Nursing the Wounds

Going back was painful. Very painful. But Erik made himself not stop or even pause the whole way back. He wasn't lying when he told the two that he lived nearby, but the injuries made the short walk back seem like a marathon. He was panting by the time he got to the apartment complex that he lived in with his mother. He stared dully at the stairs he had to climb to get to apartment for a few moments before forcing himself to begin his ascent.

The gray building was old and not in the best of shape, but it was all mother could afford. His father had left them for another family and never paid child support. Sometimes Erik wondered if he even knew that Erik existed, but his mother was never upfront about that information. She would only tell him, quite bitterly, that he left them for the wealthier option and that Erik's existence hadn't helped her at all.

Charming, his mother was.

Still, he tried, oh how he tried. Since he was younger, he would make sure that everything was in perfect order at the apartment, and would never complain nor ask for anything that required money. Holidays were certainly joyless affairs. He learned how to cook, the burn and cut scars on his hands will forever display how many times he made a mistake, so that she wouldn't have to worry about feeding him when she got home from wherever her job was at the time. The times in between her jobs were always the hardest, there were some days where the only food Erik would eat would be from the non-healthy dishes served at school. It was no wonder that Raoul mistook Erik for being the same age, he was thin, and short.

Erik finally made it to the floor that he and mother lived. He walked to the door and took out his keys to unlock it. He knew that his mother was not home, having the current job of being a cashier at Wal-Mart, which was demanding long hours from her. As he enter the apartment, he flicked the living room light switch on, but let out a sigh when the lights didn't turn on.

Mother must have forgotten to pay the electric bill again.

He hurried to the refrigerator and pulled out everything that would go bad without the cool temperature and placed the items on the counter. There wasn't a lot anyway. He went to the closet and pulled out the ice chest and dragged it over to the refrigerator. Opening the freezer, he took a knife and chipped away the ice that was slowly melting and dumped it into the chest. His body was protesting heavily as he worked but he gritted his teeth and continued until the chest was mostly full.

Shutting the freezer door, he went back to the items he took out of the refrigerator and placed them within the chest before shutting it. The ice chest would last for so long but hopefully it was enough time for mother to pay the bill. This was not the first time this has happened after all.

Sighing, Erik let himself collapse onto the closed chest lid. He head was still throbbing and he had to make sure he didn't have any wound that could get infected, but he didn't want to move. He sat there for he didn't know how long, but he forced himself to stand back up, his aching back popping as he did so.

He made his way to the bathroom, using the flashlight stored under the sink to see. Not being able to get a good look at his injuries with the flashlight he eventually gave up trying, exiting the bathroom once more. The apartment had one bedroom, which was his mother's so his makeshift bedroom was the living room. He went inside, walked to the couch and bent down. Grunting from a pain spike in his side, he pulled out his small travel bag. He brought it over to the coat closet that also worked as his own closet, pulling clothes out for tomorrow and folding them before placing them in the bag.

Erik then went back to the bathroom to get his toiletries, stuffing them into the bag as well. After getting what he needed, he went to the kitchen to leave a note for his mother. He's done this in the past, so he was not sure he even has to bother with a note anymore, but he does so just in case. Though, if he was honest with himself, he wouldn't be surprise to find out that mother had never read them in the first place. Maybe she was always secretly hoping that when she found him gone, it was a permanent affair. After all, the notes he had left previously were never moved from their spots or appeared to have been read at all.

He wrote the usual note, left the apartment and locked the door behind him. Erik got to the stairs again, he almost let out a whimper, not wanting to go back down. But he had to if he wanted to go where he wanted to. So steeling himself, he took the first step down.

He hissed out loud at the pain that shot up through his entire leg, his grip on the rail so tight that his knuckles were white. He breathed in through his nose slowly a few times, taking one last deep breath before making his way down. By the time he was at the bottom, he was out of breath and more exhausted then he thought he would be.

Maybe he did underestimate his injuries. Doesn't matter now, he made it down and where he was going there were no stairs that he'll be climbing.

Erik shifted his travel bag into his other hand and began walking. Luckily, the distance wasn't too great, for it only took twenty minutes to get to where he wanted, though the usual time was ten minutes.

He spotted the two-story house that he wanted, noticing that all the lights were out. He didn't even notice that the sun had gone down, focusing on trying to get one foot in front of the other. It was fine though, maybe this was better. He walked to the house and came to the tree that was planted in front. Glancing around to make sure no one was around, he swung his bag over his shoulder and heaved himself into the tree.

Pain exploded throughout his body that he almost lost his hold on the tree branches. However, he was able to keep his grip, though he had to pause for the pain to go back down before continuing.

Erik twisted up and through the branches until he came to the same height as the far right window on the second floor. Carefully, he made his way to the furthest edge that the branch would take him. Breaking off a piece of branch, he threw a stick at the window. It made a small sound, so Erik got another and threw it slightly harder.

It made a decent sound so Erik persisted with more at the same throw. He was about to throw his sixth when he saw movement within the room.

He saw the figure move to the window and he waved his hand, motioning for them to open the window. The figure got closer, and Erik smiled seeing the figure shake their head in exasperation but opening the window.

When it was open he spoke.

"Dear Antoinette, I am in need of some medical attention."

Without delay, the eighteen year old shook her head at him again but she reached out to him.

"Come on. Toss me your bag."

Erik did as she asked, throwing it gently so that she could easily catch it, which she did. She placed the bag in her room next to her, and reached out again.

"Can you make the jump yourself?"

Erik shook his head, not wanting to risk it with his injuries. He was grateful that Antoinette wasn't asking any questions yet, though that'll probably change when she sees him in good lightening.

Cautiously, he reached out and grasped her outstretch hand. Using her to keep himself stability he was able to make the small hop from the branch to the edge of her window. The pain in his legs from the impact caused him to flinch and almost lose balance but Antoinette grabbed the front of his shirt, giving him enough time to gain his steadiness. Once he gained it back, Antoinette helped him shuffle inside the window and into her bedroom.

She let him go to close the window before turning back to him with a scowl. She was in her pajamas which consisted of an oversize shirt that had a print of ballet figures on it and pajama shorts. Her long hair that she usually kept in a braid was down and hung like a waterfall around her.

Erik knew he must have woken her up, so gave her an apologetic grin.

"I wouldn't have come, but I needed the lightening."

Antoinette raised an eyebrow at him. "Your mom didn't pay the bill again?"

When Erik shook his head, she sighed. Motioning for him to follow her, she took him to her bathroom. The house was big enough that each of the four occupants had their own bedroom and bathroom. Erik is not above admitting that he was jealous of this fact at times.

They entered and Antoinette turned on the light. She turned back to face him, and let out a gasp.

"Is it really that bad?" Erik tried to tease, but Antoinette's eyes made him stop.

He turned towards the mirror and wince as he took in his reflection.

The masked covered majority of his face, plus it wasn't what had taken most of the beating anyway. His bottom lip was swollen, cut and had dry blood around his mouth because of it. His hair was a bird's nest and his clothes were in poor condition, there were even a couple tears in the shirt! His hands had dried blood on them from the gravel cuts and some of that blood got on his clothes.

He did not want to see what he looked like without his clothes. Probably completely black and blue.

Erik turned back to Antoinette who was still gawking at his appearance.

"Antoinette, it isn't as bad as it looks." Erik reassured.

She stopped gawking, only to glare at him, though he knew it was for him not towards him.

"You, in the shower, now. I'll go get what I need for your cuts."

When he didn't argue she nodded firmly and exited the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Sighing Erik began to undress, turning on the shower as he did so that the water would be at the right temperature when he was finished. He took off his mask last and bundled his clothing on top of the toilet seat before entering the shower.

He let out a small hiss as the water hit his cuts, apparently there were more then he thought there was. That gravel was sharper then he thought. Not wanting to take up too much time, he cleaned up quickly, using Antoinette's floral shampoo as a hair and body wash. He knew she wouldn't mind.

Turning off the shower, he stepped out and took out a towel he knew Antoinette kept as a spare in her cabinet. Walking back into her bedroom, Erik saw Antoinette sitting on her bed, sorting through the medicine kit.

"I took out your PJ's and put them on the chair. Don't worry, I won't peak." She explained, saying the last part with a playful tone.

Erik grunted making his way to the chair. He put on his clothes, letting the towel drop to the floor. After he placed his shirt on, he saw a plate on the desk that had two sandwiches and a glass of milk next to it. He turned to glance at Antoinette, whose back was to him.

"Thank you." He stated simply, taking the glass and having a few sips.

"Your welcome." Antoinette replied. "I figured that you didn't get to eat and even if you did, I would've made you eat them anyway. You're way too scrawny for a fourteen year old."

Good thing, he had already stopped drinking because Erik snorted. He noticed that his pain wasn't as bad anymore but that was probably because he was with Antoinette, who he knew he could trust. Kindness always eases pain. Grabbing the plate with his free hand he went over to Antoinette and sat in front of her on the chair that was usually by her desk but moved for him.

"How are you injured?" Antoinette asked as she poured alcohol onto a cotton ball.

"Mostly, it'll be a bunch of bruises appearing and soreness. Nothing broken or sprained. Other than my lip, the cuts are mostly on my hands, though I got a couple on my knees." Erik narrated, taking a bite out of the ham sandwich.

Antoinette nodded grimly.

"Let's do your hands last since you're eating and they seem to have stopped bleeding. Knees up." She instructed and Erik rose his legs so that his feet were on her bed next to her, to give her access to his knees.

Erik continued to eat as she treated the cuts, placing bandages on both knees when she was finished. She waited until he was done eating and washed his hands to work on his hands.

"Who did this?" Antoinette asked as she dabbed the cotton ball on his cuts. There was a slight sting but nothing too bad.

"Who do you think?" Erik grumbled.

Antoinette sighed, "That Joseph Buquet should be reported. Why don't you say anything?"

"I don't want to draw attention to myself." Erik mumbled.

She glanced up from his hands at that with a raised eyebrow, staring at his currently unmasked face.

"You wear a ghost white mask over your face at a school and you don't want to draw attention?"

Erik shrugged, which apparently was a bad idea since he got a flash of pain, causing him to wince. "With the mask, I'm mysterious, without it I'm the deformed monster that everyone would hate."

"You are not a monster." Antoinette retorted automatically. "If you were, I certainly wouldn't allow you into my bedroom. My parents wouldn't let you do these little sneak-ins whenever you needed to, and Meg wouldn't have a massive crush on you either."

"Meg does not have a crush on me!" Erik protested, thinking of the twelve year old blond who was Antoinette's younger sister.

Antoinette smirked. "Oh really? Trust me, she adores you, but you don't see it. It's okay, I know you see her as a little sister, and I think someday she'll see you as an older brother. But for now? Yeah, totally crushing."

Erik felt his cheeks warm up, and wanted to move away, but Antoinette was still working on his hands so he stayed put. Still, he grumbled back more protests but Antoinette chuckled in reply.

She began putting the materials away once she had finished wrapping up his hands and Erik moved the chair back to the desk.

"Can I spend the night?" he requested as he watched Antoinette move around her room to go back to bed. She turned to stare at him in disbelief.

"Do you even have to ask anymore? You know the answer already."

Erik shifted from side to side soon stopping when it caused the Band-Aids on his knees to crinkle. "That answer may change and it's always polite to ask."

Shaking her head fondly, Antoinette gestured for Erik to come to her. When he did, she made him lay on one side of the bed while she took the other side. Placing a hand on his cheek, she smiled at him.

"I will never say no to you when you need me." Then she pinched his cheek causing him to yelp. "Got it?"

"Yes, Antoinette." Erik whispered, still rubbing his cheek where she pinched him after she turned off the lights.

Hope you enjoyed the read. Christine and Raoul won't show up again for a couple chapters because they will be focused on Erik's life. Reviews are always appreciated and loved! Plus they keep me excited about the fanfic so please comment your thoughts!