Always Attract (Chapter 2)
Title: Always Attract (Chapter 2)
Rating: G-NC-17
Word Count: 1,532
Chapter Summary: Luke goes to the hospital to begin work for the foundation's new project and meets an unfriendly neursurgeon while another doctor catches his eye.
Comments: Again, the italic parts are inner monologue. Right now it's just Luke's but in other chapters, it will be other people as well.
Chapter One:
community.livejournal.com/lure_atwt/637341.html
Or click here to read on my Journal:
stl29tide.livejournal.com/
Luke awoke the next morning at 7 am. He knew he had a busy day in front of him. He was supposed to be at the hospital at 9, but he knew he’d have to get up early to make his “Happy Thanksgiving” phone call to his family. He knew his grandmother Emma would be up already preparing food and his father Holden was always awake at this time of morning. He was also hoping that by calling early enough he could avoid the rest of his family, especially his mother. He loved his mom, but he also realized that if there was a chance of someone bringing up Noah, it would be her. Before he could even dial, his phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Hi sweetie! Happy Thanksgiving!”
Shit!“Oh, thanks mom. Happy Thanksgiving to you too.”
“So how are you?”
“I’m good.”
“What have you been up to the past couple days?”
“Oh, nothing really. Just taking in the city.”
“That sounds like fun. So I ran into Noah at Al’s.”
Damn it. “Oh really?”
“Yeah. He seems good.”
Great. “Uh huh”.
“Have you talked to him at all.”
“No mom and I don’t really….”
“Luke, you can’t avoid him forever. Sooner or later you’re going to have to talk to each other and the sooner that happens the sooner you two can get back together.”
“Mom, Noah and I are not getting…”
“Well, okay sweetie, I have to go but you have a great day.”
“Yeah, you too mom. Okay, bye.”
Somebody just kill me.
After Luke was done with his other mandatory phone calls, he took a shower, got dressed, headed downstairs for some breakfast and made it to the hospital, all with 15 minutes to spare. Luke was meeting with Mr. McCanna, the CFO of Northwestern. It was actually his idea to have this meeting on Thanksgiving. Luke couldn’t help shake his head in disbelief at the idea that someone would rather work on a holiday then spend it with his family. But then again, he was a financial officer. He was like a dog and to him Luke was a raw steak. Either that or he just walked in on his boyfriend making out with some scarf wearing freak and needed to get away from home. It’s probably just the first one. Either way, Luke was glad. He’d much rather be with this guy then back in Oakdale.
Luke talked to Mr. McCanna about money, how much the new wing would need, how it would be spent and so forth for about an hour, until Mr. McCanna had another meeting he had to go to. He told Luke that he could roam through the hospital to see how the other areas work and after lunch they’ll meet up again and he’ll take him to the dialysis center and show him some of the things they’d like to do for that particular area. Luke still had a couple hours before lunch, so he decided that his own personal tour of the hospital probably wasn’t a bad idea. The first area he wound up in was the Cardiac rehab center. He felt bad. These people had serious heart problems and his broken heart was nothing like what they were going through. Luke decided to leave that particular area. He still wasn’t done wallowing in some self pity and he didn’t feel right doing it there. Next he made his way to pediatrics. Luke loved kids. He’s always wanted a family of his own one day. He was a big fan of the idea of marriage and kids. Marriage. He always thought he’d marry Noah. But apparently, unless your some strange Iraqi girl you don’t stand a fucking chance. God this is so depressing.
After watching the kids play for a little bit, Luke headed off into a different direction and found himself in the Neuro Wing. The brain. That’s something Luke always wished he’d listen to a bit more. If he had, maybe he wouldn’t be in the situation he’s in now. As he walked down the hallway, looking around, he caught the eye of a man. He didn’t look to be very friendly. Luke went to turn away when the man started talking to him.
“Hey you!”
“Um…..yes?”
“Are you supposed to be here?”
“I…..think so.”
“You think so? Well either you are or you aren’t. It’s not a very difficult question to answer. Do you have family here?”
“No.”
“Are you a patient?”
“No”
“Would you like to give up any more information?”
“Such as?”
“Why are you here? Do you have brain damage?”
“No, I do not, and that’s a highly offensive question.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. No. No, wait a minute. I’m not. Listen here Bambi….” Bambi?
“This is my department. I control who comes in, who comes out and the last thing I need is some squatter coming in from off the streets. Got it?”
A squatter? My outfit probably costs more than he makes in a month!
Just as Luke was about to open his mouth with a reply, he notices another man watching their exchange in the background. This man is wearing dark blue scrubs. He has auburn hair and Luke can’t help but notice his eyes. They’re quite amazing, but he also can’t help notice the curious look on the man’s face either, like he’s actually vaguely interested in what’s going to happen next. The man notices Luke’s brief stare and his mouth lightly tugs upward into a bit of a smirk. Luke quickly looks away and refocuses his attention to the man standing in front of him who’s now looking at him strangely.
“There is seriously something wrong with you.”
“What the hell is your name?”
“Excuse me? I already told you son. This is my department. I don’t have to answer to anyone.”
“How do I know you’re not just full of shit? I don’t know this is your department.”
“Well then obviously you’re not too bright, but then again, I think we established this a long time ago. This is my department. Have you ever heard of Dr. Channing?”
“No.”
“Well that’s me and I’m one of the greatest surgeons in the country.”
Luke couldn’t help notice the man in the background snort at that comment. Luke was starting to realize that the mystery man thought this quack was as much of a tool as he did.
“So are you going to leave kid or what?”
“I can’t actually. I’m here today meeting with Mr. McCanna.”
Luke noticed that as soon as he said that the smirk from the man’s face faded. And it faded quickly. As he watched the man fidget he realized that the hospital staff on duty must have been told that a financial donor was going to be showing up at the hospital today. Suddenly Luke was starting to feel a little bit better.
“From the look on your face I’d say you’ve probably heard of me. I didn’t recognize your name, but I’m willing to bet you know mine. Luke Snyder.”
At this point, the man looked like he was going to throw up. Luke seemed pleased. He wasn’t the only one though. He noticed the gentleman in the back break out into a huge smile. It was a lovely smile actually. He sort of glows when he smiles like that. He doesn’t seem like the type to do it often. Gosh he’s pretty. Seriously Luke, focus.
After Luke once again returned his attention to the man in front of him, he realized that Dr. Channing was sweating. Quite a bit actually. It was rather disturbing. After stumbling on a few of his words, he was finally able to choke out his sentence.
“Mr. Snyder, it’s of course a great pleasure to meet you.”
“Really?”
“Oh, of course. You know us doctors. We love to joke around. Always have to keep the mood light.”
“Right. I guess I didn’t process that. You know, brain damage and all. The man seriously looks like he’s going to puke. Score! It was Channing right? I’ll make sure to mention your sense of humor to Mr. McCanna. I’m sure he’ll find your conversational skills as riveting as I did.” Yes, I totally just verbally bitch slapped him. This is awesome!
With that last line and one last look to the doctor behind him, Luke turned around and strolled back down the hospital corridor. Dr. Channing turned around to see his fellow doctor break out into laughter.
“And what the hell do you think is so funny Oliver?”
The man, unable to stop laughing, could only shake his head.
“You’re an idiot Channing,” he said between breaths. “Oh and you totally just got bitch slapped by a kid.”
“I can’t wait until you go back to Dallas.”
“Awe, but then you won’t have anyone around to operate on the patients you can’t seem to fix. Have a nice day!” And with that Reid Oliver turned around and headed down the hall, still hearing his fellow egotistical doctor muttering words under his breath. Reid couldn’t help but laugh again. Thanks to a one Luke Snyder, his day just go so much better.