As soon as she rings the doorbell her heart speeds up again. She´s waiting for a moment, but there is no one answering the door. She rings again, but still no answer. "I´m such an idiot. Of course he isn´t there. He must be at the hospital with Loretta and James."

So, Robin picks her phone and starts dialing Barney´s number. Fortunately, he answers quickly.

She finally hears Barney´s voice, "Hey, what´s up?"

"Hey. I´m standing right in front of your mom´s house, but ummm…"

"You are here already? I´m at the hospital! I didn´t expect you to be here so quickly. To be honest, I wasn´t really sure you would show up at all."

"Why would I say I´m packing my stuff, when I´m not actually coming?"

"I don´t know, I´m just… I don´t know. I´ve been in the hospital 24/7 for almost a week now. I can´t think at the moment.", Barney sighs.

"That´s ok. What hospital is it? Should I come over?"

"No, wait. Stay there. I´m coming. I´ll be there in about fifteen minutes."

"You don´t have to come immediately. I can come to the hospital or pick up a coffee somewhere."

"No, it´s okay, really. I promised my mom to get her a book from home anyway."

"Okay, great. How´s James?"

"Uh, can I tell you, when we see each other in person? I don´t really like to tell you all the details over the phone."

"Yeah…sure. So, see you soon!"

Barney ended the phone call without any goodbye. Robin stares at her quiet phone. "He sounded so broken and exhausted. Poor, Barney. Why didn´t he tell me earlier? I could´ve supported him." About ten minutes later, her phone rings again. Without looking who the caller is, she picks it up.

"Hi, Robin. How are you" - Shoot, it was Ted.

"Hi, Ted. I´m fine, thanks, how are you?"

"You sound weird. Everything okay?"

Robin hesitates for a second. Should she tell him? Would Barney want that? But if she did, he would want an answer, why she knows about it and why she is at Loretta´s house. She decides against it, "No, sorry, everything´s fine. I didn´t sleep well and expected a call from my boss, so I was surprised when I heard your voice."

"Oh, I hope it´s not a bad surprise", Ted says with a flirty note in his voice.

Robin rolls her eyes. Is he serious now? Their date has been over two weeks ago and since then he´s tried to flirt with her over and over again. Why didn´t he get it that she just wants to be friends? She really tried to give him subtle hints, that she´s not interested in him that way, but he didn´t seem to get them. She needs to tell him, she doesn´t want to date him blatantly. Robin takes a deep breath, but before she can answer Ted, a cab arrives and Barney gets out of it.

"Robin? Are you there?", Ted interrupts while Robin watches how Barney pays the cabdriver.

"Yeah, I´m there, but ummm… I kind of have to go. Sorry. I´ll call you later. Bye!"

Before Ted can answer her, she ends the call and turns her attention to Barney. The cab is driving away and Barney stands there without saying a word. Robin remains silent too and comes closer to him. Before they say anything Barney falls into Robin´s open arms and they hug for a while.