Chapter 1

"What is wrong with you? You can't break up with me – remember, we're not together" Robin joked.

"So you accused me of being jealous" Patrick was indignant

"Oh come on. I was teasing, calm down." Robin couldn't quite believe the way Patrick was reacting.

"You're setting rules for, you're telling me how treat my father and now you're flirting with Nikolas in front of me. I don't want to deal with it."

"Okay wait, wait, wait. Try and grasp the concept that my conversation with Nikolas had nothing to do with you."

"Look, Robin. I don't want to argue. You're nice. You're a great doctor, we had a good time but it's going to a place I don't want it to go, so I'm out. As of now."

"If you don't want a commitment then why do you keep going on..

"Is this the Foster case?" he asked taking the file from the nurse.

"Yes doctor."

"And you accuse me of hiding in my work."

"This patient may be a good candidate for your drug therapy."

Robin scoffed. "I have a diagnosis for you Dr. Drake. You know those foreign sensations that you're having? They're called feelings or emotions. Now I know you don't want to admit it but I will. There's something going on between us that's more than sex."

"Speak for yourself."

"You're starting to have feelings for me, so that's why you're freaking out."

"I'm trying to end this cleanly and nicely so nobody gets hurt."

"In other words you're running away because things are starting to get messy."

"Are you going to take this patient or should I call someone else for a consult."

"Oh god. I can't believe I actually thought you could be a decent guy…"

"Robin skip the lectures okay, I have done nothing but been honest with you. Now I am not looking for an emotional … bond."

"It's kind of funny in a way. For all of your lectures about how I live my small life, you're the one that turned out to be the coward" she said, grabbing the file from his hand. "Congratulations, you got what you wanted – we're done."

Patrick exhaled as the conversation replayed in his mind. He hadn't planned on ending things with Robin, and not in that way but alarm bells were going off in his head and he needed to get as far away from her as possible. As he looked over the city lights from the roof of the hospital, he wondered how he had wound up here.

However it had happened it started with Robin Scorpio. She had come into his life, breathing fire and had been keeping him on his toes ever since. He had pursued her relentlessly for months. She was the first person he had met who resisted him for longer than five minutes and that intrigued him. In the process of chasing her he had allowed her to take up space in his head and in his life. He never asked her to but she stood by him, unflinchingly, as his father's liver disease deteriorated and Patrick became a living donor. She held his hand as he struggled with his tangled feelings about his father's impending death. And she put her medical license on the line by forging a signature on a consent form to save his father's life. She wouldn't walk away when he gave her a million reasons to and that too, was new for him.

He knew that he had surprised her as well. It was clear to him from the beginning that she was a gorgeous, intelligent woman who had not been treated like one in quite some time. At first, he chalked it up to the stereotype - being a socially inept, shy researcher. But as he chipped away at her substantial walls, he discovered that she was neither shy nor socially inept. In fact it seemed like most of Port Charles loved her. He had find out, quite by accident that she was HIV and that made the picture much clearer to him. They first time they spoke after he had found out, she pushed him away as hard and as quickly as she could. He saw the expectation in her eyes – that he would reject her, shun her or patronize her. But rather than sending him running away his fascination with her only increased.

Eventually they gave into the attraction that had been bubbling for months just under the surface. And that was the moment that everything changed for him. He had, on occasion, felt drawn to a woman but the feeling generally passed within days of sleeping with her. The first time they slept together, there was a split second where realization dawned that this was unlike anything else he had ever experienced. It was different with Robin – and that scared him. Despite his attempts to continue with his normal bravado and swagger they were becoming more like a real couple every day. He found himself missing her when she wasn't around and wanting all her attention when she was. She pushed him and challenged him to be better personally and professionally. He tested his resolve regularly, even going so far as to attempt revenge sex with the person she hated most in the world but couldn't bring himself to go through with it. And that was how he wound up at General Hospital, calling it quits with her.

Furious that he needed her, he had arrived at the hospital with a head full of steam. Getting off the elevator he saw her hugging Nikolas Cassidine. Rationally he knew there was nothing going on but he felt jealous nonetheless. He had never experienced jealousy before and it made him weak. Resenting the power she had over him, he quietly exploded at her and broke things off. He believed they would both be better off for it in the long run and he had but one regret. There was a flash of pain in her eyes right before she walked away. It haunted him.

Robin walked along the docks, tears overflowing in her eyes. She was at a loss at how it had gone so wrong, so quickly. She had started the day by attending the funeral of an old friend, Justus Ward, who had been brutally murdered. Patrick had surprised her by offering to accompany her. He held her hand and even hugged her as some long buried memories made themselves known during the funeral. She had been very grateful for his support and told him so. It seemed every time she turned around, there he was. Supporting her, teasing her, pushing her to come out from behind her walls. She had never known anyone like him in her life. She could barely admit it to herself but she was falling in love with him. She knew it was a mistake to go down that road. Patrick was a player and had made no secret of his desire to be free of attachment. Yet the more they talked about no strings, the more they seemed to be tangled up.

She had suspected for quite a while that he was developing feelings for her but developing feelings and pursuing them are two very different things. Theirs had been a rocky path and showed no signs of smoothing out. He had impressed her on several occasions, the way he confidently imposed himself as a living liver donor for his father, his inspiring skills in the OR and the way he hadn't disappeared the minute he found out she was HIV . That was most definitely not a reaction she was used to. Her best friend Brenda had always told her that some day a man would come along who wouldn't be put off by her disease. And Brenda was, as she often was, right. It was just unfortunate that the man in question was repulsed by commitment. Robin trudged to her apartment. She was alone again. No matter how many times it happened, it just never got easier.

She barely remembered getting into bed before her alarm went off. Every day started the same to the point that she was sure she could do it with her eyes closed. In fact she may have on several occasions. Taking her pill case out of the cupboard, she counted out her morning meds and poured herself a glass of orange juice. Every day, four times a day she had a tangible reminder that a virus had taken up residence in her blood - not that it was something she would ever be able to forget.

It had been over 10 years since she was diagnosed with HIV and she knew she was one of the lucky ones. An undetectable viral load and relatively high t-cell count made her virtually asymptomatic but each day was fraught with its own challenges. It was a struggle to avoid colds and flus during the winter. What might be just a minor annoyance for most could land her in the hospital. She needed to take extra precautions at work along with ensuring she didn't get overtired, she also needed to watch her diet and exercise to keep her strength up. She felt like a poster child for clean living and there were days that she hated it.

Walking to the hospital, Robin dreaded that every step took her closer to the scene of the previous night's humiliation. She and Patrick had the same schedule for the next two weeks and were sharing several cases. Avoiding him was going to be next to impossible. As she stopped for coffee at Kelly's, she resolved to stay professional and detached from him. She would not engage him in any conversation that was not work related. Standing at the front doors, she blew out her cheeks and pushed the door open.

The locker room was empty when she got there and she was grateful for the solitude. Opening her locker door, a photo fell to the ground. Picking it up, she realized it was one of her and Patrick dancing at the Bachelor Auction held the month before. As was their habit, they had found their way to each other and wound up spending the evening dancing. That was, until Sam McCall was shot and her boyfriend Jason Morgan came running into the room with her bleeding in his arms. Robin fingered the picture. The feelings it evoked weren't related to dancing together but rather what happened later, much later when they had both come to the hospital with Sam. Robin had sought refuge on the roof and Patrick had gone looking for her. He had found her overflowing with memories and feelings of too much time spent around violence. She had been weak in front of him and instead of walking away or taking advantage he simply wrapped his arms around her and made her feel safe. That memory brought tears to her eyes. Robin wiped at them furiously as the door to the locker room opened.

"Hey Rob" Elizabeth called to her.

"Hey Liz" she said turning her back so her friend couldn't see that she was upset.

"Did you have a good night?"
"Yeah, sure it was okay. I worked – you know."

Elizabeth poked her head around her locker door. It was evident that she was upset. "Robin? Are you okay?"

"Yup. Fine" she said, refusing to look at her.

Elizabeth walked over to her and gently pulling on her arm, turned her around. "Robin – what's the matter?"

She shook her head. "Nothing."

"Is it Patrick?"

"That obvious eh?" she said smiling through her tears.

"What happened sweetie?"

"We broke up last night. I mean at least I think we did. How can you break up if you aren't really together?"

"What do you mean not really together? Everyone could see you were together."

"Everyone but Patrick." Robin said, wiping at the last of her tears as she willed herself not to cry.

Elizabeth took her hand. "Oh Robin. No man is worth your tears. And the one who is won't make you cry"

Robin gave her a watery smile. "Thanks Liz."

"Wanna grab a coffee later?"

"That would be great. I better get going before Epiphany busts my chops for being late." Robin gave one last look at her face in the mirror and deciding there was no real damage done, slung her stethoscope around her neck and headed out to meet the day.

She saw Patrick's back as she approached the Nurses Station. Walking around she entered the podium on the far side away from him. She pulled out her charts for review and stared intently at them.

Patrick looked up from his file and saw Robin. His first instinct was to call out to her until he reminded himself that he had ended things between them. Seeing her face from the side, it was obvious she had been crying. The stabbing pain in his heart convinced him he had got out just in time. There was no room in his life for feelings like that. He didn't know how to handle them and would only hurt her in the end. She was better off without him.

"Robin Scorpio? Dr. Robin Scorpio?"

Robin looked up from her charts and blinked several times. "Bruce?" she said surprised. "Oh my god, Bruce" she ran off the podium towards him. He gave her an enormous hug and kissed her on both cheeks.

"I didn't know you had left France" he said. Bruce Harris was dressed in an expensive grey suit with a blue shirt and blue tie. There was no detail left undone with him, from his silver cuff links to his polished Church shoes.

"I've been back about 8 months. What are you doing here?"

"Interviewing for a position with the hospital board. You look amazing."

Robin flattened her hair shyly. "Stop."

"It's true – I always thought you were the best looking woman at any party we were at."

"That's because I was one of the few talking to you" she teased.

"Nice – this is what I get after escorting you the Bastille Day ball"

"I so made it worth your while"

"Listen, I have to get to the interview – can we have dinner?"

"That would be great. How can I get a hold of you?"

He passed her a card. "Give me a call when you're done your shift" He leaned in and kissed both cheeks again. "It is so wonderful to see you."

"You too Bruce" she waved as he walked away.

Patrick watched the scene with interest. Not that he really cared but who the hell was this smarmy overdressed guy and what did he want with Robin?