Christine:

It all seemed to happen in slow motion. One moment, I was opening my mouth to ask Erik to spare Raoul's life, and the next I was on the floor holding Erik's head in my lap. Sobbing frantically, I gazed into his pain-filled eyes and as he tried to speak, I covered his lips with my fingertips and choked, "No, don't speak, my Darling. I won't leave you... I love you. I love you..." As he closed his eyes and seemed to go limp in my arms, my grief turned to wide-eyed shock as I stared at him. There was a flurry of activity all around me but I was conscious of nothing but Erik's seemingly long, lifeless body in my arms. A determined hand shook my shoulder but I could not tear my eyes from the stream of blood seeping from my Erik's side. The hand shook me insistently and I heard as though from a dream, "Christine! Christine! Let me see him!" Slowly turning my head, I viewed Madame Giry's concerned expression and blinked without comprehension. One of the armed guards knelt beside me to assess Erik's wounds and I heard Raoul's shaky voice accusing Erik of attempting to kidnap me after breaking into his chateau. A fierce rage unlike any that I had ever known before swept through me and after carefully laying Erik's head upon the cloak which Madame Giry had balled up as a makeshift pillow, I stood and flew wildly at Raoul. With my nails and fists, I clawed and beat at him like a crazy woman. As strong arms restrained me, through my angry tears, I relayed to the confused police chief what had really happened. Raoul had come to me after rehearsals after receiving a note from me some days ago that I wished to see him briefly. It had been my intent to return the ring that he had given to me long before I had become engaged to Erik. Not wishing for Erik to notice the ring as he accompanied me to rehearsals that morning, I wore it on a long necklace with my crucifix hidden under my gown. I explained fervently that Erik had been the one to save me after Raoul seemed to go mad from my calm explanation that I could not marry him but I hoped we could be friends. Panting and desperately looking over at Erik, the guard restraining me allowed me to shake his arms loose as I pointed to Erik's unmoving form. "He saved me from this madman. The Vicomte has lost his mind.", I declared as I glared hatefully at Raoul. In a pleasingly ironic twist of fate, Raoul stared at me and whispered the precise same words that Erik had uttered in our impulsive drama, "Christine...you lied to me?" Without answering him, I roughly pulled the golden chain around my neck hard, breaking it. Removing his gaudy ring from the chain, I barely restrained myself from spitting at his feet as I tossed the ring to him with a glare of contempt before returning my attention back to Erik.

Raoul proceeded to exhibit his insanity by releasing a roar of infuriated rage and reaching out both of his hands as though to strangle me. As he spit a storm of curses at me, it took five policemen to pin him down and handcuff him. Had he not been brought under control, I believe he would have killed me without a thought.

Madame Giry looked up in alarm as I fell to my knees and she whispered, "I have had one of the policemen go for a doctor immediately. It...it is my fault, you see.

She nodded to the captain and turned to face me with an almost apologetic expression. "I knew that there could be no other outcome. It was only my intent to stop him from killing the Vicomte and seeing his wrath extinguish the one bright flame of hope for his future. He loves you so, my Dear... Tears filled her normally-stoic eyes as she explained in a hushed whisper, "When Erik learned you were taken, I'd never seen such controlled fury and it frightened me. I knew what he would do for he loves you beyond reason. So, I hastened to contact the police and told them that you were missing and the last person you were seen with was the Vicomte." Falling silent, she looked back down at Erik as she applied pressure to his wound with her own gown and warned softly, "He has lost much blood, my Dear." Nodding in understanding, I leaned forward to kiss his cold, unmasked cheek and murmured tearfully in his ear, "I love you, Angel. Don't leave me now. I love you. Please hold on."

Erik:

The dream came flooding back to me time after time – alternating between lucid vividness and distancing to a faraway quality. Both Nadir and Christine were there...again...beckoning me from the riverside. Caught in the swirling tide of the river of blood, I was powerless to fight its strength and looked towards both of them powerlessly. Longing only to surrender to its prevailing might, I knew that if I capitulated to its insistent pull that I would be parted from my Beloved. Turning my head and gazing at her longingly, I called out, "Christine! Christine!" Instantly, she began treading the vigorous current and heading towards me. Oscillating between gratitude and concern for her safety, my arms reached out blindly in her direction before darkness overtook me once more.

Yet, that was not the worst nightmare I had during that endless, sinister gloom. In another dream, I saw Christine tied and bound to a chair and the Vicomte standing behind her with the knife poised at her cheek. Panic stricken, I was unable to move my limbs to save her. No matter how much I focused my intense concentration, I could not move and sobbed at my helplessness. "Chrriissttiinneeee!"

Nadir:

The heartrending cries of his Beloved's name from his parched lips nearly brought us to tears every time. Endlessly, Erik would sob Christine's name until the fever dragged him under to slip into a deep sleep. The child's distress moved me to tears many a time as Christine attempted to soothe Erik's wild desperation. Repeatedly, she would caress his unmasked face as she murmured repeatedly through her tears, "I'm here... I'm here, Erik..." Entrenched in the grip of his hallucinations, he could not hear her nor see her. I was grateful now that I had conceded to Christine's desire to have Erik convalesce in his home below the Opera. The indescribably pitiful cries of Christine's name in Erik's hoarse voice made me wince from an almost physical internal pain each time. His bouts with the delirium would last for hours on end but she would never leave his side.

Initially, I suggested that Erik remain in my flat so the doctor might make his grim daily visits. Adamant, Christine contended that Erik would not wish to be anywhere else but his only refuge. In tears, she whispered resolutely to me, "If he must die, let it be where he feels safe. Let it be near his music..." With that, there was no more argument from me. Understanding that I was the only other person in Paris who had seen Erik unmasked, Christine allowed only me to remain in the house beyond the lake with her. Having learned the sensational story of the masked man shot at the Vicomte's chateau from one of my contacts at the police station, I had hurried to locate Madame Giry. Erik had been taken to Madame's residence where a doctor had been paid an exorbitant amount by Christine in repayment for his services and his silence. Later, I learned that Christine had obtained the money from Erik's home beneath the Opera. He had shown her where he kept his treasures in the event that anything ever happened to him...

As the long days passed into a week, I became increasingly concerned about Christine's health. The circles under her tired eyes were black since the only place she would sleep was at the foot of Erik's four poster bed. Madame Giry, who visited frequently, could scarcely get her to eat or drink. Whatever nursing needed to be done for Erik, Christine insisted upon doing herself. His wounds had been seen to by the doctor and the man had given Christine exact instructions on how to care for them. Even though her face paled each time she dressed Erik's wounds in his chest and side, she refused to allow anyone else to care for him as long as she was awake. Day after day, she would wipe his fevered brow and marred face with a cold cloth and sing softly to him. The few times she was able to dribble some water into Erik's parched mouth, Christine's face beamed as though she had won a major victory. Those few times that she slept at the foot of the bed, I watched over Erik for her or she would not sleep.

One afternoon while Erik seemed to be sleeping somewhat peaceably, Christine had gone from Erik's sickroom to tend to some chores in the kitchen. I was sitting next to his bed while reading aloud from an exceedingly boring, huge volume about architectural achievements around the world. On and on I droned in the same way I had done several times before. I wondered silently in the back of my mind what Erik found so fascinating in the well-worn book. Hearing him inhale deeply, my gaze flew to his face as his head seemed to fall to the side. Leaning forward, I whispered softly, "Erik? Erik, can you hear me? Erik!" Very, very slowly, his eyelids fluttered open but I did not call for Christine since he had opened his unseeing eyes several times during his feverish disorientation. Letting the heavy book fall to my lap, I touched his cold hand lightly and asked once more, "Erik?" His glazed eyes fell on me and he slowly licked his parched lips as I breathed hopefully, "Erik, it is I! Nadir! Do you know me?" In typical Erik-like fashion, he stared at me for several moments and with great effort, he rasped hoarsely, "Nadir... Am I in hell?" Gazing in disbelief at his ruined face, a brilliant smile suddenly lit my face as he fell back into a deep slumber once more. Unaware of the tears misting my eyes, I threw my head back and laughed in heartfelt relief before I turned and called to Christine, "Mademoiselle, he is going to be just fine!"