Sorry for the major delay. After recovering from my illness I'd had a lot to catch up on work wise. Nonetheless, here is the latest chapter. Please review, they are so encouraging and sweet- I love reading your opinions they really do make such a difference to the enthusiasm I put into these chapters. Thank you.
P.S: Still writing on an I-Pad so forgive any awful mistakes or random words, I do try to proof read well but auto-correct is just the bane of my life. Thank you.
Erik had fled from the music room and into his own. There, he laid her light and fragile form atop his covers. He was anticipating the arrival of his good friend Nadir, whose footsteps could be heard bounding across the corridor to his room.
"My God, Erik are you okay?" Nadir run immediately to Erik's aid, but when he pushed past his friend and got a glimpse of Elise- his focus changed. "What happened?" The masked man had to steady himself and slump into a chair. Finally the adrenaline was wearing off and he was coming back to his senses. No bravado. Just him, in that room, in that chair, looking over his sick wife.
"She must have ran out of water some days ago. The food started to rot, probably because the room was so hot..." He slipped a hand under his mask and held his head. "Is there anything you can do for her Nadir, anything at all?"
Never before had he seen his friend in such distress. Not even when he emerged from the ashes of the opera Populaire, after weeks of weeping and self loathing had he seen such worry on his friends face. Back then he may have needed his help, but that was more so now.
Casting a glance to her he sighed. Her usually pale skin was almost transparent, skin practically clung to her bones in a rather unattractive manor. It had only been a few days too, she must have already been so frail to begin with. Her breaths were scarce and her flesh was scolding to touch. Nadir was aware of her tendency to get sick, even if he could pull her through this, he would have to work very hard to keep her well.
He remembered how Erik was in a similar state once he finally decided to flee Paris. How skinny he was back then, how pale, how weak. It had taken time to get meat on his bones, plenty of food and an exercise regime that he loathed not because it was hard work, but rather because he thought it humiliating.
"We will need to cool her down." Nadir said, confidently striding over to the window and throwing it open. He motioned for Erik to come over and join him by her bedside. Erik did as commanded, though he hesitated when Nadir started to push the bed towards the window. Erik did always hate it when people messed around with the arrangement of the furniture.
"Could you call in two maid for me Erik?" Erik nodded, then stopped and turned to him.
"Wait, why do we need them? Why do they need to be involved?" He asked.
"She needs changing out of these clothes, into something cooler. She will also need regular pats down with cold water." He ordered.
Erik called for the maids, who immediately stopped helping prepare for dinner and fetched a pair of their own undergarments. They were rather stylish actually, he had to admire their taste. He mad Nadir stood outside the door, waiting for them to finish changing her and patting her with cold water.
When they were finished, the two men entered back in. Though, to Erik it didn't seem right nor courteous to be staring at her when she was so exposed. The undergarments covered all of her less modest parts, but the material was a dark, midnight blue and was silken. It contrasted beautifully with her white, glistening skin. But the material was very thin. It left very little to the imagination.
The room was cold as ice as the night began to settle in. Nadir had left to attend to business, but was only a few rooms away. Erik stayed there. He had to wrap up warm, Nadir insisted the necessity of keeping the room cold. Occasionally, he would take the sponge from the bucket and dab her forehead with it, just to feel less useless.
She still hadn't woken up. Already she was dehydrated, with her temperature being so high he worried that if she didn't wake up she'd surely die. The thought of her passing was daggers to his old heart. If he hadn't broke the gramophone, if he hadn't have hit her, if he hadn't have pushed her so hard, if he hadn't bullied her, if he hadn't have gotten mad at her for wearing those dresses, if he hadn't have disrespected her, if he hadn't have brought her here, if he hadn't have married her, if he hadn't have sent that letter... If he'd just died. Then, maybe none of this wouldn't have happened. Then she'd be happy, alive.
As he clenched the sheets next to hand and fought the tears that threatened to crash down like a waterfall of pure despair, he felt something. When he looked at his hand, he saw a frail finger next to it twitch. His head snapped up.
Her finger brushed his knuckle and her hand started to move towards his. He was sure he was dreaming, hallucinating... But he was not. That boiling hand settled on top of his and gave it a light squeeze, it was real.
"Erik?" Her hoarse voice called out and he jumped to attention. A smile crossed his lips.
"Elise! Elise! You're awake!" He sounded like a giddy child, he could have jumped up and danced, were it not for her hot grip on his hand. It made his heart leap when he saw a pained smile cross her cracked lips. When she went to speak, a cough overtook her and Erik had to pull himself from her grasp to fetch the cup of water.
Lifting her head slightly, he pushed the cup tenderly to her lips and began to slowly por it in. Never before had he seen someone look so grateful for something so simple. The cup seemed to be gone in instants and after that, she could take in big, hearty breaths.
"Thank you." She all but whispered.
Her eyes opened slowly, red and teary. But still as beautiful as the first time he'd seen them. For a second she looked up to him, but then down at herself and her teeth started to chatter. " E-Erik could you c-close the window pl-please. I'm cold."
"I can't Elise, your skin is like a hot iron. We need to get you cool before we can even consider that." He hated not doing what she wanted him to do, having to see that desperate and pleading look in her eyes. It was almost too much when she reached out and grasped at his shirt. Though she wasn't touching him, he could feel the heat of her skin radiating through the material.
"No Elise." He said firmly, removing her hand from him. "I promise you, it's for your own good. When this is all over you'll thank me." It was breaking his heart to do this.
"Please. Just close that window... That's all I ask of you." Those words hit him like an arrow to the face. He was ready to burst open.
"Erik, want to take a break?" Nadir said from the doorway, rolling up his sleeves. Erik nodded, turning away before letting the tears drop. He dashed to the door and past Nadir- clutching his chest. He got as far as the stair case before his legs finally gave way and he fell into a clump on the floor. Defeated.
He wanted to let out a mighty roar, like the phantom in him would- but the maids were already giving the broken man curious looks.
"Back to work! What do I pay you for?!" He snapped. They scuttled off and tried to find something to do as he wallowed in pit of self-hatred and despair.
No man such as him could every be happy, he told himself. There was no happily ever after for the villain in the tale. And he was the biggest, baddest wolf around.
The next few days went on like this. Erik would sit with her whilst she slept, but couldn't bare to see the agony she was in when she woke- so passed her on to Nadir. It was rather selfish of him, but he felt he didn't deserve her presence anyway. After all, it was him that drove her to have to do this.
The bruise on her face was still there, faded, but he could still see it. Even when it would be fully cleared up, he was sure of the fact that he would still see it- flashing into his vision, taunting him. The guilt that overcame him was stronger than anything he had ever felt before.
Elise's condition did start to improve, though she would switch from being dangerously hot, to cold in a matter of minutes. Nadir tired himself out opening the window, then closing it and carrying her to the fire in the study and then back again, opening the window. Despite her fragile state, he couldn't help but worry about his friend.
What Erik had done was wrong, there was no doubt about that. If Elise ever did forgive him, it would take time. But if he couldn't even look into her eyes to tell her he was sorry, then there really was no hope.
After finally getting her to settle by the fire, Nadir sighed and slumped into a chair. Erik poked his head through a crack in the door and crept with cat-like silent steps over to Nadir and sat broad in the chair next to him. "How is she now?" He asked, rather timidly.
"Still fluctuating. Though the temperatures are starting to get less extreme. I can also get her to eat some solid food." He looked to his friend, who shot a smile, but tried to hide it under the shadow of his mask that the light from the crackling fire cast.
"I removed the door from the music room." He said, unwavering. At this Nadir rolled his eyes.
"Removing the door isn't going to remove the problem Erik. It isn't going to magically fix everything." His friend seemed taken aback by this and finally turned his head to him.
"You need to talk to her." At this, Erik shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He looked a little like a convicted man at the stand- fidgeting, licking his lips, with a dry throat and guilty conscience.
"But... What if I... I'll only make it worse Nadir." The man had his hands to his mouth, biting his nails and it muffled his voice. It wasn't like Erik to adopt a nervous tendency.
"Then send her back to her family. If you won't talk, you won't fix things, file a divorce. I can get to work right away." Even the Persian was surprised by his words and watched as Erik physically flung himself from his chair. With his shoulders squared and fists clenched, he protested.
"No!" He yelled, causing Nadir to stand. Though he wasn't as tall, he could make Erik feel as if he were towering over him when looking at him with his evil eye.
"Then talk!" Again, Erik slumped down into his chair.
Both of them turned around when they saw Elise shift, remembering that she was there. Erik winced and Nadir put a finger to his lips to single for his friend to quiet down. They waited a few seconds to make sure that she was asleep. When they spoke again, they spoke in hoarse whispers.
"I can't!" The phantom said as he poured out a drink of whatever was set out on the table. The glass hit the table hard and Elise shifted again.
"Why?!" He asked, snatching the glass out of his hand and putting it onto the desk behind him.
"Because she reminds me of HER too much like this. When she was asleep in my lair, it was okay. Then she woke up and it all went wrong! If she'd only have stayed asleep... It could have been different." Erik's head lowered so far he thought it might have just rolled off his shoulders an away in shame. He had his hands clasped together between his legs and one of the, was twitching.
Nadir sat on the arm if the chair, placing a reassuring hand on his best friends back.
"Elise is not Christine Erik. She's totally different. They may as well be a different species." He seemed to calm a little, regaining enough courage to raise his head.
"I know I know." He covered his face in his hands, he was tired.
"Then talk. Even if it makes things worse, at least you'd have tried. If it's meant to be then it will be." His big amber eyes looked up at Nadir and he could see the weary dark circle under the revealed one. "Go get some sleep. I'll see if I can get her to sit up and talk to you tomorrow."
He got a small smile, before he rose and cracked his knuckles. As he was leaving, he looked back at Elise and sighed.
"Do you really think that we can fix things? Start fresh?" At this, the Persian shrugged.
"Honestly Erik, I don't know. You'll have to wait and see."
That morning, Erik woke with an uneasy feeling. It took hours to even be able to switch his brain off and sleep. He'd over-slept too, missed breakfast, though he'd be able to persuade one of the kitchen staff to whip him something up.
Dressing in his usual attire, though a little unenthusiastically, he gave himself a look up and down in the mirror. It took his mind back to the picture she'd painted- that swirling blackness around him. Now he could see it in his reflection. All around him, he seemed to be sapping the life out of the room.
That must have been how she saw him. A big black void in her life that sapped out all of the happiness, life and fun out of everything. But he didn't blame her, the way he had acted was despicable. As he headed down the corridor and into the room, there was a pit in his gut. He could understand if she wanted him to stay away, but part of him knew that it would break him.
The door was ajar when he reached it and he dared a peek in. She was sat up. Actually sat up, with a bowl of warm porridge on her lap. Was she better already? Erik gulped and opened the door.
Her head turned to him slowly, her eyelids fluttered when she looked at him. At least she wasn't screaming and shouting.
"Erik." She said in a soft voice, acknowledging his entrance into the room. Oh how he wanted to turn back. To just turn back and bolt down the corridor and never leave his room again. Those big, innocent green eyes of hers were daggers to his heart.
"E-Elise." Pushing down all of those emotions, Erik tried to keep cool. Closing the door behind him firmly, he remained on the far side of the room, with his hands clasped behind his back. "You're feeling better?"
"Much." Though her reply was blunt, she was trying her hardest to be polite. "You don't have to stand all the way over there Erik... You can come closer." His feet moved automatically, dragging his body towards her. He was expecting her to flinch, but her eyes were fixed on his with a great determination.
"Elise..." The tone of his voice was that of great sadness, but she held up a hand to stop him.
"Erik, listen." As soon as she said this, he nodded- standing to attention. "What you did to me is unforgivable. It is that kind of abusive behavior that goes against all of my morals, not only as a feminist- but as your wife." The nodding continued, only now he cast his gaze to the floor.
"The fact that you raised your hand to me shows your lack of respect for me. I am not a dog, I am not some animal that you can train into doing as you please with a swipe of your hand and a dark tone to your voice." He tried to protest, opening his mouth, but her talking got more rapid to stop him.
"No, Erik. I know you may have not thought of it that way, in fact you probably didn't even realise that that was the reason why you were doing it. And I don't blame you."
At this, his head came back up and looked at her- hopeful. "It is the society that you have been brought up in that is to blame." Slowly, his head nodded. He didn't understand, but he was sure that she would make him. "Therefore, for this one time only I am willing to try to forget this whole affair and try to move on."
His eyes widened again he went to speak, but she held up a hand to silence him. "You so much as raise your voice at me Erik Destler and I will walk out of here and take whatever I can with me. I will drag your name through the dirt and leave you with nothing. Nadir or no Nadir." Erik rapidly nodded his agreement and knelt to her side.
"I really don't deserve you Elise... After everything I've done." He said, taking her hand into his so delicately.
"I know I know." She rolled her eyes, "Now let's start fresh.".
"Okay. And I promise you're Elise- I'll be the best husband I can possibly be for you." When he said this, she kissed his knuckles and smiled.
"Good."