A/n OMG look.. I updated this story ... I've been updating my others left and right and let this story sit here. Arg! I just had a massive attack of writers block, and most of it was for this story. I still have writers block for this story even though I already know what is going to happen and such. It's just hard for me to write it and make it sound good. Anyways… yes this story is on hold… I'm still working on it and I will update as I finish the chapters, but it won't be as fast as it was before. But I hope it will be better than the two months egads.

Reviews are always great motivation to write So I thank you for all the reviews you've sent me. And I hope to see many more :)

Now on to the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own POTO characters.

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Chapter 10

Erik hurried to Christine's room with her in his arms. Her tumble didn't cause her any harm but it had scared him half to death. She woke up as soon as he kneeled beside her and took her in his arms. She protested being carried like an infant but Erik was going to have his way. He nudged the bedroom door open with his foot and set Christine down on the massive chair. "Don't get up." He demanded softly and hurried over to the bed.

"It wasn't so bad." Christine argued, even though she was still sweating and everything was still turning.

Erik yanked the sheets from the bed. "It'll get worse." He said ominously as he hurried from the room with the bundle of sheets. He returned a few moments later with new, neatly folded sheets. He watched her out of the corner of his eyes as he quickly made the bed. It looked as if she didn't know what to make of his housekeeping. Erik figured she wouldn't want to lie in dirty sheets that she had sweated in all night, not to mention she was wearing that filthy shift as well.

"Do you think so?" came her soft voice as he smoothed the sheets in place.

Erik stood and gazed intently at the helpless young woman. The look she gave him broke his heart. She was tired. Tired of the plague, tired of death…tired with everything she had to deal with. Erik was sure that he was somewhere on that list as well. He stepped over and lifted her from the chair and placed her into the bed. She didn't argue, she just let him do as he wanted. "Remove the dress." Erik instructed. And looked away as she did so.

Erik turned back around when she was done and tucked the blankets around her. "I won't lie to you Christine. Things may be very bad. But you are doing a wonderful job in healing so far. You just have to learn not to push yourself." He reached out and petted her head softly. She shot him an angry look that quickly melted as she fell asleep. The poor girl didn't even have enough energy to be mad. Erik stayed with her till she was sleeping peacefully before he returned to the kitchen and cleaned up.

Nothing had been broken, not that he would have cared much if anything had been. He set the dishes in the sink and set the table cloth away to be washed later. The bundle of horehound went safely in his pocket and returned upstairs to Christines' room to set the herb with the others so he could use it later. He would make her tea later. At the moment the thing Erik wanted the most... was a bath.

He took one last look at Christine before retiring to his room. Erik had a private bathroom in his bedroom and he was more comfortable there. On his way to the tub he caught sight of his reflection and he paused. He could hardly look at himself in the full length bathroom mirror. Guilt suddenly washed over him. If only he had taken Christine with him when he had first fled the Opera House. She never would have gotten sick, she never would have seen her friends die all around her. Things would have been different. With a sigh, Erik ripped his mask off and ran a hand over his sweaty face.

Why was he sweating?

The thought made him pause. He was tired, worn out. Sleep would most likely be the best thing for him right now. But he still feared for Christine. Her health could turn at any moment. He would get some much needed rest later, when he was sure Christine would be stable.

The bath felt so good to his tired and sore body. Erik allowed himself to relax as the almost scalding water melted away his tension. But it wasn't easy with his mind going back to Christine. He knew he was going to have to forgive himself for not being about to help sooner. But Erik found it nearly impossible for him to forgive himself. He didn't want his forgiveness in the matter. He wanted Christines'

…. . .

Dressed in fresh black tux pants and shirt, Erik set his mask into place as he headed to the kitchen. He set water to boil for Christine's' tea and retreated back to his room. A comb made quick work of his hair, every strand was slicked back. His disciplined side and compulsive need to look perfect sometimes had Erik in front of a mirror for quite a while. As much as he hated to look at himself. At the moment he was hardly keeping up his appearance. His white shirt was left un-tucked and half buttoned. Erik had to stop himself from obsessing over his appearance. That wasn't what was important right now.

"Christine comes first." He said to his reflection in the full length mirror as he dropped his comb back on his table of masks, cosmetics and other such things. He always wondered how Christine could stand the sight of him when he could hardly stand the sight of himself sometimes. His mood shifted from well, to moody, and depressed. 'Keep positive for Christine' He reminded himself. The last thing she needed was negative, depressed feeling from the man trying to save her life.

Back in the kitchen, Erik poured a cup full of boiling water into a tea cup and carried up to Christine's room. Once there he set it aside to cool and quickly added the various herbs as well as the newly acquired horehound. Then he settled himself in the large chair by the bed and gazed over at the sleeping girl. Erik hated the thought of disturbing her sleep but he had to give her another injection as well as the tea. He just wanted to watch her sleep for a bit longer. But time was important, and Christine didn't have much of it. With a sigh, the masked man forced himself out of the chair to retrieve the bowl of just boiling water from the kitchen. Once back in the room, he dropped the needle and the rest of the syringe in the hot water to be sterilized.

Injection right into the blood stream didn't seem to have the affect Erik wanted. And that was unacceptable for his disciplined mind. If not in the blood stream, perhaps the desired effect would happen if he injected her in a muscle. Erik held his head in his hands as he thought and paced back and forth in the room. It would have to be a large muscle, like her thigh …or….

Erik paused and lifted his eyes to the sleeping girl.

… . .

Christine didn't want to wake up. Who the hell was bothering her anyways? Her name was being called, but it was distorted by her sleep muddled mind. All she wanted to do was fall back in the warm darkness of sleep.

"Christine." The voice called and it suddenly clicked to the young woman that it was Erik. She struggled, pushing sleep away and moving closer to the man who that musical voice belonged to.

"W-What?" Christine groaned when she finally forced her eyes open. Her voice sounded far too deep to belong to her. Light streaming in from the stain glass window assaulted her eyes and gave her an instant headache. She tried to sit up but her body wouldn't listen to her. Every muscle hurt her; so she was glad to obey when Erik placed a large hand on the center of her chest and gently pushed her back to the bed.

"You don't have to get up right now Christine." He whispered to her, his masked face was only inches from her own as he pulled at her eyelids one at a time to look into her eyes. 'Then why in the world did he wake me up for?' Christine wanted to turn away, look away, anything to keep from gazing into his cool blue eyes. She could get lost in those eyes. Drown in their depths.

'Drown in their depths… come on Christine, you're going mad.' She chastised herself as Erik backed away and helped her to sit up.

"Now, I made you some more tea." Erik started. Christine groaned and tried to pull away so she could curl back under the warm blankets.

"Not that nasty stuff again, I wanna sleep." She knew she was whining, being childish. But she just wanted to get away from him. Christine felt too comfortable around him. But Erik only held her tighter against him as he brought the cup to her. Christine made a face but accepted the tea with as much dignity as she could muster. It was far worse than she remembered. She thought that it would be a bit better if it was hot, why her kidnapper insisted on giving it to her cold? Christine didn't have any idea. When the cup was finally empty, Erik placed her back on the bed where Christine threw the covers over her and curled up tightly.

"Christine. I'm not done with you yet." Erik carefully pulled the covers away from her. Christine was jolted by the sudden blast of the cool air in the room and she curled up in an even tighter ball, tucking her bare legs up into her shift.

"What do you want now?" Christine looked over and watched Erik refill the syringe with the same light amber liquid as before. Another shot…wonderful. "Another one?" the girl whimpered.

Erik glanced over at her quickly before returning his attention to the amount he was filling the syringe. "I'm sorry Christine Child. I'm pretty sure this will be the last one." He stepped up to the bed looking very uncomfortable. "Christine." He cleared his throat and rolled his massive shoulders. "You need to be on your stomach."

Christine blinked up at him with her large brown eyes and did as she was told, having no idea why she had to be on her tummy for this. She twitched slightly when she felt Erik set a hand on her back. It was large and the heat from his touch relaxed her more than anything he could have given her. Christine let her body go limp, relishing in the feel of his hand on her back.

Suddenly she felt Erik yank her shift up, exposing her bare bottom. Christine hardly had time to react when she felt a massive sting where he was injecting the medicine. The combination of pain and humiliation was just enough to push the half asleep young woman over the edge.

Christine screamed.

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A/n I know… I suck for leaving it at another cliff. But I've started the next chapter already so updating won't take a month… I hope. Anyways.. Reviews are loved, and needed for motivation... So review :)