"Excuse me… who's here for Cordelia Chase…"

The doctor's voice brought Angel to his feet in an instant.

"I'm here… how is she doctor?" he asked, quickly moving towards the man in the white lab coat.

"And you would be…" he asked, waiting for a name.

"I'm the only family she's got," he said quietly daring the man to contradict him.

"All right then, Mr…"

"Angel. Now tell me, is she going to be okay?"

"It was a rough few hours," the doctor began, sighing and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "She's got major cuts and lacerations all over her body… some obviously from her attack tonight, others from previous attacks. I don't know what your 'family'," he stressed the word sharply, "was involved in, but it wasn't pretty. She also has several broken ribs, a broken arm and various internal bruises. We sewed her up, patched her up, and managed to stabilize her, but she's lost a lot of blood," the doctor finished quietly, unaware of the undercurrents flowing through the room.

Angel felt every word cut through him like a knife.

"Is she going to be okay?" he asked brokenly.

The doctor looked at the pain in the dark eyes staring back at him and realized this man truly loved the woman he'd just operated on. He hated having to tell him his prognosis, but he would anyhow. It was his job.

"I don't know. The blood loss was quite extensive, we kept pumping it into her, but she seems to not be responding. The cut to her head… that was more serious. We won't know until she wakes up if there was any permanent damage to her spinal cord… or her brain," he finished quietly, seeing the man in front of him nearly crumple to the floor. He watched as half the room moved quickly to his side to hold him up. He thanked god the man had friends.

"When will you know?" Angel could barely speak, feeling his friends supporting him on either side. He couldn't believe she might not recover… or recover but suffer brain damage…

"When she wakes up, but we don't know when that will be. She seems content where she is, I suspect it's going to take a miracle to bring her back," the doctor finished quietly, seeing the man suddenly straighten, his eyes flash.

"Then I'm going to find her that miracle… lord knows she's already given me mine," he said softly, and the doctor smiled, glad to see some life returning to this Angel.

"Can I see her?" Angel asked quietly, seeing the doctor nod.

"But only for a short time. This way," he motioned to Angel and the vampire wasted no time in following him. The rest of the waiting room watched him go in silence, most observing the irony and symbolism of the tall figure dressed in black following the tall figure dressed in white.

"Do you think he can find a miracle?" Buffy asked quietly, seeing the gazes in the room focus on her.

"I think he is her miracle," Willow said softly, seeing several others nod.

They went back to their silence, each waiting and praying that Angel could work some kind of miracle for his Cordelia.

He took a deep breath and moved to her side, gently taking her hand and squeezing it between his.

"Delia… please wake up. It's me, Angel. I'm here now… everything's going to be all right, I promise," he said softly, willing his words to penetrate whatever hell she was in.

No response.

He tried again.

"Delia, I hear you've become known as the "Warrior Princess." Wouldn't that make Wesley and Doyle laugh if they could hear it? You've done so well, you've proven you can fight, you've proven you care about this god forsaken town, and you've kept on with my work. And you've done good things, so many good things. Do you know how many people are out there praying you'll be okay? How many people owe you their lives? I'm so proud of you princess, but I need to tell you this, so please come back to me, please," he whispered again, pain tearing through him as he watched her still and silent form.

No response.

"Cordelia Chase, wake up this instant! You can't leave me… not now. Not without knowing how much I love you…" he trailed off brokenly, still receiving no response.

"Mr. Angel? She needs to rest, you can see her again in a few hours," the nurse's quiet voice barely penetrated his fog of pain.

He knew they were right though, and slowly rose, reaching over to place a gentle kiss on her pale lips.

"I love you Cordelia Chase… and I won't let you go, not ever," he whispered brokenly as he let the nurse guide him out of the room.

He took one final look back at her still form and then shuffled down the hallway, head downcast. He didn't even notice the waiting room come to life as he re-entered it, going straight for a chair and sinking into it. *********

Lindsay's quiet voice brought his head up slightly.

"She's lying there, pale as death, unresponsive to anything or anyone. She's so frail… my strong warrior princess is lying there, hooked up to machine's lost in some world that I can only imagine is hell," he whispered brokenly, not even feeling Willow come up and wrap her arms around him.

"Angel, the doctor said it could be a few hours or days before she comes out of it, you can't give up hope, not now," she said quietly, seeing the vampire turn his tortured eyes up to hers.

"What right do I have to even feel hope? I put her here, because I couldn't see what was right in front of me, what had been right in front of me for nearly two years, I put her here, it's all my fault," he trailed off brokenly.

"Angel, I refuse to let you think like that or talk like that, it's not your fault…"

The familiar British accent brought Angel's head up in surprise, then relief as he saw Wesley making his way across the room.

"Wesley… you more than anyone have to know it's my fault," he managed to croak, seeing the tall thin man come over and crouch down before him. He had no clue who'd called him, but thanked whoever had none the less. Now he truly had his small family with him. Even if half of that family was lying in a coma.

"No I don't. She's loved you for the past two years, and over that time, you've grown to love her two. It's been so obvious to me, and to others here I suspect," he said, looking over to catch Lindsay and then Kate's gazes. "But Angel, you and Cordelia had to find your own way back to each other, and while this is not the way I imagine the fate's had in mind… you have to deal with the fact this is how fate dealt her cards. Now you have to accept it, and figure out how to bring her back to us," Wesley finished, seeing Angel's tired eyes finally rise to meet his.

"But how?" he asked desperately of his friend.

"I don't know, but there has to be a way. We brought her back once," Wesley stated grimly, throwing another glance over at Lindsay, who stared down at where half his arm should have been, "and we can do it again. Scroll or no scroll," he finished adamantly, uncaring that half the people in the room were staring at them like they were crazy.

"But Wes, this isn't like that curse. This time it's nothing we can chant a spell over and bring her back. She could die Wesley… our Delia could die… without knowing how much I love her," he trailed off brokenly, seeing tears in his friends eyes as well.

"But we're not going to lose her Angel. We've fought to long and too hard to lose her now, we'll bring her back, all of us, together, you've just got to keep the faith," Wesley replied determinedly, seeing his friend sigh.

"You're right, but you didn't see her, it's like she won't respond to me, like she's locked herself somewhere, to lock out the pain, and I can't get in to help, it's killing me," he said brokenly, burying his face in his hands again.

Lindsay quietly looked over at Buffy, seeing the tears in the young woman's eyes as she watched Angel, from the safety of her lover's arms.

So this was the famous Slayer.

He knew their story, knew the history between Angel and Buffy, and pretty much had the situation figured out. He'd also not admitted that he'd seen Cordelia now and then over the past month, looking more and more haggard and lost. He'd always known she'd been in love with Angel, and figured he'd left at some point. After the vampire had put the firm out of business and spoiled their world domination plan, he'd actually been happy to see the vampire leave. But his heart had always had a soft spot for the brunette, and he hated seeing her in pain. He'd known it was killing her, and almost unwillingly, started keeping an eye on her.

Despite what he'd once thought to lord over Angel's head, he now knew he could never tell the vampire the night's he'd observed her cry her heart out after killing a demon, brokenly muttering his name. He'd never tell the vampire the times he'd seen her refuse to eat and how he'd watched her grow thinner and paler. He'd never tell Angel the way she always looked at tall men in black coats with a glint of hope in her eyes, only to be crushed when they turned out to be strangers.

He'd never tell Angel how much he'd hurt for the young woman as he'd watched her suffer the pain of those visions, crying out the vampire's name.

Lindsay wasn't proud of a lot of things he'd done. He had a lot to atone for, especially now that the firm was non-existent. While he still couldn't forgive the vampire for taking his arm, he could feel for the man, knowing how much he loved Cordelia. He'd actually become quite fond of her himself, looking at himself as her guardian angel in some way. He'd wished he could do something to help her, even though he knew it would mean making his nemesis, Angel, happy. But even his hardened heart could be broken by the force of her sobs.

Maybe now he had a chance to save her. Not for Angel. But for himself, and the soul he'd sold into eternal damnation.

Moving quietly towards Buffy, he walked up to her, seeing her turn to look at him questioningly.

"Can I talk to you a minute Miss Summers?" he asked, seeing her nod and move away from her boyfriend.

"Lindsay, isn't it? A friend of Angel's?" she asked.

Lindsay sighed.

"More like a nemesis, but that's not the point," he started, seeing her confusion. "Listen, I've been watching over Cordelia, and I've observed plenty of things. I also know the history between you and Angel, and pretty much figured out the situation from day one. Now, despite the fact that I'd love to see Angel suffer for what he did to me," he stopped, looking down at his arm, seeing comprehension dawn in Buffy's eyes as he continued. "Despite that, I care for Cordelia and I know she's in a hell where he can only love you, and never her," he finished softly, again seeing Buffy begin to understand where he was going.

"So what you're saying, is you think that if I tell her that he's hers, that I'm over him, she might respond and come back?" she asked quietly, seeing the lawyer nod.

Buffy contemplated the man's advice, knowing deep down inside that he was right. Knowing that even though it would be painful, admitting she'd lost Angel to Cordelia, if it brought her back, how could she not?

"Okay, don't let Angel know where I'm going," she said quietly, seeing Lindsay nod.