Can't Save Me (2/24)
Luke opened his eyes slowly and moaned. He was in pain. His head was throbbing, as was his arm, which seemed to be really heavy. Actually, most of his body seemed heavier then normal. He slowly checked to make sure he could move everything, even if just slightly, mentally checking everything off. Head, arms, legs. He was staring at the ceiling and took a minute to figure out where he was. That was when Reid came into his view.
"Morning." Reid smiled softly at him and held up a cup of water.
"I'm in the hospital right?" Luke asked, trying to sit up.
Reid lifted the head of the bed so Luke was sitting up better before slowly sitting down on the edge of the bed and held out the cup of water with the straw for him.
"Yeah. Have been all night."
Luke took the cup and took a sip of the water before looking at Reid.
"So it wasn't just a dream, Noah really did attack me."
Reid nodded, "So you remember."
"Of course I do." Luke's eyes suddenly found the straw in his cup fascinating.
"Well, you have a pretty bad concussion." Reid replied, "Luke."
Luke looked back up at him, tears in his eyes. Reid wanted so much to wipe them away but he didn't know how Luke would react to him touching him, remembering what had happened the night before.
"You remember Noah attacking you, but do you remember, anything else?"
"Yes, and I don't want to talk about it." Luke lowered his head again, "What are you doing here? Don't you have work or something?"
"I want to be here." Reid replied, his voice cracking a little, "Plus your parents requested I be your doctor."
"What?" Luke's head snapped back up, "Wouldn't that sort of be a hospital violation or something? Treating your bo..." he trailed off.
"Boyfriend." Reid finished for him, "Yes, but they wouldn't take no for an answer. Frankly, I was going to fight Bob on the matter anyway."
"Really?" Luke's eyes widened
Reid only nodded, standing back up and taking the cup from Luke, setting in on the table off to the side. He sat back down in the chair he had slept in that night. He had actually been a little surprised that he had gotten any sleep at all. He was woken up every hour when a nurse came in to check on Luke and see if he had needed anything like a bed brought in or coffee or anything else. Reid knew his reputation was going to be killed, but he didn't care at the moment. All he cared about was Luke.
"Reid?"
"Hmm?"
"Is he locked up?"
"Yes."
"Good."
Silence.
"Reid?"
"Hmm?"
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"Last night. I saw you, before blacking out."
"Oh."
"So, thank you."
"I didn't do much."
"You stopped him from doing anything more."
Silence.
"Reid?"
"Hmm?"
"Do my parents know?"
"Yes."
"About everything?"
"Yes."
Silence.
"Luke?"
"Hmm?"
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"If I hadn't said no, Noah wouldn't have attacked you."
"Don't blame yourself."
"But if I was there."
"Stop."
Silence.
"Luke?"
"Hmm?"
"I want to kiss you."
"Then why don't you?"
"Because last night you flinched away from my touch."
Silence.
"Reid?"
"Hmm?"
"Kiss me already."
Reid stood and walked back over to the bed. He sat down on the edge, facing Luke. He cautiously brought his hand up to Luke's cheek that did not have the stitches, running his thumb over his cheek. Luke closed his eyes. He didn't move into the touch but he didn't flinch away either. Reid took that as a good sign and leaned forward. He stopped, his lips meer inches from Luke's and just breathed. His eyes were still open and watches as Luke's breath hitched, but he still didn't move away.
He then slowly kissed him. It was soft, not forced or deep, no tongue. It lasted for a minute before he pulled away. Luke kept his eyes closed until he felt the cold air on his cheek. Finally opening his eyes, he found Reid looking at him and smiling. A small smile appeared on Luke's face and he took a deep breath.
"Hope we're not interrupting anything." Bob walked into the room, followed by Margo.
"Nope, not anymore." Reid replied, standing up from the bed and taking his seat in the chair once again.
"Luke." Margo stood at the end of the bed, "I know you probably just woke up, but are you up for giving your statement about what happened last night?"
"Uh, yeah. I guess." Luke nodded
"Whenever you're ready." Margo pulled a notepad and pen from her pocket.
Luke took a deep breath and looked down at his arms, just now realizing his right arm was in a cast. He placed his hand over the cast for a minute before turning his attention to the blanket that was covering him. He didn't want to look at them while he told them what happened.
"Reid had just dropped me off. It wasn't five minutes when Noah was knocking on the door. I asked him what he was doing there and he just walked in, saying he needed to see me. I could tell he was drunk. I was about to ask him again, when he just kissed me. I pushed him away and yelled at him before heading for the kitchen to get him a water, try and sober him up some. He ended up pushing me against the wall and kissed me again.
"After pushing him away again, I grabbed the phone to call Alison, have her come and pick him up since she was his roommate but he took the phone from me and threw it across the room. He started talking about how we belonged together. I went to walk past him again, trying to get to my cell phone when he grabbed my wrist. I felt something pop so I twisted away and used my nails to dig them into his hand. He let me go but then backhanded me.
"Before I could recover, he slammed me into the wall again. I hit my head, hard. I got away from him again and went for my phone. I was just about to reach for it when he turned me around and backhanded me again. I lost my balance that time and hit the floor, knocking the table over. Glass shattered across the floor and I landed on it. Then Noah was on top of me. I went to push him off when he grabbed my wrists and pinned them above my head.
"I was able to get free and caused Noah to hit his head on the wall. I jumped to my feet and ran for my phone that had skid across the floor after falling off the table when it crashed over. I sent a text to Casey as fast as I could. Noah came up behind me and took my phone, throwing it against the wall. I didn't even know if the text was sent or not. I made a run for the door when Noah tripped me. I fell onto the glass and ended up cutting my stomach pretty bad. Noah flipped me over and pinned me down again.
"I don't know how but he bound my hands together. That's when he... he started... he had pulled my pants down and then my phone went off. He asked who I had called and I decided to make it seem like I called Reid. Just to keep him talking instead of doing what he was about too. It worked for a minute until he get really angry and ended up slamming my head into the floor twice. I was so out of it after that." Luke took a deep breath, "I know he raped me though. I could remember because he was hurting me, badly. The last thing I remember before blacking out is Reid pulling him off me."
He finally looked up to find that Reid had disappeared from the chair and was pacing back and forth at the end of the bed. Bob was gone and Margo was still jotting down his statement. After a minute of silence, Margo finally looked up and smiled sadly at him.
"We have him at the police station and we have pretty good evidence against him. This will probably go to trial in the next week or so. I would like for you to be prepared to say all that again if it does come to that, Luke."
Luke just nodded, still watching Reid. He could feel that tears were in his eyes and rolling down his cheeks but he didn't wipe them again. Margo then left the room, leaving Luke and Reid alone in silence.
"Reid?"
He stopped pacing and turned to look at the blond. When he saw that he was crying, he walked around the bed and sat down. He carefully brought his hand up and wiped away the tears from Luke's face, surprised that Luke didn't flinch away from him.
"I really wish you didn't hear that."
"I wasn't going to leave, even if you asked me too."
"I don't want to say all that again, I really don't want this to go to trail."
"The only way it will is if he pleads not guilty."
Luke nodded, "If it does, you'll be there right?"
"Of course. So will all of your family and probably the whole town."
Luke's eyes widened, "I couldn't stand up there and repeat all that if everyone is there."
"You'll have to if you want Noah to be put away."
"Do you think he'll post bail?"
"I'm sure he won't even get bail."
"But if he does."
"We'll get a restraining order." Reid let his hand hover at Luke's cheek, "Nobody will let him near you again. I'm sure of it."
Luke nodded, tears still running down his cheeks. Suddenly he bolted up in the bed and wrapped his arms around Reid's neck, tucking his face into his neck. Reid was shocked, but only for a second, before wrapping his arms around Luke. He was not big on hugging but it was something he was willing to do, for Luke only.
"Good morning." Lily and Holden walked in.
Luke pulled away from Reid to look at his parents. As soon as Lily saw that he had been crying, she rushed over to the bed. That's when it happened, Luke freaked out. The heart monitor that he was attached to, started beeping louder and Luke's eyes widened. His breathing was hitched like he couldn't breath.
"What's wrong?" Lily asked, looking at Reid.
Reid went to place his hands on Luke's shoulders when Luke pulled away with a little scream.
"He's having a panic attack." Reid jumped off the bed to grabbed a syringe off the counter.
He grabbed the IV tube and stuck the needle into it. As soon as he was finished, Luke seemed to start calming down. He eyes started to slid closed. Reid took the time to gently push him back into a laying position and soon he was sleeping again.
"What did you just give him?" Holden asked
"A sedative." Reid replied, still looking at Luke, "He's going to be out for a couple of hours now."
"What could have caused that?" Lily asked, tears in her own eyes.
"You moved too fast." Reid told her, "He's cautious about movement and being touched."
"He was hugging you." Holden stated
"He lunged at me. I didn't move first."
"We're going to have to tell Natalie and Ethan not to ran at him when we bring him home." Lily whispered, looking at Reid, "When do you think we can take him home?"
"I'd like to keep him here one more night but after that, he can go home."
Both Lily and Holden nodded before Holden took Lily's hand, "We should go and talk with them since he's going to be sleeping for a while now."
Lily nodded again and they left the room. Reid frowned as he watched them leave before turning back to Luke. He didn't have anything to do in Luke's room anymore so he left to do his rounds before lunch time, when he knew he would be back in Luke's room.