Christine's POV

"Mother, I'm hungry…"

I was washing some of Erik's clothes early in the afternoon, when I heard my son wailing out from hunger.

"Mister Y should be back soon enough, Gustave, and then, we shall go eat."

I was carrying the laundry basket across the studio, when I heard a knock at the door. Who could that be? Curious, I opened it to find Mr. Squelch standing there with a look of pure horror in his eyes.

"Miss Christine," he gasped. "You should come to the pier, quickly."

"What? Why?"

"It's Mister Y, something happened…an accident-…"

"Accident?" I gasped.

I looked back at my son, telling him to stay put.

"But, mother…"

"Stay here, Gustave." I demanded. "I need to go with Mr. Squelch. Promise me…"

"All right."

I was out the door in a matter of seconds, running with him into Phantasma where there were crowds of his employees standing around the rollercoaster. I wasn't sure what was going on, but Mr. Squelch led me up the stairs of the platform, and what I saw caused me to break down. There, lodged between two coaster trains was Erik…Blood was staining the tracks, his body slumped over one of the cars…

"Oh, my god…" I cried. "Dear, god…"

His employees worked at moving the cars away from his body, my arms catching my angel so that he didn't fall.

"Erik…"

His flesh was cold and his breathing labored as I laid him down across the platform and out of harm's way.

"Has anyone called for help!" I cried.

Mr. Squelch nodded. "They should be here soon."

"Who was watching him?" i cried. "Where was everyone when this happened?"

My angel's legs and lower body were mangled, his legs twisted. My poor, poor angel…

"Erik, stay with me…"

He was laying there with his eyes closed, but as long as I heard him breathing, I was satisfied. How had my angel gotten lodged between two cars? How? When the hospital workers arrived and placed my angel on the makeshift stretcher, I grasped his bloody hand, never letting him go for a single second. Oh, he was going to die! He just had to…

"Oh, ange…" I squeezed his hand, hurrying at the pace of the workers who were carrying him. "Stay with me…"

My Erik was beginning to convulse, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

"Erik, no…no…"

I paced the floor of the waiting room, my angel's blood stained on my hands. I didn't wish to leave my angel alone, but when I heard the nurse mention that he would be in surgery for a few hours, I left to go back to Erik's home and retrieve Gustave.

"But how did it happen, mama?" my son questioned. "How did he get hurt so bad?"

"I don't know, Gustave." I cried. "I don't know… We have to wait until he comes out of surgery."

Hours, nearly four hours had gone by. I sat there with my son, waiting to hear the news. Perhaps my angel would die…He was mangled…Oh, he had to die. But I prayed, prayed hard and long, praying that my father would look over him.

"Mama, you're shaking."

Before I could answer my son, the doctor came out and called my name. I didn't want to look at him, for I was afraid of his answer, afraid about what he had to say.

"Yes?"

"I think it's best if you come with me."

I sat Gustave down and told him to stay. Afterwards, I followed the doctor to his office, where we both sat.

"Miss Daae, Mister Y is in serious, serious condition."

"How serious are you talking?"

"His condition is gruesome, so gruesome that he'll be lucky if he pulls through."

I nodded, taking the news hard.

"His left leg was fractured in the knee, and his right leg was so mangled that it had to be amputated."

I gasped… Oh, god…No, no, no, no…

"He will be able to walk again if he pulls through, but time will only tell."

"One leg?" I cried. "My angel lost his leg?"

He nodded. "Christine, I would have saved it if I could have, but…Every bone was broken. There was nothing left to salvage. It would have become infected."

I was sobbing into my hands, sobbing over my poor angel.

"There was also other complications."

I looked up, wiping my eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"When the coaster made contact with his backside, it hit a disc in his lower back. He's going to be in agony for a long time to come. It's possible that he will never be able to do certain things again, like lifting and…and…"

"Running Phantasma?" I cried. "Is that what you mean?"

"Time will only tell, Christine."

I had to see my angel, I couldn't bear to sit here another moment without seeing him.

"I'll be there to care for him." I said. "But until we find out why those cars pinned him, I am ordering for your hospital to have a nurse stationed outside of his room at all times. I don't want anyone but myself being allowed into his room. Is that clear?"

The doctor nodded. "I will have one outside his room starting next shift."

"I wish to see him now."

"Very well, come with me."

The doctor rose, and I followed him, followed him straight into my angel's room. When I saw him laying on that hospital bed, my heart nearly stopped beating. He was pale, his breathing labored, and from beneath the blankets, it was apparent that he was missing a leg.

"He will be asleep for a while." The doctor informed. "He is under heavy sedation."

"I'm going to stay." I replied. "I want to be here when he wakes."

When the doctor left me alone, I approached his bedside, taking his hand into my own and lightly squeezing it.

"You can do this, Erik." I cooed. "You can pull through…My angel of music, my poor, poor angel."

Erik's POV

I had thought I died… After being pinned between the two coaster cars, all I could do was reflect on the life I had lived and the life I would have lived with my Christine. When I opened my eyes, everything hurt…Below my waist, every part of my body throbbed with a dull, agonizing ache. Something felt different though…There was something strange about my right leg, for I couldn't wiggle my toes, nor could I feel it at all. My eyes lowered to the blankets, only to notice that there was nothing but blankets where my right leg should have been.

No…No… My leg! Where was my leg? My hand brushed over the blankets, feeling nothing…God! I had lost my leg. I pressed my face hard into the pillows as I felt someone touching my hand.

"Erik,"

When I looked up, my angel was sitting there beside me. She tried to smile, but I couldn't, for my heart was aching.

"M…My leg."

"Shh…Erik it's all right… I'm here for you."

But I was at a loss, for life would never be the same ever again, not without my leg. This was all my fault… I should have double checked the cars before I turned my back on them. How foolish of me! Now, because of my mistake, I would spend the rest of my life suffering…Oh, how I wanted to die.

Raoul's POV

After spending an entire night with Meg removing the brakes on the cars of that demon's rollercoaster, I retired to the bar, awaiting the news that my plan had worked. It was nearly three o clock the next day, when Meg came strolling in with a newspaper in hand.

"You will never believe what happened." She said, slapping it down in front of me. "He's made the front page."

I picked up the newspaper and looked at the photo of that demon being hauled away on a stretcher. The front headline reading "Tragedy Strikes Phantasma."

"It says that he's lost his leg." Meg said. "It also tells the tale about his and Christine's midnight fling at the Phantasma Hotel…That story is all thanks to the little spying I did the other night."

I placed the newspaper down, sipping on the rest of my drink.

"Well, Meg, there is a problem."

"And what's that?"

I threw the newspaper down in front of her, slapping the black and white photo that was on the front page.

"What?"

"You screwed up!" I growled, pointing to the hammer that was laying on the ground beneath the coaster cars.

"What? It's a hammer."

"You were in charge of the tools! I said no evidence!"

"It's a hammer!"

"And now because of that hammer, everyone is going to wonder!"

"No one will suspect anything. Anyway, we both got what we wanted. It's apparent that he won't be running Phantasma anytime soon."

I raised my glass. "Ain't that the truth?"

Gustave's POV

Nothing my mother did made Mister Y smile after he lost his leg. It was strange seeing him laying in that hospital bed, with only one leg still attached. My mother told me how he lost it, and after that very day, she tried everything to make him happy. For days, he laid there in the hospital, staring endlessly out the window, most days not even saying a word. His pain was causing him discomfort, discomfort that any amount of morphine couldn't take away. A few days after being in the hospital, Mister Y was moved home. Even then, he didn't say much… Most days, he stared endlessly out the window, doing the same thing he did when he was in the hospital. It was as if his soul had been taken away with his leg. How badly I wanted to see him smile. It hurt me to see him lifeless all the time.

"Mister Y?"

One afternoon nearly a week after Mister Y's accident, I approached his bedside. Usually, I stayed away, but I couldn't stand seeing him lay there upset any longer. In my hands, I held a deck of cards, in my head, and idea to get him to smile. Even when I called his name, he didn't answer me.

"Mister Y?" I crawled up onto the bed, gently plopping down at his side. "I want to show you a card trick."

This seemed to get his attention, for his eyes moved to my own, his look of exhaustion never changing.

"Here," I held the deck out in front of him. "Pick a card, any card."

Though, instead of doing as I had asked, he moved his eyes back towards the window. No, oh, think, Gustave! I had his attention! I needed to get it back somehow.

"All right then." I pulled out a random card from the deck and placed it into Mister Y's hand without me seeing what was on the card. "Here, look at it and remember what it is, but don't tell me…"

Mister Y didn't even look at the card. Perhaps card tricks weren't his interest. But I wasn't about to give up on pulling him away from his sadness.

"All right." I huffed, taking back the card, and placing it into the deck. I scurried off the bed and to his piano where he kept his stack of musical scores. I picked them up and carried them back to the bed where I looked over them. They weren't finished, and I knew exactly what to do.

"The libretto is wrong." I said. "Your notes are angry when in general, this song is supposed to be happy."

His eyes turned back my way… Good, at least I had his attention again.

"Perhaps you should correct it, if not, we could always try that card trick again."

"Go away, Gustave…" he cringed. "I'm not in the mood."

With that being said, Mister Y turned his gaze back towards the window. I sighed and hopped down off the bed, rushing over to the window and closing the drapes so that Mister Y couldn't stare out into Coney Island any longer. When I had his attention once more, I lifted my right leg and placed it behind my back, holding it there to make it look as though I were missing my leg.

"Is this what I have to do to have you talk to me?" I cried.

"Gustave, enough…" he pleaded. "It's nothing like that. You don't know the pain that I'm in…"

"I know you're in pain, Mister Y, but you don't have to act as though your soul was taken along with your leg."

"Everything has been taken from me!" he cried. "You're too young to understand, Gustave."

"Mother and I are still here." I said. "You haven't lost everything. Yes, you might have lost your leg, but you still have your family."

"How will I run Phantasma now?"

I crawled up onto Mister Y's bed once more and snuggled into his shoulder.

"You still have your leg." I said, placing my hand on the blankets where his leg should have been. "I'll be your other leg… You can lean on me whenever you need to."

And then, for the first time since his accident, Mister Y smiled. Not only did he smile, he pulled my body close to his own, embracing me like a father should.

"Oh, Gustave…my boy…"

Christine's POV

My angel hardly spoke to me after getting him home from the hospital. It was as if he were lost without his leg. The only time he would even look at me was when I was administering his morphine. Even when I tried to help him, he always denied me, pushing me away not wanting to be bothered. If there was one thing I was glad about, it was that my angel hadn't been reading the newspapers, for the outlandish stories posted in them about my angel and I would have sent him mad. How had they gotten word about the night he and I spent in the Phantasma Hotel was beyond me, but I wish I knew, for I would tear them apart.

"Erik?"

I came to his side one night a week after his accident, crawling into bed beside him after putting Gustave to bed. His eyes moved to face my own, a gesture that was promising, for he hardly even looked at me at times.

"You've been like a corpse this past week, angel." I mewed, running my fingers through his wisps of hair. "Will you not speak to me?"

He pressed his eyes closed like he always did. I knew he was in dire pain, but ignoring me was doing our relationship no good.

"Erik, we all make mistakes."

"I secured the breaks, Christine." He cried. "I know what I did… I've been doing it for the past eight years… I wouldn't make a mistake like that, not now, not after all these years. I secured the breaks…"

"You're beating yourself up for no reason, Erik. Please, don't do this to yourself."

"Look at me…" Erik angrily pulled back the blankets of his bed, revealing his sleep pants that had one flat pant leg. "Look at this!" He grasped the empty pant leg, squeezing it with all his might. "What sort of life do you call this!"

"Erik, stop." I grasped the pant leg, pulling his fingers away from it. "You're going to hurt yourself." I gently pushed him back against the mattress.

"No trousers will ever look right on me again! And have you even looked at my other leg? My knee is an abomination!"

"It will heal, Erik…The doctor said it would."

I covered us both back up, and caressed his deformity.

"I'll tailor your pants so that they don't look as strange." I promised. "You will look absolutely dashing, Erik."

"I doubt that." He whimpered. "And what about Phantasma? What about my park? You heard the doctor… He said I won't be able to do certain things ever again."

"Prove him wrong, Erik. You're a strong man…Prove that doctor wrong."

For the first time in nearly a week, my angel smiled, hot tears streaming down his cheeks.

"What have I ever done to deserve you, Christine?"

I pressed a kiss to his lips. "Everything."

My angel shifted in bed, causing a groan to escape his lips.

"Is your back hurting you again?"

He cringed and nodded.

"I'll rub it for you…"

"You would?"

"Of course, Erik, anything for you."

I maneuvered Erik to his side so that his back was facing me. I ran my hands along his shoulders and down to his lower back, pressing against his fractured disk.

"Oh, right there…" he cringed as I pressed my palm firmly against it.

"I feel so bad for you, Erik. You were barely healed from losing your kidney and now this."

"This is much worse." He assured. "Much, much worse."

"Your employees have been sending cards here nonstop. Perhaps if you are feeling up to it tomorrow, you could have a look at some of them."

"I'd rather not. It's a kind gesture, but my employees should really stick to their business and not my ailing body."

"People are talking." I said. "It's all over the news papers. You need to tell them sooner or later about us, Erik."

There was a long pause, and then my angel's achy voice.

"Oh, Christine…Are you sure?"

"Sure about what?"

"That this is the life you wish to continue living? A life with me needing your assistance every five seconds?"

"Through sickness and in health, Erik. If I were in your shoes right now, you'd be doing the same for me."

"It's going to take a long time for me to pull through this, Christine. You heard the doctor…He said my condition could deteriorate at any given time. After this all through with, I will tell them all, but only the story I wish to tell them."

"Just promise me one thing, Erik…"

"What?"

"That you won't continue being lifeless with me. Stop staring out that window acting as though you've lost everything. I'm here, angel…You haven't lost a thing."

And with that, Erik turned to face me, pressing a reassuring kiss to my lips.

"I promise..."