When Mrs Lovett woke up, she was no longer lying in the barber shop... She was by the sea.

She knew it must be a dream... Yet the more Mrs Lovett believed it was all real, the more distant her pain began to feel.

A hand suddenly reached down and gently pulled her up, holding her steady as she got to her feet.

Looking up, Mrs Lovett recognised the person to be Sweeney.

He smiled, telling her to come with him. He told her that if she wanted, she could stay by the sea with him forever... That she'd never have to feel the pain of the real world ever again.

Mrs Lovett didn't know what to say... It all seemed too good to be true...

"Mum!"

A small voice suddenly cut through her, allowing the pain to suddenly wash over her once again. Mrs Lovett groaned as her body suddenly began to ache again, the seaside fading...

"Mum, wake up!"

Mrs Lovett tried ignoring the voice, tried blocking out the pain... And surprisingly, it worked. Shutting out the real world was far easier than she thought.

Her surroundings suddenly became sharper, while her feelings of the real world quickly began to fade.

"We're losing her..."

"Please mum... Please, don't leave me..."

Mrs Lovett heard the voices again, but they were now more distant than ever.

"Forget about it..." Sweeney said in a fond voice, stroking her hair as he gazed lovingly into her eyes. "It'll all be over soon..."

Mrs Lovett smiled sadly. Suddenly she realised what was happening... She was dying.

"Come on, my pet..." Sweeney then smiled, gently placing a hand to her cheek. "Don't you want things to be like this forever?"

Mrs Lovett looked back at him with uncertainty. The man certainly knew how to toy with her emotions... He knew exactly what she wanted to hear and he said it...

But Mrs Lovett knew better than that.

Times were indeed hard, but she wasn't going to die... Not yet anyway. Toby needed her, Sweeney needed her... She couldn't just leave them like this.

"I'm sorry, love..." Mrs Lovett said softly, pulling away from Sweeney. "...Maybe next time."

And as she said this, the seaside suddenly faded back into darkness.

At first everything was silent, then after a while Mrs Lovett slowly began to hear the distant voices around her again.

She began to hear the soft sobbing sounds of a child... Toby.

"Is she gonna be alright?" Mrs Lovett heard him whimper quietly.

She barely felt it when he took her hand in his. Her whole body felt numb.

"Hopefully." An unknown voice then replied. "We have her breathing now, at least."

Toby began to sob harder. She felt his hand up against her face, gently stroking her cheek.

"Please mum..." He sobbed. "Please, get up..."

At his touch, Mrs Lovett's feelings started to come back to her. She slowly began to feel the cold wooden floor against her back again, the soft warm hand against her cheek... And the intense pain all throughout her body.

Mrs Lovett whimpered slightly. As the pain returned to her, she suddenly felt as if she were about to die.

She moaned, stirring as her ribs felt like they were on fire.

"Mum!" Toby wailed, quickly withdrawing his hand. He turned to the doctor desperately. "What's wrong with her?"

"It's alright son..." He replied in a calm voice. "She's just waking up, is all..."

The doctor then put a hand firmly onto her shoulder.

"Mrs Lovett... Can you hear me?" He asked, giving her shoulder a light shake.

Mrs Lovett didn't reply. She continued to moan in pain, wincing to herself as she rolled to her side, her hands weakly clutching against her ribs. The doctor tried again, harder this time.

"Mrs Lovett... I need you to nod your head if you can hear me."

Toby sat beside the doctor, watching anxiously.

Finally, Mrs Lovett nodded her head. She then stopped, whimpering to herself as the pain got steadily worse.

Toby sobbed harder. He wanted to hug her... He wanted so much to just hold her in his arms and make her feel better again... But the doctor wouldn't let him.

"Not yet, lad." He explained, holding the small boy back. "Give her time to heal first... I think something may be broken inside of her... See the way she's breathing?"

They watched as Mrs Lovett took another strained and ragged breath. Her chest heaved jerkily as she did so, her breathing sounding forced and uneven.

Toby quickly turned to the doctor with big, watery eyes.

"Is she gonna die?" He asked in a quiet voice.

The doctor sighed, not knowing what to say.

Suddenly footsteps were heard rushing up the stairs and entering the room.

"Where's the barber?" The doctor then asked curiously, looking up at the police officer as he reached the doorway.

"Got away." He replied breathlessly. "By the time we got downstairs he was gone... Won't get far though, not after a nasty fall like that, he won't."

Mrs Lovett felt her heart suddenly skip a beat. Had something bad happened to Sweeney? The poor man wasn't in his right mind... Surely he hadn't done something foolish?

"We're still looking, but just wanted to check up here..." He said, glancing down at Mrs Lovett in concern. "See if everything's alright..."

"It's fine," The doctor replied. "Though if you wouldn't mind, I do need someone to carry her downstairs... I think she'd be better off lying in a bed, rather than up here on the floor."

The policeman nodded, slowly approaching the baker and gently picking her up into his arms. Mrs Lovett whimpered slightly at the sudden movement, but otherwise remained relatively quiet.

"Be careful." Toby said warningly as he followed, watching like a hawk as the policeman slowly carried his mum down the stairs, ready to rush to the rescue if ever he were to drop her.

But he didn't. They finally reached Mrs Lovett's bedroom and he set her lightly down onto the bed.

Mrs Lovett felt her body relax a little as she lay there, her bed being a lot more comfortable than the hard wooden floor against her aching bones.

"Shame..." She heard the officer sigh as he turned to leave. "She must've been a pretty little thing..."

Mrs Lovett couldn't help but worry over that. Must look something dreadful...

The doctor brought over a warm wet rag from the kitchen and gently began to clean the blood from the baker's hands and face, using the same kind of gentle care a parent would use when washing a small child.

He carefully began to wipe over her nose, which was a bloody mess. Mrs Lovett instinctively winced and pulled away as he touched it. The doctor quickly stopped.

"Does that hurt?" He then asked, giving her nose a light tweak. She immediately whimpered in pain, pulling away from him again. Toby quickly turned to him with wide eyes.

"What does that mean?" He asked in a shaky voice. "Is it broken? You have to fix it, please!"

"Calm down lad, I will." The doctor replied, placing a glass onto the bedside table and slowly filling it up with gin.

He then took a small bottle from his pocket and added a couple drops of it into the glass.

"Here, drink this down..." The doctor then said softly, one hand supporting Mrs Lovett's head, the other gently bringing the glass to her lips.

Mrs Lovett slowly began to drink, wincing as the alcohol burned her throat on it's way down. She choked slightly, but the doctor wouldn't let her stop until the entire glass was finished.

He then placed the glass back down and stroked her head comfortingly.

"That's it, love..." He said in a soothing voice as he refilled the glass. "Just one more now..."

Toby watched in concern, knowing exactly what was happening. They used to give them gin like this at the workhouse, after a particularly nasty accident or beating. The alcohol would often help to numb the pain.

"What's that?" Toby asked quickly, watching as the doctor added a few more drops from his bottle into the glass. "What are you giving her?"

"It's called opium, son." He replied, getting Mrs Lovett to drink again. "It'll make her feel better... And we need to have her nice and calm for what I'm about to do next."

Surely enough, Mrs Lovett soon became much more relaxed.

Her pain gradually began to fade and her worries disappeared. She slowly opened her eyes, suddenly feeling calm and detached from everything... Nothing seemed to matter anymore.

"Mum?" Toby asked softly, leaning in closer. "Can you see me?"

Mrs Lovett gazed at the young boy with a vacant smile.

Of course she saw him... Her handsome little man... Always looking out for his dear old mum, he was...

She then felt a distant tug against her.

Mrs Lovett slowly glanced across to see someone else... A man... Taking off her corset...

What's he up to, then... She thought vaguely, watching him with an absent expression.

"It's alright, ma'am." He reassured her. "I'm a doctor... Gonna make you better again."

She then smiled again, turning back to Toby.

A doctor... They sure were gonna be pennyless after this... But what a little angel for calling him all the same...

"Ah love..." Mrs Lovett managed to mumble, gazing fondly up at Toby. "Whatever did I do... To deserve you..."

"You know there's nothing I wouldn't do for you." He replied softly, struggling to hold back tears. "And I called the law as well... They're gonna catch him mum, I know they will..."

Mrs Lovett should've worried about this, but she didn't. Her emotions seemed so far away now... Nothing could trouble her.

He called the law on us... She thought, smiling absently as she closed her eyes again. My, my... Aren't we gonna be in trouble...

The doctor slowly cut open some of Mrs Lovett's dress, exposing her bare middrift. Toby blushed, feeling slightly uncomfortable in seeing his mum's bare stomach and ribs.

The doctor then ran his hand over the slightly swollen, dark patch across her ribcage. He carefully positioned his hands and took a firm hold of her.

"This is gonna hurt." He warned Mrs Lovett, before turning back to Toby. "Best you hold her hand."

Looking horrified, Toby quickly took a hold of his mum's hand, clutching it tightly against his chest.

He then squeezed his eyes shut at the sickening sound of her ribs suddenly being cracked back into place.

He could hear Mrs Lovett screaming in agony, but all he could do to comfort her was to hold tighter onto her hand.

"I'm sorry, mum..." He whimpered, burying his face against her trembling body. "I'm so sorry..."

Another crack. Toby could feel warm tears begin to run down his cheeks as he heard his mum scream helplessly in pain. He wished there was something he could do, anything to take away her pain... But it was hopeless.

It seemed like an eternity before the doctor finally told him he could open his eyes again. As he did, Toby found the doctor gently applying bandages and gauze to his mum's injuries. She lay lifelessly on the bed, well and truly passed out.

Toby sniffled softly to himself, shakily wiping his eyes with one hand, still clutching onto Mrs Lovett's with the other.

At least the worst was over now... He decided to himself. At least things'll be better after this...

Yet just as these thoughts crossed his mind, the police officers suddenly entered the room again.

"What is it?" Toby asked quickly. "Did you catch him?"

They glanced at eachother, hardened expressions of horror across their faces.

"No." One then replied bluntly, staring down at Mrs Lovett's lifeless figure in sudden disgust.

The young boy looked up at them questioningly. Something was terribly wrong, he could feel it.

"Wake her up." The other then ordered to the doctor. "The Beadle's on his way now to question her."

"About what?" Toby quickly cried, before they had a chance to leave.

One turned back to him, a look of absolute horror still etched across his face.

"Best you come with us, lad..." He then said softly. "I think it's time you had a look in your mum's bakehouse."