Raoul Chagny walked out of the elevator and toward the conference room on the 5th floor of the hospital. He was always nervous before meetings; most everyone that worked for him was older and more experienced in the field. Raoul's parents were preparing to retire and were going to leave him in charge of the hospital along with his older brother Phil. Phil got along well with the rest of the employees and had no trouble holding meetings. Raoul, on the other hand, needed more experience if he was going to be well respected in the hospital. When he walked into the conference room, all of his worries disintegrated as he locked eyes with his fiancé, Christine Daae.

He placed his briefcase on the front table and turned to face the group of doctors and nurses in front of him. Tugging on the jacket of his suit, he started, "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," with an air of awkward professionalism in his voice, "I hope your days are off to a wonderful start. Today's meeting will be relatively short, don't worry." Everyone in the room seemed to relax slightly, and Raoul found that speaking became easier. "As many of you know, the hospital has been working on acquiring a research grant. We haven't made many strides in research lately and we would like to change that. In order to receive this grant, we need to actually find something that is worth researching. With that being said, be sure to notify your department heads if you come across any obscure cases in the upcoming weeks. Are there any questions?"

Raoul searched the faces in the room, and none of them seemed overly interested in what he had just said. Attempting to suppress a sigh, he dismissed the meeting and everyone hastily left the room to get back to work. Christine took her time leaving, and approached Raoul when everyone had finally left.

"You're getting much better at holding meetings, Mr. Chagny," she said with a smile, "Next thing you know, everyone will be paying their full attention to you."

Raoul smiled and brushed a piece of hair behind his fiancé's ear, "You're such a sweet talker, Miss Daae. Where will you be working today?"

Christine loved pretending to be professional with Raoul. Their relationship was no secret in the hospital, but they liked to talk as professionals so no one would feel uncomfortable in their presence. "Well, sir, I will be working in the emergency department today," she smiled excitedly. She enjoyed the fast paced atmosphere in the emergency department. It often got very stressful, but she found gratification in helping those in need.

Just as Raoul opened his mouth to continue their conversation, Christine's pager went off. "I guess your expertise is needed, Miss Daae," he said.

"It's nothing too big, just someone who passed out from a migraine. I'll see you at home, darling," she said, placing a kiss on his cheek and hurrying out of the room toward the emergency department.

When she arrived to the room of her patient, she was taken aback at his appearance. He was mystifyingly handsome; a few years older than she, with dark black hair, very light hazel eyes, and an unyielding jawline.

"Mr. Erik Destler?" she asked as she glanced down at his medical chart. He nodded once, not breaking his gaze, as she continued, "How are you feeling?" Christine could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she felt like his eyes were piercing into her soul.

He was sitting up in the hospital bed with his legs fully outstretched and his hands closed together in his lap, an IV hooked up to his left arm. "Please call me Erik," he answered coldly, "And I'm feeling as though I don't really need to be here."

Taken aback by his answer, but not wanting to make him uncomfortable, she quickly answered back to him, "Don't we all." She noticed an amused half-smile creep up onto his face. "I understand that you fainted while experiencing a migraine?"

"That is correct," he answered quickly, with the same coolness in his voice. "I get migraines every once and a while, sometimes they cause me to pass out, and I'm only here because a colleague forced me."

Of course he was stubborn, she thought, the handsome ones were always the most stubborn. "Well, sir, I'm just going to check on your vitals and a doctor will be in shortly and he will probably tell you that you are free to leave."

He kept his eyes locked on her as she walked over and began taking his blood pressure. Christine felt herself becoming clumsy as she started to listen to his heart beat though her stethoscope. It was powerful and even, which was unusual for someone who had just fainted. When she finished with his vitals and informed him that they all looked fine, she looked at his chart again and noticed something peculiar. It was recorded that he had a physical deformity on the right side of his face. Knowing that his eyes were still carefully locked on her, she attempted to nonchalantly glance at him to try and make out his deformity. She became even more confused when she didn't notice that anything was wrong with his face.

She cleared her throat and politely said, "Excuse me, Erik, but your chart says here that you have a physical deformity on your face. Forgive my ignorance, but I don't see anything that indicates a deformity."

The man began to laugh. It was the most transfixing laugh she had ever heard; it was almost musical. "You really don't notice this?" he asked, pointing up at the right side of his face. "Take a closer look."

Christine tentatively stepped closer, and noticed a thin cloth had been covering half of his face. The material was thin enough to not stand out against the uncovered parts of his face, but was thick enough that she could not see what was underneath. There was hole that fit the shape of his light-hazel eye perfectly, and it curved perfectly around the shape of his thin lips. It matched his skin tone, and even had an eyebrow carefully sewn on. She had merely assumed that he had been raising one eyebrow at her the whole time. After studying his face intently, she met his eyes which were holding a sick look of satisfaction.

"I am so sorry sir, I guess I just couldn't tell it was there," she said sheepishly, worried that she might anger him.

The look of satisfaction was quickly washed away and replaced with a look of shock. "You really couldn't tell?" he asked with a genuine tone of surprise in his voice, "This is the first thing most people notice about me." He sounded a little dejected when he said his last comment; Christine could tell that he was self-conscious about this.

She smiled, trying to be friendly, "I really couldn't tell. I was actually more concerned with how handsome you are," she could feel herself blush as she cleared her throat. "Well, sir, the doctor should be in shortly. I hope you're feeling more comfortable." She smiled one last time at him, receiving a satisfied smile from his thin lips, and walked out of the room, ready for her next patient.

She couldn't put the image of Erik out of her mind for the rest of the day. When she walked through the front door of her and Raoul's apartment, thoughts of Erik were still forming clouds around her.

Raoul was making dinner, and she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him from behind. She placed her head on his back and sighed.

"What's wrong, dear?" he asked, continuing to stir the pasta that was boiling on the stove.

She sighed again and sat down at the table, "Nothing, Raoul. It was just a long day."

He could notice the worried tone of her voice, "Did anything interesting happen?" he asked.

"Well," Christine started, unsure if she should tell Raoul about Erik or not, "My first patient of the day, the one who passed out, he had a facial deformity." Raoul just raised his eyebrows at her, seemingly unimpressed. She continued, "I didn't see it though. He had it covered with a piece of cloth. I could have sworn there was nothing wrong with his face, he looked completely normal to me."

"That's something you don't see every day," Raoul snorted, "A grown man wearing a mask? I wonder if his deformity has anything to do with his migraines."

Christine furrowed her eyebrows, "I don't think so. I think he was born with it; it shouldn't have any effect on his brain."

Raoul seemed intent on finding something else wrong with Christine's patient, "Well, you never know. It might have an effect. Could be something to research," he said almost greedily.

Christine was growing even more annoyed at her fiancé and muttered, "That's all you're ever concerned about."

Raoul finished making dinner and placed a plate in front of Christine. They ate in silence.