"They should have been done by now right?" Sabrina said pacing the floor of the waiting room. "It's been over 3 hours."
"Mija, maybe you should sit down for a second." Lily suggested.
"Yeah I think that's a good idea too." Sonny added.
Sabrina looked around her at family and friends gathered together waiting for news about Eli. Patrick, Felix, Sonny, Lily, Dante, Anna and even Robin were all there trying to keep her calm. Sabrina hadn't said much to Robin as they waited but noticed how she kept avoiding eye contact with her. Same with Anna. They kept exchanging weird looks with one another and with Dante that were beginning to make Sabrina uneasy. Every time she was about to confront them about it, Anna and Dante would quietly leave the room to "check on something" as they put it. Sabrina sensed something was up but didn't have the time nor the energy to focus on anything other than her little boy.
"I'll sit down once I know what's going on with my son" She replied.
"Well, I feel like there's something I should be doing" Lily said standing up "How about I go get some coffee for us. Sonny, do you want to come with me?"
"Yeah sure. Plus I need to try to get through to Michael and Morgan again. I'm sure they would want to be here for their nephew." He replied.
"Thanks" Sabrina said as they walked down the hall. Sabrina paced the floor for a few more minutes before throwing her hands in the air. "Thats it! I'm going to find out what the hell is taking so long."
"Girl, wait for me!" Felix called after her.
Once Sabrina and Felix were down the hall and out of ear shot, Dante stood up and walked over to Anna and Robin "So, which one of you want to tell me what really happened?"
"Excuse me" Sabrina said once she reached the nurses' station. "I'd like to know what's going on with my son."
The nurse looked around at the files in front of her "Your son's name?"
"For the millionth time, it's Elijah Drake." Sabrina huffed.
"Oh right, the head trauma."
"No wrong! He's not a head trauma. He's a little boy! He's been in surgery now an hour longer than they said he was going to be."
"Ma'am I'm sorry. It's my first week here. If I had some answers, I would give them to you."
"I ask one little question, what's going on with my kid and no one can tell me anything. That's not a stupid question. It's a question that deserves an answer. It's a question that any mother has the right to know. Now you go back there and find out what's going on with my son!" Sabrina yelled.
"You tell em, kiddo" Felix said placing his hands on her shoulder and pulling her away from the desk.
"This is ridiculous, Felix. I am his mother. Eli is part of me. I have a right to see my child!" She said collapsing into his arms.
"I know, sweetie. I'm sure they will tell us something as soon as they know. We've been on the other side too many times before, right? We know what it's like to try and calm down a freaked out parent. We just have to be patient."
"Felix… What if…"
"Hey, don't you even go there, you hear me? He's going to be fine. He has to be. We have entirely too many Mets games to go to" Felix said reassuring his best friend. "Hey look" he said noticing Dr. Schuster coming out of the OR.
"Nurse Santiago…"
"Is Eli ok?" She asked wiping the tears from her face.
"He's stable" He smiled.
For what felt like the first time all night, Sabrina exhaled "So he's going to be ok?"
"While there is still a little swelling, we relived the majority of the pressure. He looks to have full activity to his brain, so the rest is really up to him. We're going to have to monitor him and see where we are once he regains consciousness. He's gotten over the biggest hurdle, but he's still not out of the woods yet."
Sabrina looked at Felix then back to the Dr. "Can I see him?"
"They're taking him down to recovery now. You can meet them down there in 20 minutes or so. That little boy of yours is a trooper, ok? He has proven that already" Dr Schuster said before going back into the OR.
"Felix…" Sabrina said as the tears began to form again.
"You heard him, he'll make it through this just like he made it through the surgery."
"Yeah you're right. Come on, let's go tell Patrick."
Patrick looked at Dante confused "What are you talking about? What is he talking about?"
"Dante, this is NOT the time" Anna said firmly.
"There is an infant boy on a table having his head cut into. When the hell would the right time?" He replied getting visibly upset.
"Do not forget that I am your superior, Detective Falconeri." Anna said standing to her feet.
"You are also the mother of the suspect in question. Doesn't that make your involvement a conflict of interest?"
"Wait, suspect? What the hell are you talking about? It was an accident" Patrick said looking over to Robin whose head was hanging down. All he could make out were drops of tears falling to the floor in front of her "Wasn't it? Someone tell me something?!"
"Patrick, every accident report requires a full investigation." Dante said "Whether it's deemed an accident or not. You see, sometimes there can be factors that are not easily noticeable at first. Part of that investigation requires a full tox screen."
Patrick looked at Dante then back to Robin. "I'm not sure I follow."
"I didn't want to upset Sabrina any more than she already is, but Anna and I saw the results. It seems as though Robin had dosage of Trazodone in her system that was twice the normal amount for anyone let alone someone who doesn't have a legal prescription for it. That was the reason why she fell asleep at the wheel."
Patrick felt the room begin to slow down and his heart fall to his feet "That's… that's not possible."
Robin finally raised her head and met her eyes with Patrick's "Patrick… I didn't mean to…"
"To drive around high with my son?!" Patrick yelled.
"Patrick please…" Anna interrupted.
"Look at me! Where you high with my son in the car?!"
Robin wiped her eyes and simply nodded her head.
"Oh my god…" Patrick placed his hands on his head and began pacing in a circle "We talked about this! Remember? I came to you... i came to you and we had this long conversation about those pills, Robin! You promised me you would stop taking them!"
"I… I tried."
"Clearly not hard enough! I trusted you with my son!"
"You knew about this?" Dante asked.
"Anna told me she was on them months ago. She asked me to talk to her about them, to get her to stop and I thought I had. I can't believe this is happening."
"Neither can I."
Patrick spun around and saw Sabrina and Felix listening at the waiting room door. "Sabrina… how's Eli?"
Sabrina slowly walked into the room and stood in front of the man she loved. "He made it through the surgery. Dr. Schuster said there's still some swelling and they have to continue to monitor him closely."
"Ok, that's good. That's a start. Our son is a fighter." Patrick said attempting to pull her into a hug.
"No…" She said pulling back. "Don't touch me. Not until you explain what I just heard. Robin has been taking antidepressants and you knew about it? You knew about it and still left our son with her?"
"Sabrina… I don't blame you for being upset…" Anna tried to interject
"Is that what happened?" Sabrina asked with an eerie calm in her voice, attention still focused squarely on Patrick.
"I was running out of options, Sabrina and she was there…"
"You knew Robin was on drugs and you left our son in her care? IS THAT WHAT HAPPENED?!" She yelled.
Patrick tried to look Sabrina in her eyes but couldn't "Yes" He whispered.
Sabrina inhaled sharply, reached back and slapped Patrick across the face as hard as she could "You son of bitch."
"What the hell is going on in here?" Lily said as she and Sonny came back into the waiting room.
"Sabrina, we're still piecing together exactly what happened" Dante said pulling her back from Patrick.
"Yeah well you better get to work and find proof that Patrick left his 6 month old baby boy in the care of a drug addict and that's why he almost died." She responded.
"Sabrina, it all happened so fast…" Robin said slowly rising to her feet.
"Shut your mouth! Because you're the one who put my kid in danger."
"I wanted to help Eli…"
"Oh bull! You wanted to help yourself with Patrick! To show him that you were still the same honest virtuous woman he remembered, right? So you took my kid without my permission!"
"Don't yell at her, I'm the one to blame" Patrick said.
"Are you seriously defending her right now?!" Sabrina laughed "God… your right. You are the one to blame. You decided to believe in St. Robin so anything and everything goes out the window? Including your kid?!"
"I was wrong! What do you want me to say? I love my kids. You know that."
"What I know is that you've known for MONTHS that your ex-wife has had an issue with prescription drugs and not only did you not tell me about it, you trusted her with our son, Patrick! Our beautiful innocent little boy. Did Eli or his well being even once cross your mind?!"
Patrick ran his hands through his hair and looked around at all the eyes on him "Sabrina… I would do anything for Eli…"
"EXCEPT LOVE AND PROTECT HIM!" She yelled. "You swore to me… you swore to me that you would love him and keep him safe. And when his life was on the line, you didn't give a damn! Eli was just in the way!"
"Sabrina, don't say that…" Robin interrupted.
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Sabrina screamed. "I can't believe I ever for a second thought that you would let us be a family. You're the most selfish woman I have ever met in my life. The only thing you care about is what you think belongs to you. What you think I stole. That's what you said remember? When you came to my apartment that day and practically threatened me to leave YOUR family alone. What about my family, Robin? What… was this some kind of payback?"
"Sabrina, we never wanted Eli to get hurt, you know that." Patrick said trying to calm her down. "I thought that maybe the 3 of us good get to a place where we could coexist with the kids. I thought it would make it easier for us…"
"And you thought you could just snap your fingers and we would be one big happy family! You risked your son's life on wishful thinking, Patrick!"
"How many times do I have to say it?! I was wrong!" Patrick yelled back.
"Oh, you don't give a damn about Eli. I am clear on that now." Sabrina replied placing her hands on her hips.
"Sabrina, listen ok… you can hate me right now all you want. I hate myself too. But don't ever say I don't love my son."
"Well Patrick, if you loved him, you would have protected him." She said calmly.
"This needs to stop" Anna said trying to break the tension and stop the yelling. "You have a little boy in there who needs you both."
"That's MY little boy in there! He's not Patrick's son. Not anymore. I'll make sure of that. Don't you come near Eli again" Sabrina said before walking out of the waiting room.
Patrick stood shell shocked as Felix, Lily and Sonny followed behind her. He finally fell back into a chair and buried his face in his hands. "What have I done?" He said to no one in particular.
Dante took out his handcuffs and stepped towards Robin "Well, bad judgment isn't a crime, Patrick, but driving under the influence is."
"Dante, please" Anna pleaded.
"Anna... you know I have to."
Patrick stood up again and slowly walked to the doorway and leaned against the frame.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law…"
Patrick's chest felt like it was going to cave in under the weight of guilt and regret. In an attempt to bring their families together he had inadvertently shattered them both. His son was fighting for his life, his fiancé hated the sight of him and his daughter's mother was being handcuffed.
"You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?
Patrick looked over to Robin and barely recognized the woman looking back at him. Robin nodded her head as her tears began to soak her shirt.
"With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?" Dante asked.
Robin simply mouthed words "I'm sorry" before Dante escorted her out the waiting room with Anna in tow.
Alone in every way Patrick felt his body go numb and collapsed to the tile floor in despair. In just a day's time, he had gone from having everything a man could ask for to having nothing at all.
