FicWad

"Maybe she just wants you for your money?" There was something about Marina's voice that just irked Patrick to the core; he could never quite place a finger on it, but when she spoke, it shot an involuntary eerie shiver down the length of his spine. He would never be able to understand how Pete put up with it, day in and day out.

"It's not about the money" Patrick shrugged, totally confident in his response.

"But what if it is?" Marina grilled continuously as she followed Pete and Patrick through the hotel, somewhere in the direction of their room. "I mean, she wasn't around when you were struggling, but all of a sudden POOF! she's back when you've made it big and now she loves you and wants to marry you and have your mutton chop babies?"

"It isn't like that" Patrick glared out of the corner of his eye, in his periferial vision Pete was just rolling his eyes, not coming to Patrick's defense or asking Marina to call off the dogs, to hault the investigation.

"I don't know, I think that it is" There is was again, that squeek in her voice, that cocky attitude in her tone.

"It isn't, okay?" There was a weird tone in Patrick's voice now that made Pete cock an eyebrow, maybe it was the defensiveness; the first time Patrick was really standing up for something, standing up for her and for his relationship. "It isn't about the money, we just had a shaky history, that's why she wasn't around all of those years."

"I don't know, Trick" Pete was speaking up before his brain could stop his mouth from opening, "I mean, that last one wasn't worth the fight, and she was with you all those years, so it does look a little shady on Ana's part."

Once they reached their destination, Patrick was in the corner of the room, rummaging through his bag like it held the meaning of his life. "It isn't about the money, alright; she's got money, she's probably got more money that I have, so honestly, it looks shady on my part that I want in on her life now!"

An uncertain shakiness was racking Patrick's voice now as he rummaged angrily through the stray contents of the room, "For the love of God, has anyone seen my phone charger?" After a long night and today's endless array of press, his cell phone was dead and he wanted nothing more right now than to turn it on and check his calls.

Pete sifted through the contents of the dresser, sheepishly handing the device in question over to his best friend, offering an embarrassed apology, "I'm sorry man, that was out of line."

"No, it wasn't" Marina counteracted from the couch in the corner of the room, "I still say she's in it for the cold hard assets."


"It isn't the money, she's got plenty of that. Her dad runs that big time ad agency that works with the Bears and the Cubs, she makes good money with her pictures; her grandfather is a big time oil tycoon and when she turns 25 she gets the fortune her mother left them when she died, and lets just say when Eric got his, he could have up and quit his job, no problem. It isn't about the money, alright? Why is it so hard to believe that maybe she does actually just love me, and not what I am?"

"What sort of fortune?" Of course the idea of a potential scandal interested Marina; it was probably her motives that should ultimately be in question. While waiting for his phone to start up, Patrick was shooting daggers in Marina's direction, while Pete was basically groveling at Patrick's feet.

"Listen dude, I'm sorry; she loves you and I know that and I'm sorry for thinking otherwise." Pete was taking a seat next to Marina, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, in some sort of affectionate gesture that Patrick would rather ignore; sometimes it was better to just ignore her, and them, all together. As of right now, 4 NEW VOICEMAILS was all that Patrick was worried about, both Marina's nosey request and Pete's generally sincere apology going unnoticed as he pressed the receiver against his ear and listened intently to the voices echoing through the speaker.

"Hey Patrick its your father ... just checking in as a father should. When you have the time to devote to your dear old dad, call me back; but don't strain yourself rockstar, I know it's tough." With a slight laugh, Patrick pressed 7, deleting the message and making a mental note to call his dad back at some point tonight.

As the resounding tone of a new message rang through is ear, his attention was perked by the sigh that it began with, her voice following suit, "Hi, it's me. I uh, I really need you, and I know you're busy but, I just ..." There was another heavy sigh, anguish heavy in her voice, "Just call me back when you get a chance."

No I love you, no terms of endearment followed suit; that tone in her voice meant nothing but trouble, and his fingers were feverishly dialing the numbers they knew all too well, Patrick wanting nothing more to pace the room now as he waited for an answer, the charging device hooked to his phone hindering this desire.

"Hi" Her voice was low, almost like a whisper; she had just sadly excused herself from the hospital room and was now pacing the family waiting room at the end of the hall, but he would never know that.

"Hi" It was unclear why his voice was so shaky as he breathed out a response, struggling for an ounce of certainty, "I miss you."

"Grams is in the hospital"

There was no endearing response again, no I miss you too, no introduction to the shock that her sentence would bear. Immediately, his heart nearly plumeted to his stomach as he stuttered out a response.

"Wh-what? Why? What happened? Is she okay?"

Sighing in frustration, she was pacing the waiting room now, almost in anger, but he would never know that. "She collapsed during bingo" There was a small moment of laughter in Ana's voice; because honestly, how ridiculous did that sound? Who collapses when they hit the four corners for the jackpot?

"It was uh, it was a heart attack; her liver is failing and they don't --" It was hard to hold back the tears, but Ana was fighting her hardest and that was clear in the shaky tone of her voice, "They don't know what's causing this to happen or if they can fix it."

Silent tears were streaming down her face now, but he would never know that. Ana wanted nothing more than for Patrick to be by her side right now, holding her in his arms and reassuring her that it was alright. But instead, she was left with nothing but a silent telephone line, while a speechless Patrick fumbled on the other end, searching for the words to say.

"Baby, I'm --" There he was again, at a loss for words, with no hope of comfort in sight, "I'm sorry."

It was then that her walls broke down and the tears came flooding through. I'm sorry was all he had to offer and it wasn't nearly what she needed. Breaking down in tears now, Ana was forced to take a seat, hunched over a worn out couch, with her hand covering her mouth as sadness racked her entire body.

Patrick had ripped the phone from the charger now and was pacing the room; naturally Pete was immediately on his feet, eyebrows furrowed together in worry and confusion as all the color drained from Patrick's face. Pete rasied an eyebrow in interest, but Patrick shrugged him off, shooing him away and heading for the door, to the solace of the nearly deserted hotel hallway.

There was no other words that Patrick could possibly say to console her in this state, there was no room for physical itimacy or comfort and to be honest, he was ready to break down in tears himself. The sound of her crying was enough to break his heart, shatter it into a million unrecognizeable pieces; but his inability to comfort her, to take away the pain was nearly too much for his heart to bare.

Once an unmeasureable amount of tears had fallen from her eyes, Ana was taking deep breaths to calm her erratic breathing and heart rate, trying to pull herself together as she dried the tears from her cheeks. Patrick's phone began beeping in his ear, informing him of a low battery, just as Ana sucked in a deep breath.

"My phone is going to die" Patrick meakly mumbled, almost incoherent to the average ear, but Ana could hear every word, and that was the moment she lost it again, silent tears streaming down her face as she tried to hold her voice together. With a deep breath and a heavy exhaled sigh, she prepared herself for what was next.

But Patrick would never be prepared, he would be too consumed in his dying cellular device to be fully prepared for the words that left her lips as her voice struggled to hold its ground.

"I can't do this anymore Patrick"

"I'm sorry sweetie I jus--"

"No Patrick, listen to me; I'm done, I can't do it. I've been trying so hard, so hard you wouldn't believe, but I can't, I'm just not strong enough. I need you, I need you so bad, but I can't have you and it's just too hard."

"No Ana don't sa---"

Cutting him off agian, her voice was cracking no matter how hard she willed it not to, "What if she doesn't make it Patrick? What if something happens; something worse? You're clear across the country; what if you can't say goodbye? I need you, and you're not here; you can't be here."

"Don't do this Ana, please." Patrick's eyes were spilling out tears now as he leaned his forehead against the cold, poorly decorated wall, clutching his phone to his ear, hoping and praying that he had heard her wrong.

"I can't do it anymore, I've tried and I had faith and I love you, I love you more than you'll ever know, but I just can't and I'm sorry."

When the line went dead, it would never be clear who was at fault; whether Patrick's phone had died or Ana had given up completely and ended the call. Regardless of who was at fault, the ringing silence in Patrick's ears as tears fell would haunt him forever.