Christine's POV

"Your husband is in critical condition, Mrs. Mulheim."

Those words tore through me like a tornado as I sat there listening to everything the doctor had to say. My angel had lost a tremendous amount of blood, that loss weakening him. I didn't want Gustave to see his father like this…I didn't want him to see the horror of Erik lying on death's door. If my angel was going to die, I wanted to be beside him.

"It's possible that he won't make it through the night," the doctor continued. "Even if he does, it's going to be a rough couple of weeks ahead. He's going to need at least three more surgeries to repair the damage that the bullets have done to his legs and chest."

I nodded and scooped my boy up into my arms.

"You're going to go with uncle Nadir for a while, Gustave. I have to go see your papa…"

"But mama…"

"I'll come for you as soon as I can."

"Tell Erik to hold on," Nadir said, patting me on the back.

I nodded and walked through the doors with the doctor.

"He's in there, Christine," the doctor said, pointing to a closed door.

If there was one thing I didn't want to see, it was Erik's body lying lifelessly in that bed.

"Erik," I ran to his bedside and sobbed into his bandaged chest. "Oh, ange…Don't do this to me. Don't die…I need you…I need you, angel…"

But my angel did not respond to me. He was asleep, or so it seemed that way. He was laying there lifeless and breathing heavily. I would not leave his side. I would sit here and wait for him to wake, and when he did, I would be here.

Erik's POV

My head was woozy…oh, so woozy. My chest and leg hurt terribly, but when my blurry vision cleared, I saw my angel sleeping at my bedside. My throat was parched and I couldn't speak, but I was alive…At least for the time being. I lightly sighed and pressed my exhausted eyes closed. I didn't remember much, but I did remember being shot by Raoul.

"Erik, how are you feeling, ange…"

When I heard my Christine's voice, I weakly opened my eyes, causing her to gasp.

"Erik! Erik…" she wrapped her arms around my body, causing me to groan in discomfort.

"Oh, I'm sorry, ange…You're awake…Oh, angel."

But I couldn't bear to stay awake any longer and wound up passing out once again. It took time, but I did pull through, and I did survive. When Christine told me that Raoul had been killed, I couldn't have been happier. My family was no longer in danger, and for that, I was grateful. I spent nearly a month in the hospital before I was released. Surgery after surgery, I pulled through, feeling weakened after each one, but Christine was there beside me and that's all that mattered. Even after I left the hospital, I had to spend eight more weeks in the comfort of my own bed. That wasn't to say that I didn't work during that time. Yes, Christine hated the fact that I wanted to work on music, but as long as I was in bed, she didn't argue with me too much. When I wasn't working, I spent my time in bed playing games with my son… I hadn't been very close to the boy over the years, but in those eight weeks, he and I bonded and became inseparable. I used to be Erik to him, but after those weeks of spending time with one another, I became papa…

"Checkmate, Papa…" the boy was sitting with me in bed playing chess. Yes, his face looked just like my own, but he was beautiful.

"You've beat me again," I teased, turning the chessboard around. "I've created a chess monster. No one is ever better at chess than me."

"I'm better now…"

"Yes, Gustave, yes you are…"

"Mama is making dinner," he replied. "Soup for you."

I lied back in bed and relaxed my aching shoulders. "Sounds lovely, I'm really hungry."

A few moments later, Christine came walking through the door with a smile on her beautiful face.

"Gustave, I need you to go out into the kitchen and set the table."

"Yes, mama…"

The boy crawled off of my bed and headed out of my room, leaving Christine and I alone. She approached me and removed the chessboard away from the bed.

"Has he been bothering you?"

"Of course not, Christine. If anything he's been entertaining me."

"Entertaining you? He's been taking you away from me. I have to say, Erik…I'm quite jealous."

"No need to be jealous, ange…I could use a massage later. My ankle has been killing me."

Christine removed the blankets away from my feet and gazed down at my bandaged foot.

"It looks so sore, ange…"

"It is… Hurts terribly…"

"Well," my Christine placed a kiss on my lips. "I'll take away your pain later. For now, you need to eat so you can take your medicine."

"I don't wish to take it any longer," I cringed. "It makes me tired."

"And the doctor said you should keep taking it. It's the only thing that's going to take away your pain. I'll bring you some soup and then, I'll give you your medicine."

"I feel as though all I do is sleep."

"Sleep is good, Erik. Don't argue with me."

"I need to get back to work, Christine. I'm tired of laying around in this bed."

"Erik, you have two weeks to go, and not a moment before that. The doctor said eight weeks, and that's what you're going to do."

"You're impossible, Christine."

"I'm not impossible, Erik. But, rules are rules, ange… I promise as soon as the eight weeks are over you'll be back at work again. You nearly died and I'm not about to take any chances with you."

"You took a chance with me the day you married me, ange…"

Raoul was indeed gone. After spending nearly eight weeks in bed, I was able to return to work. Though, when I did so, I was approached by a man who offered me a job on the side, one that was for making music for the new movies. Days flew by, and so did weeks. Soon, those weeks turned into years and the next thing I knew, Gustave was a young man. Not only did he grow up to be a handsome young man, but he turned out to be a brilliant musician as well. He took after me one hundred percent. During the years of his childhood, the first world war broke out, leaving many men wounded and scarred. Because of the substantial amount of wounded men, a mask was invented to cover burns and scars. It was a mask that was made to look like an actual face. News soon got out about the new contraption, that news being that it was so authentic that you couldn't even tell that it was a mask. I, of course already had a great paying job and no reason to purchase such a silly thing, but Gustave thought differently. He even frightened Christine when he came home wearing it one evening.

"I thought you were a stranger…" Christine shrieked as our boy came through the door after a long day at work.

Gustave chuckled and gave her a sly smile. "Is it really that hard to recognize me, mother?"

"Yes…I hate it."

Once more, Gustave laughed. "Mother, you just don't like anything new."

I didn't have an opinion about the mask, for it was strange yet wonderful for the boy. When he was a child, I had thought about placing a mask over the boy's face, but Christine didn't want it. So, we decided to let him grow up and decide for himself. When I retired from my job, Mr. Davis' son hired Gustave to replace me. Soon, my boy was moving out and into his own place. Not long after that, he had met a girl, the star of the theater Gustave worked for. Oh, how his life reminded me so much of my own. But then again, what did I expect from a child who looked like me? Our marriage might have started out rough, but over the years, it had gotten easier…Not only easier, but wonderful as well. The first grandchild came a few months after Gustave's marriage…A boy, who Gustave named "Charles." He was flawless and Gustave's world… Not only was he Gustave's world, but he was mine as well. After Charles, Sierra arrived, followed by the twins Pierre and Caleb.

Christine and I loved our grandchildren and spent numerous hours with them beside the piano. And at the end of everyday, I would kiss my angel of music tenderly, for she was the best thing that had ever happened to me. Yes, her brown curls might have gone grey and her skin wrinkled, but to me, she was still the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on. Life couldn't be any sweeter,for my love for Christine and my family shall never die.

Please review. That's all she wrote! I hope you enjoyed the story... If you still wish to read more, switch over to "The Infection Which Poisons Our LOve." Thanks again for all of you who have read and reviewed!