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No Easy Way	By : secretlysecretly Category: M through R > The Phantom of the Opera > Het Views: 7568 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own The Phantom of the Opera, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Happy new year everyone!

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Chapter 46

Erik ran towards the direction of where the shot had been heard from, beside himself with worry over what he would find. He heard a cry of anguish on the other side of the door and, steeling himself for what would follow, turned the doorknob determinedly to cast his eyes upon the slumped body of Raoul on the floor where he was howling in pain, his right thigh drenched in blood.

Quickly assessing the situation, Erik turned his attention to Christine, where the young brunette was standing with a gun in her hand, still aiming it at her husband.

The woman’s attention was fixed on the convulsing figure of Raoul, seemingly transfixed at the sight of the blood that was seeping from the fresh wound. Trying to remain calm, Erik moved cautiously towards her, reaching out tentatively to take the weapon from her trembling fingers.

Indeed, a few seconds later he had taken hold of the gun, tucking it safely in his pocket out of Christine’s reach.

Christine turned her gaze towards Erik and regarded him with terrified eyes. She was obviously shaken by her own devious action as Erik saw her trembling when he took the gun from her hand. Making an attempt to explain herself to Erik, she opened her mouth to speak but no words came out.

Christine regarded Erik with pleading eyes, trying to approach him; if someone could comprehend her actions, that person could only be her former teacher and mentor. He was her only hope.

“Don’t you dare touch me, Christine!” To her disappointment, Erik pushed her to the side, causing Christine’s fall to the bed, as he reached Raoul who appeared to be in excruciating pain; the blood kept flowing, covering the surface of the floor.

“Don’t move! You will only make things worse.” Erik ordered as Raoul opened his eyes and looked at him in agony. “Please Raoul, I want to help you. I have to examine your leg, try to remain still.” Erik warned him as he held Raoul’s leg to the ground.

He ripped the fabric of his trousers apart, only to make Raoul cry out, quivering in pain. “It hurts! Do something about it!” the Viscount shouted painfully.

“I am trying Raoul, but you have to remain still. I will try to stop the bleeding for the time being, but the bullet must be extracted as soon as possible. It could cause an infection with severe consequences on your health. Hold still.” he advised the younger man as he stood again, his eyes searching for something appropriate to bandage his thigh in order to prevent further loss of blood.

In two long strides, Erik got to the bed and grabbed a white sheet which he began to tear into shreds.

In the meantime, Christine had been watching the scene evolving before her, sitting on the bed, not fully conscious of the episode she had single-handedly caused. Her eyes fixed on her husband’s form, she could merely hear some faint whispers in her head. All of a sudden, she exited her languid state as Erik’s booming voice echoed in the room.

“Christine!”

When she finally turned her head to look at him, Erik felt a chill run down his spine from the emptiness in her gaze. He had never witnessed an unresponsive gaze such as Christine’s at that moment.

“Christine! Pull the cord! We need help.” he instructed her, trying to disregard her apathetic attitude. However, Christine remained unmoved and did nothing of the kind.

As quickly as possible, he moved to the other side of the room, pulling the cord himself to summon a servant to the quarters. He continued his work of tearing the white sheet in pieces and hurried to the bedroom door.

“Is anybody there, please hurry!” he shouted, his thundering voice echoing in the corridor.

Soon, he could hear commotion coming from the stairs and a short while later saw Gerard approaching, a worried look upon his face. Before the butler could enter the chamber that had been assigned to Raoul and Christine however, he cut him short.

“Go fetch Doctor Clio Renault immediately!” he ordered the butler.

Nodding his head in the affirmative, Gerard turned without fully understanding what was going on, but sensing the urgency in the masked man’s voice.

A few servants ran upstairs a short while later and Erik had them move Raoul from the floor to the bed, while he made short work of taking Christine from the room and locking her in the adjoining boudoir. His task accomplished, he returned to Raoul’s bedside and, noticing Louise standing close by, instructed her to bring him some gauze and alcohol to clean the wound, as well as some laudanum for the pain.

The young maid hurried out of the room and Erik followed suit, striding over to Marianne’s bedroom to knock upon her door. A few moments later, he saw her pale face appear before his eyes, her expression filled with unspoken worry. “Erik… what happened?” she asked him, taking hold of his forearms urgently.

“Please Marianne, you have to be strong.” he tried to soothe her.

“Erik please! Tell me what has happened! Was that a gun shot?”

Taking in his agitated expression, Marianne couldn’t help but feel a wave of apprehension wash over her. “Erik tell me! Was anybody hurt?!?” she demanded.

“Marianne please calm yourself. There indeed was a gunfire. Raoul has been shot.” he tried to explain as coolly as possible, but to his dismay Marianne tried to push him out of the way, frantically trying to make her way to her cousin’s side.

Trying to appease her anxiety, Erik grasped her waist and held her back for a second. “Marianne, please! Raoul is hurt but he is going to be alright.”

“Erik I need to see him!” she cried frantically, trying to break free from his embrace.

“You must prepare yourself my love.” he warned her.

“Erik, I have to see him this instant! I have to make sure he’s alright!”

“Follow me then” he whispered resignedly, “but try to remain calm; if not for your own sake, at least for our baby.”

Marianne did not say anything. She simply nodded and followed him as he turned and made his way to Raoul and Christine’s quarters.

As soon as they stepped into the room, Marianne felt a wave of nausea wash over her. Her stomach clenched at the sight of her cousin’s pained expression and his shallow breathing. A sob escaped her lips and she ran to Raoul’s bedside, desperate to diminish his suffering.

Erik was by her side in a few moments, his jaw clenching as he tried to assess the situation presented to him in the most efficient way. He heard Marianne murmuring something to her cousin and felt his heart clench at the sight of her obvious pain but, knowing time was essential, steeled himself and laid his palm on her shoulder suggestively.

Indeed, Marianne turned her eyes to him, sorrow lacing her gaze. Noticing her unshed tears, Erik squeezed his palm over her shoulder in what he hoped would be a reassuring manner.

Swallowing her tears, Marianne turned her attention back to her wounded cousin. “How did this happen?” she demanded, her voice as cold as ever as she tried to collect her thoughts.

An anguished cry of pain escaped Raoul’s lips, which jolted Erik into motion. He tried to move Marianne out of the way to tend to Raoul’s wound, but the young maiden remained still and turned her venomous eyes to him.

“Who did this?” she demanded again, unwaveringly.

“Marianne, this is neither the time, nor the place to…”

“Don’t you dare do this to me Erik! I demand to know what happened!” she raised her voice, oblivious to his worrisome expression.

Erik on his part hesitated only a second longer before he blurted out “Christine…” but ceased speaking altogether when he saw all color drain from her face and she opened her mouth to speak, but no words issued forth from her lips.

As if in a haze, Marianne felt Erik’s arms move her out of the way as he led her towards a nearby armchair and heard him whisper a few soothing words in her ear before he resumed his position by her cousin’s bedside and proceeded to clean Raoul’s wound after he had shred his trousers from his body.

She could hear Raoul’s pained moans of protest as the alcohol stung his torn flesh and Erik’s steady voice as he instructed the younger man to hold still while he tried to remove the bullet from the open gash.

“Erik, please stop it! You are hurting him!” she protested, suddenly rising from her seat when the first shock of seeing her dear cousin hurt had abated.

He turned his attention to her momentarily, his eyes frantic to convey how important it was for her to remain strong through this. She shook her head, silently imploring him to understand how hard it was for her to see her cousin in distress, but Erik’s steely gaze cut her short before she could utter a word.

Turning his attention back to the task at hand, Erik tried to clean the wound as best he could, but noticed the flow of blood would not abate. He realized that unless the bullet would be extracted from the Viscount’s flesh, the man ran a high risk of infection. If the doctor would not arrive soon, he would have to try and remove the bullet himself.

In the meantime though, he had to do something to alleviate Raoul’s pain somehow. Looking to the bedside table, he noticed the bottle of laudanum he had requested from the servants earlier and decided to give Raoul a small dose to ease his pain somewhat.

Indeed, a few minutes later, Raoul, exhausted from the acute pain, had fallen into a restless sleep, sporadic spasms of pain wracking his body. His brow was drenched with sweat, but Erik knew the laudanum would help him escape the nerve-wracking pain; at least until Doctor Renault’s arrival.

Meanwhile, Marianne had abandoned her seat and was now standing on the opposite side of the bed, anxiously regarding her cousin, desperate to find some way to comfort his distress. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, she turned her pleading eyes to Erik and hesitantly tried to catch his attention.

“Erik, is there anything I can do to help you?” she asked hopefully, her eyes fixed upon his.

Erik raised his head to look at her, but shook his head pitifully. “I’m afraid there is nothing more we can do for him now my love. It is out of my hands now. Soon, Doctor Renault will be here and he will grant him some peace, at least physically…” he tried to soothe Marianne’s agony.

Marianne caressed her cousin’s head as he regained consciousness. “He seems to be running a high fever. Louise, bring me a basin of cool water, immediately.” She turned to the young maid.

“This is not so good.” Erik murmured. ‘If the doctor doesn’t arrive soon, I will have to do something about his wound.’

Louise returned a few minutes later, holding a small basin and some clean towels.

“Give them to me.” Marianne took the items from her maid’s hands and, placing the basin on the nightstand, she soaked one of the towels and placed it on Raoul’s forehead.

The unconscious man appeared to have a reaction when the cool fabric came in contact with his skin, as his body was shaken by uncontrollable spasms and then he appeared to calm down, mumbling Christine’s name under his breath.

As he moved though, blood started oozing from his wound in abundance. Erik was immediately jolted into action, trying to stop the hemorrhaging by applying pressure to the wound, and indeed managed to stanch the blood momentarily, but a few seconds later realized that it wouldn’t help for long.

Looking around him frantically, he spotted Marianne on the opposite side of the bed across from him, looking terribly worried over her cousin’s state. He tried to rein his agility, not to alarm the maiden in her fragile state. He smiled reassuringly and walked over to her, putting his arm around her shoulders protectively and pulling her into his arms.

Not half an hour later, Gerard the butler rushed into the room out of breath. “Monsieur Destler, I have just returned from Rouen but a while ago, where I found Doctor Renault , but I am sorry to inform you that he will not be able to come to the estate soon. He is delivering a baby, but promised that he will come as soon as he can.”

Realizing that he would have to take matters into his own hands, Erik nodded his head dejectedly, and in a grave voice instructed the butler to bring him everything he would need for the operation on Raoul’s leg.
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No Easy Way