Author's Note: Dialogue taken from General Hospital.

Chapter 8

The sirens were blaring and Patrick was racing against time trying to get his wife out of the lab. It was locked but he still believed he could save his wife. He saw Robin on the other side coughing and gasping for breath.

"Listen to me. You have to listen to me. I'm begging you," Robin pleaded.

Patrick banged his hand against the door. "No! There's got to be another way!" he yelled. He couldn't lose Robin. He needed her.

"Patrick do you love me?" she asked coughing from the smoke.

"Yes. You're my whole life," he answered trying to figure out a way to open the doors.

Robin looked at him with sorrowful eyes. "You're my whole life. You and Emma are my whole life, okay?"

He pulled on the door not ready to give up. It couldn't end this way. "Robin, no." She called his name. "What?" he asked her.

"You have to go. The doors are about to lock," she pleaded. No, he couldn't accept this as defeat. He was going to save his wife.

"I'm not leaving you! I'm not going anywhere!" he yelled. She was now crying because she knew her time was almost up. The realization hit her hard. All she could do now was save her husband.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm in your heart like you are in mine. I'm never leaving you. You got to go," she said coughing as the smoke continued to cloud the lab.

He pressed his hands to the window. "Robin I love you." She matched his hand with hers.

"I love you so much. I'll love you always." They heard the countdown as it reached to one. In one last ditch effort, Patrick said, "I'm going to get help." He ran out the main doors yelling for help as the lab exploded.

Patrick woke up and sat up in bed. He tried to calm his breathing as he remembered his wife dying in that lab. He hadn't had that dream for months. He looked over to see Sabrina still sleeping peacefully. He climbed out of bed and went to the living room.

He sat on the couch running his hand through his hair. That dream blindsided him and all the emotions he felt during that night came roaring back. The fear, the sadness, the anger, the sorrow enveloped him. He let the tears fall as he glanced at the wedding photo of them. He picked it up and stared at Robin.

When he took that picture, he never dreamed he would end up a widower. They were supposed to grow old together. They were supposed to watch Emma grow into an adult and get married and have children of her own. They maybe could have had more children. The possibilities were endless for them.

They'd gone through hell and back only for her to lose her life. "Robin," he whispered choking back the sobs. He ran his fingers over her face. "All the plans we had."

He heard feet shuffling. "Patrick," Sabrina called out. He wiped his eyes and put the picture quietly on the table. He got up and followed her to the room. He couldn't fall asleep though. His thoughts were on Robin for the rest of the night.

His day at the hospital was no better. He had to look at Franco who did nothing but remind him of Jason. She put her life on the line for him only for him to bite the bullet months later. He heard Felix and Sabrina come in.

"Dr. Drake, I need to check the patient's vitals," Sabrina said.

"After I'm done Nurse Santiago," he shot back. Sabrina arched an eyebrow. He had been in a bad mood ever since he got to work this morning.

"Who pissed you off this morning?" Franco asked.

Patrick ignored him and continued examining him. "You're neurological signs are good. I'll come back and check on you tomorrow. Congratulations, you get to live to create whatever havoc you want."

"I thought doctors were supposed to have a bedside manner," Franco said.

"For a psychopath like you, no," he said walking out the room. Sabrina nodded to Felix who checked the vitals instead.

Sabrina went after Patrick. "Patrick," she called out but he ignored her. She ran up to him and placed a hand on his arm. She felt him stiffen. "Patrick, what's going on?"

"Nothing Sabrina. Go back to work," he said.

She shook her head no. "Patrick, please. Talk to me," she said.

He rolled his eyes. "You want me to talk. Fine," he said. He shoved the chart in her hands. "Go file and do your job. We're not paying you to be idle." He walked off and brushed past Elizabeth.

She turned to Sabrina. "What's with Patrick?" Elizabeth asked.

"I don't know," she said softly. "I better do my job. I wouldn't want to be idle."

"Hey, I'm sure he didn't mean it. I'll go check on him," he said. Elizabeth figured he'd be in the break room. She was right. He was clearly agitated about something. He slammed his locker and sat on the bench. "Patrick," she said soothingly.

"Go away Liz," he muttered.

She crossed her arms. "I know something is wrong. Would you talk to me?"

"Why does everyone want to talk all of the sudden?" he yelled causing her to flinch. He saw it and his gaze softened. "Sorry, it's…Robin."

"What about Robin?" she asked. He looked up at the ceiling trying to collect himself. "I can stop thinking about her ever since I went to her grave. Last night I dreamt about the lab explosion."

Liz sat beside him and placed a hand on his knee. "I miss her too. She became one of my close friends after Emily. Hey, I'm here. It helps to vent to somebody who knew her."

He closed his eyes and let the pain overtake him. "I thought I was moving forward. I did what she wanted. I found someone but then I dream about her and I get to thinking how our life should have been. I miss her so much. I know I have Sabrina but-

"Patrick, the pain of losing someone never really goes away. You are learning to deal with it. It's been over a year but nobody expects you to forget about her. She's a part of you and she always will be," Liz said.

"I just wish I could have just one day to spend with her and Emma. I'd take her to Paris with those plane tickets I bought," he said his voice cracking.

"I'm sure she would have loved that," Liz said taking his hand in hers. "She's watching over us every single day."

He chuckled through the tears. "That's what I say to Emma all the time."

Liz smiled. "I say it to my boys about Jake. I'm sure they're watching us together. He's probably talking her ear off about motorcycles."

He laughed. "Probably. I wish it didn't hurt that much," he admitted.

"Over time," Liz said. "I'll give you a minute," she said softly.

She got up to leave. "Liz, thank you. You really are a good friend."

She winked at him. "Remind me to charge you for the therapy session," she joked.

He smiled. "Do I get a friend discount?"

She pretended to think. "Just this once." She left out of the break room. He collected himself and went out.

He went to the work station to see Anna. "Anna," he said.

She turned around. "Hi Patrick," she said. "Are you alright?" she asked noticing his eyes. "Yeah. It's been a rough day," he admitted. She creased her eyebrows waiting for him to explain. "I'm fine."

"Alright, just take it easy," she said.

"I will," he said. He looked up to see Sabrina on the other side. "Excuse me for a moment."

He walked to Sabrina. "Sabrina," he said. She turned around not happy to see him. "I'm sorry I said those things. Robin has been on my mind lately."

Her eyes softened. "Emma told me you all went to visit her grave. Patrick, I'm not going to get upset or anything. Would you please just talk to me? Whether it's about Robin or anything related to her, I want to be there to listen."

"Thank you. I appreciate that," he said.

Anna went to Franco's room to question him more. "Mr. Franco," she said.

"Ah, Quartermaine," he corrected.

Anna nodded her head. "Mr. Quartermaine. I need to verify your statements. Are you sure Sonny Corinthos was responsible for your shooting?"

"Crystal clear. He's made repeated threats on my life Commissioner. I have witnesses who saw him threaten me. His enforcer beat the crap out of me. He almost succeeded in killing me. I'm glad his enforcer was a lousy shot. I guess you can't get good hit men these days."

"Mr. Fran…um, Quartermaine. I need to remind you that giving a false police statement is a crime," Anna said.

"I know and I'm not lying," he said. "I want to be there when you arrest Sonny."

Anna refrained from rolling her eyes. "Take care Franco." Anna said and walked back to the nurse's station and said goodbye to Sabrina and Patrick.

When she got to her office, she was surprised to see Luke sitting there. "Luke, you're back."

He turned around. "Hey slim."

They hugged and Anna went behind her desk. "What brings you by? Wait, did you take care of your problem?"

"That's taken care of. I have a bigger problem to lay at your feet," he said.

"What is it?"

"Jerry Jacks," he said.

"I thought he was dead," Anna said.

"No and there's a chance he could be in Port Charles."

"How do you know this?" she questioned.

"I saw him in Germany. He's the one who gave me the cure. Anyway, I think he has something up his sleeve. We need to catch him before he does something stupid," Luke said.

"How long do you suppose Jerry has been in Port Charles?" she asked.

"Maybe a couple of weeks."

Anna propped her elbow on the table. "Really? Not saying I believe you but Franco was shot on the docks a couple of days ago. It was a professional hit but Franco is alive."

Luke's eyes widened. If Robin was the one who took the shot then this wasn't going to end well. However, he had a gut feeling she was the culprit. "Do you have any suspects?"

"Sonny is the prime suspect. Franco said Sonny was responsible. Of course Sonny denies any involvement."

"Naturally," Luke stated. "Are you sure Franco is not yanking your chain?"

"I don't know. He's probably trying to stick it to him but the bullet we found matches the bullet at the first failed assassination attempt. It has Sonny written all over it."

"You know Sonny is an old friend. I would hate to see him go to prison for something he didn't do," Luke said. He needed to talk to Sonny and somehow frame Jerry and get Robin out of this mess.