When Darkness turns to Light
Chapter 11
At hospital, Reid again began barking orders at all the staff. He ordered every neurological scan he could think of just to make sure Luke was okay. He was looking over one of the scans when he saw it, a blood vessel that was dangerously close to bursting. There was a small mass that was pushing on the vessel. He hadn't seen it on earlier scans but as he looked at the most recent scan it looked like the mass was scare tissue, most likely from Luke's original surgery performed by Channing.
"That idiot! He could have killed Luke," Reid exclaimed out loud.
Reid knew he needed to operate as soon as possible but he would much rather operate in Memorial than in some hospital he wasn't familiar with.
Reid knocked on the chief of staff's door.
"Come in."
"Sir, my name is Dr. Reid Oliver."
"Ah, yes, Dr. Oliver, the world-famous neurosurgeon. What brings you to my hospital?"
"A friend of mine was brought in a bit ago and after running tests and scans I have concluded that he needs surgery immediately. But I would much rather perform it at Memorial than here. Nothing against your hospital sir, I just prefer to operate in familiar surroundings."
"No offence taken Dr. Oliver. I understand completely. What would you like to do about it?"
"I was hoping that you could arrange for a medical air transport. If he could be transported via life flight I could be operating on him in my own operating room in just over an hour. Cost is not an issue. I'd be happy to pay for it and if not me than the patient himself could easily cover the cost."
"Let me make a couple phone calls and see what I can do."
Fifteen minutes later Reid was climbing aboard a helicopter next to the gurney holding a still unconscious Luke. While Reid had waited for the arrangements to be made he had quickly made several calls to Oakdale. Not wanting to deal with the hysterics of most of Luke's family, he decided to just call Lucinda and let her tell everyone else.
"Just do what you need to do darling. I'll take care of the rest of the family. We'll see you at the hospital later," Lucinda had said.
A half an hour after leaving Chicago General, they touched down on the roof of Memorial. Luke was quickly transported to an operating room while Reid changed into scrubs and got ready to operate. He had decided on the flight over that he would do the surgery to restore Luke's sight while he was in there. It didn't make any sense to go back in a week later when he could easily do both at the same time. Luke's brain was more than ready and it was better not to expose the brain more than once if at all possible.
Reid walked into the operating room and the first thing he noticed was Luke's bald head. His beautiful blond hair had been shaved off. Back in Chicago, while waiting for life flight, Reid had found a pair of scissors and cut a small section of Luke's hair and saved it. He knew it was a silly thing to do and that Luke's hair would grow back but he just couldn't resist saving some of the beautiful locks.
Putting his feelings for Luke aside, Reid finished scrubbing in. For the next however long, he wasn't Luke's friend, he was Luke's surgeon and that was what he needed to concentrate on. With scalpel in hand, he began.
The surgery was fairly routine. He was able to delicately remove the scar tissue, which immediately took pressure off the vessel. With the pressure off the blood vessel, Reid went to work restoring Luke's sight. It was actually one of the easier surgeries he had done recently and he couldn't understand how Channing had messed it up so badly. Even a monkey could perform this surgery. With Luke's head safely sutured up and bandage, Reid left him in the hands of his nursing staff.
Reid was removing his surgical cap as he entered the waiting room when a fist connected to his face, sending him to the floor as blood flowed from his nose.
"You bastard," Noah yelled as he bent down to go after the doctor again but was restrained by Holden and Casey.
"What the hell?" Reid asked in a daze as he tried to quell the blood flow from his nose.
"You're the reason Luke broke up with me. He and I would still be together if it weren't for you," Noah snarled as the men continued to hold him back.
"Actually I think you cheating on him and treating him like a child is the reason he broke up with you," Reid replied as a nurse handed him gauze for his nose.
"Thank you Gretchen. Do me a favor, call security and have them escort Mr. Mayer over there off the premises. He is no longer welcome here."
"You can't do that. I have to see Luke," Noah yelled.
"Actually I can do that and my chief of staff would be happy to back me up. And as for Luke, I think the last thing he needs right now is you."
Just then security showed up and two very large men hauled Noah out of the hospital. With the brunette taken care of and his nose packed with gauze, Reid managed to get up and fill Luke's family in on the blonde.
"There was scar tissue from his original brain surgery pushing against a blood vessel which caused him to collapse earlier. I was able to remove the scar tissue and relieve the pressure. While I was in there I also performed the procedure to restore his sight. Once he wakes up, which could be a few days, we'll know how successful the procedure was, although I'm confident he will have regained at least some vision if not all of it. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to take care of my nose and get out of these bloody clothes."
Once cleaned up, Reid headed home for a nap. The last six hours or so had been very tiring, but even so, he found he couldn't sleep. He couldn't deny any longer that he had feelings beyond friendship for Luke. When the blond had broken up with Noah, a little blossom of hope had risen up in Reid's chest. He still had to get through Luke's surgery and after care but at least now there was hope of starting something with him when it was all said and done. Then when Luke had passed out, Reid had been terrified. He couldn't lose Luke, not before even having a chance to have him. Of course this all depended on two things- whether Luke felt the same way about him that he did about Luke and more importantly, Luke waking up.
Chapter 12: http://mickey9928.livejournal.com/7170.html