*DISCLAIMER* I DO NOT own The Phantom of the Opera, its storyline, or its characters. Please R&R.
It had been a while since Christine notified Nadir that she'd be heading out for break. It's very unusual for Christine to be so late. Something is not right. Meg decided to give it a couple of more minutes before notifying Nadir. If she was late, it was out of character for her and she would need his permission to leave work to find her. Meg ran right into Nadir's office without knocking and was shocked to find what she did behind the closed door.
There sitting on one of Nadir's couches across from Nadir was Erik. It was clear that they had been laughing and catching up. "You?! What are you doing back?," said Meg. Erik looked up, not knowing what to say. He just froze. "Um, he arrived last night. He's been here since this morning, baby," said Nadir. I shook my head, "you know, never mind. I need to talk to you… in private," said Meg glancing at Erik. Erik nodded and left the room.
After closing the door after him, Meg decided to tell Nadir. "Nadir, Christine still isn't back from her break and she left almost an hour ago," she said. Nadir looked taken aback. "Are you sure, did you look around for her?," he asked. Meg nodded. "I looked everywhere she could be, and she's nowhere to be found. Babe, I'm so worried. What if she really left?," she asked. Nadir shook his head, "No, I don't believe that she'd do that. Let me call her," he said.
After Nadir and Meg calling Christine, there was no more progress made into finding Christine than before. Nadir got an idea. "We need to tell Erik, he could call her and see if she answers," he said. Meg shook her head, "No, I don't think that that's a good idea." Nadir reassured her, "No, it is. Think about it, if she left for good, it may be because Erik hasn't contacted her and she believes he no longer loves her. Perhaps if he gives her a call, she'll answer and change her mind." Meg took a bit to decide, and later nodded in agreement with Nadir's plan.
Erik was waiting outside in Nadir's waiting room when Nadir and Meg stepped out. He was about to tell them that he was going to head back to his office when Nadir started talking. "Erik, Christine is gone. She left for her break about an hour ago and she hasn't returned. Meg thinks that she may have left for good," he said. Erik looked a bit taken aback. Nadir continued, "I think that you should call her. I think that if she see's that you're calling, she may just answer." Erik nodded in agreement, taking his phone out of his pocket and dialing the number that he had been dying to call for the last three months. The phone rang, rang, and rang with the only answer being from the answering machine. Erik shook his head, "there is no answer. I'm going to go out and look for her myself," he said. He ran to the elevator and disappeared. Meg and Nadir decided to grab their things and follow after him.
Erik was in the lobby before he knew it and was out the door and face-to-face with the valet attendant momentarily. "I'm sorry, I need my vehicle brought to me as soon as possible," he said to her. She shook her head, "I'm sorry, but I can't do that. There was an accident here about 15 minutes ago and the police are still investigating, they aren't allowing any through traffic on the majority of the street." Erik nodded and began to sprint towards the corner of the street where he was able to hail a cab.
The cab driver stopped, and unlocked the door for Erik. He quickly got into the cab, "2289 New Castle Ave, get me there as quickly as possible and I'll pay you 150$," he said to the driver. The driver nodded in understanding and began to drive as quickly as possible to the familiar apartment building.
Meg was grabbing her belongings when her phone rang. She looked at her phone and saw that Henry was calling her. That's weird. He hardly ever calls me. She quickly answered the phone, "Hello?." She could hear Henry heavily breathing as he spoke. "Meg. Christine is in the hospital, the paramedic hospital didn't say much. They only said that she was involved in an accident and that it was crucial someone get there immediately. I have a surgery I need to assist on that I'm on my way to right now. I'm trying to find a replacement as quickly as possible, but could you please head to the hospital right away? She is at the Grand View General Hospital, if they only allow family members, tell them you're her sister. I'll hopefully see you there soon," he said before quickly hanging up. Meg could tell that he had been running and that he was panicking, she's always known that Christine's father loves Christine more than she would ever know.
She dropped what she was doing and only grabbed the essentials that she truly needed. She turned to Nadir and yelled, "Christine is in the hospital. She's been in an accident, we have to go to the Grand View General Hospital immediately!" Nadir nodded in understanding and they both began to run down to the lobby, opting for the stairs instead of the elevator. As they ran, Meg managed to pull out her phone and dial Erik.
They were only a few minutes away from the apartment building when Erik received a phone call from Meg. Perhaps they have found her safe and secure! He quickly answered the phone and before he could say anything, Meg spoke over him. "Christine is in the hospital. She's been in an accident. Her dad just called me and she is at the Grand View General Hospital. Nadir and I are on our way there right now, but please try to get there quickly as well," she said. Erik was in shock, but he managed to shake it off quickly and spoke to the cab driver. "Change of plans. You must take me to the Grand View General Hospital immediately. I'll pay you 1,000$ plus the 150$ I promised from before but you need to floor it," he ordered.
The cab driver nodded and immediately took Erik's orders. The cab driver swerved in and out of lanes passing by multiple vehicles and before they both knew it, they were in front of the hospital. Erik pulled out a wad of a couple of hundred dollar bills from his suit jacket and threw them on the seat, not caring how much he left the driver and ran straight into the hospital. He arrived at the reception desk at the same time as Meg. "We received a call about Christine Daae and we were told to get here immediately," shouted Meg. The receptionist nodded, "yes of course. Ms. Daae is in the emergency room. The doctors ran some quick tests and are waiting on some results before they are able to continue her care. Only family members are allowed in the room," she said. "I'm her sister!," Meg shouted. "I'm her husband," yelled Erik. The receptionist nodded and pressed the button that opened the doors to the emergency ward.
Just as the doors were opening, a group of doctors and nurses were running out with someone in a cot and taking them somewhere. "Quickly, we've got to get her to surgery. We don't have time for any more tests!," yelled one of them. I looked as they were running past and found the person in the cot to be Christine. "Wait! Wait! I'm her sister! Where are you taking her? What is going on?!," she yelled. One of the nurses stopped running and spoke to Meg quickly. "We need to take her to surgery immediately. She is bleeding internally and we need to stop it or she could bleed out entirely," she stated. "Wait! She… she's pregnant! Will it harm the baby?," she asked. The nurse nodded in understanding. "I can't say for sure, but thank you for letting us know about her physical state. I will let the surgeon know and we will take the proper precautions needed. We are going to do everything that we can. Rest assured," she said before running in the direction that the rest of her team went.
Erik stood there with his mouth wide open. Christine. Christine. Christine is pregnant? He couldn't believe what he had heard. How could this have happened? Why didn't she tell him? How could he possibly leave her when she needed him the most? He hated himself more than ever. How could he possibly live with himself knowing that he abandoned Christine and their unborn baby? Erik looked at Nadir. "Did you know about this?," he asked. Nadir shook his head. "No, but I did have the slightest feeling," he admitted. Erik didn't know what else to do but take a seat and wait for the surgery to be done.
A couple of minutes after, Christine's father made his way into the waiting room. "I came as quickly as I could. It took a while for the on-call anesthesiologist to show up, he was having an anniversary dinner with his husband," he said. Meg got out of her seat and stood up to hug him. He returned the hug, "Any updates?," he asked her. Meg shook her head and gave his hand a squeeze. Erik thought that Meg seemed very comfortable with Christine's father, he could tell that they had known each other for years but he had no idea that they were so united.
Christine's father looked around the room and noticed Nadir and Erik. "Oh. Henry, this is Nadir. Nadir, this is Henry, Christine's dad. Nadir is my boss and the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Destler LLC," she said. Nadir stood up and shook his hand, Henry smiled at him. "Nice to meet you Nadir," he said. "You as well," said Nadir. Meg motioned over to Erik. "And this is Erik, he is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Destler LLC and Christine's boss," she said. Henry nodded in his direction and moved closer to him to shake his hand. Erik got out of his chair and met him halfway. "Thank you for everything that you have done for my daughter. I know that she really enjoys her job and you have given her so much, I don't know how I could ever repay you. You seem to be a great boss," said Henry. Erik nodded, "Thank you sir, but there is no need. You have an amazing, hard working daughter. She is going to do amazing things one day."
After a long couple of hours, Bradley and Addison walked into the waiting room to join everyone. "Hello, we came as soon as we could. We had to take the kids to Anne's house so that she could watch them while we're here at the hospital," said Bradley. He made his way over to his dad and gave him a hug. Addison did the same, but held onto Henry just a bit longer and a bit tighter. They took a seat next to Henry and waited with everyone in the room. The doctor came in a couple of minutes later in her scrubs. "Is anyone here with Christine Daae?," she asked. The six of them stood up. "How is she, how is my daughter?," asked Henry. The doctor, took a step closer to them. "I am Doctor Anita Collins, I performed the surgery on Christine. The surgery was successful, we were able to control her internal bleeding. She has some broken ribs and her lower back is extremely bruised. Luckily, she had no other fractures which is very surprising to me, usually getting hit by a car results in a number of fractures. She does have some whiplash and will have to be wearing a neck brace for a while. I will be checking in on her once she wakes up," she said. Meg nodded. "When can we see her?," she asked. "Once she is settled into her room, I will have her nurse come down and notify you. Christine will be sleeping for a while as a result from the anesthesia and the impact that the accident had on her, so be aware that she will not be awake when you see her. When she reawakens, please notify the nurse so that I can come down and examine her. There is also something that I must speak to her about," added Doctor Collins.
The doctor walked out of the waiting room and Meg followed. "Doctor, please. Is the baby okay?," she asked. The doctor stopped and turned to look at her. "I am sorry miss, but I am not at liberty to discuss it with you. I am only at liberty to speak to Christine about this matter per her medical records and requests within our system," she said. Meg nodded and made her way back to the waiting room. Meg noticed Erik looking at her and she made her way over to him, giving him a small hug. "I'm sorry, Erik. She wouldn't tell me anything about the baby," she said quietly. Erik nodded and felt completely defeated by everything that was going on. I need Christine and our baby to be okay. I can't risk losing them now that I know they exist…