New Love Springs

Chapter 6 - Painful But Complete

When he came round again, Sweeney found himself to be surrounded by policemen, one holding a bucket of water which he came to realise he was soaked in.He was suddenly being thrust up, where they guided his walking to the nearby state of a hostpital.He didn’t even understand why he was being taken there, he just knew he wanted to lay down and have a chance to take in what had happened over the past few months. He had thought he had it just perfect, and now this had happened.

He couldn’t help it, but he was dwelling on the most unthinkable thought possible. What if he never saw any of them again? What if he never spoke to his beloved Nellie again? Without her, he was completely alone;she kept him going now , even when he took her completely for granted.

He had just found love again, and now it was slipping away from him. 

When they arrived at the hospital, he was thrown on quite possibly the worst bed in the entire building; the sheets were scratchy and horribly stiff to the touch, the actual bed creaked at even the slightest movement; it was nothing compared to Nellie’s perfectly kept beds, but he didn’t even have the chance to consider changing beds or going home, as he fell asleep straight away and was consequently left alone until the morning.

When he arose, after a long nights sleep, he was thrust a bowl of gruel that made the hair’s in his nostrils curl up at the mere smell, let alone lumpy texture…it didn’t bear thinking about. The nurse asked him all sorts of questions, the way Nellie would, and as usual, he didn’t have one ounce of energy mustered up to answer them, so he chose to virtually ignore her, giving a nod when appropriate.

‘Oh and your wife, Mr Todd? She’s currently in ward 8, being cared for, alive but only just. Fancy meat pie for lunch? Speciality here my dear' 

At the very mention of a meat pie, Sweeney was violently sick, all over the kind old nurse and the grotty bed sheets, causing chaos around the row of beds. He didn’t care though, as Nellie was alive, and that was really all that mattered to him.He needed to see her just one more time and tell her he loved her. All was not alright for him though, as he was so worried he could have been caught. His plan was very much a flawed one and as well as he tried to hide the killings he made, it wouldn’t last much longer, he was sure of that.

Dreading a doomed knock from a policeman had become his hobby, and he was very uneasy about the fact they could have been rooting through the shop whilst he was unconscious.He hadn’t known how long it was for, and this was extremely unsettling. He couldn’t bear prison life, and leaving Nellie, he concluded, would be worse than leaving Lucy.He felt more pity than anything else for Lucy now.Sweeney was surprised and felt guilty he was having these thoughts so soon but  he felt something for Nellie he had never before felt, and it completed the core of his being…his thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice and the pitter- patter of small footsteps on the squeaky hospital floors.

‘Mr T!’

It was Toby. Sweeney had never really been that keen on the young boy, but now he was thrilled to see him. He could find out where Nellie was, how she was and what had happened! He was planning just to ask him these questions straight out, but Toby's face, and the look on it, stopped him dead in his tracks. His face was covered in cuts and one of his eyes was almost completely purple with a gash right across his other eyelid. Only the tip could be seen though, as a crisp white bandage covered his whole eye and most of his forehead, as it tied in a knot at the back of his head. His face was almost completely blood-encrusted, a look Sweeney had recently become familiar with. He was actually rather scary to look at, and it broke Sweeney’s heart to see how much the boy had clearly been through, but it warmed his heart to see he still had his cheery smile.