In the General Hospital trauma center, Dr. Patrick Drake raced up to his wife. "Robin! Are you okay? Mac just came and told me what happened."

"Monica and Matt just took Duke into surgery," she answered. "Sonny's dead." Robin's voice was equally lifeless.

"Robin, you're bleeding," Patrick said worriedly.

"No, I'm not hurt. It's Duke's blood. And Sonny's."

"No, babe. It's you," Patrick said, looking at the tiny nicks and cuts all over Robin's face and arms. He reached out and brushed glittery slivers of glass from her hair.

"Oh my god," Robin said, panic finally setting in. "The light shattered... I forgot... It all happened so fast... Patrick, you've got to tell Monica and Matt that Duke's an HIV risk... And he'll need antiviral drugs... Oh my god..."

"It's okay, baby," Patrick reassured her as he pulled on two pairs of surgical gloves. "You know they're using Universal Precautions in the OR. And we'll start Duke on the postexposure prophylaxis as soon as they get him out of surgery. Let's just get you fixed up, okay? What happened here?" he asked, running his gloved fingers tenderly over the bruises erupting on her neck.

"Michael. He grabbed me."

"He choked you, you mean."

"He was upset. Sonny's dead," she said again, in shock. "Where's Mac?"

"He went to go get your mother."

"Oh my god," Robin said again. "Mom..."

Anna rushed out of the GH elevator looking haggard, Mac trailing behind her. "Robin!" she called to her daughter, and the two women ran into each other's arms.

"Mommy...," Robin whimpered. "I'm so sorry. I didn't believe you, about Sonny. I should've believed you."

"Shhh...," Anna said, sweeping Robin's hair back off her forehead and running a finger over one of the bandages there. "It's alright, darling. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. But Duke... He's still in surgery. It's bad. And Mom, all I could think about was trying to stop the bleeding. I didn't think... I can't believe it... Every second of every day, I have to live with my HIV status, and I didn't even think..."

Anna said nothing. Just looked into her little girl's horrified eyes. And then pulled Robin tightly into her arms and held her and rocked her, rocked her, rocked her.

Anna and Robin sat side by side on chairs on General Hospital's surgical floor. Suddenly Anna leapt to her feet, seeing Dr. Quartermaine emerging from an ER. "Monica!" she called desperately. "How is he?"

Monica approached sympathetically. "It was touch and go for a while. And the next 48 hours are critical. But I think he'll pull through."

Anna slumped with relief, tears springing to her eyes. "Thank you," she said, clasping the doctor's hand in both of hers, in gratitude, as Robin squeezed her mother's shoulders in relief.

"Have Matt keep us posted?" Robin said.

"Of course," Monica promised. "He's closing, and then once we get Duke settled into the ICU, I can let you see him. For a few minutes."

"Thank you," Anna repeated.

"You're welcome."

As Monica left to change out of her soiled scrubs, mother and daughter embraced again.

The moment was interrupted by Carly Corinthos Jacks barreling down the hall, barking, "Robin!"

Anna and Robin parted and turned in Carly's direction, Dr. Scorpio stiffening with dread. "Carly. I'm sorry," Robin said preemptively. "So, so sorry. You have to know I loved him too."

"You little bitch. Michael says Jason wasn't even there. You're going to let Jason take the fall for killing his best friend? You self-righteous little-"

Anna cut in, stepping up with malice in her eyes. "Sonny Corinthos was a murderer," she enunciated slowly. "Jason Morgan is a murderer. A professional killer. They threatened to kill Robin's stepfather in cold blood, and they've nearly succeeded. Sonny got exactly what he deserved-and I'm going to make sure Jason does as well. So don't you dare make accusations about my daughter, or I promise you, you'll live to regret it."

"Listen, lady-Devane, is it?" Carly sneered. "You don't know who you're dealing with."

Anna shook her head with a wicked little laugh. "Oh, believe me, luv, neither do you. You're out of your league, and don't you forget it." She turned her back to Carly and told Robin, "Come on, darling. We'll go down to the cafeteria and get a cup of tea..."

Together, mother and daughter turned their backs and walked toward the elevator, leaving Carly fuming in open-mouthed fury.

Before Carly could even attempt to say anything else, Dr. Matt Hunter came down the hall. "Robin," he said to his sister-in-law. "You can see Duke now. He's resting comfortably in the ICU."

Robin and Anna shared an anxious look and then followed Matt to Duke's room, where they stood side by side at the bedside as Bobbi Spencer monitored Duke's vital signs on the beeping machines on the other side. "Bobbi," Anna acknowledged appreciatively.

The nurse came around and warmly put an arm around each of her old friends. "He's stable," she told them. "Doing as well as can be expected." She glanced down at Duke with a sort of jaded deja vu-she had never expected to see him alive again, and that had nothing to do with whatever had happened today. "I'll leave you all alone for a few minutes," she said. "I'll be right outside there." She indicated the windowed fourth wall. "But it can only be for a few minutes."

"I know," Dr. Scorpio reminded her.

"Oh, I know you do, sweetheart," Bobbi said, squeezing Robin's shoulder with fond pride.

Bobbi and Matt slipped out, giving the little family just a little privacy.

Anna, who had been gently stroking Duke's cheek with the backs of her fingers as she stared into his face, whispered, "Duke. I'm here. It's Anna. I love you. You brave, foolish man..."

His eyelids fluttered, but lifting them was more effort than he could muster. He painfully exhaled a breath that sounded like "Rob..."

"Shhh, don't try to speak," Anna soothed.

"I'm here, Uncle Duke," their daughter answered.

"She's fine," Anna reassured. "You just rest. You're both safe now. We're all safe."

He swallowed hard, a horrible gulp that made his face clench in agony, and slowly hissed, "Ss-s-s-say...noth-ing."

The women exchanged a look of collusion, and Robin said, "That's right. Don't talk. It's okay. You need to sleep."

"We'll both be right here," Anna promised.

Duke's face relaxed and after a few moments it was clear that he had fallen into unconsciousness. After another few moments of silence and gingerly holding Duke's hand, Anna ventured, "So. That horrible woman in the hallway. She's really Bobbi's daughter?"

"Yeah," Robin confirmed ironically.

"Our Bobbi?" Anna checked, looking skeptically through the window at her kind, nurturing friend in the ICU observation room.

"I know: Crazy, isn't it?"

After a pause in which they shared a half-hearted smile, Anna screwed up the courage to ask the more important question: "What were you and Duke doing there? In Sonny's office?"

"I realized you were right. About Sonny. After you and I talked the other day, I went to see Ethan, to try to get to know him better. Like you said. He told me that Sonny'd been asking questions about Duke. That Sonny was suspicious of him. I went to beg Sonny to leave you guys alone..."

Anna was still confused. "Well, what was Duke doing there?"

"I don't know. He must've found out that you got drugs from Sonny. When I got there, he was holding Sonny at gunpoint."

I never should have let him watch Robert's sting, Anna thought. "This is all my fault," she berated herself aloud. "I did this... You both could've been killed, because of me..."

"Mom, no..."

"Yes-" Anna stopped, and stared past Robin, over her shoulder and through the window again. Two young men had come in-a fair, slight one and a dark, stocky one-and Anna instantly knew, from the way they carried themselves, that they were cops.

As Robin turned to see what Anna was looking at through the ICU window, Bobbi poked her head into the room and apologized, "I'm sorry. I have to ask you to let him rest now. You can come back later."

Anna and Robin both knew that the request had less to do with Duke's recovery and more to do with the arrival of the police officers. They each kissed Duke's forehead, Anna whispering, "I love you. I'll be back," and went out into the antechamber.

"Ms. Devane?" the boyish blond said. "I'm Detective Spencer. This is Detective Falconeri."

"Dr. Scorpio," Dante picked up. "I have to ask you to come to police headquarters with me to answer some more questions."

The women exchanged a pregnant look. "Okay," Robin said slowly.

"Ms. Devane," Lucky said again, "Commissioner Scorpio instructed me to escort you home."

"I don't want to go home," Anna stated. She would not leave Duke here-especially not to go back, alone, to that cursed condominium building.

"Well, not home, exactly," Lucky added, embarrassed. "Actually, he ordered me to take you to Dr. Scorpio's house. Mrs. Scorpio is there with your granddaughter."

"Is Emma alright?" Robin asked, alarmed.

"She's fine," Lucky said. "Mrs. Commissioner is taking care of her," he explained, inadvertently referring to Holly with the cheeky nickname invented by Robert's subordinates.

"So Robert has decided that Holly is to babysit Emma and me?" Anna seethed indignantly.

"The Commish...," Dante offered. "He just...doesn't want you to have to be alone. At a stressful time like this."

"Oh, I'll show him a thing or two about stress...," Anna threatened.

The detectives looked at each other in mutual resentment that Robert and Mac had thrown them into the middle of what was obviously a world-class domestic dispute. "Um, we have to go, now. Come with us, please," Lucky said, trying to be authoritative but coming off closer to abashed.

"I'm not going anywhere," Anna refused flatly.

The men were at a loss. Their boss would not be happy, but short of putting his ex-wife in handcuffs and bodily dragging her along with them, there was nothing else they could do. They decided they'd rather incur Robert's wrath than Anna's. "Dr. Scorpio?" Lucky said to Robin.

Robin dreaded being asked any more questions about what had happened in Sonny's office. She didn't even want to think about what had happened... Nervously, trustingly, she looked to her mother-a former police chief, a former attempted-murder defendant-for guidance.

However angry Anna might be at Robert, she knew that, no matter what, he would protect their daughter. "It's okay, darling," she said. "You go on. I'll stay here with Duke. Everything will be fine. Go with the officers, and tell your father I'll speak to him later."

"Okay," Robin said quietly. "Let Patrick know I'm okay?"

"Of course, darling," Anna said. Then she watched as her baby was escorted out of General Hospital by a police detective on each side of her.