Thanks again for the lovely comments! The more nice comments the faster we write. Yeah, that's blackmail g>
Chapter 4"You need to get some rest," Noah put his hand on his son's shoulder.
"I'll rest when this is done." Patrick remained bent over the lab table, but he didn't shake his father's hand off Noah noticed.
"If you get sick you won't be able to help her. Doctor Nicholls and I can handle this. Go on." Noah urged, just resisting the urge to stroke his grown-up son's hair like he used to when he was a young boy needing comfort.
Patrick sat back on the stool and ran a hand over his face. "All right." He stood up and looked at his father. "Thanks."
"She'll be all right, Patrick. She's very strong. Stubborn." Noah smiled fondly at the last word. Stubborn was the only thing that got him out of that bar. That and the empathy he saw in her eyes that he didn't understand at the time.
Patrick shrugged wearily. "How are you feeling, Dad?" His eyes narrowed as he studied his father's face.
"I'm fine. Thanks for asking. You'll get to harass me plenty after you get up."
"Good." Patrick walked out of the lab, his father watching after him. After he was gone Noah sat down across from the virologist and got to work.
>>>>>
She shouldn't be in there, was Patrick's first thought as he walked in and saw Robin lying unconscious under the plastic sterile environment. In his hand he held the clipboard with her latest test results, the story they told belied how serene she looked. Her viral load was up, her white count was troubling; all told that her immune system wasn't fighting the virus even with the help of the serum she'd gotten. Right as she usually was, Doctor Scorpio knew she was going to need the stronger dosing Noah and that other doctor were working on. Patrick's mouth flattened into a stiff line at the thought of Simon Nicholls, the annoying English doctor who seemed to think he had the corner of the market on brains and concern for Robin.
The jerk actually looked down on Patrick and his father because they were "just surgeons".
Patrick snorted to himself as he sat down next to the bed and checked out the various medical equipment surrounding her, the oxygen, the filters, the monitors, the IVs. With nothing left to check he finally forced himself to really look at Robin. He hunched forward, a look of concern hardening his features as he heard her breathing. Soon she would require a ventilator. Too soon.
"You need to hang in there, Scorpio. I haven't even gotten to blackmail you into a second date. And what about payoff? I gotta get that sometime, I know you can't resist me."
Patrick closed his eyes and swallowed. "I should have carried you into that elevator. Gotten you the hell out of here. You could have set up a lab somewhere else. And taken your charming friend Nicholls with you. I don't know what you saw in that jerk. He's an arrogant jackass. Fine, fine. You'd say that about me, but at least I can back up my arrogance. All that guy has is his stupid accent and pretty boy hair. I don't know what you saw in him. Good thing you've moved on."
With his eyes closed he didn't see the shadows change as Robert Scorpio stood at the window watching the young doctor talking quietly, urgently to his unconscious daughter. He stood for a moment, listening, before stepping back.
Patrick opened his eyes, his hands itched to touch her to confirm for himself, but he couldn't break the sterile environment and risk her being exposed to other illnesses.
"Scorpio, Robin. You can't give up. I'm not giving up. I need for you to get better. There, happy? I'm admitting it. I look forward to your snippy comments, your endless compassion, and your fast little walk as you try to keep up with me when you want to make a point that I want to avoid. Face it, neither of our days are complete if we don't get to go at it at least once. Don't let me down now. Okay? I promise I won't let you down." Patrick's voice broke on the word promise. His father had made the same promise to their mother.
He let his hand rest for a moment on the outside of the plastic before forcing himself to stand up and walk out. He was just putting the clipboard back into place at the outside of the ICU unit door when the subject of his earlier rant, Simon Nicholls, came walking in. He stopped short when he saw Patrick.
"I thought you were working on the serum," Patrick said tersely, standing up.
"I thought you were going to sleep. Your father has it under control and I wanted to check on her."
"You don't seem to be someone Robin wants checking in on her."
"Whatever is between Robin and I is our business. And above anything else, if you know her at all, she respects my professional skills."
"Which is why you should be in the lab using those skills that are so important to you," Patrick snarled.
"I understand you're tired and worried about your colleague who toiled so tirelessly to help everyone else, but you're treading in territory that is none of your business."
"Don't patronize me. Robin thinks you seduced her at the bidding of her father, and while I don't think that's what happened, on Robert's side, she does. And since she's my patient and I don't want her upset in any way I'm telling you to back off."
The two men stood facing each other, measuring each other. Both seemingly ready to take out the frustration and exhaustion of the past week on each other.
Simon was the first to back off, a mask of professionalism slipping over his face. He looked at Robin through the glass and then back at Patrick. "I'll be in the lab and when Robin's better she'll be the one to say whether I see her or not."
"I'm sure she will."
Patrick turned and looked at Robin one more time before leaving.
>>>>>
Robert stood staring at the man who he had entrusted with his daughter's safety. "Why the hell didn't you tell me you had gotten personally involved with my daughter?"
"Because it was none of your business, quite frankly," Simon's words were cold and clipped.
The older man could feel his blood pressure rising. "None of my business? You take advantage of my daughter, insinuate yourself into her personal life while you're working for me and that's none of my business? You were my most trusted operative."
"I'm not an operative, Robert, I'm a doctor you work with."
"You take orders from me and you crossed the line Simon. You knew that and that's why you didn't tell me of your personal involvement with my daughter. I wanted you to work with her, make sure she was all right. Not seduce her."
Simon sighed heavily. "Look, I did everything you instructed me to do. What happens in my personal life is just that, personal. What Robin and I have has nothing to do with you. She'll see that. I'll make her see that."
"You'll have nothing to do with Robin when she recovers."
"Why, because you say so? You think she's going to listen to you? You let her mourn you, you lied to her for years."
"You lied to her too, Mate. I know my daughter, she'll eventually forgive me, but she won't forgive you."
"You can't help who you fall in love with Robert. Now, if you'll excuse me I'll get back to saving your daughter's life." With that, he walked away and back into the lab leaving Robert glaring after him and thinking on the truth of the doctor's words. Robin wouldn't even have existed had Robert and Anna followed the rules of their jobs.
>>>>
Patrick used the side door, not wanting to walk through the lab and see either his father or that British clod. He'd gone to the doctor's sleeping lounge from Robin's room, but it didn't feel right to be there. The quarantine was mostly over and the rest of the hospital had gotten back to normal, except for this part of the hospital. The lounge that was usually full of overworked residents or on-call doctors had felt like a ghost town. So, he had come here, back to the lab. To Robin's office.
Leaving the office light off, he walked into the small bathroom and closed the door behind him. He bent over and splashed his face in the sink, rubbing his hands over his stubble he looked in the mirror and grimaced. Quarantines and crisis did not agree with him, he actually wished Robin was there to make a snarky comment about it. With a sigh he opened the medicine cabinet. Since his earlier adrenaline rush would keep him awake a bit longer, he figured he might try to do something about his appearance before he tried to get some sleep. Instead of a razor or feminine fripperies there was a line of pills. Robin's cocktail.
There was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach and a pain in his chest as he looked at them lined up so neatly. The pills that kept her alive. The pills that were failing her now. Some were the cocktails, some were to combat the worst of the side effect. Patrick shook his head and reached in to pick one up and read the warnings. To see her normally you would never know she was sick. Never knew she was holed up somewhere two or three times a day taking pills to keep herself alive. Suffering over side effects that probably no one but her doctor knew about.
"Stop," he ordered himself, putting the bottle back and slamming the medicine cabinet closed. "Stop." This wasn't like him, this loss of hope he was facing. But then again, he admitted, this wasn't a situation where he could stick a knife in someone and make it all better. He clicked off the light and walked out of the bathroom and looked towards the lab. This time the cure was in there, in Robin's domain.
He walked over to the couch and sat down and began to pull off his shoes. Too tired to groan, he stretched his body on the couch and pulled the blanket off the back and fell asleep.
>>>>>
Robin shifted restlessly in her enclosed bed. Her voice was weak as she tried to call out for the one person every sick child wants near. "Mom?" Mac watched her carefully, fear gripping him.
"Robin, you can't leave us. You've got to fight. I'll call Anna."
She seemed to hear him. His voice calmed her movements and she seemed more at peace.
Robert had come into the room and heard the exchange. "She can't come in here. We're in lock down in this part of the hospital."
Mac stood and faced his older brother. "I'm going to call Anna and she's going to visit her daughter."
"Not your call Mac."
Mac moved closer. He had always respected his brother, thought he knew what was best. Now all he felt was anger. Not even for himself, but for Robin. She had mourned her father for years. It was only intensified when she lost Stone. And all this time, Robert had been alive and had knowingly kept himself away from the daughter he had claimed to love so much.
"No, it's not your call, Robert."
