Christine looked toward the opening door, hoping… more praying that it would be Erik. She wanted to be reassured that this wasn't some sick dream playing a horrible prank on her. Her feelings were rest assured as Erik walked through the door causing Christine to breathe a sigh of relief and burst into tears.

Erik stood dumbfounded for a moment and looked behind him, not knowing if he was the cause of her instant sadness. He walked swiftly over to her on the bed and wrapped his strong arms around her.

"Christine"

He said he name so softly and with such love that it made Christine cry harder. She buried her face into his chest and grabbed at his shirt wildly.

Erik frowned as he began to murmur into her ear that everything would be alright.

"What's wrong love?"

Christine sniffled and looked into the eyes of her masked lover. Worry and love were shining through his eyes as he ran his hand through her hair, attempting at any way to calm her down.

"Erik-I…" she stopped; she was at a loss for words. She was still so shaken about what Dominic had done to her. She wasn't sure if she should tell Erik that Dominic had… touched her.

She decided it was probably best not to mention these topics to Erik at the moment, she didn't want to upset him anymore then he already was.

"Christine, what's troubling you?"

She sighed; she had told him what had happened last night before they had both gone to bed… but a lot of what she had said wasn't exactly the truth. She watered down the story some to keep Erik at a cool level.

She shook her head and smiled at him through tear clouded eyes. He leaned down and kissed her gently. He couldn't get over how much he loved her. He released her from his kiss and held her closer to his body, never wanting to feel anything else but her fragile body pressed against his.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Christine slept for the next couple of days, only waking when Erik would come in with food for her to eat. Her body was still extremely weak, and after a visit from the doctor, Christine and Erik were informed that she should be on bed rest for the next couple of weeks. At first Christine didn't complain, for she was far too weak to care about anything but the pain coming from her muscles. Now several days later, she was beginning to feel restless. She looked around her sun lit room wondering where Erik could be. She had been seeing less and less of him since her incident, and she was beginning to feel discouraged. She propped herself up on her pillows and awaited her usual visit from Maryanne.

On the hour Maryanne came in to see an anxious and bored looking Christine. She walked over to the bed and took Christine's hand in hers.

"Not taking a liking to this bed are you?"

Christine half smiled, "No, not in the least bit". She wriggled under the covers to make a point, "I can't wait anymore". She stopped, "Why is it I never see either Erik or Nadir anymore?"

At the mention of the Persians name Maryanne turned a slight shade of pink. She knew the absence as of late of both men, but she could absolutely not tell Christine.

Christine saw the blush on Maryanne's face and forgot the subject of the men's absence for a moment, "You like him don't you?" she said with a smile on her face.

Maryanne's blush deepened, "I-well I'm not sure".

Christine giggled in delight, "I know it's more than that Maryanne, I've seen the way you two act together!" she squeezed her friends hand in a loving gesture "I am happy for you".

Maryanne smiled at her friend, "He told me he didn't know what he would have done if he hadn't met me".

Christine beamed as her friend gushed more about the mysterious Persian. She couldn't be any happier for her friend. She sighed on the inside; she missed Erik a lot these past few days. The only part of the day she would look forward to was at night when he would slip next to her in the bed they had been sharing since her return and the night of his proposal. She felt the guilt begin to eat at her for not telling Erik about all the horrible things Dominic had done to her.

She shuddered visibly as she remembered his attempts at taking her. He had touched her in sacred places….. If Erik found out…She felt tears beginning to brim at her eyes, would he still want her touch?

She hid her sad demeanor when Maryanne gave her and odd looking. She smiled at her friend as she told her that she would begin lunch and be back shortly. Christine nodded and sighed against the pillows. Erik and Nadir were in Paris as Maryanne explained earlier and wouldn't be back until late tomorrow. Why Erik had failed to mention this to her she wasn't sure. She had convinced Maryanne that she would have a nervous break down if she wasn't informed where Erik was and conned the information out of the maid. Erik was hiding something for her and it was driving her mad. She sighed as she looked out the window; the shining sun was gone, now replaced by dark looming storm clouds promising a heavy storm in the coming hours.

"Great now they'll be stuck in Paris"

She groaned and decided it was time to get out of bed. With Erik being absent she could get away with walking around by herself. She slid her legs over the side of the bed and held on to the post as she began to stand. Her legs wobbled slightly but accepted the weight they were being given, and she made her way toward the door.

She walked out into the hall way, her bare feet making a slight padding noise against the carpeted floor. She wanted to make it down to the kitchen to surprise Maryanne and possibly help her out with the cooking, although the likeliness of that was very slim.

She reached the kitchen door after about five minutes of struggled walking and opened the door. She expected to see Maryanne but was greeted with an empty kitchen instead. Frowning she walked into the kitchen and looked around. Everything seemed to be in the right place, but where was Maryanne?

She let out an oomph as she was slammed against the near by counter quite harshly. She attempted to turn but was kept with her back to her attacker for a moment. Christine began to shake as memories of what had happened washed over her.

"Oh Christine, did they really think they could keep you away from me?"

Christine froze at the sound of that voice. She knew it and all to well….

"Raoul?"

A piercing laugh came from behind her and she shuddered.

"At your service".