Groggily, she began to wake. She opened her eyes, then wishing she hadn't as the brightness of the room assaulted her senses, causing her to wince and her head to ache. Raising her hand, she carefully felt around her forehead, finding nothing she began to search the back of her head. She found a rather large bump closer to the left side of her head. Christine winced again as a voice caused her to push down on her wound.

"You have woken!" Cried the opera house doctor.

"Qui Monsieur." Christine sat up in the bed, only to be pushed back down by the doctor. "Monsieur?"

"You must rest, child. You must be exhausted." Christine nodded. The doctor began to see to he injury while making idle chat. One thing he said, in particular, caught her attention.

"The Opera Ghost?" Christine inquired faking confusion. "How does he fit into any of this?"

"Why! You must have hit you head harder than I presumed! Are you sure you don't know?" Christine shook her head, if it kept him safe, she would be ill a little longer.

"Tell me Monsieur, I beg of you."

"He was your partner." Christine looked at him utterly aghast. And he knew the sentence came out wrong. "Non, non Mlle Daae! He was your singing partner, he played 'Don Juan' on stage with you!"

Nodding softly, Christine sighed. She already knew that, she needed to know what danger he was in if any. "Go on."

"Piangi was found dead, behind the curtain, by La Collotta. The Phantom killed him and took his place to…"

"…Get closer to me." She murmured, and the doctor nodded vigorously.

"Qui! It is feared he was going to steal you away; the Vicomte is very upset, unsurprisingly! As are M. Firmin et M. Andre. They almost lost their star! And their opera house."

"Why do you say that?"

The doctor looked sideways at Christine before replying. "You were to take his mask, qui? Imagine what he would have done in his attempt to escape capture? In his rage? Betrayal? Whom he would have killed? The Vicomte maybe? But I presume the Phantom already wants him dead, qui?"

"Qui. I never thought of it that way. I could have been the cause of a catastrophe!"

"Not very humbling is it?"

Stunned, Christine merely shook her head. The doctor rose and walked to the door. "They may still be looking for him, if I were you I'd tell him to leave for a while."

Christine's head shot up. "You… How?"

"I am old, child, not blind! Nor blinded by love and gossip." Smiling at her softly, his eyes shining with the promise not to tell, he left the room. Finally alone, Christine stood and began to dress. The doctor was right, she had to go to him, to warn him! He was waiting for her!

XXX

Raoul paced outside Christine's dressing room, when he saw the doctor emerge he went to him quickly and demanded to know what was happening.

"Worse than I thought, Vicomte de Chagny. She seems to have banged her head harder than I, at first, presumed. She did not even remember the Phantom being a part of her injury!"

Raoul nodded, than taking his leave, went to enter the dressing room.

"Vicomte, if I may? It would be wise to let her rest."

"She could not be so ill as to not want to see her fiancé!" He spat out angrily at the doctor, who simple nodded and walked away, sighing.

All the harder to help the Phantom with that meddling boy in the way!

Raoul entered the room anyway…

XXX

…To the site of his 'ill' fiancée hurriedly dressing.

"The doctor said you must rest." Startled Christine flew around to face him, her smile turning to a frown at the sour look upon his face.

"Raoul" She reached for him, and he pulled away. Trying again she whispered "My love?" Frowning herself, at the way those words seemed hollow to her, how she almost whispered 'her angel'!

"Do you not remember the Phantom, Christine? You made a great duo! Very strange that you don't remember, wouldn't you say, my love?" The last word, although he meant it, was meant to mock her.

Flinching, she backed away. "I did not remember", she lied. "The doctor told me."

"Did he now? How kind of the good doctor." His words were harsh and worrying. Christine had never seen him like this before.

Maybe he has gone mad from jealousy. She wondered, preferring that idea to another she had. What if he had always been this way? Below the surface hid a monster, claiming to be a man, and has now decided he did not wish to be man anymore?

"No!" She whispered furiously, not daring to believe her betraying mind.

Raoul looked at her stunned. "No, Christine? No, the doctor did not tell you? Well I'm sure he did, but you knew before, didn't you? Didn't you?"

Blushing furiously, Christine's head snapped up in time to see Raoul's shoot out and grab her wrist.

"You knew! You're just trying to protect him! You little viper, protecting that monster!"

Anger beyond all definition of the word bubbled up inside of her, at Raoul's hateful talk of the man who loved and cared for her, who made her who she was.

"He is not a monster, you are!" She gasped at the furry she saw on his face. Eyes shinning maliciously as his second hand came out to strike her.

XXX