Falling For You
By Beccabo

Chapter 14

Chapter 14 : Dealing

"Where the hell are those test results?" Patrick demanded, throwing his files down on the nurse’s station counter and startling Liz. "The last tests we ran, her cd4 count dropped down to 88 from high 600's and we still have no damn idea how or why her numbers are plummeting."

Liz, knowing the last 48 hours of Robin’s illness had been hard on him, tried to be patient. Gently, she said, "Patrick, do you want them right or do you want them fast? Because you can’t have it both ways."

"Call down to the lab again, Liz. Talk to Jerry and tell him how important this is." Patrick reviewed Robin’s chart and test results for the hundredth time that afternoon and shook his head. "If they get any lower, we are going to have a whole new set of problems to deal with. What's left of her immune system can’t handle too much more of this."

Going back to her computer work and trying to focus on something besides her best friend lying in that hospital bed down the hall, Liz patiently said, "I called down to the lab ten minutes ago. They know how important this is and that we are racing against time. Calling them again is not going to..."

"Are you down there?" He snapped at her, annoyed that she was working on the computer instead of doing what he had asked. "How do you know what they are doing if you don’t call?" Frustrated, he turned his back on her and grabbed the phone. "Never mind, I’ll do it myself."

Liz closed her eyes and quietly said, "This is hard on all of us, Patrick. But if you keep knocking around here and acting crazy, it’s not going to accomplish anything."

Ignoring her plea, Patrick punched a few numbers on the phone and then swore under his breath. "How the hell do I get a line to the lab?"

"Don’t take it out on her, son." Noah came up to the nurse’s station, gently removed the phone from Patrick’s hand and laid it back in it’s cradle. "I just came from the lab and they are doing the best they can under really awful circumstances down there. They know how important it is that we isolate the source of Robin’s virus. But this is delicate research they are doing." Searching Patrick’s face for signs of understanding, he said quietly, "It’s her blood, not her brain that we’re dealing with. We can’t just cut her open and fix what is wrong."

Picking up another file and thumbing through it, Patrick avoided his father’s concerned stare and said quietly, "I have to be able to fix this. She’s depending on me."

"We will fix it." Noah replied, his heart aching for his son. "Everyone here is doing all they can to figure out what this is. Look around, Patrick." Noah took the file out of his hand and gestured to the hospital at large. "Alan, Tony and Monica have been working around the clock, and I don’t think Liz has slept in days." Lowering his voice, Noah reminded him, "They love her, too. And they want this over as badly as you do."

Patrick was silent as he grabbed the file back from his father, glaring at him.

Noah took a deep breath and watched Patrick come out from behind the counter at the nurse’s station. He saw the tension in his shoulders and the lack of sleep in his face. Quietly, he said, "You need to relax, Patrick. Stressing these people out will not help your cause."

Patrick turned on him with a fierce look in his eyes. "What are you going to do to relax me, huh dad? Buy me a drink?" Patrick hissed in a menacing and mocking tone. "I will not become like you."

"Fine, take it out on me." Noah returned fiercely, standing toe to toe with his son. "Make me into your punching bag. I can take whatever you have to give. But, dammit, get your head back in the game and stop beating up on people who are working toward the same goal as you are. Do not use this as an excuse to hide from your pain." Noah grabbed Patrick’s arm and Patrick shrugged away from him. But Noah was not going to be deterred. "I don’t want you to turn into me, either. But you know what I see going on here? You are becoming the exact thing you claimed you would never be."

"You don’t know what you are talking about." Patrick said, walking away from his father. "I have to go through some of Robin’s research to see if I can find anything that will help us."

"You know what will help?" Noah asked, following behind a retreating Patrick. "Taking five minutes and spending it at her bedside. Holding her hand so that she knows she’s not alone..."

"She knows she’s not alone." Patrick said, gesturing to the waiting area. "Her family and friends have been here around the clock, in and out at all hours of the day and night. My holding her hand is not going to accomplish a damn thing." Lowering his voice, Patrick added, "She has been unresponsive for almost three days. She won’t even know I’m there."

"She’ll know." Noah said quietly.

Patrick and Noah locked eyes and they just stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Finally Patrick picked up Robin’s files and said, "I have files to go through." Patrick turned toward the elevator and was almost mowed over by a madwoman rushing out onto the floor.

"Where is she?" The woman demanded, rushing over to the waiting area. "Where is my daughter?"

Mac stood up and caught the frantic woman in his arms. "Anna, it’s okay. Calm down."

"She’s awake? Thank God..."

Mac shook his head and the fear returned to Anna’s face as she said, "Mac, how could you have not called me sooner?"

"What could you have done?" He asked quietly.

"Got on a plane and came to Robin’s bedside. Which is what I did." Anna looked around at her family and friends, but didn’t seem to process any of them. Her thoughts were only of Robin. "Where is she? I need to see her."

"You can’t see her, Anna." Mac said quietly, trying to calm her down. "None of us can."

"Don’t tell me what I can and can not do." Anna said, the fire burning in her eyes. Patrick could suddenly see where Robin got it from. "I am her mother. That is my little girl in there. And I want to see her."

Patrick approached cautiously and said, "No one can see her right now. She is at a serious risk of infection."

"Who are you?" Anna demanded, annoyed at his intrusion.

Mac put his arm around Anna and said, "Anna, this is Dr. Patrick Drake. He is one of Robin’s colleague’s here at the hospital and a good friend. He is consulting on Robin’s case."

Anna took a moment to size Patrick up an d down. Robin had told Anna all about this handsome young doctor. Unfortunately, Anna had imagined their first meeting under much different circumstances. "What’s happened to her?"

Patrick took a deep breath, wishing that Monica or Tony were around to do this. Talking to worried families was not Patrick’s favorite task and the fear in Anna’s eyes was unsettling to him. "Robin has developed some sort of an unknown bacterial infection. We have been unable to detect it’s source and therefore have had some difficulty in treating it. It has attacked her immune system and all but shut it down, which as you know is very dangerous given Robin’s HIV status. She lapsed into a coma, but so far we haven’t seen any damage to any of her major organs. We have her on an IV as well as a heart and lung monitor to be sure the infection doesn’t start attacking her nervous and respiratory systems. We are treating her with a larger than normal dose of a Combivir, Sustiva, and Bactrim cocktail to stabilize her, but we have to find out what kind of bacteria is causing this infection so that we can begin fighting the source." Patrick tried to read Anna’s face, but he was unable to get any idea of what the woman was thinking. He tried again by saying, "Ms. Devane, we are doing everything possible for Robin..."

"Do more." Anna interrupted him in a strong voice. "Robin needs me now, so you figure out a way to let me see my daughter."

to be continued...

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