Robin walked into her apartment and nearly collapsed on the floor. She was exhausted, physically and emotionally. Patrick had cut himself while operating on a patient with end stage AIDS. All the memories of Stone had come rushing back to her, paralyzing her. She couldn't loose another man she loved to this disease. The memories of finding out that she was HIV positive and the feeling that her whole life was over were overpowering.
"I love him," she said out loud. It was the first time she would allow herself to think it.
She was so exhausted and scared for him that she could barely make it to the bedroom. She didn't bother undressing before she lies down and fell into a deep sleep within a matter of minutes. She was sleeping so soundly she didn't hear a man dressed in black pick the lock on the door to her apartment. She didn't hear him when he crept into her bedroom. She just felt the cool hand slide over her mouth….
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Patrick couldn't sleep. He just walked the city, replaying the events of the evening over and over again in his mind. He had never thought about his own mortality until now. Now he understood why Robin was so uptight and controlling. Every aspect of her life was planned out because it had to be. It was essential to her survival. And now it might become part of his life too.
He looked up from the ground and realized that he had made his way to the docks.
"How did I get here?" he said. He looked out at the water like Robin told him to do. It was amazingly calming…for a second. Then the worries and fears came back. The moon reflected on the water and he sighed heavily. He replayed the days events over again in his head, focusing on Robin's support.
He admired Robin's strength. He knew she was strong but he didn't know how strong until today. She didn't have the possibility of not having HIV. She had to deal with it alone and after losing the man she loved. How did she do it? His father dealt with the loss of his mother by drinking and ignoring Patrick. How did Robin manage to make herself this wonderful, caring person?
She deserves better than to be plagued with this disease.
He decided that he couldn't regret his decision to operate on the patient. What if it had been Robin? What if she was refused medical care because she was HIV positive? What if she had died because everyone was afraid of becoming infected?
Patrick left the docks and started walking in the direction of Robin's apartment. He needed her; he needed her strength to see him through this, he needed to hold her and keep her safe.
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Patrick reached her door and raised a hand to knock. But the door was cracked, which was unusual. He pushed it open and immediately ran into Robin's bags that she had just dropped upon entering the apartment.
"Robin?" he called out. Nothing. Silence.
He made his way to the bedroom. The door was open. Patrick couldn't believe what he saw. The room was a mess. The mirror was smashed. There was blood on the cracked lamp lying beside the bed. The curtains on one of the windows had been pulled down. Robin was gone.
Gone.