A New Beginning

Chapter 20

(Christine's POV)

Raoul and I had to assist Erik in almost everything for the following three days. I had suggested to call Nadir to make sure, a tiny bit of hope inside of me as it pained me so much to see Erik in that state. He had recently been mad at himself mostly, he would only want to lie down in the room. He would ask me to make sure the room was dark at all times, and I was seriously starting to get worried about him.

Raoul had been telling me not to please him in everything, to let him at least try, but something made me want to do it for him every time.

"That's it," Raoul said that morning. "That's enough! It seems to be you both have forgotten that he's a genius. He could be fooling us for all we know, Christine," he then sighed rather loudly. "I have sent for Nadir, he will be arriving in a few minutes. He is going to see if what Erik says is true and make him reason a little bit, or a lot" with that, he left the room and I stood there, alone with my thoughts.

"Christine?" Erik asked for me, so I headed upstairs.

When I entered the room, Raoul was already there.

"She will not assist you in everything you please anymore!" Raoul yelled at him, "You are just being ridiculous Erik. What happened to the scary phantom, huh? The one who ruled the Opera Populaire and use it as he pleased. The scary 'O.G.' who would send notes to the managers to demand his payment for mocking them. The genius ghost that would always find a way to get what he wanted. Where the hell is he?!" Raoul yelled.

Erik just stared at him, and so did I. We were both surprised even though it was easier to tell with me.

We heard a soft knock on the door, even though it was opened. Someone then cleared his throat, and Raoul and I turned to find Nadir.

"Hello Nadir," Raoul greeted him and shook his hand. "He's all yours, good luck."

Nadir nodded, and Raoul and I left the room and went to the parlor to wait for him to come out.

A few minutes later, Nadir finally headed downstairs. I walked over to him and Raoul followed close behind me.

He turned to look at Raoul, "Well, he is not lying, he really can't move."

As I heard those words, my eyes filled with tears until Nadir spoke again, "However, no damage is permanent. He will be able to walk again, maybe in a few weeks. Make sure he bathes with warm water, you know how much he loves to bathe practically in ice, that won't work for now; and while he bathes, he should be moving his legs and relaxing his back."

I smiled and hugged him, "Thank you."

He hugged me back and nodded, "I will be back in a few days."

I led him to the door and bade him goodbye. Then, I waked back reluctantly upstairs and found Erik sitting on the bed with his arms crossed in front of his chest. As I was about to ask him about his talk with Nadir, Raoul cleared his throat behind me.

"May I speak to you?" He asked. I nodded and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind me.

"Yes?" I asked him.

"You heard Nadir, you can't keep being nice to him if he is not even thanking you for all you're helping him with. Be harsh, okay? I know neither of you will like that first, but you'll see it will have been worth it," Raul told me.

I sighed, I knew he was right, so I nodded, "I'll try."