After giving her angel some time to sit and rest, she politely relayed to him that it was time to get him to bed so that she could see to his wounds. She spoke with such kindness and handled him with such delicacy that it surprised Erik. He had not expected her to show kindness towards him at all.
"I'm going to need your help again if we are to get you into your bed," she said as she moved into a position to better support him in his transition from the chair to his bed.
He simply nodded his head and extended his left hand out to her. She took his hand and, with some effort, helped him out of the chair, taking care not to touch his injured shoulder in the process. She slipped her arm around his waist and helped him turn around, and they slowly made their way to his bedroom, where she removed his cape and vest before gently sitting him down on the bed. Before allowing him to lie down, she removed his shoes and placed enough pillows together to prop him up a bit.
As he laid down, he watched her carefully. Her face did not betray her thoughts, though he took what he did see to be nothing but kindness, so Erik was left to continue wondering what she might actually be feeling regarding this new twist to the already odd situation they found themselves in. He winced as his shoulder hit the bed.
"How are you feeling?" she asked as a look of concern swept over her face. He closed his eyes as she worked to remove his shirt in an effort to examine his arm and shoulder, blushing a bit in the process.
"I've felt better," he replied with a slight smile as he continued to watch her. He noticed her blush, so he looked away so as not to embarrass her further. He winced and let out a slight hiss when she touched his shoulder.
Pushing past her slight embarrassment, she said, "Your shoulder looks fine, though I'm sure it's quite bruised. And you've got a slight cut along your arm that needs to be taken care of." Her examination moved down to his leg, and she continued the tear in the fabric near the wound that the board he had landed on had already started. "Let me take a look at your leg now. I've got to clean and bandage it so you don't get an infection. Do you have any alcohol and something I can make bandages out of?" she asked.
"Over in the dresser…you should find some sheets," he said, feeling a little weak. "And there should be some alcohol out near the piano."
"Very well. You just relax, and I'll get you fixed up." She gathered up the sheets and the alcohol and then returned to his side and began to tear the sheets into strips. "How long have you lived here, Monsieur?" she asked as she worked.
He didn't answer, but simply watched her, afraid to confess. When she paused to look at him, he finally answered, "I've been here nearly a year."
"Nearly a year," she repeated to herself. "And this whole time, you've known of my coming here to practice, but you never said anything until four months ago. Why?"
He looked at her shyly before responding, "I…I didn't want to frighten you. I was afraid that if you knew of me, you might alert someone to my presence, and I'd be forced to run again."
"Run from what?" she asked. "What are you hiding from?"
"That is a story for another day," he said with a sigh and an air of finality on the subject. At that point, she knew not to question him further on the matter.
"Okay. I'll leave that be for now," she said as she began to clean up his arm and leg. "However, I hope that you'll be willing to provide answers to other questions before too long."
As she cleaned up his wounds, he winced in pain. She tried to be as gentle as possible, something Erik was amazed to discover. He knew she had every reason not to be gentle with him, and yet she took the utmost care not to hurt him any more than was necessary to get the job done.
After she had cleaned and bandaged his wounds, she went and got him a fresh glass of water. As he sipped from the glass, he kept his eyes on her, hoping for a stronger indication of what she was feeling towards him at that moment.
"So, Angel…do you have a name? Or should I just continue to call you 'Monsieur?'" she asked.
"Erik," he responded.
"Erik, huh? So, Erik…tell me…how exactly is it you came by the profession of Angel of Music?" she asked with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
Erik had a feeling her wrath was about to start now that she had taken care of any immediate danger to his health. He braced himself for the tongue-lashing he knew he deserved, and was surprised when it never actually arrived.
"I…um…posed as your angel…because I was afraid you would…you would run from me if you saw me," he stammered.
"Run from you? Dear God, why would I do a thing like that, unless your intentions were to harm me, that is," she asked, slightly indignant.
"I also figured you'd leave and never return if you knew the truth that I was…" he couldn't finish his sentence.
"That you were a man and not an angel? I must admit I do feel a bit ashamed that I allowed you to fool me in the first place," she said with a frown.
"I stayed in the shadows because…because it is typical for people to turn and run out of fear when they see me, so I figured you would be no different. However, your music touched me, and I really wanted help you, so posing as your angel was the only option that would allow me to teach and visit with you without revealing myself," he finally managed to say.
She continued to look him over for any other scratches and bruises she might have missed as she contemplated what to say in return. "Well, Monsieur, in refusing to reveal yourself, it seems you have underestimated me. You should have given me a chance. Perhaps I would have surprised you, but now we'll never know if I would have turned and run, will we?" she said with a lingering touch of sarcasm as she raised her eyebrows and cocked her head to the right.
With that, she shook her head and sighed as she got up from the bed, looking back down at him with a softness in her eyes that Erik found endearing. "I think you should rest now. I'll be back to check on you later." She then took some of the pillows from behind him so that he could lie down flat on the bed. "Is there anything I can get you for now?" she asked.
Startled again by her thoughtfulness, he paused before shaking his head and saying, "No, thank you. You've already done far more for me than I deserve."
She gave him a slight smile and a look that seemed to say, "You're probably right about that," but she didn't actually say it. Instead, she squeezed his hand and said, "I'll be back in a few hours to check up on you."
As she walked off, she turned around once with a smile that Erik found charming. He had just enough time to wonder if they had maybe switched roles, turning her into his angel instead of the other way around, before he drifted off into a deep sleep.