Disclaimer: I can only dream of owning the wonderful Phantom of the Opera. Woe is me! At least I have Danielle.
Chapter Fourteen: Out of Tartarus
Nadir
Nadir Khan's time with Danielle gave him much to think on. She seemed terrified of the possibility that Erik could die from this affliction. Although Nadir certainly didn't want to see Erik's demise, he would have accepted it without many tears if it came to that. The girl, on the other hand, acted as if her mind would go were she to lose him. Nadir didn't doubt that she would have taken Erik's place if given the chance. He was at a loss as to what could have inspired this devotion.
Nadir spent hours in her company as she watched over Erik with him. Though she was preoccupied with Erik's health, she still managed to do her duty as a hostess by making conversation. She was quite curious as to how he and Erik had come to know each other. Nadir tried to remain vague with the details, preferring to only enlighten Danielle concerning the more positive aspects of Erik's stay in Persia and his adventures, both after his escape and leading up to his arrival. Admittedly, there wasn't much that he could tell her. It wasn't safe for either of them for him to tell her anything too frightening. She would be sure to fear him, and it would be hard for her to hide that. If she tried to escape, Erik would find her. He would not be happy with either turn of events.
Nadir managed to extract some useful information from Danielle during their conversations. He received a more complete account of their relationship. Unsurprisingly, Erik had failed to mention a few very important details of his past. In fact, he had hardly mentioned his past at all. The girl didn't seem very alarmed by this at all when Nadir confronted her with that fact. She had an unsuspicious nature and felt that the past was in the past. He didn't believe this to be very prudent, but he gleaned that something had happened in her past for which she didn't want to be held accountable. Once he'd learned what that was, namely the death of her mother, he felt that Erik's sins were far darker than Danielle's.
Luckily, after a week and a half, Erik's fever finally broke and stayed down. Nadir was confident that Erik would recover. Danielle was still worried, but much more cheerful. The bed-ridden phantom remained unconscious and a bit delirious. He still had a ways to go.
Danielle
Danielle felt as if a heavy stone had been lifted from her shoulders when Nadir announced that Erik would recover. She couldn't wait for that prophesy to come true. She only hoped and prayed that he would wake up soon. Once he told her that, she refused to leave Erik's room except for a few hours of sleep. She wanted to be there when he finally returned to the land of the living.
Erik
Erik slowly began to regain consciousness. He could hear a quiet murmuring close to him. It sounded like some sort of prayer. He dimly realized that he was in his own bed, bathed in sweat. He felt weak, as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. That was unusual. He was used to going for days without food. He had eaten a moderate meal only the night before with Danielle. But had it been the night before? Even without touching his face, he could tell that he needed a shave. How long had he been asleep? He remembered feeling very tired before he went to bed, and his head and muscles had ached a bit. It was much worse now.
Erik hesitantly opened his eyes. Instead of the darkness he was accustomed to, his bedroom was ablaze with candlelight. Odd. And what was that murmuring he was hearing? He turned his head towards the soft, musical sound. His heart began to pound. It was Danielle, kneeling by his bedside, praying. She was in his bedroom! She had never been in there before. He rose up a bit, immediately regretting it because of the dizziness that swam through his head.
"What are you doing here," he asked, his voice surprisingly hoarse.
Danielle's head snapped up, startled but obviously relieved. Her eyes were shining in the candlelight from tears waiting to spill over her pallid cheeks. She got up and took a seat in the chair by his bed, a chair that hadn't been there when he had fallen asleep. Danielle grasped his closest hand before answering.
"You had influenza, Erik," she said calmly. "You were delirious for nearly two weeks." Her voice shook as she explained. "We didn't know if you would make it or not."
"Who are we," he questioned, worried about who had seen him in this weakened state.
"Nadir and I," Danielle rasped. "Marie couldn't come because she has been nursing several members of the corps du ballet, but we have been keeping her informed about your condition. She will be very relieved when she finds that you are well. Nadir has been taking care of you, giving you medicines and things. He told me that once you had come out of your delirium I could breathe easily. I don't know what I would have done without his assistance."
"Then it would appear that I owe him yet another life debt," Erik stated dryly.
"Has he saved your life before now," she asked, astonished at this new, rather important piece of information.
"Yes. Once." Suddenly, Erik realized just how cold he was. He looked down to find his chest completely bare. Curses, he didn't wear a shirt to bed! He quickly did his best to cover himself with his arms, mortified that she had seen him like this.
Danielle only giggled and teased. "I wouldn't worry so much about modesty if I were you. Those open shirts you wear so much don't leave much to the imagination, you know."
Erik would have come back with a spectacularly witty retort, if he hadn't suddenly realized what else he didn't wear to bed: his mask. His hand flew up to his face only to find it as bare as his chest. He jumped out of the bed with surprising agility for a man who had been bed-ridden for a fortnight. He was gripped with panic as he thought of the way Danielle must have drawn back with horror the first time she saw his mangled flesh. Everything he had hoped for, the relationship he had built with her, was crumbling before his eyes, and he was helpless to stop it. He wanted to die. He thought wryly, What else is knew?
Erik's despair was interrupted by Danielle's frantic voice.
"Erik, what do you think you're doing? You're not well; you need your rest."
He didn't answer; he couldn't. He thought he would be sick any moment. Danielle was in front of him in less than a second.
"Erik, what's wrong? What's the matter? You're scaring me, Erik," she pleaded.
Erik simply gazed at her through the gaps in his fingers. "Why would you try to save a monster like me? Why didn't you just let me die? You would have been doing me a favor."
"Don't talk like this. You're not a monster, and I couldn't bear it if you died," she whispered with some trouble.
"Even though you've seen what I've been trying to hide so desperately from you," he rasped. "I didn't want to haunt your nightmares."
"Oh, Erik, do you think this matters," she asked gently, sweetly. She pulled his hands away from his face and embraced him, whispering in his ear. "I don't care about it. I care about you. I was terrified that you would die, that I'd never get to see you again on this side of eternity."
Erik couldn't believe what he was hearing. Could it be true? Could she really care for him, despite his hideousness? He had to know. The answer could only lie in her eyes. The eyes never lie, no matter what the tongue would have someone believe. He pulled away from her and gazed into those green depths. They told him that she was genuinely happy to see him alive and well.
"Erik," she continued in a low voice, "you're my best friend."
Danielle didn't have a long list of friends, but when people like Marie and Nadir were included in the list, it was quite an honor to head it. Erik was stunned by this simple statement. She really did care. He was overwhelmed with joy, almost drunken with it. The worst day in his life had just become the best.
Danielle
"Erik," she continued in a low voice, "you're my best friend."
Danielle reached out and slowly began to stroke his damaged cheek, as she had done so many times during his illness. What had possessed him to think that his face would make a difference to her? Erik's eyes fluttered closed as she brought her light touch to the other side of his face.
"You're still the wonderful musician that astounds me everyday. You're still the man who has shown me more kindness than any of my family. You're still my patient teacher. Erik, if I had turned from you because of this, no one could say that there is any justice in the world," she told him; he needed to understand.
Erik's eyes opened. Her breath caught in her chest when she saw in them what could only be described as boundless hope.
She was soon distracted. He took both of her hands into his. She watched, mystified, as he brought them closer and closer to his lips, bending over them a little. Her heart skipped a beat as he brushed his soft lips against the skin on the back of her left hand, the hand that had been touching his deformed cheek. He did the same with the other hand. Another skip. He turned them both over and kissed the palms, too. Another skip, another. By the time he brought his head up to meet her eyes, she knew she was blushing terrifically.
"I should go and get you something to eat," she muttered vaguely. "You must be famished. And get back to bed," this time with more force and lucidity. "You aren't completely recovered yet, you know."
Danielle hurried out of the room, her step lighter than it had ever been. She nearly collided with Nadir before telling him excitedly that Erik was awake. Once she was safely in the kitchen, she leaned against the wall to catch her breath. Her cheeks were still burning. She would have to calm down before she faced Erik again. Why did he insist on being so wonderful?
When she felt that she could safely be in the same room with Erik, she finally brought him his dinner and some tea. He and Nadir were staring each other down. Erik seemed to resent the fact that the older man had gone to the trouble of helping him once again. Erik wasn't the type of man that likes to be beholden unto anyone. He had also replaced the mask. Danielle nearly argued, but she decided that it would only tire him.
Once Danielle was satisfied that Erik had been well-fed and was tucked in bed for along-awaited rest, she allowed Nadir to shoo her off to her own bed. It had been two weeks since she had slept for more than two hours at a time. She was reluctant to leave Erik, but grateful that she could finally rest easy. She and Erik were finally out of Tartarus. She drifted off as soon as her body sank into the soft, warm mattress.
Nadir
Nadir went off to the kitchen to find himself something to eat. He had promised to keep a close watch on Erik, but his stomach drove him to break it. Erik wasn't in his bedroom when the Persian returned. It was an amazingly easy task to guess where Erik had gotten off too. He had to look no further than Danielle's room.
Erik was leaning against the doorway, staring into the room. Danielle was sleeping peacefully, her hair spread around her head like some dark halo. All Nadir could see of Erik's face was the white porcelain mask, but he knew that there must have been an expression of wonder and adoration of the uncovered side of his face.
Nadir took position leaning against the other side of the frame and said, "You know, she would kill me if she knew you were out of bed."
"I can't imagine why she cares so much," he answered in a small voice.
"Erik," Nadir ventured, "Why are you standing here?"
Erik's reply was a strange monotone. "I promised that I wouldn't go into her bedroom without her permission. I've only been in there once since she came to live here. She was nervous the night before an audition and couldn't sleep. She asked me to sing to her. It was divine."
Nadir regarded the man before him for a moment. "Erik, I must ask you again. Why have you brought her here?"
"I wanted to teach her to sing. That's all," he whispered, as if he didn't know that he was speaking at all. "It wasn't until later…"
"What wasn't until later?"
"That I realized…"
"What, Erik," he asked, impatient.
"I love her."
Well, at least now he had a confession. Erik loved her. Hurray for the world. "What will you do if she doesn't love you? What if she loves someone else?"
"I'll die. I can't live without her, but I'll let her go. I only want her happiness."
Silence reigned as they both contemplated the sleeping girl. Should he tell Erik? Would it only make things worse? Nadir believed that, in a way, Erik had the right to know.
"Erik, would you like to know what happened while you were out," he asked carefully.
For the first time, Erik turned his head so that Nadir could see the human side of his face. "What happened?"
"You were unconscious and unmasked when I arrived. You were babbling in several different languages, some that I recognized and some that I didn't. The only intelligible words were, 'Don't leave me, Danae' and the like. You called out her name over and over. And every time you called her, she came running, even if she had gone to get some rest. She'd only eat and sleep when you were completely calm. I don't think she trusted me to take care of you alone; she felt that she needed to be with you. If something disturbed you, she knew it and would do anything she could to make you feel better." He paused.
"Like what," Erik asked, breathless, as if he wasn't certain that he wanted to know.
"The girl…well, I can hardly call her a girl, after what I've seen in the past two weeks…the woman would sing to you, speak to you. She even kissed your hand or forehead. Even your cheek." He paused for a moment. What must Erik be thinking of all this? He had just discovered that the woman he loves kissed him and he wasn't even awake at the time. "Somehow," he continued, "she always knew exactly what to do to quiet you. Sometimes I would watch her when she didn't know I was around. She'd touch you're cheeks and stare at your face, or cry. I've even heard her pray for you. I was astonished at her behavior. She never once flinched when she looked at you. She never questioned how you came to look the way you did. She just accepted it. I admire her very much. Really," Nadir said with a mirthless laugh, "my medicines aren't what saved you. There isn't much one can do for influenza. The only thing that kept you alive was your will to live."
"She's all I have to live for," Erik murmured, turning back to look at Danielle.
"Then she's the reason you survived."
A/N: Tartarus was, according to the Greeks, the farthest, darkest reaches of the Underworld. This is where all the really badies went to suffer eternal torture. One man, Tantalus, was forced to stand in a pool of water with a fruit tree above his head. Whenever he bent down to drink, the water receded, and whenever he tried to eat from the tree, the branches were always out of his reach. Sisyphus was forced to roll a boulder up a hill for all eternity. Once he got to the top, the boulder would roll back down again. There was a man who had fifty daughters and his brother wanted them to marry his fifty sons. All of the women but one murdered their husbands. In Tartarus, they were forced to draw water from a well with jugs that had holes in them. They had to carry them and when all of the water ran out, they had to go back to the well for more. Sucks to be them, huh?
A/N: Fluff is back in full force. May the fluff be with you!
A/N: I've written more than 70 Word Document pages so far. I'm so proud! This is also by far the longest chapter, and I have 65+ reviews. I feel so happy right now. If that prom dress had come in my size, I would be on top of the world right now.
