Day 8

I do not own anything

A thin dust lanes spanning the sky, the islands in the hot breeze. At the of the dirty road less steep climb, a grand staircase leads to a different building in the city, and Christine walked through the empty road, she looked around, the street looked rather familiar… yet so strange… she had never been to this place, but it made she felt… so… peaceful. Then, she saw a woman, who waved at her, Christine knew that the woman wanted her to follow , so she did, at the end of their journey, she stopped, but when Christine walked toward her, the woman shook her head and pointed behind her, Christine turned back and saw the man in the shadow, she only saw the lower part of his face, but she was sure that he would be the most handsome man that has ever lived. He waved at her with a small sad smile and then started to fade in the mist. Christine tried to run to him but it was all too late. The man was gone, but Christine voted that she would one day find him again.

oOo

Christine opened her eyes, her roof was covered with snow, making her eyes dazzle. She shivered , her forehead was boiling with fever. She tried to sit up to find a glass of water, but the first sip made her coughing so hard. Christine didn't have any strength left, she wanted to find a blanket to help protect her from the cold, but fail.

Soon, she fell into another coma.

oOo

Christine hears his voice, the sound of an angel, trying to make her felt better.

She was hiding in a small room, she was lying huddled on the floor. She wanted to cry, but the woman who was holding Christine put her hands over Christine's mouth, begging her to stop crying.

She hears someone was punching the door, trying to get in. they even started to kick the door hard. Soon, the door was broken down and she hears someone was walking in.

Hiding in the small room, Christine felt like she has stopped breathing.

oOo

" Christine, wake up."

"hmmm."

" my god, you are burning up." Erik put his hand on her forehead. " I will call the doctor, stay there…"

Erik tried to find her phone and called the doctor. When he finished, he ran right back and took her hand in his.

" don't worry, you will be all right, the doctor said he would come in thirty minutes… I am afraid it wasn't just a common cold…"

"hmmm…"

He heard Christine mumbled something sleepy.

" … don't go…"

" Christine?"

"…. Stay with me…"

" I am not going anywhere." Erik said to her, then he sighed to himself and he let go of her hand "she is having to hallucinate. I am the last thing on this Earth that she wanted to be with right now."

" don't go…" she started to cry and reach out to find his hand.

" I am going to be here until the doctor comes." Erik didn't want Christine to be sad, so he sat next to her again and took her hands. " I am going to take care of you."

After twenty minutes, the doctor came and he checked on Christine.

" don't worry, it is just a common cold. It is not flu. Just make sure she drinks a lot of water and have her medicine three times a day, she would be good to go after two or three days resting."

" thank you." Erik paid the doctor and went to make some ginger tea for Christine.

When he came back, Christine was looking at him with her eyes haft closed and dreamy.

" Christine, you really should pay extra for the doctor, he came even when it was Sunday and it was Christmas."

"… he was not a doctor…"

" well, he sure looked like one. And sound like one, too."

" he was so handsome…"

" well, I bet he was, although I think he was a bit too old for you and he had a wife, he did mention about her when he treated you."

"…. I want to see him…"

"… he said he would come back and check on your condition tomorrow. So you should wait until then."

"… I will find him again…"

" you don't have to, he would come back." Erik sighed, " and I just realized that you had a fever so it was probably those fever talking. How pathetic and heartless of me. I will let you get some rest now." Erik fixed the blanket for Christine to be more comfortable and then he went back to his home to find himself a blanket and came back.

"Sometimes, I think maybe I like your noisy friends better, at least I get to sleep on my bed…" he mumbled and passed out on her chair.

oOo

Christine found herself running through the streets. She was hiding, but she didn't know what she was hiding. She knew she had to, or someone would come and take her away. And locked her.

She ran and ran until she saw what she has been trying to find.

Him.

He turned back when he heard her footsteps and smiled at her. That sad smile made her wanted to hug him and tell him that everything would be all right and they would be together one day.

she walked closer and careful, affair that he would disappear again. But he didn't. And he opened his arms for her and pulled her in his warm embrace.

" I love you." She said, she knew that from the first moment she saw him.

"…." He didn't say anything but she knew that he felt the same and he would do anything to make her happy.

They stayed like that for what felt like eternal and Christine could felt like she was in heaven.

oOo

Christine opened her eyes as the sun was shining over her head. She still felt tired and headache, but it was far better than the day before. When she looked over to her left, she saw her neighbor was sleeping on her chair and he was snoring like thunder. Christine giggled as she tried to get out of her bed.

Erik liked he could feel her movement, his eyes snapped open and he looked around, unsure where he was. When he saw Christine, his eyes were wider as he remembers what happened.

" Christine, you shouldn't get out of your bed, you are still too weak. The doctor said he would come tomorrow… I mean today."

" I am fine… I just want some tea…" Christine said weakly.

" you just need to concentrate on getting better." Erik pushed her back on her bed. " I will take care of your tea, well, on one condition that my arm wants to come back to work, it wasn't just some ants that walked around my back, but a whole army."

" I am sorry that you have to take care of me…"

" it is fine, we are neighbors, right? This was the least I could do for you. I think hot cocoa would be better for a patient like you. Are you hungry?"

" a bit…"

" you will need to eat something to build your strength. Wait here." Erik ran to his home and back with a small tin box. " here." He opened it and gave her some wafer biscuits. " it will taste great with our hot cocoa."

" Are those Scotland wafer biscuits?" Christine asked with interest.

" something like this, this is my family secret recipe," Erik said with pride and dipped one of the wafer biscuits in his cocoa.

" they look great."

" thank you, of course, they do, I made them."

" God, this is crazy."

" hey, what did my wafer biscuits do to you that made you crazy?" Erik asked angrily.

"… when it reminded me of those wafer biscuits my mom used to make on Sunday. And every Sunday night, we would sit down and enjoy a cup of hot cocoa with those biscuits. I hate them so I usually just left them on the bottom of my cup, my mom never knew about that trick. And then the war started, when I sat trembling under the hidden basement, the memories about those biscuits came back and I would kill to get to taste it one more time."

" well, I am afraid to say that I didn't have that heart-to-heart moment with my mother, and I am not sure my biscuits could be as great as your mom's, but I hope it will satisfy your stomach."

" can I have another?" Christine asked.

" sure, help yourself."

" speaking of dreaming, what did you dream about last night? Some nightmares?"

" I am not sure if it was a nightmare or not… I was walking barefoot on a street in another period."

" When you dream, time means nothing."

" you won't understand. I felt like I have known that place all my life, but I could remember where it was…"

" maybe it was just some small piece of memories in the back of your head."

" It was really horrible, Erik, I am more terrified than having to hide from the rain of Germany's V1 booms."

" those were in your dream, too?"

" no, I was in a completely different place. I felt like someone wanted to hurt me… I was scared… and then… he came…"

" who came?"

" the man on the street. He made me felt safe and love."

" you mention him like he was real."

" it… you won't understand… Erik, maybe you should go and get some rest, you look pale."

" I am fine, you are the one who was sick." Erik chuckled. " although I have to admit, your sofa wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep on."

Then they heard a knock on the door and Erik came to open it, he saw Meg was standing with a huge basket.

" what are you doing here? Don't tell me, Christine, bother you even when she was alone in her apartment." Meg pushed past him.

" Well, hello to you, too." Erik said with a raising eyebrow. " and for your information, your best friend was sick, the doctor said she had a cold." And she was shocked to see her best friend Christine was sitting on her bed with only her pajamas on.

" well, that means I am right on time, I am a nurse, I can help her, you can go home now, Mr. Reddington, Christine needs to rest." Meg pushed Erik through the door.

" Erik?"

" hmm?" Erik looked over Meg's shoulder to see Christine sat up and smiled at him.

" thank you for everything."

" anytime." Erik smiled back and walked to his apartment.

After Meg closed the door, she came to Christine's bed and put her hand on Christine's forehead, and made her opened her mouth to see her tongue.

" you still have a fever. Lucky for you, I have a ton of good things here for you. Fesh eggs, milk, jam, bread… how do you feel now?"

" I feel like I am in the center of a storm since you came."

" good, you are feeling better already." Meg smiled. " so… ' thank you for everything huh? Seem like your relationship has grown closer since the last time we met. Do you have anything you haven't told me?"

" you are an idiot and whatever you're suggesting is not truth."

" I haven't said anything, I saw it, the end."

" We are just neighbors."

" you were like that the last week, when he called you 'miss Darling', and he was ' Mr. Reddington', something happened and you two were all ' Christine' and ' Erik'."

Christine didn't say anything as she stared at Meg.

" How close?"

" We came back to Brighton together."

" he was your secret date on Christmas night? You were right, I am an idiot. I thought you made up that date to refuse the boys, and I had to sit in regret not taking you with me. But the truth, you spent all night playing naughty with your hot neighbor."

Meg put the coffee cup down on the chair near Christine's bed.

" have you even think about buying a table or something…. Wait, don't tell me the last time he stormed over and gave us the hard time was your idea to kick us out of your home so that you two could spend the rest of the night together."

" MEG" Christine whispered. " he could hear you, the wall is very thin… shut up and sit down. You tired me more than the common cold."

" well, fine, but I want all the juicy detail."

" There is no juicy detail. We just came to Brighton together to see the old fortune-teller. You know, the one that we met in the carnival?" and Christine told Meg about all the events.

" Wow, no wonder you got sick. If I was you, I would be terrified, too." Meg giggled.

" haha, very funny."

" well, don't be a fool, Christine, she was just some old crazy fortune-teller, don't mind her. Besides, your neighbor has been very kind to take you to Brighton just to hear something as stupid as that and then taking care of you when you were as sick as a dog. Life is so unfair, all those guys only have their eyes on you."

" what guy?"

" well, Raoul, and then your hot mask neighbor. Do you know why he wears that mask? It is kind of hot but I don't think he wears it just for the sake of fashion…"

"that's enough, there is nothing between Raoul and me, stop spreading that nonsense. And leave Erik alone, he already has enough things that bother him, he doesn't need to add your noisy nose in it."

" all right, keep your pant on, Christine, I will leave your poor lover alone. Go and sleep, I will come to visit you tomorrow." Meg smiled and put her coat on. " good night, Christine, I know I am a noisy girl, but I love you like a sister and I want to look after you.

" I know."

oOo

Meg locked Christine's door as she saw Erik was leaving to go to the supermarket. They walked down together, when they reached the street, Meg turned back to Erik.

" she will be fine."

" that's good news."

" you were very kind to take care of her when you didn't need to."

" It was the least I could do for her, we are neighbors after all."

" Goodbye, Mr. Reddington."

" wait, I have something I want to tell you. Even when this is not your business, but in case, you need to learn some manner, she was not my type, and I am not her."

And he left without saying goodbye to Meg.

( TBC)