I forgot to mention this story is for mature readers since it deals with sex and its aftermath. The language is not candy-coated.

Two

Patrick strode towards the nurse's station his mind still whirling from what he had just heard. Robin couldn't be, wouldn't be moving to Rome without talking to him first. Not to mention the fact, he told himself, she would have to be thinking and planning it for months before she did anything. Unless, another voice piped in, she had already been thinking about it for a while. He felt like a stone had been shoved into his stomach.

He put his clipboard down on the counter at the nurse's station and the date at the top of the form he had been filling out glared out at him. When had it become July? He frowned. He and Robin had been going strong for over a month? It was Memorial Day that first time. Then they had celebrated July 4th with fireworks of their own. Then Bastille Day – he had completely contrived celebrating that one in honor of Robin's time in France as an excuse for another private celebration – had come and gone. Almost two months, he blew out a shocked breath.

He'd normally have been bored weeks ago or the woman would have gotten clingy and he'd had moved on. But he wasn't bored and Robin wasn't clingy. Why the hell wasn't she clingy? Because she was planning on leaving anyway?

Love is not what Patrick and I are about. Now, if you're talking about sleeping with him -- well, that's another story.

But as for falling in love with you or wanting a commitment -- I mean, please. I might as well pursue a relationship with a high school senior...

Unbidden, the various things she had said over the past months repeated in his head. Time after time he had impressed upon her that this was no-strings sex and would never be anything more. Time after time she had come back in full agreement, often with a little dig. He always had a vague sense of dissatisfaction when she said things like that and he had put it down to thinking she was lying. The knot in his gut now told him otherwise.

"Hello, Dr. Drake." Patrick blinked and focused on the nurse he hadn't even noticed standing in front of him on the other side of the counter. Gregory, he saw on her strategically placed name tag. His face settled into an automatic smirk.

"Well, hello, Nurse Gregory." He let his eyes drift very obviously to her name tag and back up to her face. "What can I do for you?" he asked, even as he noted that she didn't have freckles and her blue eyes weren't as pretty as certain other brown ones.

"I'm new here, Dr. Drake, maybe you could help me…"

He knew the exact moment Robin came up behind him. He not only heard the click of her sexy, spiky heels, but the air always felt as if it was electrified when she was around. His grin widened as he imagined the picture he made talking to Nurse, he looked at her name tag again, Gregory. If she wanted to move to Rome without telling him, then he had to make sure that he wasn't left holding the bag.

"Hello, Dr. Scorpio," he drawled out as he cast her a sidelong glance, his eyes unconsciously sliding over her body and he didn't even notice he was interrupting Nurse Gregory midstream.

He knew he miscalculated the moment he saw her eyes. She was obviously affected, but he knew it wasn't just jealousy that made her eyes sparkle, it was also disappointment. In him. His stomach dropped at the realization and he completely dismissed Nurse Gregory from his mind. He stood up and put his hands on his hips.

"Hello, Dr. Drake, Nurse Gregory." Robin shot him a pointed look and turned her back on him and put her patient chart down on the counter.

Actually, she grimaced, it was more of a slam. But he was such a pig to be out here flirting with that nurse right in front of everyone and her when she was still sore from his body being inside her.

And you knew that going in, Robin, the little voice in her head reminded her as she thumbed through the patient chart to the lab results she wanted to see before making her treatment recommendations for Dr. Dumont.

The kicker of it was that he hadn't behaved like this in a…she stopped and frowned as she tried to remember the last time she'd seen him give serious flirt to another woman. Not since, she admitted with a sinking stomach, they started sleeping together. Granted, he still gave lines, did his little flirty grin, Robin rolled her eyes, but as far as she knew he hadn't asked anyone else out and she'd never caught him…leaning like that.

What the hell happened between here and the linen closet, she wondered, once again trying vainly to flatten her mussed hair? Maybe he was done? She bit her lip and swallowed. Part of their agreement was that one of them could decide at any time to end it. Maybe this was it.

Tell you what, the little voice asked? No strings means he can ask out and do whatever he wants with anyone else at any time and still be with you. Still, she told the little voice, he was a pig. Then it's a good thing you didn't plan to fall in love with him, the little voice taunted.

"Shut up," she muttered under her breath.

"What was that, Dr. Scorpio?" Dr. Patrick Drake leaned in over Robin's shoulder and said close enough to her ear that his breath caused her to shiver, which only infuriated Robin further.

Robin gritted her teeth and ignored him.

"Did I ever tell you how pretty you look in green? Jealousy becomes you, Dr. Scorpio," he said, hoping to raise her ire and erase the look of disappointment he had seen in her eyes.

"I'm trying to work, do you mind?" Robin continued to make her notes. Patrick continued to hover. "What?" she snapped and looked over at him. She reared her head back when she realized how close he still was leaning on the counter next to her.

"You really don't need to be jealous," he said in a low tone.

"You're right because we're just having no-strings sex. You can maul whomever you want," she said just as quietly before turning back her chart because, to her utter dismay, tears had filled her eyes.

Patrick dropped his eyes and looked thoughtfully down at the counter for a moment. "I'm sorry."

Robin's pen paused in mid-sentence and then she continued writing. "For what?" she tried to make her voice sound light, but it was rough with the tears she was trying to hide.

At the question Patrick frowned. "For, uh, upsetting you." For flirting when I have every right to? Why did it feel like he was doing something wrong? Why did he feel like a heel for hurting her when he was a free agent? Why the hell was he apologizing?

"You didn't upset me." Robin closed the patient chart and looked away. She started when she saw Epiphany watching her and Patrick like a hawk. She cleared her throat and walked up to the nosy nurse and handed her the chart. "This is for Dr. Dumont, please make sure he gets it when he checks in." She turned and walked away before Epiphany could give her more nonsense about Patrick's vulnerable heart. She just might scream.

Patrick stood at the nurse's station watching Robin walk off. He had the fingers of one hand bracketed over his mouth and he was frowning.

"What'dya go and do that for?" Epiphany snarked at Patrick.

"Do what?" He looked at her and then his eyes slid away and he picked up his clipboard from the counter.

"Crawl all over Nurse Gregory when you knew Dr. Robin was on her way over here."

"I wasn't crawling. And I'm allowed to crawl all over whomever I want." Patrick scowled at his clip board.

"Stupid agreements or not, you know better than to shove another woman in her face right after you've hit the eleventh floor linen closet." At Patrick's flush she laughed. "I'm guessing Dr. Robin did something to hurt your precious ego and you were striking back at her instead of using that smart mouth of yours."

Patrick shot her a look and then walked off. Epiphany watched him go and shook her head.

"Do you have any sense of privacy?" Robin asked in exasperation when Patrick came walking into her office.

"Of course I do." He sat down in the chair across from her desk. "I think we should talk."

"Oh, sure." Robin swallowed, bracing herself for him to tell her that their fling had run its course and he was moving on. She felt like such an idiot. She had been so happy these past weeks that she had almost forgotten what their arrangement really was.

"I wanted to make sure that we were still on for tonight. We already got those tickets and…"

Robin blinked and completely stopped listening to what he was saying. The depth of her relief stunned her.

"Hello, Robin?" Patrick leaned forward and waved his hand in front of Robin's face. "You in there?"

"Um, yeah. Sorry. We're still on for tonight." She gave him a small smile.

"Good. Good." Patrick swallowed and just sat there.

"Was there something else?" Robin asked over the pounding of her heart.

Patrick shook his head, but still didn't move.

"Don't you have to get back to work? Surgery?" Robin prompted.

"Yeah. I'll see you at 6:30?"

"Yes."

Patrick stood up and licked his lips and looked down at her, his brown eyes hazy. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, nodded and walked out.

Robin looked at the closed door long after he was gone trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.

TBC