Ch 7

All Patrick saw was red as he sprung from Sabrinas bed and into Britt's face "What the hell are you doing here?" he barked with anger taking over his entire body.

Britt shocked by his hostile approach took a step back and looked at her feet "I… I just wanted..."

"You wanted what, Britt?" Patrick replied

"I wanted to see if Sabrina was alright."

Patrick looked back at Sabrina who was shifting nervously in her bed and gave her a reassuring look. One that said, don't worry. I'll kill her before I let her hurt you again. "As if you really care" he said attention back to Britt. "What are you even doing here?"

"I just had a baby, Patrick. I'm still recovering."

"And you can't do that from your own room, or better yet, a jail cell?" He shot back.

Britt sighed "I told you, I had no idea what lengths my mother was going to go to, Patrick"

"And if you had? Can you honestly tell me you wouldn't have sat silently by as my family was taken away from me? And even if that's true, there are still a number of other things you should be in jail for. Starting with stealing another couple's child!" Patrick didn't care how loud he was. He had had it with all of Britt's lies and manipulations. On top of that, he hated himself for falling for it time and time again.

"I don't want to do this right now. I just want to talk to Sabrina for a minute." She said trying to walk past Patrick.

"Over my dead body." Patrick said blocking her path.

"Patrick…. It's ok" Sabrina said quietly

"No its not" He returned. "You just had a spike in your blood pressure. Plus there's nothing she can say to change her heinous actions."

"I'm fine, Patrick. I promise. Can you maybe go find Epiphany and see what's taking so long with my discharge?"

Patrick looked at Sabrina as if she had lost her mind. "If you're sure you want to listen to her, fine, but I'm not leaving you alone with her for a second." Patrick walked to the other side of Sabrina's bed and leaned against the windowsill arms crossed. His protective nature didn't escape Britt's attention as she walked closer to Sabrina's bed.

"That's close enough." Patrick snapped.

Britt stopped abruptly and looked down at Sabrina. It wasn't until she saw her in that bed hooked up to machines that she fully grasped what she had unwittingly set in motion. Sure, she didn't too much care for Sabrina, but she never wanted to see her dead. In her mind, she was a pawn in her mother's games just as they were. Her mother had put Britt in Patrick's sights without fully explaining why. Demanding her to make him fall in love with her. She could have questioned her mother's intentions but she knew better. Fear was instilled in their household before Britt could even formulate words.

"Listen" she began "I know there is nothing I can say to you right now that will make up for everything you've been through. But I really am sorry about all of it. Regardless of what you may think, had I known what my mother was going to do, I would have tried to stop her. I would never hurt Emma."

"Just me?" Sabrina glared at Britt with so much built up resentment, she was hoping Patrick was prepared to break up a fight.

"No. Not even you." She replied solemnly.

Sabrina looked at Patrick standing by ready to defend her at all costs and the tension in her bones faded. She didn't need to fight. She had already won."Is that all?" she asked Britt.

"Yeah. That's was it."

"Good, because I have a life to get to. A man who loves me and a daughter who we adore. While you… Well… I'm sure you have an 8 by 10 cell waiting for you somewhere. You can see yourself out."

Britt tried to swallow the shot of jealousy that rose in her throat as she turned around to leave the room. Before she was all the way out the door, Patrick came up behind her and grabbed her arm.

With empty eyes and in a tone low enough that Sabrina couldn't hear him, he warned "If you ever come near my daughter or Sabrina or anyone that I love again, I promise, you will live to regret it."

Britt yanked her arm from Patrick's grasp and stormed out the room and down the hall to awaiting officers.

"Now" Patrick turned back to Sabrina with a smile. "Let's get you home."

"Patrick put me down!" Sabrina squealed as Patrick lifted her into his arms to carry her in the house. Their house. "This is silly, I can walk, ya know!" Truth was Sabrina didn't want him to ever let her go.

"I know I know. But you shouldn't have to." He smiled dimples and all. Patrick opened the door and carried Sabrina over the threshold as if they had just returned from the chapel. He walked her over to the couch and set her down gently before turning to close the front door.

"Where's Emma?" Sabrina asked excitedly. She missed her little girl. Seeing her face when she first woke up in the hospital was a feeling she'll never forget. Not just because she was happy that she was safe, but because she made Sabrina a better person. She made her a stronger person. There was nothing Sabrina wouldn't do for that little girl. They had endured something together that Emma didn't fully understand yet, but that would bond them for life. Emma gave Sabrina fight.

"She had a Brownie meeting" Patrick replied joining her on the couch. "Mac is going to pick her up and bring her home in a few hours. You're stuck with me until then."

Sabrina smiled "Sounds good to me." The way Patrick looked at her still sent chills down her spine. She felt herself feeling flushed when he gently took her chin into his hands and pulled her lips to his.

"What are you thinking?" He asked seductively.

Sabrina kind of giggled thinking about the last time he had asked her that. That last time was their first. The first time she had let her guard down and given her heart so openly to him. And her body. "I'm thinking how lucky I am." She said

"You? No, Miss Santiago, I am the lucky one. I never realized how lucky until these past couple of days." Sabrina still a little timid, a little reserved, looked away.

"Look at me" he said turning her face back to his "if I never do anything else right in my life, I will have loved you beyond reason. I need you to know that. To believe that. Do you?" He asked

Sabrina couldn't even formulate words. It was as if her entire body had shut down. Never in a million years did she think she would hear something like that from him. Yes, he had told her he loved her before, but this was different. The conviction in his voice, the passion in his eyes. This wasn't some high school, I love you/I love you too. No. He was IN love with her. She could feel it in the way he lightly brushed his finger across her bottom lip.

"Yes, I do" she replied with tears in her eyes. "I love you too, Patrick. So much. And from a place that I didn't even know was there until you awoke it in me. I promise I'm going to make you happy."

"You already do" He whispered pulling her into another kiss somehow even more passionate than the last. He was captivated by her scent, enamored by her taste. He yearned for her. He wanted nothing more than to get lost in her. Although he didn't want to, he pulled away. "Ok" he said regaining his senses "I shouldn't have done that because I'm not going to want to stop. And you are still recovering."

"Its fine" Sabrina said trying to pull his body on top of hers.

"I don't want to hurt you" He whispered

"Patrick…. You could never hurt me." She replied placing kisses all over his face. She needed this man more than she needed anything else in life. More than rest or healing. She needed him more than she needed air.

Patrick was fighting a losing battle. The way Sabrina lightly bit on his earlobe sent lightening through his entire body. He couldn't deny her even if he wanted to. He stood up from the couch and gently picked her back up into his arms. Careful not to hit her injured foot on the doorframe, he carried her through the living room and down the hall to the bedroom. He positioned her flat on the bed and began placing soft kisses along the length of her body. From the unsightly air cast on her foot all the way up to her temple. There wasn't an inch of her skin that he would miss that day. Or any day to come. The feeling she gave him was all consuming. He would spend the rest of his life loving this woman. Craving this woman. Pleasing her. He was sure to be gentle, but still made love to her like a man who hadn't felt the touch of a woman in years. He made love to her with a fervor that he hoped would wash away all doubts in her mind about how he felt, who he wanted and how deeply he was committed. There was no one else for Patrick. He knew that wholeheartedly. Sabrina was his north star.

They slipped into ecstasy and closed the door on the rest of the world. Unaware and unprepared for the shock that would soon befall them and shatter the new life they were just beginning to build.