I'll tell you the fate of Erik in the chapter…

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I lay flat on my stomach in the hospital bed, surrounded by the best of friends a girl could ever have.

They had covered for me, even when the death penalty loomed dangerously close… but after the best story ever, things turned, and I wasn't going to be charged for anything, not even the hospital bill.

'Self preservation' is what it was ruled I believe.

Evidently I walked in on Francois, a psycho killer on the loose, in the middle of murdering the random victim (Erik). Francois had to get rid of me, so he tried to kill me, and I beat him to it, cutting him before he could cut me.

In short, nothing that could deem me as a crazy person had taken place that day.

I had been found lying, motionless in the snow, believed at first dead, what with the blood loss and the cold, but after I was moved onto my back, I yelled out in pain, seeing as my tailbone was actually shattered.

So, had to go into surgery to get it fixed, then a few blood transfusions, and then wound up here on my stomach in a recovery room, surrounded by a bunch of beeping monitors that made me feel like deja vu.

"So how did you get Christine, Meg and Madame Giry out of there? I mean, they saw Erik's body… didn't they?" I asked in a low voice.

"I think they understood that it would be better for them to leave." Jenny said.

There was a quiet moment, and I wondered about if they saw Erik.

"Hang on… did they take my clothes? Because if I don't get those French Soles back I'm going to be really mad… What? Why are you all laughing? Oh come on, I liked those shoes!"

"Katey, you're hooked up to about fifty things, and all you're concerned about is your shoes?" Clair asked through her laughter. "You're turning into the Wicked Witch of the West!"

"You mean Elphaba." I corrected automatically. Since I couldn't stand Phantom anymore, I had gotten deep into Wicked, something that Clair had never quite gotten. "Just as long as I'm not green, I'm fine with that… I mean honestly… who doesn't want to be Elphie?"

The whole room rolled their eyes. Obviously they didn't want to be Elphaba.

"So, what do the kids at school think of me being a murderer?" I asked, curious about how the kids at school reacted to hearing about me killing someone in my own house.

"Well, to tell the truth they're all afraid of when you're coming back. I guess they think you're just going to pull out a switch blade and kill them all." Brad said, shrugging.

I started to laugh hard, but I suppose the pain medication was wearing off, because sharp spasms of pain went up and down my spine, making me stop and cringe.

"Katey, you alright?" Clair asked urgently, coming closer to my bed.

"Yeah, ow, the pain medication's wearing off… God, when this is all over I hope I don't become an addict…" I said, shrugging. That hurt too. I guess I had to remember not to move. "But don't call the nurse, she's going to…"

"Oops, too late." Clair said, pushing the call button and making me stop mid-sentence.

"Yes?" The nurse said over the intercom on my bed rail.

"Clair, don't! I'm fine! I just have to remember not to move, that's all." I hissed, but the nurse interrupted me.

"Katey needs some more pain killers, the old one's are wearing off." Clair said in a firm voice.

"I'll be right there."

"You suck big time." I said, trying to cross my arms.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, so whenever your butt gets fixed you're going to jump me." She said, rolling her eyes.

The group laughed, but I held my breath, trying not to join in with them.

My door opened quietly, and the laughter was quickly subsided when they saw the needle.

I squirmed uncomfortably. I had a terrible phobia of needles, and the IV in my arm was killing me.

She first checked my stats paper from the machine, inspecting my heart rate and whatever else was on there, and then picked up my arm.

I turned my head away, not wanting to watch her stick the needle into me.

There was a sharp prick on my wrist, and then something incredibly cold flowed up my arm, chilling my, literally, to the bone.

"My God I hate needles…" I mumbled, but the nurse just patted my hand after she drew the syringe out.

I cringed, feeling the metal coming out of my skin, and then pulled my hand back, keeping it close to me. Even though it sounded juvenile, I was afraid she was going to change her mind and say that I hadn't had enough painkillers, and have to stab me again.

"And you guys…" She said, pointing to my friends "Out. This girl needs some rest." She said, talking as if I wasn't really there… which I think I was starting to not be, because the medication made me all tired, like I was about to fall asleep.

The nurse walked to the door, holding it open, obviously meaning my friends should leave now.

They sighed, obviously wishing she would just leave so they could stay longer, and stood.

"See, now you know why I didn't want this stuff, Clair." I said, my voice not betraying the fact I felt like I was drunk.

"Whatever; at least you aren't hurting anymore." She said, picking up her purse.

"Yeah, but I don't feel much of else either." I said, raising an eyebrow.

"We'll come see you tomorrow after school, and bring you all your work so you don't get left in the dust!" Clair ignored my last comment, patting my head like I was a four year old.

"Thrill of my life." I sighed. "Hey, while you're bringing me boring stuff, could you bring Wicked and Son of a Witch? They're on my bookshelf, third shelf." I added, hoping to get rid of my boredom.

"What, you don't want to read the Phantom?" she teased.

I gave her a look that clearly stated that I didn't appreciate her making jokes about the Phantom; especially what with seeing Erik's dead corpse, which was still scary despite the fact that he wasn't really dead. He had gone back to Paris after his throat was slit, much like I had come back to my time after I had been strangled by Francois.

"Ok, well I'll be going then." She said quickly, and then left.

"Katey…" Ethan said quietly.

I looked up, having had forgotten he was there. I expected him to say something like "Get better" or "See you tomorrow." But no, he surprised me by doing something completely wild and unexpected…

He leaned down, cupped my chin in his hands… and kissed me.

Had I been standing I would have fallen in a dead faint. It was infinitely better than the stupid kiss at the masquerade. It took my breath away, and my heart felt like it was going a mile a minute.

Actually it was.

The crazy monitor had started beeping like mad, and Ethan and I pulled back at the same time, embarrassed.

"Get better soon, okay?" He said, straitening up.

I nodded, still blushing. The nurse at the door had seen everything, and came over to me after Ethan left.

"Well, we'll just keep that our little secret…" she said, re-setting the heart-rate-checker.

"Okay…" I said, still breathless.

Ethan had to like me… he just had to…

I sighed and let my head drop on the pillow, falling asleep, dreaming on Ethan.

-THE END-

See? Erik is fine! He's back in Paris.

Be happy and review, please!