"Oh God! Someone get some help!" Raoul cried out from Christine's side. "Christine? Please chéri, open your eyes," he pleaded, his tears falling upon her dress. He placed one arm under her neck and the other around her waist as he gingerly lifted her up. He buried his face into her neck, muffling his sobs.

"Here, Monsieur. Bring her into the guest bedroom," Henriette tugged at his arm, leading him to a small room at the end of the hallway. "Campbell has taken a horse into town to fetch a doctor."

Raoul slowly lowered her upon the bed, reluctant to let her go. The man who entered behind him made no noise as he stepped into the room. Out of the corner of his eye, Raoul saw the black fabric of a cape blowing with the wind from the open window. He turned and found himself inches from the Phantom.

"What are you doing here?" Raoul asked, the anger in his voice overshadowing his sobs.

"I heard you shouting. How is Christine?" Erik asked, fear surmounting his anger toward Raoul.

"You heard me all the way from the stables?" Raoul asked suspiciously. Then it dawned upon him. "You were spying on us!"

"Do not flatter yourself, Monsieur," he spat, "Your life is of no interest to me. My only intent was to make sure that Christine was alright, which is obviously not the case."

"We don't need you," Raoul said, stepping back protectively to Christine's side.

"Monsieurs," Henriette scolded, stepping between them, "Now is not the time to be bickering."

Raoul relented grudgingly. "She's right. Christine is all that matters now."

"Monsieur! I have brought the doctor!" Campbell yelled, running down the hall.

The doctor was fairly young, with a thin face that was overpowered by his large mustache. He pushed past Raoul and Erik to Christine's bed, tossing down a heavy leather bag.

"I need some space. Young lady, you can assist me. Everyone else must go," he commanded.

Both men unwillingly stepped from the room. Michelle stood outside, placing a chair beside the door. "Would your guest like a chair as well, Monsieur?"

Raoul opened his mouth to speak, but the words came from Erik's first. "I would be most grateful."

Michelle looked to Raoul, who nodded his approval. The two men each took their seat on opposite sides of the door. A tense silence hung between them as they strained to hear what was going on inside the room. But it was useless. There was only the occasional sound of shuffling feet and an inaudible command from the doctor. They had to resign themselves to wait until the he emerged. Raoul slumped forward in his chair, his head hung in his hands. He was the reason that she was in that room. If he wasn't such a damned gentleman all the time, if he had shoved Nicole out the door the moment he sensed her interest in him, Christine would be fine. He was so lost in his guilt that he almost didn't hear when Erik began to speak.

"How did you know?" he asked softly.

"I'm sorry?" Raoul was unsure what he meant.

"Christine. How did you know that she was the only woman you could ever love? After all you've done for her I assume that you do love her," Erik didn't look up as he spoke.

"Are you certain that you want to hear this?" Raoul asked sympathetically.

"I am certain that I do not. But I think I need to."

"As you wish." Raoul began thoughtfully, "I knew that I loved Christine before I even knew what love was. We were both so young when we met. She had lost her scarf-"

"I have heard the story," Erik broke in.

"I beg your pardon. Then she told you that we also met again later?" Raoul could see how stiffly Erik sat. He wasn't sure whether he should continue, but Erik had asked him.

"She did," he replied shortly.

"I knew then that she would never be my wife. My family would never permit it. And at my young age, that knowledge was devastating. Knowing that duty would always take place over love…I couldn't stand it. I gave up entertaining any thoughts of marriage, and steeled myself against all feelings that would lead me there. Eventually, even my fond memories of Christine became cold recollections."

Erik looked at him questioningly. He couldn't understand how Raoul could claim to feel nothing for Christine. Why would he have gone to such lengths to have her, if she meant nothing to him?

Raoul continued, his voice becoming lighter, "I built a wall around my heart that I thought nothing could penetrate. But with just one look, Christine could bring it all crashing down. How could I go on living, knowing that I gave up on the one woman who could do that to me?"

Erik shut his eyes tightly. He had always focused on the pain he had felt when he lost Christine. And why shouldn't he? She was the only woman who could ever see past the monster to what lay inside him. But Raoul too had been forced to give her up once. In all the time he had spent hating the Vicomte, he had never once considered that this was a pain that they shared. He turned to speak to Raoul, although he was unsure what he could say, when the door opened and Henriette walked out somberly, followed by the doctor. He held a blood-soaked cloth that he was using to wipe off his hands.

"Monsieur le Vicomte?" He looked at Raoul who stood to speak with him. The doctor spoke in hushed tones. "Your wife is going to be fine. She will need plenty of rest. But…I'm sorry Monsieur. She has lost the baby."

Raoul's mouth hung open and he collapsed back into his chair. "Oh God, why?"

Henriette stood beside him, hesitantly placing a hand on his shoulder.

"May I go in and see her now?" Raoul asked, his voice hoarse.

"Monsieur, she…well, she is asking for Erik. Who is Erik?" Henriette's words stung him. She was asking for Erik.

Erik looked up in disbelief. "She wants to see me?" He asked hopefully. Then he looked down at Raoul.

"Go. I would not deny her wish, especially now," Raoul said miserably, striding from the room.

Several minutes later there was a knock on the library door where Raoul had locked himself in. He had drawn all the curtains closed, shutting out all light. In his hand he held a decanter of brandy that he was quickly emptying into his mouth. "Leave me," he called weakly. Before he could stand, the door was unlocked and Erik had entered.

"How did you-"

"Now is not the time for questions, Monsieur. You must go to her," Erik said quickly, taking the bottle from Raoul.

"She doesn't want me. She wants you. I see everything much more clearly now," Raoul replied dejectedly.

"There is much to be explained, but it cannot be done if you sit here in a drunken stupor. If you act the fool I have always thought you to be and do not go to her now, she will never forgive you."

Raoul looked at Erik intently, trying to decide whether he really believed him. Much to be explained? What in the world does that mean? Whether he wanted to trust Erik or not, he knew how Christine must be hurting. If there was anything he could do to alleviate her pain, even just a little, then he would do it, no matter the cost to him.

He cautiously entered the room. Christine lay back against a mound of pillows, staring dazedly out the window. The ordeal she had been through was apparent on her tear-streaked face. She turned when Raoul's footsteps caused a creak in the floorboards. She motioned to a seat beside the bed, a seat that Erik had occupied only moments before. Raoul sat and reached out for her hand that lay limply on the bed. As his skin met hers, he began to cry again.

"Mon amour, please, no more tears," she implored him. "You don't understand…"

"No, Christine. I think I do. Please, chéri, I don't want you to worry about me," he said in a broken voice.

"Raoul, I asked for Erik because…because I couldn't bear to face you. I felt so guilty about losing the baby. If I hadn't been so suspicious of you, if I hadn't followed you up the stairs…oh God, if I had only believed you when you told me…" she couldn't finish her thought. She was crying uncontrollably, squeezing Raoul's hand tightly.

"Christine look at me," Raoul said gently. "You are not responsible for what happened. Do you understand me?"

She nodded slowly, though she was still crying. Raoul reached across her and took her other hand, wrapping them both in his. "I know how much you have been through today. We can discuss everything tomorrow."

"Will you stay with me?" she asked timidly.

"As long as you need me to."