Chapter Sixteen - A Break in the Silence

Patrick studied Robin's silent face, her emotionless features, and the line between her eyes that was not yet fully erased. It didn't matter; there was a matching crease along his forehead, too. He didn't know how long he'd been sitting there. He had lost all feeling in his limbs, long ago, concentrating only on her hand in his, making sure it was still warm, making sure her pulse still slogged methodically in her wrist. He gripped her hand tightly, marveled at its delicateness. This was the hand she'd run through her hair the first time she glared at him from across the empty operating room. She'd been too smart, too beautiful, and too cocky for her own good that day...demanding that he put his clothes on and perform a miracle. He'd been fascinated with her from that moment on.

"Are you in love with her?"

Patrick hadn't heard Anna return to the room and was startled by her quiet question. Pasting a smirk on his face, he turned around to face her and said, "You get right to the point, don't you? It must be a family trait."

"You have no idea." Anna said, her eyes challenging him from above her surgical mask. She moved over to the other side of the bed and softly brushed Robin's hair back over her shoulder. Looking back up at Patrick's face, Anna said, "You'd be an idiot not to be, you know?" She glanced down at Robin's serene face and said, "She's perfect. Everything a man would ever need in a woman."

"And that is an unbiased opinion, right?" Patrick asked, raising his eyebrow at Anna.

"Even if this amazing creature were not my child, I would think that she's perfect. Because she is." Anna said, not skipping a beat.

Feeling the need to lighten the mood in the somber room, Patrick said, "Sure. If your definition of perfect includes stubborn, opinionated, judgmental, and too smart for her own good."

Anna looked at Patrick for a few moments, trying to read his expression, before a slow smile spread across her lips. "Like I said...perfect."

"Absolutely." Patrick agreed.

"And beautiful." Anna said, looking back down at the face she loved more than any other in this world. "So beautiful. Especially when she smiles." The tears began to form in Anna's eyes as she said, "Which she doesn't do as much as she used to. It's a topic that has begun many an argument between the two of us." Anna looked back up at him and asked, "Do you think you can do something about that for me?"

"Already working on it." He answered, giving Robin's hand a final squeeze and standing up to leave the two women alone.

As Patrick reached to open the door, he heard Anna draw in a sharp breath. "Dr. Drake." she said quickly and Patrick turned around just in time to see Robin's eyes flicker open, as dark and heartbreakingly beautiful as ever.

The first thing Robin saw when she opened her eyes was the bright white ceiling and immediately knew she must be in the hospital. The smell of hospital disinfectant the sound of the beeping machine by her side confirmed her original thought. But it was the sound of her mother's voice that kept her from being afraid.

"Robin?" Anna said quietly.

Robin turned her head to see Anna smiling at her through her tears. "Mom?" Robin asked, her mouth dry and her voice unsteady.

"It's me, baby. I'm right here."

"What are you doing here?" She asked, trying to comprehend what was going on.

"I was in the neighborhood." Anna tried to joke.

"What's going on?"

"We almost lost you, baby girl." Anna said, squeezing her hand. "But everything's okay now." Looking up at Patrick, who came to stand on the other side of Robin's bed, she said, "Thanks to Dr. Drake."

"Hi," he whispered, squeezing her hand.

'Hey," she croaked back, her eyes still ghosted with grogginess. They stared at each other for a small eternity.

Finally Patrick cleared his throat and said, "How are you feeling?"

"Weak." Robin replied. "Confused."

"Sounds about right. You scared us all pretty good this week."

"I thought you didn't scare that easily?" Robin whispered, teasingly.

"Neither did I." He replied, gazing down at her beautiful face.

"What happened?" She asked. "The last thing I remember was calling Uncle Mac because I was dizzy and couldn't get my balance."

"You had a new kind of bacterial infection attack your system." He explained, still drinking in the sight of her. "Shut you down, but we managed to get you back up and running again."

"Young Dr. Drake here was the one who managed to isolate the strand of bacteria so that Alan could give you the right drugs to fight the infection." Anna interjected. "He was like a madman, pouring over research files and driving everyone crazy." Softly, she said, "He saved your life."

"He's good at that." Robin said with a smile. Then she said, "So, what's this about you doing research? The kind of medicine that is chosen only be people who want to hide from the world."

Patrick shook his head with a grin and said, "Okay, I'm going to let you have that one for free. Because you almost died and everything." Turning to Anna, he said, "I'm going to have Liz page Alan and Tony so they can make sure she's alright. Because there is an army of relatives out there just waiting for some good news. And frankly, we need our couches back."

Anna smiled as Patrick moved toward the door and heard Robin say, "Patrick?"

He turned to look at her as she smiled and said, "You did good work, doctor."