Chapter 6

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"What about marrying her? Was that part of your assignment?" Anna snarled and grabbed the taller man by the lapels of his lab coat and shoved him back until he hit the wall. "Then leaving her a week later with a broken heart and a piece of useless paper. Was that part of your assignment to devastate my daughter?"

Patrick's breath caught in his throat and he pushed the door open wider to better see the pair facing off. Despite her shorter height, Anna seemed to be towering over the other doctor. Just like her daughter, Patrick acknowledged, reveling in the panic on the other man's face.

"Did my husband order you to do that?" Anna pushed him back into a lab table.

"No. No! That's not how it was!" Even if Simon hadn't been raised to not hit women he knew that this woman would have him down on his knees in a second. Or worse. "I love, Robin. I love her!"

"Then explain yourself, Nicholls before I murder you and dump your body in the river," Anna ordered.

Patrick crossed his arms and tried to wrap his mind around it all. All this time he thought it was Jason who had made Robin Scorpio the closed off, skittish woman she was. This blew everything he had assumed to smithereens. And it was clear that this man still had a hold on her, Robin's reaction to him, even when unconscious showed him that. That and the fact she had never even mentioned him.

"What exactly are you? Are you an agent or a doctor?" Anna demanded, ignoring Simon's attempt to pull her hands off him.

"I work on Robert's team, he does containment and I do cure."

"Robin knew you, your work."

"All completely valid and above-board. Started long before I met Robert Scorpio. He recruited me."

"A doctor with an Indiana Jones complex. Just the kind of man who's perfectly suited to sweeping Robin off her feet. Was the seduction part of your assignment?" Anna sneered.

"Robert never knew about our relationship, at least not from me. It wasn't his damn business!"

"That's something, I guess." Anna let go, but didn't move back, keeping the blond man scrunched up against the wall. "Why marry her and leave."

"I didn't plan to get married, we were on vacation, we got carried away. When we got back to Paris Robert ordered me with him to try to find and contain this virus. I couldn't tell her where I was going and I couldn't risk bringing it back to her. I didn't want Robin anywhere near it with her HIV status. Look at what it's doing to her dammit!"

"Great job you did protecting her," Patrick slammed into the lab and strode up to Simon, getting in his face.

"Mind your damn business!"

"Robin is my business," Patrick bit out.

Anna watched Patrick, a speculative look on her face.

"Because she's your patient or because you want her?" Simon sneered.

Patrick ignored him and walked over to where he had been working before being attacked by Agent Devane. He picked up a vial and made to walk out, casting an impressed look at Robin's mother as he passed by her again.

"You can't take that!" Simon called out.

"The hell I can't." Patrick walked out, certain that Anna would take care of any interference.

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"She's going to be all right." Anna walked up behind Robert who was watching Robin through the glass window to her room. Her voice was quiet and firm, but her former partner, former husband heard the underlying edge of fury.

Robert sighed before turning to look at his former partner. "She's got your strength. It couldn't go any other way." He looked wary even as he drank in her nearness.

"There's a lot of other ways it could have gone, Scorpio. If you hadn't played dead all this time."

"Mac was a better father than I was."

"Save the self-pitying martyr crap for someone who might buy it!" Anna hissed.

"Not in front of the child, Luv." Robert motioned through the window and attempted a charming smile.

"If I was armed you'd be dead."

"Ironic." Robert rubbed his forehead wearily, but didn't dare to completely close his eyes.

"She needed you, Robert. I needed you."

Robert's eyes widened at Anna's admission. "I needed for you to be alive, both of you. Our daughter has already ripped me a new one about that, but there you have it. I can show you the case files, but until Frisco was promoted I couldn't be assured of your safety."

"Why'd you trust them?"

"They didn't know you were alive, not until you showed up in Pine Valley. If I was doing what they wanted they had no reason to touch Robin. But no, I didn't completely trust them. I had people of my own watching her. Always."

"Watching her get HIV? Watching her get involved with that mafia hit man and Bobbie's psycho daughter…"

"She was alive."

Anna pressed her hands against the window and stared at Doctor Patrick Drake watching over their daughter.

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Patrick saw Robin's parents leave the ante room out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't take his focus off Robin. She should be waking up any minute now.

"Come on, Scorpio, General Hospital needs you. Who else is going to keep my ego at a manageable size so I fit in the OR?" Patrick sat down in the chair next to the bed. "The sooner you wake up the sooner we can remove the bubble. Unless of course you want to leave it up for a while. I saw this movie once, about the boy in the bubble. Well they got this hot chick, Tawny Kitean in her prime I think, and she -"

"Don't you dare!" Robin's voice was raspy, but forceful.

Patrick's face broke into a grin and he leaned forward. "I was just getting to the good part." He winked at her.

"Water?" Robin blinked and tried to clear her throat.

Patrick picked up the cup of ice chips and opened the side of her plastic covering. He had scrubbed well before coming in and put on surgical gloves in preparation for this moment. He scooped some out and pushed them between her lips. He studied her as she closed her eyes and sucked them, reveling in the soothing coolness on her dry throat.

"Thanks. Don't close that again."

"Your T-cell count isn't back up yet."

"What is it? How low did it get?"

Patrick sighed, reluctant to answer. "It got down just above 100 at one point. It's moved back up to 350 since we administered the serum. "

"No more plastic."

They communicated with their eyes for a moment before Patrick nodded and stood up and undid the protective environment. He switched off the filters and the oxygen tank before sitting back down.

"I'm still going to limit visitors."

"My Dad?"

"Your mother just took him outside. I've seen your mother in action so I don't think it's just to talk."

"My Mom's here?" Robin's eyes teared up. "She's gonna kick his ass." She looked pleased at the idea.

"I can interrupt and tell them you're awake. Although maybe you should get some sleep first?"

"I've slept enough. What day is it? What's going on?"

"You were the last patient with an active virus. Just a few patients left who'll be discharged today, the rest of the hospital is back to normal."

"Casualties?" Robin asked, a look of fear on her face.

Patrick swallowed heavily and avoided meeting her eyes.

"Patrick?"

"Five people died, including Doctor Tony Jones."

"Tony?" Robin's voice quavered and tears slid down her cheeks. Her hands came up to cover her face.

Patrick put his hand just over her head and then realized he was still wearing gloves. With a frown he took them off and put his hand on Robin's head. "His family was with him to say goodbye. Monica. Alan. Luke." He hoped she could find some comfort in his words. He stroked her hair.

Robin nodded to let him know she'd heard and rubbed the tears off her cheek and looked up at him. "When?" she asked.

"Right after you collapsed. It happened quickly."

"What about the serum?"

"We didn't have enough made in time." Patrick looked down at the ground. He was startled by Robin's hand coming to rest on his head. He took her hand and looked up at her. They sat silently for a few minutes, their brown eyes drowning in the other's.

"You look like hell, Doctor Drake."

Patrick chuckled and shook his head. "Checking me out from your sick bed, Scorpio?" Patrick preened.

"I meant you look tired." Robin laughed. "You should get some sleep."

"Trying to kick me out after all I've done?"

"No. I...I." Robin stopped and took a deep breath and looked down at their joined hands and then back up at his face. "Thank you for saving my life."

"Was that really so hard to say?" The catch in Patrick's voice belied the tease.

"Just a bit." Robin smiled, her eyes beginning to close.

"Get some rest, Robin. I'll send your parents in soon. And your Uncle Mac." He stood up, his body obviously stiff with exhaustion.

"Patrick." Robin grabbed his wrist.

"Yeah?"

"How's Noah?"

"He's fine. You can butt in to my personal business after you get some sleep, I promise. Over dinner."

Robin smirked at him and closed her eyes and immediately fell back asleep.

Patrick watched her sleep for a moment before turning and walking out.