Chapter 42

"Robin wait!" Patrick ran down the hall attempting to put on his scrub top as he chased his very angry girlfriend down the hall. "Let me explain."

"Explain what?" She didn't slow down as she made her way to the nurse's hub in an attempt to get him to back off. "How I caught you literally with your pants down?"

Robin had gone into the locker room to grab her afternoon pills and walked in to find Leyla on top of Patrick on the bench, both of them clad only in towels. Robin had no doubts that the student nurse had started it but Patrick didn't look particularly put out to have the young woman so close either.

He grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him. "You have to know that I would never cheat on you."

"It doesn't matter." Robin shook her head. They had only been officially dating for a month and the last two weeks had been filled with constant interference from Leyla. "You are around her by your own choice. You know that she is after you, you know it bothers me and yet you still agreed to be her mentor. Now she is in our surgeries, ignoring my requests and disrespecting me at every turn, and you let her."

Patrick ran his hands through his still wet hair. "I told Leyla that the way she was acting was inappropriate and that the next time it happened I would write her up."

"But only after I said something to you otherwise you would have let it go." Robin sighed. "If you are unhappy with me, just tell me, don't drive me away by…"

"I am very happy with you." Patrick didn't understand why she was so upset – he had spoken to Leyla and she was now cordial with Robin in the OR.

"You looked very happy with her a few minutes ago." Robin grabbed a chart and headed to the computer to enter her notes, turning her back on him once again.

"She fell coming around the corner and landed on top of me. It was an accident."

Robin rolled her eyes. "Sure it was."

Patrick thought about it for a moment and then threw up his hands. "You know what Robin, think what you want."

"Fine." The keyboard vibrated under her hands as she angrily typed her notes.

"Fine." He turned to walk back to the locker room when the paramedics came bursting through the door with a patient on a gurney. The patient was on a backboard and bloodied with multiple bandages around her head. Patrick ran over and Robin was right behind him, the last few minutes instantly forgotten. "What do we have?"

"Car versus tree." The paramedic began speaking but the woman interrupted him.

"Stop –don't touch me! I have AIDS."

Robin looked at Patrick and he yelled at the paramedics. "Get her into Trauma Room 1 and I want an OR up and ready to go for me in the next half hour."

The doctors followed the paramedics into the trauma room, put on the gloves and moved the woman off the gurney and onto the exam table. Within minutes of her arrival the woman was unconscious. Patrick about pulled the phone off the wall in his haste to talk to the surgical floor. "How soon until I get an OR?"

"You don't." Iris Sneed, head of hospital administration pushed through the door. "According to the paramedics, this woman does not have insurance – she is going to be transferred to County immediately."

Robin looked over at Patrick who was flashing Iris a look of pure hatred. "Like hell she is. I don't care if I have to do this surgery in this room by myself – she is getting treated at GH and she is getting treated by me."


"As you can see, our school is up-to-date and has the best security system on the market." Principal Porter walked the man around the schoolyard as the preschool classroom played. "We pride ourselves on being one of the best schools in the state."

"I'm very impressed." He saw two little girls playing in the sandbox and stopped to smile at them. "Hi."

Both girls giggled but answered him. "Hi." The littlest one stood up and put out her hand. "I'm Rylee and this is my friend Jess."

"Nice to meet you Rylee." He shook the little girl's hand. "And you too Jess. Principal Porter was just showing me around your school. Do you like going to school here?"

Ry nodded her head enthusiastically. "Yes, we play and paint and read."

"That's great. I have a little girl just about your age and I am trying to see if this is a good school for her." He was about to say something else when he heard someone yell out for the little girl.

"Rylee!" Michael walked across the playground.

"Michael!" The little girl took off running and jumped into the young man's arms. "I thought mommy was picking me up."

"Mommy had to stay over at the hospital so I came – is that okay?" Rylee happily nodded her head. "Good. I thought we might go over to my house and see if Cook has made any of her famous brownies."

"Yeah!" Rylee jumped down from his arms and ran over to the principal. "Can Michael take me home now?"

"I think that would be just fine." She took great pride in being familiar with her students families and she knew that Michael Quartermaine had been given permission to pick up Rylee. "Good afternoon Mr. Quartermaine."

"Good afternoon Principal Porter." Michael shook her hand and then held it out to the man with the principal. "I don't believe we have met. Michael Quartermaine."

The man took Michael's hand and gave it a firm shake. "Dean Chambers."

"Mr. Chambers is looking at moving here and wanted to check out our school before making a decision."

"I think that this place has everything I am looking for." He turned to the principal. "I apologize but I need to be leaving. Thank you for the grand tour and I will be in touch."

Before anyone could say anything else Dean left the playground. Michael kept a close eye on the man as he departed – he had a bad feeling about the man. "Principal Porter, where did he say he was from?"

"I'm not sure." The woman had been in the middle of planning the school assembly when the man walked into her office and asked for a tour. "He has a little girl right around Rylee's age but I really don't know anything more than that."

"Okay." Michael felt a little tug on his sleeve. "Ready to go Squirt?"

"You bet." Ry took his hand and headed out the door. "I want some brownies."

"Excuse me?" Michael knew that Michelle and Robin were both big on manners.

"I meant, may I please have a brownie?" The little girl smiled at him one more time.

Michael picked her up and hugged her close before heading to his car. "I think that can be arranged." He got to the car and quickly buckled Ry up in her car seat before heading home. "So, what did you do in school today?"