A.N. Thanks for the good reviews!
Disclaimer: I don't own Moulin Rouge
When Satine woke up again, she was in bed. As her vision slowly came back into focus, she realized Christian was lying next to her, also awake. Granted, he was also wincing in pain from Molly cleaning the cuts on his arm, but he was still awake.
"Honestly, Christian it can't sting that badly!" Satine said causing both him and Molly to turn towards her.
"Oh, thank God you're awake! We were getting worried." Molly said as she put down the rag she had been using to clean Christian's cuts. "I think you're just about done for now" she said to Christian. "You two should get some rest." After she left the room, Christian turned towards Satine.
"Are you alright, angel? You fell pretty hard" he said as he reached over and stroked her face. Satine smiled slightly, and nodded.
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm just glad you're alright. Christian, what happened after I passed out? How is Chocolat?" she asked.
"Well, he's going to be in the hospital for awhile but he should beÉwait a minute. You remember who Chocolat is?" Christian stopped his answer when he realized that Satine had just remembered a name from her past; something she had not done on her own since her fall. "Satine, has your memory come back?" he asked.
"Yes, it is. I'm not quite sure what happened, but when I heard that gunshot everything just came rushing back to me. I suddenly remembered who Chocolat was and why the Duke was here. I know it wasn't safe to run out into the yard, but when I saw you fallÉthat was the most frightening thing I had ever seen in my life." Satine's tone changed gradually from being happy to almost being in tears as she spoke. Christian embraced her with his uninjured arm.
"Hey, it's alright. I'm here. Everyone is going to be fine" he said. The two of them sat in silence for awhile before Satine spoke up.
"Christian, can we go visit Chocolat? I just need to know that he's alright" she asked. Christian thought for a moment, and replied,
"Well, we'll have to ask a doctor. It's been getting cooler out and your consumption has been acting up lately. It may not be the best idea for you to go out right now
"Please, Christian? We don't have to stay long, and even if I do have an attack we'll already be at the hospital." Satine looked at Christian with a look that she had dubbed the "look of innocence". As a child, the look had gotten her candy or a new toy. As a courtesan, the look had become part of her "wilting flower" routine. It had even convinced Harold to give her a day off now and then. She had no doubt that it would work on Christian.
Christian laughed and said "Well, now I know you've gotten your memory back." This was not the first time Satine had used her look of innocence on him. She had used it back in Paris to get him to stay with her in her dressing room a few extra minutes or to put a line that she particularly liked into the show. Satine was right, however. The look did work on Christian. He agreed that as soon as they both were up to it, they would go and visit Chocolat.
As it turned out, that was the next day. As they walked down the hospital hallway, Satine held onto Christian's hand. She had always been a little scared of hospitals. From every room she heard coughing and moaning. What scared her most was the idea of how close she came to being in that position.
When they reached Chocolat's room, Satine let Christian enter first. Both of them were relieved to find Chocolat sitting up in the bed, laughing with Harold and Toulouse. Once Satine assured everyone that she was indeed fine, she turned her attention to Chocolat.
"Chocolat, I'm so sorry. All of this is my fault. If I had never fallen off of those stairs, none of this would have happened. I've ruined everything. Now Chocolat's hurt and I'm sick and we have no money for the show" she said. Harold stood up and went to her side.
"Gosling, none of this is your fault and you did not ruin anything! Chocolat is fine, you're going to get better and we actually have more money for the show than we did before." Both Satine and Christian were shocked to hear this. Harold went on to explain that part of the Duke's sentence for shooting Chocolat was to pay a settlement both to him and to his place of employment for the lost work time. The settlement paid to the Moulin Rouge was quite a large sum, more than the Duke was willing to pay according to the original contract.
Chocolat reached up and touched Satine's hand. "He's right, Satine. And now we won't have that Duke breathing down our necks anymore. We can do the show the way we want to. And I really am fine. I'm getting out of here in a couple of days" he said.
Harold put his hand on Satine's shoulder. "We're all going to stay here in London until you're better. If something happens, we want to know right away without waiting for a letter to travel from here to Paris. Once you're better, we're going to start the show up again.
Satine smiled and looked around the room. "Well, we really should be going. I'm not supposed to stay out for too long in this cool weather" she said. As Christian followed her out of the room and down the hallway, he asked her,
"What was that? That is the first time since you were diagnosed that you've actually recognized that you need to be at home.
Satine stopped walking and turned towards him. With a confidence in her voice that Christian hadn't heard for months, she said, "I'm going to get better, Christian, and that's not happening if I don't start taking better care of myself.
Christian smiled as they continued down the hallway. It was official, his diamond was back.
A.N. Well, that didn't take as long as the last chapter! I think this story is going to start wrapping up soon-probably about two more chapters. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. Please review!