Bulletproof (12/52)
Title: Bulletproof
Author: blasthisass
Rating: PG-13 to NC-17
Summary: AU- when Luke is shot by Colonel Mayer, his condition quickly deteriorates. In order to save his life, Bob calls in a young, hotshot doctor from Texas, brilliant and already making a name for himself.
Disclaimers: All characters and such property of ATWT, CBS and anyone else who can legally take credit for them. If they were mine, I would take infinitely better care of them.
Title from the song by La Roux. There is dialogue from both the time in which the story takes place as well as the LuRe storyline.
A/N: This is unbeta'd, so any mistakes are mine.
Comments much appreciated . . . I love them like Reid loves Luke.
Previous parts: prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11
***
Bob knocked lightly on the door to Luke’s room, smiling to himself at the image he’d seen within the room. This was the Luke Snyder he was used to: ever the optimist, ever the fighter. He was in the room right now with the physical therapist, chatting away like he used to, tightening his face in concentration as he struggled to get his leg muscles working the way they were supposed to. He looked like he wasn’t quite sure what he was doing, as though his legs has been absent and inactive for so long that he wasn’t quite sure how to get them back to the way they used to be.
Bob smiled to himself, thinking that it was good that grace was finally smiling on Luke and he couldn’t help but think that this brilliant turn of events and attitudes could only be attributed to Noah. It was, as far as Bob could tell, since Noah had visited Luke for the first time that Luke’s attitude had done a complete one-eighty.
He pushed the door open when he heard Burt’s call to entry and he smiled warmly as Luke flopped down onto his pillows, brow sprinkled lightly with sweat from the effort he’d been exerting in getting his lower body to function the way it always had.
“How’re you doing, Luke?” Bob asked, smiling.
Luke shrugged, though his eyes still held that familiar twinkle. “I have no idea. I really don’t think I’m getting anywhere, but Burt here seems to be resisting the urge to overturn my bed in frustration quite well, so I’m not entirely sure,” he joked.
“I think we’re doing well. We should be able to see some progress after a couple of sessions,” Burt informed Bob, stacking his papers of exercises neatly. “Well, I have to meet with someone else now. Nice young lad. Sprained his wrist in a car accident. Lovely boy. Very amusing,” he continued, nodding in parting to Luke and Bob. “Luke, we’ll arrange another meeting in a day or so, at your convenience.”
Luke shrugged. “Well, I’ll be here, so whenever is good.”
“Actually, that’s what I’m here to talk to you about,” Bob interrupted, looking pleasantly at the teenager. “We’ve just been looking at your latest scans and we’re quite pleased with the results.”
Luke raised his eyebrow, instinctively looking over his shoulder as though the second half of Bob’s ‘we’ was hiding somewhere in the shadows and would jump out screaming, “Boo!” Luke suppressed a laugh as he imagined Dr. Oliver performing such an action. It was so unlikely that it seemed to take comedy to new heights.
“You and Dr. Oliver? Where is he, anyway?” Luke asked, trying to hide just how intensely curious he was to hear the answer. He hadn’t seen Dr. Oliver since he’d disappeared two days ago to make a phone call, though some time between then and the next morning, Dr. Oliver’s laptop had disappeared from the chair in the corner. Throughout Noah’s entire visit and even long after visiting hours had ended Luke had wondered why the doctor hadn’t bothered to grace Luke’s bedside with his presence. His presence, his very attitude had somehow become a fascinating presence in Luke’s life, even in the miniscule amount of time they’d spent together, and Luke felt odd that it was now absent.
“Hmm,” Bob frowned. “He said he had some things to take care of. Anyway, as I was saying, your latest scans indicated that the swelling in your brain has already receded some. There is still ample pressure on your spine, though if the swelling continues to recede at this rate we should have you up out of the wheelchair by the holidays.”
Luke raised himself up slightly. “Thanksgiving?” he asked, surprised. It seemed too soon to be plausible.
“Unfortunately, no. Christmas, most likely,” Bob replied, smiling sympathetically. “But, don’t worry. For a manner of paralysis that would, in most cases, be permanent, this is extremely good news. And Christmas, I believe, would be a worst-case scenario. Now, onto the second of the matters that I come to you with: we’ve just finished drawing up your discharge forms.”
Luke’s eyes widened. “I’m being discharged already?” Again, the news seemed to have a time frame that was infinitely shorter than he’d expected.
“We’ve really no justifiable reason to keep you here. You’re on the road to recovery and there’s really nothing we can do medically at this point that would mean keeping you in that bed. And really, we just need to kick you out because you’re just taking up space,” Bob laughed, mildly contemplating how he seemed to be channeling Dr. Oliver with his last comment.
Luke could feel his face getting sore from grinning. “That’s fantastic.”
“That it is,” Bob replied. “We have your forms almost finished and someone should be by this afternoon to remove your bandages and check your stitches, and then by tomorrow morning you should be home free. Or, free to go home, as the case may be. I’ll leave you alone to marvel in your excitement.”
Luke sighed, leaning his head back against the pillows and looking up quietly at the ceiling, the only indication that he was alone in the room was the quiet shutting of the door. He felt as though he should be overjoyed that he was finally going home, but he was simply saddened by the fact that he felt like he couldn’t be sure which home he was going to. He’d kept up a light front whenever his parents were in the room, as though he didn’t know that they spent most of their time arguing outside his room. He couldn’t understand how they thought he might not suspect anything.
And then, some strange part of him was reluctant to leave the hospital because that would severely limit his Dr. Oliver sightings, despite the fact that the man was his doctor and would likely be present at each physical therapy. Somehow the lack of his constant presence saddened Luke slightly, for reasons that he wasn’t aware of.
***
Reid was not avoiding Luke Snyder’s room. He had no rational reason for avoiding Luke Snyder’s room and so therefore what he was doing could not be classified as avoidance. He was . . . trying to sort out this mess that Lucinda Walsh had placed him in. And . . . if he did it at the hospital he certainly wouldn’t get anything done with the countless interruptions that occurred there.
He leaned back in his seat, his back to the rest of Java. It had taken him a surprising amount of time to choose that particular table. He wanted to be left the hell alone by any of Oakdale’s residents that had escaped from an insane asylum (which seemed to be a good majority of them), but he also didn’t want anyone sneaking up on him with a machete or seeing any of the confidential patient information. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d taken so much time to pick a seating arrangement. This town was starting to get to his head.
He took a sip of his coffee and pressed send on an email, leaning back in his seat and rubbing his eyes. It had been almost two days since he’d gone to the hospital. Luckily, he was as skilled in avoiding the building as he was in avoiding people such as Lucinda Walsh, who was probably fuming as to the fact that he wasn’t devoting every second of every day to her grandson.
Reid shook his head, burying his head in his hands as he tried to shake off the effect that seeing Luke with Noah. So this Noah character, the one he’d seen moping around this same café, was Luke Snyder’s boyfriend. So . . . Oakdale did seem to have its fair share of gays. He never would have fathomed it.
He was so wrapped up in his thoughts, not his work, as he would have liked to admit, that he didn’t hear the door to the café open and an arguing couple strolled in.
“Katie, come one!”
The blonde rolled her eyes. “You know what, Jack? Just do whatever the hell you want. Go to Carly and hold her hand as she dies of a brain lesion. Or don’t go to her, I really don’t give a damn anymore. I’m not going to let you drag me along in a marriage that you never really wanted to happen in the first place.”
“Katie!” the detective groaned, grabbing her hand to keep her from power walking away from him. “Just listen-”
“Do you love her?” Katie demanded, her light green eyes blazing. Jack opened his mouth to answer in the negative, but his eyes fell, as though he couldn’t bring himself to answer. Katie snorted. “Well, okay, then. So give me my annulment.”
“Katie,” Jack sighed, running his hand through his hair. “Carly and I . . . we have a past, but I don’t want us to have a future. Not anymore.”
“I don’t want us to have a future either. Not after what happened,” Katie countered, raising an eyebrow as Jack cell phone rang. “Speak of the devil . . .” she muttered.
Jack shook his head. “It’s Holden. I should take this.” He frowned sadly at her. “Katie, I know I screwed things up between us, but about Brad-”
“I don’t want to hear it, Jack,” she said, shaking her head and holding her hands up resignedly. “Just . . . go to your cousin and give me my annulment. That’s all I want from you.” With that she turned around and ordered coffee with more force than was necessary. She didn’t even look to see if he had gone or not.
She buried her head in her hands, lifting it only to accept a steaming cup of coffee from a smiling barista. Katie frowned at it, vaguely contemplating whether or not she wanted to take it to go, when she turned and spotted Reid bent over her work. She couldn’t help but smile, his brusque nature a breath of fresh air in Oakdale. Her brow furrowed at a sudden idea, seemingly crazy, but just interesting enough to work.
Katie planted a smile on her face, flicking her blonde locks out of her face purposefully and bouncing over to his table. “Hey!” she grinned, falling gracefully into the seat across the table from him.
Reid started and she raised her eyebrow as his caramel latte sloshed around in its cup. He groaned in annoyance at the interruption. He hunched over his computer, not even replying.
“Oh, come now, Dr. Oliver. Don’t be rude.”
“And yet rude is what I am,” he muttered. “So why don’t you stop pretending you’re friends with everyone, especially me, and just leave.”
“You see, we may not be friends, but that doesn’t stop you from interesting me, Dr. Oliver,” Katie smiled, the expression coming more naturally now that her fight with Jack was passing.
Reid looked up at this, meeting her green eyes curiously. “I interest you?”
“Amuse me, more like.”
“Well, you clearly don’t know anything about me, because I’m not a very amusing guy.”
“I’m sure we could change that, in time,” Katie shrugged.
Reid rolled his eyes, shutting his laptop and folding his hands carefully over it. “Mrs. Snyder-”
“Peretti. And call me Katie.”
“Whatever. That would involve us spending time together, which is not going to happen, as I plan to keep to myself for however long it takes Luke Snyder to recover and then I plan on getting the hell out of this God forsaken town.”
Katie grinned. Perfect. “You plan on staying in a hotel during that time?”
Reid groaned, leaning back and taking a sip of his caramel-flavored drink. “Unfortunately. Crazy germ farms. Luckily, I’m pretty accustomed to sleeping on couches.”
Katie leaned forward, her green eyes sparkling mischievously. “Well, then. I have a proposition for you.”
***
“What concerns do you have about Luke?” Jack asked the minute he was within earshot of Holden. Holden glanced up, looking confused and relieved at his cousin’s presence.
“What makes you think I have concerns about Luke?” Holden inquired, looking surprised at the unconventional segue.
“Because, my good cousin,” Jack explained, settling down on the waiting room seat beside Holden, “The last time I heard you ask to talk to me with such a tone, you were concerned about Luke being gay.”
Holden shook his head. “It’s not about Luke. I’m . . . I’m concerned about his doctor.”
Jack raised his eyebrows in surprise. “The God-like Dr. Oliver? What concerns do you have?”
Holden sighed, leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees. “I just. Maybe I’m reading to much into this but . . . the other day-the last time I saw him here, actually-was when Dusty brought Noah to the hospital to see Luke and when Dr. Oliver saw them together . . . He first looked surprised, which I guess is understandable but then he just looked . . . Angry. You know? And then he just stalked off without a word.”
Jack frowned. “You’re worried he’s homophobic?”
Holden nodded. “I mean . . . Luke has already had so many unnecessary incidents with homophobia. I mean, first with Lily and Damian and his conversion camp and Kevin and his initial reaction to Luke. And then, of course, the whole damn reason we're here. I mean, he almost died because of homophobia. And Dr. Oliver . . ." Holden paused, wondering how to explain his forebodings. "I saw the way he treated the case when he didn’t know anything about Luke. Before the surgery he was completely impassioned, but the minute it was over he wanted nothing more to do with it. The only reason he’s still here, albeit begrudgingly, is because of Lucinda. And if he knows that Luke is gay and is homophobic, he certainly will let Luke bear the bulk of his attack.”
“Luke’s stronger than you think,” Jack reassured Holden.
Holden shook his head. “I just . . . I have a bad feeling about this.”
***
“Are you insane?” Reid demanded, though his voice held certain interest as he leaned in across the table. “You want me to move in with you? You don’t even know me.”
Katie shrugged. “You don’t seem that bad.”
“Ah, you’ve not yet seen the extent to which my knowledge of evil extends,” Reid grinned. “You know Harold Shipman? I examined his brain as part of a neurological study into the origins of evil. So I certainly have the knowledge; I just haven’t used what I learned to kill anyone . . . yet.”
Katie rolled her eyes. “Look. I’m going through some relationship drama with my soon-to-be nonexistent husband and I really just need out of my current apartment. You might be here for a month at the very least. Apartments are expensive to rent alone. Hotels may be good for a night or two, but in the long run costs add up. I’m not looking for a rebound, so you won’t have to worry on my coming onto you. You’re gay-”
“How do you know I’m gay?” Reid frowned, confused.
“You basically outed yourself the other day when you made fun of Henry,” Katie smiled. “As I was saying: you’re gay, so I certainly don’t have to worry about you getting in my pants. All in all, it’s a good solution. What do you say?”
Reid frowned. This Katie Peretti was too blonde and bubbly for his taste and he was sure the living with her would drive him insane. But he didn’t want to sleep in a hotel for any extended period of time and he was sure he could manage living with her and basically avoid seeing her at all times. “I’m not going apartment shopping or buying draperies or doing any stereotypically gay interior decorator shit.”
Katie laughed, her voice bouncing pleasantly through the café. “That sounds good.”
Reid sighed, wondering whether he should feel satisfied by this new arrangement or frightened at the prospect. He was saved the trouble of having to think about it by the ringing of his phone. “It’s the hospital. Luke Snyder is being discharged today.”
“He can walk again?”
“Not by a long shot,” Reid shrugged, standing up and swinging his jacket over his arm. “There’s just no need to keep him hostage any longer. I have to get down there, take care of some last minute things.”
“I’ll let you know if I find a place,” Katie offered, standing up after him.
Reid paused, about to leave, before reaching into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet and a white card out of it. He placed it flat on the table and scribbled a number on the back. “Nothing too expensive or girly,” he muttered, pushing the card toward her.
She picked it up, glanced at the phone number on the back before flipping it over and reading the remainder of the business card. “Dr. Reid Oliver. Neurosurgeon.” She pretended to sound immensely impressed for a moment before her eyes widened with a revelation. “You’re a neurosurgeon?”
Reid rolled his eyes. “Oh, come now. You were doing such a great job of convincing me you’re not one of those dumb blondes. You just read it on the card.”
“No, sorry, I just . . . I wanted to confirm,” Katie muttered, glancing toward the counter as though reliving her conversation with her husband, finding herself still caring about his happiness even though he appeared to have squandered hers. “Actually, I was wondering if you could do me a favor. Call it a consult, if you will.”
***
Luke sighed, shifting restlessly in his bed. His bandages were itching him as his hair was presumably starting to grow back and he almost felt that he had way more on his mind than he should have. He should have been quite content, but instead his mind kept going back to where Dr. Oliver had disappeared to. He found it unnatural, especially seeing as the doctor had refused to leave his bedside for the longest time after the surgery. And then suddenly, nothing. It seemed completely out of character and Luke was trying to figure out whether it was that fact or the fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about it that was unnerving him.
His eyes flashed up suddenly as the door opened and he couldn’t help but break into a smile.
Chapter 13-->
Author: blasthisass
Rating: PG-13 to NC-17
Summary: AU- when Luke is shot by Colonel Mayer, his condition quickly deteriorates. In order to save his life, Bob calls in a young, hotshot doctor from Texas, brilliant and already making a name for himself.
Disclaimers: All characters and such property of ATWT, CBS and anyone else who can legally take credit for them. If they were mine, I would take infinitely better care of them.
Title from the song by La Roux. There is dialogue from both the time in which the story takes place as well as the LuRe storyline.
A/N: This is unbeta'd, so any mistakes are mine.
Comments much appreciated . . . I love them like Reid loves Luke.
Previous parts: prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11
***
Bob knocked lightly on the door to Luke’s room, smiling to himself at the image he’d seen within the room. This was the Luke Snyder he was used to: ever the optimist, ever the fighter. He was in the room right now with the physical therapist, chatting away like he used to, tightening his face in concentration as he struggled to get his leg muscles working the way they were supposed to. He looked like he wasn’t quite sure what he was doing, as though his legs has been absent and inactive for so long that he wasn’t quite sure how to get them back to the way they used to be.
Bob smiled to himself, thinking that it was good that grace was finally smiling on Luke and he couldn’t help but think that this brilliant turn of events and attitudes could only be attributed to Noah. It was, as far as Bob could tell, since Noah had visited Luke for the first time that Luke’s attitude had done a complete one-eighty.
He pushed the door open when he heard Burt’s call to entry and he smiled warmly as Luke flopped down onto his pillows, brow sprinkled lightly with sweat from the effort he’d been exerting in getting his lower body to function the way it always had.
“How’re you doing, Luke?” Bob asked, smiling.
Luke shrugged, though his eyes still held that familiar twinkle. “I have no idea. I really don’t think I’m getting anywhere, but Burt here seems to be resisting the urge to overturn my bed in frustration quite well, so I’m not entirely sure,” he joked.
“I think we’re doing well. We should be able to see some progress after a couple of sessions,” Burt informed Bob, stacking his papers of exercises neatly. “Well, I have to meet with someone else now. Nice young lad. Sprained his wrist in a car accident. Lovely boy. Very amusing,” he continued, nodding in parting to Luke and Bob. “Luke, we’ll arrange another meeting in a day or so, at your convenience.”
Luke shrugged. “Well, I’ll be here, so whenever is good.”
“Actually, that’s what I’m here to talk to you about,” Bob interrupted, looking pleasantly at the teenager. “We’ve just been looking at your latest scans and we’re quite pleased with the results.”
Luke raised his eyebrow, instinctively looking over his shoulder as though the second half of Bob’s ‘we’ was hiding somewhere in the shadows and would jump out screaming, “Boo!” Luke suppressed a laugh as he imagined Dr. Oliver performing such an action. It was so unlikely that it seemed to take comedy to new heights.
“You and Dr. Oliver? Where is he, anyway?” Luke asked, trying to hide just how intensely curious he was to hear the answer. He hadn’t seen Dr. Oliver since he’d disappeared two days ago to make a phone call, though some time between then and the next morning, Dr. Oliver’s laptop had disappeared from the chair in the corner. Throughout Noah’s entire visit and even long after visiting hours had ended Luke had wondered why the doctor hadn’t bothered to grace Luke’s bedside with his presence. His presence, his very attitude had somehow become a fascinating presence in Luke’s life, even in the miniscule amount of time they’d spent together, and Luke felt odd that it was now absent.
“Hmm,” Bob frowned. “He said he had some things to take care of. Anyway, as I was saying, your latest scans indicated that the swelling in your brain has already receded some. There is still ample pressure on your spine, though if the swelling continues to recede at this rate we should have you up out of the wheelchair by the holidays.”
Luke raised himself up slightly. “Thanksgiving?” he asked, surprised. It seemed too soon to be plausible.
“Unfortunately, no. Christmas, most likely,” Bob replied, smiling sympathetically. “But, don’t worry. For a manner of paralysis that would, in most cases, be permanent, this is extremely good news. And Christmas, I believe, would be a worst-case scenario. Now, onto the second of the matters that I come to you with: we’ve just finished drawing up your discharge forms.”
Luke’s eyes widened. “I’m being discharged already?” Again, the news seemed to have a time frame that was infinitely shorter than he’d expected.
“We’ve really no justifiable reason to keep you here. You’re on the road to recovery and there’s really nothing we can do medically at this point that would mean keeping you in that bed. And really, we just need to kick you out because you’re just taking up space,” Bob laughed, mildly contemplating how he seemed to be channeling Dr. Oliver with his last comment.
Luke could feel his face getting sore from grinning. “That’s fantastic.”
“That it is,” Bob replied. “We have your forms almost finished and someone should be by this afternoon to remove your bandages and check your stitches, and then by tomorrow morning you should be home free. Or, free to go home, as the case may be. I’ll leave you alone to marvel in your excitement.”
Luke sighed, leaning his head back against the pillows and looking up quietly at the ceiling, the only indication that he was alone in the room was the quiet shutting of the door. He felt as though he should be overjoyed that he was finally going home, but he was simply saddened by the fact that he felt like he couldn’t be sure which home he was going to. He’d kept up a light front whenever his parents were in the room, as though he didn’t know that they spent most of their time arguing outside his room. He couldn’t understand how they thought he might not suspect anything.
And then, some strange part of him was reluctant to leave the hospital because that would severely limit his Dr. Oliver sightings, despite the fact that the man was his doctor and would likely be present at each physical therapy. Somehow the lack of his constant presence saddened Luke slightly, for reasons that he wasn’t aware of.
***
Reid was not avoiding Luke Snyder’s room. He had no rational reason for avoiding Luke Snyder’s room and so therefore what he was doing could not be classified as avoidance. He was . . . trying to sort out this mess that Lucinda Walsh had placed him in. And . . . if he did it at the hospital he certainly wouldn’t get anything done with the countless interruptions that occurred there.
He leaned back in his seat, his back to the rest of Java. It had taken him a surprising amount of time to choose that particular table. He wanted to be left the hell alone by any of Oakdale’s residents that had escaped from an insane asylum (which seemed to be a good majority of them), but he also didn’t want anyone sneaking up on him with a machete or seeing any of the confidential patient information. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d taken so much time to pick a seating arrangement. This town was starting to get to his head.
He took a sip of his coffee and pressed send on an email, leaning back in his seat and rubbing his eyes. It had been almost two days since he’d gone to the hospital. Luckily, he was as skilled in avoiding the building as he was in avoiding people such as Lucinda Walsh, who was probably fuming as to the fact that he wasn’t devoting every second of every day to her grandson.
Reid shook his head, burying his head in his hands as he tried to shake off the effect that seeing Luke with Noah. So this Noah character, the one he’d seen moping around this same café, was Luke Snyder’s boyfriend. So . . . Oakdale did seem to have its fair share of gays. He never would have fathomed it.
He was so wrapped up in his thoughts, not his work, as he would have liked to admit, that he didn’t hear the door to the café open and an arguing couple strolled in.
“Katie, come one!”
The blonde rolled her eyes. “You know what, Jack? Just do whatever the hell you want. Go to Carly and hold her hand as she dies of a brain lesion. Or don’t go to her, I really don’t give a damn anymore. I’m not going to let you drag me along in a marriage that you never really wanted to happen in the first place.”
“Katie!” the detective groaned, grabbing her hand to keep her from power walking away from him. “Just listen-”
“Do you love her?” Katie demanded, her light green eyes blazing. Jack opened his mouth to answer in the negative, but his eyes fell, as though he couldn’t bring himself to answer. Katie snorted. “Well, okay, then. So give me my annulment.”
“Katie,” Jack sighed, running his hand through his hair. “Carly and I . . . we have a past, but I don’t want us to have a future. Not anymore.”
“I don’t want us to have a future either. Not after what happened,” Katie countered, raising an eyebrow as Jack cell phone rang. “Speak of the devil . . .” she muttered.
Jack shook his head. “It’s Holden. I should take this.” He frowned sadly at her. “Katie, I know I screwed things up between us, but about Brad-”
“I don’t want to hear it, Jack,” she said, shaking her head and holding her hands up resignedly. “Just . . . go to your cousin and give me my annulment. That’s all I want from you.” With that she turned around and ordered coffee with more force than was necessary. She didn’t even look to see if he had gone or not.
She buried her head in her hands, lifting it only to accept a steaming cup of coffee from a smiling barista. Katie frowned at it, vaguely contemplating whether or not she wanted to take it to go, when she turned and spotted Reid bent over her work. She couldn’t help but smile, his brusque nature a breath of fresh air in Oakdale. Her brow furrowed at a sudden idea, seemingly crazy, but just interesting enough to work.
Katie planted a smile on her face, flicking her blonde locks out of her face purposefully and bouncing over to his table. “Hey!” she grinned, falling gracefully into the seat across the table from him.
Reid started and she raised her eyebrow as his caramel latte sloshed around in its cup. He groaned in annoyance at the interruption. He hunched over his computer, not even replying.
“Oh, come now, Dr. Oliver. Don’t be rude.”
“And yet rude is what I am,” he muttered. “So why don’t you stop pretending you’re friends with everyone, especially me, and just leave.”
“You see, we may not be friends, but that doesn’t stop you from interesting me, Dr. Oliver,” Katie smiled, the expression coming more naturally now that her fight with Jack was passing.
Reid looked up at this, meeting her green eyes curiously. “I interest you?”
“Amuse me, more like.”
“Well, you clearly don’t know anything about me, because I’m not a very amusing guy.”
“I’m sure we could change that, in time,” Katie shrugged.
Reid rolled his eyes, shutting his laptop and folding his hands carefully over it. “Mrs. Snyder-”
“Peretti. And call me Katie.”
“Whatever. That would involve us spending time together, which is not going to happen, as I plan to keep to myself for however long it takes Luke Snyder to recover and then I plan on getting the hell out of this God forsaken town.”
Katie grinned. Perfect. “You plan on staying in a hotel during that time?”
Reid groaned, leaning back and taking a sip of his caramel-flavored drink. “Unfortunately. Crazy germ farms. Luckily, I’m pretty accustomed to sleeping on couches.”
Katie leaned forward, her green eyes sparkling mischievously. “Well, then. I have a proposition for you.”
***
“What concerns do you have about Luke?” Jack asked the minute he was within earshot of Holden. Holden glanced up, looking confused and relieved at his cousin’s presence.
“What makes you think I have concerns about Luke?” Holden inquired, looking surprised at the unconventional segue.
“Because, my good cousin,” Jack explained, settling down on the waiting room seat beside Holden, “The last time I heard you ask to talk to me with such a tone, you were concerned about Luke being gay.”
Holden shook his head. “It’s not about Luke. I’m . . . I’m concerned about his doctor.”
Jack raised his eyebrows in surprise. “The God-like Dr. Oliver? What concerns do you have?”
Holden sighed, leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees. “I just. Maybe I’m reading to much into this but . . . the other day-the last time I saw him here, actually-was when Dusty brought Noah to the hospital to see Luke and when Dr. Oliver saw them together . . . He first looked surprised, which I guess is understandable but then he just looked . . . Angry. You know? And then he just stalked off without a word.”
Jack frowned. “You’re worried he’s homophobic?”
Holden nodded. “I mean . . . Luke has already had so many unnecessary incidents with homophobia. I mean, first with Lily and Damian and his conversion camp and Kevin and his initial reaction to Luke. And then, of course, the whole damn reason we're here. I mean, he almost died because of homophobia. And Dr. Oliver . . ." Holden paused, wondering how to explain his forebodings. "I saw the way he treated the case when he didn’t know anything about Luke. Before the surgery he was completely impassioned, but the minute it was over he wanted nothing more to do with it. The only reason he’s still here, albeit begrudgingly, is because of Lucinda. And if he knows that Luke is gay and is homophobic, he certainly will let Luke bear the bulk of his attack.”
“Luke’s stronger than you think,” Jack reassured Holden.
Holden shook his head. “I just . . . I have a bad feeling about this.”
***
“Are you insane?” Reid demanded, though his voice held certain interest as he leaned in across the table. “You want me to move in with you? You don’t even know me.”
Katie shrugged. “You don’t seem that bad.”
“Ah, you’ve not yet seen the extent to which my knowledge of evil extends,” Reid grinned. “You know Harold Shipman? I examined his brain as part of a neurological study into the origins of evil. So I certainly have the knowledge; I just haven’t used what I learned to kill anyone . . . yet.”
Katie rolled her eyes. “Look. I’m going through some relationship drama with my soon-to-be nonexistent husband and I really just need out of my current apartment. You might be here for a month at the very least. Apartments are expensive to rent alone. Hotels may be good for a night or two, but in the long run costs add up. I’m not looking for a rebound, so you won’t have to worry on my coming onto you. You’re gay-”
“How do you know I’m gay?” Reid frowned, confused.
“You basically outed yourself the other day when you made fun of Henry,” Katie smiled. “As I was saying: you’re gay, so I certainly don’t have to worry about you getting in my pants. All in all, it’s a good solution. What do you say?”
Reid frowned. This Katie Peretti was too blonde and bubbly for his taste and he was sure the living with her would drive him insane. But he didn’t want to sleep in a hotel for any extended period of time and he was sure he could manage living with her and basically avoid seeing her at all times. “I’m not going apartment shopping or buying draperies or doing any stereotypically gay interior decorator shit.”
Katie laughed, her voice bouncing pleasantly through the café. “That sounds good.”
Reid sighed, wondering whether he should feel satisfied by this new arrangement or frightened at the prospect. He was saved the trouble of having to think about it by the ringing of his phone. “It’s the hospital. Luke Snyder is being discharged today.”
“He can walk again?”
“Not by a long shot,” Reid shrugged, standing up and swinging his jacket over his arm. “There’s just no need to keep him hostage any longer. I have to get down there, take care of some last minute things.”
“I’ll let you know if I find a place,” Katie offered, standing up after him.
Reid paused, about to leave, before reaching into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet and a white card out of it. He placed it flat on the table and scribbled a number on the back. “Nothing too expensive or girly,” he muttered, pushing the card toward her.
She picked it up, glanced at the phone number on the back before flipping it over and reading the remainder of the business card. “Dr. Reid Oliver. Neurosurgeon.” She pretended to sound immensely impressed for a moment before her eyes widened with a revelation. “You’re a neurosurgeon?”
Reid rolled his eyes. “Oh, come now. You were doing such a great job of convincing me you’re not one of those dumb blondes. You just read it on the card.”
“No, sorry, I just . . . I wanted to confirm,” Katie muttered, glancing toward the counter as though reliving her conversation with her husband, finding herself still caring about his happiness even though he appeared to have squandered hers. “Actually, I was wondering if you could do me a favor. Call it a consult, if you will.”
***
Luke sighed, shifting restlessly in his bed. His bandages were itching him as his hair was presumably starting to grow back and he almost felt that he had way more on his mind than he should have. He should have been quite content, but instead his mind kept going back to where Dr. Oliver had disappeared to. He found it unnatural, especially seeing as the doctor had refused to leave his bedside for the longest time after the surgery. And then suddenly, nothing. It seemed completely out of character and Luke was trying to figure out whether it was that fact or the fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about it that was unnerving him.
His eyes flashed up suddenly as the door opened and he couldn’t help but break into a smile.
Chapter 13-->