Chapter 24

"It's like I can't breathe; it's like I can't see anything

Nothing but you; I'm addicted to you

It's like I can't think, without you interrupting me

In my thoughts, in my dreams; you've taken over me."

-Kelly Clarkson, "Addicted"

Erik and Julianna hastily rushed down the long hallway to Adora and Lewis's bedroom, Julianna practically slamming open the door. Elaine stifled a cry of shock at the loud noise, but everyone else seemed quite unfazed. William was standing by Adora's bed, looking up with hopeful eyes as Julianna entered the room. Elaine was over in the corner, holding on to Lewis rather roughly for support, while all the time, he was fidgeting, trying to get free of her grasp.

Julianna immediately hurried over to the bed and carefully examined little Adora. She was extremely pale and her face looked a little gaunt, with noticeable dark circles under her eyes. After seeing the frightened look in Adora's eyes, Julianna turned to Elaine. "Elaine, I think it would be best if you leave the room," she said. "You're only making your daughter more nervous. And take Lewis with you." She turned to William. "William, you can stay if you'd like… or you can go with your wife."

William smiled kindly. "I think I'll go," he said. "I would just be in the way if I stayed."

Julianna returned his kind smile. "Are you sure?" she asked. "I'm certain Adora would appreciate a familiar face."

"I'm sure Erik could fill in for me, am I right?" he said, looking at Erik.

"Of course, I will," Erik said, unable to contain the happiness in his voice. William had asked him to fill in as Adora's father for a while. Her father. Just then, Erik silently wished that he had his own children. Thinking of himself as a father made him feel all tingly and happy inside.

"Good," William said, grinning. "She absolutely adores you, Erik!" He looked to Julianna and then back at Erik. "Have you two ever thought of having children? You both would make excellent parents!"

Erik looked over at Julianna lovingly, and she smiled at him, nodding her head slightly. "Someday…" Erik said, trying to keep his voice from cracking. "Someday we would like to have children." He smiled, wondering if Julianna wanted children as much as he did. Would she want his children? he wondered.

William smiled once again. "Well, I'll be off then," he said. "Fetch me if you need anything." And with that, he walked out the door, in frantic search of his hysterical wife.

Julianna instantly went back to caring for Adora, pressing a cool, damp cloth to her feverish forehead. "I believe her illness is nothing more than a mild virus, which her immune system should be able to fight off in a few days time," she said, and Erik realized she must have been a great doctor. She knew exactly what she was talking about, no doubt about it.

"So, I guess that means there's no medicine to give her as a cure," Erik said. He'd read quite a few books pertaining to medicine, and he knew that there was no known cure for any virus, but they could be prevented with a vaccine shot. The vaccine contained the same virus, only weakened to the point at which it could cause no harm. With the vaccine, the body could produce an active immunity to the virus, which means that the next time the virus invaded the body, it could be destroyed without the person getting sick or even knowing it was there.

"No," Julianna agreed. "There is no cure… but there is something I can give her to reduce the fever and allow her to sleep restfully. Her fever is high, and it could be dangerous, even fatal, if it's not controlled as soon as possible."

Erik looked at her desperately, wondering how she could be so calm. But of course, it was her job as a doctor to stay calm in situations such as this. "Fatal?" he repeated, quite shocked. "As in, she could die?"

"If not treated properly and promptly, yes, it is a possibility," Julianna said, calmly. "I'll go and get that medicine. I'm sure I have some downstairs. Stay here with Adora. I'll be right back."

"Of course," he said, nodding. "Hurry."

So, Erik stayed with Adora, holding her hand and whispering words of reassurance to her, until Julianna returned with the medicine. Within minutes, Julianna ran into the room frantically, gasping for breath and holding a small, brown, glass bottle of medicine. "Erik," she said, trying to catch her breath. "We have one teensy little problem…"

"What's that?" he asked anxiously, while rushing over to her and holding her while she caught her breath. She must have been running as fast as she could, he thought, for her to be this out of breath. He knew Julianna didn't tire easily. In fact, he'd never seen her so exhausted, except after they …

"Well," she said, interrupting his thoughts and holding up the bottle of medicine. "This medicine is old … It's no good anymore. It won't bring down her fever. And unfortunately, it's the only bottle of it I've got."

Erik frowned, and she could see the fear in his eyes. "What are you going to do?" he asked, voice full of worry. He wasn't going to let anything happen to Adora, no matter what the consequences were for him.

"Well, it seems as if I'll have to go into the city to buy some more…" she began.

"No!" he cut her off. "You can't! It's too dangerous." He put his arms around her, pulling her to his chest, and she could feel just how hard his heart was beating. She knew he was very worried, but he had to allow her to go into Paris. That was the only way to get more of the medicine.

"Erik, I'll be fine," she reasoned. "No one even knows that I killed anyone," she whispered so that Adora couldn't overhear her. "I'm in no danger."

"No, I'm not letting you go," he said firmly, but she knew he was secretly pleading with her not to go. "Send William … I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"You know I can't send William," she said, gently kissing him. "He's never even been to Paris. He would get lost in a heartbeat and we don't have that kind of time to spare. I have to go, Erik. Adora could die."

Erik had nothing to say to that. He couldn't argue … because she was right. She did have to go. But he didn't want her to. What if she got hurt or into trouble? He couldn't let her go alone. He wasn't going to risk losing her. "Alright," he said, kissing her forehead, fiercely. "But I'm going with you."

"No!" she said, holding him tightly. "If anyone saw you… Erik, it's too dangerous. Too much to risk. I cannot allow you to accompany me."

He looked at her with pleading eyes. "I can stay in the shadows," he said. "No one would even know I was there. I won't be seen. I promise."

"I can't take that chance," she said, rubbing his back tenderly. "I have to go alone. It's much safer that way. There's no need to worry… I've taken care of myself for twenty-eight years. I'll be fine."

Erik frowned in defeat. He had no choice but to let her go to Paris … alone. Once again, she was right. He knew perfectly well that he couldn't go into the city. He would be putting himself, as well as the woman he loved, in mortal danger. And she has taken care of herself for a long time, he assured himself. She's a pirate. She will be fine.

He nodded his head slowly and painfully, and she cupped his face gently in her hands, kissing him passionately. "Thank you," she whispered lovingly. "I'll need you to stay with Adora. Make sure a fresh cloth is placed on her forehead every little bit. That should keep her fever under control until I get back."

"D'accord, my love. I will," he said quietly. "When will you leave?"

"As soon as I explain to William and Elaine," she said. "Come with me downstairs… please. Adora should be fine long enough for you to see me off."

"Certainly," he said, clutching her hand tightly. With that, they hurried downstairs and explained to William and Elaine that Julianna would have to ride to Paris to buy medicine for their daughter. Of course, they questioned why Julianna was going and not Erik. Generally, it was a man's responsibility to make such a journey. But Julianna and Erik couldn't really think of a good excuse, except that Julianna was a faster rider, which William and Elaine seemed to believe, much to Erik's embarrassment. He was, in fact, quite a good horseback rider.

After that was said, Elaine rushed upstairs to check on Adora, and William and Erik followed Julianna outside to see her off. Julianna decided that she would have to take a different horse than her trusty Stardust, because someone might have seen the horse that the Phantom of the Opera had escaped on. She chose a young, white thoroughbred stallion named Duke, and immediately got to work saddling him. When she was done, she led the horse back to the front of the house where Erik and William waited for her.

Erik pulled Julianna into his arms for a quick goodbye kiss, which turned out to be not so quick, much to William's discomfort. When they finally broke apart, William could only smile at the loving couple awkwardly.

Erik tucked at strand of Julianna's hair behind her ear. "Be careful," he whispered. "I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you."

"I'll be careful," she said, pulling him into her arms again. "I love you, Erik," she said, pressing her warm lips to his cheek tenderly.

"I love you, too," he said, and then helped her up onto the large horse. "Hurry back, my love," he said, right before she gave the horse a hard kick in the sides and galloped off.

Erik watched her racing off into the distance until she disappeared from his view. Then he turned to William. "I hope you'll understand," he said. "I have to follow her and make sure she's safe from any harm."

William nodded. "I understand," he said. "I thought you might want to." He smiled. "Your love is so strong … it's beautiful… Yes, go after her. I'll watch the house for you."

"Thank you," Erik said, a little embarrassed but pleased all the same. William had said their love was beautiful… Without another word, Erik ran to the stable to choose a horse for his journey. He quickly saddled a dark brown, thoroughbred gelding, hoping that he would be able to catch up to Julianna before she reached Paris. Naturally, he wasn't going to let her know that he was there. He was just going to follow her, hide in the shadows, and make sure she didn't get into any kind of trouble.

The second Erik realized that she was traveling on the road, his heart leaped. What if someone saw him? He quickly pulled the hood of his cloak over his head, hiding his face as much as possible. He was quite positive that no one would be able to get a good look at his face, as long as he kept traveling at a fast speed.

So he urged the gelding on, as fast as he would go comfortably. Soon Erik began to worry when after an hour, he hadn't been able to catch up to Julianna. Perhaps, she was a faster rider than he'd originally thought. She did say that she used to race her horse, didn't she? Erik kicked his horse, encouraging him to speed up a little. Within a few minutes, Erik let out a breath of relief, as he spied Julianna and her white stallion a good distance up the road.

Erik instantly slowed his horse, so that Julianna wouldn't be alerted to his position. He stayed back as far as he possibly could, making sure he could just barely see her. He didn't want her pirate senses getting wind of him there. And so, they traveled like that for a couple of hours until they reached the outskirts of the city of Paris.

Keeping her horse at a steady trot as they traveled through the city streets, the first thing Julianna noticed was the tight security and all the talk of the Phantom of the Opera and how he mysteriously escaped from the heavily guarded prison. The theory that most people had was that he had to have had an accomplice. One man, not even the Phantom, couldn't have killed that many guards and lived to tell about it without help.

Julianna hurried through the crowded streets, oblivious to the fact that Erik was closely following her. As he rode through the city, he tried to ignore the curious glances of many passersby. How often did they see a hooded figure ride through the streets of Paris in broad daylight? Thankfully, no one looked too overly suspicious of him though.

In a few minutes time, Julianna arrived at the pharmacy, quickly tied her horse, and rushed inside. Erik was too far away to hear much of anything, but he did find a small window he could peek in through. He watched Julianna scan the shelves of medical supplies, finally finding the bottles she was looking for. She selected two of them and then went to the back to pay for the merchandise. Erik was surprised as she pulled several gold coins out of her pocket and placed them on the counter. Could the medicine possibly be that expensive? That was enough money for any middle-class family to buy food for a month at least.

Erik quickly hid as she walked out the door, the bottles of medicine safely stashed in her pockets. Julianna looked around cautiously, a bit of a frightened look on her face. She was almost sure that she felt someone watching her. While she was looking around, she gasped as she saw the Opera Populaire, which had only burned a little over a week ago, in the distance. The Opera House where Erik had lived… most of his life, Julianna thought.

She longed to know more about her mysterious Erik and his previous life, and she couldn't stop her feet from carrying her closer to the Opera House. Erik held his breath as she approached closer and closer to his Opera House. Certainly, she wouldn't, he told himself. She wouldn't go in… He sighed. No, he thought. Knowing her, she probably will go in. And he was right. She did go in.

Julianna stared at the shocking destruction and damage that was visible inside the Opera House. The walls and ceiling were burnt badly, so that they looked like they were quite close to caving in. Nearly all of the rooms were scorched and blackened from the fire… the fire that Erik had caused. He must have loved her a lot, she thought, to accidentally burn down his own Opera House for her. She sniffed the air, wrinkling her nose as the stale, burnt smell that filled the building.

Erik was having no difficulty following her. He knew every inch of the Opera House like the back of his hand. He could easily keep a close eye on Julianna without being seen. He held his breath as Julianna approached Christine's old dressing room, trying not to gasp as she pried open the charred door.

The old dressing room didn't look near as bad as the rest of the Opera House. It was almost like the fire barely even touched the room. The walls weren't blackened from the fire at all, except for a little surrounding the door. Yet even though the fire didn't cause much damage, the room still looked as if it had been deserted for years. The furniture was dusty and strewn about the room, the wallpaper was peeling from the walls, there was what appeared to be broken glass and dead flowers littering the floor, and the many mirrors in the room were cracked and tarnished. It looked like the room hadn't been occupied in quite some time, even though it had only been a little over a week since it had been.

Julianna frowned in concentration, feeling an icy cool draft on her arm. But how could that be? There couldn't be a breeze inside of the building … unless there was more to this room than meets the eye. She desperately searched for the source of the draft, running her hands along the walls. Then she came to a halt in front of the large mirror at the far end of the room, which had a large crack down the middle of it. Julianna waved her hand in front of the crack, and sure enough, she felt the cool breeze again. There was something behind that mirror… some sort of secret passageway or something.

Julianna ran her hands along the edge of the mirror, looking for some way to move it without having to break it. To her relief, there was a small crack of an opening on the left side, which she slipped her fingers into and pulled with all her strength. She gasped again as the mirror slid open, revealing a dark passageway. Could this be the way to Erik's old home? she wondered. Christine did say that it was underground. Julianna had to find out.

She quickly lit a torch that she found on the wall and started down the long, dark passageway. Damn her curiosity, Erik thought, as he followed her down the passageway that lead to his old home. He didn't know what he was going to do if she actually found his old home. Of course, there wasn't anything he really could do. He couldn't let her know that he was there, no matter what happened.

Well, there's Chapter 24. Please review. : )