CHAPTER 20

THE GRIEF

No, no, no!" Ethan cried, his voice raw with anguish. "Grace! Wake up! Please!"

He collapsed beside her, sobbing uncontrollably as the doctors worked to revive her. But after several minutes, the lead surgeon looked at him, his face heavy with regret.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "We've done everything we can."

Ethan shook his head, unable to accept the words. "She can't be gone. She can't be. She just met her daughter. She has to stay."

But no amount of pleading could bring her back. The room seemed to spin around him as he crumpled to the floor, his heart shattering into pieces.

Outside the operating room, Grace's parents and her best friend waited anxiously. When the doctor emerged, his solemn expression told them everything they needed to know.

"No," Grace's mother whispered, clutching her chest. "Not my baby. Not Grace."

Her father wrapped his arms around her, his own tears streaming down his face. "She was so strong. She fought so hard."

Her best friend stood frozen, her hands covering her mouth as sobs wracked her body. "She can't be gone," she cried. "She was supposed to make it. She was supposed to hold her baby."

When Ethan finally emerged from the operating room, holding their newborn daughter, his face was a mask of grief. His hands trembled as he approached Grace's family, tears falling freely down his face.

"She's gone," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "But she gave us her."

He looked down at the baby in his arms, his heart breaking all over again. Grace had fought with everything she had to bring their daughter into the world, and now she was gone.

Grace's mother reached out, taking the baby into her arms. She looked at her granddaughter with tears streaming down her face. "She's beautiful, just like Grace," she whispered.