Christine's POV

I was so worried that my angel was going to die. I stayed by his side the entire night, never leaving him for a single second. I prayed… I prayed to the Lord above and to my father that they would both watch over Erik and bring him back to me. I sung to him… I sung to my Erik, for my music always made him feel better. There were times during the night when the doctor would come into Erik's room and check his vitals. The first two times the doctor checked, he looked at me with doubting eyes, making my heart break from within my chest. The doctor told me that his heart rate was extremely weak and his blood pressure was dropping dramatically. When I was left alone with Erik, I kissed him on his deathly cold lips and let the tears in my eyes land on his lifeless cheeks.

"I don't want you to leave me, Erik," I cried. "I just got you back…. You can't leave me now. We have so much to do, so much to see together… Gustave needs his father and I need a husband. I want you to be my one love one lifetime. You already are, but I want it to be official… I want to walk down the aisle with you…."

I couldn't hold myself back anymore from wanting to feel his arms around me. Therefore, I crawled into bed with him and placed my head on his chest. The doctor had been right, his heart was beating ever so slowly as if it could stop at any second. I prayed that it wouldn't happen and hummed a few of his favorite tunes to him. I must have fallen asleep in his arms, for I woke the following morning when the sun blinded me. I opened my eyes and noticed the beautiful blue sky and sun that were painting the vision of a perfect day, a day that I wanted to spend at the beach with my son and angel. That's when I remembered! My angel! I turned to face him, taking notice that his fever was still extremely high and his flesh was deathly pale.

"Erik?" I called his name and brushed my fingers through his few locks of sparse hair. "Erik, can you hear me?"

When he didn't answer, I got frightened. His breathing was also very raspy and low, making me even more frightened for his life. I straightened my dress and headed out into the hall to fetch the doctor. When he followed me back to Erik's room, I stood there watching the man examine my angel. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited impatiently for him to be done.

"So?" I asked. "Is he all right?"

The doctor put his stethoscope around his neck and shook his head. "It shouldn't be long now, Madame. His body isn't strong enough to pull through. His heart is weak and he's having trouble breathing. His body is having a hard time healing from the bullet he took in the chest. I'm sure his body is going to give out soon. I'm guessing that he's not going to make it through the day."

"But you said yesterday that he wasn't going to make it through the night and he did. It's morning and he's still alive. That's a major accomplishment. If he pulled through last night then I'm sure he can make it until tomorrow as well."

"I highly doubt it, Madame. It would take a miracle for him to pull through, and even if he does, he's going to need a lot of recovery time."

"I know he's going to make it," I swore. "Erik is the strongest person I know."

When the doctor left, Nadir came walking in with Gustave at his side. Nadir didn't say anything at first and half smiled at me.

"Has he woken up yet?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No, he hasn't woken yet. The doctor doesn't think he's going to make it. I think he has the power to do so."

"Power isn't what it takes, Christine. Erik wants to live for you and the boy, this I know. It's his body that needs to do the work. It's his body that needs to heal. I'm sure Erik will do all that he can do to fight. He's not weak…"

"I know…"

My son came running to me and wrapped his tiny arms around my waist.

"Mama, I'm hungry…"

Nadir took a seat at Erik's bedside.

"You've been here all night," he said. "Why don't you take Gustave and get something to eat. He needs you. I'll watch Erik for a while."

I didn't want to leave Erik's side, but my child needed me now more than ever. Deciding to let Nadir take over for a while, I took my child by the hand and walked to the Phantasma bakery. I didn't want to be in Phantasma, for everything there reminded me of Erik. Everything in his world screamed my angel and I didn't want to think about him now, not when he was on death's door. My son wanted a raisin covered sticky bun, Erik's favorite and the entire time I watched him eat it, all I could think about was my angel. My son was Erik down to the T and to have him leave me with his son would kill me inside.

"Mama, you're not eating," Gustave said after a while. "You're also being very quiet. What's wrong? It's papa, isn't it?"

I never thought in a million years that my son would have taken the news of Erik being his father so well, but he seemed happy that my angel was his father. I always thought that if I ever had to tell Gustave the truth that he would have been frightened and upset…but he wasn't.

"I don't think papa is going to give up," he said. "I think he's going to fight this."

"Really?" I questioned. "Do you really believe that papa is going to get well again?"

Gustave nodded. "Last night I saw him… I saw him walking on the beach with us. I was a little older than I am now. Maybe five or six…. I was running and he was right there behind me. He swung me from his arms and I was laughing. You were there too, mama… We were happy."

I knew Gustave was just trying to make me feel better and if I knew his dream would come true, then I would have been happy.

"The doctors told me that papa might not make it."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that they believe he's going to die."

"I…I never saw someone die, mama… What is it like to die?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, does it hurt?"

"Sometimes," I said. "I don't know what it would feel like for papa… He's not conscious right now, so if he were to die, I'm not sure how he would be feeling. I imagine that he is probably in a lot of pain right now because of his chest."

"I don't want my papa to die. I want him to wake up so we can play together. My birthday is in a few months and I want him to be there for it."

"So do I, Gustave."

When Gustave was finished with his breakfast, we decided to walk home so I could freshen up before returning to the hospital for another long day of sitting by my angel's bed. After changing into a new dress, I decided to gather up some of Erik's fresh clothing in case he woke and wanted to wear some of his clothes instead of the hospital gowns they had been placing him in.

I was just packing up some of his shirts, when my son emerged from my angel's closet on the other side of the room. I had never gone into that closet, for I knew how angry he always became when I went rummaging through his things.

"Gustave, you shouldn't be in there…" I said. "You know how much your father dislikes it when we snoop around his things."

"Mama, did you see this?"

I wasn't paying any mind to the boy, for he wasn't even supposed to be in there…

"Gustave, close the door and get away from there. I don't need your father getting upset with me if he returns home and finds his closet a mess."

"But I don't think he's ever gone into this closet before, mama… It's really dusty."

I was about to raise my voice to Gustave for his disobedience, but when I turned and found him standing in the doorway of the strange closet, I too became curious. I walked to the doorway and peeked into the dusty realm.

"What's this?" he asked.

That's when I looked down and found him holding a music box… But not just any music box, it was the one Erik used to have in his lair. A monkey in Persian robes, playing the cymbals. I hadn't seen this since the night Erik and I spent in his lair.

"Where did you find that?" I questioned.

"There are a few crates back there with lots of old junk in it."

Curious, I walked further into the closet and approached the crates Gustave had been talking about. There were at least four other crates filled with scores and trinkets that had come from Erik's lair! Candelabras, scores, quills, and a framed picture…. Curious, I picked the framed portrait up and turned it over. The glass may have been cracked, but the picture inside of it was in perfect condition… The picture was of me performing in Hannibal… Erik had this same picture sitting on his desk in his lair. Where had these things come from? And why were they in this closet? Knowing where the items needed to be, I pulled the crates out of the closet and began dusting each item off and placed them in their proper places in Erik's room.

"Mama, why are we putting these things in papa's room? Wouldn't he get angry if he saw them out?"

"No, Gustave," I said, placing the final item down on Erik's nightstand. That item being the framed picture of me. "I believe it will give him some sense of remembrance."

Erik's bedroom finally looked like home again, and I didn't want to leave it. His lair was like home to me, and now his room looked exactly like it. When we were back at the hospital, Nadir took Gustave and I was back to babysitting my angel again. He didn't make much of a stir, not even when the doctor came back to check on him again. Day turned into night, and my angel was still breathing. When my legs became tired of sitting, I stood and began hanging some of his clean shirts in the tiny wardrobe that was across from his bed. Wanting to sing to my angel, I began to hum one of his songs… I hummed Music of the Night to him while taking each shirt and hanging it in the closet. What if my Erik did indeed die? What then? Just thinking about it brought tears to my eyes. I didn't want to think about burying him or think about life without him. When I stopped singing, I wiped away a few stray tears that had emerged and took a deep breath.

"And why have you stopped singing?" came a strange, yet familiar voice.

My heart skipped a beat as I heard the voice, for I knew that warm and velvety voice anywhere! I turned and cried tears of joy as I witnessed my Erik lying awake in bed! He was alive!

"Erik?"

"Yes, my Christine? You haven't answered my question though… Why have you stopped singing?"

"You heard me?"

He nodded. "Only all through last night and this morning. I believe Nadir was singing to me at one point as well, but I may have been dreaming that. His voice really is horrible…"

I didn't hesitate a single moment in wrapping my arms around him. I couldn't help it, for I was so happy.

"Oh, you're alive, angel…"

"Only because your sweet voice kept me from going towards the light. To me, Christine, you are my life…"

"And you are mine…"


Only a few chapters left everyone. Switch over to my new story and check out the first 2 chapters!