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If You're Not the One - 26
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"Mind if we come in?" Brenda peeked her head into Patrick's ICU room. He was laying in bed his eyes riveted to the television, when he turned to look at her she could see his relief. It made her stomach sink because she knew that he probably assumed the "we" included Robin.
"Come in, come in." He clicked off the television and waved her in. His smile turned into a frown when he saw that the other half of "we" was Dr. Brian Weaver the other staff neurosurgeon, indeed the very one that Robin had overheard making the bet with Patrick in the locker room. "What's happened to Robin?"
Patrick's heart stopped, it seemed to him literally, the moment he saw Brian come in behind Brenda. He had thought everything was okay. She called, he spoke to her, and she said she was fine. But he was a neurosurgeon, he knew that brain injuries could come on slowly, but dammit so did Robin, she specialized in brain injuries for god's sake! She should have gotten checked out immediately! He should have asked questions, not let her brush him off. Should have not taken it at "I'm fine."
"Tell me what's going on!" Patrick demanded.
He knew he should have trusted his instincts. He'd been uneasy when she called because she had dismissed him so quickly. Since then he'd put it down to a combination of male ego and her being too preoccupied with wanting to tell Alan the news about his sons and daughter that had later been announced on the news. It might be crazy, but he couldn't help now but suddenly question whether her brusque manner was due to confusion caused by the head injury. Yeah, no male ego there.
"We're not sure yet. She was hit in the head and knocked out at the scene, but she woke up quickly," Brian looked over at Brenda for confirmation.
"It was less than a minute, she woke up fine. She didn't even complain about a headache. Not that she would complain." Brenda sighed. Patrick noticed that Dr. Weaver moved closer to the former model, but it was a fleeting observation. All his thoughts were on Robin and treatment options.
"She treated a bunch of patients and she was with her friend here in an ER exam room when she collapsed. I examined her and she's having CT scans done right now."
"What about…" Patrick was about to rattle off symptoms, but Brian interrupted him.
"She hasn't regained consciousness so we don't know what other symptoms she's experiencing. Her pupils are equal and reactive, her reflexes are completely normal. The only thing we know right now is that she's unconscious. It's either a concussion; there might be a slow intercranial bleed that may or may not be causing a subdural hematoma."
"I know what it could be. I want to see the scans and I want to see Robin." Patrick flipped his blanket off and moved to get out of bed. "And if she needs surgery I'm doing it."
"Whoa, whoa." Brian moved forward and put a restraining hand on Patrick's arm. "You just got out of major surgery yourself, buddy."
"Either help me or get the hell out of my way!" Patrick snarled.
Sensing the coming battle, Brenda stepped in between the men. "Brian, you knew he'd want oversee the case, that's why we came here together."
"I came because I thought I'd be able to set his mind at ease and give him more technical information than you could." Brian looked down at Brenda then over her head at Patrick. "And that he'd trust my ability to take care of his girlfriend."
"You came here to help me bring him over to see her." Brenda smiled as she revealed her true intentions. Won over by her smile, Brian threw his hands up and let Brenda go get Patrick's robe. At least he shouldn't have to see the guy's ass if he was going to go along with this. "I'm still in charge of this case, Drake."
Patrick just looked at Brian, the threat in his eyes very clear. Robin recovered fully or there would be hell to pay.
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"Dammit, Scorpio. You're a doctor, you should have known something was wrong." Patrick was sitting at the side of Robin's bed talking to her quietly. He rattled off the symptoms in his head. She would have had a headache, she had known that she had been unconscious and she probably didn't remember the moment of impact, clearly she was confused when she didn't swoon at the sound of his voice on the phone, all of which she should have taken as warning signs. But of course, he thought to himself, Robin Scorpio was more concerned about other people than having herself checked out. "When you wake up I'm going to kick your ass. First I'm going to kiss you and then I'm going to kick your ass."
Patrick winced and adjusted his lean to a position that put less pressure on his incision. "Given your strong moral code and respect for life how in the hell did you ever get involved with mobsters? How many bombs and bullets have you dodged for that scum?" It wasn't until the news report this afternoon that it hit him that these were real life mobsters - killers, people who put no value on any life that got in the way of them making money – and that somehow ran around this town like respectable members of society and got women like Brenda and Robin to love them. It was unfathomable to him, all of it. Most especially that they had the blessing of Robin in their lives and threw it away, but then really it had been her choice to walk away no matter what she thought. They didn't deserve her. He wasn't sure that he did either, but he sure as hell wasn't going to let her go. Certainly not to some head trauma when he was the best neurosurgeon on the United States and she was one of the top brain researchers in the world.
Patrick had studied the scans and argued with Brian over the best course of treatment. He'd even brought them to his dad for his third opinion, which opinion was that Patrick shouldn't be the one treating Robin. He'd opened his mouth to argue before he'd seen the pain in his father's eyes and realized that this was about his mother and not anything to do with his opinion of Patrick's talents as a doctor. He was sure his father knew that he had no intention of relinquishing Robin's care to anyone.
"You've put me in quite a bind, Dr. Scorpio. If I didn't know better I'd think you'd planned this." Patrick smiled ruefully and shook his head. "Surgery or drugs? If you were anyone else I'd choose surgery with no hesitation. Now, I'm considered a traitor to my kind, but it's not so easy now when it's someone that I love." Patrick chuckled. "There, I said it, but in order to hear it you have to wake up."
"Yeah, so that makes it not so easy to take you into the OR and drill a hole in your head to alleviate the pressure. Especially when you have a drug combination for just this type condition, yeah, I'll admit that too. I read that paper you had published last year and now I've read your notes. And here we are once again with nothing to do but wait. You have one shot for this to work and then we do it my way."
Patrick lifted her hand and kissed it and continued to watch her breathe.
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"I'm sorry about Emily." Brenda sat in the waiting room with Nikolas Cassadine.
"Thanks. She was doing what made her happy, Sonny made her happy." Nikolas shrugged. "I feel like the angel of death, all the women I love die. Then again, I am a Cassadine."
"You may be a Cassadine, but dark and brooding doesn't work for you." If anyone was the angel of death it was Sonny, but there was no point in saying that now. Brenda leaned forward and put her hand on Nikolas' "Robin will appreciate you being here while you're dealing with all this."
"The only other option was going out and getting stinking drunk and making a scene somewhere or sitting around the mausoleum I call home and being dark and brooding. Robin's inspired me to deal with things differently lately. I don't want to disappoint her." Nikolas tapped nervously on the arm of the chair he was sitting in across from Brenda.
"She has a way of making you want to be better, doesn't she?" Jax said as he handed Brenda a cup of coffee. Idly thinking about talking to Nikolas later about his idea of lake front condos on Spoon Island.
"Is that why you and I aren't at each other's throats right now?" Nikolas asked Jax who sat down on the couch next to Brenda.
"Could be?" Jax made a thoughtful expression and then took a sip of his coffee. "You really should get some rest," Jax turned his attention to his former wife.
"You were in the same explosion I was," Brenda pointed out and then turned away as if the subject was settled.
"Did they find Sonny's casket?" Nikolas asked, smirking at the little scene he'd witnessed.
"We think that's where the explosives were packed," Mac Scorpio said as he walked into the waiting room. "Someone was making a point."
Brenda frowned and squeezed Jax's comforting hand back. She didn't know how to explain it to him of all people that she didn't really feel a connection with Sonny anymore. That kiss on the docks that Jax called off their wedding over really was goodbye and once she had left Port Charles the spell faded away - just as it had for Robin when she went to Paris. All the drama and danger and bullshit talk about loyalty when all it meant was standing by as Sonny and Jason killed people and broke the law seemed like the biggest stupidity imaginable. It shamed her and it wasn't something she shared with many people in her life. Living in Italy now was the ultimate of ironies, organized crime was no joke there and the players made Sonny and Jason look like child's play. But in the end it didn't matter, dead was dead and all Brenda really felt was sadness for what was and relief that it would never be again. Maybe later it would help Jax to hear that?
"I want to see my daughter," Robert walked in and demanded.
"Patrick is with her right now," Brenda let go of Jax's hand and stood up. She had a strong sense that another battle was about to take place. Walking in right behind Robert was…
"No, I'd like to see my daughter. You chose not to see her for fifteen years you can wait another fifteen years."