The Journey---Chapter Thirteen
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Chapter 13
The weeks following the events on Magnolia Hills Drive saw a lot of changes.
Luke remained sedated for nearly two weeks to allow for his brain injury to completely heal before slowly being brought back to consciousness. Reid never left his side except to attend Lily Snyder’s funeral. He was slightly confused by the fact that he was seated with the family but it was their way of letting him know that he was now one of them. Prior to Lily’s death, Luke had apparently talked about him non-stop when she’d pick him up for his appointments. Lily then shared these conversations with Holden. It was not lost on them that their son had fallen in love with the man and now that man was in love with their son. Family...
For obvious reasons, Luke was unable to attend the service and Reid took it upon himself to be the one to break the news to him of his mother’s death. Holden had had to tell the younger children and was barely hanging on so Reid just felt he was the logical choice. Luke seemed to take the news in stride until the cause of her death, which Reid couldn’t hide, was made known to him. He retreated within himself for several days. Reid knew it was just a means of coping and he remained steadfast in his support of the young man carrying on one-sided conversations with him often sharing deep, dark secrets or telling him the most embarrassing stories from his childhood he could think of hoping to get a reaction out of Luke.
Three days after his self-imposed hiatus, Luke came out of it with a bang breaking down out of the blue with uncontrollable sobs. Reid simply took him in his arms and comforted him until he was able to calm himself down. Though he continued to have moments of great despair, especially when his family would stop by to see him, he was showing tremendous strength and resilience.
Cal Stricklyn, having learned of his granddaughter’s death, made his way to Oakdale for the funeral and decided to stay for the duration of Luke’s recovery. Luke couldn’t have been more thrilled. He adored his Papa Cal and admired him greatly. As it turned out, his presence provided a strength that was desperately needed.
Nick had been arraigned the day after his arrest. His court-appointed attorney entered a plea of “Not Guilty” for his client and stated that there was no confession and no evidence, forgetting that they had Nick’s blood soaked clothes…blood of which later tested to be a match to Lily Snyder…and the butcher knife used to kill with his fingerprints on it. For being a cop and a Law and Order aficionado, he really was stupid.
It was decided by Bob Hughes and the board members of Memorial Hospital that Reid would be placed on a three month administrative leave for his insubordination and for, what they believed, putting a patient’s safety at risk. Reid didn’t care. It just meant he could be there for Luke.
Holden had decided that he could no longer live in the home he shared with Lily and the children and packed them up and moved them to the farm. Luke was finally released from the hospital about a month after the attack and, having nowhere else to go, moved to the farm as well. For all intents and purposes, Reid had moved there too. Though saddened by the reason, it still warmed Emma’s heart to have a full house again.
About a week after his release from the hospital, Luke and Reid were in the parlor at the farm while Luke worked with his physical therapist and speech therapist. Though he had been treated quickly and the damage was only temporary, his head injury had left him with balance and coordination problems as well as a mild case of aphasia. Reid blamed himself for it and thought, for the briefest of moments, that perhaps Old Man Hughes had been right along. But, as he did some research into the type of head injury Luke had sustained, he learned that these were all common side effects.
“Besides,” Luke had said, “if I’m not allowed to feel guilty then neither are you.”
Luke and Reid were both so focused on the therapy that they never heard the door bell. Emma came in the parlor followed closely behind by Holden, then Cal, then Jack and then a very serious looking Margo Hughes and Hal Munson. They both stopped to turn their attention to the detectives.
“To what do we owe this honor?”
Cal stepped around Holden and further into the room. “Why don’t you guys have a seat. Margo and Hal have something they need to discuss with us.”
“What’s going on, guys? Did the trial date get moved back?” Luke asked with just a hint of emotion in his voice.
Margo and Hal gave each other a look before Hal turned back to the group gathered before them.
“Nick Bridges escaped from police custody four hours ago.”
A/N: Aphasia is an impairment of language ability. This class of language disorder ranges from having difficulty remembering words to being completely unable to speak, read, or write.
Chapter Fourteen: http://amydambly.livejournal.com/5792.html#cutid1