A/N: Okay, so I had most of this chapter written yesterday but I didn't get a chance to finish and post. And then today I had to have computer problems. But all is fine and well now so I can finally post this:D As I say at the beginning of every chapter, I love you guys! You all give the best feedback and I love reading every single word. And I'm so glad that you haven't given up on this story after it took that sudden turn. :D So thanks again and I hope you like this chapter too! And remember, feedback is my friend!

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?

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Unexpected Betrayal

Chapter Fourteen: Tired and Drained

"Patrick?" The woman called after him as the tall man stormed out of the room, not bothering to even look in their direction. "Patrick?" She followed him out the door, yelling his name the whole way. Obviously, this whole situation was getting to him and obviously the conversation with his father hadn't been the best. This wasn't easy on anyone but especially for Patrick. The woman he loves is laying a hospital bed and his father is behind bars for putting her there.

"Anna! Please?" He turned on her, his eyes filled with tears. "Let me do this on my own."

She nodded, knowing that the once strong man was falling to pieces right in front of her. His heart was breaking for her daughter, her little girl. And now to find out that your father was responsible and to make a choice between the woman you love and your father… It's an impossible situation that no one should ever have to experience. "Are-are you going to go to the hospital?"

"I don't know…" Patrick said softly.

"Maybe you just need to spend some time with her…"

He turned around ignoring her speaking to him and started walking toward his car. He yelled over his shoulder, "Don't follow me."

She hadn't known the man very long but it was obvious to anyone the strain that this situation was putting on him. From what she had heard from Robin, he wasn't a man to give in to emotion easily, he had a hard time saying how he was feeling. He would often bottle all of his feelings and emotion inside.

Footsteps were heard behind her and she turned to find a short brunette standing in front of her, out of breathe she asked, "Okay, where is he? Where is the man who put my best friend in that hospital bed?"

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He opened the door carefully, staring in at the man before taking the steps and walking in. There was so much that he wanted to say to him on behalf of his daughter, on behalf of the man that loved his daughter. He wanted to scream, yell, curse him up one side and down the other but looking at the man in front of him now was enough to make him think twice. At this moment, Noah Drake wasn't his favorite person but he heard some of the things that Patrick said…

"Say what you want to say and get out." Noah said coldly, there wasn't much more that he could take. He knew things were only going to be worse with Robin's uncle being the police commissioner.

He didn't listen to the man and instead took a seat across from him. He waited silently. He waited for him to lift his head, to show him some sort of recognition. "Do you understand what you did?"

Noah looked up, fire burning in his eyes. "Of course I know what I did!"

"I'm not just talking about what you did to my daughter. I'm talking about the pain that you caused your son, the disappointment." Robert's voice remained calm. "He let himself trust you again. He let you back into his life after everything that happened in your past and you did the one thing that you promised you wouldn't do again. The thing that caused all of that tension between you and your son in the first place."

"I don't remember asking for another lecture. I just heard all that I needed to from my son."

"The man that just walked out of this room isn't your son." Robert stated. "You and I have seen the toll that all of this has taken on that man. You know better than anyone what it feels like to lose the person who controls your heart, runs your world. Your son needed you…" He stared at the man, shaking his head in disappointment. "And my daughter needs me because you made the decision to drink and get behind the wheel of a vehicle."

"You finished yet?" Noah was shutting himself off. If he didn't allow anything that anyone said affect him, he would feel no pain. He wouldn't care what happened to him, he wouldn't feel the guilt that would slowly eat him alive.

"No, no I'm not finished." Robert was growing angry with the man's cool demeanor. "You left your son when he needed you the most. You were too selfish to stand beside him as he laid your wife in the ground! You only care about the pain that you were going through, the torture you were feeling. What about your son? The boy who on the same day he lost his mother to the uncontrollable, he lost his father to the bottle!"

"Who are you to lecture me and accuse me of being a bad father? You let your daughter believe you were dead for fifteen years!" Noah spat.

"It's better than knowing I was alive and I didn't love her enough to keep what was left of our already shattered family together." Robert was breathing heavily and staring down at the man. "You are a sorry excuse for a father, even compared to me. I hope the one night of drinking was worth it, because you just lost the only thing you had left in this life."

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He walked through the door, completely drained. Both physically and emotionally. He wanted this nightmare to be over, he wanted to come home at night and find her standing there waiting for him. He needed her, now more than ever. He felt himself slipping, losing control. It was a strange feeling being so angry with his father once more. They had come so far, or at least he had thought they'd come so far. Turns out he was wrong. He was wrong about everything.

Everywhere he looked she was there, memories of times when things were perfect. Memories of times they spent with him. There was the blanket that he bought her for Christmas last year, the nick knacks, the photos…One in particular that caught his eye. It was of the three of them just a few months earlier at a part thrown at the hospital. Looking at their faces in the picture, you never would have guessed that they would be here. The three looked so happy, so content. They were standing strong through everything together. Everyone around saw their connection and never questioned the love they held for each other. Together they were untouchable.

But they weren't those things anymore. They weren't happy like in that picture. No longer were they any kind of family.

The frame felt cold in his shaking hands as he fought to keep the tears at bay. He wished he could go back to when things were perfect, or at least they seemed that way. He wanted to be able to hold her in his arms at night and wake up to her smiling face in the morning. He wanted to go into work and have a civilized conversation with his father, fight over a patient, and then have dinner with the both of them at night. But when he went to the hospital again, his father wouldn't be there. She wouldn't be coming home with him and curling up under the covers…

The sound of glass breaking and shattering echoed through the apartment as the frame bounced off the wall and fell on the floor. He stood unmoving, breathing heavily. His anger was getting the best of him. His anger mixed in with the pain. He grabbed the lamp off the end table, throwing it on the floor, feeling a sense of success as it shattered into tiny pieces. He picked up the table throwing it across the room hearing the wood splitting apart. The fire poker… he tore the couch cushions, pillows. He broke the mirror, vases.

He slid down the wall, in the corner, away from the mess. He was just so tired. Tired of acting like none of this was affecting him, tired of waiting and nothing happening, tired of giving a piece of himself and getting hurt. He was tired of being disappointed. Finally, it had seemed things were getting better; he and Noah were growing closer… He was tired of being alone. He needed his father. He needed Robin. For once, he was willing to admit that he couldn't do this alone, and there was no around to help.

Everything now lay shattered on the floor while he crouched, tears flowing freely down his face. His hands and entire body were shaking as he took in the site of his destruction. He couldn't hold it in any longer. He couldn't pretend that he was strong and none of this was affecting him. He was always so great at hiding his feelings, never letting anyone see how truly vulnerable he was, but not this time. Not when it felt like he was slowly losing everything around him.

--

He didn't know what to say when he turned the corner and saw her family sitting in the chairs. He wanted to say something to them, anything. He didn't want them blaming him. He hated what his father did to Robin, to them. None of them deserved any of the pain that he caused. He glanced at each one, recognizing a new face. Brenda Barrett, Robin's best friend. He locked eyes with Robert and then Anna…

But he said nothing as he passed and entered her room.

He wasn't sure what he had been expecting when he arrived at the hospital. Part of him was hoping beyond hope that she woke up and was waiting there for him. And then there was the realistic part that knew the chances of that happening were slim. But even knowing that didn't stop his heart from breaking even more when he opened the door and her body still lay there, lifeless.

He took his same seat, in that same old hard chair. Normally, just sitting in the room with her made all of his pain and worry disappear. Normally, he just needed to see her, to see that she was still breathing to know that she would come out of this. But sitting here now, he held no hope. He wasn't sure of anything anymore.

"This is my fault." He refused to look at her, his eyes focused on the ground. "You shouldn't have had to go through this and if I had just stayed away from you, let you live your life without me, none of this would have happened. If I had walked away before we go too serious…you wouldn't have been walking down that street…

"It seems silly, I know. I know that I have no control over what happened. And I know that if you were awake you would yell at me for even thinking of blaming myself. But it's the truth. I was selfish. I couldn't let you go. Even knowing about your HIV and knowing that I would only end up hurting you, didn't stop me. You came barging into my life, literally, and you wouldn't let me give up on anything. You kept me on my toes. You kept me going when I thought I couldn't make it. You helped me through some of the hardest times in my life."

He finally let his gaze rest on her form, his heart constricting with the pain and the tears threatening to fall once more. "How could he do it? How could he look me in the face every single day, sit by me and try to help me, while knowing all along that he was the one who caused the pain? I thought I could trust him again you know? I mean, I still wasn't making things easy for him but that's who I am. It's going to take awhile for over tens years of mistakes and heartbreaks to be fixed…" He paused, that familiar heat rising in his body. He was growing angrier. "We risked our careers for him! We went against any and all ethics to give him a second chance at life! He told me he was still going to the meetings and they were working. He told me that he didn't want to drink again, he wanted to work through this and be my father…"

He stood, rubbing her cheek with his thumb, so wishing she could open her eyes. Wishing she could respond to his touch. Leaning forward, he kissed her on the forehead, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."