Your Voice

Chapter 8

Hey guys! Sorry for the suspense in the last chapter but you - hopefully - will be satisfied in this one and sorry I didn't update yesterday. I'm also working on a Christmas special now that it's December! Enjoy!! xx

Christine

Erik screams out as he clutches my limp body and I stand aside, helpless, as Gustave lies on my lap and cries out for me on the balcony three floors down that I landed on.

Lightly, I walk over to Erik, but he can't see me. No one can. But I see myself, my empty body. I have a bleeding head.
I put my hand on his shoulder and I cry with him - I hate seeing my love in pain. But am I dead?

I am still here, barely hanging on to life for my family. Stay strong, Christine, I tell myself determinedly. People arrive on the scene, and a doctor attends to me. I watch as Erik reluctantly lets me go and holds Gustave at his side. They carry my pale body into the theatre and I follow. As we cross the stage, rehearsing singers and magicians stop and peer at me. Nurses shoo them away.

My body is laid on a bed in the infirmary and examined. Erik has my limp hand pressed in between his shaky ones and my son holds on to him like he always does when Raoul and I fight. Raoul...

I know it was him; I watched him scurry away as I fell, and I still cannot imagine that it is the man - the drunkard, the abuser - that was once the little boy, the viscount's son, who used to share those little picnics in the attic with me.

The doctor wraps a bandage around my neck and leaves after reassuring Erik and Gustave that I should be alright, although I detect a hint of doubt in his speech. My boyfriend and my son both sit beside me, Gustave's head resting on Erik's lap.
"Father, could you sing for her?"
Erik nods.

No one would listen
No one but her
Heard as the outcast hears

Shamed into solitude
Shunned by the multitude
I learned to listen
In the dark, my heart heard music

I longed to teach the world
Rise up and reach the world
No one would listen
I alone could hear the music

Then, at last, a voice in the gloom
Seemed to cry "I hear you,
I hear your fears
Your torment and your tears"

She saw my loneliness
Shared in my emptiness
No one would listen
No one but her
Heard as the outcast hears

No one would listen
No one but her
Heard as the outcast hears

Erik

I rested my forehead on the edge of the bed, tears streaming down my face. Gustave was at my side, looking hopefully at Christine, who looks as white as a sheet, and yet, like an angel - so peaceful, so heavenly. Gently, I swept a lock of her gorgeous brown hair aside and kissed her forehead.

"Father, father, look!" I look at her, and her eyes flutter open, overflowing with life.

"Angel," she addresses me with a teary smile and a big kiss. She winces at the impact and puts her hand to her bandaged area.

"Dear, lie back down, get some rest." After adjusting the pillow, I get her a glass of water.

"Gustave darling, could you wait outside a while? You may go exploring if you like." Christine beckons him to exit, and my son obediently does. She turns to me. "Erik, it was Raoul, I saw him."

"Exactly as I thought! I had guards search for him - no luck. That drunken idiot-"

"Erik, right now I don't want to worry about him. Just have people on the lookout for him. I just want to be with you and Gustave."