The Torture Continues Part 1

[rtruffles]

Title- The Torture Continues

Characters- Luke, Reid’s heart, Chris, Katie, Casey, Bob, Tom, Lily and Holden.

This is a sequel to Reid Slowly Tortures Chris and should be read as such. This was getting too long and so I have split it into two parts.

Rating PG 13 for language, angry Luke tends to drop the F-bomb with alarming regularity.

Setting: This is a future fic that starts on the one year anniversary of Reid’s death.

Warning: If you are a fan of Chris this is probably not the fic for you. I am still bitter about how Luke was treated after Reid died, and Luke surprisingly feels the same way, therefore some characters will be treated with more hostility than they ever were on the show.

Disclaimer: These are not my characters.

All mistakes are mine.

Please let me know what you think.


Six months after Reid’s death Luke was just starting to come out of his grief. He was still mourning Reid deeply, but he was starting to notice that life was still going on around him.

He was still living at the farm so that every morning he could go out to the pond and talk quietly with Reid. He was looking forward to the summer when he could finally take that swim with Reid. He was planning to have picnics with Reid where he would make himself one of Reid’s disgusting sandwiches and he would try to eat it all. These were the kinds of things that he looked forward to now.

He knew that his parents were worried about him. His mother had even tried to fix him up with someone new. Even Holden was getting impatient with him and kept insisting that Reid would have wanted Luke to be happy and move on. Luke knew in his heart that his dad was at least half right, Reid would have wanted Luke to be happy, but he was none to sure that Reid would have wanted Luke to move on with someone else. Both of his parents had suggested that he try to work things out with Noah, but Luke had no interest in reconnecting with Noah in any kind of relationship, other than friendship.

In the past six months Luke did little other than work at the foundation and at the Snyder-Oliver Pavilion. He had managed to divest himself of his interest in Grimaldi shipping with the help of Lucinda. He was happy to be done with all things Grimaldi and he felt lighter than he had in a while when he left the shipping company for the last time.

Luke still worked for the foundation, but his main focus, after Reid’s death was the Snyder-Oliver Neurosurgery Wing. He had insisted on being part of the team that would ultimately hire the neurosurgeon who would take on Reid’s dream job. It was very important to Luke to make sure that the person they hired was worthy of Reid’s position.

Bob had agreed to let Luke in on the decision making process at a moment of weakness. He had assumed that Luke would be a passive participant in the proceedings as he had no medical background. He soon found out that Luke was anything but passive in the hiring phase, and in fact found fault with each candidate, primarily because they weren’t Reid. Unfortunately, Bob couldn’t get rid of Luke, because Luke was still the one providing 80% of the funding so his hands were tied.

Bob was really at a loss as to how to deal with grieving Luke, who was so unreasonable. He tried many different strategies in order to get Luke to agree to a particularly talented surgeon, but Luke would not budge. Bob tried everything he could think of from cajoling Luke, to placating Luke to arguing forcefully with Luke. Nothing worked. The reason for this was fairly simple. Luke remembered how cold Bob had been to Luke right after Reid had died. He remembered that Bob’s concern was only for his son and not for Reid, when Reid had needed Bob the most. For these reasons, Luke saw no need to make life easier for Bob.

Bob, finally realized that Luke was simply not going to agree to any of his candidates so he decided that it was time for him to step down and let his son Chris take over. He was hopeful that his son would have more luck with Luke than he had.

Just as things were starting to change inside of Luke as his grief diminished, ever so slightly, and he began to imagine that one day he might be able to move on from Reid. Things began to noticeably change inside of Chris as well. Ever since he had gotten Reid’s heart he had worried that he might take on some of Reid’s loathsome personality traits. He knew that he should be grateful to Reid, but he had hated him so much in life that it was difficult to have that burden after his death. He knew that Katie had loved Reid, albeit in a platonic, sisterly way, but he knew that he had to watch himself around Katie as she wanted him to give thanks to Reid everyday. Like that was ever going to happen Chris thought to himself. Chris was grudgingly thankful to Reid, but he also felt that he would have been okay even without all of Reid’s heroics. Chris rationalized that these were the cards that he had been given and so he would make the best of it.

Nine months to the day that Chris got his heart transplant; Bob called him into the office. Chris was pretty certain that his dad was finally going to step down and name him as chief of staff. He felt elated as he headed of to find his father’s office.

As soon as he stepped in to the room, he knew that he had been correct because not only was his dad there, but also Tom, Margo, Katie, Jacob, and his mom. “Congratulations Son, you are officially named the chief of staff at Memorial,” Bob intoned.

“Thanks Dad” Chris responded “this means so much to me, especially coming from you!”

As the other family members stood and hugged him, Chris’s enthusiasm began to wain. ‘Something doesn’t feel right about this’ Chris realized suddenly, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“I had asked Luke, to join us, but he politely declined.” Bob said. “I’m quite worried about him. I don’t understand why he is still so affected by Reid’s death.”

Chris stood stock still. ‘What is going on with me today? Why did my heart skip a beat when my dad mentioned Luke’s name? Oh my god it did it again’

“Is everything alright, Chris?” Bob asked with concern as Chris had suddenly gone white.

“I’m fine, Dad” Chris tried to smile. “I’m just a little overwhelmed by all this. It is a big honour and a big responsibility.”

“Yes it is, but I wouldn’t have recommended you for the job if I didn’t think that you could handle it.”

“Oh I wish Reid could be here too. He would be so proud of you Chris. He’d be so glad that you were successful at becoming chief of staff! Chris, what is it? You just went pale are you sure that you are feeling okay?”

“I’m fine. I just can’t imagine Reid being happy for me.” Chris smiled wanly. ‘Oh my god, what is happening to me, my heart literally pulled when Katie said his name and did it again when I said it.’

Chris decided it was best to just ignore these twinges and enjoy the celebration. He was really excited about being the big boss of the hospital. Everyone had a glass of champagne to celebrate and then went to the Lakeview for a celebratory dinner.

“Is Luke joining us for dinner at the Lakeview, Bob?” Katie asked as Chris’s heart began to flutter.

“I certainly hope so” Bob replied with a frown on his face. “It would be very rude of him not to come and show his support for Chris.”

“I agree” replied Kim. “It would be very rude, if Luke didn’t come at all.”

“I won’t be offended if he is unable to make it,” Chris said. “This is probably a difficult day for him.”

“That’s nonsense” Tom said, emphatically “he should be able to put aside his personal feelings to congratulate you on your new position.”

“Let’s not push him, you know how sensitive he can be.” Chris said and everyone laughed at that.

Truthfully, Chris hoped that Luke would just stay away from him. ‘If the mere mention of his name was making his heart jump, he worried about what would happen if he saw him in person.’

“You’re so considerate, Chris and that’s why I love you” Katie said smiling radiantly.

Chris just smiled weakly back.

As luck would have it, you know who, did not come to the Lakeview. His family complained about this some more, but mercifully they stopped saying his name and Chris’s heart settled down and he was able to enjoy the celebration.

The next day when Chris woke up, he felt great. Very relaxed and he was sure that whatever had caused his heart to respond to his name would have stopped by now. Chris wasn’t quite ready to test this theory, but he was confident that everything would be fine.

As he walked into the hospital, Chris was greeted with congratulations and warm smiles from his staff. He quickly went to what was now his office and was pleased to see that it was his name that now adorned the door.

He was in the middle of finishing up some paper work when there was a light knock on the door.

“Come in, please’ Chris called out. A moment later the door opened and his dad walked in.

“Hi Dad, come on in” Chris said gesturing for his father to have a seat.

“Chris, we need to talk. One of your most difficult tasks as chief of staff is going to be dealing with Luke. I have had absolutely no luck in having him agree to a neurosurgery candidate for the new wing. I am afraid that he might never agree to anyone.”

“Well it will be nearly impossible to find anyone as good as Reid” he replied, surprising himself as much as his father. ‘Where did that come from?’

“Reid was an amazing surgeon, but he was hardly a god. Everyone can be replaced” Bob said kindly.

“Bastard” muttered Chris.

“I beg your pardon? Don’t call Reid a bastard in front of Luke or you won’t get anywhere with him.” Bob warned.

Chris let out a snort of laughter, “I won’t” he assured his father, knowing full well that he had unconsciously been referring to his father, not Reid. What he didn’t know was why.

“When is my next meeting with Luke scheduled for?” Chris heard himself ask.

“Today at 3, that is if he shows up. Well if he doesn’t let me know and maybe we can finally get him removed from the decision making process.”

“I’m sure that everything will work out Dad. Please don’t worry.”

“Good luck, Chris”

Luke was dreading the meeting with Chris. He still blamed him for Reid’s death whether Chris deserved it or not. It just seemed so unfair to him that Chris got to have a full life with Katie and Jacob and when Reid got nothing.

Everyone kept pestering Luke to get over Reid and on with his life, but Luke simply didn’t know how to do that. Last night he was expected to go and celebrate Chris becoming the chief of staff, but how was he supposed to congratulate Chris for taking one more thing from Reid. No one acknowledged that the promotion coincided with the nine month anniversary of Reid’s death and no one acknowledged that Reid deserved the position more than Chris ever would. Everyone just wanted Luke to forget about Reid like they had. Luke couldn’t do it, he didn’t even want to.

At exactly 3 o’clock Luke tapped lightly on Chris’s door.

“Come in, please” Chris replied a little nervously. He was still worried about what reaction his heart might have to the sight of Luke.

Luke sighed and entered into Chris’s office.

“Congratulations, Chris” Luke said wearily.

Chris smiled warmly at Luke “Thanks” he finally said. “Please have a seat.” Chris was starting to relax as his heart remained remarkably calm. ‘That’s more like it’ he smiled to himself ‘I am back in control.’

Chris had gone through the candidates that his father had vetted and knew which ones were his choices, but to his surprise, once he and Luke started discussing the merits of the applicants he realized that the two they agreed on were most decidedly Reid like. Chris had initially dismissed them out of hand as being too Reid like. Somehow as he began discussing things with Luke, he found himself being persuaded by the blonde one.

This turn of events was most unsettling for him. He wanted Luke to go away and leave him alone so that he could contemplate this turn of events, but he also wanted Luke to stay as he felt comforted by his presence. ‘Oh my god, where did that thought come from?’

Luke on the other hand was pleased at how well the discussions had gone. Chris was far more reasonable than Bob had ever been. Luke felt confident at last that they would be able to find a worthy candidate.

“Will you set up the interviews for us? Please send me the details so that I can be present for those meetings. I’m really glad that we were able to agree on the candidates.” Luke smiled and got up to leave.

“I’ll contact you with the details when everything is settled.” Chris forced himself to say, when what he wanted to say was don’t go, please stay. ‘I’m losing my mind’ Chris thought to himself.

“Bye Chris”

“See ya, Luke”

Chris quickly closed the door and took some calming breaths. He could feel that his heart was missing Luke. He finally knew why. It wasn’t his heart it truly was Reid’s. ‘The heart wants what the heart wants’ a voice, not unlike Reid’s whispered in his head.

‘Okay, I need a plan. I must avoid Luke as much as possible’ his heart clenched and Chris tried to ignore it. “I’ll spend as much time with Katie as I can” he muttered aloud as if that might help. ‘I’m going to phone her and arrange for us to have nice romantic night together. Sex with Katie, that’s what I need!’ But even as he thought it, his body betrayed him. He now found the idea of having sex with Katie somewhat distasteful. Instead, he tried to picture Luke naked.

Chris quickly shoved that image out of his head and called Katie.

He phoned Katie quickly.

“Hi Chris, are you coming home soon? I have a special evening planned for us.” She said with a noticeable leer in her voice.

Chris actually felt himself recoil at the invitation in her voice. “Uh, no I really need to work late tonight. I think that I may have to sleep in the on call room. Sorry to disappoint you.”

“That’s okay Chris, I understand I’m sure you’ll make it up to me soon!” she said in what Chris had always thought of as her sexy voice, but really it was just scary now.

‘How am I going to avoid Katie? I just don’t think that I can do that anymore.’ Chris shuddered; he actually shuddered at the idea of having sex with Katie. ‘Damn you, Reid what have you done to me? Am I gay now?’ the only response he received was the sound of Reid chuckling inside his head.

For the next two and a half months Chris tried to maintain his relationship with Katie with out actually having to have sex with her. He was running out of excuses, Katie actually asked him to see “someone” about his problem. Ugh!!! He should probably just break up with her, but he just couldn’t make himself do it.

At the same time he was outwardly trying to avoid Luke as well except when he had to meet with him, but secretly he was practically stalking the blonde man. He couldn’t stand being a part from Luke, but he was afraid to be with him at the same time. Luke was starting to notice Chris’s bizarre behaviour toward him if the funny looks were anything to go by. Chris didn’t know what to do.

Unfortunately, Chris had more pressing things to worry about. He and Luke had managed to hire a neurosurgeon to run the new wing and they were having a grand opening in less than two weeks. It was on the first anniversary of Reid’s death, and Luke had insisted that the party be on that day to honour him. Chris had been unable to refuse Luke. It was terrifying the power his brown eyes had over Chris.

As the date of the party grew closer Chris got more and more agitated.

“What’s wrong with you?” Katie asked reasonably the night before the big event.

“Nothing” Chris replied, terrified that she was going to pressure him for sex.

“Are you worried about the party tomorrow night?” Katie tried again.

“Yes, it’s a lot of pressure. I really want it to go well in order to honour Reid” he blurted out before he could stop himself.

“Ah Chris, that’s so sweet of you. You deserve a very special reward for that” she said in her scary sexy voice. “I’ll be right back!” she teased/warned.

‘Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god she is definitely going to expect something from me tonight. I’ll get into bed and pretend to be asleep. Hopefully that will head her off’ he thought hopefully.

Chris was trapped. He was going to have to perform tonight or Katie was going to haul his ass to a specialist.

So Chris did what he had to do. He had sex with Katie while he fantasized about Luke. Thinking about Luke was so erotic that he accidentally called out Luke when he came.

“Did you just call out Luke’s name while you were in bed with me???” Katie said astonished.

‘I am going to hell’ he thought hearing Reid’s self satisfied smirk in his head.

“No, of course not, why would I do that? I called out you, because I love you Katie” Chris tried desperately to placate her.

“Alright, I’ll let it go, but don’t do it again! My name is Katie and that’s what I want to hear, okay?”

“Yes, Katie” he said with a smile.

The day of the opening had arrived and Luke was feeling nervous and excited. He really wanted tonight to go well so that everyone could celebrate Reid’s accomplishments. He knew that many people would not think of tonight in that way, but he would and that was what mattered to him. Tonight was his way of saying a public good-bye to Reid. He felt that he was finally ready to move on and at least think about being with someone new. He knew that he would always love Reid, but sadly Reid was dead and Luke really needed to rejoin the living. So tonight was an ending for Luke, as well as a beginning.

Luke was starting to worry about Chris. He hadn’t seen much of the other man in the last three months, but every time he happened to run into Chris he felt himself being watched. It was creepy. It always felt like Chris was cruising him, which of course wasn’t possible as Chris was straight. None the less, it made Luke very uncomfortable. He hoped that Chris would just leave him alone tonight.

As soon as Luke walked into the ballroom he felt people staring at him. He was used to that and it didn’t really bother him. He knew without turning around that Chris was staring at him with that weird, haunted look of wanting. Luke didn’t want to have to deal with Chris tonight so he decided that he would just ignore the other man and work the room.

Chris couldn’t tear his eyes away from Luke, he was so beautiful tonight. Luke was wearing a custom made black tuxedo with a crisp white linen shirt and a black bow tie and cumber bun. Chris had never seen anyone look as perfect as Luke Snyder.

“Who are you staring at?” Katie asked pointedly.

“Uh…no one, I was just thinking of you” he smiled weakly at her.

Katie didn’t buy it, she followed Chris’s sight line and saw to her surprise that Chris had been staring at Luke.

“Oh my god, Chris you were staring at Luke Snyder!!! You’re in love with Luke!!” Katie screamed hysterically as everyone, including Luke turned to stare at the couple.

“Katie, I can explain…” he pleaded with her quietly.

“Explain??? You called out Luke when we were having sex last night. Explain that” she demanded.

Bob, trying to maintain some semblance of decorum quickly walked over to his son. “So Chris are you gay? It’s okay to be gay, you know” he said gently trying desperately to diffuse the situation.

“I’m not gay, Dad” Chris began.

“Well you’re not straight either. You won’t have sex with me for months, and then when you finally do you call out Luke’s name! Call me crazy, but I think that may be a sign that you’re gay.” Katie hollered.

Bob put a comforting hand on Chris’s shoulder.

“It’s not me, Dad it’s Reid” Chris tried to explain.

Bob just gazed back at him with a patronizing look on his face.

“I know it sounds crazy, but Reid is in my head and his heart belongs to Luke”

Luke had come over to Chris and Katie to hear this latest development. “Can’t you feel the pull of Reid’s heart when you are near me? I can feel it. I can feel it right now. There is a special warmth that floods my body whenever you are close to me. Don’t you feel it too?”

“No, I felt that when I was with Reid, though.”

“Well, his heart still feels it, believe me. It won’t let me go. He really loved you Luke.”

“I know” Luke whispered back. “I really loved him too.”

“I have never felt this way about anybody before. It’s almost painful to be separated from you. Oh my god. Is this why it is so hard for you to get over Reid? I am so sorry, I had no idea.”

“Well, you must have had some idea; you knew that they were in love. It can’t be a total surprise” Katie sniped at Chris.

“I’ve been in love before, I have never felt like this before. My god, I feel like Luke is the other half of my soul. I feel completely alive and whole when I’m near Luke. Oh thank god I’ve figured it out. We can be together, just the two of us from now on.”

“No, we can’t Chris. I don’t want to be with you. Reid was my soul mate and you are decidedly not Reid.” Luke replied.

“But…but…I’ll never feel whole without you. What am I supposed to do?”

“The same thing that I’ve had to do, move onto something else.”

“I can’t, I don’t want anyone else, just you, forever.”

“I’m sorry Chris, but I don’t want you at all, ever.”


As soon as he had rejected Chris, Luke turned on his heel and left the building. Luke held his head high but made sure that he avoided eye contact with everyone in the room. His only mission was to get as far away from Chris Hughes as he possibly could.

Luke made it all the way to his car before he heard his mother call his name. “Fuck” he muttered to himself. He was not up to having a conversation with his mother or anyone else, so he pretended not to hear Lily and unlocked the car and drove away. He knew that he would have to deal with this situation later but he just couldn’t face it now.

As soon as Luke pulled out of the parking lot his phone began to ring. “Fuck” he called out in frustration “leave me the fuck alone” he yelled at his phone, as it continued to ring. As soon as the phone was silenced, Luke quickly picked it up and turned it off so that he could avoid all calls. He only hoped that no one would follow him to the farm.

Luke parked his car as close to the pond as he could. He desperately needed to talk to Reid and while he often felt Reid’s presence with him, the feeling was so much stronger at the pond where Luke had scattered most of the other man’s ashes. Right now he needed to feel as close to Reid as he possibly could.

“Hey Reid” Luke began speaking in a reasonably calm voice “well tonight was a total disaster. Can you guess why?”

Luke waited and heard Reid’s deep voice reply in his head “did Chris Hughes manage to fuck things up?”

“Ding, ding ding! Chris Hughes completely ruined the night. I so wanted to say good-bye to you in a public way - a way that would honour you and treat your memory with the respect that it deserves. That wing is yours, Reid, in many ways it is the one tangible thing that I have left of you. I want people to always remember that this wing was your vision and holds all of your passion.”

“Well, not all of my passion, Luke, not the most important part. That belongs to you” Luke could almost hear Reid whisper back to him.

“I know that Reid, but that is private, that will always be with me and I will cherish that always” Luke responded feeling his anger begin to dissipate.

Luke took in a deep breath and began telling Reid all of the sordid revelations that had come out at tonight’s festivities. He could hear Reid laugh out loud when Luke repeated the news that Chris had called out Luke’s name at a pivotal moment when Chris and Katie had been making love. Now that Luke was calmer, he could see the humour in the situation. He even felt a bit sorry for Katie that she had had to suffer such public humiliation. “Fuck Chris Hughes” he said loudly, some of his anger returning, “he just ruins everything. How can one person be so selfish? He didn’t deserve your heart, Reid; I really wish that he hadn’t gotten it.”

Just then he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Luke jumped at the unexpected touch and turned around to see his parents, Lily and Holden standing next to him.

“What are you guys doing here?” Luke asked the anger clearly apparent in his voice.

“We were worried about you, Baby. We needed to make sure that you were okay,” Lily responded.

Luke gaped at his parents, “how could I possibly be okay? Fucking Chris Hughes ruined the dedication of Reid’s wing.”

“Language Luke,” Holden cautioned. “Just because you are upset does not give you the right to swear in front of your mother.”

Luke just rolled his eyes at his parents. “You came to find me, I didn’t invite you here. I just want to be alone with Reid.”

“I understand, Baby, but you do know that Reid is gone. He’s not really here with you. You know that right?” Lily asked the concern etched into her face.

“Of course, I know that, I’m grieving, I’m not delusional.”

“It’s been a year since Reid died, Luke you really need to move on. This isn’t healthy for you to feel so much pain,” Holden cautioned his son. “We heard what Chris said to you tonight, that he loves you, that he loves you the way that Reid loved you. Don’t you think that you might want to explore that?”

“Are you fucking kidding me??? Fucking Chris Hughes killed Reid and ruined my life. I don’t want to have any type of relationship with him and to suggest that he could take Reid’s place in my heart is truly disturbing to me. Get the hell out of here. Both of you, I just want to be alone with Reid.”

“Geez Luke, watch your language. Please just think about what I have said. We love you, Luke, we just want you to be happy,” Holden finished, clearly worried about Luke’s behaviour.

“It’s true, Luke. All we want is for you to be happy and whole. Please think about what your father has said.

“Please just go,” Luke said wearily. Noting that his parents weren’t leaving he added the lie “I promise that I will consider what you have said.”

His parents both beamed at Luke convinced that they had gotten through to him at last.

“Bye Baby,” Lily said and then hugged him. “I love you.”

Holden then embraced his son and the three said their good-byes.

Meanwhile back at the neurology wing opening Bob was doing his best to keep the evening going. This was no small task, as Luke, the largest donor and tonight’s key note speaker, had just walked off in a huff and Chris, the current chief of staff, was having a meltdown of epic proportions. Bob relied on his years of experience of hospital business and soldiered on. Bob gave a rather generic speech about the value of the Snyder-Oliver Pavilion. He spoke of the brilliance of Dr. Oliver who had been the designer of the state of the art wing. He then introduced the man, Dr. Blake Norman, who was the new head of the wing. Fortunately for Bob, he was the one scheduled speaker who was prepared and completely unaffected by the current drama affecting Luke and Chris.

Bob only listened to the very beginning of Dr. Norman’s speech. As soon as he was convinced that the neurosurgeon was on track Bob tuned out the speaker. Bob took his time walking over to where his son was sitting with Kim. He was really displeased with the way that Chris had handled this situation, especially given the fact that Chris was the Chief of Staff at Memorial. For the first time since the appointment of Chris to this position, Bob wondered if perhaps Susan Stewart would have been the wiser choice.

Bob sighed deeply to himself as he approached his wife and son. “Christopher, what in the hell has gotten into you this evening? This behaviour is completely unbecoming of someone in your position.”

“I’m sorry Dad, but it’s not my fault” Chris whined.

“It seems that Chris is having complications from the heart transplant,” Kim began, defending her son, as she always did. “Chris’s heart or rather Reid’s heart is still very much drawn to Luke, which has put undue pressure on our poor Christopher.”

“Well Christopher, I can understand that this must be confusing for you, but tonight was not the right time to bring any of these issues up. You should have talked to Luke in a much more private setting. Now, I’m not saying that this is all your fault, Luke behaved appallingly as well. He should never have walked out of this event without giving his speech.”

“Did you hear what Luke said to me? It’s seems like he hates me. What am I going to do? I don’t think that I can live without him. I don’t feel complete unless he is in the room with me. Do you know what that’s like?”

“Now dear, I’m sure that Luke doesn’t hate you. You are a wonderful person; no one could possibly hate you. Luke was probably just overwhelmed by your outpouring of emotion. I’m sure that once he has a chance to process all that you said to him, he will be thrilled to be a part of your life. I only hope that he is worthy of you dear,” Kim said kindly.

“Do you really think so, Mom?”

“Of course I do, now pull yourself together you still have some schmoozing to do.”

Chris felt much better after talking to his parents. Surely his mom was right and that Luke was just surprised by his declaration of love.  Feeling much better about things Chris was able to work the room and even managed to close the night with the speech he had prepared. His only regret was that Luke wasn’t here to share the moment with him. He knew with certainty that Luke would have enjoyed the speech and been proud of him.

Luke had managed to avoid almost everyone he knew for about a month after the debacle at the opening for the neurological wing. He was happy that everyone was giving him a wide berth. Whether it was because they were embarrassed by the spectacle that Chris had made of the evening or that they just didn’t know what to say to him anymore, he neither knew nor cared. He was just relieved to be left alone.

Even his parents were largely ignoring him and focusing on their own drama. Holden was still trying to work things out with Molly, and Lily was still trying to work things out with Holden. At this point, Luke was finding it hard to care who ended up with whom.

Sure he wanted his parents to be happy, he just couldn’t work up the energy to try to help them be happy.

Luke was working mostly from home these days. With the neuro wing done he had less to do at the foundation. He was still approving grants but his heart wasn’t in it the way it had been before Reid had died.

With less to do with the foundation, Luke found that he had more time on his hands than he was comfortable with. He decided that he would start writing again. Writing had always been one of his passions and right now he needed somewhere to focus all of his energy.

One day as he was busy writing in his journal, he was jolted by the sound of someone knocking on his front door. Curious to see who was at the front door, Luke ambled up to get it. He was shocked to see Katie standing in front of him.

“Hi, Katie, what brings you here?” Luke asked rather coldly.

“Hi Luke, I came to see you. I wanted to see how you were holding up.”

“I’m fine, but I’m busy so if that is all I’d like to get back to my work.”

“Uh…can I please come in? I wanted to talk to you. We used to be friends and I miss you and I miss Reid.”

“Sure, come on in,” Luke said not wanting to be too rude. “How have you been?”

“I’m alright. Chris and I broke up as I’m sure you know.”

“I wasn’t sure. I’m sorry if I had any role in your break-up.”

“Are you and Chris together, now?”

Luke looked at Katie in astonishment, “Katie, Chris and I will never be together. I am not now, nor could I ever become attracted to him. Why do you ask?”

“Chris came to pick up his stuff from my place about a week ago now, and he indicated that he very much wanted a future with you.”

“Well, he may want a future with me, but I certainly don’t want one with him. I still blame him for Reid’s death and I think that I probably always will.”

“Oh Luke, you can’t really believe that it was Chris’s fault, can you? It was an accident, a tragic accident but it was no one’s fault. Luke you can’t allow yourself to be eaten up with hate. It’s not good for you, and Reid wouldn’t want you to live like this. You must know that.”

“Katie, I am trying to get over my hate for Chris, but I certainly do blame him. Yes Reid was driving the car and made a stupid decision to outrun a train, but he wouldn’t have been there in the first place if Chris had gotten the medical care that he needed when he first became ill.”

“He did get care. He asked Reid to help him, if things got out of control. I can’t help but think that Reid is the one at fault, not Chris.”

“Are you kidding me? Katie, Reid helped Chris because he accidentally found out about Chris’s condition and couldn’t walk away. He begged Chris to get an MRI and to see a cardiologist, but Chris refused, forcing Reid to treat him “off the books”. Do you know that Reid had to treat Chris at the Lakeview, because Chris didn’t want to risk being seen at the hospital? Reid only admitted to me that he was treating Chris on the sly because I knew that he was lying to me and Reid wasn’t willing to hurt our relationship because of stupid Chris.”

“Why did Reid agree to treat Chris if it was such a burden?” Katie asked. She had been unaware of the lengths that Reid had gone to in order to treat Chris, someone she knew Reid didn’t even like.

“He did it for you, Katie. He was worried that you wouldn’t be able to handle Chris dying on you so soon after Brad. He pleaded with Chris to tell you and his parents, but Chris stubbornly refused.”

“My God, Reid really did love me didn’t he? I knew that he cared about me, but I would never expect him to go to such lengths to protect me. Wow. I’m so ashamed that I didn’t appreciate him more. My God, I didn’t even manage to go to his funeral. I’m so sorry Luke.”

“No one came to the funeral,” Luke said pointedly. “The only people there were my mom, dad, Noah and me.”

“Oh Luke, I’m so sorry, no wonder you were so upset with me. I wanted to come, but I was busy looking after Chris.”

“Yeah Katie I understand that, but it seemed to me that everyone who was busy tending to Chris could have at least taken a moment to acknowledge that Chris lived because Reid died.”

“What can I do to help you now? Is it too late? I’ve missed having you in my life and I would really like to find away back to our friendship.”

“Thanks Katie, I don’t need any help right now, but I will let you know if that changes.”

Katie recognized Luke’s words as the dismissal that they were and so she took the hint and turned to leave, hoping that Luke would call her when he was ready.

It had been a month since Chris had seen Luke and declared his love. Chris was starting to go crazy, wondering why Luke hadn’t gotten in touch with him. Chris had not tried to contact Luke yet because he was trying to give the younger man time to process his feelings toward Chris. The waiting was killing him. Chris was unable to sleep and eat and his job performance was suffering as a result. The other day he had prescribed too much medication for one of his younger patients. Fortunately a nurse had caught his mistake or the child might have died.

With this knowledge, Chris decided that it was time to talk to Luke to see when they could get together and start their new life. Once resolved with this course of action, Chris excitedly picked up the phone and called Luke.

Luke finally answered the ringing phone, which Chris took to be an encouraging sign.

“Hello” Luke answered.

“Hi Luke,” Chris responded shyly. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine Chris,” Luke responded somewhat harshly. “What do you want?”

“Uh…I was hoping that we could get together for dinner, and uh… get to know each other a little better.”

“I don’t want to know you any better than I do. Good bye,” Luke finished, and hung up hoping that Chris would leave him alone.

Chris was devastated by Luke’s reaction. He sat at his desk at Memorial, just staring out into space wondering what his next move should be.

Tom walked into Chris’s office as Chris was sitting there staring blankly into space.

“What’s wrong, Chris? You look awful. Is there anything that I can do to help you?”

Chris just continued to stare as though he were in shock. Tom was about to call for help when Chris spoke, so quietly he was almost inaudible, “it’s Luke,” Chris managed to choke out.

“What about Luke? Is he sick? Is he in danger?” Tom asked, because when it came to Luke Snyder anything was possible.

“He hates me.”

“What? Why would Luke hate you?” Tom was about to ask why he would care when Tom remembered that Chris had told the family that he was in love, deep soul crushing love, with Luke.

“I don’t know why he hates me. I think that he might blame me for Reid’s death, but I’m not sure why. I don’t know what to do Tom. How can I live without him?”

“Wow, so you really are gay now aren’t you? It seems that Reid gave you more than just his heart.”

“I don’t know if I’m gay or not, I only know that I am in love with Luke. He’s my soul mate, of that I am sure.”

“Do you want to have sex with him? If you do I would think that that was a pretty good indicator.”

“I don’t know. I’ve never really considered the logistics of having sex with Luke,” but even as he thought about it his heart started hammering in his chest like crazy. He had never felt this way before, not with Katie or with anyone else.

“I think that I do want to have sex with him, at least my heart does.”

“You mean Reid’s heart wants to have sex with Luke?”

“Yes.”

“Well, little brother, I’m sure that Luke will have sex with you. He’s a guy and there aren’t many gay men in Oakdale so I’m sure that you won’t have a hard time convincing him. I’ll talk to him for you if you would like me to.”

“Do you really think that you could convince him to give me a chance?”

“Hey, I’m a lawyer. I get paid to persuade people to do things they have no desire to do. We both know that Luke wants to have sex; we just need to convince him that he wants to have sex with you. No problem.”

“I don’t just want to have sex with him, I want a relationship with him. I don’t think that I can live without him, Tom.”

“Alright, I can see that you have it bad for Luke, I will figure out a strategy and go and see him when I have it all figured out, okay?”

“Thanks Tom, you’re the best.”

A few days later Tom found himself knocking on Luke’s door. He was really worried about his brother Chris and was sure that he could convince Luke to give Chris a chance. His brother was a great guy. Luke would be lucky to be a part of Chris’s life. Tom just had to find the right words to convince the younger man. He had thought about how to approach Luke for the last few days and he decided that the personal touch was required, which was why he had decided to just show up.

Luke answered the door eventually when he realized that whoever was knocking at his door was not going to leave without an answer. To say Luke was shocked to see Tom standing there would be an understatement.

“Hi Luke, how are you?” Tom said as he pushed past Luke and entered the house.

“What the hell are you doing here, Tom?”

“Well, I’ve been concerned about you, we all have. We know that you have had a rough time since Reid….passed away. I wanted to see if there was any way that I could help you,” Tom said trying his best to ingratiate himself with Luke.

“Reid has been dead for over a year Tom, why the sudden concern?”

“It’s not sudden, Luke, please don’t think that it is. I’ve just been busy and now seemed like a good time to come and check on you.”

“You know what I’m wondering, Tom?” Luke asked, pausing dramatically for maximum impact. Tom was starting to think that this mission wasn’t going to be as easy as he had planned. He didn’t like the look that was on Luke’s face. It looked almost like hate, but that was ridiculous, surely Luke had no reason to hate him.

“I’m wondering where all of this concern for my well being was when Reid died? Do you remember how you treated me right after Reid died? You pressured me into donating Reid’s heart to Chris seconds after Reid died. Do you have any idea how that felt? You didn’t show any compassion or any caring toward me then and I don’t want any from you now.”

“Wait Luke, you have to understand, Chris was going to die and Reid had offered his heart. I knew that the heart needed to be transplanted quickly in order for it to be viable. Reid was dead, but Chris still had a chance to live. You know in your heart that that’s what Reid wanted.”

“How dare you stand there, in my house, telling me what Reid wanted, when you didn’t even know him, do you have any idea how insulting that is? You make me sick. Get the fuck out of my house,” Luke yelled at Tom, grabbed his arm and began pushing him toward the door.

When Tom reached the door, he turned back and looked at Luke with pity in his eyes. “Luke, I really think that you should get some counselling to get over this misplaced anger.”

“GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE AND DON’T EVER COME BACK!”

Tom shook his head softly and opened the door only to find Casey standing there with his mouth hanging open.

“Dude, what’s going on here? Why are you yelling at my dad like that? That is so not cool.”

“Casey what are you doing here? Why aren’t you at home in Carbondale?” Luke asked.

“Son, I think that maybe we should just go home,” Tom said at the same time.

“Dad we’re staying until we sort this out. No one should speak to you that way and I know that Luke wouldn’t unless he had a really good reason. Luke is my best friend and I want to sort this out.” Casey said firmly ushering his father back into Luke’s house with him. “Luke, it’s reading week for me at college and I thought that I would take the time to come home and see you. I’m worried about you; we hardly ever speak any more. I want my friend back. Now what’s going on?”

“Well I came over to check on Luke, The family has been quite concerned about him for a long time. He hasn’t really been himself since Reid died and I wanted to see if there was anything that I could do to help,” Tom stated reasonably, he thought it best not to bring Chris’s name into things while Luke was so inexplicably upset.

Casey, knowing his father, felt there was something left out of the explanation. “So do you often come over to check on Luke? Have you two become friends?”

Luke snorted “No this is the first time I’ve seen him since the day he badgered me into donating Reid’s heart for Chris,” Luke answered bitterly.

“Luke, I don’t think that you are being fair. I’m sure that my father treated you with the delicacy and respect that the situation warranted.”

“You weren’t there,” Luke answered coldly. “There was no one looking after Reid, no one even tried to save him. I kissed him and a monitor went off and Bob and John just declared him dead and did nothing to try and save him. I begged them to help him, but they refused, declaring Reid’s case hopeless.”

“They didn’t even try to save him? Not at all?” Casey asked feeling shocked.

“Reid had a DNR, it was all perfectly legal, Casey,” Tom said defending his father and John.

“What did they say to you when you begged them to help Reid?”

“John and Bob just ignored me and turned off the machines that were keeping Reid alive, and then Tom started talking about Reid wanting to donate his heart to Chris. I kept saying no because I was distressed, but Tom kept pushing me until I finally agreed to sign the papers” Luke said tears streaming down his face as he remembered that terrible day.

“Is that true, Dad? Did you talk about organ donation right after Reid died?” Casey asked clearly shocked by his father’s behaviour.

“Reid had said that he wanted to donate his heart to Chris and Chris was close to death. I couldn’t afford to be considerate of Luke’s feelings, because I had to do everything to save Chris. He’s my brother, don’t you get that?”

“Dad, Reid was Luke’s soul mate; my God I can’t believe that you would treat another human being so callously, not to mention Luke who you have known for most of his life. Luke I am so sorry, I had no idea. I remember you complaining about how you were being treated that day, but I honestly thought that you were over reacting, but I see now that you weren’t,” Casey said and walked over to give Luke a hug. “I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there for you. God, I didn’t even make it to Reid’s funeral. I wanted to go, but the whole family was tied up with Chris’s recovery. Wow, that was really lame, no wonder you haven’t been speaking to me.”

“It’s okay Casey, I know that Chris is your uncle, it just really bothered me that none of the Hughes family showed up to pay their respects for Reid. They treated him like he was disposable and he really, really wasn’t.”

“Well we all know that Reid was a hero, and we all really respected him, Luke. I told everyone how great he was while Chris was getting his heart, and I meant it.” Tom explained, like that would make everything all right.

“Reid wasn’t a fucking hero, he made a stupid mistake, trying to outrun a train. That’s not heroic, that was moronic. The worst part is that it was all so unnecessary. Chris didn’t even deserve a new heart, let alone Reid’s heart.”

“What do you mean, Luke? He would have died without a transplant. Surely you don’t wish him dead.”

“I wouldn’t have really cared if Chris had died. He caused this whole situation. He refused to get help when he first realized that he was ill. He forced Reid to treat him and cover for him. Reid helped Chris because he was a great doctor, and because of his love for Katie, not for stupid Chris.”

“That can’t be true, it just can’t be. I mean Chris is a doctor, he would have known that he needed to get help,” Casey said feeling like he had been punched in the stomach.

“Well some of that is true. Chris didn’t seek medical attention as early as he could have, but that was because he was worried about losing out on the chief of staff job to Reid. He didn’t feel that he could appear weak,” Tom explained patiently to Casey.

“So he thought that he stood a better chance of getting the job if he died??? What about his family, didn’t he care that what he was doing would have devastated us? What a moron.”

“Chris is a good man, Casey. Yes he made some unwise choices, but in his defence he didn’t want to worry us unnecessarily.”

“It wasn’t unnecessarily though was it? Did you know he had sex with Katie which could have easily killed him? How do you think Katie would have felt if he died like that?” Luke asked accusingly. “Now that he has Reid’s heart he has decided that he is in love with me. He humiliated Katie at the dedication ceremony and he defiled Reid’s memory. Do you know that he had the gall to call me up and ask me out??? He is the most selfish person on the planet.”

Casey looked at his father and suddenly knew why Tom was here. “Oh my God, you came to plead Chris’s case with Luke, didn’t you?”

Tom at least had the good sense to look sheepish, “yes I did. Look Luke, Chris is a good man and he is really suffering. He feels connected to you in a way that he has never felt connected to anyone else. I think that if you let yourself you and Chris could have a really good life together. He would absolutely be devoted to you. I have never seen him like this before. He says that he only feels whole when he is near you. He knows that this is difficult for you and he has tried to give you space. I think that it would be best for everyone if you just gave him a chance. He’s even willing to have sex with you,” Tom finished triumphantly, sure that this would seal the deal for Luke.

“GET THE FUCK OUT OF LUKE’S HOUSE AND DON’T COME BACK. JESUS CHRIST DAD HAVE YOU LOST YOUR FUCKING MIND??? GET THE FUCK OUT!”

Tom just gaped at his son, but he did as he was told and quickly left Luke’s house. He would have to deal with Casey later. Really why was Casey so upset, he wondered to himself.

When Tom was securely out the door Casey immediately turned to Luke, “are you okay? Oh my God, I had no idea that my family was so awful to you. Has it been like this since Reid died?”

“No, I have pretty much managed to avoid everyone. I wanted to be alone to process my grief and no one wanted to deal with me while I was grieving. Everyone just wanted me to be fine, and I’m not,” Luke replied with a shrug.

“Luke, you don’t need to go through this alone. Tell me how I can help you, man.”

Luke smiled at Casey. “Thanks, telling your dad off really helped, thanks for backing me up. I’m sure that wasn’t easy for you.”

“Are you kidding me? He was a acting like a fucking jerk. I can’t believe he treated you so badly. Why would you ever want to be with Chris?”

“Thanks Casey, it’s good to have you back,” Luke said with the biggest smile that had appeared on his face since Reid had died.

“Now, how are we going to convince Chris to leave you the hell alone?”

“You don’t think that he will just take the hint and give up?”

“Chris? No way, man he’s way to arrogant and selfish. If he has decided that he wants you then he won’t stop until he gets you. I’m sorta surprised that Granddad hasn’t been by for a little talk.”

“Oh my God, I don’t think that I could handle Bob coming by and trying to convince me to give Chris a go.”

“I know right, that’s why we need a plan to put an end to his ridiculous fantasy.”

“Maybe we should ask Katie if she has any ideas, after all she lived with  the guy, he publically humiliated her, so I think that she would be willing to help us.”

“Great idea, I’ll call her now.”

TBC