Hey guys! I wanted to thank all of those people who reviewed last chapter. I did enjoy reading them, honestly. Also, thank you to those who followed and favorited. xD
I'm already excited to see what your reactions will be for this new update. :))) I'm sure you will all love Lucy the more!
so, here's chapter 30. Enjoy! :)
Lucy is in panic. It is only now that the gravity of what she did is sinking to her. She really did not mean to push Mrs. Lovett hard; she has been blinded by rage. Yes, she is angry with her for having been pregnant with Ben's child, but she really did not want to harm the baby. She has no intention of including the babe, who's not even born yet, in the adults' feud.
She hurriedly ascends the stairs that leads to her home, trying her best not to trip on the steps for her legs are shaking. Her attempts on composing herself, lest her husband sees her and suspects about what happened to her, are in vain. She cannot act like nothing has happened; she simply cannot ignore the fact that she left the baker lying on the floor, bleeding.
She is midway in getting to her house when Ben comes out, looking worried. Suddenly, she can feel her stomach dropping, her face running out of color. She can see him start to approach her, his mouth is moving but she cannot hear anything that he is saying. Everything around her starts to mute; the only sound she can hear is the ringing in her ears.
What shall she do? Fear has overcome her senses, and her whole body starts to shake. Any minute now, she thinks that her legs will collapse on her. The only thing that is supporting her is the railing of the stairs. She asks herself again: what shall she do? There are a lot of things running in her mind right now.
First, she is worried about what's currently happening to Mrs. Lovett. She wants to go back and help her, but her anger is preventing her from doing so. She also worries about herself, or more like, what's going to happen to her if anyone finds out. What if the baker has decided to tell the law of what she has done? She will be locked away in bedlam, that's for sure. And then there's Ben. If he finds out about this, he might leave her. She just killed his child.
"Lucy! Lucy! Are you alright?" the voice of her husband brings her back to reality. She takes a big gulp of air, like she just came out of the water. She faces him, trying to smile, but it just looks like she is grimacing.
"Y-yes, I'm fine. I just feel dizzy, maybe it's the heat. Take me upstairs, will you?" she says, trying to sound casual. But, it seems that her husband is not buying her charades. He is still looking at her worriedly.
"I heard yelling from downstairs. What happened? Why are you here so early?" he asks, cupping her face.
She averts her gaze from him; her heart is pounding hard in her chest that she can almost hear it. She chuckles nervously, tapping her husband on the chest. "N-nothing. Maybe i-it was the children playing. And oh, the judge said I could take the day off."
Ben smiles at her, looking relieve. This eases her a bit, so she returns his smile. He takes her by the arms and guides her upstairs, muttering about how she should not stress herself too much. They are about to go up when they hear someone yelling from the bakeshop, asking for help. They both stop in their tracks. Ben looks at her with eyes wide, and she is sure that she also has the same expression as him.
"It's Mrs. Lovett! We have to help her!" says Ben as he looks at her, as if asking for permission if he can go.
"No! I-I mean, maybe it's nothing. Let's ignore her, and just go upstairs." She tugs desperately at Ben's shirt, dragging him up, but he is not budging. She tries to convince him more, but another scream for help breaks out.
"Please, Lucy! Mrs. Lovett is in need of our help." Ben says, before he goes down and walks towards the bakeshop, leaving her no choice but to follow.
When she enters the baker's home once again, she immediately spots her lying on the floor in a curled position. Her skirt is hiked up, and she is clawing at her thighs which are covered in blood, as she cries. She is talking to herself, but the only thing that she is saying is 'help'. Lucy is frozen at her spot, seeing that Mrs. Lovett's condition has gone from bad to worse.
"Lucy!" Ben calls her attention; she whips her head and look at him. He is helping Mrs. Lovett stand up, but he's having a hard time, for the baker is not cooperating and is still continuing on muttering to herself. "…help me here, please."
With that she rushes to his side, though she just stands there, not knowing what to do. She cannot take her eyes away from Mrs. Lovett. The woman whom she has known to be so strong is now crumpled to the ground, slowly losing herself. And the cause of all these is her, and she's not proud of it. Has she really stooped this low and destroyed someone's life? Does she feel satisfied now that her husband's mistress is tremendously suffering? Is she thankful that the result of Ben's affair with Mrs. Lovett is now exterminated? There's only one answer to all of these questions, and that is: No.
Yes, yes she regrets everything. A while ago, she felt so powerful when she was attacking Mrs. Lovett. She loved how the baker cannot do anything but shield herself from the blows she's giving her. She wasn't at all thinking of the outcome of what she was doing. At that time, there was nothing important to her but to hurt his husband's mistress.
Oh, how she loved it when Mrs. Lovett couldn't fight back. But only now has she realized that she has picked the wrong opponent. She has been fighting with someone who can't defend herself. It's like she has picked a child as an opponent in a match. And maybe she has, for attacking the baker has lead into her harming the unborn babe. Not only has she hurt Mrs. Lovett, but also an innocent child.
"Lucy, help me here." She is stopped from her musings when her husband calls for her attention. She rushes to his side, standing there, not knowing what to do. Ben motions for her to go to Mrs. Lovett's side. "Let's help her up."
She goes to the baker's side, grabbing her arm and putting it around her neck as she holds on to her waist; Ben is also doing the same. He counts to three and they both hoist Mrs. Lovett up, helping her to her feet. Once she is up, they realize that they will both have a hard time on bringing her to the parlour, for they are the only ones who are holding Mrs. Lovett upright, she is not supporting herself. The couples look at each other, thinking for a moment of what they shall do.
"I will carry her." Ben announces, solving their problem. He crouches down and puts his arm at the back of the baker's knees, his other hand supporting her back. He carries her bridal style all the way to the parlour. The blood from Mrs. Lovett's legs leave trails behind them as they walk to the living room. When they get there, Ben places her on the sofa.
He immediately rushes out of the parlour, and tells Lucy that he will call a doctor. Lucy is left to take care of the baker for a while. She stands beside the woman, who is staring with eyes wide into nothingness. She looks like one of those women in bedlam, whose minds are in a different world. It sickens her to see Mrs. Lovett like this, knowing that she is the reason why she is in this state. So, wanting to get her out of her sight, she goes around the house to find the bathroom and help clean her.
When Lucy returns from the bathroom, she is carrying a basin filed halfway with water and with a cloth dipped in it. She places it down by the coffee table just beside the sofa where the baker is laying. Grabbing the cloth, she wrings it then walks over to Mrs. Lovett. She goes down on her knees, and though it's very inappropriate, she hikes the woman's skirt up.
She gasped in horror as she sees what's hidden under Mrs. Lovett's skirt. There is a lot of blood, some fresh and some are already dried up. There are also wounds that are not that deep, but are bleeding. It's the result of when Mrs. Lovett was scratching them a while ago. She then starts to clean the wounds first. Ever so gently, Lucy dabs the wet cloth on the damaged areas.
After a few minutes, she stands up, grabbing the basin. She dips the towel and the water instantly turns into the color of red. Once again, she wrings it and then continues on with cleaning the baker. She has notice that the bleeding has stopped now, thankfully. But, the blood is awfully hard to scrub off. She is about to clean the towel again when Mrs. Lovett suddenly stands up and looks at her sharply.
She falls back in shock and in fear at the intensity of the woman's gaze. She tries to speak, but no sounds are coming out of her mouth. Her eyes are wide like saucers as she stares back at her, for that's the only thing that she can do right now. She is in total shock and also she is frightened on what Mrs. Lovett may do. Although she knows that if she tries to attack her, she can fight back, but she really doesn't want to cause her any further damages anymore.
Mrs. Lovett leans forward, getting close to her face. She looks questioningly at Lucy, then at the towel that she is holding. It's as if she is wondering what she is doing in her house. Her look of curiosity quickly changes and is replaced by one of anger. She points a finger at the still-not-moving Lucy and hiss venomously. "You! You killed my baby! I will tell them, I will. You'll be rotting away in bedlam in no time."
Mrs. Lovett then smirks, looking at Lucy evilly. She moves to get up, probably ready to tell about the law of what she has done. But before it registers in her mind what she is doing, Lucy is already pinning the baker to the sofa. Mrs. Lovett is wriggling and flailing, trying to break free, but she is not letting her. She will not allow this woman to send her to bedlam with those loonies.
All the guilt that she has been feeling a while ago is now long gone. The feeling of protecting herself, her reputation has overcome her rational mind. She is again, acting on impulse. She leans forward, her mouth close to the baker's ear. She has stopped resisting, waiting for what she is going to say. She takes a dramatic pause first before she says whatever it is that she is going to say. Then, she whispers: "If you ever tell anyone of what I did, I'll make sure that Benjamin will take all the blame. Besides, I think the judge will not allow me to be put in that hell hole."
She really is not sure if the judge will back her up if she ever finds herself being thrown to bedlam. But of course, Mrs. Lovett does not know that. Also, she will not really put her husband in that position, won't she? She stands up, letting go of the baker. She plasters a saccharine smile on her face and then winks. "Now, let's say I finish cleaning you up? Go on, lie down. This won't take long, I'm almost done."
Mrs. Lovett can only nod in response; fear is evident in her eyes. Her fieriness that she is sporting a while ago has now diminished; she is reduced into looking like a hurt puppy. She lies down on the sofa, placing a hand on top of her belly protectively while Lucy continues on with cleaning her.
Lucy smiles to herself and happily hums as she cleans the blood off of Mrs. Lovett's legs. She is pleased with herself, having been able to successfully solve her problems. Now, she doesn't have to be scared anymore, she is sure that the woman will not tell a soul of what she has done.
Just as she finishes with what she is doing, Ben comes rushing in the parlour, the doctor behind him. They are both panting, looking like they have come from a long way. The doctor looks annoyed as Ben points at Mrs. Lovett. "There she is, sir."
"I cleaned the blood." Lucy says, getting her husband's attention. He stands beside her and mutters a 'thank you', but his eyes are fixed on the woman lying on the sofa.
As the doctor examines Mrs. Lovett, plenty of questions pop into Lucy's mind that only her husband can answer. Why is Ben not surprised in seeing the baker pregnant? Has he known all this time about her pregnancy? Does he even know that it's his? She will need to have a serious talk with her husband after this mess is all sort out. She needs to clarify some things.
"Alright…" the doctor says, looking over at Ben. "Are you the husband?" he doesn't have the chance to answer for the doctor continues anyway with what he is saying "Your wife needs to rest. She is not to work or do anything physically tiring. Also, as much as possible, she needs to avoid getting stressed."
Then, the doctor averts his gaze from Ben to Mrs. Lovett. "As for the baby, I have yet to find the heartbeat, but I am not saying that it is already gone. We have to wait for at least a week to know if it is really harmed or not. If the bleeding continues everyday, for the whole week, then I'm afraid that we may need to take the child out of you."
"That will be all. I will come back here in a week." The doctor once again looks at Benjamin then motions for him to come. "Sir, walk me out, will you?"
After the men leave the room, Lucy approaches Mrs. Lovett. She runs her hand on the baker's hair as she says: "Did you enjoy being my husband's wife for a little while?"
When she receives no answer but a glare, she chuckles and takes a seat beside Mrs. Lovett. She then puts her hand around her, trying to be comforting. "Don't worry, dear; I'm sure the babe will be alright."
soo, how was it? :))
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