Chapter 33

Nathalie walked hurriedly down the hallway trying to catch up to the mysterious man. "Excuse me" she called after him. Just out of earshot, he kept walking. "Excuse me, sir?" she called a second time.

Bruce let a slow smile cross his face before turning around. "Are you talking to me?" he asked innocently.

Nathalie nodded as she caught up to him. Slightly winded, she put her hand on her hip and exhaled quietly. "I'm so sorry to bother you."

He smiled kindly at her. "Is there something I can help you with?" Nathalie stared at him, drinking in the cut of his jaw, the height of his cheekbones and the way his upper lip curled naturally - he looked every inch her husband and it stole her breath. Bruce gently put his hand on her arm. "Ma'am? Is there something I can help you with?"

Reaching out with a shaky hand, Nathalie lightly traced her fingers under his eyes. She tried to shake the fog from her head. "I am so sorry. You look so very much like someone I know...I knew" she corrected quickly. "You could be his twin."

Bruce smiled at her. "Lucky me by the looks of things."

Her throat constricted and she swallowed several times before speaking again. "Are you by any chance related to the Walkers of Manhattan?"

"I'm sorry, I'm not. My name is Anthony - Anthony Waters."

Nathalie's face fell in disappointment. "Oh" she said quietly. "I'm sorry to have bothered you - thank you for indulging me." Turning on her heel she started to walk away but stopped as his hand closed around her elbow.

"I never got your name."

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry" she stammered. "I'm Nathalie Walker."

He extended his hand. "Nice to meet you Nathalie. I'm sorry I couldn't be who you wanted me to be."

She smiled sadly. "It was nice to meet you as well Anthony."

xxxx

Having convinced Nathalie's parents to wait somewhere else, Nikolas shuffled back in to the waiting room. Lulu and Ethan were flipping through a magazine together. Robin rested her head on Patrick's shoulder, her hand linked through his. Looking up she saw the dark shadows that hung about the edges of his face. She knew that he struggled daily against giving in to the darkness that was a hallmark of the Cassadines. Seeing him now, it was clear that he wasn't winning the battle today.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

He nodded, slinking in to a chair. "The Harders have chosen to wait in another part of the hospital." Patrick smirked at his statement. "Where's Nat?" he asked, looking around the room.

"She saw someone who looked like.." Lulu started.

Patrick cut her off. "Like someone from school" he covered "and she went to see if it was him." Robin looked at him curiously.

"Oh" Nikolas said, stretching out on the chair. "Is the surgery supposed to go on for much longer?" he asked Robin.

"Probably another hour or so." He nodded. Nathalie came back in to the room, pale and slightly crestfallen. Sitting beside Nikolas, she pulled her knees to her chest and leaned in to him. He draped his arm around her protectively. Robin squeezed Patrick's hand. "Want to come with me while I stretch my legs?"

"Sure" he said, getting up. "We'll be back in a couple of minutes." They headed down the hallway in silence, holding hands. "What's on your mind?" he asked.

"What?"

Patrick rolled his eyes impatiently. "Robin you don't have some burning need to 'stretch your legs' as it were so what is it you want to say to me out here that you couldn't say in there?"

"You know me that well?"

"Hello? I married you." He gave her a small smile.

Robin licked her lips aware that she was entering touchy territory. "Why did you cut Lulu off?"

"When?" he asked.

"Hello? I married you too - don't be coy with me, it doesn't suit you."

He sighed and leaned up against the wall, jamming his hands in to his pockets. "Look" he said quietly. "I knew that guy wasn't related to Drew - I know Drew's family and that guy would have had to be some distant cousin but she needed to see for herself. What's the point of telling Nikolas and having him get jealous over a man who is dead?"

Robin put her hand on his wrist. "Speaking from experience?" she asked softly. After the surgery to fix the damage to her frontal and temporal lobes that caused, among other things, visions of her long dead boyfriend, they had never really spoken about how those visions affected Patrick.

He shrugged. "Look you've taught me that loving someone deeply in the past doesn't preclude you from loving again. They love each other and if she wants to tell him she can but he really doesn't need to know - it doesn't mean anything."

"Are you disappointed he's not related to Drew?"

"I knew he wouldn't be."

"That's not what I asked you" she said, rubbing his arm.

"Are you asking me if I miss him?" Robin nodded. Patrick chewed thoughtfully on his bottom lip. "Is there another word than 'miss'? Is there a word that means more than miss because whatever that word is that's how I feel." He shook his head. "I still can't believe that all these things have happened to me and he's not around for me to tell. He was my very best friend in the world - there wasn't anything that happened to me that he didn't know and so yeah, for a brief moment I kind of wished it was him or a double, 'cause I want my best friend back."

Robin linked her fingers through his belt loops. "I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter, it's been almost a year."

"Don't do that" she admonished kindly. "Don't say it doesn't matter because it's obvious it does."

He blinked back tears and smiled at his wife. "I miss him and I wish he was here to take care of his kids and his wife." he whispered. Standing on her tiptoes, Robin captured his lips in a soft, wet kiss.

"Ready to go back?" she asked, taking his hand. He nodded and peeled himself from the wall. They walked quietly back to the room and saw Dr. Garcia sitting down talking to Nathalie. Patrick gripped Robin's hand as he realized he would never get used to being on the waiting end of things in the hospital. Robin rubbed her thumb along his palm reminding him no matter the news they were in it together.

"Can I see her?" Nathalie asked.

Dr. Garcia shook his head. "Not yet. Though the procedure went very well, we will keep her sedated and in isolation for the next 48 hours to give her body a chance."

"What about Oliver?" Her knuckles were white as she held on to Nikolas' hand for dear life.

"He did very well. You can see him in an hour or so when we bring him back from recovery. He'll be groggy and out of it but you can have a brief visit with him." Sensing Nathalie's continuing concern, Dr. Garcia leaned forward and spoke reassuringly. "Nathalie everything went as well as it could and if this treatment is going to work we will know soon."

Her eyes brimmed with tears. "Thank you very much Dr. Garcia - for everything."

"It's my pleasure" he said standing up. Walking past Robin and Patrick, he nodded putting a hand on Patrick's shoulder.

Patrick walked to Nathalie and put his arms around her. "Okay?"

She nodded. "As okay as it can be for now I guess."

"Those are some tough kids you have Nat, they'll be fine." She simply nodded against his chest, relieved that the worst was over.

xxxxx

Bruce sat in Helena's office with his legs up on her desk. He flipped disinterestedly through a magazine while waiting for her. Everything was going according to plan and he couldn't be happier. Not normally a patient person, working with Helena had taught him that big rewards require time. He smirked as he reflected back on his encounter with Nathalie; it had worked better than he had imagined it would. The fear in her eyes, the shaky hands – she was completely wrong footed by his appearance and she would be easy pickings. Licking his lips, he hoped his other target would be as easy.

Gliding into the room, Helena knocked his feet from her desk. "This is an antique from the court of Louis XIV and I will thank you to keep your common feet off of it."

Bruce smiled sarcastically at her. "Yes ma'am."

"Did you make contact with the little whore?"

"I did and she fell for me hook, line and sinker. Now all I have to do is continue to show up at opportune moments. She's already tightly wound, it won't take much to push her over the edge and away from your grandson."

Helena smiled in satisfaction. "And the other one?"

"I'm working on it. I've secure the safe house and it's only a matter of time before we make our move."

"Good" she tapped the pen on her desk. "The sooner we extricate those two from things the better. How much longer do you need?"

"Two months at the outside – everything is falling in to place."