Chapter Forty-Five

"Father."

Gustave embraced his only son fiercely, thanking the heavens that he had been given such a wonderful man that he could call his son. He could see immediately that Christine was not the only one that had not been eating. Anthony looked haggard, and it was obvious he had not slept much. Gustave knew how close Christine and Anthony were and he knew how much this had to be hurting him that his sister was in this condition.

"Monsieur Daae," Raoul said from his place in the bed. Gustave took the young mans hand and shook it.

"Thank you for allowing them to stay here," he said sincerely. Raoul only nodded. They were interrupted when the door burst open and Sienna came rushing into the room. Gustave was obviously shocked to see the lovely Italian girl and he watched in interest as she grabbed Anthony's hands and began pulling him towards the door.

"Anthony, hurry! Christine, she just passed out!" Sienna cried. Both Anthony and Gustave's rushed out of the room, following the young woman, leaving Raoul to curse his immobility. Christine was lying on the floor in her chambers and Anthony rushed to her, picking her up into his arms and cursing when he felt exactly how light she was.

"Call a doctor!" Anthony snapped at Sienna. She rushed out of the room to do as she was told. She had been so frightened when she had walked in at the exact moment that Christine collapsed. She had thought for one terrible moment that she had stopped breathing but to her immense relief that had not been the case.

"Oh, God..."

Anthony turned to look at his father as he muttered those two words as he looked upon his daughter...what was left of his daughter. She wore a simple white chemise and her once supple form was gone...she was nothing but bones. Her cheekbones were more prominent than was healthy, her eyes were sunken and swollen and when Anthony laid her down her chemise rode up slightly, showing the graceful legs that were now nothing but twigs. Her beautiful hair, so much like her mothers, was matted and tangled and Gustave could not stop the tears that began to fall. His Christine...his little girl...

"Father...she-she's pregnant," Anthony whispered. Gustave's eyes snapped to his sons. Pregnant? She could not be pregnant! Look at her! She was near death, how could a baby survive all of this? He would never have thought in a thousand years that she was pregnant just by looking at her...God, what was happening?

"Nothing we say gets through to her...she is in her own world where she sees his death again and again in her mind," Anthony whispered, a lump forming in his throat.

"She saw him murdered?" Gustave demanded. Anthony had not written all of this in his letter to him and was horrified when Anthony nodded.

"She witnessed everything?" he demanded, suddenly feeling as if he had forever failed his little girl.

"She was in his arms when he was shot," Anthony said, looking down at Christine's pale and ashen face.

"This-this is my-my fault!" Gustave cried, collapsing. Anthony looked at his father in surprise.

"Do not talk like that!" Anthony demanded, he could not deal with his father right now when all of attention was focused on his sister.

"If I had not forced her into marriage with him she would be happy and healthy..."

Anthony went to him angrily and shook him by the shoulders. He was not mad at him for his reaction to Christine's condition. He was mad at him for not telling him the truth about who he was and how he had come about being his father. He may not want to believe all that Erik had said but it was constantly on his mind. He was also wondering where the Persian had gone. He had sent a note to Erik's manor, requesting he come to Chagny but had gotten a reply from one of the servants that he had disappeared. Something Anthony found strange.

"If you had not forced her into marrying him then she would have never experienced the kind of love she deserves! Erik loved her! They were meant to be with each other! She saved his damned soul and in return gave her everything she could have ever wished for!" Anthony shouted, angry.

"Anthony..."

Anthony shoved away from his father and went to sit beside Christine's unmoving body. His entire world was turned upside down because he had asked another man to help him fight a battle that was not his. Christine was dying and the baby could have already joined its father and he could do nothing about it. He quietly moved out of the way when the doctor came in to check on Christine, Sienna going to Gustave and helping him into a chair. He thanked her softly and remained quiet while he watched the man examine his daughter. Half an hour later the doctor sighed and turned to look at Anthony.

"If you do not get her to eat today she will lose the baby."

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"Damn you, Erik, you are not going to die on me!" Nadir growled angrily. For the past three days he had almost lost Erik twice and it seemed like only Erik's extreme willpower was what kept him going. He only ever said Christine's name, nothing else came from the man's lips. A fever had come over him and it had taken every moment of Nadir's time to keep him cool and comfortable.

And because every waking moment was spent in this mission to save the man Nadir had been unable to write a letter to inform everyone that Erik was in fact not dead, but the closest thing to it. At the moment he supposed Erik was what you could call stable so he sat down after asking the bordello mistress for some paper and ink and he hastily began to write the letter, hoping he was not too late.

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"No..." Christine moaned, turning her head away from the food Anthony was trying to desperately get her to eat. The doctor had left, telling them that had to get her to eat no matter what it took. Gustave had tried, but she did not even recognize him. Anthony was ready to force it into her mouth, he was becoming desperate. He had said nothing to his father since his outbreak.

Christine was awake, but like all the other times she was not aware of her surroundings. Nothing he said seemed to get through to her. Anthony tried again to get her to have some of the soup he had made for her but she said 'no' once again, this time forcefully, knocking the spoon out of his hand. Anthony stood up and threw the bowl across the room, causing it to shatter against the opposite wall. Sienna stood up in surprise at Anthony's actions but before she could say anything to him he turned on his sister and began yelling.

"I am tired of this! You are killing yourself! Do you hear me? Killing yourself!" he screamed. Christine's eyes widened slightly in surprise at his tone but other than that she did not seem to register anything he had just said. Gustave was looking at his son in concern.

"Anthony, please-" Sienna began, but Anthony was beyond the point of listening to reason.

"You know what? Go ahead, kill yourself! But Erik would condemn you to hell if he knew that you were murdering his baby!" he shouted. Gustave stood up and grabbed onto his sons arm, Anthony shook him away violently. He went to his sister and in his rage grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her.

"You are killing the only part of Erik you have left! You are murdering the baby the two of you made out of love!" he shouted in her face. Both Anthony and Sienna managed to grab Anthony and pull him away from his sister. He shoved them both away and went to the window, looking out onto Rome. A sob broke into the silence of the room and they all turned to look at Christine, her hands on her stomach as she cried.

"My baby..."

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