fell upon the bandage covering her right forearm where the doctor had bled her. She was so out of it, she barely remembered the pain. Thankful for small mercies, she donned her favorite work dress and stumbled into the hallway, for the first time in what seemed like years.
Since she was always the first one up, she always walked on tiptoe, as not to wake Toby. As she passed his room, she saw the door was open. Peering in, she could see the boy zonked out with half a bottle of gin closed in his fist. Mrs. Lovett grinned as she closed the door all the way. Lord bless the boy! He had been by her side, caring for her attentively during her illness. She decided he'd earned the morning off.
At last she made it to the kitchen and began her morning preparations; making pies, cleaning up the dusty shop and mentally preparing herself for the day's work. In the back of her mind, she recalled the doctor's advice for her to "take it easy".
"There's never time to do such a thin' around 'ere." she said to herself as she readied a tray of food for Sweeney Todd, the barber upstairs.
Sweeney had been up for quite awhile. And while this might not come as a shock to those who knew him well, today was surely different. He felt different; dizzy, in fact. He couldn't breathe through his nose, his eyes were watering immensely and for once he actually wanted to lie down and go to sleep.
He tried so hard to ignore everything that as happening. As usual, he picked up his razor and cleaning cloth and began to polish it, sniffling all the while. Suddenly, without warning, his nose twitched and before he could stop himself….
"Ah-CHOO!"
"Mr. T?"
The barber looked up to see Mrs. Lovett standing by the door, just like she did every morning, with the tray in her hands.
Trying to cover up the fact that he had just soiled his cleaning cloth, he dropped the snotty rag on the floor behind the chair and stood up as straight as he could.
However, his façade didn't fool Mrs. Lovett for a second. Without a word, she went to the barber's side, withdrew her hanky from her bosom and handed it to him.
"Cover yeh mouth, love. I just cleaned up downstairs." She watched as he tentatively covered his mouth with the hanky before ushering him out the door and down to the pie shop. Sweeney didn't fight back. Normally, he would have wriggled his way out of her grasp and stormed back to his shop. However, he felt too weak to put a fight now. He could do nothing as Mrs. Lovett led him to her bedroom and forced him to lie down on her bed.
She brought the wrinkled linens over him and then put a hand to his forehead, withdrawing it almost instantly. "Yeh just settle 'ere, love. I'll go send for the doctor!" And with that she hurried out of the room, leaving the ailing barber to his thoughts.
Sweeney gazed around the small, dark bedroom. His eyes fell upon a small stream of light lying across the ceiling. For a long moment he just stared at it. Soon enough, it began to appear to move across the ceiling!
He shook his head, trying to rid himself of such silly visions, and then looked back at that one streak. No, it was still moving, and now it was….bending? Sort of twisting…no, spiraling! As it spun it began to blend in with the darkness, growing dimmer and dimmer with each passing second. Sweeney felt even more dizzy and sick to his stomach now. Keeping focus on that one light speck was too much for the eyes to bear, so he shut his, allowing the fever to drag him under.
"Doctor, are yeh sure?"
"I've seen it time and again, ma'am."
This second voice he didn't recognize. Sweeney forced his eyes open, breaking through dried crust that had formed in his sleep.
"Oh, look! 'E's waking up!"
In front of him knelt a doctor, who looked no younger than himself. Beside him stood Mrs. Lovett; her face pale with worry.
"Mr. Todd?" Mrs. Lovett whispered. Unable to find his vocal cords, Sweeney simply nodded in response. "The doctor says…yeh 'ave influenza…"
The barber's eyes widened as he uttered a choked, "What?" and immediately cringed at the sound of his rusty weakened voice.
This time the doctor was the one who spoke. "I'm sorry Mr. Todd, sir. But I've seen it time and again. I've already bled you," Sweeney glanced at his arm and saw a bandage that was twin to the one on Mrs. Lovett's arm. "And fortunately there is a chance that you'll live." The doctor got to his feet. "I'll return in a week to see how he is."
"Thank you, doctor. I'll just see yeh out." The baker followed the doctor out of the room, glancing over her shoulder at her tenant as she shut the door slowly.
The first 24 hours was all a blur as Sweeney drifted in and out of sleep. He didn't eat at all- there was nothing he could stomach- and any noise at all just added to his terrible headache. Mrs. Lovett knew that. After the first five hours, when she walked in and first tried to get him to eat something to help break his searing fever, she had talked in usual (and habitual) loud and chipper voice. The sound was too much Sweeney and he subsequently grabbed her throat when she knelt down beside him. Though he was weak, he still had a firm grip on her. The baker knew from experience to stay as still as a statue until he let go. In his healthy state, he would be screaming at her, but because of the fever, he muttered a stern "Shut up…" and let her go.
Now here they were, a day later. Mrs. Lovett had sent Toby out to play with the other boys for the day (to lessen the risk of getting him sick) and was now preparing a hot bowl of soup for Mr. Todd, who was able to keep his eyes open for more than fifteen minutes now. She carefully picked up the bowl and grabbed a handful of crackers as she made her way to the bedroom.
The barber was lying down still, making motions with his wrist as if he had his razor in his hand. However, with the motions he was making, if one didn't know any better, they'd say the man was having some delusion that he was conducting an orchestra!
But Mrs. Lovett immediately understood when she sidestepped into the room and saw Sweeney making these motions. He stared up at her for the longest of moments with a stare so blank it made the baker's veins run cold.
"Come for a shave, 'ave you, sir?" he whispered.
Shit. thought Mrs. Lovett. Wot do I do? Do I just play along? Well, 'e's got no razor on 'im, 'ow dangerous can 'e be?
She set the soup down before approaching the delirious barber. "Yes, sir, I 'ave."
Sweeney made some odd, uncategorized motions before mumbling. "This shave will be one of the best…for I am the best…"
She sat down by the bedside, turning her back to him. "Yes sir, I've 'eard that. Yeh are certainly much better than that immodest Pirelli down near St. Dunstan's."
Sweeney looked confused. "I'm sorry but I 'ave no clue 'oo you're talking about…oh, wait a moment, will you…Lucy, please take Johanna downstairs…she's not going to stop crying for awhile…"
Oh, great. That's where 'e thinks 'e is. "Yeh kid?" She tilted her head back slightly, like she was getting a shave. Sweeney propped himself up behind her as much as he could and sharpened his imaginary razors.
"Yes…love 'er…cries a lot…" His speech was more slurred and Mrs. Lovett assumed he was falling asleep again.
"I dare say…" She hesitated, wondering if in his delirious mind, he still was his old self completely. "Mr. Barker." Cringing, she waited for him to yell. When he didn't, she continued. "Yeh don't seem too well."
"Nonsense…never felt better…." His last word was lost as he drifted off again, slumping over the edge of the bed and leaning slightly on Mrs. Lovett. An annoyed look on her face, the baker, gently and slowly, so as not to wake him, pushed him back onto the bed and brought the covers up to his chin. She left room, muttering, "'e'll eat the soup when 'e stops bein' crazy…"
As the day came to a closure, Mrs. Lovett settled down in the parlor with a book. It had been awhile since she'd read, and considering the fact that she wasn't very literate, it took her forever to finish a book. She opened up her current favorite and sat down on the settee…and realized soon afterward she was holding the damned thing upside down!
An hour crept by slowly. She became so engrossed in the story, that when Sweeney walked right by the parlor and she saw the movement out of the corner of her eye, she jumped out of her skin.
Hurriedly, she put the book down and went over to confront him. "Mr. Todd" He stopped walking, but didn't turn around to face her. "Wot in God's name are yeh doin' out of-" It was then she saw that the man's eyes were halfway open, staring at nothing. He began to walk again, completely disregarding her.
"Sleep walker, eh?" Mrs. Lovett grumbled as she walked in front of the barber. He stared right through her, before falling face-first. She was luckily right there to catch him and drag him back to bed.
"Oof!" She staggered under his weight. "This is goin' to be a long week!"
The next day, as Sweeney awoke, he tried hard to remember what had happened the previous day, but nothing came to him. It was like a whole other person had taken over him for that one day and now that he was back, he couldn't remember anything.
His nose was running dreadfully, though. He grabbed a handful of tissues from the bedside table and began using one after the other.
Once the nose-wiping stopped enough for him to process a thought, he pulled himself to seating position as best he could. Gazing around the room, he found a hot bowl of soup waiting for him. He rolled his eyes, annoyed.
Before he could react anymore, something tickled the back of his throat and he went into a coughing fit. He tried to keep quiet, so Mrs. Lovett wouldn't hear him, but sure enough, the baker strode into the room about five seconds after he began hacking.
"Mornin' Mr. Todd!" she said, keeping her voice quiet.
"Leave me alone, bloody woman!" Sweeney snapped between coughs. Mrs. Lovett ignored the comment and instead placed her hand on his forehead.
"Fever's still ragin'…I'll get a cold compress!" and she hurried out of the room to retrieve said compress. Shortly after she left, Toby ventured into the room on tiptoe, his hand over his pocket.
"'ey, there, Mr. T.!" He tried to sound calm and collected, but the sight of the barber, even in his current condition, terrified him so. " 'ow're you feeling?"
Sweeney groaned and waved his hand in midair, as a "go away!" gesture, but Toby stood his ground. Swallowing his pride, the boy stepped up to the barber's bedside and took out the object concealed in his pocket.
"I-I brought you a little somethin'…'opefully…it might cheer you up!" And with that, he produced a small bullfrog. Once he got a glimpse of the creature, the barber gave a startled cry and then thrashed about.
Mrs. Lovett came running into the room as fast as she could with the bowl of water in her hand. She turned her head every which way, trying to figure out what was going on. Before she could ask anything, Sweeney shouted,
"Get that bleedin' thing away from me!" It was then that the baker took notice of the frog on the floor. With an appalled sigh, she bent down and picked up the little bugger by his leg and abruptly took it outside. Once she returned, she applied the compress to Sweeney's forehead, grabbed Toby by his ear and without another word, dragged him outside the room for a scolding.
Sweeney sighed and allowed himself to fall back to sleep.
"Mr. Todd! Wot in 'eaven's name are yeh doin' out of bed?"
The stubborn man was in his shop, sharpening his razor, trying to act like nothing was wrong. However, it was obvious his efforts were failing; his nose was pouring, his eyes were watering and his body shook with chills. His knees were buckling. Mrs. Lovett hustled over to him and sat him down.
"Dammit, woman. Let me work in peace…" grumbled Sweeney.
"Mr. Todd, perhaps yeh didn't understand me or the doctor for the past three days…yeh ill! Yeh need your rest! Get yeh arse back downstairs!" Angrily, she pried the razor easily from the man's weak grasp. Sweeney, feeling dizzy once more, emitted a growl and allowed his neighbor to take him downstairs.
By Friday evening, Sweeney was able to sit up on his own and eat a full plate of food. Mrs. Lovett stood by to make sure he ate everything she put in front of him.
"See? You was 'ungry after all!" the cockney said with a grin as she kissed him on the forehead. He growled again; she completely ignored it as she pulled her lips away from his forehead. "Hmm…fever seems to be gone…wot do yeh say to gettin' out of this dingy room, love? At least for the evenin'?"
Truthfully, that was all Sweeney really wanted to do; get out of Mrs. Lovett's room and back to his own; but he never thought she'd let him do such a thing during the week at all.
He looked at her and gave her a gentle nod. With care, she helped him stand up and led him to the parlor, where she sat him on the floor in front of the fireplace.
A little while later, she had gotten a fire going and made them each a cup of hot tea. She handed the barber his cup along with a blanket before taking a seat next to him. "'ow're yeh feeling, love?"
Sweeney messed around with the tea bag in his cup as he contemplated his answer. She sure had pampered him enough, and it was getting to be a little sickening, but all in all he did feel better.
"Better, I guess…" He kept his gaze in the fireplace and she sighed, taking out her tea bag. They sat in absolute silence for awhile, except for the crackling fire before them. Fleet Street was empty and Toby was in bed. It was so quiet that Mrs. Lovett nearly jumped three feet in the air when he said "…thanks…"
"…for wot?" He turned to face her.
"For taking care of me."
The baker was so stunned that he acknowledged her caretaking of him. She was even more stunned to know that the word "thanks" was even part of his vocabulary.
"…'ow long do you think I 'ave to stay in bed before I can go back to…um, 'shaving' people?"
"Well, the doctor said 'e'd be back in a week. I'd say yeh should stay in me bed until then." Sweeney groaned. Mrs. Lovett patted his back gently. "Now, now, love. I know yeh don't like bein' sick, but-"
"It's not being sick that bothers me…" he interrupted. "It's not being able to 'ave the Judge at my mercy sooner…"
She grabbed his hand. "Mr. Todd, the Judge can wait…yeh 'ealth is wot matters now!"
He pondered silently, still staring into the fire. Mrs. Lovett bit her lip in apprehensiveness, worried that she upset him.
"You're right…" he finally gave in. She smiled to herself and squeezed his hand gently. After a moment of consideration, he returned the squeeze as the fire burned late into the night.
"Alright, Mr. Todd! You look to be in good shape! Take it easy for awhile and you should be back on your feet in no time!"
Thank god the week was over. Sweeney was now buttoning up his shirt after the doctor looked him over. Mrs. Lovett was standing in the corner, acting as if she was looking the other way. When no one was watching, she'd steal a glance at the barber's thin, pale abs.
Once the doctor left, she scurried to the side of his bed. "So I guess I can open up shop once more…"
"…it's up to you…" he muttered darkly. She half smiled at him.
"Yeh can get up, now, if yeh wonderin'. But I don't want yeh overexertin' yourself! Take it easy like the doctor said!" It appeared that he wasn't listening to her anymore as he got up and made his way towards the door. The baker's ears smoked. Why wouldn't he pay attention for two seconds? "Mr. Todd…are yeh listenin' to me?"
Sweeney stopped in his tracks. "Perhaps I am, Mrs. Lovett…in case I am, though, why don't you go on talkin'?"
She didn't know what angered her more; his defiance or his sarcasm. Either way, she was not going to let him win this argument and she hurried after him.
"Mr. Todd, did you ever stop to think why yeh got sick in the first place? Yeh never take care of yourself in your thrust for revenge!" He didn't look at her or respond, so she continued. "Yeh gettin' yehself all riled up and stressed about it! Yeh shouldn't, yeh know? It's not 'ealthy!"
Sweeney whipped around and grabbed her by the throat. "Don't you tell me what I shouldn't do, woman!"
Mrs. Lovett struggled to breathe, but kept still while staring straight into his eyes. He stared back into hers and slowly released his grip and once more turned his back on her.
Instead of letting him be like she normally would after something like that, she went on lecturing.
"Mr. Todd, yeh oughta be thankful for everything I've done!" she all but yelled. "I took care of yeh, make sure yeh got yeh rest, kept Toby away…and 'ow do yeh thank me? By turnin' away and ignorin' me?" Her voice got slightly shrill on her last sentence. She then cringed as she braced for more of the barber's wrath. But instead of attacking her, he just shrugged one shoulder and walked away.
Mrs. Lovett was so thankful for the breaks in between rushes for her to have a meal of her own. As she was setting down with a plate for herself, out of the corner of her eye she noticed Sweeney Todd coming out of his tonsorial parlor and down the stairs towards the pie shop.
She held her breath as the barber opened the door. He walked in slowly and took a seat across from the baker. They were absolutely silent, until Mrs. Lovett decided to speak.
"Somthin' the matter, love?" she questioned. Sweeney looked at her with his tired eyes.
"You didn't come upstairs like you usually do…"
She tried to prevent a smile from finding its way onto her face, and kept her voice as sarcastic as she could. "Oh, so yeh noticed?"
He nodded sheepishly. "Yes…and I suppose I should…somewhat…because of earlier I should…." Sweeney struggled to get the words out as Mrs. Lovett got out of her seat and came over to him.
"Apology accepted, love!" She leaned in to him a kiss on his cheek. In a quick flash, Sweeney turned his face so their lips could meet for a brief second, and then turned back once more.
Mrs. Lovett stood up straight, blushing. Sweeney's eyes were wide with the realization of what he'd just done.
"I…er, I suppose I should…go back upstairs then…" he muttered as he pushed himself up form his seat and staggered towards the door.
Once he'd left, Mrs. Lovett sat down to finish her food. She kept her eyes on the stairs to the barber shop. With a chuckle, she said to herself "I'll never understand that man, I won't!"
Like i said, i don't believe this was my best work! All well, hope you like it anyway!
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