A/N: Many thanks to Phish Tacko for beta'ing this.

Ch. 50

For Sweeney, the day had started out decently enough. He'd slept in, since it was a Sunday, and he, Mrs. Lovett, and Emma had had breakfast together. Mrs. Lovett had even made the food Sweeney had been craving lately: scrambled eggs with carrots topped with chocolate sauce.

Sometime around midday, his cravings had switched from odd breakfast foods to Taco Bell, so he'd taken Emma out to get himself some food. It was about a fifteen minute drive. He had just gotten his new glasses and it was a lot easier for him to see, so once he got in the car, he turned up the radio and tried to enjoy the trip.

Five minutes in, he pulled up to a red light. Sweeney had zoned out, thinking about what he was going to order for lunch, so he didn't see the person in the car behind him. The car got closer and closer, and didn't stop. It hit Sweeney's car from behind, pushing it into the intersection. Thankfully, no other cars were coming, but the force of the impact pushed him forward, and he hit his chest on the steering wheel. It took him a few seconds to realize that he had to pull over. The man who'd hit him already had, and appeared to be getting out of his car to inspect the damages.

Once he was safe, Sweeney turned to check on Emma. By some miracle, she was completely fine. The car had hit him on the opposite side of the one that she was on. She was awake, looking around, as if wondering what had just happened.

"Thank God," Sweeney whispered to himself.

He then heard a tapping on his window. He looked to see the other driver, standing there, looking rather angry.

Most times, Sweeney would've reacted to such a glare from a stranger by becoming angry and possibly threatening them, but now, for some reason, he could feel himself tearing up. He tried to hold it back. He really did. It was to no avail.

The man seemed to go from angry to nervous when he saw Sweeney begin to cry. He tapped on the glass again.

"Are you okay?"

Sweeney just shook his head 'no', and began to cry even harder, leaning on the steering wheel as he did so. Meanwhile the other driver had pulled out his cell phone.

Only a few minutes later, several police cars and an ambulance pulled up. Just seeing them all made Sweeney become more hysterical. He couldn't handle that right now, having to deal with the police and going to the hospital. It took all of his strength to even roll down the window when one of the officers walked over.

"You okay, sir? Are you injured?" The man asked, looking him over.

Sweeney shook his head 'no', but since he was so upset, the officer thought something was wrong.

"I need to you step out of the car."

Sweeney sniffed, but nodded and shakily got out of the car. He could feel his whole body trembling as he stood up. One of the paramedics that had arrived came over immediately.

"There's not much damage to his car," The officer explained. "The other guy just bumped it, really. I think he's in shock."

The paramedic nodded, and focused on Sweeney.

"Sir, are you in any pain?"

"No. I hit my chest," was all Sweeney said. For the life of him, he couldn't stop crying. "It kinda hurts..."

"Alright. Anywhere else?" The paramedic asked, as he motioned at the other paramedic with him.

"I don't want to go to the hospital," Sweeney added. "I... I'm fine."

"Sir, you're very... upset. I think we need to take you in to check you over."

The other paramedic then came over, rolling a stretcher.

"My daughter's in the car."

"We'll take her along. Why don't you lie down now, okay? Then we'll make sure you're alright."

"I'm also pregnant."

"All the more reason to just lie down, and let us make sure that you're okay."

It was clear that the man was trying to calm him down by sounding calm.

Sweeney knew that there was no way to win this, especially if he couldn't stop crying. He'd just have to go and get checked out and hopefully Johanna or Mrs. Lovett could pick him and Emma up later. Maybe they could take him to get his car, too.

"Okay..." He finally agreed. "Let's just go."