He'd always known that his time with Christine would be limited. But he had never realized that it would be this short. She had seemed so healthy and he had been convinced that if nothing else he'd have the honor of watching her grow old. Maybe he'd have finally worked up the courage to allow her in on another secret or perhaps he would've been forced to watch her from afar.
These were the only two options that he had once had. She would've eventually found the lack of aging suspicious, after all. She might've been endearingly naive at times, but she truly wasn't a stupid woman. Pondering these things now was almost essentially moot.
Especially after the diagnosis that she has received much too late. Christine had been suffering from consumption for the last few months. He truly felt like an idiot for not noticing sooner. Every symptom that she had went through pointed directly to it
The shortness of breath, the way he had caught her clutching her chest when she didn't think he'd notice. The almost chronic cough, the weight loss and the unsteadiness.
He should've forced her to seek treatment sooner, despite the fact that he knew the chances of death were still high despite this. At least he wouldn't feel like a failure of a man, if he could even be considered one at this point.
Christine could barely get out of bed at this point. Even if she were to try, he wouldn't let her get very far. He knew she was fading quickly, perhaps even more quickly than she had been all this time. He would lose her tonight if he didn't do anything.
But at the same time, he'd never gotten around to telling her about his condition. It seemed almost wrong to curse her to a life she had no prior knowledge of.
"Erik..." The call of his name was almost inaudible, as breathless and raspy as it was. It was only thanks to his sensitive ears that he managed to pick it up. It tugged painfully at his unbeating heartstrings.
He immediately pushed himself to his feet and rushed to her room, letting the door bang off the wall in his haste. He rushed to her side and dropped to his knees, taking her hand. She gave it a weak squeeze, barely opening her glazed over eyes to look at him. It was as if she was seeing through him rather than looking at him.
Her chest was rising and falling much too quickly as the wheezy breaths slipped past her red stained, chapped lips. The red was the only color in her face. He offered her a weak, forced smile as he raised his free hand to stroke her sweat soaked chestnut curls.
"I.. I love you..." She struggled to rasp, eyebrows drawing together. He knew this was it. It was obvious that she was doing her best to say goodbye despite the strain and the increased pain it was causing her.
"Don't speak, ma chèrie. Save your strength... You know I love you too." Erik soothed, knowing he was simply being foolishly optimistic. But he couldn't help it. He wanted to comfort her. She shouldn't have to try and comfort him in her last moments.
There was a spark of the woman she used to be as she managed to send him a disgruntled look. Albeit, it was a weak version of her usual one, but it was still a rather bittersweet moment. Oddly enough, he missed the way she used to scold him.
"I...I..want you to m-move on..." Christine panted, breaking off as she was wracked with rough coughs. Blood dribbled out of her mouth and it stained her pretty white nightgown.
All he could do was watch hopelessly as he pressed tiny kisses to her knuckles, willing the worse of it to pass quickly. It died off a few moments later, but her breathing didn't stabilize. The wheezing gasps became more desperate as her free hand clenched the material covering her chest.
All rational thought fled his mind, making room for desperation. He lurched forward and nuzzled his face against her frail neck. He didn't even give her breathing a chance to slow.
He dug his fangs into her neck and began drinking her blood. He ignored the pained yelp and the hands pawing at him frantically, clearly trying to push him away. All that mattered to him in that moment was saving her.
Erik cleaned up the mess that was both from him feeding and her sickness. He had focused on her first, changing her into a dry nightgown for the sake of comfort. Only when he had finished with that had he bothered to wipe the excess blood from his lips.
Her hair was slowly drying and she was no longer sweating like a stuffed pig. She looked almost peaceful. If he didn't know any better, he'd assume that she was simply sleeping. She was in a way. When the transformation would be completed was questionable as it varied from person to person.
That wasn't something he was truly worried about. He knew that he hadn't been too late. He was prepared to wait as long as he needed to in order to see those beautiful eyes looking at him without the haze of the illness.
He knew it was very likely that she would probably hate him for doing this to her. But he could live with that. He could live in a world where Christine no longer loved him. But he couldn't live in a world where she no longer existed. If he had let her die, he wouldn't have been too far behind. He would've put an end to his miserable existence without an ounce of guilt.
He was so preoccupied with watching his Christine that he hadn't noticed the arrival of an unwelcome visitor. Not truly, at least. The sounds of cautious footsteps had reached his ears but they were immediately regarded as unimportant.
Not even the horrified gasp could make him pull his eyes away from her. It took the presence storming over to him and grasping him by the shoulders for him to pay whoever it was any mind. He glanced at Nadir just in time for the other man to give him a rough shake.
"What have you done, man?!" Nadir demanded, eyes large with the panic that he must be feeling. He could almost understand but he didn't understand completely. This was better than the alternative.
"I've saved the love of my life." Erik answered, his voice too content and almost serene. Nadir's horrified expression didn't fade. If anything, it intensified.