Erik's POV

When I awoke, everything was dark and I couldn't breathe. I could tell that I was laying on top of something hard, yet soft by the blankets beneath me. There were strands hands touching me, old, wrinkled hands. My breathing intensified, and I grabbed the hands.

"Christine!" I breathlessly gasped her name, hoping she was here with me.

"Monsieur, calm down." I didn't know this voice. Who was this strange voice of a man?

My back ached, and my head was throbbing. I could feel something in my wound, something uncomfortable….a tube perhaps? What ever it was, it was causing me more discomfort than anything I had ever felt.

"Monsieur, stay calm!"

But I couldn't! I wouldn't! I hated the world, I hated strangers! All they ever did was laugh at me or treat me like an animal. No, there were only two people I trusted in this world, Christine and Madame Giry. This man, this horrible, strange man was pushing me down against what ever I was laying on, causing me to only fight harder.

"You're going to hurt yourself!" he warned, but I wasn't listening. For all I knew this man could be trying to hurt me. He could have Christine locked up somewhere, tied and bound to a bedpost.

"Angel!" I heard Christine's voice. She was so near.

"Christine?" I called her name again, my breath gasping for air as I called it.

"Shh…I'm here, Erik."

Her hand made contact with my sweaty cheek, causing me to release the man that I had a firm grip on. I was exhausted, and out of breath. I didn't know where we were, but as the room silenced, I could hear the pitter patter of rain against a nearby window. Though, as Christine's hand lingered on my cheek, I felt the man's hands touching my side again and then, eventually, my back. I groaned as I felt a horrible sting, but Christine was there to coax me into staying still.

"We're at a safe place, Erik." she assured. "Remember the doctor that Madame Giry referred me to when I found you a few nights ago? We're at his facility now."

A doctor? No, we couldn't be here. What if he was the one who told those men to come and kill me? I am, after all, a wanted criminal.

How badly I wanted to protest, but I was so exhausted. I could feel something prick my arm. Perhaps a needle? Warmth filled my bloodstream and it began to make me feel extremely drowsy. I gave into the sweet poison, closing my eyes and falling into the deep slumber my body ached for.

My heart was pounding against my ears as I slept through a fitful sleep. When I came to, everything was dark as usual, but I could feel someone massaging my sore ankle. It was soft fingers brushing against my flesh, kneading the soreness away. I groaned, and squeezed the sheets as her fingers worked on me. No one ever massaged my ankle before. No one ever massaged any part of me. But Christine, my angel, she was touching me as if I were any other man, as if I were Raoul. My legs were scarred, but she didn't seem to mind.

"Christine?" I called her name in reassurance, causing her to stop.

"Erik? Am I hurting you?"

"No," I gasped. "It feels breathtaking."

"Good." was all she said before going back to massaging my ankle.

"You don't have to do this." I said. "I'm sure my hideous flesh is making you feel disgusted."

"Don't be silly, Erik. Though, you have so much tension in your ankles. When's the last time you had someone massage them?"

"Never." I pathetically confessed.

"Never? Really? Who was there to rub your sore limbs when you weren't feeling well?"

"No one. I've been alone my whole life."

Christine gasped. "You poor man."

"Please, don't pity me."

"I don't, Erik. I just feel for you."

Christine felt for me? That would be a first. Usually, she just ignored my feelings. Was it possible for her to change? To actually feel for me? Perhaps even love me? Who was I kidding? She was engaged to marry Raoul! That perfectly handsome fop!

"We can't stay here." I groaned. "It's not safe."

"Yes, it is."

Christine wasn't listening to me. She wasn't listening to a single thing I was saying. I tried to rise from where I was laying, but Christine pushed me back down.

"Erik, you need to stay put!"

"We need to leave here! How do we know the doctor didn't rat me out? We're not safe with anyone."

"Yes we are, Erik. You need to relax. That's the most important thing right now."

"No, Christine, the most important thing is to get out of here."

"Your ankle is sprained, Erik. You are to stay in bed until it's healed. We're stuck here until you can walk."

"And then where? Back to the opera house?"

"No, I have a plan, Erik, but right now we need to stay here."

"I don't trust him, Christine."

My heart was pounding against my chest. I was frightened, and blind.

"Christine, don't leave me. Can you promise that you'll stay in here with me?"

"Of course. The room we're in has an extra bed right across from the one you're laying in. Just promise me you'll trust the doctor, Erik. He's only here to help you."

"As long as you're here with me."

"How are we feeling?" I heard footsteps entering the room, and that familiar voice again.

"He's awake." Christine said. "He's feeling a lot of discomfort."

I heard the doctor fumbling around with some sort of metal utensils. How I hated being probed and picked at.

"Monsieur, you're going to feel a pinch in your forearm." I heard the man say.

"What?" my voice trembled, and I hid my arms from his sight.

"You need to be bled." he stated. "To prevent inflammation to your wound."

I felt his hand place itself on my right arm, causing me to yank away. But did the doctor give up? Of course not. Well if it was a fight he wanted-

"Now, stay still." he warned. "Do you want to get an infection?"

"Leave me alone! I refuse!"

"Erik-"

I felt Christine trying to hold me down, something that angered me greatly. Just whose side was she on?

"Christine, please!" I was begging her to release me, to help me.

"Erik, this is for your own good."

I was fighting, throwing my arms about and tossing my body about the bed. I wasn't going to allow this doctor to cut me open and bleed me. My back was throbbing and my ankle screaming to be still. All of a sudden, I felt some sort of cloth placed over my nose and mouth. I fought to release it from me, but it instantly caused me to pass out.

I rolled over some time later, my arm throbbing and stinging. Had I been bled? I felt weak, and I was freezing. Why was I so cold?

"Erik?"

It was obvious that Christine was beside me, but I wasn't speaking with her. How dare she take the doctor's side? Who was she to make decisions for me?

"Erik, please speak to me."

But I didn't. I just rolled over, and pressed a kiss to my sore arm.

"Erik, it needed to be done."

"How do you know?" I snapped. "Just because I'm blind doesn't mean you have the right to make decisions for me."

"Bloodletting prevents infections, Erik."

I was shivering now beneath the thin blanket. The bloodletting had caused a fever to break out, one that had me shivering.

"Here," I felt another blanket being covered over my body. I felt much better now.

I let my fingers intertwine with the patched up fabric.

"It was my father's." Christine replied. "My mother made it for him a long time ago. He would often wrap it around me when ever I was ill. It made me feel better."

Oh, to think that Christine was letting me experience the warmth of a passed down blanket. It belonged to her father, and yet, she was letting me use it.

"What does it look like?" I asked.

"Well," Christine paused. "There's two blue blocks, one red, three pink, two green and five black. My mother made it from a few old blankets and curtains."

"It's very warm."

"Yes, my favorite."

I closed my eyes, and tried to relax, but my mind was too concerned about my safety. And yet, I couldn't help but still be angry with Christine.

"It's nearly dinner time." she said. "How about I clean you up?"

I groaned, and noticed that I did smell a bit foul.

"It might make you feel better."

It was obvious that she was waiting for a response. Though, the thought of Christine staring down at my naked body made me nervous beyond anything. My body was scarred and completely hideous, more hideous than my face.

"Christine, no-" I paused, trying to think of what to say. "If you just give me the wash cloth, I'll be able to do it myself."

"Not all of you." she kindly argued. "You won't be able to wash past your chest."

"I'll be all right."

"Would you rather me call the doctor in?"

No, that would be a horrible mistake. If there was anyone I didn't want touching my body, it was him. He's done enough damage already.

"Is that a no?"

"I've….I've never exposed my body to a woman before." I stuttered. "It would be embarrassing to have you stare at it. I'm completely hideous, Christine."

"You shouldn't think like that, Erik. Besides, the scars aren't your fault."

I felt her hand moving to the blankets to pull them back. I shivered as the cool air within the room made contact with my chest.

"It's all right, Erik." Christine assured. "This will only take a few minutes. It might even help with your fever."

I heard the slight splashing of water, before I felt the warm sensation of it rubbing against my scarred flesh. She was gentle with me, taking extra precaution with each limb that she washed under. Just feeling her hands against my bare flesh was like heaven….perhaps even better.

"Do they hurt?" I heard her ask after a while.

"Does what hurt?"

"The scars?"

She wanted to know about the scars? Why on earth would he wish to know about such a thing? wasn't I hideous enough without having her question it?

"No, not anymore." I confessed. "They are, however, very uncomfortable."

"It looks it."

I suddenly felt her finger glide over the lumpy scar that stretched across my left nipple. Oh, what a shiver it sent down my spine. No one has ever touched me in such a way.

"You should be getting back to the boy." I pathetically stated. "He's probably missing you."

"I…I um…talked to Raoul already."

"You did?"

"Yes, he told me to stay with you until you're well again."

I would have questioned her, but I was too tired to do so. I didn't believe one single word she was telling me. Why would Raoul, her fiancé want her to stay with me? He did try to kill me after all.

"Christine-"

"He's on a business trip." she said, cutting me off. "He'll be gone for a few months. Until he returns, my place shall be with you."

I felt Christine finishing with chest and beginning to pull off the blankets that were covering my manhood.

"No!" my hand shot up to stop her. She didn't need to see me like that. She shouldn't be touching nor looking at a naked man who she wasn't going to be marrying. Which began to make me wonder if her and the Viscount had-

"Erik, don't be so stubborn."

"It's not proper, Christine." I held the blankets over me with an iron grip.

"Erik, don't act as if I've never seen a naked man before."

My heart sank into my chest. Had she? Had that bastard deflowered my beautiful Christine?

"Have you?" I sneered.

There was a long silence and then a sigh. I knew this sigh…it was Christine's guilt sigh.

"No, I haven't."

I, myself, sighed in relief.

"Then there's no reason for you to see me." I held out my hand, and she placed the damp cloth into it. "Besides, I'm a far cry from being handsome down there."

I ran the damp cloth over my manhood, and down my legs. It was painful to be bending like this, but it would have to do. When I finished, I was so exhausted that I was in no mood to eat. Therefore, I fell asleep.

I was seeing again. My sight was back! I was locked in a cage back at the gypsy camp, screaming and pleading to be set free. I could see everything, feel the warmth from the sun burning my pale flesh, smell the fire burning only a few feet away, feel the cracking of a bullwhip against my back.

"Christine! Christine!" I called her name, hoping she would answer me. There was no one listening. My master; an obese gypsy with a long black beard, was working on me, cracking his whip against my back, pulling my clothes off my body, and touching me with his monstrous hands.

"Christine! Christine!" I was sobbing her name, hoping she going to come save me.

"There's no one here to save you, little monster."

I cried her name over and over again, only stopping when my master shoved his manhood down my throat. I was gagging, and pleading for him to stop, but he didn't stop.

"Your throat is like velvet." he groaned.

"Christine!"

I shot awake, sweaty and still blind. I had seen again, but only in my dream. But something was different. I felt soft fur against my hand, and heard a familiar bell. I knew this bell, and this fur…

"Ayesha?"

I heard a familiar meow, only to sigh in relief. Ayesha was my Siamese cat that I adopted one snowy night on the streets of Paris. She had been a special cat. Not only did she didn't cared that my face was deformed, but she also followed me around everywhere. Once, I had left the opera house late one night to run an errand, only to have her join me a while later. Which explains why she was here now. She always comforted me through my worst nightmares, purred at my touch, and licked my malformed face.

"Erik?"

I heard my name being called, only to feel Christine's touch against my arm.

"Yes?"

"I was sleeping. I heard you screaming in your sleep."

"Nightmare." was all I said as my hand continued to stroke Ayesha's fur.

"You all right?"

"Yes,"

"Awww, looks like you made a new friend, Erik"

"New friend?" I questioned. "This cat has been my companion for some years now. Her name is Ayesha."

"She has a name? But…how did she find you?"

"She always does."

"Well, she's very pretty."

"What time is it?"

"Um….about a quarter to three."

I felt Christine brushing a few strands of my hair out of my face.

"You should get some rest, Erik. Tomorrow, the doctor is going to perform another procedure on your wound."

"Why?" the last thing I wanted was to feel some strange man probing me again. If he had any intentions of smuggling me with his chloroform covered cloth again, he had another thing coming.

"The doctor said the knife barely missed your punctured lung. It's healing, but to insure that you'll continue to heal, he wants to drain the blood that seeped into it."

Just the thought of how painful that would be churned my stomach.

"Did he say how he was going to do it?"

"Insert a tube through your wound."

"Oh, Christine."

I wanted to die. I just wanted to die. Here I was, blind and in agony, and what did this doctor want to do? Probe and cut me open again.

"Erik, I'll be here beside you through the whole procedure." she assured. "I promise. But you need to trust me, Erik, and let the doctor do what he needs to do to help you. Can you do that?"

As much as I hated the thought of this strange man touching me, I knew I could trust Christine.

"I'll try." I said. "But you need to promise me that he won't use chloroform on me ever again."

"I'll speak with him."

"Thank you."

I closed my eyes and relaxed, never wanting morning to come.

"Your fever is still high."

"I feel a little better."

"Are you going to be all right?" she asked me. "I could stay with you until you fall asleep?"

"That's very kind of you, Christine, but nothing is going to take away my nightmares, not even your comfort."

"Are they really that bad?"

"Yes. I had a terrible childhood. For years I've tried to make the memories disappear, but nothing worked."

"What do you dream about?"

"The gypsies, my master, the bull whip cracking against my back…..being raped."

Christine gasped.

"Oh, Erik, I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"It's all right. You don't need to pity me."

"Never, Erik."

She brushed my masked cheek, and I felt her press a kiss to its leathery material. I groaned with such pleasure upon feeling the pressure of her lips applied to my mask. Yes, it might not have been her lips against my face, but it was still amazing. No one had ever come this close to me before.

"I should get back to bed, Erik. If you should need me…." she stopped, and I heard her footsteps walking across the floor. When I heard the springs of her bed clinking, I heard her voice again. "I'll be right here."

Her voice sounded so close, so close that I was sure I could reach my arm out and touch her if I wanted to.

"Can you hear my voice?" she asked.

"Yes, you're so close."

"About three feet away."

It comforted me to know that she was so close. And so, with the feeling of Ayesha's soft fur beneath my fingers and the comfort in knowing that Christine was so close, I closed my eyes, slowly slipping back to sleep in my new found realm of darkness.

I keep promising myself not to upload until CUTN is complete, but I just can't stop. Anyway, please review everyone!