FIC - De-stressing (5/?)
Title: De-stressing (5/?)
Author: wheelie47
Rating: R
Pairing: Noah and Reid
Word Count: 2,526
Summary: Things get serious.
Disclaimer: Don’t own characters, am not associated in any way with ATWT. No offence intended.
Notes: I’m stretching or more likely ignoring some facts… so just go with the flow!
Continuing the story written for the Lil bang at the theneid
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4
Noah inhaled deeply, his nostrils flaring as the pungent smell of sweat, blood and other men’s fear hit the back of his throat. Normally that smell - a smell so strong he could almost taste it - would get his adrenaline pumping until nothing else but the fight ahead mattered to him. It was all encompassing and he could forget the world outside and all the baggage it carried for a few precious minutes.
But not tonight.
Tonight all he could think about was Reid fucking Oliver!
Dammit! How had he let the arrogance neurosurgeon get so well and truly under his skin?! Just who the hell did the guy think he was? Normally the men he fucked didn’t affect him so greatly. They moved in and out of his life like shadows; instantly forgettable and never leaving a lasting impression.
But not this guy!
“Shit!” Noah grunted as he screwed his eyes shut and slammed his clenched fist against the wall of the small room, barely larger than a closet, that served as a changing room. He took a twisted kind of solace from the pain that shot through his hand and radiated up his forearm. The pain overrode the terrifying thought in his head that he was beginning to get too attached to something… to someone.
He wouldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t… not again. People that you loved and, supposedly, loved you only let you down and hurt you. His father was a testament to that fact.
“Love?!” he snorted derisively. Where the hell had that come from?! “Who the fuck said anything about love?!”
Noah slammed his fist against the wall again, letting the pain wash over him. This time he opened his eyes and stared at the reddening knuckles.
Here - in this den of violence, easy money and equally easy men - was where he belonged.
Here he was king.
The door was suddenly yanked open, letting the sound of the clientele as they raucously placed their bets flood into the small room, and the gritty, smoky atmosphere of the club’s backroom stung Noah’s eyes.
“Hey kid? You about ready? They’re baying for blood tonight!”
Getting no answer, Jeff - the club’s owner - took a step further into the room.
“Mayer!”
At that Noah’s eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared again as he let all the pent-up anger and resentment he’d carried for all those years explode from within.
He was ready alright!
He strode with purpose past Jeff, heading toward the open doorway.
Jeff stepped into his personal space and wrapped a large hand around his sinewy bicep. “There’s some pretty high rollers out there tonight, Mayer. Don’t fuck it up!”
Noah yanked his arm away and looked the club owner squarely in the face. “Do I ever?!” he retorted venomously with an arrogant curl of his lip.
Without waiting for a reply, he pushed past the other man and headed out into the heated and testosterone charged atmosphere of the club’s fight room.
“There’s a first time for everything,” Jeff muttered to Noah’s retreating back…
…
Out here the atmosphere was even headier and Noah felt the press of expectation on him as he paraded around the fight ring, his broad bare chest proud and his fists and arms tensed.
He knew what was expected of him here and it suited him just fine.
He finally came to a halt opposite his opponent and stood there appraising the shaven headed, muscle bound barrel of a man with a disdainful smirk. Jeff had told Noah that the guy was some prizefighter from the East Coast who wanted to try his hand a little further west.
They squared up to each other. “Let’s see if the hype’s deserved.”
The first time Noah’s fist connected with the other man’s jaw everything other than just the two of them melted away into insignificance and beating this guy was his only concern.
The man staggered a little, looking surprised at the strength behind Noah’s punch. But then he rallied and came back at Noah with a low strike to the stomach which Noah managed to sidestep at the last minute so it only struck a glancing blow to his side.
Grabbing the man’s shoulders, he turned him and pushed him backward.
The whoops of encouragement coming from the smoky dimness outside the circle of light in which they fought urged him on. He landed several jabs with his left fist before striking home with another right punch to the jaw, watching in satisfaction as blood and spit erupted from the guy’s mouth.
“Stop! You have to stop, Noah!” Just as he was about to launch another salvo of punches, Oliver’s words from their last encounter fought their way unbidden into his mind, distracting him from his swing.
Dammit! Couldn’t he keep the annoying jerk out of his head for one damn minute?!
His opponent’s sharp uppercut took Noah unawares and he tasted blood in his mouth from his split lip.
Annoyed at himself and at Oliver, he focused all his anger at his opponent and came at him with a barrage of wild punches.
The first few hit their target and the other man staggered backward again.
But as Noah’s wide eyed and rage fuelled onslaught continued unabated, his bloodied opponent saw his opportunity.
As Noah lunged forward onto his right foot, the East Coast fighter struck out with his own foot and unbalanced him.
Noah never saw the unexpected last ditch, and surprisingly powerful, blow to the side of his head coming.
Before his brain could even register what was happening, his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed onto the dirty floor.
As if lifeless, his body lay there without even a single twitch of a muscle as the other man stepped over him and raised his arms aloft in exhausted triumph…
…
Reid Oliver hated the night shift.
The day shift was always crammed full of people who needed his expertise. And he was perfectly ok with that. The more opportunity he had to display his superior skills over the other doctors the better as far as he was concerned. He was the only one he trusted completely.
But the night shift seemed to raise the stupid factor ten-fold. Brain cell challenged individuals with drink or drug induced injuries and accidents came flooding through the hospital doors alongside the usual emergencies. And the rest of the medical staff appeared to have forgotten which was the business end of a stethoscope.
Every time he turned around there was a nurse or junior doctor at his elbow with some inane question.
And to top it all, because of the hectic shift, Reid hadn’t had the opportunity to take a break and grab some of what the hospital cafeteria laughingly called food.
No time for food made him as cranky as hell. And apparently, tonight, being a cranky Reid meant that his brain - completely under its own volition - kept replaying the last time he’d seen a certain Noah Mayer.
Why he had chosen that exact moment to open his mouth to tell Noah he should stop fighting was beyond him. He could’ve got well and truly fucked into the mattress that night. His body had been aching for it. But, oh no, his mouth had had other ideas!
And why the hell did he care if Mayer was intent on self-destruction?!
He didn’t care. Period. Reid Oliver didn’t do emotions. He left that to saps with soft underbellies. Growing up with his uncle had seen to that. And his life experience up to this point had done little to convince him otherwise.
He did medicine and was damn good at it.
Then why did his mind keep going back to the moment when the angry young man had stormed out of his apartment days earlier, mulling over the fact he hadn’t seen or heard from him since?
“Dr Oliver!”
Dammit! He’d almost made it to the doctor’s lounge this time. For a split second he was tempted to ignore the annoying female voice behind him and carry on walking.
But his patients came first… no matter what.
Reid spun abruptly on the spot and the nurse hurrying up the hall toward him nearly collided into his chest.
“Yes?” He bit down on the ‘Nurse Ratched’ quip that was on the tip of his tongue. He didn’t know the woman’s actual name nor did he care. She probably wouldn’t even understand the reference anyhow.
“Dr Oliver, Dr Wilson wants a consult on an ER patient presenting with dizziness and some memory loss.”
“Really? Do I have to do everything around here?” His right eyebrow rose quizzically. Whilst he did enjoy having his expertise called upon he took great delight in being very verbal about it too.
The nurse didn’t reply, just continued waiting in front of him and staring up at him expectantly.
Reid huffed and stared down at the woman. But it was obvious she wasn’t going to leave him be any time soon and he had better things to do than have a stand-off with her here in the hall.
“Fine!” He brushed past her and strode purposefully back toward the ER, leaving the nurse to almost run to keep up with him.
Food and thoughts of Noah Mayer would have to wait.
In fact, Mayer could go to hell for making him feel like this…
…
“Dr Oliver,” Wilson swallowed nervously and held out the patient information file as Reid pushed open the door to the ER treatment room. “The… the patient was in a side on collision at an intersection. He’s presenting with blurred vision and…”
Reid signaled the younger man silent with a wave of his hand as he ignored the file and pulled out his slim pocket flashlight.
“Look up for me. Left… right,” he ordered as he shone the light in the middle-aged man’s eyes. “Any blurred vision? Dizziness?"
“Some.”
“Headache?
“A little… when I turn my head like this…” The patient began to move his head gingerly.
“OK, don’t do that then,” Reid admonished and had to fight not to roll his eyes. “Now, tell me, what day is it?”
“Friday,” the guy replied with certainty.
Hmm, a couple of days out.
“I was on my way to…”
Reid held up his hand. “Right, thanks. Follow my finger… with your eyes,” he added quickly in case the guy tried to move his head again.
“What’s your name?”
“Todd,” he replied slowly as if he were talking to a child. “I’m not an idiot, Doc.”
Just what Reid needed: another guy calling him Doc! Some days, he was certain the world had it in for him. “Hmpfh! Let’s see shall we? Tell me what happened?”
“Like I was saying, I was on my way to meet the guys. Friday is bowling night. We’re the best in the league, you know!”
“And…” Why did these people insist on trying to tell him every minute detail of their boring lives?!
“And… the car came out of nowhere at the intersection. And then I… I don’t remember much after that.”
Reid turned to face Wilson. “Scan results?”
“I... er… I wanted to consult with you first, Dr Oliver,” the young doctor stuttered nervously, not completely meeting Reid’s stare.
“No scan?” he asked in disbelief. “What the hell do they teach you kids in medical school these days? I…”
Reid was suddenly distracted in mid-rant when he spotted Carlton dashing past the window. Carlton? Running? He pitied the poor hapless individual who was on the receiving end of the Chief of Staff’s particular brand of so-called medicine.
He might just wander down and lend a hand. He wanted to give the patient at least a half decent chance of leaving the hospital alive.
“Order up a MRI,” Reid told the junior doctor as he backed toward the door. “Come get me when the results come through. Keep him immobilized till then. Think you can handle that?”
Heading in the direction Carlton had disappeared to, Reid followed a nurse through the double set of swinging doors to one of the main trauma rooms.
“What have we got?” Reid demanded without looking up as he grabbed a fresh set of gloves and snapped them on.
He stumbled to a halt as if hit by an immoveable object right in his solar plexus, making him gasp audibly.
There, his long limbs stretched out unmoving, on the gurney in the center of the room was Noah Mayer.
“What… what happened?” It was hard to breathe and the sound of his heart pounding rapidly in his chest deafened him as he looked across at Noah and the hive of activity surrounding him.
The brunette looked deathly pale and his lips were tinged with blue. A thin trickle of blood oozed out of his right ear, pooling onto the gurney.
One of the junior doctors performed compressions to Noah’s broad chest and Carlton watched the monitors for any flicker of rhythm as a senior nurse prepared the defibrillator.
Time slowed; the attending doctors and nurses seeming to move at a snail’s pace around him as all Reid could focus on was how still and lifeless Noah looked.
A nurse colliding with him as she came hurrying through doors suddenly jolted Reid into action.
“How long?” Reid demanded, his focus shifting to Carlton.
The Chief of Staff tore his gaze away from the monitor and cast a side long glance at Reid, noticing his presence in the room for the first time.
Carlton’s eyes widened in surprise, registering the shock that must have been plain across Reid’s features at seeing Noah here like this.
His stare quickly shifted from Reid down to the man on the gurney and back again, a spark of memory and recognition flaring in his eyes.
“You need to step outside, doctor. We have this covered.” The barely there minute display of compassion clearly didn’t sit comfortably with Carlton.
Reid shook his head. Wait outside like some anxious loved one? What exactly did Carlton think Noah was to him?! “No. There's no time to argue. You need me in here!” He positioned himself next to the junior doctor, preparing to take over the chest compressions.
He felt the Chief of Staff’s firm hand on his shoulder, pulling him backward. “Step outside, Reid. I’ll come find you later.”
Reid was elbowed out of the way by the nurse carrying the defib paddles.
He stood on the periphery of the buzz of activity going on around Noah, feeling frustratingly useless but not wanting to leave the room, until Carlton shot him another look. “You need to leave, doctor.”
The Chief of Staff quickly turned back. “Shock him again.”
Carlton’s words echoed loudly in his ears.
Reid turned abruptly as he pushed open the door, putting his hand against the wood to stop it hitting him in the face when it swung shut.
Through the window, he watched Noah’s body arch up when the charge jolted through his chest before dropping heavily back down as unnerving and unfamiliar powerful feelings coursed through his own chest…
TBC
Author: wheelie47
Rating: R
Pairing: Noah and Reid
Word Count: 2,526
Summary: Things get serious.
Disclaimer: Don’t own characters, am not associated in any way with ATWT. No offence intended.
Notes: I’m stretching or more likely ignoring some facts… so just go with the flow!
Continuing the story written for the Lil bang at the theneid
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4
Noah inhaled deeply, his nostrils flaring as the pungent smell of sweat, blood and other men’s fear hit the back of his throat. Normally that smell - a smell so strong he could almost taste it - would get his adrenaline pumping until nothing else but the fight ahead mattered to him. It was all encompassing and he could forget the world outside and all the baggage it carried for a few precious minutes.
But not tonight.
Tonight all he could think about was Reid fucking Oliver!
Dammit! How had he let the arrogance neurosurgeon get so well and truly under his skin?! Just who the hell did the guy think he was? Normally the men he fucked didn’t affect him so greatly. They moved in and out of his life like shadows; instantly forgettable and never leaving a lasting impression.
But not this guy!
“Shit!” Noah grunted as he screwed his eyes shut and slammed his clenched fist against the wall of the small room, barely larger than a closet, that served as a changing room. He took a twisted kind of solace from the pain that shot through his hand and radiated up his forearm. The pain overrode the terrifying thought in his head that he was beginning to get too attached to something… to someone.
He wouldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t… not again. People that you loved and, supposedly, loved you only let you down and hurt you. His father was a testament to that fact.
“Love?!” he snorted derisively. Where the hell had that come from?! “Who the fuck said anything about love?!”
Noah slammed his fist against the wall again, letting the pain wash over him. This time he opened his eyes and stared at the reddening knuckles.
Here - in this den of violence, easy money and equally easy men - was where he belonged.
Here he was king.
The door was suddenly yanked open, letting the sound of the clientele as they raucously placed their bets flood into the small room, and the gritty, smoky atmosphere of the club’s backroom stung Noah’s eyes.
“Hey kid? You about ready? They’re baying for blood tonight!”
Getting no answer, Jeff - the club’s owner - took a step further into the room.
“Mayer!”
At that Noah’s eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared again as he let all the pent-up anger and resentment he’d carried for all those years explode from within.
He was ready alright!
He strode with purpose past Jeff, heading toward the open doorway.
Jeff stepped into his personal space and wrapped a large hand around his sinewy bicep. “There’s some pretty high rollers out there tonight, Mayer. Don’t fuck it up!”
Noah yanked his arm away and looked the club owner squarely in the face. “Do I ever?!” he retorted venomously with an arrogant curl of his lip.
Without waiting for a reply, he pushed past the other man and headed out into the heated and testosterone charged atmosphere of the club’s fight room.
“There’s a first time for everything,” Jeff muttered to Noah’s retreating back…
…
Out here the atmosphere was even headier and Noah felt the press of expectation on him as he paraded around the fight ring, his broad bare chest proud and his fists and arms tensed.
He knew what was expected of him here and it suited him just fine.
He finally came to a halt opposite his opponent and stood there appraising the shaven headed, muscle bound barrel of a man with a disdainful smirk. Jeff had told Noah that the guy was some prizefighter from the East Coast who wanted to try his hand a little further west.
They squared up to each other. “Let’s see if the hype’s deserved.”
The first time Noah’s fist connected with the other man’s jaw everything other than just the two of them melted away into insignificance and beating this guy was his only concern.
The man staggered a little, looking surprised at the strength behind Noah’s punch. But then he rallied and came back at Noah with a low strike to the stomach which Noah managed to sidestep at the last minute so it only struck a glancing blow to his side.
Grabbing the man’s shoulders, he turned him and pushed him backward.
The whoops of encouragement coming from the smoky dimness outside the circle of light in which they fought urged him on. He landed several jabs with his left fist before striking home with another right punch to the jaw, watching in satisfaction as blood and spit erupted from the guy’s mouth.
“Stop! You have to stop, Noah!” Just as he was about to launch another salvo of punches, Oliver’s words from their last encounter fought their way unbidden into his mind, distracting him from his swing.
Dammit! Couldn’t he keep the annoying jerk out of his head for one damn minute?!
His opponent’s sharp uppercut took Noah unawares and he tasted blood in his mouth from his split lip.
Annoyed at himself and at Oliver, he focused all his anger at his opponent and came at him with a barrage of wild punches.
The first few hit their target and the other man staggered backward again.
But as Noah’s wide eyed and rage fuelled onslaught continued unabated, his bloodied opponent saw his opportunity.
As Noah lunged forward onto his right foot, the East Coast fighter struck out with his own foot and unbalanced him.
Noah never saw the unexpected last ditch, and surprisingly powerful, blow to the side of his head coming.
Before his brain could even register what was happening, his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed onto the dirty floor.
As if lifeless, his body lay there without even a single twitch of a muscle as the other man stepped over him and raised his arms aloft in exhausted triumph…
…
Reid Oliver hated the night shift.
The day shift was always crammed full of people who needed his expertise. And he was perfectly ok with that. The more opportunity he had to display his superior skills over the other doctors the better as far as he was concerned. He was the only one he trusted completely.
But the night shift seemed to raise the stupid factor ten-fold. Brain cell challenged individuals with drink or drug induced injuries and accidents came flooding through the hospital doors alongside the usual emergencies. And the rest of the medical staff appeared to have forgotten which was the business end of a stethoscope.
Every time he turned around there was a nurse or junior doctor at his elbow with some inane question.
And to top it all, because of the hectic shift, Reid hadn’t had the opportunity to take a break and grab some of what the hospital cafeteria laughingly called food.
No time for food made him as cranky as hell. And apparently, tonight, being a cranky Reid meant that his brain - completely under its own volition - kept replaying the last time he’d seen a certain Noah Mayer.
Why he had chosen that exact moment to open his mouth to tell Noah he should stop fighting was beyond him. He could’ve got well and truly fucked into the mattress that night. His body had been aching for it. But, oh no, his mouth had had other ideas!
And why the hell did he care if Mayer was intent on self-destruction?!
He didn’t care. Period. Reid Oliver didn’t do emotions. He left that to saps with soft underbellies. Growing up with his uncle had seen to that. And his life experience up to this point had done little to convince him otherwise.
He did medicine and was damn good at it.
Then why did his mind keep going back to the moment when the angry young man had stormed out of his apartment days earlier, mulling over the fact he hadn’t seen or heard from him since?
“Dr Oliver!”
Dammit! He’d almost made it to the doctor’s lounge this time. For a split second he was tempted to ignore the annoying female voice behind him and carry on walking.
But his patients came first… no matter what.
Reid spun abruptly on the spot and the nurse hurrying up the hall toward him nearly collided into his chest.
“Yes?” He bit down on the ‘Nurse Ratched’ quip that was on the tip of his tongue. He didn’t know the woman’s actual name nor did he care. She probably wouldn’t even understand the reference anyhow.
“Dr Oliver, Dr Wilson wants a consult on an ER patient presenting with dizziness and some memory loss.”
“Really? Do I have to do everything around here?” His right eyebrow rose quizzically. Whilst he did enjoy having his expertise called upon he took great delight in being very verbal about it too.
The nurse didn’t reply, just continued waiting in front of him and staring up at him expectantly.
Reid huffed and stared down at the woman. But it was obvious she wasn’t going to leave him be any time soon and he had better things to do than have a stand-off with her here in the hall.
“Fine!” He brushed past her and strode purposefully back toward the ER, leaving the nurse to almost run to keep up with him.
Food and thoughts of Noah Mayer would have to wait.
In fact, Mayer could go to hell for making him feel like this…
…
“Dr Oliver,” Wilson swallowed nervously and held out the patient information file as Reid pushed open the door to the ER treatment room. “The… the patient was in a side on collision at an intersection. He’s presenting with blurred vision and…”
Reid signaled the younger man silent with a wave of his hand as he ignored the file and pulled out his slim pocket flashlight.
“Look up for me. Left… right,” he ordered as he shone the light in the middle-aged man’s eyes. “Any blurred vision? Dizziness?"
“Some.”
“Headache?
“A little… when I turn my head like this…” The patient began to move his head gingerly.
“OK, don’t do that then,” Reid admonished and had to fight not to roll his eyes. “Now, tell me, what day is it?”
“Friday,” the guy replied with certainty.
Hmm, a couple of days out.
“I was on my way to…”
Reid held up his hand. “Right, thanks. Follow my finger… with your eyes,” he added quickly in case the guy tried to move his head again.
“What’s your name?”
“Todd,” he replied slowly as if he were talking to a child. “I’m not an idiot, Doc.”
Just what Reid needed: another guy calling him Doc! Some days, he was certain the world had it in for him. “Hmpfh! Let’s see shall we? Tell me what happened?”
“Like I was saying, I was on my way to meet the guys. Friday is bowling night. We’re the best in the league, you know!”
“And…” Why did these people insist on trying to tell him every minute detail of their boring lives?!
“And… the car came out of nowhere at the intersection. And then I… I don’t remember much after that.”
Reid turned to face Wilson. “Scan results?”
“I... er… I wanted to consult with you first, Dr Oliver,” the young doctor stuttered nervously, not completely meeting Reid’s stare.
“No scan?” he asked in disbelief. “What the hell do they teach you kids in medical school these days? I…”
Reid was suddenly distracted in mid-rant when he spotted Carlton dashing past the window. Carlton? Running? He pitied the poor hapless individual who was on the receiving end of the Chief of Staff’s particular brand of so-called medicine.
He might just wander down and lend a hand. He wanted to give the patient at least a half decent chance of leaving the hospital alive.
“Order up a MRI,” Reid told the junior doctor as he backed toward the door. “Come get me when the results come through. Keep him immobilized till then. Think you can handle that?”
Heading in the direction Carlton had disappeared to, Reid followed a nurse through the double set of swinging doors to one of the main trauma rooms.
“What have we got?” Reid demanded without looking up as he grabbed a fresh set of gloves and snapped them on.
He stumbled to a halt as if hit by an immoveable object right in his solar plexus, making him gasp audibly.
There, his long limbs stretched out unmoving, on the gurney in the center of the room was Noah Mayer.
“What… what happened?” It was hard to breathe and the sound of his heart pounding rapidly in his chest deafened him as he looked across at Noah and the hive of activity surrounding him.
The brunette looked deathly pale and his lips were tinged with blue. A thin trickle of blood oozed out of his right ear, pooling onto the gurney.
One of the junior doctors performed compressions to Noah’s broad chest and Carlton watched the monitors for any flicker of rhythm as a senior nurse prepared the defibrillator.
Time slowed; the attending doctors and nurses seeming to move at a snail’s pace around him as all Reid could focus on was how still and lifeless Noah looked.
A nurse colliding with him as she came hurrying through doors suddenly jolted Reid into action.
“How long?” Reid demanded, his focus shifting to Carlton.
The Chief of Staff tore his gaze away from the monitor and cast a side long glance at Reid, noticing his presence in the room for the first time.
Carlton’s eyes widened in surprise, registering the shock that must have been plain across Reid’s features at seeing Noah here like this.
His stare quickly shifted from Reid down to the man on the gurney and back again, a spark of memory and recognition flaring in his eyes.
“You need to step outside, doctor. We have this covered.” The barely there minute display of compassion clearly didn’t sit comfortably with Carlton.
Reid shook his head. Wait outside like some anxious loved one? What exactly did Carlton think Noah was to him?! “No. There's no time to argue. You need me in here!” He positioned himself next to the junior doctor, preparing to take over the chest compressions.
He felt the Chief of Staff’s firm hand on his shoulder, pulling him backward. “Step outside, Reid. I’ll come find you later.”
Reid was elbowed out of the way by the nurse carrying the defib paddles.
He stood on the periphery of the buzz of activity going on around Noah, feeling frustratingly useless but not wanting to leave the room, until Carlton shot him another look. “You need to leave, doctor.”
The Chief of Staff quickly turned back. “Shock him again.”
Carlton’s words echoed loudly in his ears.
Reid turned abruptly as he pushed open the door, putting his hand against the wood to stop it hitting him in the face when it swung shut.
Through the window, he watched Noah’s body arch up when the charge jolted through his chest before dropping heavily back down as unnerving and unfamiliar powerful feelings coursed through his own chest…
TBC