Now and Again (11/??)
Title: Now and Again
Author: alissablue
Rating: PG-13/R, will be NC-17 eventually.
Characters/Pairings: Luke/Reid, Noah, other Oakdale characters and an OC here or there.
Category: Fix it-fic, AU
Summary: “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.”- W.I. Thomas
Warnings: Angsty Angst, some mindfuckery
Disclaimer: Do not own. Wish I did, though. I could make them do all sorts of kinky stuff.
A/N: Keywords for this fic are ‘patience’ and ‘payoff’. I have been working on this since... September(?) and I've finally written enough chapters to start posting. Title credit goes to my epically awesome beta slayerkitty, who deserves a round of applause for sitting through my long rants, freak outs, smut-related giggles and posting hesitation.
A/N: Me + comments is like... Reid + Sandwiches<3.
Prologue / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 /
Chapter 11: A penny for your thoughts?
“Noah Mayer? You’re a patient of Dr. Channing?” Noah Mayer. Noah fucking Mayer, Channing’s golden patient, the case that would ‘put all of his to shame’ was sitting right next to him and Reid knew he had the perfect opportunity presented to him, to mess with William Channing’s head.
“Yes, he’s gonna give me my sight back!”
“Oh, for fu- that’s great. That’s nice, freakin’ great.” Reid stifled a annoyed groan and rolled his eyes, a little too pleased that the guy next to him couldn’t see him as he did.
“Just out of mild curiosity, but, exactly when is your surgery scheduled? I talked to Dr. Channing a few days ago and he didn’t. Even. Mention it. I think he wants to keep you… all to himself.”
“My case is that special, huh?”
“Absolutely… Dr. Channing is quite lucky, especially considering that he isn’t even the best neurosurgeon we’ve got.”
“And who would the best one be?” Mr. Mayer raised one of his eyebrows and turned his face toward Reid’s in mock anticipation and he wasn’t in the least bit surprised, when Reid gave him his answer.
“He’s sitting right next to you, Mr. Mayer. If I got my hands on a case like yours…” Noah Mayer ducked his head and smiled to himself and clearing his throat, Reid realized there was something about the guy that rubbed him the wrong way. And it wasn’t just that the guy looked familiar or was just so…nice. Something about him, his attitude - even if he didn’t seem like a bad guy -, the tone of his voice or the look in his eyes made Reid’s blood boil.
“The kind of surgery he’s most likely going to perform on you doesn’t come around here all that often, so I’m surprised that there’s a lack of… ‘buzz’ surrounding your surgery.”
“Dr. Channing isn’t- He’s not gonna perform the surgery at this hospital, but-”
“Damn you, Oliver!” Reid closed his eyes and sighed, before standing up and facing the lights of William Channing. He was walking toward him, taking big, frantic steps and breathing heavily, as he narrowed his eyes. In no time, with his face reddened and his eyes darkened in anger, Channing stood in front of him, invading his personal space. Seeing Reid Oliver in close proximity to his patient had granted him a case of tunnel vision, with the only thing on his mind being how the fuck to get Reid Oliver far, far away from Noah Mayer. “What the hell are you doing?”
Reid put his special Channing-smirk on his face, as he watched Channing’s comical reaction, with smoke almost coming out of his ears. “I’m just having a friendly conversation with Mr. Mayer over here.” Channing composed himself a bit, before directing his gaze toward Noah, who was squinting at the both of them, feeling the tension in the air and not really sure how to react to that.
“Dr. Oliver and I… were just talking about my surgery.”
“Is that so…?”
“Yes, William. And as stimulating as your arrival has been so far, I have somewhere more important to be.”
“It was nice meeting you, Dr. Oliver.”
“Good luck with your surgery, Mr. Mayer. You’ll need it.” He patted Channing’s shoulder, who batted it away and nearly growled. Reid rolled his eyes and walked toward Dr. Nelson’s office.
********
Luke walked into the nearest bathroom and quickly shut the door behind him. He leaned back against it, dropping his gaze down to the floor and checking the stalls for sneakers, flip flops and whatnot. He check all five of them thrice, to be sure, as he felt like he was bordering on insanity as it was and he didn’t want word of that to spread out, even in Dallas. He found no one else and then, he locked the door behind him and walked over to the sink. He found himself shaking, barely able to stand on his own two feet, as he tightly gripped the white sink in front of him. His knuckles turned white and the bones of his hands hurt, but he couldn’t care less.
What the fuck am I doing?
Luke turned on the faucet, collecting the warm water in the palms of his shaking hands and splashing it on his face a few times. The shaking lessened, but he still felt drained and cold, as if he wasn’t receiving any warmth from the clothes on his back, the shoes on his feet or getting enough strength from his legs.
The reflection staring back at him showed the pained, fearful expression in his own eyes, granted him a glimpse of the tortured, desperate man he feared he was going to become if he kept this up, kept being confronted with images, dreams, means that were supposed to be an escape, but instead shook him up and were starting to uproot his life.
Luke thought of the unexpected outburst of… something he had experienced moments before, seeing that drawing, tracing the lines. And thinking back, he felt something inside of him scratching at the surface of his self, his well being, maybe even his sanity. The drawing -the words- had ignited something, that dull ache in his chest that reminded him of that first dream in January and the words repeated themselves in the back of his head, over and over again. So many times, he found them wanting to burst out of him and escape and he started saying it out loud, the words echoing through the empty bathroom.
“Dr. Reid. Dr. Reid. Dr. Reid…”
Say what now?
He shook his head and silenced himself. He couldn’t keep this up, couldn’t keep being affected like this. He had to take everything into his own hands again. And he wasn’t about to lose himself in something that wasn’t even real.
********
Dr. Robert Nelson, the 55-year-old Head of neurology of Parkland memorial Hospital, sat on his leather chair in his office, enjoying his late morning coffee. He’d had the job for fifteen years, three months and sixteen days -give or take- and he took great pride in his skills as a surgeon and his ability to lead one of the best facilities in the country, if not the world.
He had been married to Emily for twenty years and they had a son, Adam, who hoped to become a surgeon one day as well. And Robert loved them, he did. He was happy with Emily, content, as nothing dramatic ever happened and life with Emily was easy and comfortable. He knew what to expect with her and the routine, the rut of their life was quite soothing for the busy surgeon. They made love once a week on Sundays, visited his parents on Tuesdays, hers on Wednesdays, had dinner with Adam on Thursdays and went to the market on Saturdays.
So, no, he didn’t have an explanation for it.
He had no idea what it had been about Cassie, his 24-year-old secretary, with her dark hair, hazel eyes and unbelievably tight ass, that had made him want to-
“A penny for your thoughts?” The voice snapped him out of his train of thought. He looked up and was greeted by the sight of a smirking Reid Oliver, standing in the doorway.
“Dr. Oliver… Please, come in.” He closed the door behind him and Robert gestured him to sit down.
“What do you need?”
“Well, doc, I wanted to talk to you about something. I got a call a while ago…”
********
“Luke?”
Noah heard his footsteps, those distinct Snyder-like shuffles and recognized them right away. Luke saw him standing next to Dr. Channing, who looked grumpy and distracted and didn’t even seem to notice Luke walking toward them.
“What took you so long? You can’t just keep me waiting like this, Luke.”
“Yeah, I know. I just- I got lost…” Or something. His voice trailed off and he looked down, as he nervously scratched the back of his neck. He still felt a little shaken up and imagined that he probably looked just as unsettled as Channing, but he did his best to keep his tone of voice casual. The surgeon finally noticed him, directing his attention toward Luke, as he gave him a polite smile.
“Good afternoon, Dr. Channing.”
“Mr. Snyder. Glad you decided to join us. Did everything sort itself out, regarding our trip to Oakdale?”
“Yes, our flight leaves tonight. I also called Dr. Hughes to confirm your temporary privileges and I made sure your room at the Lakeview hotel will be ready for you, when we get to Oakdale.”
“Thank you, Luke… Noah, are you ready for your last Texan check-up?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Okay, let’s get to it then. We just-” Channing’s beeper went off and he checked it, his eyes widening and glistering in delight. Trauma. He was needed somewhere else, somewhere hopefully exciting and the thought of going into the surgical pit of the ER and hopefully coming out of it with a bloody, quick and dirty surgery before their flight, pushed all thoughts of Reid Oliver to the far, far corners of his mind.
“It’s an emergency, I have to go… I’ll send a nurse over to your room for your check-up, Noah, and I will meet up with you two at the airport. It’s the room over there, third one from the left.” He bounced a bit as he uttered, practically shouted the words, the grumpiness forgotten and Luke had never seen him so upbeat and hyperactive. William smiled at Luke and Luke gave him a slight nod, before he basically skipped away.
Following Channing’s directions, Luke put his hand on Noah’s back and led him toward the room, across the main hall. When they reached the room, Luke turned the doorknob and opened it for Noah, who stepped inside and started exploring the room with his white cane. Luke took one step into the room, when he noticed two people in the corner of his right eye, men in white coats across the hall and he felt his ears twitch at the sound of one of their voices.
He knew the voice, he recognized the sound of it, like he’d recognized the words on the piece of paper in the pediatric ward. He felt that click, the spark and the dull ache, accompanied by that faint feeling of déjà vu overwhelmed him yet again.
Stopped in his tracks, literally frozen on the spot, he glanced over to his right and inhaled a sharp breath. His knees went weak, losing whatever strength they had had only moments before and he curled his fingers around the doorknob, tightening his grip with all he had, to keep himself from collapsing.
“Reid...”
Reid. Reid. Reid.
What?
Reid.
NEXT