Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or the phantom of the opera. They belong to Leroux and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

I'm so tired from exams but I don't have any tomorrow so I'm very much looking forward to sleeping in. Here's Chapter 4:

Christine climbed out of her car, walking to the main reception of the Home. The Daae Home was fifteen minutes from the airport. Christine wasn't actually qualified as a doctor or nurse. Instead she was a friendly face to every occupant of the Home. Christine made rounds of the Home, ensuring that she spoke to every person at least once a day. The nurses and doctors knew that she was to be informed of any changes with the residents which meant she always knew when to congratulate someone or give someone a word of encouragement. Christine managed several social and therapeutic aspects of the Home, some personally, others from a distance. Someone had once called her the soul of the Home. There weren't many who disagreed with this. Christine walked through the sliding doors and smiled at the receptionist.

'Hey Casey. How's it going?' she asked.

'It's been a pretty easy day. Nothing out of the ordinary. Oh! I forgot about Madelaine,' Casey said. Oh no. Christine thought. Madelaine was a close friend of hers. Casey's next words relieved her.

'Apparently her son is coming to visit. If she gets any more excited, we'll have to sedate her,' Casey joked.

'Oh, that's wonderful! I didn't even know she had a son; other than her lawyer she hasn't had a visitor in years,' Christine mused. 'I think I'll make her my first stop so that I don't interrupt when he arrives. Thanks Casey.' Christine began walking towards the large double doors that led to the remainder of the Home.

'No problem. See you later.' Casey turned back to the files she had been organising.

Christine walked down the large corridor which was wide enough to fit a hospital bed should one be required. That said, it obviously catered for wheelchairs and was lined with handrails for the slightly more active residents.

Christine passed two turnoffs and continued down the corridor. The first turnoff led to the largest section of the home, the retired community. This was setup in a similar way to regular retirement homes, with a few slight differences. As you walked along the main corridor there were six separate turnoffs. The first of these was the women's quarters. Each woman had their own room that connected to the women's common room. These rooms had enough space for a bed, any medical equipment required, a table, two chairs, lights and television and there was one bathroom per two women. The women's common room had televisions, stereos, tables set up with card decks, chess and checker boards, comfortable chairs and couches as well as one-seaters that could be moved with ease to fireplaces in winter or near to open windows in summer, as they were now. This connected to another common room which was bigger but set up in the same way, for both men and women. On the other side of this was the men's common room and on the other side of that were their sleeping quarters. The sixth turnoff led to four rooms designed for married couples. Two of them were currently occupied.

The second section was a temporary resident for those who had been in the hospital and were recovering from surgery, illness, that sort of thing. Each of these rooms were an improvement on the quality of hospital rooms; they were more spacious and comfortable, not to mention less expensive. One of the temporary residents had remarked to Christine before they left:

'The food here tastes a whole lot better than the glop I had to eat at the hospital.'

After passing these sections, Christine once again came to a set of large double doors. These doors led out to a wide path. From here you could see several small building on either side of the path that looked like a cross between a cottage and a cabin. These were the Community Units. Each of these had a bedroom, a kitchen, a lounge/dining room containing a table and a set of chairs as well as a TV, and a guest bedroom.

Passing the first unit, Christine walked to the second one and knocked on the door. The door opened to show Madelaine dressed up slightly more than usual. Madelaine was nearly fifty years old and had been a resident at the Daae Home for around fifteen years.

'Christine! Did you hear? My son is coming to visit me!' Madelaine said excitedly. Christine laughed.

'Yes, I heard. I take it you haven't seen him in a while?' Christine asked.

'No, I haven't. It's been almost fifteen years. He ran away after...after.' Madelaine paused and a shadow flickered over her face. 'Well it was shortly after this happened.' Madelaine gestured at herself. 'This' was several acid burns that covered the back of her head, her neck and portions of her back and right arm. Christine had respected Madelaine's privacy, never asking what had happened. When Madelaine had first arrived, she wouldn't tell the doctors anything. When one of them had suggested searching the internet, she had snapped at him and he was fired as this was not his first transgression. Christine knew that they had to find out certain information so she had sat down with Madelaine for a private chat.

Flashback

'Ms. Richards, I need you to know that I will not be asking you to tell me or anyone the circumstances that caused you to be burnt. We just need enough medical details to looks after you properly. Madelaine started crying on Christine's shoulder.

'Thank you,' she whispered. Christine called a doctor into the room and squeezed Madelaine's hand as she gave him some details.

End of flashback

To this day nobody at the Home knew exactly what had caused Madelaine's burns but Christine knew they had something to do with her ex-husband because of a brief conversation she had with Madelaine around a week after the doctor's visit. Christine didn't remember exactly what she had said but it involved call Madelaine Ms. Richards, as per Daae House protocol.

Flashback

'Please don't call me that,' Madelaine said. Christine was puzzled.

'Addressing residents by their title and surname is part of the rules at the Daae Home. Is something wrong with that?' she asked.

'It's just...I'm not used to being called Ms. Richards yet and every time that I am, it makes me think of my married name...my married life.' Her face was full of anger and pain.

Christine agreed to call her Madelaine and without causing a fuss notified the staff that they were to do the same, no questions asked.

End flashback

'Christine, can you help me please? I need somebody to help me with my makeup,' Madelaine said.

'Of course,' Christine said with a smile. She knew Madelaine sometimes had some difficulty using her arm because of the burns. 'What would you like me to do?'

A few minutes later Madelaine had some very light makeup on and was walking over to her mirror.

'Thank you, Christine. I want you to meet my son while he is here. I'm sure he will like you as much as I do,' Madelaine said.

'I'd love to meet him, but I think I'll let you two get reacquainted first. He will be here any minute now by the sounds of things, so I think I'll pop in and see Miss Jamison; she had a bit of a cold yesterday. Send me a message when you want me to come?' Christine said. Madelaine was one of the few residents that had Christine's personal mobile number.

'Of course, that would be perfect,' Madelaine said gratefully. 'I will see you in just a bit?'

'Sure thing,' said Christine. Christine left Madelaine's unit and walked into the neighbouring one just as Erik walked into the main reception.