A/N: WOOT! Another update! How do ya like them apples? Alrighty then, moving on, happy birthday to… somebody! Anyway, thanks so much to PhantomFan01 for my 50th review, you are amazing and I never thought I reach that many. As for our disclaimer, well, I'll just let Barnabas Collins take it from here; so please give a warm welcome to the vampire from the Dark Shadows fandom!

Barnabas: Our… dear Miss Wonder does not in fact have possession to the rights of the Phantom of the Opera, so do not attempt to meet her in court, for I have spoken, and the law has no meaning here.

Me: Thanks! To my readers; ENJOY!

Chapter Thirteen: Summer Vacation for Phantoms

When Erik and I were safely back at the lair, I decided to ask the question that had been on my mind for some time now. I turned to him, glad that he'd stopped crying finally, and realized that he'd sunk down into my chair. He was staring off into space, freaking me out a little bit so I approached him slowly, getting down on my knees and waving a hand in front of his face.

He didn't respond right away, which put me off the slightest bit, and so I reached out my hand to tap him on the shoulder. Again, I got nothing until roughly around seventeen seconds later, the sad ghost blinked and steadily emerged from his depressed fog. He stared at me as if he couldn't believe I'd just gotten so close to him before casually moving back just a bit, making me sit back on my heels and cross my arms in front of my chest.

"E- Phantom" I stopped myself, I couldn't let Erik know that I knew his name; he'd throw a fit at me, or possibly believe that Mme. Giry told me, and then go and unleash almighty Hell on her. "Uh, Phantom, I was wondering if you'd be interested to hear a little proposition I have for you." I said and even though he looked about as interested as a baby with a block of wood, he still found it in him to at least pay attention.

"Go on." He said in a bored voice and I gave him a sad smile, folding my hands and clearing my throat, getting ready to reveal the plan that had been swimming around in my head for about five seconds prior to this interaction.

"So, I was thinking… I don't know if you'd want to but seeing a how you are currently bleeding profusely, I thought you may want to take a small break, maybe just for a few months?" I asked very, very carefully.

Erik didn't say anything at first, but the look in his icy blue eyes was enough to tell me that he wasn't too keen on the whole idea, what a surprise! I took a very deep breath, sensing an argument as he furrowed his brow and made to stand up from the chair. I stood up as well, knowing what was coming and sure enough, the Phantom instantly winced in pain and sat back down again, with me guiding his shoulders to make sure he didn't fall.

"Just think about it." I told him in the most gentle voice I could muster. A minute passed and the silence turned completely and totally awkward, giving me plenty of time to look him over while he slipped back into his thinking state of utter stoniness.

He was handsome, very, very handsome, with his smartly-gelled hair and pretty eyes, but they were as cold as the snow he was kneeling in just an hour ago, and they were distant, like a long tunnel with no light, making the beautiful part of his face seem tragic and wasteful. The other half of his face was hidden from my view, covered by a white porcelain mask. I wanted so badly to reach over and tug it off, but I knew that I'd end up dead if I did that, so I kept my hand firmly in my lap.

My eyes wandered down to his profusely bleeding torso that had begun to seep through his white shirt….

Wait, profusely bleeding torso that had begun to seep through his white shirt? Oh no. OH FUCK NO! Sixty screamed at me from my mind and I instantly flew into a hyper-panic of sorts.

"Phantom, Phantom! SNAP OUT OF IT!" He was jarred from his own little world as I grabbed hold of his shoulders and began to shake him a little bit.

Calm down dear, he'll be fine, just keep cool. Goblin whispered and Erik seemed to notice how I suddenly just stopped shaking him and began to look at my lap.

"HE IS NOT FINE!" I shouted randomly and this seemed to startle Erik quite a bit, as he jumped back a small amount, making me come back to reality. "Okay, okay, okay… Phantom, I don't know how to tell you this but if your injury is still bleeding, you might need stitches." Erik sat in silence and I knew we did have time for this.

I'm no medical doctor… but isn't he going to die soon if you don't do something? I smacked my forehead, getting rid of Shock and I stood up, pulling Erik to his feet and dragging him back towards the bed room.

"Yeah, yeah, you need stitches, where are the needles?" Erik didn't answer right away, which made me angry, so very angry. "WHERE ARE THE GODDAMN NEEDLES?!" I screamed in his face and he almost looked a bit scared before it was covered up again and he pointed to the little box of medical supplies on the ground from before.

I pushed him over to the bed and told him to take his shirt off, which he begrudgingly did, and he lay down, not letting me get a good look at him. I snapped open the lid of the little box that was simply bursting with medical supplies like rubbing alcohol, gauze, and this strange smelling salve that he out on my hand all that time ago, which really wasn't that long ago really.

I dug to the bottom, growing quite frustrated that I couldn't seem to find the needle, I dug for what felt like quite a very long time to no success and I was just about to give up when I jabbed my finger onto its sharp, thin, pointy surface. I hissed softly and picked up the skinny little devil, wiping it off and realizing that I couldn't sew up a grown man with just a dirty needle and some string.

I stood up and didn't offer Erik any explanation at all as I bounded down the stone steps and picked up one of the candles as well as a shallow, blue-glass bowl. I was just about to go back to the room where I'd get to play surgeon and possibly kill my patient when I spotted a goodly-sized bottle of curious-looking liquid. I picked it up and inspected the label, surprised to find it to be whiskey. It hadn't been opened yet and the incredibly thick layer of dust that coated the clear-glass surface told me that it had never even been touched and while I wondered why someone would just randomly buy alcohol, I didn't dwell on it. I looked around one last time to see if there was anything else I could possibly need and I set my sight on the monkey music-box in Persian robes. I picked him up as well, just in case and then I quickly rushed back up the slippery stone steps as fast as I could go and went back into the semi-large bedroom.

I set the stuff I had collected onto the little bedside table and poured the bottle of alcohol into the shallow blue-glass bowl, setting the thread into the liquid to disinfect. I found a pair of tweezers in the medical box as well, most likely used for removing shards of glass from a wound and I propped it up near the candle so that the needle was held just above the hot, burning flame so it could be rid of any and all germs. I knew Erik's chance of getting an infection was still high, but I had to risk it. I uncorked the bottle of whiskey and kneeled down by the side of the bed.

"I need you to drink this for me, okay?" I asked and he looked at me curiously.

"What is it?" He asked and I shrugged.

"Just some whiskey. I need to stitch you up and I don't have any other pain killer. He seemed skeptical, for he looked disgusted at the thought.

"I do not drink, you stupid girl." He told me in an even voice and my gaze hardened.

"Would you prefer I knocked you unconscious for this particular surgery?" I asked and he grabbed the bottle from my hands, taking careful sips to avoid alcohol poisoning. I smirked and looked to my makeshift medical supplies, the grin falling off my face when I realized what I'd have to do.

I looked down to the small gash that had finally stopped bleeding and had dried up and gagged a little bit; this would not be easy. I took to the bottle from Erik, who said that he had begun to feel a bit tingly and I picked up the other, much smaller bottle that held what was left of the rubbing alcohol.

"Okay, here's what I'm going to do; I have to disinfect the area, I think, and I'm going to pour this on right… now." I tipped the contents of the bottle out and onto the open gash, making the flesh sizzled and Erik grit his teeth in silent pain. I felt bad for him, but I knew I had to continue.

I picked up the needle and carefully threaded it, tying a knot and praying to whatever power that resided in Heaven that this would all go smoothly.

"Phantom, hold onto the side of the bed and squeeze if it hurts." I told him and he complied. I lined the needle up carefully and with a deep breath, I slid it into his skin. Poor Erik grew even paler and waxier than he already was as I carefully sewed up his cut, trying to make it as painless as possible. I thought the bed would dent from his crushing grip, but the strange man did not scream or cry out, he merely stayed still.

When it was done, I sat back and fought off the urge to cry. I bandaged up Erik's torso again and felt sick. Blood was all over my hands and I knew that I had accidentally put him through an unneeded and excessive amount of pain due to my lack of any experience at all when it came to sewing wounds shut. I took a deep breath and realized that my hands were shaking yet again. I wiped them off on a cloth, not really caring and decided that I'd better just walk off this little escapade. I looked to Erik and I realized that he had slipped into unconsciousness. He still looked like he was on pins, even when sleeping, but he didn't snore, that was a bonus.

I took this opportunity to take a look at him, a good look at him and I found my eyes again wandering to his chest. His abs were smooth, but over them lay horrible, white, scarred gashes that seemed to be given to him quite a long time ago, as they had faded quite a bit. They were still gruesome though, and they made my hair curl.

Speaking of my hair, I knew how dirty it was, and I chose to wash it as I really had nothing better to do. Some weird soap from the medical box was found that didn't smell bad, but at the same time didn't smell good was unwrapped from its paper package and I once again departed the room to go to the lakeside. I dumped my hair into the very cold water, scrubbing the life out of my scalp and rubbing the soap in my hair until the water runs clean. I tie my hair up so my back won't get wet when I'm done and I go back to the bedroom to check on Erik, a smile coming to my face when I see he's up.

He doesn't smile back, but he does ask for his shirt, which I give to him. When he's fully clothed again, I linger by the door, debating whether or not to ask the question again. He beats me to it.

"Perhaps, foolish girl, I might be in need of a short break."