Perhaps he simply wasn't meant to have happiness. Why else would it have taken such a horrible turn? One would've thought he would've learned his lesson at this point.
Erik was just beginning to fade, welcoming the dizziness he was feeling without a second thought. He had simply curled around the cloak tighter, releasing a shaky sigh. He completely missed the door being unlocked and opened. He had seemingly forgotten that he wasn't the only one with a key to the dressing room. Honestly it was probably more so that he didn't actually care. He couldn't bring himself to care about anything anymore. The world felt pointless without the love of his life.
Antionette stepped further into the room, gasping quietly when she saw the mess he'd made and Erik himself. She should've realized that he'd choose somewhere comforting to end it all and the only thing that could comfort the man properly was Christine. She shut the door and hurried over to him, frowning when he didn't react to the sounds of her cane on the floor. She bent down and tossed the cane to the side, reaching out to shake him. "Erik." She uttered, hoping for a response. The fact that he was still breathing didn't really mean anything in the long run.
Erik shifted and groaned softly, barely opening his eyes as he reluctantly peered up at her. "Why are you here? Did I not order you to stay with my children?" he would've most likely snapped had he had the strength to do so at the moment. But because he didn't, he sounded more than a little off. Madame Giry could only sigh heavily and ignore the urge to roll her eyes at his stubbornness.
Antionette pried his bloodied arm away from Christine's cloak and turned it over to observe the damage done despite his attempts to pull his arm back, clearly not appreciating what she was doing. "You should count yourself lucky that you didn't cut yourself in the opposite direction and that I actually bothered to check in here. This should just be a mild inconvenience." she sighed, ignoring his question for the moment.
Erik looked at her for a few minutes before laying his head back down with his own sigh. "That doesn't answer my question, Madame. Whether or not I sliced my arm the correct way hardly matters." He retorted somewhat coldly.
"It does, actually. If you really must know, the children are with Christine where they belong. She's alive and she's been asking for you. She just went back to sleep because she needs all the rest she can get, but before she'd do that she made me promise to find you. She thinks you were talking to your friend." Madame Giry was well aware that she was essentially scolding the Opera Ghost, but he couldn't do anything to her in the state he happened to be in at the moment.
Erik could only stare blankly, jolting upwards with a small groan. He didn't care for the way that the almost too warm feeling had rushed over him and the dizziness had intensified. But it was probably to be expected. "Christine...is alive? Don't mock me, Antionette." He sneered, hardly ever bothering to use her name. This was one of the few times that he ever had since she knew him.
Antionette grabbed Christine's cloak and tore a strip from the slowly fraying bottom. It wasn't like it mattered. It was both old and blood stained now. She wrapped it around Erik's wrist and tied it off somewhat tightly. Hopefully it would staunch the bleeding. "Since you won't believe me, come. You can see for yourself and I'll wrap that properly once we are down below." she offered.
Erik seemed rather hesitant for a moment, but he nodded and pushed himself to his feet, staggering. The journey down to his home was much slower than it usually would, mostly because of this. Antionette did her best to try and help support him but there was only so much she could do. He relied more on the walls than he did on her and she could understand that. She did insist on rowing the boat for him because there was no way he could do so at the moment. Once they'd arrived with few incidents, she forced him to sit down even if she knew he'd rather see Christine first. He glared up at her with a surprising intensity and she felt secure in taking this as a good sign.
"Christine is going to be devastated enough when she learns the truth. Wouldn't you agree that it'd make it easier on her if she couldn't actually see your blood when she wakes up?" Antionette pointed out and the man relented reluctantly. She got to work, cleaning the wounds properly before she rewrapped them in actual bandages.
He immediately stood when she was done and she made no move to stop him as he entered the room. There was no point in her being her anymore and she was more than a little glad about that. She cleaned up the mess and headed back the way she came.
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Erik hesitantly closed the door behind him and approached the bed. He stared at Christine apprehensively for a few minutes as she was still a little paler than usual. It didn't take long for him to realize that her chest was rising and falling slowly but far more regularly than it had been when he initially left. The relief was a powerful emotion. He couldn't stop the tears from flooding his eyes and rolling down his cheeks. He vaguely noticed the children but his focus was on his wife right now.
He reached out to brush some of her now dry curls away from her face, leaning down to kiss her forehead as the sob rocked through him, nearly stealing his breath. "Christine.." He uttered almost reverently as he started to pull away. He froze when she stirred and blue eyes fluttered open, immediately meeting his own. He was floored by the way that she almost instantly brightened.
"Erik! You're alright! I was so worried that something had happened- even despite knowing you were speaking to Nadir!" She exclaimed. Guilt flooded him once more.
