Her Phantom - Closed for cheerfanman1961

[ChaseMePleez]

The boarding house had always been a major part of her life. Maris Cullen had been born the daughter of a maid and she herself became one too. It wasn't anything that she was ashamed of. Honestly she could have ended up earning a living on her back. That was never an option for her, Maris had too much respect for herself and her own body to let it be used by any man with a little gold and a smile. Tonight she was working at the boarding house to get ready for when they reopened for business.

It had been a week since a major fire that ravaged the theater next door. The event had driven people from their establishment at an amazing speed. Maris went down to the basement to grab more towels for some of the rooms when she heard something. It sounded like a man groaning in pain and it was coming from the grate that led out to the sewers under the city. Her curious nature was getting the best of her and if someone was hurt, she couldn't just ignore that.

Maris's grandmother had been a nurse that worked in a hospital for children. She taught her grandchild a thing or two about healing. Maris bent down and pulled the loose grating away from the hole and poked her head through. In the low light she was able to see a man laying face down in the water. She covered her mouth with her hand in shock. Pulling herself through the opening, she went to him. There was burns that had scabbed over that were obviously infected and in need of care.

Although she was small, Maris was very strong for a woman. This guy looked pretty tall but not overly fat or something. There was a white mask covering a part of his face. Who he was was very evident to her since she had read about the reports on the Phantom. Despite the allegations of his cruel nature, Maris couldn't just leave him there. She laid a hand on his forehead to find that he was running a very high fever. Amazingly she managed to get him through the opening and up to her room in the boarding house where she lived.

He was laid out on the bed and Maris began stripping him of the soiled clothing. Despite a burning curiosity, she didn't remove the mask. He wore this thing for a reason and she didn't want to do something to anger him. once he was naked, Maris bathed him down to get the fever down just a bit. She also put a healing salve on the burns on his chest arms and legs, bandaging them as well as she could.

Maris pulled up the sheet on him since he was finally sleeping peacefully. Once he woke she would brew some special tea to aid him in the pain and healing. Exhausted by the night's activities, she let her hair and closed her eyes. In the next few moments she fell asleep in her chair next to the bed. The position of her body wasn't the most comfortable but she still slept. In the late hours of the night, her patient began to stir from his sleep.

 

[cheerfanman1961]

The past week had been one blur of fleeting images of past and present as Erik floated in and out of consciousness since the theater fire. To keep from suffering the deep pains of the burns to his body, his mind had kept him in a mostly semi-comatose state, gaining some sense of presence enough for him to get himself to the closest source of water to try and quell the searing daggers incessantly stabbing his blistered red, blistered flesh.

The one thought that kept him going was his one-time young protege', Christine. She often sang to him in his dreams, the kiss she once gave him still lingering on his malformed lips. As he began to stir in the strange bed, his voice softly started to murmur the one name over and over, "Christine..... Christine.." Although the salve that his young nurse had applied was already starting to provide some relief, the pain was still nearly unbearable. His body writhed under the sheet as he gasped in pain, his eyes suddenly opening wide to see a room he had no memory of. Although it was dimly lit, Erik's eyes were as keen as a cat's in such darkness given his many years living in the bowels of the opera house. He turned his head slowly to see a young woman curled up uncomfortably in a chair. Perhaps she was his angel of mercy.

 

[ChaseMePleez]

Exhaustion from trying to keep her patient still and restful in the night and a full day's work in the boarding house were the only reasons Maris didn't hear him awakening. The dark veil of sleep began to lift a little bit at a time, her body protesting as she squirmed in the uncomfortable chair. Her hair had come loose and laid in a curtain of brown curls down her shoulders. Once her eyes opened, she saw that her patient had awakened. She didn't want to startle him. The man was not exactly on everyone's nice side as of late. "Please stay still. The burns are painful, I know but will do what I can for that."

If anyone had known what Maris had done, saving him, they would think her mad but she couldn't just leave him there. The salve was no longer working from the way he was squirming about. On the bed stand, Maris had placed a small bowel with a mixture that her aunt had taught her to make. The herbs that were needed to make it were rare and hard to find so it should only be used in extreme situations. Phantom seemed wary of her as she sat next to him on the bed. "You need to try to relax. The pain will only get worse as you tense up."

It occurred to Maris that finding one's self in the company of a perfect stranger after such a horrific event might not be an ideal recipe for relaxation. She picked up the bowel and dabbed her fingers in the cream. She was about to rub the wound on his arm when he winced away from her. "I'm not going to hurt you." Maris looked him in the eye like any other man. "If I wanted to harm you, I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of dragging you in here and cleaning you up. This mixture is something that will numb the pain of the burns better and aid in healing."

The Phantom seemed to relax but stayed on guard at the same time. Maris sighed and began to treat his burns, pulling down the sheet as she went from burn to burn to relieve his pain. "My name is Maris Cullen. We're in the boarding house near the opera house." As the cream began to take an effect, she could see him visibly relax a bit more and that made her tension ease up as well. "I found you and brought you here." As she worked, Maris hummed to herself, dressing the burns so he may be more comfortable. She thought of maybe giving him so Valerian tea to help him sleep but wasn't sure how agreeable he would be.

Once she was finished and had washed her hands, Maris lay hand on his forehead to see if he may be feverish. "Well, at least we don't have to worry about a fever just as yet. You're very resilient from what I can tell." A million questions burned in the back of her mind. Rumors had raced through town about the infamous Phantom for so long and people would give their eye teeth to be in the same position she was in right not. Maris didn't want anything from him but to take care of him. What he chose to tell her was up to him. "Is there anything you need?"