THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO HAS REVIEWED/FAVORITED/GIVEN THIS STORY ANY BIT OF ATTENTION & SUPPORT!
It seems as though my updates will be every Sunday/Monday & then another on Thursday but they are always subject to change.
Super long flashback for you today. This is still a lot of world building. I know that it isn't the most exciting thing in the entire world but hopefully everyone will stick with me & see where this little monster goes.
Big thanks to my Special Pumba, Miss Ashleigh, on this chapter. Having a nurse friend is super helpful in more ways than one.
Also Gina is a jerk and brought me the song Through My Prayers by The Avett Brothers and… well it just goes really nicely with this story and it made us both very sad. GO LISTEN TO IT!
CHAPTER TWO
The same four songs had been playing loudly throughout the apartment for the past two hours. If it hadn't been for the fact that it was still during the work day in the middle of the week Christine was sure that one of the neighbors would have come banging down her door by now. Her senior recital was in less than twenty four hours and she needed all of the practice that she could get. She was required to sing one song from four different eras of music and the entire thing could have been going a bit better.
Her romantic number was a breeze and she had been familiar with her baroque since she was seven. She had chosen to sing a song from a show that she and Erik had seen a few weeks past as her modern selection but she was still having trouble with her classical piece. She took a deep breath as the song began and prepared herself to try again. She was about half way through the first verse when she saw the front door open.
"Hey." She said as she quickly paused the music.
"Working on your recital?" Erik asked as he removed his jacket and folded it over the back of the couch.
"Yeah," she responded, "I'm still having trouble with my Queen of the Night aria."
"Show me." Christine restarted the song and prepared to sing along with the vocal-less track. Erik leaned against the shelving unit that housed the stereo and kept his full focus on her as she powered through the difficult music. Half way through her performance he pinpointed the problem and pushed the pause button before walking towards her.
"You're trying to project too much and you're pushing your airstream." He explained a familiar problem that she had needed to work through a few times in the past. "It's affecting your vocals as well as wasting the breath that you need to get through this."
Christine nodded. "Okay."
He put a hand to the small of her back and gently pushed forward. "Straighten your back. You're wonderful, Christine, show the audience your confidence."
She nodded again and took a deep few breaths as he walked back over to the stereo. He restarted the song and watched intently as she sang through it again. Her voice sounded less forced this time and she was able to conserve her air enough to get through the most difficult parts much more easily. She smiled triumphantly as the song came to an end, even she could tell that she had done well.
"Brava," he gave her a slow round of applause, "that was much better."
"Thank you." She said as she gave him a dramatic bow. He walked over to her again and placed a soft kiss to her temple. She smiled and the two of them walked hand in hand to the kitchen. She took a seat on one side of the island as he moved to the other and grabbed a couple of glasses from one of the cabinets.
"Phil called earlier," he said, "he wants to get together tonight for his birthday since he's going to be out of town this weekend."
"Really?" Christine asked. "It's a Wednesday night, isn't that a little weird for him?"
Erik shrugged and filled the glasses with ice and water from the fridge. "He wants to go to some club his firm is doing work for." He handed her one of the glasses and she took a sip. "Do you think you could pull yourself away from rehearsing?"
"I can't, I still haven't done my write ups and that's going to take me at least another couple of hours. You should go though."
"I could," he walked around the island and sat down on the stool next to her, "or you and I could head over to the school and rent out one of the practice rooms for the night like we used to."
"No," she shook her head, "it's my recital and it's my paper. You shouldn't be punished for my procrastination."
He took a sip of his own water before continuing almost offhandedly. "I've always wished we could fit a piano in here somehow."
"We'd have to get rid of the couch." She replied.
"I was thinking the desk."
She turned her head and saw that he was staring back at her waiting for her reaction. She raised an eyebrow at him as she noticed the smile that he was trying to hide. "You've put some thought in to this." She accused.
He shrugged. "Once or twice."
She laughed softly as she bumped her hip against his. "Seriously, you should go tonight. I'm just going to be alternating between singing and writing and that's not even fun for me, I can't imagine the torture it would be for you."
"It is an honor and a privilege to hear you sing."
"Oh, stop it." She rolled her eyes at his obvious joke. "Get out of my apartment."
"Your apartment?"
"Mine," she said as she hooped her arms around his midsection, "just for the night."
He returned her hold and held her closely. "On one condition."
"Name it."
"Sing for me tomorrow night." He said. "Forget about the teachers, the grades, the other students… Just sing for me."
"I always sing for you, Erik."
"Then it's a deal." He kissed her once more before releasing her and placing his glass in the sink. "I'm going to grab a shower."
"Okay."
With that he turned down the hallway and walked in to the bathroom. Christine grabbed her laptop from the couch before returning to the island and settling in for what was sure to be a long night. Christine spread her sheet music out in front of her as the computer came to life and she quickly got started. Half an hour passed by before she had even noticed and Erik was back in the living room wearing a pair of dark jeans, a black button down shirt, and his favorite pair of black leather boots. She looked down at her gray sweatpants and light blue tank top ensemble and nearly sighed, she kind of regretted her decision of not joining them that night.
He walked up behind her and rested his chin on her bare shoulder. "We shouldn't be out late."
"Wake me up when you get home."
He nodded and placed a gentle kiss to the base of her neck. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
She was startled awake several hours later by her cell phone ringing on the nightstand beside her. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked at the clock, it was well past three in the morning. Raoul's name flashed in large white letters across the small screen of her cell phone and only then did the sickening realization that Erik still wasn't home hit her.
"Hello?"
"Christine!" Raoul's frantic voice pierced her sleepy sensitive ears. "You've got to come quick, there's been an... accident."
"What?" She asked, the lazy fog of sleep not yet releasing its hold on her. "What kind of an accident?"
"I don't know, they're taking him to the hospital."
Christine felt the jolt of adrenaline pulse through her as she sat up in her bed, all remnants of sleep leaving her at once. "Who?"
"Erik!" Raoul yelled. The moment his name left his lips she threw the blanket away from her and jumped out of the bed.
"What happened?" She asked as she ran towards the living room and collected her purse and keys.
"I don't know, he's been... attacked or something. They're taking him to St. Luke's. God, Christine, come quick."
"I'll be there soon."
She hung up the phone, slipped on the first pair of shoes she found, and flew through her front door as if the devil was on her heels. No thoughts of even locking up crossed her mind as she saw the elevator doors close ahead of her. She thoughtlessly elected to take the stairs. She all but flew down the steps and through the doors of her building and ignored the doorman's look of curiosity as she passed him. She ran to where her car was parked about half a block away and started it without a moments hesitation. It felt like forever before she saw the bright red cross adorning the outside of the hospital but she swung her car in to the first open parking spot she saw. She ran in to the emergency room, nearly skidding across the tile floor, and went straight for the reception desk.
"Can I help you?" The round, middle aged woman on the other side of the clear glass asked her lazily.
"Erik Allard."
The woman, Denise by the look of her name tag, raised her eyebrow at Christine's abrupt tone and gave her a quick once over. Christine was sure that she looked like a mess in the sweatpants and tank top she had been wearing all day, not to mention the way her hair must have been tossed around by both sleep and wind, but none of that mattered to her at the moment.
Denise began to type what Christine assumed was Erik's name in to her computer at a leisurely pace. "Your relation?"
"I'm his fiancée." She answered. "Please, can you tell me where he is? What happened-"
"Ma'am," Denise cut her off, "I'm sorry but unless you're the next of kin we can't tell you anything."
"Next of kin?" Christine couldn't help the raising of her voice, the nonchalance of this woman was infuriating! "He has no family! His mother-"
"Miss, you need to calm down otherwise I will be forced to call security."
"I'm sorry, I just need to-"
"Have a seat."
"Please-"
"Have. A. Seat."
Christine let out a frustrated sigh, turned, and took the first empty chair that she found. It was obvious that Denise wasn't going to tell her anything and it seemed as if she had already made quite the scene if the way that the few other people in the waiting room were looking at her was indication. She ran a hand through her hair in an attempt to push the stray locks away from her eyes and tried to think clearly about what to do next.
"Christine!"
At the sound of her name she turned towards the door and saw her friends rushing inside. She ran towards them and Raoul immediately wrapped her in a tight embrace. "I got here as quickly as I could." She whispered in to his neck.
"I know."
"What happened?"
"Erik stepped outside to make a call or something, he was only out there for a couple of minutes." Raoul explained. "Phil went out to have a smoke and the next thing we heard was this screaming for help. I think it was Phil but..."
Christine turned her attention to Phil meaning to ask him what he had seen but the moment she laid eyes on him, however, all coherent thought left her mind and all she could focus on was the dark, dried blood stains covering his shirt, pants, and hands. She lifted her eyes and saw him staring back at her with a look in his eyes that made her heart drop. It was in that moment that she knew the situation was serious.
"We ran out there as fast as we could but there was nothing there, Christine!" Tara explained as the tears poured down her face. "He was just laying there on the sidewalk and there was so much blood. His face..."
"Tara!" Jamie snapped.
Tara's eyes turned to Jamie and a fresh wave of tears coursed down her face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."
Jamie took Phil by the upper arm and steered him in the direction of the bathroom. Christine was struck by the way that Phil walked, he almost floated across the waiting room and he still hadn't said a word. She could only assume that he was in some form of shock and Jamie continued to lead him in to the bathroom like a lost little boy. Only once the door closed behind them was Christine able to pull her focus back to what Raoul and Tara had told her.
"What do I do?" She asked Raoul. "I don't know what to do. They won't tell me anything because I'm not family. He hasn't spoken to his mother in years, Raoul. He wouldn't want her here."
Raoul's eyes looked past her and landed on the reception desk and the terrible Denise. A look of determination crossed his features and he gave Christine's arm a slight squeeze. "Let me handle it," he said, "you and Tara go sit down."
Christine nodded and Raoul walked confidently up to the desk. She watched him for a moment and heard his quiet 'excuse me', but any words beyond that she could not make out. She turned towards Tara and muttered a quiet 'come on' before heading for a group of empty seats in the corner of the waiting room. After a few minutes Jamie exited the bathroom and approached Raoul at the reception desk. Instead of joining in on the conversation he was avidly taking park in with Denise, she began speaking to one of the other women behind the counter and was soon handed a hospital gown. After giving Christine a sad smile Jamie disappeared back in to the bathroom.
Tara and Christine sat in relative silence for what seemed like forever before Jamie and Phil finally left the bathroom and joined them in the corner. Phil had removed his shirt and the hospital gown that Jamie had acquired had taken its place. He still wore his jeans but all of the blood Christine had seen earlier was covered by the long garment. His eyes still held that lost look in them and he seemed a little pale but he was walking more normally now.
"Are you okay, Phil?" Christine asked as they approached.
Phil nodded but remained silent. He and Jamie sat down on the small cushioned bench next to Christine, Phil laying down with his head in Jamie's lap as Jamie ran her hands through his hair. Within the next few minutes Raoul returned and Christine was on her feet in an instant.
"What did she say?"
Raoul's hands found her upper arms and he clasped them gently. "They're prepping him for surgery." She felt her knees go weak at the new information but remained standing tall. "They've put a note in his file and the doctors are to come to you with any questions or information."
"Did they say anything about how he's doing, his condition?"
Raoul shook his head. "No, but at least when they know something then we'll know something."
Christine nodded and moved to sit back in her chair. "Thank you, Raoul."
"Don't mention it."
Everyone was silent for the next two hours. No doctors had approached the group and Raoul had only gotten up once to ask Denise if there was any news. He had been sent back to his seat empty-handed. Phil's head still rested in Jamie's lap and Tara was sitting folded up in the small chair with her arms tightly wound about her legs. Time was ticking by ever so slowly and Christine was getting antsy. She had been idly fiddling with her engagement ring the entire time and a thin red line had begun to form where the white gold had rubbed her skin with each rotation.
"Hey," Raoul said quietly, "I'm going to go and get some coffee. Do you want any?"
Christine sighed and rubbed her tired eyes with her hands. "Yeah, coffee sounds great right about now."
"Do you want to walk with me?" He asked. "Get up, stretch your legs for a bit?"
She nodded and the pair rose to their feet. Just as they were about to ask the rest of the group if they would like anything Christine saw a man in a long white jacket come from the Emergency wing and approach the reception desk. He spoke a few words to Denise and Christine's heart began to flutter as she motioned towards them.
Christine grabbed Raoul's arm and pointed toward the doctor. The rest of the group seemed to notice the man as well and they all got to their feet as he approached.
"Christine Daaé?" The doctor asked.
She took a step forward. "That's me."
"Miss Daaé," he extended his hand and her own clammy one joined it in an shaking embrace, "I'm doctor Reynolds."
"Nice to meet you." She said quietly, her manners becoming armor against the stressful situation.
"Could we have a word in private?"
Christine hesitated and looked back at the rest of the group. "If you please, Dr. Reynolds, I would like to keep my friends aware of Erik's condition."
Dr. Reynolds nodded and clasped his hands behind his back. "Very well. When the patient was admitted-"
"Erik." Christine corrected. "His name is Erik."
"When Erik was admitted," he said, "he was in very serious condition. He had suffered severe internal damage as well as multiple deep abrasions to his face, head, and neck. It seems as if he was attacked by some sort of animal, my best guess would be some sort of large dog, but you must understand that in this area animal attacks are very, very rare. I've never seen anything like it."
Christine hung to his every word.
"He had lost a lot of blood, Miss Daaé, and we did absolutely everything that we could."
Christine felt her blood run ice cold.
"Despite our best efforts, Mr. Allard died at 4:43am. I am so very sorry."
Christine's knees buckled from beneath her and before she could even process what was happening she found herself in a crumpled heap on the floor. She felt a pair of arms envelope her and pull her to a semi-seated position as the tears streamed from her eyes with wild abandon. She was helpless to stop the horrible sobs that escaped her throat and she couldn't have cared less who heard the ugly noises she was emitting. Her heart felt as if someone had stabbed her in it and the rest of her body seemed to be in just as much physical pain. Her mind felt empty, completely numb to anything but the absolute turmoil of the news she had just been given. She wasn't sure how long she sat sobbing on the floor of the waiting room but it felt like an eternity.
She never made it to her senior recital.
She hadn't sung since.
It was noon by the time Christine and Raoul arrived at Ellisview General Hospital. Christine had told Raoul multiple times that he didn't have to come with her, that she could handle picking up her father on her own just fine, but Raoul de Chagny and Gustave Daaé had always had a very special relationship.
Raoul's own father had always kept a careful distance between his sons and himself. He was a very business oriented man and was away more often than not during Raoul's childhood. Phil had gotten a bit more one on one time with their father, he was the oldest and had always been expected to take over the family's company when the time came, but Raoul had found his own father figure in 'Gus'.
They made their way in to room 412 and the room seemed a lot brighter than she had expected. Gus was sitting upright in his bed watching the television and finishing up what seemed to have been a fruit salad that the hospital had provided for lunch. His head moved a little slowly as he heard the door open but he smiled wide as soon as he saw them.
"Christine!" She smiled and moved quickly to his bed to envelope her father in a tight hug. "How are you, my sweet girl?"
"I'm good, Dad." She said as she kissed his cheek. She pulled back and made room for Raoul to come over and say hello.
He followed her lead and leaned down to hug the aging man. "How are you, Gus?"
"A little worse for wear but I'll make it through." Raoul straightened up and took a seat in the recliner in the corner of the room as Christine claimed her spot on the bed next to her father.
"Has the doctor been in to see you yet?" Christine asked.
"Not yet," he answered, "but we've got an appointment at 12:30 so she should be here soon."
"How's she look?" Raoul asked with a grin. "Is Christine going to have a new stepmom?"
"You stop it, boy." Gustave said with a laugh. "I am far too old and ugly for all that."
"Please!" Raoul said. "You're only in your late fifties and I've seen your moves with the ladies, genuine heartbreaker you are."
Christine laughed as she listened to the back and forth between her father and the young man he treated like the son he had never had. He seemed to be in good spirits but she couldn't help but notice the constant back and forth rubbing of his thumb and forefinger of his shaking hand as he talked. It was almost as if he was rolling something around between his fingers but there was nothing there. She also noticed that he was a lot less expressive than he had once been, his usual hand gestures were noticeably absent and there was a very slight slur to some of his words.
"Have you not noticed the shakes, de Chagny?" Gustave asked as he raised his arm to show off the tremble in his right hand. "Real ladies magnet they are! Don't get me started on the drooling I get sometimes. Don't get old, Raoul."
His words were meant to be lighthearted, a joke at himself and his condition, but they held a small bit of truth to them in regards to how he must have felt about himself. Before Raoul could respond the good lady doctor herself walked in to the room.
"Sounds like we're having a genuine party in here, Mr. Daaé." She said as she grabbed his chart from its holder at the foot of the bed.
"Sorry doctor," he said, "my daughter and that hooligan over there just arrived."
Christine rose from the bed and moved toward the doctor. "Hi, I'm Christine."
"Dr. Lucas." She said politely taking Christine's proffered hand and giving it a quick shake. She then turned towards Raoul and extended the same hand to him. "And are you her husband?"
Gustave's sudden laughter startled everyone and Raoul shook his head. "No, just a close friend of the family."
"My apologies." Dr. Lucas said as she turned and looked over Gustave's chart. "Well, Gustave here suffered a nasty fall but seems to be doing rather well. He has a slight fracture on his hip that will more than likely cause him a bit of pain for the next couple of weeks but I am going to prescribe him a mild pain killer that shouldn't have any effect on his other medications."
Christine nodded. "Thank you."
"It's my pleasure." She said as she wrote a few notes on the file. Instead of placing the file back in its holder Dr. Lucas folded it under her arm. "Miss Daaé, could we talk in private for a moment?"
She nodded. "Of course."
"Don't leave me in here with him."
"What's the matter, Gus?" Raoul asked. "Afraid I'm going to take your fruit salad?"
Gustave waited until the door was securely shut behind his daughter and doctor before looking back over at Raoul. "How is she, Raoul?" He asked quietly. "I know she puts up a brave front but how is she really?"
Raoul sighed and leaned forward in his chair, he knew this conversation was coming. "She's doing... okay. It was really hard for her for the first few months. Hell, after the funeral it was hard to even get her out of bed, but I think she's been pulling it together lately. She's stopped wearing the ring so that's something."
"I should have been there." Gustave said. His tremor was getting a little worse and Raoul assumed that it had something to do with the stress of the situation. "You know I'd never even met the guy? My daughter, head over heels in love, ready to be married, and I never even saw his face."
"He was a great guy," Raoul said calmly, "a little rough around the edges at times but he loved her more than anything."
"I should have been there."
Raoul covered Gustave's trembling hand with his own and spoke in a soothing tone. "She had a wide base of support in New York, we were all there for her whenever she needed us. She knew you couldn't travel, she never blamed you for it, not even for a second."
"I can't believe she quit school." Gustave said. "She's been singing since she was three, she always loved music, I can't believe she just gave it up like that."
"Music was their thing," Raoul said, "they sang together all the time and I think that after... it happened..."
"It became too hard for her." Gustave finished and Raoul nodded. "She'll be okay here, right?"
"I think that some time away from the city will be good for her."
Gustave nodded and a tear formed in his eye as his tremor went back to the way it had been when they had first walked in. "You're a good kid, Raoul, I've always said that."
He shrugged and that same grin Gustave had come to know during the boy's childhood spread across his face. "You're not too bad yourself, big guy."
"Thank you for being there for her."
"Anytime." Raoul looked towards the tray beside Gustave. "Now seriously, give me some of that fruit salad."
Dr. Lucas closed the door behind them and lead Christine down the hall to her office. Christine followed behind her obediently and wasn't quite sure what was to come. Dr. Lucas motioned for her to sit down in the comfortable looking arm chair sitting before her desk as she took her place behind it. She pulled the file from under her arm and opened it up on her desk.
"I understand that you've been out of state for the past few years."
"Yes," Christine answered, "I was going to school in New York."
"I see." She said as she thumbed through the files and put a few of them to the side. "Miss Daaé, I just want to make sure that you understand your father's condition. There are several side effects and complications that can arise from Parkinson's Disease as well as the medications he is currently taking."
"Okay."
"Parkinson's Disease can be particularly... unbecoming, if you will. It usually starts with a slight tremor in one limb and eventually that tremor spreads to other parts of the body. In your father's case it started in his right arm and has since spread to almost his entire body. Usually your father's tremors are much more pronounced than they are today simply because we have kept him rather heavily medicated to help heal his fractured hip. The tremors may get worse during times of stress and his motions will be much slower than what they were years ago."
Dr. Lucas handed Christine a pamphlet with the simple title 'Parkinson's Disease' written in blue across the top of it.
"This pamphlet will give you a little more of the basic information on his condition but what I am mainly concerned about is warning you of what the future may bring. We have already seen evidence of his equilibrium and balance being a bit... off. His fall is a perfect example of that. He shouldn't be left alone to do any tasks that require long periods of standing and if at all possible stairs should be highly avoided."
"He's already had his bed moved downstairs."
Dr. Lucas nodded and continued. "You may notice some emotional changes. Parkinson's does quite the number on the brain and high levels of anxiety, as well as other heightened emotions, are not uncommon. He may have trouble sleeping and experience night terrors at times. He also may act out things that are happening in his dreams because his condition can prevent what we refer to as sleep paralysis from occurring."
Christine felt her own anxiety elevating as she listened to the doctor and looked through the pamphlet.
"I do not mean to scare you, Miss Daaé, I just want you to be prepared. If you believe that this is too much for you then there are plenty of assisted living homes-"
"NO!" Christine yelled suddenly, shocking both herself and the doctor. "No, I don't want him in one of those places. I can do this, Dr. Lucas."
She nodded. "Very well." She pulled out a prescription pad and quickly filled out a page before grabbing a business card from in front of her computer and turning it over to write what appeared to be a phone number on the back of it. "This is the prescription for the pain killer I mentioned and here is my card. I've written my cell phone number on the back of it. Do not hesitate to call if you feel the need to." She pulled one more page out of her father's file and handed it to her. "This is a list of your father's other medications that I have prescribed. He may get forgetful so I would suggest that you take over giving him his medications. The list should be pretty self explanatory but, like I said, if you have any questions or concerns please call me."
"Thank you."
Dr. Lucas nodded again. "Are you ready to take him home?"
"I am."
Dr. Lucas rose from her chair and moved towards the office door. She held it open and allowed for Christine to go ahead of her. She told her to head back to her father's room and assured her that he would be discharged within the hour. Christine returned to the room feeling completely overwhelmed but she knew that she had to this.
It was only a couple of hours later that Christine found herself saying goodbye for what felt like the millionth time that week. This one just so happened to be the hardest of them all.
"Are you sure you don't want me to stay another night?" Raoul asked. "It'd be no problem, all I'd have to do is give the office a quick call."
"No, Raoul, I'll be okay." Christine opened her arms and Raoul stepped in to them eagerly. "Thank you so, so much for everything. I'll never be able to repay you enough."
"You don't owe me anything, Christine." He said honestly. "Just know that the second you're ready to come back, whether it be for a visit or for good, my doors are always open."
"I know." Christine pulled away and wiped at the tears that were threatening to fall down her cheeks. "Be careful, okay? Let me know when you get home."
"I will," he said, "and if you ever need anything all you've got to do is ask. You might be a little further away than you used to but that doesn't change anything. You've still got me, Phil, Jamie, Tara... we're all still your friends."
Christine nodded. "Give them my love?"
"Of course."
They came together in one last embrace before Raoul gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and headed to the front of the moving van. The wind seemed to be picking up and it felt like a storm may be coming their way. Christine stood on the front porch until Raoul got the vehicle out of the driveway and gave her two quick honks of the horn. She waved him one last goodbye before turning and walking back inside.