snow day

[dpracket]

"I don't know that this is a good idea, Mr. Snyder," Reid said, watching the windshield wipers of Luke's truck brush away small ice pellets as they landed against the large windshield.

"I've lived here my whole life," Luke replied, turning off of the highway.  "I know all of these back roads.  That report a minute ago said that the highway is closed because of an overturned oil truck not too far from Oakdale.  I don't know about you, but I'd like to get home before it really starts coming down.  It's supposed to be bad overnight.  Relax, we're only about forty five minutes from my family's farm, and Oakdale is just twenty minutes south of there."

Reid sighed.  He pulled at the knot of his tie and loosened it.  He was tired.  It had been a long day of meeting with prospective surgeons, two of which Memorial was  interested in acquiring in about a year's time to serve in the new neurology pavillion that had barely even broken ground.  He'd wanted to go alone, but Luke Snyder, being the freaking busy body that he was, had insisted on traveling with him because Bob had prior commitments and couldn't go.  After meeting with them, there was really only one surgeon that Reid felt was suited to work on his team.  Luke, of course, had schmoozed them all, and had made Oakdale sound like an Illinoisan nirvana.  Reid picked up his phone to check his email and sighed again.  "Great.  I don't even have service out here."

Luke chuckled.  "I never have service in this area.  It's nothing but farmland and rural homes in these parts."

In these parts?  "Fantastic," Reid said, putting his phone in his pocket and pulling his coat tighter around himself.  He looked over at Luke, who was leaned forward slightly in his seat, concentrating on the road.  Reid was actually glad Luke was driving instead of him.  Driving had never been one of Reid's favorite things to do, never feeling completely comfortable behind the wheel.  Driving was something one needed to do, but it wasn't something Reid found any pleasure in doing.  Luke had originally offered for them to take his grandmother's jet (fucking Richie Rich), but when the weather looked iffy, they'd decided that driving would be better, so as not to get grounded at O'Hare.  They had watched the forecast, and they hoped that they could leave Chicago early enough to stay ahead of the weather.  Now, as the precipitation turned to snow, Reid wondered if they should have just postponed the meeting.  He yawned and decided to close his eyes and catch a few Z's, as he still had dictation to complete when he got back to the hospital.

Reid had been dozing for about twenty minutes when a loud bang started him awake.  "What the hell?"

"Blow out," Luke replied, fighting the steering wheel as the truck slid across the road.

"Turn into it," Reid said, but Luke could not get control of the truck, and it slid into the grass, slamming nose first into a large tree stump and coming to a jarring halt.

*************************************

Reid shook his head and wiped away blood from his nose as he looked at the wrecked dashboard in front of him.  He instinctively flexed his toes.  He closed his eyes against the blinding pain at the bridge of his nose and went through a mental catalog of possible injuries, moving different parts of his body in check.  He turned to Luke, who looked dazedly out the window.  He unbuckled his seatbelt and turned toward Luke.  "Hey," Reid said putting his hand on Luke's forearm.  "Snyder.....hey, you okay?"  When he didn't respond, Reid put his hand on the back of Luke's neck, pressing gently.  "Mr. Snyder..."

Luke turned to him but looked blankly over his shoulder past him, and Reid could already see a bruise forming under his left eye.  Luke suddenly brought his hands up to his face.  "Ow....wha?...."

"Airbag," Reid said, reaching over the center console and unbuckling Luke's seat belt.  "Luke," Reid said, taking Luke's face in his hands.  "Look at me."  Luke lowered his hands and looked at his passenger, blinking.  "Okay.  Listen.  Close your eyes, and don't open them until I say so."  Luke did as instructed, and Reid ran his thumb over the bruise, pressing softly.  "Okay, open," Reid said, pulling down gently on Luke's bottom eye lids with his thumbs.  Reid watched Luke's pupils react to the fading daylight and said, "Good."  He ran his hands down Luke's arms, taking a relieved breath.  "Good," he repeated.  "Move your fingers."  Luke did.  "And your feet," Reid instructed further, looking down at the floorboard of the car to see Luke flex his feet.  "Push against my hand," Reid said, putting his hand out, palm up.  Luke put his open hand against Reid's and pushed down.   "Good.  Do you have any pain?"

"Just my nose and under my eye," Luke said straigtening.

"How's  your neck?"

Luke turned his head from side to side and then bristled, pushing Reid's hand away when it came up to his face.  "I'm fine, Dr. Oliver, I'm fine."  Reid ran a hand over his own face.  "But you're bleeding!" Luke exclaimed, looking worried.

Reid pulled down the visor in front of him and inspected his nose in the mirror.  "It's not broken."  Luke handed him some tissues out of the console.  "Thanks," he said, wiping at his nose.  He watched Luke sit back and turn the key in the ignition.  Nothing.  Luke tried again.  Still nothing.   Luke put the truck in auxilliary and tried the radio, the overhead light, the heater.  Silence.  Luke sighed and opened the driver's side door.  "Where are you going?"

"To survey the damage."

*************************************************************

After determining that the radiator was leaking and that something was dripping from the engine ("probably oil"), Luke stood up and brushed the wet, snowy dirt off his gloves onto his dress pants.  Reid watched Luke look one way up the road and then the other way.  He looked up to the sky for a moment and then put his hands on his hips.  "I'll walk back toward the highway.  You stay here."

"It's almost dark," Reid pointed out, his hands stuffed deep into his coat pockets.  "We are at least fifteen miles from the highway...probably twenty."

"So, what do you suggest?" Luke asked, obviously pissed at himself and directing it at Reid.  "We can't just sit here and freeze to death.  The heater's not even working."

"We are not going to freeze to death.  Someone is certain to come down the road eventually.  We'll keep a look out, and if we see lights, we'll get out and flag them down."  He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked for a signal.  Nothing.  "Check your phone."  Luke did, sighed, and put the phone back in his pocket.

"Okay, let's get back in the truck and enjoy whatever warmth is left in it.  It's not going to last long.  None of the electrical is working."

**************************************************

They had been in the car for over three hours.  It was very dark.  They had not seen a single car, and now snow was covering the windshield.  Reid rubbed his hands together to keep them warm, the sound noticeable in the quiet car.  "You don't have gloves?" Luke asked.

"Obviously not, or I'd be wearing them, wouldn't I?"

"You're mad," Luke said.  "I'm sorry."

"I'm not mad; I'm frustrated. And I'm cold.  You have nothing to be sorry about."

"It's my fault we're stuck out here in the snow."

"Not every bad thing that happens is your fault, Mr. Snyder."

"But if I'd stayed on the highway..."

"If you'd stayed on the highway, we could have hit something a lot bigger than a tree stump.  Like another car.  And we might have gotten hurt, or maybe people in another car would have gotten hurt."

"Yeah, but what about the blow out?  I must have run over something, right?  And I wouldn't have run it over on the highway."

"Or your tire had a flaw.  We have no idea what caused the tire to blow.  Fuck, Luke, you can sit here and second guess yourself all night, if you want, but it doesn't change anything.  What's done is done, recalculate and move on."

"You don't ever second guess yourself?"

"I try not to."

"Even at work?"

"Especially at work," Reid answered, feeling annoyed.

"Like, if you have a patient die, you don't wonder if you could have done things differently?  You don't try to figure out where you went wrong?"

"I learn from it, if there's something to learn, and usually there is, and then I move forward.  I don't dwell on it.  People die."

Luke shook his head.  "How can you be so callous?"

Reid was silent for a number of seconds, closing his eyes in the darkness.  Conversations with this kid had a way of turning into fights, and Reid didn't feel like fighting in an icebox on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.   "Because I have to be.  I can't get emotional about it.  I have a job to do.  If I wallowed in regret after every surgery that didn't go exactly the way I planned, I wouldn't be as good at it as I am today."

"I'm sorry.  I shouldn't have..."

"Stop apologizing."

Luke was quiet for a few minutes.  "You called me Luke....a few mintues ago....you called me by my first name...and earlier, right after the crash, you called me Luke then too."  Reid didn't answer.  "Reid," Luke said, and the doctor could almost hear the smile on Luke's face as he said it.

"Fine," Reid grumbled.  "Sure.  I guess when you are deserted in the frozen tundra with someone, first names are fine, but when we get back to work, we go back to Mr. and Dr.  Let's just figure out how we're going to sleep in here tonight," Reid advised, eager to change the subject away from his slip up.  Inside the privacy of his mind, Luke was Luke.  Using his surname had been a way for Reid to distance himself from Luke in the beginning, to assert his superiority, but within a couple of times of seeing him, he decided it was prudent to keep using it, to not let himself get distracted by Luke's eyes and the way he always invaded his personal space. Not to mention the way he smelled.   "We need to clear the snow off the windows, so that we'll be able to see lights, if there are any, and I guess we'll have to take shifts sleeping."

"Oh!" Luke exclaimed suddenly.  "Oh, ............I've got......yes!.......in the utility box back there, I've got a sleeping bag!  Maybe even a blanket, but definitely a sleeping bag.  My brother and I were going to go camping a few weekends back... with his Indian Guides group.  My dad couldn't go because he had to meet with a breeder in Wisconsin.  We were going to go up by Arrow Head Lake, but the weather took a turn, and..."

"Luke."

"What?"

"I'm freezing.  Let's go see what's in that box."

"Oh," Luke said, chuckling.  "Sorry......I mean, okay."  Reid bit back a smile and moved to open the door.  "Wait," Luke said, reaching across to the glove compartment in front of Reid.  I've got an ice scraper in here, and..."  He shifted things around inside the glovebox until the truck lit up dimly.  "A flashlight!  And I know there is at least another one back there in the box."

*********************************************

They entered the truck, both of them breathing rather hard and shivering.  "Fuck," Reid complained, rubbing his hands against his pants to warm them up.  "I can't believe the amount of snow out there already.  The temperature must be in the single digits.."

"It's the wind," Luke answered, climbing into the backseat, the small flashlight between his teeth, snow falling out of his hair and off his jacket.  Reid turned around to look at Luke, who was pulling the backpack that he'd retrieved from the utility box onto his lap.  "Let's inventory what we have."  He pat his hand against the sleeping bag on the seat next to him and kicked one of the boots on the floor.  "One sleeping bag and one pair of rubber work boots," he said, as he unzipped the backpack and shined the light inside.  "Another flashlight...Batman."  He held up a battery-powered lantern and turned it on.  "A lantern."  He turned off the flashlight, able to see better with the brighter light.  "A compass..."  He pulled out some other items.  "A pair of Batman underwear."

"Yours?" Reid teased.  Luke ignored him.

"A box of granola bars."

"Thank God.  Dinner.  Give 'em here," Reid said, untucking his right hand from inside his coat and reaching for the box.

"Marshmallows...oh, yeah, we were asked to bring that for smores."  Reid reached back again, but Luke put the package on the seat beside him.  "Listen, doc...just eat ONE granola bar, okay?  In case we're still here in the morning?"

Reid could see Luke's steamy breath in the cold vehicle.  He nodded and said, "Yeah, sure," with his mouth full.

"And Ethan's hoodie.  He's probably been missing this..........that's it......oh, wait, let me check the side pockets...................a lighter.................and........hand sanitizer.  That's it."

"Okay, well, here...you want a granola bar?"

"No, that's okay, I"m good for now.  I ate a big lunch.  So did you, but ya know, I realize your brilliance probably burns calories."

Reid laughed.  "You're correct, it does."  Luke shook his head.  "Listen, I'm used to long hours, so I'll take the first shift."  Reid looked at his watch.  "It's 10:30.  I'll wake you up at two o'clock, maybe three if I'm feeling awake enough.  Do you think that would be okay?  You can stay up for two or three hours and then wake me up.  I'll be alert enough to take a few hours after that.  I don't require a whole lot of sleep."

Luke nodded.  "Okay, yeah, that sounds good.  Hey, uh...you're a doctor.  How long does it take for hyperthermia to set in?"

"It's HYPOthermia, and I don't think that's an issue.  For one, there are two of us, and we can share body heat if necessary.  We have a sleeping bag, and it's insulated.  We have shelter.  I know it feels cold in here, but it's warmer than outside, and we're not exposed to the wind.  We're not too wet right now, but we need to be careful if we go outside, that we don't spend too much time out there because the way it's coming down, the snow will be getting deeper.  Mostly, we should only go out there to eliminate or if we need to scape the window.  Hypothermia is when your core body temperature drops below 95 degrees farenheit, or 35 degrees celcius.  I really don't think it's going to be a problem.  If one or both of us starts shivering violently, that's the first sign.  And by violently, I mean that our teeth will be chattering excessively.  The heart rate speeds up. There's some mental confusion...hypertension, hepatic dysfunction, vasoconstriction, and diuresis."

"English, please?"

"High blood pressure.  Liver dysfunction.  Your blood vessels narrow.  You pee excessively."

"Damn."

"And that's just at the early stages.  When it's really bad, the heart and respiration slow dangerously, and the blood vessels constrict further to try to compensate and keep the vital organs warm .  The good thing is that you kind of lose your mind  by then, ya know...lots of mental confusion, so you wouldn't be aware.  There's even cases where people start shedding their clothing, which makes it worse, and they'll burrow into anything they can...like an animal going into hibernation."

"Jeeze."

Reid chuckled.  "Don't worry.  We'll be okay.  We just need to watch each other for signs...crazy shivering, slurred speech, blue lips.  And we need to stay hydrated."

"I only have one kidney," Luke blurted out.  "And I'm not the original owner."  Reid didn't say anything, so he continued.  "I always have a week's worth of anti-rejection meds on me.  They are in my messenger bag.  You should know that."

Reid nodded and picked up Luke's watered down coke out of the cup holder.  "Drink."  He then drank the rest of his watered down Dr. Pepper before opening his door and scooping clean snow into his cup.  He closed the door and put it in the cup holder.  "Staying hydrated shouldn't be a problem with all that frozen precipitation out there.  And if we have to, we can just share the one cup to drink and use the other one to urinate.  I don't think we're at that point yet."  Luke looked uncertain.  "We're fine.  We're going to be fine.  Luckily for you, you're stranded with a doctor."  Luke rolled his eyes.  "Lie down," Reid said, turning back around and sitting on his hands to warm them up.  "Get inside that sleeping bag, and get some shut eye.  It'll be your turn to stay awake before you know it."

"What about you?" Luke asked.

"I'm fine."

"You could come back and here.  We could unzip the sleeping bag and spread it over both of us.  You were just saying how cold you were a little bit ago."

"I said, I'm fine. I'm not snuggling with you, Mr. Snyder, unless my life depends on it.   Go to sleep.  Remember to unzip your jacket.  It will help with the flow of heat under the sleeping bag."

Luke sighed and unzipped the sleeping bag.  He balled Ethan's hoodie up to use as a pillow and laid down on the back seat, unzipping jacket as Reid had suggested  The man was a walking encyclopedia.  Luke wasn't going to question it.  "Aren't you going to ask why I had a kidney transplant?"

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, not really," Luke said, pressing on the bruise under his eye.

"Then, no.  It's none of my business.  Seriously, Snyder.  Close your damn eyes and get some sleep."

********************************************

Reid hated being cold.  He'd never enjoyed the winter time in Massachusetts and New York growing up, and he'd quickly acclimated when he'd moved to Texas, happy to trade unbearable winters for almost equally unbearable summers.  Even more than being cold, he hated being in small spaces, and the space within the truck seemed to be getting smaller by the minute, especially now that snow had covered the front windshield again.  He had concentrated on the rhythm of Luke's soft snoring for awhile in the stillness of the truck's interior, but Luke was quiet now.  Reid yawned and blinked slowly, feeling the heaviness of his eyelids.  He wondered what time it was, but looking at his watch would require him removing his hand from the warm place he had it tucked against his coat.  He felt a hand on his shoulder.  "Dr. Oliver, you're shivering.  C'mon, let's switch places."

Reid sat up from the position he was in, slightly bent at the waist, with his arms tucked in to his body.  "I'm fine.  Take another hour or so, and we'll switch then."

"Don't be an idiot," Luke said, tugging on Reid's jacket.  Reid didn't respond.  "Reid, get back here."  Reid nodded and then climbed into the back seat.  Luke turned on the flashlight, lifted the sleeping bag, which was unzipped completely, forming a large blanket.  Reid got under it, immediately feeling warmth on the small amount of exposed skin that he had.  He unbuttoned his coat to let the heat in, and he instinctively turned toward Luke and the warmth radiating off of him from being holed up under the thermal sleeping bag.  Without even hesitating, Luke began running his hands up and down Reid's arms.  He took off his gloves and covered Reid's cold ears with his warm hands for a few minutes.  Reid didn't make a move to stop him and closed his eyes.  After awhile, Luke put his hands under the sleeping bag and took Reid's hands in his, rubbing them to warm them. "Your hands are like ice."  He brought them up to his mouth, with his warm hands wrapped around them and blew air through his own fingers to reach Reid's hands.

Reid opened his eyes.  "Thanks, that feels good."

"I run warm," Luke said.  He moved his own hands out of the way and blew directly against Reid's knuckles and after a few mintues, he put his warmed gloves on Reid's hands.  "Your turn to wear them," Luke offered.  "Go to sleep.  I'll keep watch for a few hours."

Reid shook his head.  "We've been here for hours.  Not a single car has gone by.  The roads are getting worse by the hour.  I doubt this road is even passable at this point.  Just go to sleep.  We'll worry about things in the morning."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Reid replied, his eyes closing against fatigue and the headache that was forming across his forehead and the bridge of his bruised nose.  "We need to sleep if we're going to be hoofing it back to the highway."

"How are we going to do this?" Luke asked, sounding unsure.

"Do what?"

"I mean, are we going to sleep sitting up like this?  Or do you want to lie down?  You can lie down, and I can stay sitting up. I don't think we'll both fit on the seat if we lie down, and I don't know that we could get into a comfortable position to keep warm, and..."

Reid sighed and opened his eyes.  The lantern was making crazy shapes on the ceiling from shadows and the reflection off of the snow-covered windows.   "Don't complicate things.  This big Ford of yours has plenty of room."  Reid pushed on Luke's shoulder.  "Lie down like you were before."  Luke lay back and pulled his feet up onto the seat, his head on Ethan's balled up hoodie, his legs on either side of Reid.  Reid maneuvered between Luke's legs, pulled his own feet up onto the seat, pushed up and sort of planked on his left arm and dropped down with his back against the seat and the rest of his body on Luke's right side.  He drew his knees up a bit, his legs tangled with Luke's, and put his head on Luke's chest, near his shoulder.

"Oh," Luke said, awkwardly.  "Okay.  Yeah.  I guess this will work."  Reid tugged on the sleeping bag and tucked it under Luke's left side  "So, I guess your life depends on this?" Luke teased, recalling Reid's comment from earlier.

"Shut it, Snyder.  Are you comfortable?"  Luke nodded hesitantly and turned off the lantern.  Reid took Luke's left hand and pulled it into his jacket, placing it on his chest.  He then did the same thing with his own right hand, pushing it inside Luke's jacket and tucking it around him, where it was warm.  They laid in silence for a few minutes.  Reid tried not to think about the fact that Luke's body was up against his own.  He tried to ignore the scent of Luke's shampoo or his soap or his skin, or whatever it was that he found so alarmingly appealing in the close quarters of the truck.  His attraction to this kid was becoming increasingly annoying.

"This is probably awkward for you," Luke said in the darkness, a nervous chuckle escaping his throat.

"No more awkward for me than for you, I'm sure.  Let's just make a pact to never speak of this, okay?  Nobody needs to know about this."

"Sure...but no, I mean...ya know, it must be weird for you to be huddled up under the covers with a guy."  Reid laughed and shook his head, Luke's jacket soft against his cheek.  "What?" Luke asked.

"Nothing," Reid replied.

"Tell me," Luke insisted.

Reid sighed.  "For a fag...you have terrible gaydar."  Luke sat up, taking Reid with him.  "Damn, c'mon, Luke, we just got situated!" Reid said, as he felt the warmth of the sleeping bag fall away.

"Why would you call me that?  Do you know how offensive that is?  I can't believe that you would say th................wait.  What?"  Luke turned on the lantern.  "What do you mean?"  Reid raised his eyebrows, daring Luke to connect the dots.  He watched Luke's brow furrow.  "You are not," Luke said, but he didn't sound sure of what he was saying.  Reid shrugged and then pushed Luke's chest and nodded with his chin, indicating that he should lie back down.  Once Reid's face was against Luke's chest again, Luke decided to argue the point.  "Why are you messing with me?  It isn't a joke."

Reid raised his chin so that his breath was warm against Luke's jaw.  "You're requiring proof?  How would that work exactly?"  When Luke didn't say anything, Reid made himself comfortable on Luke's chest again.  "Turn off the light, please."

After a few moments of silence, Luke asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just did."

"You know what I mean.  We've known each other for a couple of months, and you never thought to tell Noah or me."

"Noah knows."  Luke stayed silent.  Reid sighed.  He finally felt warm for the first time since the accident, and he really just wanted to go to sleep.  "Do you want to share the secret handshake?" he asked to lighten things up.

"Are you in the closet?" Luke asked, ignoring Reid's question.

"What about me tells you that I would ever give a fuck about what anyone thinks about me?" Reid answered bluntly.

"So that's a no?"  Reid didn't answer.  "But, if you'd told me, maybe we would have..."

"Bonded?"

"Yes, maybe."

"I guess lying in each other's arms like lovers isn't enough bonding for you?"  Luke was silent.  Reid smirked.  "Goodnight, Mr. Snyder."

Luke nodded.  "Goodnight, Dr. Oliver."

*********************************************************

Reid opened his eyes.  He could tell by the scarce amount of light in the truck that the weather conditions were still bad outside.  He couldn't move.  At some point during the night they must have shifted positions because his face was now pressed against the back seat, and Luke was spooned up tightly behind him.  Reid could feel Luke's hand on his hip and his warm breath against the back of his neck.  Reid's body felt nice and temperate, in stark contrast to how he had spent a number of hours the previous day, and he briefly fantasized about rolling over and kissing Luke awake.  Like that's going to happen.  He closed his eyes again and tried to not think about the fact that his ass was pressed against Luke's crotch.  After a few minutes, he felt Luke begin to stir.  Luke groaned and stretched, before tucking back in and wrapping his arm around Reid, drawing him closer.  "Luke?"

"Mmm?" Luke replied, his nose nuzzling behind Reid's ear, causing goodbumps to break out on Reid's left side.

"Hey, Luke."

Suddenly, Luke stiffened and then sat up completely.  "Oh, my God.  I'm sorry.  Jeeze.  I didnt' mean to..."

Reid rolled over and looked at Luke's wide eyes.  "Relax, Snyder.  Most gay men can't keep their hands off of me; why should you be any different?"

Luke pulled back some more, his left foot dropping to the floorboard.  "You are something else, Dr. Oliver.  And believe me, I have no designs on you.  So, ya know....just uh, stand down with that ego of yours.  You're not my type."  Ouch. He zipped his jacket and pulled his hat onto his head.  "I'm going outside to use the restroom."

"Knock yourself out,"  Reid replied.

"Oh," Luke said, putting his hand on the side of Reid's face and moving it toward the dim light of the window.  "You have two black eyes.  Not terrible, but you look, um...a little beat up."

"You should see the other guy," Reid joked, pressing on the swelling at the bridge of his nose.  "People that live in glass houses..."

"What?" Luke asked, confused.

"You should check yourself out in the mirror, pretty boy.  You've got a shiner going on too."  Reid pushed on his own chest and ribs.  "I can tell I have some bruising from the seat belt too."

Luke unlocked the door and tried to open it.  When it didn't open, he leaned his shoulder against it.  "Darn," Luke said, leaning against it again, having no luck opening it.  "I think the we're iced in."

Reid sat up quickly.  "What do you mean, we're locked in?"  Reid asked, his voice sharp with panic.  He scrambled to the other side, unlocked the door, and pushed against it forcefully with his shoulder.  The door gave way, and Reid tumbled down into the snow outside the truck.  He stood up, brushing snow off his face, but as he stepped back his foot sunk in the snow, and he stumbled back again, landing on his butt. "Fuck."

Luke stepped out of the truck laughing and lowered his hand down to Reid, hefting him up out of the snow.  "What was that about?"

Reid ran a hand through his hair, brushing snow out of his short curls.  "Nothing."

"You sure?  You seemed kind of...I don't know...freaked out for a second."

"I said it was nothing."

"It didn't seem like nothing," Luke persisted.

"Fine," Reid said, rubbing a finger under his nose and looking off to the side.  "Not that it's any of your business, Mr. Snyder, but I maybe have  a little bit of an issue with closed in spaces."

"You're claustrophobic."

"I didn't say that," Reid said, a frustrated expression on his face.

Luke chuckled.  "Listen, doc, I won't think any less of you if it turns out that you're human after all."

"I'm only claustrophobic in cramped spaces."  Reid sighed.  "I'll be over here, taking a piss."  He turned around and walked toward the trees.

**************************************************

Reid closed the door and got under the sleeping bag, blowing into his hands.  "You okay?" Luke asked.

"Yeah."  He put his hands under the sleeping bag and continued to rub them together.  "Fuck.  It's cold."

After a few moments he asked, "Can you keep this to yourself?  I'm not going to beg or anything, but....I just hate this about myself, and I don't like people knowing about it.  It's embarrassing.  World renowned neurosurgeon cracks up in tight places..."

"A lot of people are claustrophobic."  Reid stayed silent.  "I won't tell anyone.  You have my word."

"Thanks."

"Did it bother you being stuck in the truck last night?"

"No, I thought about it once or twice, but I'm fine as long as I know I can get out.  I don't like elevators.  I'll ride them, but I prefer the stairs.  And I'm not too keen on airplanes.  And movies when people are put into the trunks of cars...can't watch 'em.  I'll turn it off."  Luke smiled slightly.  "What?"

"Nothing."

Reid shook his head.  "You're happy that you have something else to use against me."

"I wouldn't use something that's painful against you.  I'm not like that."

"You are the son of Damien Grimaldi.  I wouldn't put anything past you.  Bribery.  Extortion.  International Espionage."

"You don't know anything about me."

Reid scoffed.  "I know that you used bribery to get me here."

Luke laughed now.  "Well, doctor, you're not as smart as you think you are because I had nothing on you."

"Bullshit," Reid said, not believing him.

"But that's just it.  It was.  It was all bullshit.  I was bluffing."  Reid tongued the inside of his cheek and huffed out a disbelieving chuckle.  "Whatever, you don't have to believe me, but I've always wondered what it was that you thought I had on you.  The fact that I was able to blackmail you so easily is proof that you've done something that you don't want anyone to know about."  Luke nudged Reid with his shoulder.  "Out with it, Dr. Oliver...what is the very bad thing you did?"  Luke cocked an eyebrow at him.

Reid sighed.  "Insurance fraud."  Shit. Why was he telling Luke this?

"Insurance fraud?!"

"It's not what you think.  I didn't profit from it.  It was one time.  I had a kid, a patient...fifteen......an illegal from Mexico.  He needed surgery.  He would have died within a couple of years without it.  He didn't have insurance.  His family was dirt poor."

"So, why didn't you just wave your fees and do the surgery?"

"Because it's not just me, Mr. Snyder.  I need an operating room.  Facilities.  Equipment.  Anesthesiologists and nurses.  And everything costs money.  A lot of fucking money.  It's really ridiculous how much it all costs."

"So, what did you do?"

"I talked to a guy...who knew a guy...who knew another guy..."

"Who knew another guy?"

"Yeah.  Pretty much.  And ultimately, we filed for everything under someone else's insurance, under another name."

"Damn...how did nobody get caught?"

"The guy who arranged it was very good.  I paid him, and I paid off the person whose insurance we used.  Everything looked legit.  I gave him money for the out-of-pocket copays, deductible...whatever...he applied it somehow...made it look good on all the paperwork.  I don't know how it all worked.  I could still get fucked at some point."

"That's a huge risk."

"Yup.  But it was a calculated risk."

"You could lose your license."

"I could go to jail."  Reid ran a hand over his face.

"Then why'd you do it?"

"Because there was a kid who needed me to save his life, and that's what I do.  I save lives."

Luke ran a hand through his own hair. "Wow.  I didn't know."  He shifted in his seat.  "I'm sorry that I made you think that I did know.  No wonder you gave in to my demands."

"Whatever, doesn't matter."

Luke put his hand on Reid's arm, and Reid tried not to react to his touch.  Thank God for a thick jacket and layers.  "No, really...I'm sorry."  Reid nodded.  "And for what it's worth, if I had known, I wouldn't have used that against you."

"It was illegal."

"Maybe.  But that doesn't mean it was wrong."  Reid stayed silent.  "Have you done other things like that?  I mean...have you cut corners to get other people medical care?"  Reid still stayed quiet.  "Nevermind...you don't have to tell me..."

Reid sighed.  "Not anything like that.  But yeah, I've done what I needed to do for the good of the patient.  What can I say, I have a little bit of a Robin Hood mentality."

Luke smirked.  "Is that why you despise my wealth?"

Reid turned toward Luke, his eyes settling on Luke's lips before coming back up to his eyes.  He only held Luke's gaze for a moment before looking away.  He sighed and shook his head.  "I've given you shit about it...............but I know that you're generous.  I know you do good with it.  I've seen you in action."

Luke chuckled.  "Gee, Dr. Oliver.  You said something nice about me.  That had to hurt."

"A little bit, yeah," Reid said chuckling.

Luke's smile faded after a few moments.  "I won't tell anyone.  You did what you had to do.  You can trust me."

Reid nodded.  "So...breakfast..." he suggested, changing the subject.  He leaned forward and grabbed the cup of water from the cup holder and handed it to Luke.  "Melted snow.  We can pretend it's hot, steaming coffee. And..."  He picked up the box of granola bars.  "And pancakes."

"Don't forget the bacon," Luke replied, retrieving the bag of marshmallows and holding them up in the air like a prize.

"Breakfast of champions."

*********************************

Two hours later, the two men stood outside the car, on what used to be the road, calves-deep in snow.  "I don't think we should risk it.  We'll make terrible time trudging through snow this deep, it's still snowing, those clouds don't look good, and we don't have the footwear for it."  Reid pulled his right foot out of the snow to prove his point and shook the cold, stubborn white stuff off his dress shoe."

"I have work boots in the cab, remember?  I could go by myself, and then I'll bring help back."

"And what happens when you still haven't made it to the highway by nightfall, or you get a leg cramp from walking though this shit?  Then what happens?"

"I'd huddle down in the woods."

"In the snow?"

"I'd climb a tree maybe.  Or I could find a cave in the woods."

"In the dark?"  Reid sighed.  "Listen.  I know this sucks, but we're actually okay here.  We have shelter and a small amount of food.  We have all this fucking snow, so we won't get dehydrated.  We have a means of keeping warm.  We could last here a few days before things got desperate.  We pigged out for breakfast, subjectively speaking, but for lunch and dinner, we could just share a granola bar.  How many do we have left?"

"Five."

"Okay, so that's two more meals today and three tomorrow, if necessary.  But honestly, it won't come to that right?"

"Right."  Luke didn't sound convinced.

"We're mostly sitting, so we're not expending any energy.  And we have almost a full bag of marshmallows, which is just puffed sugar, but it's something.  As soon as it stops snowing, plowing will start.  Even country roads get plowed eventually, right?"

"Yeah.  The town plows the roads in Luther's Corners fairly quickly after a storm, so I'm sure it will be the same here.  This is a county road."

"And this road leads off of the highway," Reid offered, "So, surely it won't take that long to plow it."

Luke pulled out his phone.  "I've still got nothing."

"Me either.  I'm sure the storm isn't helping.  C'mon, let's get back inside.  I can already feel my socks getting wet. I was serious about what I said last night; I'm not worried about hypothermia, but we need to take precautions to keep from getting too wet."

**************************************

Once inside the car, both men removed their shoes and socks and sat with their backs against either side of the back seat, facing each other, their legs tangled in the middle, trying to get their feet warm under the sleeping bag.

"I'm sure my family is worrying about me.  I feel bad for them."

"Yeah, Katie's probably wondering where the hell I am, but there's nothing we can do about it."

"Want to hear something funny?" Luke asked.

"Mm?"

"I thought you and Katie might be......you know..."  Luke laughed.

"Um, no."  Reid smiled and whispered,  "I like her and all, but the vagina is a deal breaker."

"Well, I know that now..."  Luke shifted.  "Are you close with her?"

Reid jutted out his bottom lip and thought about it.  "Yeah.  Sure.  We're friends."  He nodded.  "She's sad, ya know, because of her husband, but she's trying to be strong.  She makes me hug her sometimes."  Reid rolled his eyes.  "But it's not entirely terrible, I guess.........she's a good cook, and she lets me hold the remote control.........and the kid....he's grown on me.  He gets excited when I walk in the door, like he's happy to see me."  He couldn't help the smile that came to his face, thinking about Jacob.  "I'm a light sleeper so sometimes I get up with him at night so Katie can sleep.  I walk him around the apartment and softly explain neurology to him, or read medical journals to him until he falls asleep.  Knocks his lights out pretty quick."  Reid chuckled.  "Maybe some of it will sink in, and he'll be a science geek like me."

Luke smiled.  "I'm starting to think there's a lot I don't know about you, Dr. Oliver."  Reid raised his eyebrows in question.  "You walk around town and through the hospital like you're this incredible bad ass, but..."

"Oh, make no mistake, Mr. Snyder, I am a bad ass."

"Yeah, but you're also saving the poor and rocking babies to sleep, and..."

"And nothing.  Don't paint a picture of me that isn't true.  I know what I am.  I'm an uncompromising asshole. People don't like me.  I'm fine with that."

"Some people like you."  Reid didn't respond and looked out the back window.  "Katie.  Bob," Luke offered.

"NOT Bob's wife."

Luke smiled but then got serious.  "And me."  Reid looked at him.  "I'm starting to think that maybe I could like you...or at least hate you a little less."

"Well, then," Reid answered, clearing his throat.  "I better think up some new insults for you, Mr. Snyder."

**************************************

"Oh my God, no wonder this puts Jacob to sleep!" Luke moaned, blindly throwing the medical journal over his shoulder from where he was sitting in the reclined front seat.

Reid picked the journal up off the floor.  "Hey, I like to keep these in pristine condition! I wouldn't have let you read it if I knew you were going to abuse it."   He looked at the cover.  "Were you reading the one about the glioblastomas?  That one is promising, but studies are still needed.  I've consulted with the author of that article, and she..."

"I don't know what I was reading.  It sounded like white noise in my head. Why does medical terminology have to be so complicated?"

"Would you like us to give things names like Bill and Bing and Polka Dot?"

"Yes, I would actually.  As God of your field, can you get right on that?"  Luke turned around in his seat.  "Do you use those big words with your patients?"

"Well, I don't speak to them like they're stupid.  I explain things just fine.  If they're still too dense to get it, I have them speak with my PA.  She's very good at translating."

"Yeah, Sylvia's great.  She doesn't have much patience for physician egos though.  I'm surprised she agreed to be your PA, of all people, and that she hasn't told you to go jump off a cliff yet."

"Sylvia and I have an understanding.  We work just fine together."

"Yeah, I can see that, I guess.  You have similar personalities."

"She's a thousand times nicer than me."

"I won't argue that."  Luke poked Reid's knee.  "Do you know who I think you'd get along with great?"

"Hugh Jackman.  I'd like to get along with Hugh Jackman."

Luke laughed.  "No, I'm serious.  My grandmother.  Have you met her?"

"Why would I have met your grandmother, young Snyder?"

"Because you live in Oakdale.  Duh.  Her name is Lucinda Walsh.  Have you met her?"

"I do not believe that I have had the pleasure of making her aquaintance," Reid answered drolly.  "But I'm bad with names, so who knows..."

"Well, you should.  I'll introduce you sometime.....................if we ever get back to Oakdale."  He looked at the grayness outside his window.  "I'm starting to think we're going to die here.  We might have to resort to cannibalism like in that movie."

Reid pursed his lips.  "And who is eating whom in this scenario of yours?"

Luke shook his head, sighed, and turned back around.  "I'm so bored..."

Reid opened his briefcase and pulled a deck of cards from the right-hand pocket.  He placed them on the center console next to Luke's right arm.  Luke looked down.  "You have cards?  Why didn't you say so sooner?  Jeeze, I wasted precious moments of my life reading The New England Journal of Medicine, and you have cards?!"  With an impressive amount of agility, Luke hopped up from his seat and used his arms to propel himself into the backseat, landing squarely next to Reid.  "What should we play?"

Reid licked his bottom lip and made a show of catching Luke's eyes.  "Strip poker?"  He was mostly kidding.

Luke laughed.  "Yeah, uh....I think it's a little cold for that, Dr. Oliver, don't you think?  How about Crazy Eights?"

Reid nodded and picked up the deck.  "Crazy Eights it is."

***************************************************************

Reid entered the car quickly, removing the rubber boots he'd worn outside and shaking them outside the door to get the snow off.  He then closed the door and put the boots in the front seat.  "What are you laughing about, Snyder?"

"I guess that answers the question."

"What question?"

"Does a neurosurgeon shit in the woods?"

"Fuck you.  If we're here much longer, nature will eventually call you too."  He rubbed his hands on his pants, trying to warm them.  "Damn, it's cold.  I washed my hands with snow."

"Here," Luke said, pulling the bottle of hand sanitizer from the side pocket of the backpack.

Reid lifted his hand, and Luke squirted some into it.  "Thanks," Reid said rubbing his hands together and then blowing warm air on them.  "This sucks.  I never would have made it as a cave man.  I need a shower."

"Me too," Luke said, chuckling.  "Mmmm.  A nice hot shower."

"Yeah.  And a toothbrush," Reid added, running his tongue across his front teeth.  "I have skunk mouth."

"Wait!" Luke said, hopping up and leaning into the front seat.  Reid secretly enjoyed the view of Luke's ass as Luke pulled open the ash tray.  "Ah ha!" he exclaimed, sitting back down.  "Ta-dah!"  He handed Reid a pack of peppermint gum.  Reid smiled, took a piece, and then handed the pack back to Luke.

***************************************************
"How'd you get that scar?" Luke asked.

Reid raised his forehead off of the head rest in front of him and opened his eyes.  He ran his fingers underneath his left jaw.  "It's creepy that you're staring at me enough to see a very faint scar."

"How'd you get it?"

"What is this need you have for small talk?" Reid asked, sighing and leaning his back against the seat, blowing air into his cupped hands that seem like they'd never be warm again.

"There's nothing better to do.  You hate talking, don't you?"

"I don't mind talking.  It's small talk that I try to avoid.  Silence is actually okay sometimes."

"Look, doctor, we have all this free time to get to know one another, and maybe, just maybe at the end of this ordeal we could be friends.  Wouldn't that be crazy, huh?  And then maybe we'd work better together.  That would make Bob happy.  And he's your boss, so it would probably be in your best interest to make him happy."  Reid closed his eyes.  "Fine.  You don't want to talk, we don't have to talk."

Luke turned his face away from Reid, and Reid adjusted the sleeping bag over his legs, getting comfortable, and trying to take a nap.

"I have scars too," Luke said after a few short minutes.

Reid opened his eyes and sat up straighter.  "You really can't stay quiet.  I think it's a disorder."  Luke pursed his lips and gave Reid a dirty look.  Reid sighed.  "When I was twelve years old, my uncle........my guardian.....he was drunk, as usual, and he pushed me backwards through a sliding glass door.  He cut up my arm and my jaw."  Reid pulled his jacket off and rolled up his left sleeve, showing Luke a two inch scar on the back of his forearm.  "There.  You happy?  Thanks for bringing up that stellar memory."  He tugged his sleeve down vigorously.  Luke stayed quiet and Reid could see him cover his face out of the corner of his eye.  Shit. "Luke, it's no big deal."

"Noah's father shot me," Luke said, taking Reid by surprise.

"Shot you?"  Luke  tugged up his jacket and shirt, revealing a circular scar near his rib cage.  Reid looked at the scar.  "Jesus."  But then his eyes were drawn to Luke's flat stomach and the soft looking hair that covered it.  He was disappointed when Luke lowered his shirt as quickly as he had lifted it.  "Why?"

Luke chuckled sardonically.  "Because I turned him gay, that's why."

Reid smiled.  "That's some pretty powerful mojo you've got going on, if you can make a straight man like dick."

Luke laughed, surprised by Reid's bluntness, and covered his mouth.  After a few quiet moments, Luke said, "We broke up, you know."

"Yeah."

"He told you?"

"He said you wouldn't be bothering me anymore.  Yet, here I sit in freezing cold car with you."  Luke shook his head.  Reid reached over and poked Luke's arm.  "I'm kidding."

"No you're not."

"Why'd  you break up?  He said that you ditched him, not the other way around."

"He didn't want me."

"Sexually?" Reid teased, hoping to lighten the mood.

Luke laughed sardonically.  "In any way."  He ran a hand through his hair.  "He didn't want me around.  He didn't want my help.  My support.  Nothing.  He said that it made him feel small, that I made him feel helpless."

"He's an idiot."

Luke turned toward Reid, his look fierce.  "Ya know what?  Don't talk about him.  You're the one who told him to stay away from him.  You probably made it worse."

"I didn't tell him to stay away from you.  I told him to keep you away from me.  And I even recanted on that, so don't pin your relationship issues on me."

"What do you mean?"

"After a week or two...after being trapped in this hell hole of a town and realizing that yes, I was indeed going to treat Mr. Mayer, I apologized and told him that he had the right to have anyone with him that he needed for support.  I told him that you were welcome to be at his appointments and that you and I would just have to deal with our negative feelings toward each other.  I'm a professional.  I was pissed off when I first arrived in Oakdale, but I know that patients fare better with support, and it wasn't in his best interest to keep you away."

Luke scooted further away from Reid.  "You're lying."

"I'm not."

"Why didn't he tell me?"

"I can't answer that," Reid said, seeing the hurt look on Luke's face and wishing he'd said nothing.

"Why wouldn't he have told me that?" Luke repeated, his voice softer.

"He's an idiot," Reid offered again.

"Stop saying that.  Why would you say that about your patient?"

"Listen, I don't have to like someone to fix him.  And he is an idiot.  Have you seen the guy he's been hanging around with?  He looks like his own less attractive twin.  And from the limited number of words that I've heard come out of his mouth, he doesn't seem very bright either.  He drove you away and hooked up with that?  I mean, I know he's blind, but c'mon.  I stand by my statement.  Mr. Mayer is an idiot."

Luke laughed and covered his mouth.  He looked at Reid and laughed again.  "Oh my God.  I shouldn't laugh at that."

"Why not?  He's not here."

Luke got more serious and ran a hand through his hair.  "Yeah..."  He nodded, looking defeated.

Reid reached out and put his hand on Luke's forearm.  "You can do way better than him.  You know that, right?"  Luke shook his head slightly.  "You're a millionaire.  You're fucking loaded.  You're a good enough looking guy.  You're successful.  You've got a lot going for you.  Plus, everyone likes Luke Snyder, Oakdale's golden boy."

Luke looked down at Reid's hand on his arm, and Reid pulled it away awkwardly.  "Everyone except you, right?"

Reid sighed but then gave Luke a smile.  "Yeah.  Everyone except me."

***************************************************

"Why were you raised by your uncle?" Luke asked, trying to warm his own earlobes between his fingers.

Reid sighed and cracked his knuckles.  "Not talking about that."

Luke shook his head.  "Okay.  Fair enough."  He turned to Reid, pulling one leg up on the seat.  "Is there anything you want to know about me?"

Reid rolled his eyes.  "Haven't we shared enough for one day, Mr. Snyder?  Honestly, why don't we just enjoy the peacefulness of our little snow storm, shall we?"

Luke huffed, pulled his jacket tighter around himself and turned away from Reid.  He leaned his head against the wall of the backseat.  After a few moments he asked, "Do you have a boyfriend in Dallas?"

Reid laughed and made a show of looking at his watch.  "Wow, you almost made it five minutes that time."

"You're such an asshole," Luke grumbled, shaking his head.

"We've already established that, remember?"

Luke closed his eyes.  Reid studied his profile and decided that maybe he was giving the kid too hard of a time.  Maybe Luke just wanted to get his mind off the fact that they were trapped and that tomorrow wasn't looking any better, in terms of getting the hell out of this situation.  Reid sighed.  "No."

Luke looked at him, a pissed off look on his face.  "No, what?"

"No.  I don't have a boyfriend in Dallas."  Luke stayed silent.  "I find guys to spend time with."

Luke looked at him.  "Romantically?"

Reid laughed.  "Yeah, sure.  If you want to call it that."

Luke scoffed.  "Well, what would you call it?"

"I'd call it sex."

Luke shifted uncomfortably.  "You don't care about them though?"

Reid shrugged.  "The guys I see more than once...sure.  I mean, I don't want to see them get hit by a bus or anything, but it's.....it's casual.  And it's occasional.  It's not like I go around fucking any guy with a pulse.  Most nights I have a date with my hand, if you know what I mean."

Luke covered his eyes and laughed.  Reid smirked and tried to remember the last time he'd actually had sex and woefully decided it was at that conference in Maryland before Thanksgiving.   Okay, that's embarrassing.  I need to get laid.  "Speaking of which, where the hell do gay men go for a little action in Oakhell?"

"How should I know?" Luke asked, seeming offended.

"You are gay, aren't you?"

"Yes, but I don't do that."

"Fuck?" Reid asked and watched Luke flinch.  He had been wrong.  Conversation with Luke could be fun.

"Up until a few weeks ago, I was in a relationship, remember?"

"Otherwise known as sex on a regular basis..."  Luke scoffed.  "What?" Reid asked.

"Nothing."  Reid poked Luke's arm, prodding him to say more.  Luke sighed.  "Let's just say that I'm not exactly unfamiliar with my hand either."

"Shit."

Luke shook his head.  "Yeah, well..."

Reid closed his eyes and contemplated the idiocy that was Noah Mayer.