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Chapter 18
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"Good news, Doctor Scorpio, Doctor Drake has woken up and we've been able to remove the breathing tube. If his results keep improving he'll be ready to move to the transplant unit in no time."

Robin took a deep breath and thanked the PACU doctor. "Can I see him?" When she received consent she walked over to Noah's beside. "How are you doing?"

"How's Patrick?" Noah rasped.

"He's fine. He's already ordering everyone around. He's worried about you."

"I don't know how I can ever thank him for this." Noah had tears in his eyes.

"By getting healthy and taking that second chance to rebuild your relationship." Robin took Noah's hand and smiled down at him.

"Actually, I think I may have already repaid him. He told me before we went into surgery that he asked you to be his girlfriend. I don't think he's had a girlfriend since he was about five."

"Five? Seems like a late start for Patrick." Robin laughed.

"He wasn't ready to settle down when he was just in pre-school." Noah smiled tiredly.

"That I can imagine." Robin rolled her eyes and smiled.

"He's a lucky man. If he doesn't treat you right you let me know." He squeezed her hand back, but Robin noticed his grip was weak.

"You should get some rest so they can get you out of here."

"Will you bring me those journals we talked about at dinner? I'll have plenty of time to read over the next couple of weeks."

"Done. I'll bring them by later."

"Tell Patrick I said thanks." Noah closed his eyes and started to drift off to sleep.

Robin looked at him for a moment before turning around to find Bobbie coming into the Unit. She and Robin shared a silent look and a clasp of hands before Robin walked out.

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"You're all enjoying having me at your mercy." Patrick pushed his tray of food away and shifted, grimacing at the pain the effort caused his incision. Patrick had been insulting the special dietary meals they had been serving him over the past few days and insisting he was ready for regular food. His doctors didn't agree.

"Well, now that you're off the market there are a lot of disappointed nurses just hoping to catch you in bed." Liz had volunteered to take duty in the transplant unit while the Doctors Drake recovered. It was touch and go whether she was regretting it. Although seeing the cocky Doctor Drake act like a sullen adolescent some of the time did have its charms. Like right now, she was getting a kick of out of teasing him, especially since she knew the source of this mood.

"I'm not eating that tripe," Patrick said, not mollified by the ego-stroking idea that the reason he was checked on so often was less because of his medical needs than his good looks and charmed.

"Did you want me to bring you other tripe?" Liz asked sweetly. Pushing the tray back towards him.

"Where the hell is Robin?" Patrick looked towards the door again. She hadn't stopped by for the entire day and he swore that if she didn't show up to have dinner with him he was going to leave this room and hunt her down.

"If you finish your lunch like a good boy I'll go find out." Liz was not unaware of the fact that Patrick Drake was more eager to see Robin than he was to revel in the attentions of the enamored nursing staff, She was beginning to think that Robin's concern that he might not feel as much for Robin than Robin felt for him was no concern at all.

"What am I twelve?"

"You're sure acting like it, Son." Noah said from the doorway. He was sitting in a wheelchair pushed by another nurse. "Just because you're a doctor doesn't mean you have to actually be a horrible patient."

"What are you doing out of bed?" Patrick ran his eyes over his father, taking in his sallow appearance. It concerned him some, but Noah didn't seem weak like he had been when Patrick had last seen him the day before when he had been allowed to slowly walk to Noah's room and his outputs were steadily improving. The transplant, it seemed, was taking.

"Good to see you too," Noah said as Liz took over pushing him into the room.

"I'll leave you two alone. See if you can get your son to eat. Airplane used to work with Cameron," Liz said as she walked out the door.

"Find out where Robin is and get her in here!" Patrick called out.

Noah looked at son with a bemused expression on his face.

"What?" Patrick scowled at his father.

"This brings back memories."

"Memories of what? That last time I gave you most of my liver?"

Noah shook his head and smiled.

"Spit it out already," Patrick said impatiently.

"You were terrible when you were sick as a little boy. You used to run your mother ragged with your demands. You so hated being cooped up indoors. And you even missed school." Noah smiled fondly.

"I did, didn't I?" Patrick admitted sheepishly and picked up his fork and began to eat his now cold lunch. "You must be doing better if they've let you out of bed."

"Which you know since I consented to let you read my chart. I just wish I'd known you'd take out what you found on Robin."

"She go tattling to my daddy?" Patrick pushed his tray away.

"Do you really think she would do that, Patrick?"

"She is your biggest fan." Patrick wouldn't meet his father's eyes. He knew the accusation was unfair.

"She'd be yours if you let her. She didn't tell me, Patrick. She came to bring me a journal I had specially requested and she seemed upset. I deduced that you were probably the cause, as was I."

"She should have told me."

"Why? What could you have done?" Noah said as if it made perfect sense, when Patrick opened his mouth to argue, Noah continued. "You're being an ass."

"Fine, all right. I know I was an ass. I was angry and pissed off about being stuck in these four walls and I took it out on Robin. But when I told her to get the hell out and don't come back, but I didn't think she'd listen to me. She never has before. Now, she won't show up so I can apologize for, as you so succinctly put it, being an ass. She's not answering any of my calls or pages."

"Did it occur to you that she might have something else to do today?" Noah asked.

Patrick narrowed his eyes at his father. "What do you know?"

"What and ruin all of Robin's good work?"

"What good work?" Patrick asked in confusion.

"You sitting there waiting eagerly to apologize? I'm sure it doesn't happen very often that the arrogant Doctor Drake admits when he's been an ass."

"I wasn't completely out of line. She still should have told me about what happened in recovery and what's happened since. I just shouldn't have yelled at her."

"I asked her not to, not until you were stronger and it's my private medical information."

"I'm your son, not to mention your donor and I don't like being shut out of the process."

"Which is why I consented to your reading my chart once I was comfortable with your recovery and knew you were mobile again. Especially since you would probably go get it yourself."

"Which Robin probably told you how I was doing because I never asked her not to." Patrick rolled his eyes. He knew he just wasn't going to win.

"I'm sorry you felt shut out, Patrick. I know I haven't been the best of fathers, but I was only thinking of you Patrick. You don't know how stunning it is to me after all these years that you still care about your old man and I didn't want to cause the look in your eyes that I saw when you asked me to get a transplant for you and called me "dad" for the first time in years. I didn't want you to worry when there was nothing you could do about it. I saw how you were when Robin was ill."

"And if you died I would just be taken by surprise, brilliant way to show concern," Patrick said, his voice harsh.

"And you know it was never as bad as that, but you're right, Robin told me the same thing and I've already apologized to her for once again being putting her in the position of being our referee and bearing the brunt of your anger towards me. I'm sure she'll still be your girlfriend if you grovel sufficiently." Noah grinned.

"I think he's right about that."

Both men turned their heads to see Robin standing in the doorway, a gentle smile on her face.

"But it's going to have to be a very good grovel." She walked into the room to stand between the two men. "Now, if you're grovel is as good as your flirt it's a done deal."

"I knew you enjoyed my flirting, Sourpuss." Patrick crossed his arms and grinned up at her. "Do I get a kiss hello? I've been a good boy."

"I know that's not true." Robin eyed his uneaten lunch with a raised eyebrow, but forestalled the lecture about him eating to get his strength up so he could get out of there. It was a waste of breath. If Liz hadn't been in charge of his nursing team she would have suspected that he'd charmed some cute nurse to sneak him in food he had been so picky with his meals. "And why do you think you'd get a kiss before you've groveled anyway?"

"Because in a heroically selfless manner I just gave sixty percent of my liver to my dying father thereby saving his life."

"Well, there is that," Robin grumbled and leaned in to give him a quick, sweet kiss.

"I'm feeling left out here," Noah raised his hand, a big smile on his face.

Patrick grabbed Robin's arm. "You are not kissing my father!" The teasing tone took the sting out of his words.

As Robin shared a conspiratorial grin with Noah, Patrick pulled her closer to his bedside. "Where were you today? What's going on?"

"Does he even deserve it?" Robin asked Noah, her eyes filled with laugher. She turned them on Patrick. Seeing her looking so happy caused a flipping sensation in his belly.

"Do I need to pull out the liver card again?" Patrick asked rhetorically.

"That's only going to take you so far for so long!" Robin pointed a finger at Patrick, but let him pull her even closer until she was sitting on the bed next to him. He rested his arm around her waist.

"Just how far? And how long?" Patrick's asked, his voice husky and low.

"Patrick!" Robin flushed, even as a tingle of desire snaked through her. She couldn't believe he was flirting like that in front of his father.

"Why don't you tell him already, he's going to torture you until you do."

"That's right. I am." Patrick wiggled his fingers at her waist causing her to squirm. "I'm going to hurt you if you make me jump around like that on the bed," she warned, putting her hand over his and looking over at him in concern. She knew his incision was still causing him discomfort if he moved too abruptly.

"Will you get on with it already?" Patrick huffed a laugh and squeezed her hand lightly.

"Wow. Not very good grovel. Fine. Fine. I'll spill. The reason I haven't been by earlier is I had the morning off to take care of some things. Here." She pulled a photo out of her purse and handed it to him.

"You're giving me a picture of a bed. Is this like an IOU?" he asked eagerly, but teasingly.

"No!" Robin cracked up, which was hard to do as she was trying to hold still so as not to jar Patrick. "It's your bed. Look at the picture again."

With a shrug he held the photo up and looked at it again. Looking this time he noticed the blue wall behind the bed. "This isn't my bed in your guest room is it?"

"It is. I got it out of storage. Your dad helped me convince the storage people to let me get it and some other stuff out so you'd be comfortable at my place. Then you just have to move it to wherever you decide to live later."

Patrick let out a shaky breath and looked at her, his gaze intense, as if he was trying to hold back strong emotions.

"You're not mad that I went through your stuff, kind of. I didn't search through boxes or anything. I figured if there was anything else you wanted you could tell me."

Patrick shook his head and cleared his throat. "No. I'm not mad. I'm really, really." Patrick stopped and blew out a breath. "I don't even know what to say. Except thank you. And you did this even after I yelled at you."

"I was going to tell you I was doing this yesterday, my plans didn't change because you were upset."

"And taking it out on you. I'm sorry for that." Patrick smoothed a lock of hair behind her ears.

"Noah helped, you should thank him too."

"Thanks." Patrick looked at his dad.

Just then Liz came back into the room to take Noah back to his own. After they were gone Patrick and Robin sat quietly just gazing into each other's eyes. Robin broke the silence first.

"We do still need to talk about what happened yesterday. Wait. About my not telling you about the less than stellar facts on Noah's recovery."

"Not right now."

"Are you tired?" Robin asked.

"No, but there's nothing wrong with just enjoying each other's company is there?"

"No. The rest will wait." Robin let Patrick pull her head down to his shoulder and they began to talk about other things.