A/N: YAY update! This chapter is again, full of angst, you have been warned, but I'm sure my ever so faithful reviewers can handle my creativeness when it comes to angst. (smiles)

Do I own Miracle? Hmmmm... NO. Original characters belong to... ME.

Chapter 21

Erica made her way back out into the waiting room. Robbie had gotten their friends Chris and Rachel to look after Colleen while they had accompanied Vanessa and Jimmy to the hospital. Robbie had patiently waited in the waiting room with Jimmy, and had gotten him through the 'first time dad' jitters, and then he had stayed behind as Jimmy asked to be led to see Vanessa.

He looked up and saw his partner coming toward him with tears glistening in her eyes.

"They lost the baby…" she cried softly as Robbie took her into his arms. "I heard her talking to their girl, Robbie; she kept saying "Your daddy wanted to name you Carolyn. Carolyn Margaret Craig." It breaks my heart…" Erica buried her face into her partner's shoulder.

"I know Ricki…" he hugged her tightly. "You're a mom; of course it's going to affect you…"

"They don't deserve it, Robbie. They're such great people. They'd make fantastic parents…" Erica sobbed. "I feel for them, I really do…"

RING…

Herb Brooks rolled over in bed and fumbled for the phone.

RING…

On the second ring, he picked up.

"Yeah…" he mumbled.

"Hey Herb, it's Jimmy…" came the haggard voice from the hospital pay phone.

"Jimmy," Herb sat up in bed, attempting to at least sound coherent. "You alright?"

Silence.

"Is Vanessa okay?"

Silence again, but then…

"Vanessa's fine Herb, but…"

He bit his lip in a feeble attempt to hide the emotion in his voice.

"We lost the baby…"

"What?" Herb was wide awake now.

"The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck when Vanessa delivered her, and Christ, did she have a hard time. Had to use the forceps on the baby's head just to make sure she had a safe delivery." He could feel the depression settling in his chest. He swallowed the sob he knew was coming. It hurt.

"Ah damn it, Jimmy," Herb held the phone on his shoulder as he got dressed. "Jimmy, I'm sorry."

"Nothing you could do about it, it ain't your fault." He answered. He knew he had to be strong for Vanessa now. He could grieve later, but right now, his sole purpose was to comfort his wife.

"Listen, uh, I'll be there as soon as I can…" Herb hung up the phone, took a look at Patti, who was now awake, and went out the door.

He arrived at the hospital, only to be greeted by a forlorn Jim Craig.

"Hey Herb…"

"Jimmy…" Herb went over to his son in law and hugged him. "How you holding up?"

"I'm not…" he answered, rubbing the tears out of his eyes. "I'm a wreck…"

"Wouldn't expect anything less," Herb answered, rubbing the sleep out of his own eyes, "how's Vanessa doin'?"

"She looks beautiful to me but she feels like hell," Jimmy managed. "I've never seen her like this… she's so… fragile."

"How do you think I look at her?" Herb told him. "When she married you I had flashbacks to when she was a baby. I couldn't help thinking how tiny and fragile she was, and how I still thought of her that way." Herb turned his head and paused, biting back the tears, and then looked at his son-in-law again. "When she told Patti and me that she was pregnant I realized that she really had grown up, I wasn't just imagining it," the tears were getting harder and harder to keep down. "And I know it hurts, Jimmy, but we all go through it. It takes time, and time is the only thing that heals."

Jimmy blinked. That was the most insightful thing Herb Brooks that ever said to him. Aside from when he was talking about hockey, of course.

"Did you have a name for the baby?"

"Carolyn…" Jimmy nearly choked on the sadness building in his throat. "Carolyn Margaret Craig."

Suddenly an alarm sounded, and Jimmy noticed doctors running toward Vanessa's room.

"What's going on?" he turned away from his father in law and turned to get into Vanessa's room.

"Sir, I need to ask you to stay out!" one of the nurses forbade him entrance.

"No, you don't get it…" he pushed his way through the sea of people.

"Sir, I can't allow…" the nurse's words were almost lost as Jimmy rushed to his wife's bedside.

"Vanessa…" he grabbed a hold of her hand. "Vanessa!"

"Jimmy!" she cried as doctors started moving her bed. He ran alongside. "Jimmy, what's happening to me?"

"I don't know baby, the doctors are going to figure that out," he told her.

The gurney ran past Herb.

"Don't leave me, Jimmy!" she cried as the doctor forced their hands apart and wheeled Vanessa into surgery. "Jimmy!" she screamed as the doors bearing the words HOSPITAL PERSONNAL ONLY—NO ADMITTANCE swung closed.

"GOD DAMMIT!" Jimmy shouted as Vanessa disappeared from his sight. What was happening? He wanted answers.

It took Herb less than 5 seconds to wrap Jimmy in his arms.

For a second Jimmy didn't know what to think. His former coach and now father in law was actually showing affection toward him? Or was this just another rough patch to push him through? He'd already lost a daughter today; he didn't need to lose a wife.

Instinctively, Jimmy reciprocated.

The x-rays looked grim. Vanessa was bleeding into her stomach from a uterine fibroid, and her monitors had picked up on it. Dr. Daniels brought this news out to Jimmy and Herb.

"She needs a hysterectomy…" Dr. Daniels informed them.

"Whoa, whoa," Jimmy held up a hand, "What is that gonna do?"

"First of all, Mr. Craig, please understand that this is one of the most difficult decisions a person has to face, especially with pregnancy. This is quite common when women develop problems after childbirth…" Dr. Daniels explained.

"What's the plan, Doc?" Herb asked.

"We need to remove her uterus," was the answer.

But not the answer Jimmy wanted to hear.

His mouth dropped open, frozen in stunned silence.

"If we don't go through with this operation," Herb managed to ask, "What would happen to her?"

Dr. Daniels sighed. "As much as I hate to tell you this, Mr. Brooks, if we don't do this operation, Vanessa could bleed out on the operating table and die."