May 23, 2011 18:25
Originally posted by: tkfaf Jan 26 2008, 12:56 AM
I know it's shocking, but I actually finished a chapter this week. I really hope it works and isn't too confusing or worse, boring. Thank you to Kristin and Amanda for the nudges and advice. You two are my story angels.
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Chapter 15
“So I’m dead,” Robin said flatly as she dropped the paper back on the coffee table.
Not knowing what to say, Stone kept silent. He knew that she had come to terms with her mortality in the years since she had been with him, but it still hurt to watch her accept it so easily. As happy as he was to be completely in her presence, he couldn’t shake the growing feeling of discomfort; that it was somehow wrong. She stared at the paper and started smiling. “I suppose, we might as well go to my funeral.” Looking at him, she stood up and said, “It’s not often you get to attend your own funeral, right?” Taking his hand nervously, she asked, “So how do we do this?”
“I don’t know,” he whispered. “Maybe we just follow your heart.”
“Ok,” she said closing her eyes. He wasn’t sure at all that his suggestion would work, but she hadn’t questioned it, so he followed her lead. When they opened their eyes, mourners filled the church in small groups all around them. Although Robin looked surprised at the sheer number of people, Stone wasn’t. It was a testament to Robin’s great capacity to love.
“Look Robin,” Stone said pointing to a corner of the room where he saw a couple of familiar faces. “There’s Sonny and Luke.”
Robin smiled at his enthusiasm and then continued to take everything in. In every face, she saw the story of her life. Sean and Tiffany were standing over by the Quartermaines with a teenage girl that couldn’t be anyone else but their daughter. Alexis, with Molly on her hip and Kristina beside her, was talking to Nikolas and Emily, who was holding Spencer in her arms. All three children held a special place in her heart. For better or worse, she’d played an important role in their young lives, even if they never knew it. Elizabeth stood next to Lucky, holding her hands over her pregnant belly, but she kept sneaking glances over to where Jason stood alone in the back.
“I wonder what’s going on with them,” Robin wondered out loud, mentally reviewing the conversations she had had over the last year with both of them. Nothing she could recall explained the looks they kept sneaking at each other when they thought no one was watching.
“With who?” Stone asked.
“It doesn’t matter, I guess,” Robin said as she saw her parents standing next to Mac and Felicia. Georgie and Maxie were nearby, but based on the looks Maxie was giving Felicia, things were strained. Robin understood better than most where that anger came from. She wished she could have one more chance to help Maxie understand, but Maxie would have to make her own peace with her parents. Smiling at the group from the hospital sitting together in the back, Robin shook her head in amazement at Kelly who was sandwiched between Andy and Leo. It figured that Kelly would surround herself with handsome men at a friend’s memorial.
“Isn’t that Patrick?” Stone asked.
Robin looked and saw him slouching between Noah and Epiphany. “How do you know about him?”
“I might have kept tabs on you,” Stone said quietly. “You kinda had a big effect on my life you know.” Robin smiled at Stone, but it faltered a bit when she turned to look at Patrick again. His shoulders were hunched, his eyes red from crying, and his suit looked like he had slept in it. He hardly resembled the overly confident doctor and playboy that she knew. Even though she knew he couldn’t see or hear her, she made her way to him, wrapped her arms over his shoulders, laid her hands across his chest, and leaned her head close to his ear.
“I love you Patrick,” she whispered, hoping that somehow he might be able to feel her presence. “I’m ok and you’re going to be too. Promise me you’ll keep being brilliant and save lots of lives for the both of us, ok?”
Patrick looked up, a lone tear running down his cheek, and Robin thought for a moment that he knew she was there. “I love you, Robin,” he whispered back. Noah reached over to pat Patrick’s hand. “Dad, I can’t do this without her.”
Noah’s voice cracked with emotion. “I know how hard it is Sport, God knows I do, but life does go on.”
“Not for me,” Patrick said bitterly. Robin felt a knife go through her heart as Patrick slipped away from her and walk out of the church.
“I should go after him,” Noah told Epiphany as he moved to stand up.
“Let him be for a bit. He needs to say goodbye in his own way and in his own time.” Noah sank back down in the pew, his eyes filling with tears. Robin could practically feel Noah’s grief rolling off of him in waves and was momentarily torn between the two men who had recently become so important in her life. Epiphany quietly slipped her arm around his shoulder. When Noah rested his head on her shoulder in return, Robin was able to push her worry about him out of her mind reassured that someone was looking after Patrick’s father.
“Patrick shouldn’t be alone. That’s the last thing he needs right now,” Robin told Stone turning to go after Patrick, but she stopped in her tracks when she saw who was entering the church. “What’s she doing here,” Robin muttered. Carly was standing in the archway wearing a white dress and Jax on her arm as if he were an accessory.
“Get out!” Robin turned to see her mother charging down the aisle towards Carly, with Robert and Mac close behind her.
“Excuse me?” Carly said, pulling Jax possessively closer to her.
“You heard me. Get out,” Anna told her through clenched teeth.
“Anna,” Jax tried to reason with her. “Carly and I just wanted to pay our respects.”
Anna turned her fury on Jax. “How dare you! How dare you bring her here!”
“Mom, please, just let it go. It’s not worth it, really.” Robin knew her mother couldn’t hear her, but the words passed her lips anyway. Her memorial was supposed to be about those who loved her, not this.
“Really, Anna,” Carly cooed. “Robin did more harm to me than I ever did to her.”
“You would say that, but everyone here knows the truth,” Anna spat. “She spent years in Paris putting herself back together because of what you did!”
“That’s not my fault. She chose to meddle in my life and then ran away like a coward when things didn’t go her way.”
“Carly, that’s enough,” Jax said firmly before turning his attention back to Robin’s mother. “Anna, we are very sorry for your loss, really. Robin was a wonderful person who will be greatly missed, which is why Carly and I have decided to create a memorial fund at General Hospital in her honor. Carly and Robin may have had their differences, but we are going to make sure Robin is remembered for a long time to come.”
Anna gave Carly a cold stare. “While I’m sure your motives are sincere Jax, I don’t believe for a minute that Carly’s are.” I guarantee they’re not, Robin thought, watching the disaster unfold in front of her eyes.
“Aren’t you an ungrateful bitch,” Carly mumbled under her breath.
“What did you say?” Anna inched closer to Carly. Robin could see the rage in her mother’s eyes.
“Only the truth,” Carly told her. “You are just as sanctimonious as your daughter was and I won’t stand here listening to it for another minute.”
“Well, lucky for you, you won’t have to worry about listening to me say another word.” Robin covered her mouth in shock as her mother drew back her fist and laid Carly out cold with one punch. Anna got one kick to Carly’s ribs before anyone could react. It took both Robert and Mac to pull a kicking and screaming Anna away from Carly as Jax cradled her head in his lap, trying to get her to come around.
“This is awful. I’ve never seen my mother act like this,” Robin told Stone.
“It’s just because she loves you so much Robin.” Although Robin didn’t doubt the depth of her mother’s love, she was questioning what it had become. Never before in her life had she ever seen her mother so out of control. Her mother was better known for calculated attacks rather than the sucker punch she gave Carly.
“Do you think she’ll be ok? She won’t always be like this, right?”
“I don’t know,” Stone said. “Nothing like this ever happened to me.”
Robin turned and walked out the front of the church, unable to watch the travesty any longer.
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Patrick wandered the dark hall aimlessly. He saw Liz walking towards him and tried to turn around in an effort to avoid her. He wanted to be alone, but Liz had no intention of letting that happen.
“Hey Patrick, is there any improvement?”
“No,” he told her.
“I heard Anna’s back.”
“Yeah, she’s sitting with Robin right now.”
Liz’s eyes narrowed and Patrick shifted uncomfortably as she looked him up and down. “You look like hell, you know.”
Patrick was stunned. “Thanks a lot Liz.”
“It’s the truth,” Liz said with a sigh. “Patrick, you’ve been awake ever since Robin was admitted.”
“I’ve slept.”
“Cat naps in a chair beside her bed don’t count,” Liz said, taking him by the arm. “You need some real sleep or you won’t be any good to anyone, least of all Robin.”
Lacking the strength to put up much of a fight, Patrick let her drag him towards the on-call room. As she opened the door, Patrick began to weakly protest, but Liz dismissed it with a wave of her hand and a promise that she would wake him up if there was the slightest change in Robin’s condition. After Liz left, he laid down on the bed convinced that it was an exercise in futility, but he was asleep within seconds.
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Mac and Robert watched Liz as she guided Patrick down the hall.
“That boy is a wreck,” Robert commented.
“That boy is probably hoping to be your son-in-law someday,” Mac told him.
“I know,” Robert said with a smile. “Nobody is ever going to be good enough for my little girl, but I guess he’s the best of what’s out there.”
Mac stirred his coffee, silently agreeing with his brother.
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Liz had told Noah that Patrick was finally getting some rest and that Anna was in with Robin. Having heard a lot about Ms. Devane, Noah made his way to Robin’s room to see her for himself. He remembered seeing occasional photos of her in the newspaper years ago when he lived in Port Charles. Looking at her through the window, he thought the pictures were nothing compared to seeing her in person. Sure she was a little older - who wasn’t - but he could certainly see where Robin got her beauty from. As if she knew someone was there, Anna turned and smiled at him. He felt the heat rise in his cheeks, embarrassed that she had caught him looking her over like some hormonal teenager. He was just about to walk away, when she motioned for him to join her. He slowly opened the door and slipped into the room as quietly as he could. The room seemed oddly peaceful for the first time in nearly thirty-six hours.
“I didn’t mean to disturb you,” Noah said, hoping his voice didn’t betray the nervousness that he felt.
“You’re not disturbing me, Dr. Drake.” She waved her good arm at the chair across the bed from her. “I could use some company about now.”
Noah sat down. He didn’t know what he had expecting meeting Anna for the first time, but it seemed strange that she didn’t appear agitated or upset.
“I’m thankful every day that you and your son come into my daughter’s life,” Anna said as she reached out to pick up Robin’s hand.
“I think Patrick and I are the lucky ones,” Noah replied with a catch in his voice.
“That’s a given,” Anna smiled. “Anyone Robin lets into her life is lucky, but it’s been a long time since she’s let anyone into her heart.” Anna paused to brush a strand of Robin’s hair before continuing. “When she was in Paris, she wasn’t really living. Most people thought she was fine of course because she always assured everyone that she was, but Brenda and I knew better. She just wasn’t the Robin we knew. After she met you and Patrick, it was like she woke up again.” Anna winked at Noah, who was completely entranced by her words. “Don’t tell her this, but Brenda and I would talk behind her back about how fired up she got over you two.”
Noah felt a smile break across his face at the memory of how frustrated Robin would get with both of them. “I’m sure we gave her plenty of reasons to be aggravated.”
“Yes you did,” Anna said looking at him kindly. “She was so mad sometimes that she would call us in the middle of the night just to tell us the latest offense one or both of you had committed.” The smile on her face faded a bit as she looked back at Robin. “That’s how I know she’ll get through this. She just got her life back and there is no way she’s going to slip away from it now. This is a bump in the road, not the end of it.”
Her voice was filled with such a quiet confidence that Noah almost believed her…almost.
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fanfiction,
scrubs,
robinscorpio,
generalhospital,
patrickdrake