Chapter 43
Patrick was still yelling at Sneed when Robin walked back in the trauma room. "This patient will not make it to County – her injuries are too severe." He glared at Robin. "Where the hell have you been?"
"Trust me." Robin went back to monitoring their patient.
"Your patient has end stage AIDS, probably due to life style choices." Sneed took a breath and Robin took the opportunity to interrupt her.
"I'm sorry but are you saying that she doesn't deserve treatment because she made a bad decision?" Robin looked at Patrick. "Didn't I tell you there were still people like her out there?"
"Yes but I didn't think we actually worked with one." Patrick picked the handset to the phone up and called the OR floor. "Is my OR ready yet?"
Sneed didn't back down. "I have told them that we will not be performing surgery on this patient."
"Ms. Sneed, did you happen to notice that very large building across the street? The one called the Stone Cates Memorial AIDS wing?" Robin was worried that their patient was not going to last much longer.
"That is for outpatient treatment and assistance with medication. If your patient had taken advantage of their services she might not be end stage now." Sneed was not about to back down. "General Hospital is a private hospital and as such I have to make sure that we are financially viable. This patient is terminal and will die whether she gets surgery or not."
"My patient is not going to die because of bureaucratic nonsense."
Patrick was about to say something else when Alan walked in the door. "What is going on here?"
"I cannot authorize treatment on a patient with end-stage AIDS. It is financially irresponsible." Iris was not happy to see the chief of staff involved.
"Robin?" Alan now knew exactly why his best researcher had called him down to help out.
"She has cerebral edema due to a MVA. We need to operate immediately." Robin didn't have a single doubt what Alan's answer would be.
Alan turned to Sneed. "You do not make decisions about patient care. Your job is to find a way to pay for it." He walked over to the phone in the room. "Get an OR ready for Dr. Drake immediately."
Patrick looked at Robin who winked at him. Sneed saw her and shook her head. "Fine but I cannot assign any staff to the case. Anyone who has contact with this patient will be made aware that she has end-stage AIDS."
"Well then it's a good thing that the staff here isn't full of close-minded bigots." Epiphany came through the door with Liz and Andy Archer right behind her. Andy was the best anesthesiologist on staff and immediately began to get the patient, April Gilbert, ready for surgery. "Now would you please get out of our way so we can treat this young woman?"
Even Iris was afraid of Epiphany – she stormed out of the room without another word. Alan smiled at the head nurse. "Thank you for being so quick." He turned to Patrick. "Do you need any more assistance? I would be more than happy to scrub in."
"No, that's okay." Patrick was still trying to figure out what had just happened.
"In that case I am going to contact AJ and Michael and get to work on finding a way to use the Quartermaine foundation to assist with Miss Gilbert's medical bills. We have been thinking about creating a fund for patients in similar situations and I believe she is the perfect test case. Good luck."
Patrick stood back with Robin and watched the nurses and Andy get April ready for surgery. "That was a risky move, calling Alan."
"Not really – he was Stone's doctor and mine when we were first diagnosed. I knew he'd have our backs." Robin saw that April was almost ready and gently nudged Patrick in the ribs. "Let's go save our patient."
Patrick stood at the sink scrubbing his hand furiously. He didn't understand what had just happened.
Flashback
"I found the bleeder." He got a needle and some surgical sutures and began sewing it up. Robin kept the suction going as he worked quickly but confidently to sew it up. He was almost done when there was a sudden, short surge of power in the room. He was caught off guard and the needle slipped, puncturing his glove and then his finger. "What the hell was that?"
"Power surge doctor – it won't happen again." Andy checked his instruments and nodded that it was safe to continue.
Robin had been watching closely. "Dr. Drake – did you cut yourself?"
"I need to finish stitching up this bleeder."
Robin was trying not to panic. "Dr. Drake, you need to go and wash your cut immediately. I will hold off the bleeder."
Robin stepped over to control the bleed as Patrick stepped away from the patient. He had no sooner left her side when her pressure began to drop. Machines began going crazy and Patrick didn't even hesitate to go back to his patient and finished suturing up the patient's bleed. He had fought too hard to lose her now.
End Flashback
"Patrick?" Robin walked over to the sink and took the sponge from his hands. She unwrapped another bar of soap and another sponge. She took her gloved hands and gently washed his hand. "We need to get you started on antiretrovirals immediately and you need to get tested, not just for HIV but for Hep C."
"I need to check on my patient." Patrick was still in shock over what had happened and had reverted back to doctor mode as a defense mechanism.
Robin studied him closely before she spoke again. She set the sponge and soap back on the sink. "Fine – get dressed, check on our patient and meet me at the front desk in fifteen minutes. There's something that you need and you don't even know it."
"I really don't feel like having any company right now." He felt like he could barely breathe at the moment and he didn't want Robin to see him as weak.
"Fifteen minutes or I come looking for you and, trust me, you don't want that." Robin walked out the door before he could say another word.
Patrick shook his head as he watched her leave. He knew there was no point in arguing with his girlfriend so he dried his hands and headed to the locker room to change.
Robin held Patrick's hand as she pulled him out onto the dock. Patrick instantly began complaining. "You pulled me away from a patient for this – the smell of seaweed and dead fish?"
She stopped walking and put up her hand to him. "Will you just stop for a second? Take a breath. Look out at the water and try to gain perspective – that's what I do."
Patrick shook his head. "Yeah, you're right. Big help, thanks for sharing." He said sarcastically before he turned around and walked away.
"Would you stop fighting this for a second and listen to me?" She waited until he stopped and continued speaking. "I know what you are feeling."
Patrick rolled his eyes at her. "That's a little presumptuous."
"Maybe." Robin admitted. "Would you mind just hearing me out?"
He didn't say anything but his posture relaxed and Robin knew he was giving her a chance. "When Stone told me that he was HIV positive and that I might be infected my entire world stopped. I couldn't comprehend it, that this person that I loved so much could do this to me. Just how you love being a doctor, right? I mean how could it turn around and bite you so badly?"
Patrick looked away, unsure of what to say. She was right of course but he wasn't ready to admit it so he just let her continue to speak. "For a while I just went through the motions. I got my first blood test and I, I was in complete denial. I just kept telling myself that there is no way I am going to get this virus. Months after endless months I just waited until one day Alan called me into his office and he didn't even have to say anything, I could just see it all over his face. This boy that I loved was dying from this thing and now I had it."
Patrick felt a tear coming as she told him her story but he blinked it back. "I wanted to just crawl into a hole and never come out." Robin stopped and wondered if she was scaring him. "But you're not there yet and please believe me, I am not trying to tell you how to feel, I'm just saying that I know."
He couldn't take it, the honesty and pain in her eyes. He walked away and stepped closer to the ocean. Robin took a moment to collect herself and spoke again. "Except for one thing, unlike me, you have a chance. You might have dodged this bullet." She took a step closer to him. "Now wouldn't that be something, if this accident happened and you were not infected. I choose to believe in that possibility and I expect you to do the same."
"What's your point?" He didn't mean to sound harsh but he was trying hard not to fall apart in front of her.
"My point is that what you did in the operating room today is one of the bravest things I have ever seen. You risked your own life to save your patient."
He still couldn't believe that he had done it himself. "Yeah."
"I don't believe that people get AIDS as punishment. I think that sometimes horrible things happen to the best of us." She took a few steps and was by his side once more. "But I can still hope. This may be the longest six months of your whole life but I promise you're not alone."
He took a deep breath. "Six months, huh?"
"But if you test negative in six months, you are pretty much home free." She gently nudged him. "Look on the bright side, it will give you time to work on your people skills."
He sat down on the steps of the dock. "Guess you won't have to worry about Leyla or any other woman hitting on me for the next six months."
She sat down next to him and wrapped her arms around his arm, holding him close. "I would give anything for this not to have happened to you."
Patrick wrapped his arm around her legs and pulled her even closer. Robin was right, he had a chance, options that were not available to her all those years ago, and he would take full advantage of them in a few minutes but for now all he wanted to do was hold her as he stared out at the sea. He didn't know what was going to happen but he knew one thing with absolute certainty - as long as Robin was by his side, he would get through it.
