DARK CHAPPIE PEOPLE! thanks for waiing so long :) i'm hoping that this chapter will be a good dose for all of you :) thanks for the faithful readers! you know who you are :P

so yeah, in this chapter, you will see the dark side of Erik because not knowing anything..its finally gotten to him. so enough chat

disclaim, disclaim, disclaim...

Despite Erik's best efforts, he could not contain the utter anxiety that he was feeling for not knowing anything about Christine's condition. It had been only a day since the accident, but to Erik, it was a thousand years of waiting in bitter anticipation for the worst to come. When he wasn't sitting beside Christine's hospital bedside, he was walking aimlessly around the hospital—a place that Christine could almost call her second home. To Erik, a maze of catacombs.

He had always hated hospitals. He hated the antiseptic smell that burned his nostrils as doctors, nurses and patients whizzed by. He hated the bland and dry hospital food that they deem 'nutritious' but really is just a surmountable quantity to be easily passed through the bowels. Really, hospital food is just something to keep a person from dying but not really letting them enjoy the taste of life. But most of all, Erik hated the waiting. He hated the expectant looks on relatives' faces when deep inside, all they really need is absolution of the truth—that their loved one is dying.

Erik cringed at the word. He kissed Christine, who was looking—if you can call it better—less sallow, on the forehead and silently drifted out of the private room to get a snack from the nearby Vendo machine. Anything to keep me from eating the God forsaken food. He chose a small bag of chips and counted out his quarters. His long and pale fingers inserted the coins into the coin slot and punched in the combination for the chips. It had jammed itself along the conveyor belt and Erik had to nudge the machine a little to get it to fall out. He was still feeling so bitter about being oblivious to Christine's condition that he had jarred the machine a little too much that it had broken down. Erik growled to himself and caused the nearby nurses to give him a frightened look. He scowled back at them and trudged out of the hall and into the parking lot.

He had asked his friend from Gameworx to fetch his car for him from his condo and he quickly spotted it in the far corner of the parking lot. It was a rather chilly afternoon and he was anxious to be inside the warmth of the car. He felt his pockets for his keys and fumbled for it to ignite the engine. The radio automatically switched on and was playing cheery country music. Erik glanced at the radio and slammed his finger into the power button to shut it off. The silence was heavy in his car and it only pressed him to remember the night before.

I snaked my hand around her back and knew that the coldness of my palm would cause her to shiver. She breathed out my name and I felt as if the whole world had melted away because of the sultriness of her voice against my neck…

"God damn it!" Erik shouted and gripped the steering wheel tightly. He didn't know where he was planning to drive to but soon enough, he'd realized that he drove himself home. He smelled the tanginess of human salt and cringed. He had to take a shower.

He quickly parked his car into his usual slot in the basement and made his way up to his room where he locked the door and turned up the volume of his massive stereo to rock music to drown out the thoughts of Christine and her sultriness.

Briskly, he threw his clothes off and headed off to the bathroom where he let the shower run hot. The large bathroom mirror was beginning to fog up as Erik removed the oppressive mask from his face. He looked at himself at the mirror and frowned at how old he was getting. Abdominal muscles were still where they were supposed to be and yet they seemed weathered and a little bit heavy above his manly V-line. His shoulders sagged a little as if in conformity to the exhaustion that he was experiencing—he hadn't slept at all. Moist was beginning to form on his strained neck and Erik closed his eyes to succumb to the relaxing humidity of the bathroom. He had created his own personal sauna with the steam that was rising up above the shower stall.

After a few minutes had passed, he realized that he was wasting water so he quickly climbed into the bathtub and slid the glass door shut. He didn't want to waste anytime anymore so he scrubbed himself with his soap and washed his hair out. He rinsed himself and turned the water off. He grabbed his towel from its rack and carelessly wiped the beads of water from his face and body, almost forgetting to be careful when drying up the marred side of his face. That suddenly made Erik angry and he remembered why he was in a hurry—he was going to confront Christine's doctor once again and this time, he was sure he would gain new perspective on his love's condition.

My love. Yes, Erik was sure that he loved Christine, but was he one hundred percent sure that she loved him back? Erik wondered how Christine could even stand to be so close to an ugly monster like himself and he pondered upon the moment that she would finally realize what a mistake it was to kiss him.

If there would ever be that moment. Erik rummaged through his closet to find a long-sleeved, brown colored, v-neck shirt and a pair of beige cargo pants. He smoothed his hair out and reluctantly replaced his mask upon his face and set out through the door, locking it behind him.

-o0o-

Erik drove to the hospital, already practicing the lines that he was going to say to Dr. Andre when he confronted him. He didn't want to let lose a string of profanities but if it ever came to that, he wouldn't stop himself. His whole body almost shivered with anticipation with the mystery that he would soon unravel.

He carelessly parked his car near the entrance of the hospital and walked briskly into Dr. Andres's clinic. He had donned a face that normal people would run away from and true enough, passers-by drifted off to the sides of the hallways as if pulled by a magnetic force. He sucked in a deep breath and cleared his throat to begin his angry tirade. Without knocking on the doctor's door, Erik burst through it and glared directly at the preoccupied doctor.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY CHRISTINE? HAVE YOU ANY IDEA—"

Unperturbed, the doctor used his hand to motion to an elderly man who looked severely troubled.

"I'm with a patient, Mr. Destler. Excuse me." The doctor replied with a tone of annoyance.

Overwhelmed with embarrassment, Erik glanced at the two men twice and sheepishly stumbled out of Dr. Andres's office, quietly shutting the door behind him. He sat down on one of the waiting chairs lining the hallway and waited for his turn; cheeks burning. He put his head in his hands that were propped up on his thighs.

God, why did I do that? What came over me?

A while later, he heard the door open and close. A soft hand gently nudged his shoulder and Erik looked up at Daryl's previous patient. The elderly man had soft blue eyes that were framed with a wrinkled face weathered with age. If a tree's rings dictated how old the tree is, then these wrinkles depicted the age of the man. Then the skin pulled back and revealed pearly white teeth that would most probably have been veneers.

"Your turn to find out what's going on, son." His voice complemented his wrinkly face, suggesting that he might have been a singer in his earlier days.

Erik, not knowing if there was a double meaning to that, quickly apologized to the man while touching his mask. It was out of habit that he would place his fingers on his mask while apologizing although he didn't exactly know why.

He entered the clinic and was welcomed with a blast of cold air that he did not seem to notice the first time he came in. he inhaled deeply and allowed the temperature to cool his nerves down. He was finally going to know what happened to his sweet Christine. Dr. Andres was sitting precariously on his seat and stared at Erik with a grim expression on his aging face. Erik stared back with black eyes, desperately needing information. His whole body ached; practically itching to be relieved of his anxiety.

"Sit down, please, Mr. Destler."

"Call me Erik, Doc."

Erik sat down on the patient's arm chair and put a calm but sweaty hand on the edge of the doctor's desk. He bowed his head down slightly and suddenly felt very uneasy.

"I'm sorry for barging in on you. It was uncouth and uncalled for."

"You really want to know the truth don't you?" Dr. Andres looked at Erik with his sad eyes. He leaned on his desk with his elbows and looked down on his hands. Erik felt like he would explode if he didn't find out soon. He clenched his fists to keep them from slamming against the table. He bit the inside of his check to keep him from saying things he'd regret. He was drumming his leg very fast to keep from running upstairs to his love and hold her in his arms until she got better. Whenever that would be.

All the while the wall clock was ticking ominously loud as if to mock Erik of the remaining time he had left to be with Christine. Daryl and Erik looked up at the same time, knowing it was time to end the silence between them.

"I'm afraid it's not in my position to release confidential information between patients." Announced Dr. Andres as he leaned back into his reclining chair. Erik was on the brink of wringing the man's neck until he turned blue, he counted to ten and desperately hoped that he wouldn't lash out.

"What the hell are you trying to tell me? You're her doctor, God damnit! You listen to me," Erik leaned over the desk. He dared the doctor to look at him with his enflamed eyes. He continued, "I love her and I will do anything it takes to keep her safe even if it means killing myself. I've waited my whole life to find an angel to save mysoul from the wretches of this fucking mask, and I found her. Now if you have any amount of decency—man to man—to tell me what is going on, you'd tell me. Please, I love her."

Tears almost started forming in Erik's eyes but he fought them back and waited for he doctor to respond.

A very deep crease formed on the doctor's brow and forehead and it looked as if he was having trouble with what he was about to say. Erik swallowed and begged with his eyes that the doctor tell him.

Daryl exhaled. "Erik, as much as I would like to, I can't tell you. It isn't my place as Christine's friend. You must understand that this situation is difficult for me as well. Christine is a long-time patient of mine—almost like a daughter—and she specifically asked that I not tell…you."

Erik's eyes twitched and something in him snapped. He stood up abruptly causing Dr. Andres to d the same. Erik stared at him as menacingly as he could using his mask as a 'terror tool' as Erik fancied to call it. Everyone would be terrified by him when looked the way he did now, shaking with pent up impatience and fury from waiting all day for answers to his questions. Then the doctor did something that Erik didn't expect him to do; he laughed. Dr. Andres laughed a mirthless laugh and Erik didn't understand what the hell was funny.

"You don't scare me with that mask of yours, Erik."

Erik paled.

"So that's what you do. You hide behind your mask thinking that you can get away with everything by looking scary?" Dr. Andres laughed again but this time, with a heavy tone of sympathy while slowly shaking his head.

Erik almost growled but ran out through the door instead. He ran straight through the hospital's swinging doors and into the parking lot. It had begun to rain heavily. Erik stopped running and let the pouring raindrops to soak his clothes completely. It was frigid cold but it didn't matter to Erik who wasn't feeling anything at the moment except the churning feelings of anger, sadness, but above all, rage. He was breathing heavily and removed his mask to let the rain wash his whole face. He winced at the stinging coldness of the rain and realized that he'd catch a cold if he stayed out there long enough. Did it matter?

Erik stood there near the side walk, letting the raindrops mix with his tears.

good enough? :) pls leave a review if it is and if it isn't...still do :P hehe