Patric

"Well? What in the hell is going on here and who in the hell is that?" The man demanded angrily.

Kevyn couldn't believe her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" she asked shocked.

Patrick looked at the man wondering who he was as he positioned himself so that he could move Kevyn to safety if he needed to.

"I heard about your mother and wanted to pay my respects before I went to work." he replied, his eyes glued on Patrick. "You haven't answered my question, who is that and why are his hands on you?"

Kevyn recovered from her shock and spoke again, "Get out!"

The man took a step toward Kevyn and Patrick stepped forward pushing her behind him.

"I believe that you were asked to leave." Patrick said looking the tall powerfully built man standing in front of him.

"Clay, this is a hospital and not the time to deal with your issues!" Kevyn said her head beginning to pound again.

"My issues?" Clay asked, "but you're right, this isn't the time or place to talk about it but who is your.... Friend?"

"Patrick Sinclaire and who are you?" Patrick asked curtly.

"Clayton Robinson." Clay replied just as curtly as Patrick.

"Well Mr. Robinson, you've been asked to leave."

"I don't think so, I have every right to be here, Gene invited me and we were almost family." Clay said ignoring Patrick.

"Clay get out!"

Patrick kept his eyes on Clay and moved toward him.

"Good morning!" Dr. Berry said from behind Clay, "Is there a problem?"

"No, I was just leaving." Clay said glaring at Patrick who returned the glare.

"I came in early so that we could talk before your family got here." Dr. Berry said.

Grateful for the interruption, Kevyn nodded at him.

"I'll see you later." Clay said as he left the room.

Kevyn watched Clay leave and felt ill, he was a small part of her life that had almost catastrophic ramifications and until now she had almost but not quite managed to forget about him. She had to wonder who had tipped him off that she was here and she didn't believe for one second that he was here to "pay his respects" as he said. Clay hated hospitals almost to the point of it being a phobia but yet here he was. She knew Patrick was wondering who Clay was but she also knew that for the time being that he wouldn't ask.

Dr. Berry led them to a small consultation room and asked if he could speak in front of Patrick.

"It's fine." Kevyn said anxious to hear what he had to say.

"Alright," Dr. Berry said, "As you know your mother fell and hit her head pretty hard, unfortunately she was down for almost two hours before anyone found her."

"That's where the subdural hematoma came from- the fall I mean." Kevyn said.

"Correct but she also had a hemorrhagic stroke, we believe that's what caused the fall but at any rate the end result is this, the vent is what's keeping her alive and right now she is still listed as a full code. The question is do you want to change her status and take her off of the vent?"

Kevyn's head felt like it was going to blow off of her shoulders. There was going to be hell to pay no matter what she decided.

"Are the other doctors in agreement?" she asked.

"Yes," Dr. Berry replied, "and if you'd like to speak to them I can see it they're here."

"Please, if you could do that it would help." Kevyn replied.

Patrick was rubbing Kevyn's back as the doctor talked but his mind was on Clay Robinson, "what is his connection to her?" he asked himself. As soon as the doctor left them alone, he hugged Kevyn and kissed her head. Her headache was back and would keep coming back until she ate and slept.

He had already made arrangements at a hotel closet to the hospital and given specific instructions as to what he wanted including fresh flowers and bath oils. He had already decided that she wasn't spending the day here, tonight was going to be stressful enough without having to deal with the lack of sleep.

The other doctors came in several minutes after Dr. Berry left and their prognosis mirrored his.

"I'm sorry but this is as good as its going to get." Dr. Harmon the neurologist said, "I agree with Dr. Berry, she's only alive because of the life support, her status needs to be changed."

"I understand." Kevyn whispered her stomach roiling with nausea. "Have them bring the paperwork to the room and I'll sign it."

"Don't you want to discuss this with the rest of your family?" Dr. Harmon asked.

"No, I'm aware of their wishes," Kevyn replied, "and they've left it to me to decide but don't turn the machine off yet, I want us all to be here and to have a chance to say goodbye."

"Alright, I'll have the paperwork brought to the room." Dr. Harmon said as he stood, "I am sorry for your loss."

Kevyn wanted to scream "she's not dead yet!" but didn't instead she thanked the doctor for his time and kindness.

She then listened to the cardiologist even though she had made her decision and since he had taken time out of his busy schedule it was the least that she could do. His opinion was the same as the others verifying that she had made the right decision but only one of her family would disagree but the others wouldn't stand against him.

As soon as the doctors were gone Kevyn stood up and took off at a run for her mother's room with Patrick following. She flew into the bathroom, dropped down to her knees in front of the toilet and began to dry heave; there was no food for her to throw up as she hadn't eaten since the day before.

Patrick followed her in closing the bathroom door behind him, sat on the floor behind her and rubbed her neck and back until the dry heaves eased and the headache was dulled.

"You're hired." Kevyn mumbled.

"For you there is no charge." Patrick said as he stood up and then helped her up.

He turned her around so that she faced him and kissed her forehead vanquishing the rest of the migraine. He reached over and turned on the cold water, wet a washcloth and gently washed Kevyn's face.

"Is this part of the mate thing?" she asked.

"This is the I love you thing." Patrick replied.

"I love you too." Kevyn replied, "You know that right?"

"Yes sweetheart I know that." Patrick replied looking down at her. "I have a room reserved for us so you can get some sleep today."

"I can't leave....."

"Kevyn, your mother isn't going anywhere and you're exhausted." Patrick said, "You need to eat and sleep or else your headache will come back."

"If something happens...."

"They'll have my cell phone number as well as yours, sweetheart tonight is going to be very difficult, and you need to sleep."

Kevyn knew that he was right, she did sleep some but it wasn't a restful sleep and far from long enough.

"Alright but I need to be back here by six."

"Not a problem." Patrick replied as he kissed her forehead again and picked up her backpack. "You travel light." he commented.

"I hadn't planned on being here very long." Kevyn replied sadly as she glanced over at her mother. "She looks so old" Kevyn thought to herself.

The papers for the 'do not resuscitate' orders lay on the table. Kevyn swallowed a lump as she read over the papers and then a tear ran down her cheek. She lay the papers down and went over to her mother and sat in the chair next to the bed. She took her mother's cool hand into her warmer one and started to cry.

"You've been through so much." she whispered, "I talked to your doctors this morning and you're not going to get any better." Kevyn bit back a sob and continued. "We've talked about this before and I know you wouldn't want to live like this.... I'm going to sign the papers and we'll let you go tonight after everyone has a chance to say goodbye.

I'm going to go get some rest... mom, I love you and try to not to worry alright? You were always such a worrier but no more ok? Let me take care of things.

Kevyn stood up to walk away and walked into Patrick's arms.

*******

"You didn't fucking tell me that she had a man!" Clay hissed into the phone.

"She doesn't!" Gene replied.

"No? Then tell me who that white dude was that had his hands all over her!" Clay shouted.

"What white dude?"

"You tell me!" Clay snapped, "I went over there to see her and you know how much I fucking hate hospitals and there they were!"

"I said I don't know anything about a white dude!" Gene shouted back, "she didn't say anything to Juliet about anybody coming with her and he wasn't there last night..."

"I don't give a fuck!" Clay shouted angrily, "Find out who in the hell he is and get back to me!"

*******

Gene slammed the phone down. Kevyn unknowingly had just shot his plans to hell. The fact that no one knew what was going on with her was another indication that she never should have left home. He understood why she left but that didn't make it right. The other thing that stuck in his crawl was that she was in essence the head of the family when he as the oldest male should have been. How many times had his father told him that he "had to be a man" because he was the head of the family? Too many times to count but what happens?

When Victor dies, who did he give control to? Kevyn. Now that their mother was dying, who had control? Kevyn and afterwards she would go back to California... she thought. Clay had always had a thing for Kevyn and never hid it even though Kevyn was in a word fat and the object of ridicule from the other students. The teasing and torment continued until Kevyn on a whim tried out for the softball team in her sophomore year and she was damned good!

She lost weight and while she would never be fashion model thin, she looked good a fact that Clay and others didn't miss but it was Clay who pursued her like there was no tomorrow until she finally went out with him on one date. After that she would have nothing to do with Clay and to this day no one knew what happened on that date. Whenever it came up she changed the subject until one day she snapped.

"Clay Robinson isn't who or what you think he is!" and that's all that she would say.

Soon after graduation Kevyn packed, headed to the west coast and came home about once a year. Each time she came home Clay would make a visit to the house and try to convince her to go out to dinner with him and in all of those years he never succeeded.

As Gene dressed for work he wondered about how he was going to find out who it was that was with Kevyn. He wondered if the man had introduced himself to Clay and picked up the phone to call him back.

"That dude, did he say who he was?" Gene asked.

"I don't know! Something Sinclaire is all I know!" Clay said and slammed the phone down.

"Well that was helpful." Gene muttered under his breath as he finished dressing for work.

********

Kevyn tearfully signed the papers making their mother a DNR while Patrick held her. He couldn't even begin to imagine what it would feel like to have to choose to let a loved one die but Kevyn's pain was palpable as she signed the papers. He held her in his lap as she sat by the bedside for more than an hour holding her mother's hand and saying her goodbyes.

Finally she was ready to leave. Patrick gathered their things and led her to the car that was parked in the lowest level of the parking garage.

"Wait!" Kevyn exclaimed coming out of her fog, "The sun, won't it hurt you?"

"I'll be fine." Patrick replied touched by her concern.

"But I thought that you couldn't be out during the day." Kevyn said.

"Theoretically that's true but I can be out for a short time and the hotel is close by."

Twenty minutes later Kevyn was soaking in the biggest bathtub she had ever seen in her life. The hot water soothed her aching body as the scent of lavender soothed her nerves. The tub had already been filled by the time they got there because Patrick had called ahead. The water had been a little too hot but it hadn't taken much to get it to the perfect temperature.

Patrick waited in the other room listening in case she fell asleep in the tub. What he really wanted to do was to climb in behind her and rub her shoulders and wherever else he could reach. He felt his cock twitch at the thought of touching her wet skin and.....

Kevyn's cell phone rang interrupting his mental touching of her. Without thinking about it, he answered it.

"Kevyn's phone."

There was a pause and then a male voice.

"Who is this and where's Kevyn?" the voice demanded.

Patrick recognized the voice from when he talked with Kevyn the night before.

"This is Patrick Sinclaire and Kevyn is indisposed at the moment, may I take a message?"

He was speaking to air.

*******

"Patrick Sinclaire." Gene mused, "And what was he doing answering Kevyn's phone?"

He rushed to work so that he would have a few minutes to spend on the internet, maybe he could find something on this man who seemed to be so interested in his sister.

He didn't get as far as the water cooler when he was stopped by the office manager.

"Gene, my office." he said.

Gene's stomach turned, he knew that he had been skating on thin ice and mostly because of his temper and his need to control. As a result no one wanted to work with him and those that did often filed reports against him.

When he they were sitting, the manager spoke.

"I got a phone call last night." he said. "The district manager called me at home.... Damn it Gene! What did you say to him?"

"Nothing!" Gene replied.

"That isn't what he says." The manager replied, "he says that you called him a stupid asshole who wouldn't know a good investment if it fucked him good."

Gene closed his eyes, he did say that but only because the man wouldn't listen to and take his suggestion about an investment that would have made them a lot of money and would have given Gene a huge promotion. That promotion would have allowed him to take care of his mother as a son was supposed to, it would have meant that he would have the financial means to move from the tiny one bedroom apartment that he had to move into when his wife Dana divorced him.

"I managed to convince him that you were going through a major family thing and he backed off but Gene, this isn't the first time that I've gotten calls about you."

"So now what? Are you firing me?" Gene asked his anger rising.

"By all rights I should but I won't." The manager said, "But you will take a leave of absence until your family issues are solved and you will contact the company EPS services and talk to someone about your issues. If you don't then I'll have no choice but to let you go."

Gene was grateful but still angry. He didn't want time off, he needed to be at work but if he pushed the issue he would be out of a job. He was glad that he had talked to Clay and convinced him to make a huge investment with him all he had to do was to let Clay know whenever Kevyn was in town. Why Clay wouldn't or couldn't give up on Kevyn Gene didn't know and whenever he asked, he was shut down.

After promising Dave his manager that he would call the EPS services, Gene went to his office, grabbed his jacket and headed toward home. He wanted to know who this Patrick Sinclaire was and what he was to Kevyn.

*********

Kevyn reluctantly got out of the tub not caring how dry her skin was going to be. That had to be the best bath of her entire life. She dried off and found the small bottle of lotion that she bought at the airport and applied it to the parts that she knew would be the driest. She hadn't noticed the lotions at the far end of the counter until she had her pajamas on.

"Later." she mumbled as the odor of food hit her nose.

While Patrick waited for Kevyn to come out of the bathroom, he decided to find out what he could about Clay Robinson. He knew that Kevyn would tell him about the man but he wanted to know more about him than Kevyn possibly did.

"Clayton Robinson." he mused as he entered the name. The problem was that there were easily hundreds of Clayton Robinsons. He would have to wait until Kevyn told him about him.

He looked up when he heard Kevyn come out of the bathroom wearing her pajamas. His first thought was that he wanted to take them off of her so he could see what was underneath the second thought that was actually tied with the first thought was of how beautiful she was. He wondered if she realized it and if anyone other than him had used the word beautiful and not pretty to describe her.

"Feel better?" he asked as he held out a chair for her.

"Much, thanks." Kevyn said as she sat down.

One Denver omelet, three pieces of bacon with a side of home fries with onions, two pieces of toast and two large glasses of orange juice later, Kevyn pronounced herself full but sleepy. While she brushed her teeth and rebraided her hair Patrick turned the bed back and changed from jeans into a tee shirt and lounge pants all the while wishing that they were going to bed to make love and not to sleep.

He tucked Kevyn in and climbed in behind her pressing tightly against her back. He was hard but made no effort to hide or apologize for it. Kevyn wiggled back against him and as just as he was about to tell her to stop doing that he heard the first soft snore.

*******

Gene paid the fee to use the library's computer and chose one as far away from the desk as he could. When he was sure that the librarian was busy he googled Patrick. The more he read, the wider his eyes got. "Oh my god." he breathed.

Convinced that he had made a mistake, Gene typed in Patrick's name again and got the same results. The problem was that other than being white, he didn't know what Patrick looked like but if by some slim chance it was the same man; his little sister had hit pay dirt and.... That angered him.

Good things always seemed to happen for her without her even trying while he worked his ass off to get to where he was. He didn't care about Patrick's money in the way that most people would have, to him money equaled power and if he had money he would be the one making the family decisions and not Kevyn.

It never occurred to him that she had to work two jobs to save the money to buy her plane ticket to California and once she got there she worked as a live-in caretaker in order to have a place to stay and most importantly, she didn't want the job of making the medical decisions for the family.

All he had to do was talk to her, it was that simple but he didn't. He chose instead to harbor his resentment and his anger which grew with every good thing that seemed to be happening to everyone else her especially. Had he talked to Kevyn he might have realized that being in her place wasn't all that it seemed.

Gene jumped when his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He looked at the caller ID, it was Clay.

"What did you find out?" he asked.

"I looked up his name and there's this dude... the one with Kevyn, what did he look like?"

"I don't know man! A white dude and the room was dark." Clay snapped.

Gene knew what that meant, Clay hadn't been wearing his glasses and without them everything was blurry and he was too much of a pussy to get contacts.

"Alright but I won't know anything for sure until later." Gene said, "I'll call you."

*******

Kevyn woke up to soft kisses on her face; she moaned and tried to roll over.

"Rise and shine sweetheart!" Patrick said pulling the covers back. Kevyn's pajama top was pulled up on one side revealing a dark breast with a large dark nipple. Patrick held in a low moan and fought the urge to take the nipple into his mouth and roll it between his lips.

"Kev, come on baby time to get up." He said again.

Kevyn slowly opened her eyes, realized that a breast was exposed and quickly pulled down her shirt much to Patrick's disappointment and relief. He handed her a large glass of juice and watched her gulp it down without stopping. A moment later Kevyn jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom, she hadn't made her one nighttime trip into the bathroom and now it was almost a minor emergency.