Title: Don't Give Up
Circa: 2006
Significant Change: Story plot takes the place of the pregnancy storyline.
Disclaim everything recognizable as thought up by those behind the soap opera known as General Hospital.
Tears falling like rain, Elizabeth sits in her car in the parking lot, hands on the steering wheel as she tries her hardest to remember what she has forgotten. Begging her brain to remember, Elizabeth just couldn't put the pieces together, regardless of how hard she tried.
Patrick, who was getting ready to leave the hospital, walks into the parking garage and is surprised to find that Elizabeth's car was still in the parking lot. She had left the hospital hours ago and should have been home by now. Or, at the very least, out of the hospital premises.
"Elizabeth?" he questions softly, something in him breaking when she turns to him, tears soaking up her face. "What's wrong?"
"I can't remember." she shakes her head, staring at him pleadingly. "I can't remember how to drive...I need to get home to Cam, but I just...I don't know how. Why can't I remember? I should know how to drive. I should know how!"
Pulling open her door, Patrick pulls her out of the car and into his arms, securing her in a warm embrace as she cries against his chest. He knew that she'd start forgetting things, but he didn't think it would happen so soon.
"We need to do another MRI scan." Patrick pulls away slightly to look at her. "I need to know what's going on, okay?"
"Okay." she shakes her head, allowing him to guide her back into the hospital. "But I need to...I need to..."
"I'll call Audrey and let her know that you'll be a little late." Patrick assures, guiding her towards the elevator. "Its gonna be okay, Elizabeth."
Shaking her head, she tries to take deep breathes, begging her emotions to get ahold of themselves. This wasn't unexpected, memory loss was just one of the many symptoms of her condition, she knew that. Regardless, though, knowing it did nothing to prepare her for when it actually happens. In the moment, all she could think of was her son crying for her and how badly she needed to get home to him.
"I'm gonna be right outside while you get changed, okay?" Patrick says softly, smiling slightly. "I'm gonna call Audrey now."
"Okay." she takes a deep breath, accepting the gown from him. "Thank you."
Waiting for Patrick to walk out of the room, Elizabeth puts her complete focus on undressing and sliding into the gown, an easy feat for most, but there couldn't be a harder task for her at the moment. Her mind just couldn't seem to focus and it wasn't doing any good for her emotional state.
"You can come in." Elizabeth calls out to Patrick when he knocks at the door.
"Audrey said that she doesn't mind watching Cam until you can get home." Patrick says as soon as he's through the door. "Now, all I want you to do is relax. You've been on both sides of this procedure, so, I'm fairly confident that you know what to expect."
"Yeah...I do." Elizabeth lays down, getting into the position for the scan before remaining completely still, keeping her breathing leveled.
"I'm gonna be talking to you the entire time, so, don't think its God or anything, okay?" Patrick smiles slightly as he gets her ready. "I mean, some women often make that mistake, even when I'm not giving them MRI scans, so it would be understandable."
"Oh, shut up." Elizabeth laughs softly, rolling her eyes. "You should probably give those women a MRI if they'd consider you a God."
"That's my girl." Patrick smiles, taking a step back. "You ready to get started?"
"Yeah." she assures, taking a deep breath. "Lets get this over with."
Just like that, Patrick took his place in front of the computer screens while she remained completely still, simply controlling her breathing. By the time that Patrick was satisfied with the amount of information gathered from her scans, an hour had passed and Elizabeth almost fell asleep inside the machine.
"A couple of the masses have grown slightly, pressing on certain areas of your brain that control memory recollection." Patrick explains, handing her back her clothes. "I know you didn't want to, but I think its time that you put your stored up vacation to use."
"But, Patrick..."
"Its time." Patrick sighs, placing his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "I'm sorry."
"I know you're right." Elizabeth shakes her head, glancing around the room. "Its just going to be hard to walk away."
"I know." he knew exactly how hard it would be to walk away, something he couldn't even imagine himself doing. "I know this might not be the right time to talk about this..."
"Then lets not talk about it." Elizabeth walks over to the door and holds it open for him. "I'm exhausted and I just want to get home to my son. So, please..."
"We need to explore all the options now, Elizabeth, before its too late." Patrick presses on. "With your condition changing the way it has, its only a matter of time before Robin's treatment becomes a moot point, as well. I know that it comes with a lot of risk, but isn't it worth it if it saves your life?"
"Ultimately, yes, I want to do whatever it takes to save my life." Elizabeth says seriously, having wished for some kind of miracle since she was diagnosed, but never receiving it. "The fact of the matter is that we've tried just about everything and nothing has worked. What makes this any different?"
"Its different because with Robin it'll be three people that are personally invested in seeing you survive past this." Patrick points out, almost pleading her to see reason. "Between the three of us, I'm sure that we can find the best way to save you with the least amount of consequences."
"I'll think about it." Elizabeth concedes, gesturing to the door. "Can you leave now so I can get dressed?"
"Uh, yeah." Patrick shakes his head, having completely forgot that she was pretty much naked under the gown. "I'll be right outside."
"Okay."
Walking out of the room, once again, Patrick waits long enough for her to get dressed before using his best persuasive techniques in getting her to let him drive her home. She put up a fight at first, but eventually she gives in and allows him to take her.
"Thanks for the ride." Elizabeth says as they pull into her driveway. "And, I promise, I will think about it."
"I know." Patrick smiles slightly, watching as she opens the door and gets down. "Take care of yourself."
"Yeah...okay."
He waits for her to walk into her house before pulling away from the driveway, needing to get back to the hospital to work on Elizabeth's case further. Getting to his office, he puts on a pot of coffee before calling Robin at her office to come to his.
"How did you know I was still here?" Robin questions when she walks through his office door.
"Lucky guess." Patrick says simply, walking over to her. "I'm sorry for the way I spoke to you on the roof..."
"Don't apologize." Robin waves away his apology. "You were right...I had no right to expect you to break doctor-patient confidentiality just because your patient is a friend of mine. It was unfair."
"Yeah, well, I'm throwing that out the window right now." Patrick takes a deep breath before pulling out Elizabeth's latest scans. "I'll give you whatever information you need to help me save her."
"What made you change your mind?" Robin asks curiously as he slides the scans into place before flipping on the switch.
"This." Patrick steps out of the way so she can see the scans for herself. "I need your help, Robin. More importantly, Elizabeth needs your help."
"Oh, my god!" Robin gasps, seeing the new scans just about tears a new hole through her. "This is...I can't even imagine..."
"Yeah." Patrick agrees, unable to put into words just what the scans did to him. "We need to figure out a way to save her and fast."
"Lets get started."