Erik sat there staring at my wide eyed as I cried my heart out for him. Finally, after of about 5 minutes I had no tears left and managed to calm myself down. I was able to speak.
"Erik, finish the rest of your story. Where did you go when you took me back to the hotel, what happened to your mask, to the burns, to him?" I said all at once wanting to having everything out in the open once and for all.
Erik took a few deep breaths as though preparing himself. " After taking you back to the hotel and checking on you a couple times to be absolutely sure that you would be alright, I went to southern part of the country near the beach and checked myself into a mental institution. I got help, I spoke to a psychiatrist, took pills for my depression and insomnia, and went to a plastic surgeon. I spent two and a half months in that place, speaking to the psychiatrist, telling him everything I just told you. We tried everything to get rid of the Phantom. Pills; didn't work made me sick, even more depressed then I already was. Hypnosis; he almost killed the psychologist. Even Electrotherapy; hurt me like hell, made him come out even more strong. Until finally a month in we found out what worked."
At this point Erik stopped, waited for me to look up at him then stood up holding his hand out for me. I took his hand and stood up then followed him as he started to walk away from the café, as we walked he continued to hold my hand, linking his fingers through mine.
I smiled softly and said "So, what was it that finally worked?"
He chuckled softly, looked over at me and said one word, that nearly stopped my heart. "You."
I looked over at him, a soft smile on my lips. "Me, how did I stop it?"
Erik brought our linked hands up to his lips and kissed my hand softly.
"One day when I went into his office for my session he was paceing up and down the room, waiting for me. The second I walked through the door, he was speaking ready to start. "Erik I think I finally figured it out, I don't know how I didn't think of this earlier. I want to try hypnosis again." I can only imagine the look on my face, I told him he must be suicidal, the Phantom had almost killed him last time and would probably succeed this time. But he told me to trust him, that he was 100% sure that he had finally figured it out. Eventually I relented and agreed. He put me under, at first everything was fine, it was me just answering his questions but then bang out of no where out he came. He was calm at first which worked to our advantage. The Dr. was able to ask him some questions, he had him right where he wanted him. Then the doctor started to talk about you, that's when he got aggressive. Talking about the one who got away, the things he wanted to do to you and would some day do to you. The doctor egged him on, told him to give him details, the things he said were horrible, and I could here them. They were so bad that my subconscious started to fight against him. The things he was saying made me so angry, made me feel so protective of you that finally for the first time ever I was able to fight him off. We continued to do this every session, until finally I was able to fight him off completely. Once I was able to do this, the doc prescribed me some pills again. I haven't had an episode as we came to call them in a month and a half, it may not seem like much but it's a start. After three months in the hospital, I had facial reconstructive surgery. They took skin from other areas of my body and used it on my face so that they could remove the burnt, dead skin." I was in recovery for six weeks, but it was worth. I refused to look in a mirror until I was completely healed and when I was finally able to it was like looking at the 8 year old Erik again. I felt great and I knew that I was ready to come back to you. That everything was going to be ok."
We had stopped at a little park and were sitting on the edge of a fountain, Erik had been so caught up in the rest of his story that he hadn't even noticed that I was crying. When he did notice he took my hand bringing it to his lips once more. "Darling, what is it, don't cry."
Through my tears and sobs I managed to say " Its all my fault." He lopoked at me like I was crazy. "What is your fault Mon Ange?" he said using his old pet name for me as he slowly wiped the tears from my eyes. " The only reason HE came back in the first place was because of me, if I hadn't been in the opera house, you wouldn't have had to go to a mental hospital, you wouldn't have had to leave your home."
Erik started to laugh, he actually started laughing, like I had never heard before. "Are you insane, Are you crazy? If it wasn't for you I would have been stuck in that Opera House lonely and depressed for the rest of my life. You saved me. Meeting you, was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. It was my love for you, that helped me fight him. If wasn't for you I would have never had the courage to leave Opera House or go to get the help that I've always needed. I would have never had this surgery. I would still be a monster." As he said this last part he pulled out his wallet and pulled a picture out from it and showed it to me.
It was him before the surgery, without a mask on. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. Half of his face showed the beautiful Erik that I had fallen in love with and the other half showed the monster hidden inside him. The tears slowly began to fall again. He took the picture back, looking at it and said "I keep it to remind of what I was and what I would have always been if you hadn't come walking into the Opera House. And to remind of what I will never let myself become again." He took my hand and pulled me up, and started to dance with me right there in the park by the fountain and whispered in my ear, "You my love, made me human again."
By this time I was having a hard time holding back the sobs but as he slowly began to hum the same tune I heard the first time we met, the tears stopped and my body relaxed into his and all that was left was the feeling of his arm around me, his body pressed to mine and the beautiful tone of his voice.