"How's she doing?" Antoinette asked, about two months after Ella was hurt. "I've been meaning to come and visit, but as you know, things have been busy with the new Prima Donna."
Erik scowled. "What are they going to do once Ella is fully healed? I said find an understudy, not completely replace her!"
"You need to wake up and face reality Erik," Antoinette replied. "Ella will never be able to return to the stage. You, Ella, the managers, and I all know what the doctor said. She won't heal enough."
"But what if she does?" he protested. "Then what will happen to her?"
"And what if she doesn't? What will happen to her then?" Antoinette snapped back. "You had to take her to your home because Andre and Firmin believed she would never heal to a point where she could perform again." Erik knew she was right, but he didn't want to believe it. Antoinette could tell she had upset him so her voice softened. "So how is Ella?"
"She's adjusting," he answered. "She's beginning to walk around a bit more. I'm helping her as much as I can, but she's getting stronger. Maybe she can sing soon."
"Don't you dare push her!" Antoinette snapped. "I don't want you pressuring her to do anything until she's ready. If she can't sing, then don't try and make her."
"I won't!" Erik insisted. "I've actually had to stop Ella from pushing herself too far and accidentally hurting herself."
"So what are you going to do about Ella?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're taking care of her. Don't you have some sort of plan for long term?"
"I was thinking about taking her to the countryside. She could heal in peace out there. We wouldn't have to hide. She wouldn't have to spend every day seeing everything that Archer took away from her."
Antoinette sighed. "I know you have the best of intentions Erik, but she's young and innocent. She had never had a chance to be independent or learn how the world around her works and that's left her extremely vulnerable."
His eyes narrowed and his tone grew dangerous. "If you dare imply what I think you are…"
She held up a hand to silence him. "What I'm saying is that Ella has always had someone to care for her…more or less. Now that her career in opera has been ruined, she can't be housed in the dormitories. And because she has so few skills that don't have to do with performing in addition to her injuries, there is no way she can seek employment elsewhere. She only really has one option from here: marriage."
"No!" Erik cried. "I will not let her go to suffer more abuse at the hands of yet another man! I'll take care of her until the end of my days if I have to!"
"You stupid man!" Antoinette exclaimed in frustration. "I never said it couldn't be you!"
Erik stared at her in shock. "You want me to marry her?"
"Don't you want to marry her?" she countered.
"More than anything," Erik replied. "It's just….just….What if she says no?"
Antoinette put her hands on her hips. "And what if she says yes? You love her, she loves you. Why on earth would she refuse you? But either way, you'll never find out if you never even try."
Ella felt Erik's strong, secure arms wrap around her. She closed her eyes and nestled closer. He gently wiped away a tear that slipped out of the corner of her eye. "Ella we can go downstairs. We don't have to stay up here."
"I'm okay. Really, I am," she replied, shaking her head. "I want to see how they're doing without me." Ella looked around the theater. "No wonder you like Box Five so much. This is a beautiful spot. You can see everything from here."
"And no one can see us," he replied. He gently placed a kiss on her lips.
"She's wonderful." Erik could see the hurt and pain in her eyes as she stared at her replacement with jealousy. "I didn't think they would find someone so good so soon."
"Are you sure you're alright mon Ange? If you don't want us to stay…"
"Of course I'm not alright!" Ella suddenly cried. "I want to be up there! I want to be singing but Archer ruined that."
He cradled her against his chest as she began to sob. "Oh Cheri, you shouldn't have to see this." Erik picked her up and began to carry her back towards the lair. She buried her face in his shoulder. "Maybe we should go somewhere else."
"Like where?" she demanded. "Where can we go? Erik you live under an opera house!"
"I'm the Phantom of the Opera," he replied. "I've been paid twenty-thousand francs a month for years. I don't even use half that in a year. I can easily afford to get us a cottage in the country. Somewhere where we can be together, somewhere where no one can hurt us, somewhere where we can be happy."
"Could we really do that?" Ella asked quietly. "Could we just disappear?"
"Haven't we already?"
Ella hesitated for a few moments. "Erik, does Madame Giry know that we want to leave?"
"She gave us her blessing on one condition."
Meg threw her arms tightly around Ella. "How are you doing?" she asked. "I've missed you! I wanted to come down more often but mother wouldn't let me. She said it would be too suspicious if I disappeared too often."
"No, she's right," Ella said. "It's okay. Honestly, I understand."
"You're healing nicely. Look at you up and about."
"I'm not," she replied. "I can't sing. I can't dance. I can't even walk very far. Poor Erik had to carry me upstairs. I'm completely useless."
"I doubt Erik would see it quite like that," Meg insisted. "He loves you." Her friend's brow furrowed. "Something happened. You're not telling me something. What happened?"
A soft smile touched her lips. "Erik and I are leaving. He's found a cottage outside of Paris. We're going to leave after…"
"After what…?" Meg pressed.
"Well I was hoping you'd agree to come to my wedding." Meg squealed in surprise and delight. "This time I promise I won't run away," Ella added with a laugh.