Please don't hate me everyone! I have been so busy, but that is no excuse! I apologize for not writing and I hope all of you who took the time to read my story are still willing to read it and leave me comments, even if just to yell at me for taking so long. I am so sorry again!

Chapter 22

"The child is dead..."

Christine stared blankly back at him without saying a word. Erik could not look at her, because he knew he could not control his emotions. Christine suddenly let out a chilling scream, stopping everyone in the household in their tracks. Her cries continued to lash out at Erik's heart. He wanted nothing more but to leave her and start digging his own grave. Instead he tried to wrap his arms around his heartbroken wife that was thrashing about uncontrollably. She tried to fight him off, but Erik just held on tighter. Her tears soaked his sleeves, his tears were hidden in her hair.

Madame Giry heard Christine's screams from down the hall. "That poor girl. My God what more does she have to suffer through? Why is their so much pain in their lives?"

"Mother?" Meg slowly called to her mother as she crept up the stairs.

"Oh Meg you should be down stairs." Giry briskly walked over to her daughter knowing that Meg would never listen.

"But Mother what is happening? Is Christine alright, I mean why is she screaming?" Meg's own voice began to shake as she saw tears come to her Mother's eyes.

"Meg, Christine is suffering through very tragic events. You must not fret too much and let her work through her pain, it's the only way."

"But Mother I can't just let her..."

"Believe me Meg, I wish you could make it all better. We all wish we could help her, but this is going to take time and all we can do is be there for her. Besides Erik is the only one who has any hope of saving her..."

Days passed and Christine's state of mind did not change much. Sometimes she would sit and stare into space. Her eyes would glaze over and droop. For the first two days no one could get her to eat, but soon Erik began forcing her to eat. Madame Giry and Meg bathed her and fixed their meals. Erik hardly could eat or slept, but never leaving Christine's side. Countless thoughts ran through his head. He couldn't stop the night Raoul came into their home and ruined their lives from haunting his memory. 'How could I let this happen?' he thought to himself. It was the question that repeated itself over and over and would until the day he died. Staying strong for Christine was the only thing he cared about anymore. He could only imagine the pain she felt. He heard her cries while she slept probably, because that evil boy haunted her dreams and robbed her of sleep. Erik stopped sleeping all together. He stayed beside her every night, cradling Christine in his protective arms.

Tonight was one of the worst Christine had had. Her cries and her whimpers were too much for Erik to stand. She thrashed about, but Erik kept her down on the bed. It had been weeks since that horrible night, but things only got worse. They had finally returned to their home, but chose to sleep in one of the guest rooms for obvious reasons. No matter where they slept Christine's cries could be heard through out the house.

"No, no, no get off of me!" Christine screamed. Erik was holding her trying to calm her down, but it was only making her worse.

"Christine you must wake now! God, please!" Erik begged as tears began to blur his vision.

"Raoul don't touch me you disgusting piece of shit! I hate you! I hate you, stop it!" Christine continued to fight. Erik pulled her arms over her head and pinned her on her back with his body.

"Christine wake up!"

Her eyes suddenly snapped open and the room filled with silence. For the first time in weeks she really looked at him. "Erik? Her voice was weak and quivered.

"Christine..." Erik was so shocked that she had spoken he wasn't sure of what to say back. For a few moments they only stared back at each other. He was afraid that Christine would slip away from him again into her never ending nightmares, but he could not help wanting soak in her gaze.

"Oh Erik I...I do not know what has happened to me. I cannot escape this horrible pain that is being inflicted upon me. It is like someone is stabbing every inch of my body and shredding my heart to pieces. When will this go away?" Tears began to escape down her cheeks.

"No Christine, please do not cry." Erik said as he gently kissed them away. "I cannot stand to see more tears. I know this hurts my love. I feel it to, but Christine you can't continue on this way. I love you more than anything in this world and I swear to you that I would die if only it would make your suffering end." He paused momentarily to see her eyes shimmer with fresh tears before continuing. "But the only way to get past this is to move forward the best we can. To let our love be our strength Christine. As wrong as this is going to sound it is true, there will be more children."

'Erik it is not the fact that a lost a child, but I lost the child! Our first child is dead, because..."

"Because of an evil man who came into our bedroom one night and killed it! This is in no way your fault or even mine Christine and that fact kills me the most, because that means there is nothing either of us could have done to prevent it." Now Erik felt tears threatening to fall. There was nothing either of them could say. The harsh fact that circumstance had taken their child from them was something Christine was not ready for. They lay together in silence for nearly an hour, reflecting on their lives and where life had chosen to take them. There would be more children and things would get better, because they could get no worse. But would love be enough?