Sorry, sorry for the delay! i kept adding bits and piecesto this chapter but i never really got the full time to finish it until today! its a good chapter, trust me. please read and review =)

disclaim, disclaim, disclaim...

God, today was such an exhausting day. All those tests. What does Andres want to prove to me? He knows, and I know…that there isn't hope for me anymore. Let him put a name to my death but please, spare me the thought of dying alone, without the warmth and touch of him. I knew Meg was talking with him, I'm not mad at her for lying to me; I think that I should actually be grateful for having a friend like her. But I'm just so tired. My chest is hurting so much today. I'm tired of living my life in constant pain. My childhood was ruined because of this and I won't have it ruin my life or others'. Not anymore. Please, just take the pain away. Please…

There comes a time in a person's life when all that matters is that single moment that could change everything. Everything else pales in comparison. An infinitesimal second; a blink of an eye. Life could be gone with a snap of your fingers. These moments are stimulated by an action, an event, a thought. But for Meg Giry, her moment had borne a sound. A flat, monotonous sound indicating the loss of movement; the loss of life. This was her moment; it was Christine's sound.

Meg dropped everything that she'd been arranging on the bathroom sink at the sound of the EKG failing. She ran into the room and fixated her eyes upon the monitor with a straight line etched across it. She couldn't find the will to move her legs but to keep frozen in a position that hovered over the foot of the dormant Christine's bed. After 10 seconds of not breathing, Meg heard movement just outside of the door and a group of nurses and residing doctors burst into the room wheeling a crash cart.

One of the nurses politely pushed Meg to the side of the room so that they could lower the railings of the bed. One of the doctors applied the electricity-resisting gel to the defibrillator paddles and rubbed them together swiftly. The other people were preparing other tools that might be needed in case the defibrillator failed to work but at the instant command of the doctor, everyone moved away from Christine and watched alertly as she jolted in reaction to the electric surge running through the paddles.

The EKG monitor picked up on the shock but flat-lined thereafter. The doctor asked the nurse to charge it higher and once again placed it at strategic points on Christine's chest.

"Clear!"

Still, nothing.

Meg began to cry hysterically, heaving shuddering breaths as sobs racked her body. Just as the doctor was about to call the time of death, the EKG monitor began to emit weak pulsating sounds, and the line on the screen was no longer straight but it wasn't the way it should have been either.

"We've got a pulse, people! Let's take her off of these machines. She needs to get into the OR now!" The doctor ordered as the team of doctors and nurses began to wheel Christine's bed out of the door.

"You paged me code blue!" Suddenly, Dr. Andres appeared at the door and looked stunned as he witnessed the nurses moving the bed but he maintained his composure in the situation.

"She flat-lined but we got her back and she's got a pulse, Andres, but it's weak. She needs to get into the OR." The doctor filled Dr. Andres with the details and they made their way out of the room.

Meg was still sobbing but ran after them anyway. They sped across the hallway; the people making way for them to pass through, but a man running from the opposite direction almost crashed into the group of doctors but he swiftly maneuvered himself out of the way. The operating rooms weren't far from Christine's room and they finally reached the swiveling doors that led to the surgical wing of the hospital. Meg was about to follow them through the doors but a doctor stopped her in her tracks.

"I'm sorry, miss, but this is as far as you can go. I'll be coming back to you to update you on Christine's progress but I'm afraid you'll have to wait out here." The doctor put his surgical cap on and quietly walked through the doors.

Silent tears were still streaming down Meg's face but she couldn't just stand in the middle of the hallway. She didn't want to go back to the room and do nothing either so she did the one thing that she knew would help keep her at ease.

Searching for a public pay-phone, she found one beside the vending machine. She took out her quarters and popped them into the coin slot. Dialing the only number that remained the most vivid in her mind, she held onto the phone for dear life.

"Raoul?"

-oOo-

The room was empty. Erik's heart sunk, and so did his other internal organs. He walked sullenly into the room, searching for an answer; searching for his love. After all the self-pity that he went through to realize what he really wanted in life, he felt like crawling back into that same, little hole where he could take his mask off and weep for everything. But he had made a decision; love matters after all and it's all he'll ever be able to think about for the rest of his life.

She couldn't have just left, couldn't she? Erik thought to himself. Unless…

He couldn't bring himself to think it. She just had to be alive still, or else he would've felt a part of him die, too. No, she was his everything. He would've died as well. Confident in his assertion, he looked around the room for clues. Sweat had started to form on Erik's forehead but he didn't care. Walking into the bathroom, he noticed that Meg's and Christine's personal effects were still there; unpacked. Christine was still in the hospital, and it soothed Erik momentarily but then it hit him.

The emergency that he'd almost run into just a moment ago was not any ordinary emergency. Something had happened to Christine! His eyes widened and sped out of the room towards the direction of the only place in the hospital that would have anything to do with saving a life.

His life depended on it.

-oOo-

After ringing up Raoul to ask him to come over, Meg decided to stay near the operating rooms in case the doctor would look for her. She found a patient's lounge near the main reception area and walked over to sit down on one of the armchairs. Several other people were sitting down there and they all had the same, distinct expression etched across their faces. Anxiety. Fear. Meg knew that she had the same look on her face but she could care less about anything else in the world because what mattered was happening was in OR 3 spread across an operating table under lights, scalpels, and surgeon.

Meg wouldn't know what to do if ever Christine didn't make it. The very thought of it made Meg feel even worse and she put her head in her hands that were resting on her lap. Christine had been with her through everything and she was her rock, her sister, her friend. In all of Meg's crazy plans, Christine was there to subdue her and keep her steady. At the same time, Meg was all that Christine had. They took care of each other and the other was always present in the other's life. Two peas in a pod, they were.

"Meg!" She looked up, puzzled, that the voice did not belong to Raoul or the doctor. Erik hunched over, hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.

"What…happened…to Christine?" He managed to heave out in between heavy pants. The other people in the lounge looked at him indifferently but he ignored them all.

"S-she just suddenly…died, but…only for a moment because the doctors were able to revive her again." Meg spoke softly, afraid that her quivering voice would betray her as opposed to how her tears freely leaked on her face.

"They have her in the operating room, right?"

"Yeah they do. All we can do now is to wait." Meg patted the seat next to her. Erik smoothed his hair back and slumped onto the chair beside Meg's. He took a deep breath and once again they were enveloped in silence.

-oOo-

It was quite a long while before Raoul came brisk walking through the entrance, searching for Meg. She had been leaning against Erik, eyes closed, with his arm around her shoulders. Erik immediately withdrew his arm when he saw Raoul coming towards him. The gesture was harmless and it was merely to comfort both of them amidst the pressuring times but Erik knew better than to keep his arm around another man's girlfriend.

Meg woke up startled and expecting there to be news about Christine but when her eyes met Raoul's blue orbs, she stood up immediately and buried her face into his shirt.

Erik nodded a hello which was responded with a reassuring smile from the man whose shirt was stained with rainwater and saline tears. Meg finally detached herself from her boyfriend and sat down again, pulling Raoul onto the seat next to her. She began filling him in with details and he listened intently. Meanwhile, Raoul stared blankly into space thinking about Christine.

Everything seemed to be moving so slowly to him. Time was relative, he believed that, but could it purposefully be moving at a glacial pace to annoy him? Here he was, worrying over a million things and yet powerless to do anything about them. It drove him crazy that for the first time in his life, he really didn't know what the hell to do.

"…and so we're waiting here for some news, or at least an absolution of the truth." Meg finally ended with a tired sigh.

Sympathetically, Raoul rubbed Meg's shoulders as she finished explaining what happened. As Raoul was comforting her, the young doctor who promised that would update her came out of the surgical wing, immediately finding Meg and walked towards her.

Meg stood up to greet him and crossed her arms in front of her body. Both Raoul and Erik stood up as well, flanking Meg. Raoul had a compassionate expression on his face while Erik struggled to smooth his smoldering gaze.

"We were able to stabilize, Christine."

"That's great! So, is there anything else you need to tell us?" Meg sighed in relief but at the sight of the doctor, it seemed like there was something more.

The doctor looked at his feet, at both men, then squared his eyes with Meg. He spoke. "We carried out with our first attempt at a bypass surgery to cleanse her blood of the hormonal deficiency. It was risky and dangerous since it hasn't been performed by anyone else as it is a specific type of bypass zeroing in on the different contents of her blood. That operation was a complete success but I'm afraid that isn't the worst problem."

"As we were examining Christine's thoracic cavity, we noticed a slight arrhythmia in her right ventricle. Her heart has been under a lot of stress which caused that chamber of her heart to seize, stopping blood flow in that area. Basically put, her heart has been beating itself to death. We've kept her in the intensive care unit so that we can monitor her more carefully. She'll be in there for a while but in an hour or so, visitors will be welcome to see her."

They all looked at the doctor in silence, trying to process the information that he had given them. In the end, it was Erik who was first to speak.

"You said that the bypass surgery was successful, does that mean she doesn't have pneumo-cardioendogenous coagulation anymore?"

"We were able to lower the possibility of the hormonal fluid's tendency to clump as it reaches her heart. Yes, as of now, she won't have anymore problems with PCC."

Erik couldn't believe his ears but he couldn't celebrate just yet. There was still one more question to ask.

"But you also said that her right ventricle is weak. Will—,"

"Is she going to be okay?" Meg finally spoke, interrupting Erik.

"Like I said, all we can do now is to wait until she fully recovers. We had planned to solve the problem while we still had her on the operating table but she needs to regain her strength. She is in a very fragile state at the moment, I'm sure that you can understand."

"Yes, of course. Thank you, doctor."

The doctor nodded. "I'll be informing you when you can visit her," he smiled warmly and left the trio to ponder over what they should do next.

-oOo- Two hours later

"Dr. Redford asked me to tell you that you may visit Christine now but only for a short time because she needs her rest." A nurse had quietly knocked on the door of Christine's private room where Erik, Meg, and Raoul had waited. Erik and Meg stood up to leave while Raoul excused himself, saying that they needed their time with her and that three people would be a lot in the ICU.

They followed the nurse into the ICU unit where several beds lined the walls and carried sick patients with tubes all over their bodies. It was quiet inside and it smelled strongly of antiseptic, alcohol, and slowly decaying lives.

The nurse motioned them to the third bed, where Christine lay and told them to be quiet. Meg moved towards the bed though hesitant to touch her. Erik had kneeled beside the bed, leaning into the sleeping Christine.

Christine truly looked like she was at the threshold of death itself and was only holding on because of the various machines and tubes pumping artificial life into her. The unique and inviting aura was gone from her and Erik could no longer feel the warmth in her hands. He lightly stroked her sallow cheek and in an instant, the noise surrounding them faded away, all the people disappeared and there was only Christine, awake and vibrant, and Erik. She blinked at him and murmured "I love you," with which Erik replied with a sweet kiss upon her lips.

The daydream quickly faded and they were both back in the ICU unit, with Meg by the bed and the other patients struggling to live. Meg nudged Erik's shoulder, whispering that they had to leave and so Erik stood up. Before they turned away from her, Erik leaned close to Christine and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"I'll be here only with you, Christine. I promise you that. I won't leave you ever again." Erik whispered against Christine's pallid skin, warming her forehead slightly with his breath.

They walked out of the ICU and Erik was filled with a newly-found spirit of hope. Nothing had ever gone right in Erik's life before he met Christine so he was determined to make their love last forever.

did i deliver, or what? haha please review! you know it keeps me going! .