Chapter Thirteen:
"I think you need more pink," Emma said to Robin as they were decorating the apartment. Emma had been putting pictures all over that she drew and Robin adored watching her.
"I don't know, that's a lot of pink," she said as she sat down and took a drink of water.
"Mom, you can never have enough pink," Emma said. "Sabrina told me that being a girl meant I should be full of frilly pink things. I don't know exactly what that meant, but I have a lot of pink."
Robin rubbed her face self-consciously where the sting of Sabrina's slap still rested.
"I'm sorry mommy. I didn't mean to make you sad," Emma said as she sat next to Robin, noticing her silence.
"It's okay," Robin shook it off and smiled. "You didn't make me sad. I want you to tell me anything you want. I don't want you to be afraid to say anything."
Emma was quiet for a minute.
"Really?"
Robin nodded.
"Of course," she smiled. "Is there something you want to tell me?"
"Are you mad at me?" Emma asked her and her big eyes filled with tears.
"What? No, baby," she said and took her hands. "Why would you think that?"
Emma blinked and her tears spilled over her cheeks.
"I knew you were in trouble and I didn't make daddy find you. I told him you didn't call me when you said you would and you always do what you say. I think I should have made him listen to me. I'm sorry mommy."
Robin pulled her daughter into her arms and held her while she sobbed.
"Oh my sweet Emma," Robin said soothingly. "You are my hero. You are brave and strong and smart and your daddy and I love you so very much. You are the reason I made it home. I would do anything for you and now that I'm home, we are going to have the best life."
"Are you mad that daddy is with Sam?"
Robin sighed and carefully tried to answer her daughter.
"All you need to worry about is how much daddy and I love you. I could never be mad at daddy because he helped me make you and you are my most important blessing. Whatever your daddy or I do or who we are friends with will never change how much we love you. I need you to know that, Em. I never want you to worry about that."
"I want you to be happy, mommy. I want you to smile more."
Robin laughed and wiped her tears.
"I want that, too, and you are the one who is going to make me smile the most. Now how about we make something for lunch."
"Okay. I want grilled cheese!" she jumped off Robin's lap and ran into the kitchen.
"Grilled cheese it is," she smiled as she followed her daughter.
XXXX
About an hour after lunch, Robin had dropped Emma off at her friends house for a birthday party. She was relaxing in the family room after putting up a few more decorations and she was surprised when her doorbell rang.
She was a little nervous, because nobody knew where she was except Mac and Brenda. She looked through the hole and smiled.
"Jason! Hi, come in," she said and opened the door.
"You should have guards," he said as he walked in.
"Well hello to you, too," she smiled as he sighed and pulled her to him in a hug. She was surprised, but she hugged him back.
"Hey, what is it? I'm okay," she smiled as he stepped back.
"I had another memory," he said softly. "I heard you screaming."
Robin walked to sit down and she shrugged.
"It's all in the past. I'm moving on with my life and I hope you are, too. I have decided not to dwell on what happened."
Jason wiped his face and sat on the new chair.
"Have you talked about it at all?"
"This coming from the king of silence?" she said and sighed. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Nobody needs to worry about me."
"That's not true and you know it. Helena is out there and she is just waiting to come after us. You can't think she is just going to let everything go."
"I don't want to think about it anymore, I told you that. Is there something you need from me? Why did you come over?"
Jason smiled at her.
"Even angry you're polite."
Robin smirked and pulled her long hair up into a twist.
"I'm not angry. I just want to move forward. My daughter needs stability and not more drama."
"How is Emma?" he smiled. "I'm so glad you are with her again."
"She's amazing. She's smart and intuitive and sensitive and sweet. I'm so glad that Patrick is letting her stay with me for a little while. It's really helping me to have her around."
"Letting you? What the hell does that mean? You're her mother."
"Jason, I haven't been in her life for almost three years. Besides, he looks at what happened as me abandoning her, so he has every right to be cautious. Emma is confused enough as it is."
"Abandoning her? You didn't abandon her. You left to help me and he repaid you by sleeping with my wife. He can go fuck himself. Abandoned her. Shit."
Robin felt her eyes prick with tears, but she swallowed them.
"How are you? How is Sam?"
He looked at her and was amazed at her strength, but he knew she was just pushing her feelings aside and that worried him.
"Do you really want to know? I can't imagine Sam is your favorite person right now."
Robin smiled sadly.
"This isn't her fault. She thought you were dead. I told Patrick I was unable to save you so they both thought they were free to be together. None of this is her fault. I'm the only one to blame."
"Robin, you have to stop doing that. You aren't to blame. You saved my life and I now I am able to put my son to bed and get him up in the morning. I am now able to hear him say my name and walk and play and all of that is because of you. You can't keep excusing how people hurt you."
"But who am I supposed to be angry with? I told Patrick over and over that I wasn't being held against my will. I told him I was staying and he couldn't handle that. I didn't want a divorce, but he did and I am not about to beg a man to be with me who doesn't want me. He has been in two serious relationships since I left and one almost resulted in marriage. He has moved on and it's not his fault."
"You didn't leave, you were kidnapped and tortured for two years. You came home to see him at the alter with another woman and you made the choice to try and help me after he dicked around for weeks and kept you hanging. He made the choice to end things because he's not worthy of you, Robin."
She rubbed her arms, a chill in the air.
"You wouldn't be a tad biased here, would you?"
"He pursued my wife while knowing you went to save me. She may have forgiven him for that, but it's a jerk move. He was angry with you and his 'perceived' attachment that we have, yet he's okay with Sam? He did what he did to hurt you and I don't care about anything other than that."
"Jason, he's saved your life more than I ever could. He was so hurt by me leaving and Patrick is nothing if not guarded when it comes to his heart. I destroyed his faith in our relationship and he won't forget that."
Jason looked at her.
"I have one word for that crap about you destroying things."
Robin looked at him.
"Lisa."
She sighed.
"We moved past that. Lisa was crazy and what she did to all of us was horrific. I mean, Matt is serving time in prison because of her. Patrick never meant for any of that to happen."
Jason shook his head.
"I didn't come here to argue with you, I actually came over to see how you were. I hope you know that whatever you need, any time or any place, I'm here."
Robin smiled and nodded.
"I do know that and I appreciate it. Thank you."
He hugged her again and left.
Robin sighed and shivered again. She went to put a sweater on before she headed out to pick Emma up after her party.
XXXX
Patrick went to the new clinic that Michael opened by the riverfront and he wanted to see Sabrina. He was really angry with how she treated Robin and he needed to get her to back off.
He was also furious with himself at how he handled everything. He had a lot of soul searching to do and he found he didn't like what he was seeing.
"Patrick?" Sabrina smiled when he walked in.
"Hey. Do you have a minute where we could talk?"
"Of course," she stopped stocking the cabinets and motioned to follow her to an office and they went inside.
"What's up?" she asked.
"I need for you to understand something about Robin," he said.
Her face clouded over and she shook her head.
"Actually, I don't."
"You do. What you did by slapping her was uncalled for. She is a victim in all of this and she didn't deserve that."
"She's a victim? Did she lose a son? Did she deliver him on the side of the road and watch him slowly die with tubes and wires everywhere? Did she?" Sabrina yelled at him.
"You weren't supposed to be in the car," he began.
"What?"
"The accident was a warning to me to leave Robin to her work. Victor thought if Emma was in danger, then both Robin and I wouldn't fight back. You weren't supposed to be in the car and I never realized how important that was. I missed all of the signs and if I hadn't ignored things, I might have been able to help Robin sooner."
"Oh, well since I wasn't supposed to be there, I guess that means Gabriel is still alive? Oh wait, he isn't. Regrets mean nothing, Patrick. Our son is dead and it's because she went to save a man who is a murdering thug. She is the reason and I will never forgive her."
Patrick sighed.
"Why aren't you angry with me? Why are you so hell bent on focusing your rage on her?"
"What do you mean? She is responsible."
"I am just as responsible. I forced Robin to tell me where she was going. She told me she was going to Africa and I wouldn't let it go. Victor was pissed that I made her tell me and he made sure I wouldn't betray his confidence. The accident was for me, not Robin. She never disobeyed him."
"If she wasn't able to help him, Victor would have never come for her and none of this would have happened."
Patrick gaped at her.
"So you're angry she is a brilliant doctor?"
Sabrina crossed her arms and glared at him.
"I'm angry my son is dead. I'm angry that I lost everything. I'm angry about a lot of things."
He nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry our son died. I'm sorry I hurt you and I'm sorry you are so mad at Robin. I just need for you to understand that she would have done anything to prevent Gabriel's death. This is not what Robin would have ever wanted."
"And yet, he's still gone."
Patrick sighed.
"Okay. I hear you. I'm asking you to keep your anger in check and I'm telling you to never lay a hand on her again."
Sabrina raised her eyebrows at him.
"I don't have to do anything you tell me to do, Patrick. I loved you and I wanted a life with you. When you made your choice, it was clear. I don't know why you decided to divorce Robin after you left me for her. I don't understand a lot of this, but what I do understand is that I need to move forward with my life. I'm doing that by working here and I hope to one day have the family I've always wanted. Besides, I'm fairly certain Robin can hold her own. She seems to enjoy going toe to toe with killers."
"You don't know anything about Robin, but it doesn't matter. I care about you and I am sorry you were so hurt by everything I did. If you're angry, come at me and not Robin. I'll see you later."
She watched him walk away and she crossed her arms.
This was all Robin's fault.
XXXX
Patrick went back to the hospital and his anger at his situation was brewing. He sat at his desk and wasn't sure what to do next. Robin asked him for space and he was trying to respect that wish, but he also felt like being apart wasn't helping anything.
They had spent years apart.
He also worried about her. He made the mistake of not asking her about what she went through before and he made a vow to help her this time. He adored Robin's strength and self confidence, but she wasn't made of stone. He knew she needed to deal with what happened.
He should have helped her with that before.
Maybe if he had, she wouldn't have made the choices she did. Maybe she would have been able to let him help her with things. Maybe they could have saved Jason together.
"Dr. Drake?" a male voice called out at the door.
Patrick looked up and saw the guy from the bar.
"Yes?"
"I had a case I wanted to discuss if you have a minute."
Patrick put his doctor hat on and tried to put away his jealous one.
"Of course. Come on in."
Mark walked in and handed Patrick a chart.
"I need to perform a quadruple bypass and the patient suffered a stroke last night. He is being transferred to cardiac ICU and I'd like you to take a look at his scans. I think I see a brain bleed and I can't put him under if that's the case."
Patrick took the scans and looked at them for a minute.
"Wow. How did you see that? It's rare that someone who isn't a neurosurgeon can pick that up."
"I studied under Dr. Forest in Paris. I was going to be a neuro specialist, but I was bit by the heart bug and moved to cardiac surgery. I have always kept up with the latest in neurosurgery."
"Wow. Dr. Henry Forest?"
"Yes."
Patrick was impressed. He sat back and sighed.
"I think he is going to need surgery," he began.
"Well actually, I wanted to talk to you about a drug protocol you worked with a few years ago."
Patrick nodded.
"My wife developed numerous protocols that were effective in treating patients. Her thought was always to try a less invasive route. She always told me I just wanted to cut first."
"Like all of us surgeons," Mark smiled. "But this case is delicate and I thought maybe less would be more. I read all about your wife and her amazing story. Is she available for me to talk to?"
Patrick hadn't really encountered anyone who didn't know the story and he was quiet.
"I'm sorry," Mark said. "I didn't mean to upset you."
"You didn't. You actually met her already," he said, hating himself for outing her this way.
"I'm sorry? How would you know that?"
"At the bar the other night. Robin."
Mark was stunned.
"That's her? Wait a minute, were you the guy who got all territorial on me? She's married? Why would she act like she wasn't? Why didn't you just tell me? Did you enjoy watching me make a fool out of myself?"
Patrick shrugged.
"I don't know," he lied. Just say it. You divorced her.
Mark stood up, looking uncomfortable and incredibly sad.
"Please look at the chart and let me know what you think. I need to head back to ICU."
"I'll be in touch," Patrick said.
"Thank you," Mark said and left.
Patrick threw the chart across the room.
What the hell was he doing?