Bulletproof (22/52)
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 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21
***
Reid felt a tap on his shoulder and he rolled his eyes, choosing to instead focus on Annie Judd’s post-chemo information. He heard an inhalation behind him, as though in preparation for whining and he intercepted it, frowning in concentration and annoyance.
“Whatever it is, I’m sure there’s another doctor in this hospital with the ability to treat it.”
“Oh, but why look for someone else when I have the most brilliant doctor in the world standing in front of me?”
Reid exhaled a breathy chuckle, which he immediately reprimanded himself for, when he recognized the voice as Luke Snyder’s. He turned toward the boy, line of his sight planned and snarky response prepared. He lost both those things as the downward sweep of his gaze hit the bottom of Luke’s neckline rather than his eyes and he started. He was forced to move his eyes up to Luke Snyder’s face, hitting the mesmerizing curve of his neck, the definitive outline of his jaw and the fullness of his naturally pouty lips along the way. Reid mentally kicked himself for allowing his eyes to linger hungrily in each of those spaces far longer than necessary before meeting the younger man’s deep brown eyes.
He was so surprised to see quite how tall Luke was. He’d grown so used looking down, both physically and metaphorically, at Mr. Snyder that to see him at his level, even at a slightly higher one, unnerved him completely and caused his pulse to intensify.
He composed himself and cast a stern glance at Luke’s bubbly face, his cheeks and nose red from the frostbitten air outside, making him look unnaturally youthful.
"Nice cane."
Luke smirked, whirling it around dramatically. "You think?"
“Mmhmm . . . As to your previous comment: a wise sentiment, Mr. Snyder, but blatant ass-kissing on your part won’t keep me from being too busy to give you the time of day.” Though literal ass-kissing I wouldn’t be entirely opposed to. He almost groaned, the thought slipping out before he could stop it.
Luke laughed, which for some reason sounded strange to Reid’s ears, like he’d never heard it sounding quite so natural before. “Oh, come on. Don’t pull the old Ebenezer Scrooge thing. It’s so . . . expected.”
“If that’s your segue into a ‘Merry Christmas’ and the belief that you standing in front of me in stead of rolling about on wheels is a fantastic Christmas present, then you better rethink your strategy,” Reid muttered, scanning Annie Judd’s information for the hundredth time, but for the first time in his life unable to comprehend a word on the page. All he could fathom was the way Luke’s breathing just grazed the outermost of his curls.
“I didn’t have time to reciprocate,” Luke murmured, watching the doctor’s reaction carefully. Reid did nothing but cross out some meaningless scribble the radiologist had left on Annie’s chart. After a moment, however the corners of his eyes crinkled ever so slightly and Luke knew. He knew he'd been right.
“Oh, come on,” Luke laughed, stepping closer and tilting his head over Reid’s shoulder. For some reason, he felt the need to look into Reid’s eyes as they were speaking. “Isn’t it a sight for sore eyes, doctor?”
“You mean you standing there like I always said you would?” Reid asked, very aware of the reappearance of Luke’s sudden inability to gauge personal space. “Nope, not at all surprising. Although . . .” he paused, lifting his head and carefully flipping the metal cover over Annie Judd’s personal information.
“Hold on! If you’re going to temporarily stop being a grouch, you need to give me some warning,” Luke informed him, mockingly holding up his hands in front of him. “I’ll have to prepare myself for the shock.”
“Although . . . You standing there . . . Means your grandmother has no reason to hold me hostage in this God-forsaken town any longer,” Reid murmured. The statement was meant to come out harsh, meant to come out snarky, but it only came out quiet. He didn’t understand how that had happened.
Luke’s face fell and he backed away. Reid grimaced inwardly at the flood of air that quickly filled the space in between them. Luke shoved his hands into his pockets and shuffled his feet lightly.
“Oh . . .” he muttered, running his fingers lightly against the underside of his nose. He was surprised at the strange feeling he got at this news. He should have expected it. He shouldn’t have cared. He hadn’t cared until he’d heard the words come out of Reid’s mouth. “So best Christmas present ever, huh?”
“Only if you provide me with a plane ticket back to civilization,” Reid shrugged, planting a light smirk on his face. It hurt him strangely to see that sadness etched slightly into Luke’s eyes, just as he’d hurt whenever he saw Annie and she wasn’t smiling. “A private jet is also impressive.”
“You have expensive taste. But, come on, Oakdale’s not that bad,” Luke shrugged, looking up at him through his thick lashes. Reid swallowed and his hand twitched so hard that he had to stick it in his pocket to hide the movement. He inhaled softly, realizing that his breaths had started getting caught on their way out of their lungs. Maybe Luke was right. . . .
“I suppose . . . It could be . . . worse,” he answered, feigning a struggle to get the words out, surprised that he actually had to make the effort to pretend. Not because of Luke or anything. Not because he felt anything more than doctor/patient friendliness toward Luke. Because he didn’t. He couldn’t.
Luke laughed, biting his lips and shaking his head. “Ouch. That must have hurt.” His eyes flickered to Reid’s lips as the doctor’s tongue darted out instinctively to wet them and Luke swallowed audibly, the noise appearing to echo loudly throughout the hallway.
“Meh,” Reid shrugged, gazing closely at Luke, his mind racing as he battled with himself. He was well aware of the sound. He was sure that if he swallowed he would make a similar one. “It’s . . . not as bad as I initially thought.”
He tried to figure out why it gave him such a warm feeling to bring that smile to Luke’s face. Their eyes met again and Reid wondered if he’d never gotten a really good look at them. He thought he had, but he couldn’t have, given the feeling that he got when he looked into them now. They were light, twinkling with a genuine happiness that had to have stemmed from the fact that he’d finally regained full motion of his legs. That had to have been it.
And yet-
“Are you okay?”
Reid started, realizing that he’d gotten lost in his thoughts. That had started happening a lot recently and whenever he tried to pinpoint the moment it started, he would fall back into that headspace and emerge without answers.
“Oi! Dr. Oliver!” Luke called, snapping his fingers and scanning Reid’s eyes. Reid blinked at the motion right in front of his face, his eyes flashing to Luke’s. He found himself suddenly short of breath and unable to look away. Luke took a deep breath, looking as though the very action was difficult. “Come back,” he murmured, his eyes dropping momentarily down to Reid’s lips, releasing Reid’s vocal chords from paralysis in doing so. The to me at the end of the sentence lingered on Luke’s lips, as though he didn’t dare bring himself to say it. Because it wasn’t his to utter, not really.
“I haven’t gone anywhere, Mr. Snyder,” he answered, sticking his free hand in his other pocket as a safety measure because it was Luke, the boy who needed a measuring stick to properly judge the right amount of personal space, standing in front of him. Dangerously, dangerously close.
“Physically, no . . .” Luke agreed, flashing his dimples at Reid. Dangerously, dangerously close. “But you were so, so far away just now. Where did you go?” Bambi eyes, those Goddamn Bambi eyes.
Reid shook his head. He really shouldn’t go there. It was against moral codes, against ethical codes and it was . . . but it was Luke. And the way he was looking at Reid right now . . .
“Listen . . . Lu-”
“Gah, sorry,” Luke muttered, reaching into his pocket as his cell phone vibrated one time too many in his pocket. He pulled it out and flicked it open and it was as though the spell was broken, like the string of Luke’s gaze was cut and Reid fell back slightly as though pushed. He gripped the edge of the counter to his right as he watched Luke conversing on the phone.
“Hey. . . . Yeah . . . No, I’m at Memorial . . . No, nothing’s wrong. Just came in for a, errm,” he paused, glancing at Reid. He flushed a light pink and looked away when he caught Reid watching him. “Yeah. No, I’m with Dr. Oliver . . . Yeah, check-up. . . . As pleased as he ever gets,” Luke laughed, flashing a content smile. Reid wondered if it was similar to the one he flashed on a regular basis. He didn’t dare think it was reserved for situations involving himself.
“Yeah, I’ll see you in a bit.” Luke hung up and his free hand instinctively went to brush sheepishly through his hair, only to find it shorter than he was used to. “That was Noah,” he explained, eyes passing at the increased of space between himself and Reid. “I have to go.”
“Course you do,” Reid answered, jumping behind his wall. “I have to get back to work and talk to Bob about finishing things up here.”
“Oh, right, of course,” Luke muttered, one of the twinkling stars in his eyes going out. “So . . . I’ll see you?”
“Seems to work out that way, doesn’t it, Mr. Snyder?” Reid answered. His voice was casual, which was the opposite of what he was feeling and he turned and walked down the hallway before Luke could reply.
When he disappeared through the swinging doors, Luke’s hands rose to his face, covering it as though it would hide the bundle of emotions that was currently consuming him. As he stood there he tried to define exactly what had brought him to Memorial that day and some part deep within him whispered that it hadn’t quite been because of the reason he’d told Noah-he didn’t really come for a consult. Not really.
Chapter 23-->
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 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21
***
Reid felt a tap on his shoulder and he rolled his eyes, choosing to instead focus on Annie Judd’s post-chemo information. He heard an inhalation behind him, as though in preparation for whining and he intercepted it, frowning in concentration and annoyance.
“Whatever it is, I’m sure there’s another doctor in this hospital with the ability to treat it.”
“Oh, but why look for someone else when I have the most brilliant doctor in the world standing in front of me?”
Reid exhaled a breathy chuckle, which he immediately reprimanded himself for, when he recognized the voice as Luke Snyder’s. He turned toward the boy, line of his sight planned and snarky response prepared. He lost both those things as the downward sweep of his gaze hit the bottom of Luke’s neckline rather than his eyes and he started. He was forced to move his eyes up to Luke Snyder’s face, hitting the mesmerizing curve of his neck, the definitive outline of his jaw and the fullness of his naturally pouty lips along the way. Reid mentally kicked himself for allowing his eyes to linger hungrily in each of those spaces far longer than necessary before meeting the younger man’s deep brown eyes.
He was so surprised to see quite how tall Luke was. He’d grown so used looking down, both physically and metaphorically, at Mr. Snyder that to see him at his level, even at a slightly higher one, unnerved him completely and caused his pulse to intensify.
He composed himself and cast a stern glance at Luke’s bubbly face, his cheeks and nose red from the frostbitten air outside, making him look unnaturally youthful.
"Nice cane."
Luke smirked, whirling it around dramatically. "You think?"
“Mmhmm . . . As to your previous comment: a wise sentiment, Mr. Snyder, but blatant ass-kissing on your part won’t keep me from being too busy to give you the time of day.” Though literal ass-kissing I wouldn’t be entirely opposed to. He almost groaned, the thought slipping out before he could stop it.
Luke laughed, which for some reason sounded strange to Reid’s ears, like he’d never heard it sounding quite so natural before. “Oh, come on. Don’t pull the old Ebenezer Scrooge thing. It’s so . . . expected.”
“If that’s your segue into a ‘Merry Christmas’ and the belief that you standing in front of me in stead of rolling about on wheels is a fantastic Christmas present, then you better rethink your strategy,” Reid muttered, scanning Annie Judd’s information for the hundredth time, but for the first time in his life unable to comprehend a word on the page. All he could fathom was the way Luke’s breathing just grazed the outermost of his curls.
“I didn’t have time to reciprocate,” Luke murmured, watching the doctor’s reaction carefully. Reid did nothing but cross out some meaningless scribble the radiologist had left on Annie’s chart. After a moment, however the corners of his eyes crinkled ever so slightly and Luke knew. He knew he'd been right.
“Oh, come on,” Luke laughed, stepping closer and tilting his head over Reid’s shoulder. For some reason, he felt the need to look into Reid’s eyes as they were speaking. “Isn’t it a sight for sore eyes, doctor?”
“You mean you standing there like I always said you would?” Reid asked, very aware of the reappearance of Luke’s sudden inability to gauge personal space. “Nope, not at all surprising. Although . . .” he paused, lifting his head and carefully flipping the metal cover over Annie Judd’s personal information.
“Hold on! If you’re going to temporarily stop being a grouch, you need to give me some warning,” Luke informed him, mockingly holding up his hands in front of him. “I’ll have to prepare myself for the shock.”
“Although . . . You standing there . . . Means your grandmother has no reason to hold me hostage in this God-forsaken town any longer,” Reid murmured. The statement was meant to come out harsh, meant to come out snarky, but it only came out quiet. He didn’t understand how that had happened.
Luke’s face fell and he backed away. Reid grimaced inwardly at the flood of air that quickly filled the space in between them. Luke shoved his hands into his pockets and shuffled his feet lightly.
“Oh . . .” he muttered, running his fingers lightly against the underside of his nose. He was surprised at the strange feeling he got at this news. He should have expected it. He shouldn’t have cared. He hadn’t cared until he’d heard the words come out of Reid’s mouth. “So best Christmas present ever, huh?”
“Only if you provide me with a plane ticket back to civilization,” Reid shrugged, planting a light smirk on his face. It hurt him strangely to see that sadness etched slightly into Luke’s eyes, just as he’d hurt whenever he saw Annie and she wasn’t smiling. “A private jet is also impressive.”
“You have expensive taste. But, come on, Oakdale’s not that bad,” Luke shrugged, looking up at him through his thick lashes. Reid swallowed and his hand twitched so hard that he had to stick it in his pocket to hide the movement. He inhaled softly, realizing that his breaths had started getting caught on their way out of their lungs. Maybe Luke was right. . . .
“I suppose . . . It could be . . . worse,” he answered, feigning a struggle to get the words out, surprised that he actually had to make the effort to pretend. Not because of Luke or anything. Not because he felt anything more than doctor/patient friendliness toward Luke. Because he didn’t. He couldn’t.
Luke laughed, biting his lips and shaking his head. “Ouch. That must have hurt.” His eyes flickered to Reid’s lips as the doctor’s tongue darted out instinctively to wet them and Luke swallowed audibly, the noise appearing to echo loudly throughout the hallway.
“Meh,” Reid shrugged, gazing closely at Luke, his mind racing as he battled with himself. He was well aware of the sound. He was sure that if he swallowed he would make a similar one. “It’s . . . not as bad as I initially thought.”
He tried to figure out why it gave him such a warm feeling to bring that smile to Luke’s face. Their eyes met again and Reid wondered if he’d never gotten a really good look at them. He thought he had, but he couldn’t have, given the feeling that he got when he looked into them now. They were light, twinkling with a genuine happiness that had to have stemmed from the fact that he’d finally regained full motion of his legs. That had to have been it.
And yet-
“Are you okay?”
Reid started, realizing that he’d gotten lost in his thoughts. That had started happening a lot recently and whenever he tried to pinpoint the moment it started, he would fall back into that headspace and emerge without answers.
“Oi! Dr. Oliver!” Luke called, snapping his fingers and scanning Reid’s eyes. Reid blinked at the motion right in front of his face, his eyes flashing to Luke’s. He found himself suddenly short of breath and unable to look away. Luke took a deep breath, looking as though the very action was difficult. “Come back,” he murmured, his eyes dropping momentarily down to Reid’s lips, releasing Reid’s vocal chords from paralysis in doing so. The to me at the end of the sentence lingered on Luke’s lips, as though he didn’t dare bring himself to say it. Because it wasn’t his to utter, not really.
“I haven’t gone anywhere, Mr. Snyder,” he answered, sticking his free hand in his other pocket as a safety measure because it was Luke, the boy who needed a measuring stick to properly judge the right amount of personal space, standing in front of him. Dangerously, dangerously close.
“Physically, no . . .” Luke agreed, flashing his dimples at Reid. Dangerously, dangerously close. “But you were so, so far away just now. Where did you go?” Bambi eyes, those Goddamn Bambi eyes.
Reid shook his head. He really shouldn’t go there. It was against moral codes, against ethical codes and it was . . . but it was Luke. And the way he was looking at Reid right now . . .
“Listen . . . Lu-”
“Gah, sorry,” Luke muttered, reaching into his pocket as his cell phone vibrated one time too many in his pocket. He pulled it out and flicked it open and it was as though the spell was broken, like the string of Luke’s gaze was cut and Reid fell back slightly as though pushed. He gripped the edge of the counter to his right as he watched Luke conversing on the phone.
“Hey. . . . Yeah . . . No, I’m at Memorial . . . No, nothing’s wrong. Just came in for a, errm,” he paused, glancing at Reid. He flushed a light pink and looked away when he caught Reid watching him. “Yeah. No, I’m with Dr. Oliver . . . Yeah, check-up. . . . As pleased as he ever gets,” Luke laughed, flashing a content smile. Reid wondered if it was similar to the one he flashed on a regular basis. He didn’t dare think it was reserved for situations involving himself.
“Yeah, I’ll see you in a bit.” Luke hung up and his free hand instinctively went to brush sheepishly through his hair, only to find it shorter than he was used to. “That was Noah,” he explained, eyes passing at the increased of space between himself and Reid. “I have to go.”
“Course you do,” Reid answered, jumping behind his wall. “I have to get back to work and talk to Bob about finishing things up here.”
“Oh, right, of course,” Luke muttered, one of the twinkling stars in his eyes going out. “So . . . I’ll see you?”
“Seems to work out that way, doesn’t it, Mr. Snyder?” Reid answered. His voice was casual, which was the opposite of what he was feeling and he turned and walked down the hallway before Luke could reply.
When he disappeared through the swinging doors, Luke’s hands rose to his face, covering it as though it would hide the bundle of emotions that was currently consuming him. As he stood there he tried to define exactly what had brought him to Memorial that day and some part deep within him whispered that it hadn’t quite been because of the reason he’d told Noah-he didn’t really come for a consult. Not really.
Chapter 23-->