The long-awaited for chapter is finally here! I figure a few of you are a little mad about Monday not being the end of your agony, but wasn't it worth it? Anyway, without further adieu...
Patrick relaxed his hands on the steering wheel in his attempt to keep Morgan from being any more agitated than he already was. The call had come in an hour after Animaniacs was over and thank God he had had his cell phone on the dresser across the hall. He didn't want to think what would have happened if he had missed the call. What bothered him most was that the call hadn't come from Robin, but from the prison and then from the hospital. The world started to blur around him and he knew it was only determination and practice that he got them to the hospital in one piece.
His first thought upon entering the hospital holding Morgan's hand was that they wouldn't let him see her. Would this be a repeat of her coma? He had no idea what was going on, if she was awake or unconscious, if the baby was still alive—nothing. All he knew was that she wasn't dead…or at least that she hadn't been when he had talked to the nurse. Morgan was silent next to him and he didn't seem unperturbed by the fact that Patrick was practically dragging him toward the elevator.
"What room?" Patrick whispered to himself. He wondered if Morgan knew just how terrified he was at the moment. He and Robin hadn't discussed any of this in detail, but he knew he was supposed to keep Morgan calm and feeling protected. When the call had come in that Robin had collapsed, he doubted he had responded in a calm manner. He had written it down. Turning over his hand, he stared hard at the inside of his palm and read of the number. "Okay, in here." He led Morgan out of the elevator once it came to a complete stop and they scurried to Room 102.
"Is Robin okay?" Morgan tugged impatiently at the sleeve of Patrick's white shirt.
Not knowing how to respond, Patrick pushed open the door and let out a staggering breath of Robin sitting in the bed dressed in a hospital gown, a conflicted expression on her face. She was awake. It was all he could think about as he watched her from across the room. Morgan must not have shared the shock because he dashed across the room and leapt toward Robin. She stalled him with her hand and then hugged him. "Hey baby." She murmured into his dark hair.
"What's going on? Why are you at the hospital?" Instead of answering him right away, Robin locked eyes with Patrick. There was so much she wanted to tell him, but there was no guarantee he would listen to her. She didn't want to keep fighting with him. Was there a way around it? Once she found out exactly what was wrong, they would go from there.
"That's what the doctor's going to tell us." Robin assured him. "What did you guys do this morning?
"We watched cartoons." Morgan explained.
"You did?" Robin exclaimed with a clap of her hands. "Which ones?"
Patrick didn't get a chance to hear the rest of the conversation; he slipped out of the room and held his head in his hands. He didn't know how he was supposed to approach Robin. He didn't know if she would want to hear what he had to say. She was still pretty angry about what he had said in regards to life and the baby in general.
Dr. Joanne Walker tapped lightly on his right shoulder and he noticed that his eyes had been closed. She pushed her wispy black hair behind her ears and watched him curiously for a minute, trying to determine exactly who he was. "I'm Dr. Walker. I'm assuming you're the father." There was something almost condemning about the way she said it, but that could have just as easily been his own imagination. There was no foreboding, dark tone nor were her emerald green eyes full of something besides consideration.
Patrick nodded. "Yes. Patrick Drake. She's inside." He told her as if she didn't already know.
"Thank you for telling me Mr. Drake. Shall we go in?" Dr. Walker moved to do just that.
Patrick caught her wrist. "Before we do, could you please tell me what happened so I can pace myself? I don't want to scare either of them with my reaction. Please?"
"I guess it'd be alright. Robin has what's known as Toxemia. It's high blood pressure in pregnant women. I was kind of surprised to see it happen to a woman in such an early stage, but it's not that uncommon." Dr. Walker explained.
"Could it have been prevented?" Patrick asked gingerly.
"No. There are no known preventative methods at this time. However, it's fairly easy to treat." Dr. Walker promised, heading into the room without providing him without any more information. "Hello Robin, I'm Dr. Walker. You can call me Joanne."
"Hello Joanne. It's nice to meet you. I do wish it had been under different circumstances." Robin said with a forced smile.
"How are you feeling today?" Dr. Walker prodded sincerely.
"I've been better." Robin answered rather cautiously. Patrick could tell she didn't quite trust this new doctor yet. Who could blame her after what Dr. Lansing had pulled?
Dr. Walker glanced down at Morgan. "I bet all of this is pretty scary, huh?" She smiled when he nodded in agreement and reached past Robin's head to press a button. "Nurse Johnson, can you come in here please?"
Patrick and Robin shared a disconcerted look as they waited for Nurse Epiphany Johnson to enter the room. It was only a few minutes before she graced them with her presence. Today, she was in a pink, yellow, and white floral decorated scrubs top and a pair of navy blue lounge pants. "Yes Doctor?"
"I was wondering if you could take—" She broke off.
"Morgan." Robin and Patrick said in unison.
"Right, yes. Morgan. If you could take Morgan to get a candy bar while I talk to his mommy and daddy." Dr. Walker requested.
"Sure I can…if that's okay with you?" Nurse Johnson met Robin's eyes.
"That would be great! Doesn't that sound great Morgan?" Robin asked happily.
"I don't know…" Morgan responded nervously.
"Let us talk to the doctor and then we can go home." Patrick offered.
"Okay." Morgan gave in. "All of us?"
They all stared at Dr. Walker. "I don't see why not. Go and get your candy." She waited for the nurse and little boy to leave the room before she said, "As I was telling your husband—"
"We're not married." Robin interrupted.
"Okay. As I was telling Patrick, you have contracted what is known as Toxemia. It's a high blood pressure in pregnant women. Now, it's easy enough to treat, but it does require effort on everybody's part. I was reading over your chart, and I assume you both know the risks of letting this pregnancy continue." She raised a speculative brow.
"Yes." They replied in unison.
"Fabulous. Okay, bed rest would be the best for now. No stress. I mean it. If you even feel a little antsy, it's important you leave that situation and rest."
"Bed rest? That's the cure?" Patrick's tone must have sounded incredulous because she immediately answered him.
"If done right. Relaxation and bed rest are about all we can do. The last thing we want is premature labor. At this stage, there's no way your child could survive." Dr. Walker warned them.
"We understand." Robin murmured.
"Are you going to be her obstetrician for the rest of the pregnancy? I only ask because we've had some trouble with—"
"Yes, Dr. Lansing. I was told. However, my calendar is free. Would you like to know your due date?" She asked brightly.
"Sure." Robin agreed.
"September 17th." Dr. Walker noted after a short glance at Robin's chart.
This was real, Patrick thought to himself. This was no longer guesswork. They had a due date. They had a doctor. Two months of the pregnancy were already gone, almost three. This doctor felt confident enough to help them through the entire term…which meant it could be done. He expelled a breath through his teeth, frayed. All he had been able to hear the last two weeks was what Dr. Lansing had told them and what it would end up costing Robin or him or both of them in the end.
Don't get ahead of yourself, he mused. The problems were still there; they hadn't changed. The only difference was that the doctor was willing to take their case. Even as he reminded himself of this, a weight lifted from his shoulders. She must think it could be done. Bed rest and no stress would be the two things he provided for Robin from now until the end of the pregnancy if she so required.
"I'll leave you both to talk. Here's my card. I'll need to see you four weeks from today. The Toxemia should be cleared up by then, but let's just pace ourselves, okay?" Dr. Walker encouraged lightly.
"Thank you." Patrick commended her.
"You don't know what this baby means to me." Robin assured her.
"Us." Patrick corrected her, but neither of them seemed to acknowledge he had spoken.
"There are still going to be tough times and everything Dr. Lansing told you was true. I'm not going to distort the facts or sugarcoat them, because that wouldn't be fair to either of you or your son."
"Our son?" Patrick breathed.
"Morgan." Dr. Walker explained. "I don't see any reason why you can't sign yourself out. As long as you understand the regime, I have rounds to make."
"Thank you again, Dr. Walker." Robin called out to the doctor right before she disappeared from the room. Turning to Patrick, she patted on a small spot next to her and he moved closer to oblige her. She put her hands on either side of his face once she could reach him and said, very softly, "I need to know right now if you can handle this."
"You can't get rid of me that easily." Patrick whispered back, kissing her forehead.
"I'm serious. I can do this…I really can. What I can't handle is you jumping ship at the last sec—" Robin was about to go on until she felt Patrick's hand on her belly. He wasn't looking at her anymore but at the baby.
"I love you." Patrick reiterated. "And I'm not going anywhere."
Sitting in her wheelchair, Audrey looked around the now familiar living room with a sense of calm. It still stung her that she was so dependent on other people to complete even the simplest of tasks. She was a grown woman and lived on her own for years since she had lost her beloved Steve. It was humiliating to give up her home, her freedom and her mobility all for the faulty actions of a few blood vessels.
From her nursing training, she realized she was one of the lucky ones. She had gotten to the hospital in time, been diagnosed early, and been given the proper medication. And she wasn't sitting alone in a nursing home or a rehabilitation facility either thanks to Elizabeth and Lucky. She was at home, well her home for now and she was attending her therapies daily. The therapists had been pleased with her progress so far. Audrey couldn't form the words yet to tell them she had two motivations to get better as soon as possible. One—she had a great grandchild coming soon and she had to be ready to spoil the little one and two—as much as she dearly loved the young couple for taking her into their home, she realized once the baby came there would be a priority of space. Audrey wasn't about to make them choose between helping her more and tending to their growing family.
Watching Elizabeth and Cameron play on the floor, she could feel a smile form, well a half smile if she was going to be technical about it. The two of them laughing over the pictures of the Guess Who game was probably one of the sweetest sounds she had heard in awhile. Cameron was an adorable little boy and Audrey enjoyed his insistence on trying to read her every book he had on Bob the Builder, because it was "important you know bout him."
Cameron sighed and looked once again towards the door. "Where's Daddy Lizzie?" he asked, putting down his game board, temporarily forgetting about trying to keep Elizabeth from seeing which person he had chosen for her to guess.
If there was one thing that had always remained constant about her youngest grandchild, it was the fact Elizabeth could not lie well. Once you got to know her, it was fairly easy to spot. She would pause, look all around, at anyone or anything other than the person she was speaking to and then settle for something that sounded just slightly possible. It was that exact pattern Audrey was witnessing this exact minute as Elizabeth paused before answering Cameron's innocent question. "He's at work Cam. He'll be home soon."
Why had she lied, Audrey couldn't help but wonder. And what was she lying about? Lucky had been telling them every morning for the past few weeks he'd be tied up with work. Had something change between this morning and now? And what had put that look of sadness in Elizabeth's eyes: the very look she had thought had left when Elizabeth first met Lucky?
"Lizzie, I need to get Wolfie." Cameron stood up and scooted towards the stairs quickly. It hadn't escaped anyone's notice that since Logan had tried to take that sweet little boy, he had become even more attached to the stuffed dog, refusing to be without his friend once the day turned to night.
Watching him climb the stairs and step out of sight, Audrey took a breath and tried to force the words through her lips. "Liz...Liza...Lizabeth...what...going...on?"
Startled, Elizabeth dropped the pillow she had been hugging to her middle. "Nothing. Nothing is going on Grams."
"Don't...lie...tell...the...truth."
"Grams I wouldn't lie..." Catching sight of her grandmother's disapproving look, Elizabeth gave up all pretense of even trying to lie to her. It was why she always refused any invitations to play poker. She would loose every single time. With a sigh, she moved closer to where her grandmother sat. "Did you know about Lucky's kidnapping?"
It was a hard thing to forget, Audrey recalled. The entire town had been convinced of his death and had mourned him. She could still recall the devastation written on the faces of Luke and Laura in the church. Lulu had been too young to fully understand what was going on and Patrick had still been too in shock over his mother's death to process anything else. When Lucky showed up alive in the hospital, it was a moment the local residents tended to remember where they were when they heard the news. If you didn't know what someone was referring to when they mentioned Lucky Spencer and turning up at General Hospital, you were clearly not from Port Charles. "Yes."
"Well I just found out from Luke today." Elizabeth paused to push a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "I don't know what to do Grams. Luke said not to push him to talk but he's not going to come to me with this. I know he won't. And I keep feeling him drifting away from me and Cameron. I know he's hurting but I don't' know how to help him."
Raising her one good hand, Audrey patted her granddaughter's face, noticing the tear-filled eyes. Not for the first time, she wished she had never had the stroke, wanting badly to wrap her granddaughter in her arms and just hold her. "Love...him." She advised.
"Gram you know I love him. He knows I love him but I don't think that's..."
Managing to shake her head, she cut off the rest of Elizabeth's protests. Following her advice wasn't going to be easy, but it was all Audrey knew what to do. "Love...him." She said again. "It's...the...only...thing."