Consult (5/14)
Luke woke up slowly, feeling rather groggy. It had been four days since he first allowed himself to think about Re - Dr. Oliver like that. After the rather delayed feelings of embarrassment, he quickly accepted it. Now, every chance he had, he was in his room or the shower, touching himself, biting down on his palm or his pillow to prevent himself from yelling out loud as he came with Re - Dr. Oliver’s name on his lips. He experimented, trying different speeds and maneuvers and numbers of fingers. On Saturday, he had driven the car Damian “loaned” him to the next town to buy a tube of lubricant that he kept carefully hidden. And that afternoon, he had brushed against something that made him nearly black out. After several deep breaths, Luke returned to it, rubbing the tip of his finger softly against the nub. He had come harder than he ever had before.
Luke was feeling raw and wrung out. He couldn’t concentrate on school at all, and Damian was looking at him rather suspiciously, and Luke was starting to worry there was some truth about the old wives’ tales of what could happen if you…do it too much. But he didn’t stop. It felt too good, and it kept his mind off worrying about things he couldn’t control.
Luke had avoided the hospital since that day. He didn’t want to run into his dad. And he probably would die if he saw Re - Dr. Oliver.
Luke was slightly afraid that he could read minds.
But, for now, he was still too blissed out to worry. He rolled to his back, looking down at himself. He was happy that the door to his room had a lock because it would have been hard to explain why he fell asleep at 4:00 in the afternoon completely naked. Well, probably it would be easy to explain, but that didn’t mean he wanted to.
Luke sighed, propping one arm behind his head. He tried to think coherently, without much luck. He picked absent-mindedly at the semen that had crusted onto his stomach. He should probably take a shower - a real shower.
The sounds of voices drifted up to him, and Luke narrowed his eyes in recognition. Dad?
He sat up quickly, rushing into the bathroom to wash his hands. Returning to the bedroom, he found his clothes where he had thrown them after school. He pulled them on quickly, not worrying about his underwear. Still buttoning his pants, he unlocked and opened the door. He practically ran downstairs, only to find Damian alone in the living room.
“Did I just hear my dad?” he asked.
Damian turned to him. “Ah, Luciano. You are here; I thought you were out.”
“No. Uh, no. I was just - I was asleep.”
“You sleep a lot lately. Are you ill?”
Luke felt the blush starting to rise on his neck. “No. It’s just…you know teenagers. My dad?”
“Yes, that was him. Like I said, I thought you were out.”
“He didn’t - didn’t want to wait for me?”
Damian gave him a sad look. “No. I’m sorry, son. He just wanted to say it was probably a good idea you were staying here.”
Luke felt his shoulders drop. “Oh. OK.” He looked away, trying to hide his disappointment.
“Would you like to go to the Lakeview for dinner tonight?” Damian offered kindly.
“Yeah, sure,” Luke replied.
**
Reid took a sip of his beer, returning the glass to the coaster and focusing back on the documents in front of him. He was reviewing the protocol for Lily Snyder’s operation. He and Dr. Roberts, Dr. Hughes and Lily’s OB/GYN had agreed it was almost time. They would attempt the C-section first, later that week or early the next. Once her system had a chance to recover, Reid would work his magic.
The waiter walked over to him and handed Reid the club sandwich he had ordered when he arrived at the Lakeview. Reid nodded his thanks, pulling the plate closer to him and placing the documents aside. Just as he took a bite, two individuals walked in the room. Reid glanced up and felt his heart skip a beat. It was Luke and Damian. He hadn’t seen Luke in days, and it had started to worry him.
Because it was probably good for Lily to get visitors. They didn’t know how much she could hear, so it was just sound medicine. Right.
Luke met his eyes, and they held each other’s gaze for a while. Luke had stopped walking almost immediately, and Reid was probably imagining things, but it seemed as if Luke was undressing him with his eyes. And then Luke broke eye contact, a blush darkening his cheeks. The trace of color did things to Reid he didn’t want to look too closely at.
Luke turned to Damian and said something softly to him. Damian looked at Reid and then nodded. He stepped over to a table in the corner, while Luke walked closer to Reid. Reid sighed, putting his sandwich down and fighting a ridiculous feeling of nervousness.
“Hi Dr. Oliver,” Luke said, his voice sounding somewhat off.
“Mr. Snyder,” Reid replied, as uninvitingly as he could.
“How - um, how are you?”
Reid’s eyes narrowed. If anything, the kid sounded more awkward than Reid felt. Quite the change from his previous brashness. “Fine,” Reid said slowly.
Luke inhaled slowly, touching the tip of his tongue to the bottom of his top teeth. He put his palm to his lower stomach, splaying his fingers. Reid’s eyes followed his movement, and he swallowed.
**
Luke hadn’t had the opportunity to change or clean up before he and Damian had left for the hotel restaurant. That unfortunate fact became extremely self-evident as soon as he started talking to Dr. Oliver. His senses felt heightened, and he could almost hear the blood rushing through his body faster and faster as his heart sped up. Without his underwear, his bare skin touched his jeans. With every shift, with every slight movement, he brushed against the seam of his zipper, and he was starting to respond predictably. Luke lifted a hand to his stomach, feeling (or perhaps imagining he could feel) the remnants of his earlier activities still sticking to his belly. He smoothed his palm over the area, trying not to focus on the fact that the reason it was there was the man sitting in front of him. The man whose eyes were fixed on Luke’s hand.
Luke stopped abruptly, dropping his hand, hoping to take Dr. Oliver’s attention away from his traitorous lower body.
“Club sandwich, huh?” Luke asked and then immediately mentally kicked himself. What a ridiculous question.
Dr. Oliver looked at his plate, appearing somewhat confused. “Uh. Yeah,” he answered.
Luke laughed shortly, lifting his hand to his eyebrow and scratching quickly. “How’s - uh, how’s my mom doing?”
“No change,” Dr. Oliver said quickly. “They’ll be doing the C-section soon, and then I’ll operate.”
“Oh,” Luke said, looking startled. “I - I didn’t know any decisions on that had been made.”
“You haven’t been by the hospital lately,” Dr. Oliver observed, and if Luke hadn’t felt so uncertain, he would have been thrilled that he had noticed his absence.
Instead, he just said, “No, I know. My dad and I - well, I’ve…been staying with Damian. My biological father.”
Stop talking, Luke, he thought to himself.
Dr. Oliver looked past him, flicking his eyes to Damian. “Oh,” was all he said.
Luke exhaled sharply. “I’ll let you get back to your dinner.” He turned and took a step.
“You should visit your mother, Luke. It might be good for her,” Dr. Oliver said quietly.
Luke turned to face him, mouth slightly open. He nodded quickly and then walked away, unaware that Reid’s eyes followed him as he returned to Damian and sat down. Damian looked up, first at Luke and then over at Reid. When Reid and Damian made eye contact, Reid looked away.
**
“Hey hon, wanna get dinner?”
Reid looked up to see Katie walking down the hospital corridor. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, it’s a hospital. You’re a doctor. I figured I’d find you here.”
“Excellent detective skills.”
“I am a news reporter. Sort of."
Despite himself, Reid smiled. “Isn’t it enough for you that I’ve spent time with you three out of the last five days?”
“No.”
Reid sighed, turning away and starting to walk down the hall. “Why not?”
“Because you still haven’t admitted we’re friends yet.”
“You’re unbelievable.”
“Everyone needs a friend. Especially in this town.”
“Well, I’m not planning on staying here for long.”
“Come on,” she said, her only response to his last statement a pout. “I’m hungry.”
“Don’t you have any oth - friends?”
“Aha!”
“What?”
“You were about to say other. Implying besides you. Implying you are my friend.”
“I have to check on my patient,” Reid said, stopping outside Lily’s door.
“I’ll wait,” Katie said with a smile. Then she looked through the window. “Oh, Lily Snyder? How’s she doing?”
“You know her? What am I saying? Of course you do.”
Reid shook his head, pushing open the door. Katie followed him inside and watched quietly as he went through the check-up. He was writing some notes into the file when the door opened again. Reid turned to look at the new arrival.
“Luke,” he said in surprise. Then he cleared his throat and modified his greeting, “Mr. Snyder.”
Luke gave him a small smile. “Like you said, it might help, right? Hi, Katie.”
“Hi Luke, how are you?”
Luke shrugged, sticking his hands in his back pockets and shifting his stance as he looked back at Reid. “Is my dad here?”
“I haven’t seen him,” Reid said, dropping his gaze from Luke’s.
Reid placed Lily’s file back in the slot next to the foot of the bed and walked towards the door. Luke started to move also, going to the chair beside Lily. When they met, there was a slight traffic jam, both of them stepping to the same side as they tried to get around each other. Luke laughed, embarrassed amusement making his eyes shine. Reid ducked his head, finally making it past Luke.
“Enjoy your visit,” Reid said with an almost pained tone as he tried to hide his sincerity. He added to Katie, “Let’s go eat.”
Katie didn’t say anything, and when they were halfway down the hall, Reid finally looked at her. She was staring back at him, her expression uncertain, confused and yet slightly calculating.
“What?” Reid asked nervously.
Katie shook her head. “Nothing,” she replied. Reid didn’t quite believe her.
Continued