DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO BECCA FITZPATRICK

WARNING: I AM NEITHER A MEDICAL OR LEGAL PROFESSION SO ANYTHING NOT REALISTIC IN REGARDS TO THOSE FIELDS IS ASSUMED TO BE A PART OF THE STORY. I AM NOT GIVING LEGAL OR MEDICAL ADVICE SO IT'S JUST A PART OF THE STORY PLEASE DON'T FEEL FREE TO CORRECT ME I HAVE NO ATTENTIONS OF PURSUING EITHER FIELDS OF STUDY :)

CHAPTER 17

THE CONSEQUENCES OF FIGHTING

Patch and Nora rarely fought when they did it was a huge one. Later Patch wouldn't remember what the fight was about but he remembered his last words to Nora before slamming the door on her as she cried and begged him not to go out. She asked where he was going and he replied "to get laid". That's not what he had done he had gone to Clista's to seek comfort from the only other woman who really knew him and could comfort him when he felt so low for fighting with Nora in the first place. After a while he got up and said good night to the lady who was as much his grandma as hers and headed back home. It was late, really late when he arrived and turned the key in the door hoping that Nora would forgive him one more time. She knew he was far from perfect and far from being an angel unless you considered him a fallen angel but somehow she was the one person no matter what he did she was always there. He could count on her and he knew that to the depth of his heart and soul but it didn't stop the fear after losing Dabria that he would lose her too and then his life would be over, she was his life line after all, his rock, he just couldn't lose her.

What he walked into was an empty apartment. He had a bad feeling about this so first thing he did was check the wardrobe and bathroom but no her stuff was all still there.

"You look like you can use a drink."

"Tristan."

"Hello Nora." He sat down next to her on the stool. "How are you doing?"

"I think I'm living the worst day of my life." She spun the glass between her fingers. "Have you ever had a dream where you know you're dreaming but you just can't wake up?"

"Yes."

"I wish today was a dream like that."

"Boy trouble?" He let his cheek rest in the palm of his hand. "He's an idiot if he let you go."

"I'm in all kinds of trouble." She looked down at the glass of bourbon in her hands. "But yeah, boy trouble is one of them."

"Did he break your heart?"

She looked up into his green eyes and found herself lost in them, the alcohol in her bloodstream making her brave. This was a man who she had met once, forced by her parents into a dinner she though would include her sister, it had been a shame they both had to live through before Patch showed up and rescued the day. This man was nothing like Patch, he'd do the honorable thing, buy her a drink and find her a cab to get home safely, he'd ask her out for dinner before he took her to his bachelor pad, he wouldn't walk out on her if they got into a fight, he wouldn't go find sex somewhere else to forget about his worries. He'd stay with her and comfort her, talk through the fight and make love to her, he'd whisper those three little words into her ear when the time was right and she knew that's what she'd been craving all along. Those three little words of love spoken to her, making her all tingly on the inside and making her float on a cloud; it's what she had always wanted ever since she was a teenager. But she had never gotten it because she fell in love with a man who was hurt, scarred, maybe beyond repair and she was hurting along with him, his pain reflecting in her every emotion because she was bound to him in a way she could never be bound to anyone else. They were one soul, mind and heart, if one was hurting, the other was too, if one was dying, the other would crumble too. That didn't mean that she didn't crave that feeling of being treasured unconditionally, that she didn't picture a golden ring around her finger. Those cravings were there, buried beneath the surface because she knew she'd never get to them with the man she wanted to; she was left alone in those dreams, aching for them to come true.

"It's not broken... it's just... aching."

"Why do you let him hurt you?"

"Because I can't imagine my life without him." She wiped a tear away from her cheek, taking a swig from her glass. "Every day I wake up next to him and I think I have to get away from this...and then he wakes up and he looks at me and smiles and I just... can't walk away."

"You don't have to stay with him, Nora." Tristan took her hand in his, squeezing it softly. "You don't owe him anything."

"That's just the thing," she whispered, her eyes searching for his. "I do."

Words had never been more heavy, she owed him because she took away his happiness, found out Dabria was cheating on him and brought that news to him. The truth was that she had looked for anything that could stop the wedding, she had followed Dabria everywhere, traced her every step and when she did find something it was one of the most happiest days of her life because she couldn't watch her friend walk down the aisle, not with someone on his arm that was not her and that did not love him the way she loved him. She still remembered the look on his face as she told him what she found out, how his eyes had found hers, filled with disbelief, the pictures she had taken making his skin pale, his fists rippling the paper. He had sprinted out of the room without saying a word and she'd been left in her room, waiting next to the phone, thinking he never would say another word to her. And then her bedroom door had flown open, Patch stepping in her room, his whole composure a mess, his eyes filled with tears; she'd opened her arms and he walked into them, sobbing into her shoulder, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. It had been the worst and most happiest day of her life because he was hers again and she could love him freely again, not having to worry about some other woman's affections claiming him. So when he pulled his head out of her shoulders and locked their eyes, she moved forward and pushed her lips against his, feeling him gasp into her mouth, his fingers digging into her skin, his body wanting to hide in hers. It had been a month since the night of her prom and she had never forgotten how he felt inside of her, she had never stopped craving to have that feeling again and now he was here, answering her lips desperately, like he'd die if he didn't savor every part of her. She knew he held onto her because he didn't want to think about the things in his life, she knew it and she didn't care. Because it wasn't awkward like the first time, it was passionate, consuming, earth-shattering, needy; and it ruined her.

"What do you mean?" Tristan arched his eyebrow at her. "Why do you owe him?"

"I took his happiness from him." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "And now he's not the man he used to be anymore because he's in pain and he's betrayed and I can't fix it."

"I'm sure he doesn't blame you."

"That's the worst part, he doesn't." She looked back to the bottom of her glass and sighed. "Why are you here?"

"I live upstairs." He pointed to the ceiling, smiling a bit. "I come here for my nightcap."

"I'm sure you weren't looking for a dramatic drunk to spill her life story to you." She smiled sadly. "I'm sorry for keeping you up."

"I don't mind." He held his hand up, shaking his head. "Actually, the bar's about to close but we could move this conversation to my apartment."

"Sure."

"Isn't there someone waiting for you at home?"

"He walked out." She lifted her shoulders, grabbing her bag. "That's why I had to get out too."

Tristan nodded and threw a bill on the bar, paying for both their drinks. They walked out of the bar and he opened a door next to the entrance, revealing a small set of stairs. They quietly climbed it until they reached a small corridor; while he fumbled with his keys she watched him and noticed he was tall, skinny but handsome, light hair, green eyes, small lips, he was everything Patch wasn't.

"Tristan?"

"Yeah?"

He didn't get the chance to say anything more as she slammed her lips into his and went for the buttons of his shirt, her fingers quickly loosening the first few. He hesitated a few seconds before he answered her mouth, his hands coming to rest on her hips, pulling her against him. Patch wasn't mad at her and he wasn't out fucking some other girl, he wasn't hiding the pain with sex like he always did, he was here in her arms.

"Nora." Tristan panted, pushing her back a little. "When I asked you to come up I didn't mean..."

"I know."

Patch could escape from pain when he was inside of someone, when his only focus was reaching pleasure. He had taught her how to wear a mask and she was now about to learn how to escape from pain like he did. It was meaningless and it would take her away from everything, it had only one goal and it had only one outcome; running away from her aching heart. And she could have told herself all night that Patch was in her arms if the ring tone she had for him wouldn't be ringing out of her bag, if she hadn't known that he had come home and was now out looking for her. Things would have been different if she had been able to keep her eyes closed and picture his black ones on the other side, but Patch wasn't here now, he was on the other side of her phone trying to reach her, only Tristan's green eyes were here now.

"Are you going to get that?"

"Where the hell have you been?"

She remembered nights like these when she'd tried to sneak upstairs until suddenly a small lamp in the living room would light up, revealing Patch sitting in the chair like some creep out of a horror movie, chuckling as she jumped up, startled. After sending him a death glare, she'd walk towards him, carrying her high heels in her arms, her feet aching from wearing them all night. He'd shuffle in his seat so she could plop down into his lap, curling her legs against her chest, resting her ear against his heartbeat. They'd sit there in silence, listening to the wooden floors crackle, watching the sunrise through the window as dawn settled in the early morning. His fingers would run through her curls, his lips pressing occasionally against her forehead, as the songbirds outside announced another peaceful morning.

But nothing about this morning was peaceful. Black eyes blazing, spread wide open with anger. Lips tightly pressed together, forming a hard-line. Muscles flexed, jaw clenched. Fists holding her biceps, leaving red marks on her skin. She'd have told him he was hurting her if she hadn't been nailed to the ground by his rage, rendering her speechless.

"Where were you?" His eyes bored into hers, teeth clenched. "I've been out looking for you all night."

He spat the words at her like they held venom and she felt them seeping into her body through every vein and vessel, sinking to the bottom of her heart, filling the space with guilt. But her heart wasn't the only thing guiding her; in her mind she could still see him walking out the door, his back turned to her, leaving her behind to drown in her own pool of misery. She had talked herself into being strong, the brave girl he taught her to be, someone who was independent; the woman he brought her up to be, the one that could co-exist next to him, that could tear herself away from him to find consolation in another man's arms. That girl, woman, sister and lover was doing the walk of shame for the first time in her life.

"Nora!"

"I was out fucking!"

She pulled her arms free as his grip faltered; his eyes widened before they narrowed again, his mouth parting slightly, the hard features in his face fading away. She could see the turmoil in his eyes, the emotions rushing through that night sky like shooting stars; disbelief, shock, disappointment, worry, suspicion, contempt, anger; until he finally settled on one, disgust. Another man, other hands, had touched his girl, wandering down her body, exploring her curves. He was no longer the single soul that had touched the intimate parts of her; they were now covered with another man's sweat.

"I need a shower."

"Yes!" He threw his arms in the air, following her to the bathroom. "Try to wash your sins away."

"There's not enough soap in the world to wash yours away!" She rounded on him, stopping him in his tracks, fists clenched next to her sides. "So don't you dare judge me."

She turned around as he seemed to swallow his next words. A low growl escaped her chest as she heard him stomp behind her on the platform, catching the door of the bathroom mid-swing as she tried to slam it in his face. Instead of arguing with him, she pulled her shirt over her head and ignored the burn of his eyes gliding up and down her skin while she undressed herself, like he was checking if his goods were still intact.

He didn't move out of the room as she got into the shower, instead closing the lid of the toilet and sitting down on it. Nora let the beads of water fall down on her, rinsing away the dirty feeling. It was all she could feel; Tristan's lips on hers, her nipples pressing into his chest, his palms gliding over her bare hips, his hands squeezing her buttocks, his cock inside of her. It had felt so different from all the times with Patch, no emotions involved, no existing friendship or feelings. She was gone in the morning before he woke up. She didn't even feel guilty about it; it hadn't meant anything and that was exactly why her body now felt dishonored.

"Please tell me you used a condom."

"I'm not as much of an idiot as you think I am." She turned her head to him, watching him through the shower glass. "We used a condom, Patch."

"It's we now, is it?" He pushed the shower door open, standing in it. "What's your other half's name?"

"Why do you care?"

"So I know who to sue for alimony when you turn out to be knocked up."

"We used a condom!" She angrily grabbed the bottle of shampoo and squeezed some into her hand. "Besides, I'm on birth control."

"Yes, I know how good you are with birth control." He laughed a hard chuckle, shaking his head. "You'd forget it half of the time if I didn't shove it in your face every morning."

"It was not my idea to get on it," she washed her hair, her fingers digging into her skull. "Remember when I was seventeen and you took me to a gynecologist because you thought I should have a check-up even though I'd never had sex? And then you said I should get on the pill in case it happened with Scott or Dante?"

"I read on the internet that every girl should visit a gynecologist when she's about sixteen year's old, just to make sure she's healthy." His eyes went wide, his fist gripping the handle of the door. "I did that for your own good. And by the way, Clista agreed with me."

"You talked with Clista about my vagina?"

"No, I shared that information with you from my experience with the gynecologist when I talked to him and asked him questions about my period!" He rolled his eyes at her, frustration audible in his voice. "I don't have a vagina. I don't know what to do with it!"

"Save it, Patch. It was just an excuse to get me on birth control," She rubbed her hair between her palms. "So you knew you'd be safe when you fucked me a few months later."

"Hold on for a minute, pissy missy." He pointed his finger at her, cocking his head to the side. "You called me that morning because you wanted me to come back for you and fuck you. Will it hurt Patch? What if he doesn't know what he's doing? What if he doesn't fit inside of me?"

That hurt. He was using her own personal fears she would and could only share with him against her, that she had shared with the only thought in her head at the time was that all she really wanted for it to be him and not a fuck but for him to make love to her, to actually love her and not as a sister. She felt the sting in her eyes grateful for the shower water hiding her face.

The way he mimicked her tone from that morning made her boil on the inside. She squeezed the shampoo bottle in her hand to stop herself from directing her anger at him, keeping her eyes turned away from his so he couldn't see the pain that flashed through them. To make matters worse it was like he was mocking a night she had treasured with heart and soul, one of the most important nights of her life, because she had finally become his; his mark left inside of her, their love concealed, and she wasn't just his sister anymore. Not to mention saving her from becoming another notch on that hideous Dante's bedpost and her humiliation about him actually having a back up date. And the fact that he was right made her all the more angry. She had called him that morning, knowing exactly how many hours it would take him to get back to her. That didn't mean that she'd ever dared to hope he'd come back to take her to a nice hotel and make them one; that scenario had only existed in her dreams until he'd shown up behind her.

"Why did you even bother to show up?" Nora shook her head at herself, her back to him. "If you regret it so much now then why did you even bother to show up?"

"I never said I regretted it." He lowered the tone of his voice, less angry than seconds ago. "It was bound to happen. I'm just glad you were of age or Blythe would have sued my ass."

"What do you mean?" She spun around, locking her eyes onto his. "It was bound to happen?"

Seeing that raging fire in her eyes and the set and clenched jaw he knew he had gone too far again. He had always loved her fire and spunk but not her rage. Her rage and stubbornness made for bad choices and he had clearly just pushed her as far as she had been. His mouth snapped shut as his mind sped through ways to fix this quickly before she did something else she might regret or worse he would or they both might regret, but it looked to him like for now there wasn't a way out that he would just have to pray once again that she would eventually show him the mercy and love that he knew he didn't deserve. That undying, constant support and love and even admiration that only she had ever shown him. This was bad, this was very bad. He could feel it in the depths of his soul, it tore a hole through the only part of his heart he had left. He had pushed his only constant to far this time. As if that weren't enough there was something else, fear? Terror? A sixth sense?

Nora was fuming after what he said and how he had judged her. She had never been with any other man while she lost count years ago of how many women he had been with. She had to get out of there and fast. Yanking the brush through her long hair and dressing quickly she was going for a drive. That should help her calm down and give them both time to clear their heads. She knew in her heart neither of them had meant it and they would move on from this she just couldn't lose him he WAS her life without him she would die there would be no Nora left she had not known a moment without him let alone a moment of not loving him and she knew he felt the same for her aside from the head over heels do anything for love. Yes a drive was definitely what she needed before more could be said and the damage unfix-able. That would end both their lives as they were so tangled together to end one would be to end the other. What kept them alive at all was each other without that there was no life.

Patch watched her get ready as quick as he had ever seen and she could be fast when running late. He had caused this but he didn't want to even think of another man even so much as shaking her hand let alone touching her body. It was HIS and only he knew everything about it. They had done just about anything you could do together sexually without causing one or both pain. He had brought out that minx he knew was hiding in her that first night and he had loved every minute of it. He had allowed her to feel freedom in her sexuality, to embrace it, just not with another man. Never with another man. The only thing they hadn't done was involve another man or get into masochistic stuff. He would never bring her pain, he wasn't the type of guy who got off on that, but they had even dabbled in bdsm minus the pain, that went beyond both their pleasure. He knew her body, every centimeter of it and its limits. He knew how to bring her to nirvana and back down to earth with the ease of a feather that no one else would ever match and never had he entertained the idea he would make her mad enough to get drunk and let her body be touched by someone else who would never deserve her. Nora was an angel, his goddess to worship and as selfish as it may be he hadn't ever really wanted her to find another man or prince charming with the happy ever after. No, to be perfectly honest he was selfish and thinking of himself in that moment and he hadn't even really gone to get laid at all but the result made her do the one thing he thought her incapable of. He knew she deserved the life she wanted that he could never give her but he couldn't stop the selfishness and protectiveness he felt with her.

Nora stomped to the door and before heading out spun back on Patch.

"Just so you know, it was the most disgusting and disappointing not to mention humiliating thing I have ever done or experienced and after doing some of the things we have done that's saying a lot."

And with that she slammed the door leaving a stunned Patch speechless. He tried and tried calling her but she had shut her phone off. There was that bad feeling again only this time it harbored on full-blown panic as if he knew something bad was going to happen. So he did what he knew best he gathered his best bottles of Bourbon and drank himself into a slumber which didn't take that much this time since he hadn't had any sleep last night at all worrying about her since she had never been missing a whole night, she always answered at least his calls or texts and he always had known where she was at all times, except last night. On any other given day he could drink like a fish and not get drunk but not this night.

Suddenly someone banging loudly on the door woke him they were screaming for Nora. He sleepily looked at the clock and it read 3 am. Nora had to be back by now and was probably in his bed curled up to let him sleep it off. So who the fuck was banging and pounding on his door at this hour for her? With his headache and sleepiness he didn't recognize the voice on the other side of the door as he made his way to it.

"Bella?" Patch narrowed his eyes, rubbing sleep out of them. "What are you doing here?"

"There's been an accident, please tell me that Nora is here with you, that this is all a horrible nightmare!" She stuttered through her sobs, barely audible.

Bella was one of Nora's best friends. She was one of the girls that he had helped look after when they were younger. They hadn't liked each other much then and they definitely didn't like each other now, but she was Nora's friend so he tried to play somewhat nice to her. Still, waking him up at...

"Patch! Are you even listening to me? There's been an accident, we need to get to the hospital now and pray we aren't too late!" Bella's voice broke through his thoughts.

Patch grabbed his ever-present leather jacket and followed a very distraught Bella to his jeep, there was no way he was riding with her with how upset she obviously was. Patch still didn't know who had been in an accident, his sleep deprived and alcohol infected brain was not fully alert yet. He set out blindly towards the hospital trying unsuccessfully to wake up until the words 'car went through the guard rail on the bridge and plunged into the river' caught his immediate attention just as he stopped in the hospital parking lot and ice water ran through his veins at the speed of light.

"You didn't just say a car went through the rail and into the river did you?" Patch asked, praying she'd say no and praying even harder she hadn't meant Nora's car as flash after flash of him holding her, comforting her and wiping away her tears as he rocked her back to sleep after one of her night terrors about plunging into an icy river off of a bridge and the struggle to breathe her last breath before darkness took over had woken her up screaming. No, No, No! He shouted in his head, this can't be happening, this has to be a sick joke, some sick twisted cosmic joke or nightmare. Oh God, don't let this be happening!

"Bella, wh..who was in the car?" He knew, he already knew, but his brain wasn't able to wrap around the idea that her nightmares all these years and years had been some sort of prediction and his own panic and sixth sense right before she left had all been trying to tell him something. Bella still hadn't answered him, she was sobbing next to him.

"Bella!" He yelled. "Who. Was. In. The. Car?" As bad as it sounded, as horrible a person as this made him seem he prayed it was anyone, anyone but Nora. Please don't let it be her, please don't let her be gone. Patch was physically shaking and ready to vomit waiting for an answer. It felt like his body had turned to mush and at the same time was frozen inside, time was racing ahead and moving in slow motion all at once.

"Nora."

In one barely audible word Patch's world came crashing down around him, everything went still as his thoughts spun. He couldn't remember why they had fought all he could remember was that things he had worked so hard to build, things he'd been working so hard to build for them he hadn't even gotten to tell her, to celebrate with her and now...now it was all...gone. It might not have been the husband and kids life she wanted, she somehow still wanted what they had together more, but it was still dreams he'd shared with her that he'd just started achieving and he hadn't gotten to tell her.

"Patch, we have to hurry!" Bella was trying to hurry out of the jeep.

"Why? What's the rush now? She's gone.." Patch sobbed uncontrollably now.

"Maybe not, another motorist saw the accident and dove in after her and provided CPR and first aid after pulling her from her car. She was still alive when they got her here. They tried calling you but you didn't answer. Vee called me, I thought it was a bad dream or a joke or something so I drove to your place to make sure she was safe with you, only she wasn't so we need to go now."

Patch jumped back into action, alive, she might still be alive, he started to sprint towards the Emergency Room entrance.

"Are Harrison and Blythe here yet or my parents?"

"No, it's just Clista and Vee. Rixon and Shadow are on their way."

"Where the hell are her parents?" He screamed, making Bella flinch.

"They said they were out-of-town and would make it when they could."

"Isn't that just gracious of them." Patch bit out.

"Patch, she's over the age of 18 but you need to know she's listed you as her next of kin and power of attorney followed by Clista then Vee. You have sole rights for any decisions about her care while she's unable to make them so any papers to be signed or permission to be given...that all comes from you." Bella explained.

How could he not know about this? How many other things had she kept from him? No, he wasn't going to think about that now he told himself as he reached the desk.

"Where's Nora Grey and can you tell me her condition?" The elderly nurse looked at him with a bored expression.

"Are you a relative sir?"

"I'm her next of kin and I have just been informed I'm her power of attorney." Patch replied in a very calculating voice. The nurse slowly flipped through her charts then asked for his ID just as Vee approached.

"This is her sister right here and her grandmother is here also I believe." The nurse spoke in a bored voice to match her expression.

"Yes, I'm aware who her family is." Patch growled. Before he could say anything else he spotted a much younger nurse walk around the corner and he pounced on her as soon as he saw her stop in her tracks to drink him in. Perfect. Patch practically threw himself at her making her eyes widen with a look he didn't care to dwell on at the moment, he just wanted to know about Nora. She took pity on him after asking who he was to the patient and quickly explained that they had waited for him, Nora was alive but barely, there had been massive injuries that had required immediate surgery, then she handed Patch a stack of forms to sign. When he was done with them he looked her straight in the eye.

"If you value your job and your hospital values the sizable monetary donations it receives that keeps them open they'd do best to consider her last name and mine in any and all decisions affecting her care and her well-being. I expect frequent updates." The nurse looked down and read their last names and glanced back up at him.

"That's right the Grey's and Cipriano's so I suggest you do everything humanely possible to keep my Angel alive in the best possible condition." He'd always hated their last names, never once used his name to give himself a boost, he'd rather hide it than claim it but in that one instant he let himself be grateful for only that one time it might save her life. The hospital would go beyond extraordinary measures to save any of them, they were almost entirely supported by money donated from their family's.

When Patch turned around Scott had Vee in his embrace, their wedding was to have been in two days, looked like it was theirs being delayed this time. Interestingly Rixon and Shadow were hugging and holding each other up making him arch an eyebrow wondering if something more was amiss there too that he had been too tired or to self-absorbed to notice because the last time he checked his baby bro was still pining over the future he wanted with Nora.

Then Patch's eyes came to rest on grandma Clista, she was looking as pale as she could be with her sun-kissed skin like her granddaughters. He approached her and knelt placing his arms around her trying to comfort her as she always did him. Clista stroked his hair the same way Nora did when either of them needed comfort and a fresh wave of tears he didn't think he had the ability to shed tore free. This was his fault. His fault. He couldn't tell them, she'd only been out driving because of her anger with him, because she had fought with him. His life was in some operating room back there hanging in the balance and there was nothing he could do to save it, he was utterly helpless in a way he had never been before.

Instead of fighting he should have celebrated with her, she may not have gotten her college money or either of them their trust funds but he'd been able to finish at the University before things ended with Dabria so with the help of that education and his friend and boss Angelo, he'd been able to make his dream of starting his own company a reality. He'd been working both jobs, Angelo's advertising and his own company, for a while now. That's why he had been so tired when she'd asked him that night, a night that seemed decades ago now. He hadn't wanted to tell her till he was sure that it was going to pay off, man had it paid off though. One of his college buddies was a very, very good lawyer who was the best in his field had created the most secure privacy documents you could get, and he called in some favors from some of his dad's business relationships to his own benefit. Patch had been getting ready to tell Nora he was now the proud owner and CEO of Cipriano Enterprise, Inc.

Patch was buying out small companies that were prospering at great rates but were so poorly managed that they were being run down into bankruptcy. He was handling every type of business so long as it was showing promise he was willing to negotiate and normally bought above asking price. He'd already paid back his initial backers and amassed a pretty good sum of cash that he was using to invest in his business growth and in stocks ect. He wasn't doing all of this for only himself, he wanted Nora to be able to quit working at the bar and to be taken care of the rest of her life. She could work, he wasn't trying to prevent her from doing that, he wanted her to work in journalism like she wanted to, not as a bartender. If she wanted her own company he wanted her to have that too. She had stubbornly refused to give up that job while attending school and he just hoped she'd use that same stubbornness to pull through this.

Every hour or so they would send a nurse out to let Patch know how things were going. Hours and hours had passed and things weren't looking good. He was either pacing or comforting Clista as best he could given his own shattered self and that horrible gut wrenching guilt for fighting with her in the first place and second for not listening to his sixth sense when she took off. He should have gone after her, should have stopped her. He was wracked with such guilt he could share with no one.

Three times they had come out to tell them she had flat lined but they had gotten her heart started again, each time it sent Patch running for the garbage to puke up what little remained in his stomach until there was nothing but sobs left. Every hour that passed he was realizing more and more how very much he needed her and loved her above all others. Himself included. Not that he was ready to admit he wanted marriage or anything, but without him being aware he was unknowingly being led by his heart and he was following it. She just had to pull through this, she was so so so stubborn, no one knew that better than Patch because they were one in the same. She was the one who could match wits with him or humor any day. No matter what he threw at her she had a retort just as smart if not better. They challenged each other, made each other grow and strive for better.

Clista was shaken to her core for her precious granddaughter. Nora was her baby girl and she cherished her so very much for so many reasons. She knew this accident wasn't Patch's fault though she could see the guilt that he was racking on himself over it. She could read him almost as well as Nora could by now. Clista knew how seriously he took his job of protecting her from everything and how great he was at it. She trusted no one with her grand baby but him. Vee and Rixon loved Nora deeply, they would do anything for her but it wasn't the same, it never would be. Both her and Nora knew that even before the boys did. Clista could also see the wheels starting to turn in Patch's mind and hoped his heart would catch up. She prayed the seed she had pounded into him and Nora to 'follow your heart' would break through that thick skull of his and start mending his heart. She'd shared the same wisdom with Vee and Rixon too, the difference was she'd always had a sense that there would come a day that Patch and Nora would only have each other and she didn't want them to ever let go of that special thing they had, the same thing she'd had with her beloved husband Nick. She'd never let go of him and Nora wasn't going to let go of Patch.

After a while Patch needed something more to do and his rage at her parents had worn down a little (honestly, they couldn't see why she continued to pick him over them when times like these showed over and over who really loved her and who really was there for her?) he knew it would sting her if she was aware that they still hadn't made an appearance or even called to check on her since he'd arrived. To distract himself he decided to read through some of the power of attorney papers she had filed. He had been shocked she hadn't told him then realized it was more an omission of information like him keeping his business a secret than a flat-out lie. He didn't fully understand why she had chosen him, on one hand he was closest to her, but Vee was her sister, her blood sister whom she loved and adored. Of course Nora loved him and trusted him above all, they had made it through everything together and if given a chance they would stand together through this too, but this, this was personal, this was monumental. She really could have placed her sister or Clista, hell (god forbid!) her parents as her power of attorney since he knew she still cared deeply for them even after all they had done to her so again he found himself questioning why him? Nora had always been the forgiving type, not him.

Skimming through it she had given him total rights from being the only one authorized to allow names on her visitors list if she were unable to make the choice herself all the way to him having sole discretion on pulling the plug on life support. Everything was covered and included in the papers, including her living will which he hadn't known she had either but there it was, her entire care even her funeral had been planned out. Nothing had been left undone, she had thought this through and through in great detail. He read that she wanted to be cremated and which dress she wanted to be wearing, she even had commissioned a handcrafted choker necklace for him, a pair of angels wings to be made with her ash to keep a part of her close to his heart. He didn't think he could read more, it was all so overwhelming. The love, the thought she had put into this. It even held a copy of her will he didn't think was supposed to be in there. It was like she had packaged it all up for him to have, the thought that those terrors had been seen as premonitions to her just waiting to come true scared the shit out of him. She'd told him what they were, what the images replaying in her head were every time like it was a tape on replay. Patch knew she hadn't confided them in anyone else but had she kept that piece to herself, the piece that seemed a prophecy?

In her will she'd left Clista, Vee, Shadow, Rixon, Scott, Angelo, Gianni and Gabriel each one special personal item of hers, something that would have the most meaning to that specific person, that made sense from her but what stunned him was that she'd left everything else to him...everything, nothing to her parents, nothing at all and that was monumental too coming from a girl who wanted nothing more than a good family relationship with them, especially her mom. He hadn't understood that but he supported her in as much as he could until Blythe crossed that line with him concerning Nora.

There was an envelope left sealed with each of their names on it, a letter to each member and his was the thickest. He wanted to know what was in there so badly, what she would want him to know that she hadn't told him already once she was gone and not there to talk to him about it but he couldn't. Not only because he couldn't handle it, truth be told he couldn't, but also because it just felt...wrong. There was still a slim chance she would make it and how would she feel if he had read that. Best to leave that be he decided.

They had been there since three in the morning and it was past noon now. The others had taken turns going to eat or to get coffee or rest in the car but not Patch. No news of Nora dying yet meant that his Angel was still in there fighting somewhere so he would be here fighting with her, not leaving until she was safe in his arms again where she belonged. He bad barely even notice the way all the nurses kept gathering to ogle him and whisper or even try to flirt with him as if this were the time or place for that. He had to admit a few of them he would have taken home without hesitation if something key hadn't changed in him during the wee hours of the morning. Now all he felt was disgust towards them. This must be how many women feel he surmised, like a piece of meat that was prime cut and waiting to be devoured. Patch had thought the auction was bad enough but there was a sense of pride knowing he was always the one who was the most fought for and heavily bid on and it was for charity when he was made to take part, he never willingly participated, but after tonight the world had shifted in ways he had yet to fully understand. It was in the middle of those thoughts he heard his name being called again.

"Mr. Patch Cipriano, please."