A/N: MUHAHAHAHAHA! That's all I have to say. I knew some of you guessed it at the beginning. I was hoping I had kind of changed your thinking but I guess not. Lol But I'm glad some of you were shocked. Poor Tina, I think she was knocked on her chair. So this chapter is for her because, not for lack of trying, she fought to try and get anything she could out of me. But thank you to all of you for all of your amazing feedback. Especially with that last chapter. I was a little worried to see how much you guys would hate me. I gotta say I'm happy to not have any hate mail, threatening letters, tomatoes in my inbox or anything. So thank you for that. But mostly, thanks for the feedback! You guys are the best! Oh, I don't really know when the next update will be out because school starts at the end of next month and I have three books and other work I have to do, and I have a couple other stories that I have to work on getting an update out for. But hopefully I can work on getting another one out soon. Thanks again for all the feedback and keep it coming:D

Summary: Robin and Patrick are the happiest they have ever been and falling more and more in love everyday. What happens when Robin's life is threatened and someone close to the both of them is at fault? How will Patrick cope and where will they go from here?

--

Unexpected Betrayal

Chapter Thirteen: Time Changes Everything

In only a matter of seconds, things can change forever.

Sometimes it's as small as a broken nail or sometimes larger like almost taking a life, losing the person you love. Most people move through life not really thinking of what could happen, the different possibilities and ways that someone could be taken from you; making it that much more alarming when things turn upside down.

And things were going so well in every aspect of his life when he suddenly lost control. He was getting his career back on track and his reputation was being recognized for what it once was, he was reconnecting with friends and colleagues from the past. But most importantly, his relationship with his son was starting to take a turn. They were talking and being honest with one another, spending time together; things they hadn't done since before his mother died. But of course, he couldn't be happy and content, he had to ruin it. It was what always happened. Instead of staying strong and not giving into the temptation, he gave in. He took that first drink and couldn't stop.

The pain of that night… he wasn't even sure why it affected him so badly. Maybe it got to him because it his and Patrick's first surgery ever together and they failed? The two most talented surgeons in the country, definitely in the hospital, couldn't save one life. But maybe it was because the case was so strikingly similar to his wife's? Whatever the cause it didn't matter, he found himself at Jake's and never looked back.

It seemed so long ago now as he sat on the cold, hard chair, his wrists connected by a pair of metal handcuffs. So much had changed in a short amount of time. He remembered the surgery, he remember calling the code. He remembered the defeated look on his son's face as they walked out of the operating room, remembered telling the family. He remembered driving to the bar and ordering the drink. He also remembered staring into the half full glass of scotch. But he couldn't remember taking that first drink, feeling the strong liquid as it slid down his throat. It was wrong. But the temptation was too strong, he couldn't fight. He just knew he didn't take the time to stop and think of who he was hurting and disappointing. He knew it wasn't right but honestly, how many people shy away from what they shouldn't do?

"I haven't seen you in here for awhile." Coleman commented as he wiped down the counter top for the fifth time since he took a seat.

"It's been awhile." Noah nodded; his eyes were focused on the dark liquid in the glass in front of him.

"Your son and that lovely Dr. Scorpio were in here a few nights ago…"

Somewhere along the way, Coleman's voice had grown silent; disappearing completely from his thoughts and his world grew softer, lighter. He didn't even remember swallowing the first glass or ordering the next. But he remembered that feeling. He felt as if he was floating, he didn't have a care in the world. He felt nothing; cold, empty.

"Let me call you a cab, man." Coleman walked up behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder to keep him in his chair. It was obvious he was too drunk to drive. Once he thought he wasn't going anywhere he went behind the bar, turning his back to make the pone call. When he turned back around, he was gone.

He stumbled out the door, feeling lighter with each step. He had to make it to his car. If he did, he would be fine, just a few more steps. He fumbled with his keys, barely feeling the cool metal against the palm of his hand. He didn't even pay any attention to Coleman calling out to him as he slid inside and closed the door behind him.

He paused for only a moment, resting his forehead on the steering wheel. His head was already pounding and he felt as if he could be gone in a minute; close his eyes and block out everything until the light of day tomorrow. His head would only pound worse in a few hours and he would be sick to his stomach… He knew the routine all too well.

He slid the key in the ignition as he willed himself to lift his head from the steering wheel. It was dark but not too dark. It wasn't really all that late. "Nine-thirty." He thought when he glanced at the bright green numbers on his radio. He made it to his car, now to get back to his apartment and everything would be fine.

He remembered when he used to have drink "with the guys" after a long shift. They used to sit in the back booth in the tiny bar on the corner, down the street from the hospital. They all had only one or two drinks, knowing that all had wives and children waiting for them at home. Most nights, they joked about his seemingly perfect life. None of them ever seemed quite as happy as he was. And then, within a matter of a few hours, everything changed. Instead of waiting until the end of his shift, after his wife's surgery, he went to that same bar, sat in the same booth. But he didn't go home after only one or two that night and he didn't have a wife waiting for him any longer.

And now it was a different city, different bar, different place called home but it would still be empty when he arrived there.

He made the sharp turn, now lost in his thoughts of his dead wife, his son's mother. He paid no mind to his direction or the things he hit in search of his destination. The tears pooled in his eyes blurred his already impaired vision. He didn't notice that he was no longer in the correct lane, see the headlights in his rearview mirror, or hear the honking horn. He paid no mind to the slight bump he felt as the car traveled up onto the curb or to the sudden thud on his hood, or the screeching tires of the car that plowed into his back.

He honestly didn't even remember driving away. He should have turned around and gone back into the bar, or just walked. He should have done anything besides decided to get behind the wheel of a couple ton vehicle and maneuver it through the city streets. It was yet another mistake that he could add to his list of many. But this one was different, very different. Before, his mistakes never really hurt anyone but him. Well not life threatening anyway. But this time, he not only hurt Robin, almost ending her life, but he ripped his son to shreds. There was no changing that.

The door opened and there stood the man that consumed his thoughts. His son; so much like him but so different. There were the obvious physical characteristics that linked them and the cocky and confident attitude. But the man that stood before him was stronger than he ever thought of being. The love of his life, the only woman he ever allowed himself to feel anything for, was lying in a hospital bed and had been for the past week but he never once faltered. He never left her side unless forced to and yes, he did get scared from time to time but that was his life in that room. Everything that he was and everything he did was for her.

"How is Robin?" He asked breaking the tense silence.

"Don't speak her name." Patrick seethed, the anger flowing through every inch of his body.

"Why are you wasting your time here? Why aren't you at the hospital?" Noah questioned but Patrick didn't reply, just taking the seat across from his father, crossing his arms in front of his body. "Just say whatever you want to say already! You're wasting your time with me when you should be with Robin at the hospital. She needs you…"

"Don't tell me what she needs." Patrick said calmly. Too calmly. "There really isn't much to say…" Patrick shrugged. He knew this was driving his father crazy. He wanted him to scream, yell, hit something, do anything to show how he felt. "It's kind of funny that when I was little, I idolized you. It sounds cliché but you were my hero. And now…" He shook his head, ashamed, his eyes filled with disappointment. "I don't even know why. You are the last person that anyone should ever look up to."

His words stung but he took his hit. He was trying to hurt him as badly as he was hurting inside, as much as he had hurt him. He was building his walls, putting up his defenses. His heart had been ripped out of his chest and stomped on by his father and after he trusted him with it once more.

"I guess the only question I have is why? Why did it take this long for you to tell me? Why did you keep it a secret? But most of all, why Robin? Why do this to the one person that you knew meant everything to me?"

"I didn't do this on purpose Patrick."

"Well why else would you do this? Unless you were drinking… But you wouldn't do that because you promised me that you were done." Patrick knew what had happened. He knew that his father drank himself into yet another stupor and got behind the wheel of a car and almost killed Robin. "You promised me in front of Robin that you would go to the meetings; you were done with the alcohol." Patrick stated and Noah bowed his head, giving Patrick the confirmation he knew was coming. "And I believed you! I let myself think that you could actually be the man that mom loved and was proud of. I let myself think that you could actually be my father, the man that I had looked up to!" He was yelling now. It didn't matter who heard him. "But all you managed to do was disappoint me again! You turned to alcohol when you lost mom so unlock your liquor cabinet because you just lost someone else."

"I know that! I know I made a mistake!" Noah finally broke.

"A mistake? This is much more that a mistake, dad." Patrick spat. "What, you thought that I should see what you went through with mom? You thought I should feel that same pain? It's kind of ironic really? That would make the whole transformation complete, I would be you, the man that I modeled myself after."

"I never want you to feel the pain that I felt when I lost your mother!" Noah stood angrily, all understanding had disappeared. "I love Robin too and I would never do anything to hurt her or you!"

"You love her?" Patrick stood also, staring at his father through squinted eyes. "You don't love her! If you did, you wouldn't have taken everything that she ever said or did for you and for me and thrown it back in her face when you decided to have another drink! You wouldn't have hit her with your CAR!" Patrick fumed. As much as he hated to admit it, his father was lucky he was in the police station or he wasn't sure what he would do to him.

"I didn't remember anything from that night!" Noah finally yelled. He was sure it was the only way he was going to get his son to hear a thing that he said.

"Didn't remember? You didn't remember getting in the car and hitting a person?" Patrick asked disbelieving. "You know what? I don't want to hear this. I don't want to hear your excuses. Because that's all they are, excuses. I gave you another chance; I let you back into my life after everything that happened between us. I opened up to you about my feelings for Robin and my feelings after mom died." He shook his head, tears suddenly aching behind his eyes. "I thought that I finally had my father back."

"You did! You do!"

"What do I have? I have an alcoholic father who can't give up his drink for his son! I have a woman that I love with everything inside me lying in a hospital bed because of you!"

Noah sat back down in his chair defeated. "I know it probably doesn't mean much now… but I'm sorry."

"You're right. That means nothing to me. So many times I have heard those words from you but they won't fix things this time. I forgave you for leaving me at the hospital to find out from a stranger that my mother had died, but you apologized and eventually I let it go. You're my father; it was the right thing to do. I'd already lost one parent, and I had to chance to make things right with you. I just can't do it anymore." His voice wasn't filled to the rim with anger, now he could hear a hint of hurt and sadness blended in.

"What do you mean?" Noah asked confused, his stomach. He knew what he meant. He has really lost his son for good this time.

Patrick stood silently for a moment, watching as the terror passed through is father's eyes. There was just no forgiving him this time. He said nothing as he turned and walked out the door.