"You could have died!"

"I know. That's why I told Mia to do it."

Erik was bewildered by Amelia's response. Did that mean Amelia was the suicidal one instead of Mia, or were they both? It was going to be a long, tedious process to figure out which traits went with which personality. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I know what you're doing!"

"Amelia, I'm trying to help you and Mia," Erik said softly, trying to calm her down.

"No, you're trying to get rid of me!"

"Listen to me Amelia," Erik pleaded. "I don't want to hurt you. I only want what's best for you and Mia. I'm just trying to help."

"Stop lying to me!" she yelled. "I know exactly what you're trying to do!"

He reached out to touch her face, but Amelia swatted his hand away. "I understand you're trying to protect Mia," Erik started, allowing his voice to become hypnotic. "But that's all I want too. We can work together."

"Your tricks don't work on me," Amelia snarled, pushing him away. "I'm not weak like Mia is. All your pretend sympathy will get you nowhere."

"I'm not pretending," Erik replied gently. If he could just get Amelia to cooperate with him, things would be a lot less complicated. "I know you don't believe me because you and Mia have been hurt by too many people, but I really do care."

Amelia raised her hand and moved to slap him, but Erik caught her wrist before it made contact with his face. "You're trying to get rid of me," she repeated as she struggled against him. "You want me out of the picture so you can get inside of Mia's head. I'm not a fool. You want to use her against her brother!"

"Yes, that was the plan!" Erik shouted. "Is that what you wanted to hear? That was my original goal, to use Mia! But I don't want to anymore! I just want to help her."

"Let me guess," she sneered, pulling her wrist out of his grip. "You're doing this out of the goodness of your heart."

"Is that really so hard to believe?" he asked.

"That the murder who has kidnapped us to get revenge on Raoul would genuinely want to help Mia? I find that rather unlikely," Amelia snapped.

"If you'd just listen to me..." Erik started as he rose to his feet.

Amelia stood as well. "I have absolutely no reason to trust you! You're a murderous monster!" she screamed.

"I'M NOT A MONSTER!" Erik roared, backhanding her across the face. The force from the blow sent her stumbling off balance, and the ground beneath her feet was wet from the water of the lake, causing Amelia to slip and crash to the ground.

When he noticed she wasn't moving, he fell to his knees beside her, and cradled her torso carefully. "Oh shit," he swore when he realized that she had hit her head on the stone floor. "Oh shit. Mia, you have to wake up, Mia, you have to wake up."

She stirred as she heard a masculine voice calling her name. "Mia, you have to wake up." Something gently brushed against her cheek. "Mia... Oh shit, this is bad. MIA!"

Her head was pounding terribly, and his shouting was making it worse. She forced her eyes open to tell him to quiet down when she registered who the man was. "Erik?" she whispered, before reaching up to touch his unmasked cheek and realizing he was soaked. "W…Why are you all wet?"

"You nearly drowned!" he cried. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Mia tried to sit up to talk to with him without leaning on him, but her head began to spin. Her hand flew to her mouth as a wave of nausea rolled over her and she fell back in his arms. "I…I don't feel well."

Erik swore loudly before cupping her cheek in his hand and staring in her eyes for a moment. "Damn," he swore again. "I think you've got a concussion."

"I have a what?"

"A concus- You hit your head really hard."

She tried to remember when she had done that, but Mia couldn't remember anything in between trying to swim in the lake and waking up in Erik's arms. "How?" Erik grew quiet, which worried Mia. What had happened? "How did I hit my head?" she demanded.

"Amelia," he finally answered. "She told me she tried to drown you after I pulled you out of the lake. She's afraid that I am trying to manipulate you to hurt you. We got in a fight and she slipped."

"A fight?" Mia asked as she tried to push herself into a sitting position again. "What…what happened?"

"Stay still," Erik instructed as she fell back to the floor. "I don't want you to hurt yourself." He kept one hand around her torso as he put his other under her legs as he carefully picked her up bridal style and carried her to a chair right next to his organ. "You're going to need dry clothes as well," Erik said as he wrapped her in his cape that had been lying discarded by the lake. "What the hell were you doing in the water in the first place?"

"You…you weren't coming back," Mia stammered through chattering teeth, trying to remember, but the memories were cloudy. She pulled the warm cape tighter around herself, as she thought back. "I panicked, I think. I thought you weren't coming back and that I was going to be trapped here forever."

"No," Erik said as he fetched her nightgown and brought it to her. "No, Mia, I wouldn't let that happen to you. Even if I had been arrested, I would have told them you were down here. I wouldn't have been cruel enough to let you die. Despite what Amelia believes, I'm not a heartless monster."

She threw her arms around him. Erik jumped as though he had never been hugged before. "I should have trusted you," Mia whispered. "I was just so afraid." He hesitantly put his arms around her and pulled her against his chest, holding her tightly. "You're so cold."

"So are you," Erik replied. "You're cold and wet, and that's a problem, especially with a concussion on top of it." He put the nightgown in her hands. "Do you think you can manage changing into something dry without getting too dizzy?"

Mia hesitated before nodding. "I think so."

Erik seemingly reluctantly walked towards his own room. "If you need anything, just call. Let me know when you're finished."

After he left, Mia glanced at the nightgown in her hands. Despite what she had told Erik, she wasn't entirely confident she was up to change, but she was shivering and it would be extremely improper for Erik to assist her. She stood slowly, clinging to the chair as her knees wobbled beneath her.

As quickly as she could without falling, Mia took off her wet dress and pulled the nightgown over her head. But the time on her feet was enough to send the room spinning, and before she could call for Erik, her legs buckled. Mia tried to catch herself by grabbing the organ as she fell, but only succeeded in pressing several keys as she went down, creating a loud, sour chord.

Almost instantly Erik was beside her, scooping her up, and carrying her to the swan bed. "You need rest," he told her as he put her down and pulled the blankets over her.

"No," Mia countered. "I need to know what you found out at the hospital."