Of Masks And Roses

What Happened?

"...Really, mademoiselle, are you sure that you are alright?"

I sighed and took my hand out of his, "I don't know. I'm just so confused."

"Well, why don't you tell me what happened earlier, and maybe we'll get closer. Hmm?" he asked softly, standing up, and then sitting next to me. It was then that I realized that I was in the swan bed. I mentally shook my head, and then sat up straighter, placing my hands in my lap.

"Well, this has happened before, actually. And it wasn't long ago. It happened when I was playing for the managers. I don't exactly understand what happened, but it started a couple seconds into the song. I was imagining myself in a different place," I turned to him, "It always helps me when I have to play in front of an audience. Everything seemed to be alright, but then it was as if the world shifted, and when I opened my eyes, I was in a hospital room, in 2015, along with my best friend Emily. But we weren't alone either. There was someone in the bed, and at first, I couldn't believe it, but it was me. I was in the hospital bed, and yet, I also wasn't. I tried to speak to Emily, but she couldn't hear me, or see me. Emily was all bruised and battered. But I was worse. Not only was I in a coma, but I had cuts, bruises and broken bones everywhere. I..." I bit my lip, tears brimming, "I looked broken. I looked like I was dying. Maybe I am dying." I wrapped my arms around myself, staring off into space at the thought. My mind was spinning with 'what if's' and 'maybes'.

The Phantom didn't respond for a while. And then he spoke.

"Well, to be honest... I'm not entirely sure how to respond. Why don't you tell me what happened earlier? Perhaps we can piece something together with more clues."

I nodded and took a deep breath, "Well, when I started to play, I imagined myself driving down a road at the base of a mountain. It was very calming and relaxing. I was thinking of home. And as the music sped up, so did the car. Then everything changed. It became dark and I couldn't move. I began to hear things and I just couldn't pull myself away. I knew that something was wrong, and I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn't. I felt like I was going too fast. Suddenly there was a loud crashing sound and everything seemed to go black for a second before I was able to open my eyes. I was so startled and...," I paused for a second, and thought it over, "Wait...," I said and quickly stood up.

"What's wrong?" The phantom asked, standing up with me, "Is something wrong, mademoiselle?"

"I think I know why I'm in a coma," I said, "It's because I was in a car crash."

He paused, "Well, first, to make me understand this better, I will need you to define what a car is, and what a car crash is."

"Well, a car is, well, somewhat like a carriage, but it isn't run on horses. It moves by itself, and you can control where it goes, and wherever you want to go, you can drive yourself there. A car crash is when, well, it's when you crash your car. For example, you can accidentally drive your car into a tree, or into another car. Car crashes are very dangerous, they kill and injure thousands of people a year. And that's what happened to me. Someone crashed into my car. And then I woke up here."

I started to look around the room as the memories started to come back to me, "Do you have any paper and a quill anywhere, by chance?" I asked. The Phantom nodded and opened a drawer, pulling out a stack of paper and then handed me a quill. I took a piece of paper and laid it flat on a desk.

"This is how I was hit," I explained, "I was T-Boned. T-Boned is where you get hit in the side of your car, making it look sorta like the letter T," I took the quill and drew a rectangle, "Here is a rough-sketch of my car," and then drew another rectangle 'hitting' my car, making a T.

"This," I said, drawing a circle where the driver's seat would be, "was where I was, and here," I drew another circle on the passenger seat, "Was where my friend Emily had been sitting. As you can see, I was hit head on by a truck that was going roughly sixty miles an hour on a forty miles an hour road. The next thing I knew was that we were tumbling over the side of the road, and the last thing that I remember was hitting my head on the window."

Erik looked at me in wonder, "Wow. You know, this is actually starting to make sense. The crash, at least. I haven't quite processed the whole 'being from the future' thing yet," he scratched his head, staring at my shitty drawing, "Or how you would have even gotten here in the first place."

"I don't either. But I'm sure that I can figure it out."

The Phantom nodded and grabbed his cloak, "Well, for now, we should head back to the surface. It is getting late and after this whole ordeal I suggest you get some rest. Besides, you have rehearsal early in the morning. Hannibal is almost upon us," he said as he swung the cloth around his shoulders, I couldn't help but stare, the crash pushed to the back of my mind for just a second.

I blushed and quickly looked away, hoping that he didn't notice, "Yes, that's probably best," I said and stood up.

"Are you sure that you'll be alright? Do you need anything else?" He asked me, holding his hand out for me.

I nodded and grabbed his hand, "I'm still quite shaken up and confused, but I'm sure I'll be fine, monsieur. For now, I'll just roll with whatever fate throws at me."