"And now the only thing left to do

Is to wait and hope that our love can mend

I love you Erik, this I cannot pretend."- Excerption straight from the diary of Christine Daae.

Christine's POV

The house was silent. That's what I remember after waking up from falling asleep. I don't know how it happened, but after drinking the tea Erik had made me, I immediately felt drowsy and the next thing I knew, I was asleep. When I awoke, the house was in silence. My leg was throbbing in agony, but at least I was rested. After a while, I heard a door slam shut, only to wonder what was going on. Deciding to find, I gently rose from the bed, and limped out into the hallway.

"Erik?"

I softy called his name, waiting for a reply. When I didn't get one, I looked towards his room, only to see small red droplets on the floor. I gasped, and reached down to touch one of the droplets….It was blood….

"Erik!" I gasped his name, and hurried to his closed door and knocked.

"Erik, are you in there?"

I didn't get an answer.

"Erik, are you and Eudora ok?"

When he didn't answer again, I pounded on the door.

"Erik, open the door!"

Once again, he wasn't answering so I opened the door, gasping at the horrible sight that I saw. There was Erik, standing near his window soaking wet and his exposed skull gushing blood.

"Erik…"

I hurried to him as quickly as possible, to try and help him. His hand was pressed against his skull, not knowing what to do.

"Erik, you're soaking wet…..what happened to you?"

I limped to his wardrobe closet and pulled out some cloths to cover his gushing head with.

"Here, Erik."

I pressed the cloths against his head, only to hear him cringe.

"Press tightly, Erik."

His trembling hand rose to his head to press against the cloth as I moved to his soaking wet clothes. My poor angel's body was turning blue, and he was shaking tremendously. My fingers pried at the buttons of his shirt, my warm hands making contact with his chest for the first time in years.

When his shirt was off his shoulders, I draped him with his warm quilt. As his quilt was wrapped around his shoulders, I went for the lining of his soaked trousers to pull them down. What happened to him? Why was he gushing blood and soaking wet? I wanted to know, but the most important thing was getting him warm. I backed him up against his bed, and forced him to lay down so I could examine his skull.

"Erik, stop moving." I warned his fidgeting body as I went for the cloth that was pressed against his head. I reached over on his night table for the bottle of brandy he had sitting there, and poured some on his open would, only to hear him scream. Once the blood was cleared away, I was able to see that one of his veins had burst, but it had to be because of a fall of some sort. I gently wrapped his wound up in gauze, before removing his blood stained mask away. He reached out for it, but I didn't give it back.

"I'll clean it, Erik…."

But something else was wrong…..He hadn't spoken to me, and I now knew the reason why. He had blood dripping from his mouth, and his jaw looked crooked.

"Erik?" I reached out to touch it, only to have him cry out in pain. No, this wasn't done by falling down the stairs, someone had done this to him. Without hesitating, I tore a long piece of cloth, and wrapped it around his mouth to cradle his jaw. For a few more moments, I stood there rubbing the blankets against his body to get the chill out of him. We might have no longer been lovers, but Erik meant the world to me. Seeing him like this made me my heart break in half. I waited until he passed out from his pain before leaving him. My daughter was around somewhere, and I needed to find out if she knew anything. I carried Erik's mask downstairs, only to pass the couch and spot my daughter sleeping there.

"Eudora…." I shook her shoulder, and she opened her eyes.

"Mother? What are you doing out of bed?" My daughter sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Eudora, did you see uncle Erik come in a few moments ago?"

Eudora shook her head.

"No, he went back out a while ago saying that the pharmacist gave him the wrong medicine for you and that he wanted to get the right one. I asked to go with him, but he told me he wouldn't be long and that I should just go back to sleep. Why? Is something wrong?"

I hid the bloody mask behind my back, and shook my head.

"Uncle Erik is sick."

"Is he ok, mother? Mother, let me see uncle….."

I gently pushed her back down, and tried to calm her down.

"Uncle Erik needs his rest, love. Can you promise me that you'll let him rest?"

It took a few moments for her to agree, but my daughter finally nodded.

"Come on, let's get some dinner. Afterwards I'll put you to bed, your uncle is going to need a lot of care tonight."

My daughter followed me into the kitchen, where she sat down as I washed Erik's mask in the sink.

"But how can uncle Erik be sick, mother? He was fine….he took me out today, he took me to the park and we had a snow ball fight, and he told me stories…."

I couldn't help but smile, my Erik was such a wonderful father."

"What else did you two do?"

Eudora took out a small paper bag, and held it up.

"He boughts me candy."

"Candy?"

"Yes, he told me to pick out some candy at the store, and he boughts it for me."

When the blood stains were washed away, I dried his mask, and placed it on the counter.

"Alright then, love, what would you like for dinner?"

"I'm not really hungry anymore, mother."

I knew my daughter was upset about Erik being sick, which being the reason why she didn't want to eat, but I made her a sandwich and shared half of it with her. Afterwards, I put her in her nightgown and tucked her in.

"Now get some sleep."

"Mother, will uncle be ok?"

"Yes darling, he needs his rest and he'll be fine."

It was then that Eudora reached in the covers of her bed, and took pulled out her favorite doll.

"Lilly will keep uncle company."

I smiled, and took the doll out of her small hands.

"I'm sure she will. That's very thoughtful to give him your doll, Eudora."

"Uncle needs her more than me."

I kissed my daughter on the forehead, and stood to leave, limping out into the hall. Once back inside Erik's room, I lit a fire in the fireplace, and sat the doll down on his nightstand. My poor angel was still asleep, but the blue color of his skin had began to fade away. Now that he was warm and dry, I rummaged through his wardrobe closet and pulled out a pair of his night clothes. I unwrapped the covers from his naked body, and noticed that his braces were still locked around his legs. My hands gently glided over each clip to unlock them before slipping off the first one.

"Ch…Christine…."

I glared up from his free leg, to see him still asleep. I had heard my name, but could only wonder if he was saying it to me, or calling it out in his sleep. When my hands touched his other leg, I heard my name being called again.

"Ch…Christine."

This time when I looked up, his eyes were slightly open.

"Erik, how do you feel?"

I unlocked the final brace, and slipped his leg out of it before putting his legs into each pant leg of his night trousers.

"Y….Y…you should…..be….in bed." he weakly stated.

I worked the pants up his legs and butt before buttoning them at his waist.

"A little fever isn't going to keep me away from you, Erik."

I reached for his night shirt, and placed my hand over his hot forehead.

"Erik, you're burning up."

"N…N..No more than you."

"Put your arms around my shoulder." I told him, getting ready to put his shirt around his back.

"I…I can't move…."

This broke my heart. My poor angel needed my help, and I wasn't going to back down. I lifted each weak arm, and placed it around my shoulders before lifting his limp body up just enough to slip his open nightshirt behind his back. Afterwards, I gently placed him back down, and slipped each arm into a sleeve.

As I looked down at the part of his exposed chest sticking out from his nightshirt, I couldn't help but notice how shallow his breathing was.

"Are you breathing ok?" I worriedly asked him.

"Y…yes….I'm just….cold…."

Without another moment to spare, I buttoned his shirt closed, and draped the blankets back over him.

"Erik, tell me what happened to you."

I caressed his broken jaw, hoping he would explain everything to me. But instead of telling me, he reached clumsily onto his nightstand for a notepad that was placed there. I knew he could hardly speak as it was because of the pain in his jaw. After a few moments he handed me the scratchy weakly written note, and I read it, each line more painful to read that the next.

He had apparently gone out to return the wrong medicine that had been given to him for my fever. After coming out of the drug store with the right medicine, three men approached him and told him to hand over his wallet. Erik had tried to fight them off, but one dislocated his jaw and the other pushed him onto the icy nearby pond, hence his gushing head. The ice broke, and he fell into the water. The thugs had held him under the water until they could get a hold of the wallet that was stored in the lapel of his jacket.

How could people be so cruel? My angel was out getting medicine for me, and now he was sick. His note had said enough, I didn't have to prolong the pain. I placed the notepad down, and handed him the bottle of brandy so he could take a swig to soothe his pain.

"Here…."

Erik pointed to the bottle of red colored liquid.

"Drink a…a…cup of that." he instructed me.

"Is that my medicine?" I asked him.

He simply nodded, and I poured the red liquid into its cap before drinking it. It tasted horrible, but if it was going to bring down my fever, the taste was worth it. I then poured Erik a cup, and held it up to his lips.

"No…."

I pushed the medicine to his mouth.

"Yes."

When he finally drank it, I fluffed his pillow, and approached the end of his bed. I hopped up on his mattress, and sat his feet in my lap.

"Thank you for the medicine, Erik, that was sweet of you."

"In the end…we…we both needed it."

I began to massage his cold feet with my warm hands, trying to get them warm as well.

"Erik, you don't have to tell me, I know what happened to you from your note. I'm sorry this happened to you, and I can't help it but want to blame myself."

"No….D…Don't say that."

"It hurts, Erik. Knowing that something happened to you broke my heart. We came on this trip to try and work things out, but we haven't fixed one thing between us yet."

"Wh..What is there to talk about?"

I looked down at Erik's feet, and then back at him, thinking about what to say.

"Is there not one ounce of love left in your heart for me?"

"Only all the ounces the world can hold."

"Then what's holding you back, Erik? I've been trying my hardest with you and yet, your attitude towards me has stayed the same."

"I…I told you, Christine."

"And yet, you love your daughter like a father should."

"How else…should I act?"

"Like her father, Erik. Can you for one moment forget that I lied to you about Raoul, and let your emotions for me free? I let my emotions free everyday of the week, Erik. I came rushing to you the moment I saw blood on the floor."

"And I you…with your leg."

"Then why can't everything change?"

Erik didn't say anything, and just laid there.

"Erik, please say something. Our daughter needs us both."

"Ok…."

"Ok what?"

"We….We…can try."

"And what made you agree to this?" I asked smiling at him.

"You massaging my feet."

I giggled, and continued rubbing them.

"If I would have known this, I would have done this four years ago…"

"D..Don't push it."

"I'm teasing, Erik."

It was then that I heard Erik's grandfather clock strike the hour of midnight.

"It's getting late." Erik said, pressing his head against his pillow.

I nodded, and lifted myself from off the bed.

"Wait…."

Erik pulled me gently back, and I plopped down beside her.

"Y…You helped me, now….I'll help you…."

I laid there beside him as he rubbed my bandaged ankle. It was hurting me, but after Erik began rubbing it, I felt much better.

"Thanks, Erik."

"It wouldn't be fair."

I soon began to feel sleepy, and Erik covered me up.

"No, Erik, I should really be getting back to my own bed."

But Erik wouldn't listen.

"You….you want to fix things…we're starting…now."

"Now?"

"Yes….I..need to learn to trust you again….This is the easiest way…"

"Sleeping beside you?"

"Yes."

I got myself comfortable, and watched as Erik reached up for the rope for his privacy drapes. That's until he noticed Eudora's doll sitting on the night table.

"What's that?"

"Oh, Eudora thought her doll would keep you company."

He smiled, and pulled the privacy drapes down over us.

"That was thoughtful of her."

With that, we both fell asleep, for the first time together in four years. Everything came back to me; the familiar scent of Erik's cologne, the soft musical sound of his breathing….Everything was familiar and wonderful. The next morning, I awoke and left Erik alone so he could sleep. I knew he was probably experiencing the worst headache he ever had. When I reached the kitchen, Eudora was already there waiting for me, and in her hands she had Erik's clean mask.

"Eudora, it's early."

"I know, but usually it's uncle who is down here with me at this time."

I took the mask from her fingers, and set it aside.

"I know, Eudora, but your uncle is sleeping. He needs his rest."

"I went into your room this morning, but you weren't there. Did you spend the night with him?"

My daughter was so full of questions…She was like Erik in every way.

"Eudora, your uncle needed help. I needed to keep an eye on his fever throughout the night to make sure it didn't rise."

My daughter didn't say another word, and I poured her a glass of juice.

"Now drink something and let me get us our breakfast."

"When can I see uncle?"

This child was worse than a little baby wanting her father…only she didn't know he was her father.

"Eudora, that's enough. Uncle Erik is sick, and I want him to get better."

"Oh, please, mother, please let me see uncle. I won't make a sound, I promise."

"Eudora, I said no. After breakfast we'll play with your dolls for a while to let uncle Erik get his sleep."

After setting her breakfast down on the table, I loaded a tray with scrambled eggs and a cup of tea, heading towards the stairs with it to feed Erik.

"Eat your breakfast, Eudora, I'll be back in a little bit."

"But mother….."

I backtracked to the kitchen, and took the mask from the counter.

"No buts, Eudora. Your uncle needs to be fed too."

"Not fair, mother."

I didn't say another word, and headed up the stairs to Erik's room. Once inside, I sat the tray down on the night table, and pulled back the privacy drapes to find Erik still sleeping. To let some light into the room, I cracked open the curtain just enough to let the winter sunlight vanish the darkness. From the bed, Erik softy groaned, and placed his arm over his eyes. I knew with the terrible headache he was most likely experiencing, the sunlight wasn't helping it.

"Erik, I brought you your mask." I set it on the table. "And your breakfast."

"Leave it." he groaned. "I'm much too tired to eat."

"If you expect that fever and sickness of yours to go away, you won't fight me on this, Erik."

I sat there at the side of his bed, holding a forkful of the scrambled eggs up to his lips.

"Now eat."

He opened his mouth just enough to take in the food without disturbing his injured jaw. But even as he chewed, the pain in his head brought him complications with eating his breakfast.

"Erik, take your time. I'm in no rush."

From his lungs came a terrible cough, one that sounded worse than a regular one. I knew being wet out in the cold had done more than make him shiver. I knew he was extremely sick…

"That doesn't sound promising." I held the cup of hot tea to his lips. "The herbs in the tea should help."

"I just want to sleep, Christine."

He ate most of his eggs, and drank half of the tea. Satisfied, I covered him up, and repositioned his head on the pillows beneath it.

"Your daughter has been asking about you, Erik."

"Not now, Christine. If you send her in here, she'll never leave. I love the girl with all my heart, but you know how she is. She'll be having her dolls romping all over me…."

"I know, which is why I won't let her in."

"Could you do me a favor?"

"Anything." I said, closing the curtains, letting darkness overtake the room once more.

"Warm me up a cloth to place on my head."

I brushed a few strands of hair away from Erik's face, and nodded.

"Yes, I'll be back in a few moments."

"Take your time." he reminded me. "You must go easy with that injured leg of yours."

Once down stairs again, Eudora was no longer in the kitchen. Deciding that she most likely found something else to do, I continued with my promise to get Erik a hot cloth. I took an extra one from the linen closet, and placed it in the oven for a few moments.

"Eudora?"

I called her name, hoping to hear a reply. When she didn't answer, I called her again.

"Eudora Mulheim! You will answer me when I call you."

"What?" I heard her voice from down the hall. What on earth she was doing down the hall was beyond me, but I wasn't about to just stand around and let it happen. Down the dark hallway there was an open door, and inside was Eudora sitting at Erik's piano. This was his music room, and Eudora was in it.

"Eudora, get out of here this instant."

"But mother…"

"No buts, get out of here, this room is your uncle's personal music room."

My daughter pounded on the old piano keys, causing a cloud of dust to rise up into the air. I dragged her out of the room, and back to the family room where her dolls were laying all about. I never usually became mad at Eudora, but she had no right to do what she had just done.

"Young lady, you have no right to go snooping around your uncle's house. He didn't say you could go in there, which is why you have no right."

"I'm bored, mother. Can we please do something?"

"I told you we would do something as soon as I was finished taking care of your uncle. I shouldn't be much longer, Eudora."

"Can I go see him?"

Oh, why, why did Erik have to go out and get himself sick?

"Eudora, he's not in the mood. He's very tired and agitated. I promise I'll let you see him as soon as he's feeling up to it. Now play with your dolls and stop pestering me."

When my daughter was situated, I dashed back into the kitchen to get the cloth out of the oven to take to Erik. When I entered the room once more, Erik was laying there with his hand pressed to the bandaged wound on his head.

"Here." I softly said, placing the warm cloth over his bandaged skull. "This should help you."

Erik sighed to the relaxing sensation, and snuggled into his pillow.

"Does that feel better?" I asked, fixing the blankets on his bed.

"Yes, thank you."

"If you need anything else, I'll be down stairs, Erik."

"Not at the moment, Christine. Thank you."

"When your cloth gets cold, call me and I'll heat it up for you again."

I waited for a reply, but Erik was already asleep. I watched him for a few seconds, and then turned to walk back down stairs to entertain Eudora.

Ok, please review! More fluff to come!