A week later...
"Patrick, are you sure about this?" Sabrina asked as she helped Patrick off the elevator at the Metro Court. "You've only been out of the hospital a short time. We didn't need to go out to dinner so soon."
Patrick squeezed her hand and said, "I'm fine, Sabrina, really. It only hurts when I move the wrong way." He smiled down at her and continued. "I finally have you back and I want to show you off."
Carly met them at the entrance. After asking Patrick how he was feeling, she said, "I have your table ready. Follow me."
When Carly lead them to the the table they'd shared on their first date, Patrick thanked her and then pulled Sabrina's chair out for her, but Sabrina hesitated to sit. "Um, maybe I should help you instead of the other way around."
"Sabrina, please stop babying me. I'm perfectly capable of pushing in your chair and then walking two feet and sitting myself down," he said, exasperated. "You're making it really hard for me to be chivalrous here…"
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." She knew that she shouldn't be babying Patrick like this, but she was a nurturer at heart and couldn't help but want to take care of him, especially since she came so close to losing him. When Sabrina sat down, Patrick pushed her chair in and said, "I'll forgive you this time," as he leaned down to kiss her quickly on the lips.
When Patrick was seated, the two of them exchanged polite chit chat until the waiter came over to take their orders. After Patrick ordered a bottle of her favorite wine, Sabrina got suspicious. "You aren't supposed to be drinking with your painkillers. What's going on?"
"Nothing," he said innocently.
Sabrina was still suspicious, but she decided to drop it. "Alright… If you say so."
As they ate, Sabrina kept stealing glances at Patrick. Although they were closer than ever, she still had a hard time believing it was all true - that they were in love, back together and happy. A small part of Sabrina couldn't help but wait for the other shoe to drop because that's what always seemed to happen when she and Patrick were happy.
When they were done, Patrick scooted his chair over until he was beside her. Then, he took her hand and raised it to his lips for a quick kiss. "Patrick, you've been acting weird since we got here. What is going on?"
"Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?"
"Yeah... several times." Remembering how they almost missed their reservation because Patrick was busy complimenting more than her outfit, Sabrina blushed.
"Well, it's as true now as it was earlier. However..."
"What?"
"I think something is missing," Patrick said as he reached into his blazer pocket.
Sabrina, confused, replied, "I don't know what could be missing?" Then she leaned in and whispered, "I distinctly remember putting everything back on that you took off earlier."
Patrick laughed quietly at her comment and leaned in to whisper back, "But you weren't wearing this earlier." Then, he lifted his hand and opened it, revealing her engagement ring as he added, "and you definitely wouldn't have had to take it off for us to make love."
Sabrina was speechless at the sight of her engagement ring in the palm of his hand. As she looked back and forth between it and Patrick's hopeful face, a million thoughts raced through her mind.
Patrick had been planning this moment since the day he woke up in the hospital to Sabrina's confession of love. Unfortunately, since she kept babying him, she refused to go out with him until today and even that had been like pulling teeth.
When he picked Sabrina up at her apartment earlier, she'd looked so breathtaking that he'd been compelled to kiss her senseless. Of course, one thing led to another and they'd almost missed their reservation. Sabrina tried to convince him to stay in bed with her instead of going out and had actually pouted when he got up to get dressed again. It took some cajoling, but eventually Patrick used Sabrina's manners against her by claiming that it would be rude to not show up for a planned reservation.
Patrick had barely been able to get through dinner without giving away his surprise. Now that he had, however, he wasn't getting quite the reaction he'd anticipated and he was worried.
When she looked from the ring to him and back again, Sabrina had the look of a deer caught in headlights. "Sabrina... Honey, are you okay?"
Sabrina swallowed, took a deep breath and said, "Um... I just didn't... Ah... Expect this."
Patrick tried to lighten the moment by saying, "Well, that is the point of a surprise."
Sabrina chuckled at that, but didn't say anything else, so Patrick pressed on with his plan. He'd gotten about two words into his proposal when Sabrina suddenly uttered, "Stop!"
"Huh?"
"Please don't do it," she pleaded.
"What? Why?" He asked, both confused and a little hurt.
Sabrina gently used her free hand to close his fingers back around the ring and then looked him in the eye and said, "Because I won't have the strength to say 'no' if you do."
At that, Patrick was lost. He'd never in a bazillion years considered that Sabrina wouldn't accept his proposal. "No?" He echoed, just to make sure he'd heard correctly.
Sabrina answered, "I'm not saying 'no', Patrick, I'm just saying not right now."
"But, why not? We finally have each other back after being apart for so long. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
Sabrina let go of his hands and then leaned closer and put one on his knee and used the other to touch his cheek. "You know I love you and I don't want to be anywhere but beside you for the rest of my life, too; but,this is really fast, Patrick. You just got out of the hospital after being shot in the chest, the ink is barely dry on your divorce papers and Emma is frantic with worry over her mother."
"But don't you see, Sabrina, those are all the reasons why we shouldn't wait. Life is too short and unpredictable. I don't want to spend another minute of my life without you beside me - living with me and Emma as the family we're supposed to be."
Sabrina smiled at that, but then countered, "I'm practically living with you two already. Can't we just be a couple in love for a while? Let the dust settle from everything that happened and focus on getting Emma through Robin's absence?"
Patrick, feeling sorry for himself, pouted, "Robin's been gone before. Emma will adjust."
"This time is different, Patrick. She watched you get shot and then saw her mother dragged into a helicopter without even getting to say goodbye. It took me over a half hour out there to calm her down. She won't adjust until her mother is home. Us getting married won't distract her from that or make anything better for her."
"Yeah... I suppose you're right," he admitted reluctantly. "I just want our life together as a family to start."
Sabrina kissed him sweetly on the lips. Then, she pulled back and said, "We don't need rings or a piece of paper to be a family, Patrick. We already are. Being together is what matters. The rest can wait."
Even though everything Sabrina said made logical sense, Patrick couldn't help but feel like there was more to her refusal than she was letting on. "Are you sure there is nothing else stopping you here, Sabrina? I thought for sure you would want to marry me as much as I want to marry you."
Sabrina nervously swiped a strand of hair away from her eyes. "No, why would you say that? I just think we need some time, that's all..." Then, she grabbed his hand and tugged on it as she said suggestively, "Why don't we get out of here?"
Patrick nodded and put the ring back in his pocket. He knew Sabrina well enough to know that she wasn't going to budge on this tonight. But, given time and the proper persuasion, he would get her to come around. He had to.