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If You're Not the One – 21
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"You don't get a say in my life, you made sure of that!"
"How many times am I going to have to explain that…"
"Explain? You've explained nothing! You showed up 'hey I'm alive by the way, deal with it' and then you took off." Robin was trembling with emotion as she faced her father with the coffee table between them. She was too far gone to notice that he was standing just where Patrick was when she had come down on him about the bet and that she was similarly posed.
"I told you I did it to protect you and your mother." Robert threw up his hands as if he was dealing with the most exasperating person on the planet, as if he was the injured party.
"Right. Play dead and wash your hands of any responsibility. Let my mother wander around without her memory for years and just leave me to mourn both of you when I was just a small child. Don't show up when my teenaged boyfriend dies and I'm diagnosed with HIV. Stay away when I'm dating a mobster hitman and being shot at and bombed on a regular basis. Great protection, Dad!"
"You are just like your mother!"
"I'll take that as a compliment." Robin raised her chin defiantly and the two Scorpios stood glaring at each other silently, neither giving quarter, neither letting down their guard. Not surprisingly, it was Robert Scorpio who made the conscious decision to retreat first.
"If you're not going to listen I'll come back when you're ready."
"Run away and hide again, Daddy," Robin mocked. "You've gotten good at it."
"What do you want from me, Robin? Do you want blood? Do you want my head on a stake? Do you want your pound of flesh, because believe me I'd give you all of that if it would make you feel better, if it would make you understand that I did what I thought was best for you." Robert's voice was rough and fierce as he looked Robin straight in the eyes. "You are my little girl and I would do anything to protect you even never get to be in your life again, even have you hate me for the rest of my life."
At the last statement Robin felt a jolt in the region of her heart. All the advice she had given Patrick over the past months about his father came flooding back through her. She was, she realized, a big fat hypocrite.
Robert, a master of observation, saw Robin soften and went in for the metaphorical kill. "But I don't want you to hate me, Robin. I want to be a part of your life again. I want to be your father again." He watched and waited, reading the expressions running over his daughter's face and he saw the moment she caved and he was right there to take her in his arms as she cried out the sadness of the day and the pain he had caused.
"I haven't forgiven you yet," she said into his chest.
"I know. But I hope you will."
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"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Robin asked as she walked into Patrick's room. It was late and the rest of the hospital was quiet, but Patrick was sitting up in bed looking through what looked suspiciously like one of her photo albums.
"I slept all day." Patrick grinned up at her. "You were a cute kid."
"That is mine!" she tried to take it, but Patrick grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips and kissed it. Robin sighed and made a mental note to waste her breath with Brenda later. "I was told that my appearance here was mandatory." As she spoke she acquiesced to Patrick's tug on her hand and sat down on the bed, careful not to jostle him.
"I heard you had a rough day." Patrick stroked her hair back on one side and looked into her red-rimmed eyes. He hated that she had been crying, hated that he wasn't the one who got to hold her while she did. "How did it go with your dad?"
"You'll be happy to know I finally took my own advice. I haven't forgiven him yet, but…we'll get there. He said he's sticking around. I don't know for how long." Robin shrugged and traced her finger absently over the knit blanket.
"You'll get there. You know what you want and need to do. How's Maxie?"
"She's strong." Robin sighed. "She understood that you wanted to be there but couldn't. She doesn't blame you, Patrick. She knows there was nothing you could do. I wish you could."
"We're a fine pair, aren't we?" Patrick smiled ruefully, his eyes tender as he tilted his head and studied her face.
"No change with Noah?" Robin leaned her head against Patrick's hand and nuzzled, making him smile for real. She had stopped by to see Noah before she left the hospital and he had been still furious with her as well then. He was throwing around words like lawsuits and charges and she hadn't had the heart to lay into him again about how he was treating his son. It didn't seem to get through anyway. Eventually he would come around, she would just have to support Patrick until he did.
"You look tired. How about you crawl in here and stay tonight?" Patrick invited quietly, with none of his usual bravado.
"How about just for a little while?" Robin countered and let him pull up the covers and move over on the bed to give her room. "We could get in trouble for this," she said as she kicked off her shoes and climbed into the bed.
"After everything we've done this is what you're worried about getting in trouble for?" Patrick snorted.
"Good point." Robin sighed as he cradled her in his arms. It didn't even occur to her that their closeness was unprecedented. That the most affection they had exchanged was a few hot kisses in inopportune moments. For both of them the intimacy just felt right. They talked quietly of the medical studies Patrick had recently read, argued on a few points and talked about what they would do once Patrick was out of the hospital. They fell asleep holding on to each other.
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