May 25th 1882
Erik stayed still as he watched the doctor approach the bed, Madame Giry close behind. The man began to examine Christine's body, placing the back of his hand on her forehead before moving focus to the gushing wound that had slowed to a red trickle. His well-practiced hands set about tearing away the areas of material which were blocking access, before reaching into his bag for cotton wool and asking Madame Giry to fetch some boiled water.
She had clearly prepared some already, for within a moment of rushing past Erik she had already re-entered the room with a dish in hand. The doctor gave a nod of gratitude before setting about cleaning the blood, both dried and fresh, turning the water crimson as he did so. Once done, the medic handed the bag to Madame who willingly bound the wound whilst he began to check the rest of Christine's vitals.
Erik had been watching intently when he felt a hand upon his shoulder and was startled to find Meg with wide eyes. His immediate reaction was to shrug it off and he took a step away from her, but of course she followed.
"Monsieur?" She questioned. Erik rather hoped this wasn't an attempt to soothe him. "I need to talk with you…"
"Leave me be, I don't need comforting," He muttered, rolling his eyes slightly as he did so and shifting his shoulder from her grasp.
Erik noted a slight flash of hurt in the girl's eyes before she snatched his wrist with her good arm and began to tug stubbornly. "I am not here to comfort, Monsieur!" Meg hissed, much to his shock. "This is urgent!" As an immediate reaction, Erik pulled back causing her nails to graze a previous scar on his arm. He inhaled sharply at the slight pain before stepping toward Meg as a change of tactic. The little blonde immediately keeled over backwards, thudding onto the floorboards whilst still refusing to loosen her grip – Erik soon followed suit, landing next to her.
"Meg?" The stern tone caused Erik to look up and find the imposing eyes of the ballet mistress glaring at her daughter. He couldn't help but let out a small laugh as he saw Meg's sheepish look, but was soon shut up when the fiery gaze found him instead. Swiftly, Erik pulled himself up and immediately moved out of Meg's reach as he heard Antoinette's voice again. "Perhaps you could go fetch the Vicomte for us and inform him of the whereabouts of his wife?"
Understanding this was a command as opposed to a suggestion, Meg pushed herself up and was about to leave before hesitating and turning back: "Alone, Maman?"
Madame Giry seemed to think for a moment before finding the timid maid that had been cautiously hanging near the doorway. Her tight lips formed a smile before she gestured to her daughter. "I'm sure… Marie, was it?" The maid nodded. "Yes, I'm sure Marie will be willing to return there with you, dear."
Erik watched as the two blondes left side by side, Meg still cradling her left arm as they did so. He couldn't help but wonder what had caused the change of heart within the girl…
"Right," The young doctor had managed to finish his examination by the looks of things as he pulled off some gloves and put them to one side. He nodded toward Christine and addressed Madame Giry: "I assume you're the one I need to discuss her condition with?"
The woman nodded but upon noticing the physician's eyes upon Erik quickly added, "But he stays." Erik couldn't claim he wasn't taken aback at the request, but nonetheless gave a quick nod in what he hoped she saw as gratitude.
The young medic wet his lips and nodded; "Very well, I'm sure it's clear to both of you that she's been stabbed, but luckily the blade seems to have entered at the front. The infant won't have been harmed on that account," He paused, glancing back at the unconscious young woman. "However, her waters have broken, due in part to the bleeding but possibly as a reaction to stress as well. Do you have any idea how far along she is?"
"Seven months," Madame Giry chipped in. "Her husband told me himself." Something in Erik's mind seemed to perk up at this, yet he told himself Christine was far too important at the moment and merely shook his head and tried to draw his attention back to the doctor's words.
"Thank you, Madame. Well, since her waters have broken, contractions should ensue not too long after she wakes up. With this kind of premature labour, a still birth wouldn't be out of the question and even if the baby is alive, its chances will only increase if it continues to survive. My advice would be that we start preparations now for the child's arrival – we've no way of telling when she'll wake, but if she's not responding within an hour we'll need to move her to the hospital…"
Erik was frozen as he was forced to face the reality of Christine's condition – death could not steal her from him…
The doctor then walked out the room, still in conversation with Madame Giry about when to change bandages and so forth and left Erik alone with the morbidly stationary body on the bed frame. He slowly moved toward the bed, as though each step he took ran the risk of falling below the floorboards. When he finally reached her, Erik softly perched beside Christine on level with her abdomen, slightly turned toward her head as he reached out a hand and let his fingertips run over her delicate cheek bones. She was so beautiful, some kind of angel – perhaps it was little surprise even death longed to own her.
Erik brought his hand back and picked up her right hand, holding it with his own while lightly stroking her palm. He let a soft smile crawl across his lips but he soon felt a single tear trail down his cheek as he felt the weak pulse beneath her skin. Erik remembered when Christine was a girl, how she'd beg him to sing her to sleep. His voice helped calm her down – perhaps it could help her now…
"Alone she sleeps in the shirt of man,
With my three wishes clutched in her hand.
The first that she be spared the pain
That comes from a dark and laughing rain
When she finds love may it always stay true,
Yes I beg for the second wish I made too,
But wish no more, my life you can take
To have her please just one day wake…"
He finished the final note of his nearly silent serenade, longing to lift her hand up to his lips but thinking better of it. Erik twisted his head to see the door had been closed when Madame Giry exited and he quickly let his well-trained ears listen out to the hall; as far as he could tell, the doctor had moved away from the door.
Having ensured his solitude, Erik turned back to the bed and brought his hand gently up to rest upon Christine's abdomen. The strange sensation of the baby's kick caused Erik to snatch his hand from her body, standing as though it were a reflex. He looked wide-eyed at the seemingly innocent bump and fearfully brought himself to settle back down, eventually placing his hand back on the infant as he had been. When he felt the response from the child again, Erik overrode the urge to get away and instead closed his eyes and hummed the same tune he'd sang as though hoping to calm himself.
When he was comfortable, Erik opened his eyes and even managed another smile, something he couldn't seem to help around his angelic soprano. However his focus had now moved to the offspring that she was carrying – that which the doctor had said would be lucky to live. There was another child he knew of whose midwife had sentenced him to death mere moments after birth…
…him.
Erik looked down to his hand and whispered softly: "If this world allowed me to live, little one, then it will surely save an Angel's infant…" He couldn't help but let himself dream of what the child might be like: beautiful no doubt, with Christine for a mother. Small as well, what with being two months early.
This thought again caused a flicker of recognition at the back of Erik's mind but he had no time to linger on this, for he was drawn back to reality by a mumble. He darted off the bed quickly and looked to the door way but found it was still securely blocked off. Unsure where the noise was coming from, his pupils darted round the room.
It was a shifting of the bed that finally brought Erik's attention back to Christine and sure enough he saw her eyelids begin to flicker softly. He shouldn't be here with her, Erik had no right to be alone with a married woman and he would be damned if she caught him here. He strode purposefully towards the exit and was determined to find the doctor and warn him of Christine's waking when he heard her light tone say the two-syllables he'd have never thought to hear:
"Erik?"
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Just to get it out of the way, the song is 'Gaeta's Lament' from some Sci-Fi thing that I came across for no apparent reason :L
Anyway, after watching LND on DVD (LOVED IT!), and previously I'd posted who I pictured whilst writing, but it changes all the time so I removed it (especially as my opinions are constantly refreshed and renewed!) but kept AustralianZombie's below (:
Sorry for such a long time, work at school is really busy now but writing a bit every now and then keeps me sane :L Also very excited to see POTO in the West End again on the 18th, although Peter Jöback has a lot to live up to since my all-time favorite John Owen Jones *pauses to sigh happily* was there when I went last year! Still, from the 25th Anniversary he seems to have a Crawford-esque voice so I hope that'll make him a nice new contrast (: Anyways enough of super long A/N, review!
~Bee
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Hey there, dear reader. This is TheAustralianZombie – Flaming Bee's Beta. First off, let me apologize for how late I was editing this chapter. Sorry.
In case you're wondering what I do: I help Flaming Bee with plot ideas (I'm kinda like her backboard for random ideas) and edit all the chapters. This includes fixing grammar, words, punctuation and pointing out some passages that don't make sense as well as just making it a more enjoyable read.
At the request of Flaming Bee, here is my cast for this story:
Christine:Anna O'Byrne. I'm a die-hard Australian and saw the Aussie show three times – to me, Anna just isChristine. She's a trained opera singer and she has that regency beauty which is appropriate for the era and makes you believe Erik could have just fallen in love with her at first sight. Anna is also one of my biggest inspirations, and I love her for that. I don't hate Sierra Boggess, I just think Anna is a better fit for the role. In Love Never Dies, anyway.
Erik: Ben Lewis. Hehehe… If any of you have read my stories (particularly Phanom Sonata which I wrote with the fabulous Poppy Seed) you'll know I have a bit (well, a LOT) of a crush on Ben Lewis. I had a bit of a fangirl moment the third time I saw the show: during Once Upon Another Time, Ben started staring me down. I was that crazy young girl in the front row who was mouthing along to every word, so I'm sure I must have been quite the spectacle. Never blushed so much in my life…
Anyway, to me, Ramin Karimloo has too much of a pop voice. Ben Lewis is more of a husky, dark classical sound, and I think he looks the part perfectly in the mask and dark robe. (it sounds like I'm saying he's horribly ugly… he's actually some yummy eye candy) Well, that was far too long. Moving on…
Raoul: While I still do prefer the Aussie show to the London one, the Raouls all seem pretty much the same to me. Hadley Fraser in the 25th anniversary… Simon Gleeson in Australia… whoever was in London (sorry! Can't remember his name). So I guess I think of Simon Gleeson because I know him the best.
Meg: Sharon Millerchip (surprise, surprise.) She looks the part. Again, to me, the Australian cast just is their character. (That didn't make sense…) She has the dance skills and the voice and the look. 'Nuff said.
Madame Giry: Ooh, this one's tough. I don't think I picture her as she is depicted in the London show, because she looks really evil. And, since this story doesn't take place 10 years after Phantom (only – what? Seven months? Hard to go from Stern Mother to Evil Bitch Who Ruins Everything in that time span.) I suppose I picture more of a nice Maria Mercedes. So... same voice, similar costume, just nicer. If that's even possible. :\
Okay, looks like that's about it. In general, I picture all my Love Never Dies stuff with the Australian production in mind. In my opinion, the London show got some of the costumes wrong (by that I mean time period) and the Aussie show is just near and dear to my heart. (For those of you wondering, yes, I did see the London production so I have a right to disapprove.) Feel free to hate me for it, but I'm just the Beta of this wonderful story, and my job is to make sure you enjoy it as much as you can – meaning please just imagine whoever you want (heck, even yourself!) as the characters. The imagination is a beautiful thing and unique to every person – this is just my input and how I read and view things.
And this BetaNote was entirely too long! Apologies, and I hope you continue to read and enjoy future updates – I know Flaming Bee has some surprises in store for you all. ;-)
~TheAustralianZombie