The hospital was bustling, even though it was nearly two in the morning by the time I was ready to leave. My wrist was wrapped with a tensor bandage, and they had given me some painkillers to take for the next few days. Luckily I had convinced them it wasn't necessary to bandage my face, but right now that hurt more than my wrist did.

Just as I began to walk toward the door at the end of the long, white hallway, the paramedic from the street walked up beside me, giving me a friendly smile.

"How are you?" He asked, concern evident on his face.

"Fine, thank you." I attempted to smile, but ended up wincing in pain. "Okay, smiling is not a good idea."

"Considering you took on someone over twice your size, I'd say you faired pretty well." He laughed a beautiful, throaty laugh, and I marveled for a moment at how handsome he was. I started to laugh to, but immediately stopped as the pain in my ribs took over.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He gently put his hand on my shoulder to stop me from walking.

"Laughing hurts," I sighed, wishing I could smile into his dazzling blue eyes.

"Okay, no laughing," He said seriously, a barely suppressed smile playing across his lips.

"So is there any particular reason you wanted to talk to me?" I questioned lightly as we began to walk again.

"Yes, actually," He grinned, pulling a loose strand of golden hair away from his chiseled face. Oh my goodness he was hot! "You are Christine Daae?"

"Yes," I answered, confused.

"Do you remember when you and your father used to go visit Southern Florida? I believe you had a cabin there and used to go at least twice every summer." He began, his eyes sparkling.

"Yes, I remember," I said sadly, feeling a sudden pang of longing for my dad. My emotions were still raw after singing that beautiful duet with Erik… If this man knew so much about my summers, didn't he know my father was gone? And how did he even know about my summers?

"Well my family had a cabin there too when I was little," He continued. "And one day I saw a little girl with a stunning scarlet scarf walking along the beach. I went out to talk with her, but to her dismay the beautiful scarf was caught by the wind and carried into the sea. Then I, still in my Sunday best, ran into the waves and retrieved it for her." He finished, a boyish grin on his face.

Realization dawned on me, and I smiled despite the pain it caused me, speaking without hesitation. "After that we became the best of friends; playing in the water every summer while we were at the cabin, writing letters when we weren't, going to bonfire parties as we got older…" I stopped for a moment, looking directly into his eyes. "Raoul? Is it really you?"

"The one and only!" He said laughingly, stepping back and holding out his arms.

"I can't believe it's you!" I exclaimed, throwing myself into his arms and wrapping my arms around him, despite the pain that shot up my side. Thank goodness it was just a slight bruising in my ribs. He put his arms around me eagerly, and I could hear his deep laugh resonating throughout the hallway.

I stepped back, but he kept his arms around me, keeping me close but being careful not to push too hard on my side. "How old are you now? Twenty?"

"I just turned twenty-one." He smiled. "And you?"

"Oh yeah! Your birthday was last week!" I exclaimed. "And I'm nineteen… I don't turn twenty until the twentieth of January, don't you remember?"

"Of course I do." He smiled… He still hadn't relinquished his hold on me, but I was perfectly content to stay in his arms. His expression grew somber and he spoke again, more quietly. "Why did you stop coming Christine? Two years ago I just stopped hearing from you; no visits, no letters, nothing… "

His voice faded away, and sadness filled his eyes; it nearly broke my heart.

"Oh Raoul," I said, unshed teas blurring my vision. I buried my face in his chest as he wrapped his arms around me, finding comfort in his familiar embrace.

"My father's gone. " I sobbed, tears flowing freely now. "That's why I stopped coming… He's gone…" Pain shot up my side with every cry, but I couldn't stop.

"I'm so sorry Christine," He murmured into my hair as my tears began to stain his shirt.

It felt wonderful to have someone hold me. Raoul's arms felt warm, safe, familiar and strong, and for the first time since my father's death I felt a connection to him; not the passionate, fleeting connection I felt while singing with Erik, but a calm, constant connection.

By the time he stepped back I was already wiping my tears away. "Sorry about that," I mumbled.

"Don't be sorry," He whispered softly, wiping one final tear off my cheek with his thumb. "I'm sorry I made you hurt like this… Will you let me make it up to you?"

"You really don't have to…" I spoke as we approached the exit of the hospital.

He placed his hand on my shoulder again, gently turning me toward him before I could walk out the doors. "Please?" His eyes pleaded with me, and my heart melted. After a moment I nodded, how could I turn him down now?

"How does dinner Friday night sound?" He questioned joyfully, smiling his sexy grin.

"Perfect," I smiled flirtatiously, ignoring the pain shooting across my face.

He held the door open for me, and questioned as I walked through. "Can I give you a ride? My shift is over and I'm assuming you don't have a vehicle here."

"Actually, I don't have a vehicle at all." I said playfully, "So a ride would be excellent."

He held out his arm like an old fashioned gentlemen, and I suppressed a giggle as I rested my hand in the crook of his elbow.

We chatted easily on the way to the staff parkade, until we came to a stop in front of a cherry-red, F-type Jaguar. If my face wasn't still hurting from smiling, my jaw would have dropped.

"This is your car?!" I exclaimed as he opened the passenger side door for me.

"It was a birthday present," He shrugged climbing into the driver's side. I did up my seatbelt and ran my hand along the edge of the smooth leather seats.

"A birthday present from who, the queen of England?!" I said, turning on the radio.

"Christine, you know who my parents are." He sighed, pulling the car onto the highway and accelerating at an amazing pace.

"Of course I do," I yelled over the wind with a wave of my hand. "But if you get cars like this, why work?"

"I don't want to live off my parent's fortune." He yelled back. "I want to actually help people in the world, not just pump oil out of our planet."

Raoul's parents were the co-owners of the largest oil-company in the nation, making them multi-billionaires. His "cabin" in Florida was one of five of his family homes, and was actually a three story mansion, as opposed to our small wooden cabin.

"Sounds very noble," I said a little quieter as we came to a stop at a red light. "So my apartment is a block away from the Opera Populaire… Do you know where that is?"

"Yes actually," He nodded, expertly weaving the agile jaguar through New York City traffic. "My family has season tickets this year."

"Awesome!" I clapped. "I work there!"

"Really?" He exclaimed, "What a strange coincidence! What do you do?"

"I'm just one of the chorus girls," I blushed, "But I hope to be a lead someday."

"If your voice is half as amazing as I remember it to be I'm sure you will be," He smiled, casually resting his free hand on mine.

We spent the entire car ride catching up on the two years we had missed with each other. Unfortunately, he stopped in front of my building much too soon.

"It was good seeing you," I leaned over the center console and gave him a hug.

"Hopefully we can meet under better circumstances next time." He chuckled, motioning to my wrist. "Can I have your phone number so I can contact you about dinner?"

"Sure, where's your phone?" I answered as flirtatiously as I could without smiling too much.

"Buried in my work bag somewhere," He smiled, pulling up his sleeve and exposing his arm. He grabbed a pen and passed it to me. "Write away."

I wrote my name in my neat cursive, and then wrote my phone number underneath. "Your turn!" I proclaimed, holding out my arm without the cast on it. He scrawled his name and number on it with surprisingly neat writing, and then pulled back, grinning.

"Until Friday." He smiled,

"Until then." I smiled a little bit and got out of the car, walking toward my building.

He waved charmingly at me, and I was in the lobby when I finally heard him pull away.

When I reached our apartment, I opened the door quietly, hoping Meg was already asleep. Unfortunately, my luck wasn't nearly that good.

"What happened?!" Meg screeched, rushing to my side and escorting me to our small couch as if I was going to break.

"I'm fine Meg… Just a sprained wrist and bruised ribs." I sighed as she sat down next to me, looking frantic.

"What about your face?" She snorted, "And how did you sprain your wrist and hurt your ribs?!"

I relayed the whole story to her, and she sat on the edge of the couch, awe on her face. If I didn't know that she was genuinely worried about me, I would have thought she was excited from how wound up she was.

"So you just launched yourself at a freaking mugger? You, one of the single, most petite, people I know, launched yourself at 250 pounds of mugger?!" She exclaimed, putting her hands on my shoulders and shaking me gently. "What is wrong with you?!"

"He was beating up an old lady!" I exclaimed, then grimaced as pain shot up my face. I spoke quieter once the pain had subsided. "I wasn't going to just let her die."

"You are so brave," Meg smiled, pulling me into a tentative hug.

"Oh, and guess what?" I said quietly.

"Was that an excited guess what, or a sad guess what… I can't tell since you can't really smile." She grinned, and it took everything I had not to smile back.

"You will never guess who I met at the hospital… Raoul! The boy I was telling you about who used to visit dad and I at the cabin!" I said as excitedly as I could manage.

"No shit!" She exclaimed, "Tell me everything!"

"Well he's an EMT now, and training to become a paramedic… He was one of the people to arrive at the scene. He just turned twenty-one, and drives a freaking F-Type Jaguar! He's everything I remember him to be… Kind, strong, smart, funny…" Meg smiled at me, absorbing every word that came out of my mouth.

"And my goodness how he's matured in two years! Meg, he's gorgeous. His blue eyes are just how I remember them, and his smile is too…" I trailed off, my lips turning up in a faint smile as my mind brought up memories of Raoul.

"Girl…" Meg started, breaking me out of my trance. "You got it bad!"

"No I don't !" I argued, "It was just nice to see him is all."

"So you didn't make any plans to go out?" she questioned sceptically.

"Well…" I mumbled.

"WHAT?!" She exclaimed, "TELL ME!"

"He didn't know about dad passing away, so when I told him I kind of broke down… Snotted all over his shirt and everything, and he just held me and let me cry… Then he kind of asked me to dinner…"

"Yay!" She squealed, "Christine is finally getting a social life!"

"Ha ha," I swatted at her playfully, "Now I really want to go to bed… I'm exhausted."

"Okay sweetie," She smiled consolingly and let me go to my bedroom. "Dream of Raoul!"

"I will," I muttered, too quiet for her to hear. "Goodnight Meg!"

I collapsed onto the pillow without even bothering to put pajamas on me, the day's events finally catching up within me. Within moments sleep took me.

I awoke late the next morning, being forced by Meg to stay home from practice. I lazed into the kitchen, pouring myself a bowl of Cheerios.

A thought suddenly dawned on me… The old lady! I had gotten so caught up with running into Raoul that I hadn't even checked to make sure she was alright!

How was I going to get a hold of her? Glancing down, I saw Raoul's number written across my arm… Maybe he could find out where she lived so I could stop by.

I pulled out my cell phone and called, crossing my fingers.

"Christine?" He answered on the second ring. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," I answered quickly. "I actually had a favour to ask you… You know the old lady that came in with me? Do you think you could find out her address? I want to go visit her and see if she's okay."

"I'm not really supposed to…" He started, "But for you, I guess I'll make an exception. Just hang on a minute."

I heard the sound of the phone being put down, and began to hum to myself. Raoul returned to the phone within the minute.

"She actually lives really close to you." He muttered, and I heard papers shuffling. "Do you know the senior's center three blocks away from you?"

"Yes," I answered immediately.

"She lives right in there." I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Thanks so much Raoul." I gushed. "See you Friday!"

"I'm looking forward to it," He flirted.

"Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up the phone and quickly went into my room to throw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, eager to go visit the lady I had saved.

Within twenty minutes I was at the door, pulling on my jacket and slipping on my boots. I locked the door behind me and made my way into the cold street.

It was a short walk to the senior's home, and only took me about fifteen minutes. As I walked in I crossed my fingers that she would be awake and willing to see me.

"Hello," I smiling receptionist greeted me. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Yes," I attempted to smile back. "I'm looking for someone."

"What's their name sweetie?" She cooed.

"Well, the only name I have is Mama Valerius…" I trailed off, and she looked at me curiously.

"You're here to see Mama Valerius?" She clarified.

"Yes," I confirmed. "Is that a problem?"

"Oh no," She shook her head and smiled. "It's just that no one visits the poor woman anymore… Her family is simply too busy for her, and her own children haven't seen her in over eight months."

"Well I'm just a friend." I said.

"Well, I'm happy a nice girl like you is visiting her… She's a real sweetheart." She smiled to herself, and clicked the mouse a couple times. "She's in room 1008, floor 1, sweetie, go ahead on up."

I walked toward the elevator, and hit the button for the first floor. Surprisingly, I was a little bit nervous… What if she didn't want to see me?

The elevator doors opened and I made my way to room 1008, hesitantly knocking on the door.

A few seconds went by before the door swung open. "Hello?" She said as she opened the door. Her eyes were kind, and smile lines highlighted her eyes and her ever-present smile.

"Hi," I said cheerfully. "I'm Christine, the girl from last night."

"Oh, I know who you are," She smiled, motioning me into the small room. "One does not simply forgot someone who saved their life. Sit down, and I'll make us some coffee."

She hobbled over to the old, outdated coffee maker, pouring grinds into the top of it. Once she set it brewing she came and sat down next to me.

"So tell me," She smiled in a motherly way. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"I just wanted to see if you were alright." I smiled, my face already feeling better this morning. "I'm sorry for not checking on you last night… I got distracted."

"Oh nonsense dear," She patted me on the shoulder. "I'm sure a beautiful girl like you must be very busy."

I blushed at the compliment. "Thank you."

"Just stating what everyone knows to be true." She laughed. "Thank you for coming to visit this old lady… I'm afraid I don't get many visits anymore."

"How could anyone not want to visit you?" I smiled.

She stood up and pulled a photo album off her shelf, sitting down right next to me. "This is my only daughter," She pointed at a picture of a professional looking woman, probably in her forties. "She is a big time lawyer, and never has the time to see me anymore."

She flipped the page to a picture of two university students; a boy and a girl, roughly the same age. "These are my only grandchildren… Samantha and Brock. They're twins, and both going to Harvard now… Samantha is taking law like her mother, and Brock is in medical school."

"They sound very smart." I commented.

"Of course they are," She said proudly. "They're my grandchildren after all… But going to university doesn't leave a lot of time to visit their old grandmother."

"Well Mama Valerius," I smiled. "I would love to keep visiting you."

"I would like that very much dear." She smiled as the coffee pot began to beep.

She stood and began to pour me a cup of coffee, putting it on a silver tray with dishes of cream and sugar on it.

"Well now you know something about me," She spoke as she placed the tray on the coffee table and sat down. "What's something I should know about you?"

"Well," I started, running my fingers through my hair. "I work as a chorus girl at the Opera Populaire."

"That sounds like a lovely job." She smiled. "I used to go to the opera all the time as a young girl."

"I could get you tickets to the upcoming performance if you would like." I smiled, "We're doing Hannibal."

"That would be wonderful!" She exclaimed.

We chatted easily for over an hour when I finally had to leave.

"I'm sorry," I sighed, "I promised my friend I would meet her at the opera house in half an hour. Would it be okay if I visited again?"

"You're always welcome here Christine," she smiled as I walked out the door. "Take care!"

I walked to the opera house with a spring in my step, incredibly happy at the wonderful twist of fate that had brought Mama Valerius into my life. For the first time I could remember, I felt like I had a mother.

AN: Another chapter! Thanks to everyone for the continued reviews and support It honestly makes my day! I've been trying to respond to everyone who reviews, so hopefully I've gotten back to you If you liked this chapter, or have any criticism, please leave a review!

Thanks!

(Just a side note, this is my longest chapter yet! Yay! 3318 words!)