Hey everyone, thanks for the reviews. I want to apologize for my rating of the story. I thought that I had it set to M but thanks to Phanphictionangel she/he pointed out that it was actually set to T. I have changed it back to M and for those of you who are loving my story thanks for the Reviews and keep reading.

Over the next few days, Erik's condition worsened. He had caught a treacherous fever and his arms and legs out broke in small red painful dots. Christine was glad when Nadir showed up the next night as he was supposed to. He brought fresh food along with some more of the medication that he had told her to rub on Erik's flesh the first night he came to his aid. Nadir examined Erik's unconscious body carefully and paid close attention to his infected flesh. "he's not doing so well Christine." said Nadir as he rose from Erik's side. "what's wrong with him?" asked Christine. "seems that the worse has occurred." said Nadir. "is he in a lot of pain?" asked Christine. "yes unfortunately. Seems that those bug bites have caused Malaria." he replied. "is he going to be ok?" asked Christine. "his fever is very high." said Nadir as he washed his hands in a basin. "isn't there anything I can do?" asked Christine is a panic. "there hasn't been a vaccine created yet for the Malaria virus. I'm afraid that the only thing you can do is keep Erik comfortable and warm until it goes away. But be warned that most people who catch the virus die from the fever." said Nadir. "what about the spots on his flesh?" asked Christine. "be easy with him because if they open they will be more painful than they are untouched." said Nadir.

Nadir walked over to the door, and said "I have brought you some bread and milk, stay put and take care of him. I shall return tomorrow night after my days work." "thanks again." said Christine. "thank me later." said Nadir as he opened the door. Once he left, Christine walked over to Erik's bedside and watched him sleep. He was shivering and his skin was infected around his shoulders and stomach, making the sight of him repulsive to look at. Christine covered him up in an extra blanket and pushed the sweaty locks of hair from out of his face.

When Erik opened his tired eyes, all he could see was blackness. He tried to roll over but as he did, he felt a tear in his flesh, causing him to cry out in such agony. He then saw a candle being lit and Christine approaching his side. "Erik, are you ok?" she asked with such worry. Erik looked down at his arm, and noticed that it was bleeding, he had torn open one of the spots that were on his arm. He was hot, so hot that he didn't even care that he was bleeding. "you shouldn't be moving around Erik, it's bad for you." said Christine as she filled a basin with water. Erik watched in silence as Christine soaked a cloth in the basin and dab his wounded arm ever so gently. "does that hurt?" asked Christine. "you don't know how much." said Erik in a weak tone of voice. "are you cold?" she asked. "no, hot." cried Erik as he tried to get the blankets off of him. Christine removed the quilt from off of him, noticed that his trousers were soaked in sweat. Once she wrapped his arm up Christine easily removed his trousers so that some of the heat could leave his body. She then filled the basin up with cold, clean water and soaked a cloth in it before dabbing his sweaty body in the cold liquid. "how do you feel now?" asked Christine. "hot." moaned Erik. Christine held back her tears that were forming in her eyes. She was so worried about Erik because even after dabbing his body in cold water he was still hot. "what would make you feel better Erik?" asked Christine. "ice." said Erik as he closed his eyes in pain. "it's not that easy to get out here in the middle of summer." said Christine. "something cold." cried Erik. Christine looked around and said "there isn't anything in the room but I'll go out and find you something." "you're not supposed to leave me." moaned Erik. Christine looked at her sweet Erik and saw all the pain in the world. She wasn't supposed to leave the room, but she had to do something. "I won't be long." said Christine. "I'll be ok Christine, just don't leave me." said Erik. "I'm going to get you something cold, just relax." said Christine as she put on her cloak.

Christine left her room and entered the lamp lit streets of town. She knew that Erik would feel ten times better if she could get him some ice cubes to suck on. As she walked past camps of Gypsies, she passed Philippe's camp and he unfortunately saw her pass by. He ran and caught up to Christine and walked beside her. "Christine, I haven't seen you in days. Where have you been?" he asked. "I've been around, you just haven't been looking hard enough." said Christine. "I thought we were supposed to go to dinner the other night?" questioned Philippe. "oh, I totally forgot about that." said Christine sarcastically. "yes well it was a mistake so I can forgive you." said Philippe with a laugh. "I thought maybe you had left Persia." said Christine. "I was supposed to leave today but something terrible happened the other night." he replied. "and what might that be?" asked Christine. "I went to Baba's camp yesterday to find him locked in the cage that the creature was locked in. Seems that he escaped and locked Baba in the cage, the man don't remember a thing. I seriously don't see how any one could have gotten out of that cage alone, they would need to be let out." said Philippe. "oh that's terrible." said Christine. "yes, so I have been hired to catch the beast. I have men at every dock and every corner searching for the monster. It's funny that I haven't seen you since the night it happened on." said Philippe in a convincing tone. "like I said before, I have been around but you just haven't been searching hard enough." said Christine.

Philippe laughed, and said "when are you leaving?" "in a few days, my boyfriend is coming to get me." said Christine. "I shall love to meet him." said Philippe. "meet him?" questioned Christine. "yes meet the man you are dating. You do belong to me Christine, why shouldn't I be aloud to see this man?" questioned Philippe. "I don't belong to anyone." said Christine in anger. "I'm waiting for this man to drop dead so I can claim you as my own." said Philippe. "I would prefer to be left alone now Philippe." said Christine as she continued to walk through town. "where are you off to this late at night?" asked Philippe. "to get some ice." said Christine as she entered a shop. Philippe entered with her, and said "ah yes the heat is pretty bad out here anyways." "it's not for the heat." said Christine. "then what for?" asked Philippe. "for my drinks." lied Christine. "you're a typical lady, can't drink your liquor straight up like a man." said Philippe with a hardy laugh. Christine paid for the small bag of ice cubes and said "well maybe because I'm a woman." she then walked out of the shop and sighed in annoyance when she saw Philippe following her. "good night Philippe." she replied. "come now Christine, let us go back to my place." he offered. Christine shook her head and said "no Philippe, I shall not, not tonight anyway." "then when?" he asked. "never because I have a boyfriend." she replied. "for now." said Philippe before he walked away. Christine was glad when she saw him walk into an alley way. "Finally." she replied out loud as she continued back to her room. Once she arrived, she locked the door and noticed that Erik was asleep on the bed. Maybe not asleep, more like passed out from exhaustion and pain. Christine emptied out the basin, and poured the ice cubes into it before approaching the bed where Erik lied. She gently touched his fore head and could have burnt her hand from how hot he was. She saw him weakly open his eyes and smile at the sight of her being next to him. "I'm back." she replied as she picked up a melting ice cube and placed it up to his dried lips. Erik opened his mouth to receive the cold frozen substance and once she placed it in his mouth he felt a little bit better. As he sucked on it, the cold liquid that was dripping off of it made his throat feel much better as it trailed down to his stomach. Christine on the other hand filled a cloth up with some of the ice cubes and tied a knot at the top of it and placed it on his fore head. "that should bring down some of the fever." she replied.

Christine then took another ice cube and ran it down his chest as it melted as it made contact with his flesh. "oh Erik, I want you to live so badly." Erik smiled the best he could at her, and said "I will angel, I will hold on as long as I can." "is it painful?" asked Christine. "yes, very." said Erik as Christine placed another ice cube in his mouth. "Philippe's men are looking for you, what are we going to do? I can't bare the thought of you being sent back to that freak show." cried Christine. "don't think about tomorrow, I'm here with you now and that's all that matters." said Erik.

Christine placed the basin down on the night stand and said "Erik, forgive me. I have been mean to you and have done nothing but betray your love for me. If anyone should be mean and hateful it should be you. I don't deserve you Erik, Raoul was the right person for me because he was mean and hateful too." "Don't talk like that Christine, we all do things in our lives that we regret but there is one thing I don't ever for one moment regret doing." said Erik. "and what's that?" asked Christine. "loving you, I love you no matter what you did or how badly you hurt me. Madam Giry once asked me why I kept going back for seconds of humble pie but the truth is that what ever you did didn't matter because I loved you." Christine began to cry, and leaned into kiss him when Erik easily pushed her away. "you really shouldn't kiss me." he replied. "why?" asked Christine. "because you might catch something." said Erik. "maybe you're right." said Christine as she backed away a bit. "the last thing I would want is for you to get sick." said Erik.

All that night Christine stayed awake and watched Erik as he slept. She loved him more than anything and wanted nothing more than for him to be happy. She noticed that his clothes were lying in a dirty pile on the floor so picked them up and as she did something shiny fell from his trouser's pocket. Christine bent down and picked it up to see that it was a ring, the ring that she had given him a long time ago. How she thought that he had thrown it away out of sadness, but instead kept it. Christine placed the ring back into Erik's trousers and walked back over to his bedside. "I would marry you Erik, if only you could understand." Erik awoke to see Christine sitting beside him and looking down at his body. "did I wake you?" asked Christine "No of course not." said Erik. "how do you feel?" asked Christine. "hot." said Erik as he sat his aching body up against his pillow. "Can I tell you something?" asked Christine. "yes." said Erik. "well once we get back to Paris, I'm moving out of the opera house because I was given Raoul's house." said Christine. "you're not happy with me?" asked Erik. "no, it's not that." said Christine. "then what is?" asked Erik. "I love the opera house but I need a life besides that. I eventually want to get married to someone and start a family of my own." said Christine. Erik put his head down, and said "I understand." "what's wrong?" asked Christine as she saw the sorrow in his eyes. "because I know that you're going to get married and start a family, just not with me." said Erik. "Erik, I wanted to ask you to come with me." said Christine with a smile.

Christine saw tears escape from Erik's eyes as she said the words. "is that a yes?" asked Christine. "I couldn't possibly leave the opera house." cried Erik. "but we'd be right across the street from it Erik." said Christine. "you'd really like me to move in with you?" asked Erik. "yes I love you so much Erik. Why wouldn't I want to live with you?" questioned Christine. "I have one question." cried Erik. "what?" asked Christine. "could we keep my swan bed?" asked Erik. Christine smiled, and said "anything you want Erik."

The next morning, Christine sat on the window sill and looked out at the people passing by. Erik hadn't fallen asleep until the wee hours of the morning leaving him tired and in need of rest. She glanced over at him every few seconds, glad that he was in her life. A little while after, Christine filled up a basin with water and began to dab his flesh with a cloth. Taking care of Erik made her happy, and wanted to spend the rest of her life watching over his precious life. She hoped that Nadir would be arriving soon with more medication so that his healing could continue and be back in Paris as quick as possible…

More to come soon… R&R