Consult (8/14)
Luke took a deep breath before knocking on the door to the office. When Damian replied, he turned the knob and stepped inside. Damian glanced up and gave him a smile.
“Hello Luciano.”
Luke smiled back at him. “It’s a boy. No name yet, but he’s absolutely amazing.”
“I am happy to hear that. And your mother?”
“She’s still in the coma, but the surgery went well. They’ve moved her back to her room, and Dr. Oliver will operate in a few days to a week.”
Damian nodded, then continued to stare at Luke, waiting. As if he knew what Luke was about to say.
“Um.” Luke paused, swallowing. “My dad has asked me to come home. I think I probably should go. He’ll need help with the baby and my sisters and everything.”
“Is that what you want, my son?”
Luke hesitated and then nodded. “Yeah. I think so. I mean, thank you so much for letting me stay here with you. I really - I liked getting to know you better. But I should probably go home.”
Damian sighed as he walked around to the front of the desk. He clasped his hands together and sat down on the edge of the desk.
“That is probably for the best. I’ll be returning to Malta soon anyway.”
“Oh,” Luke replied softly. “How - how soon?”
“Very soon. My doctors - ” Damian cut himself off and looked away.
Luke felt his stomach drop. “Doctors? What doctors?”
“I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Damian! Does this have to do with the pills? Are you sick?”
Damian looked at him, a serious expression on his face. Finally, he relented, nodding slightly. “The pills - they are, they are end-stage treatment for my condition. It is why I came to Oakdale. I wanted to see you one last time.”
Luke stared at Damian, his mouth hanging open. He blinked and then forced himself to speak. “Have you been to doctors here? What do they say? You can’t just - you can’t give up. I - ”
Damian stood, walking closer to him. He rested his hands on Luke’s neck and looked down at him. “Don’t be upset, Luciano. There is nothing we can do.” He tilted his chin down and kissed Luke’s forehead. “You should go pack up. I’ll drive you home.”
He exited the room, leaving Luke alone. Luke stood motionless, staring ahead in shock. He finally jolted to movement, turning to look at the door through which Damian had disappeared. Luke blinked several times, trying to figure out what to do.
**
He and Damian didn’t speak to each other at all during the drive to his house. When Damian put the car in park, though, Luke finally turned to him.
“Will you wait here?” he asked. “Just…wait.”
Damian didn’t reply. He merely looked at Luke for a beat, then nodded in agreement. For good measure, Luke left his bag in the footwell of the seat and went inside empty-handed.
As soon as he walked through the door, there was commotion. Both girls came running at him, throwing their arms around him in exuberant hugs. Luke bent slightly, hugging them back. He finally just dropped to his knees, trying to focus on both of them as they spoke excitedly.
“Girls, let Luke get inside and sit down.”
Luke glanced up and saw his dad. He wavered for a long moment, unsure he could do what he came here to do. And then he found his resolve and stood up.
“Actually, Faith, Natalie. I have to talk to Dad for a second.”
They complained but eventually ran upstairs to get drawings they had made for Luke while he was gone. Holden looked at him cautiously.
“Where’s all your stuff?” he asked.
“In the car. Dad - ”
“What’s going on, Luke?”
Luke swallowed, closing his eyes briefly. “I’m not coming home,” he said. “I’m - I’m going to go to Malta with Damian.”
Holden shifted, bending his head slightly as he adjusted his stance. “What?”
“You have lots of people here to help you out. The girls and Grandma and Grandmother. I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Luke said quickly. “And Mom, she - well. Anyway, Damian doesn’t have anyone. And he needs someone right now, Dad. He needs me.”
“I don’t understand.”
Luke took a deep breath and exhaled. “He’s sick, Dad. He’s dying. And - and I…”
“He seems perfectly healthy to me.”
“He’s not.”
Holden shook his head, stepping closer. “This sounds like another one of his tricks.”
“Don’t say that, please. He wouldn’t lie to me. Not about something like this.”
Holden closed his eyes, breathing deep in an attempt to calm himself. “Luke, you can’t just leave the country. You’re 16 years old. What about - what about school?”
“I’m sure they have schools in Malta, Dad.”
“What about Mom?”
Luke looked down, clenching his jaw as he tried not to get emotional. “There’s nothing I can do for her here. Damian only has a little bit of time. He might even - I might be back before she wakes up.”
“Luke, think about this. Don’t do anything - ”
Luke focused on his dad again. “I’m going, Dad.”
And with that, he turned around, ignoring Holden’s calls as he walked out of the house and back to the car. Damian looked at him curiously, as he climbed back into the passenger seat and pulled on his seat belt.
“So what’s Malta like?”
“I’m sorry?”
“I thought I might come with you.”
Damian fought a smile. “Are you sure? What about your family?”
“You’re my family too, Damian. I need a few days, and then we can go.”
**
But things weren’t that easy, because Holden continued to call him, continued to try to convince him that Damian was lying and he needed to return home. And Damian often agreed with him that it was probably for the best, but Luke could see him getting weaker by the day. He wasn’t eating or sleeping, as far as Luke could tell, and his voice was rough from the constant coughing. And his mom was still…the same, more or less, except she wasn’t healing as fast from the C-section as they would have liked. He overheard his dad and Dr. Oliver talking. They couldn’t do the surgery until she was more stable, but at the same time, every day they waited…
He ran into his dad at Java today, and they had another disagreement about Damian. And then at school, Kevin and a few of the guys from the team were discussing which girls were the best at giving handjobs and they kept trying to get Luke to participate in the conversation. And then at Al’s after school, he saw Dr. Oliver picking up take-out, but he barely even spoke to Luke before leaving as quickly as possible. And then when he got back to Fairwinds, Damian was nowhere to be seen. He had left Luke a note, though, saying the doctor had called that day and reported that the latest test results were not good and he needed to return to Malta as soon as possible.
It was all - it was all too much. Luke didn’t know what to do. No matter what he decided, he’d be hurting or abandoning someone. Everything was just so confusing and so scary. And…without thinking, he went to the liquor cabinet in the corner of the office. He pulled out a bottle of vodka, unscrewing the cap and taking a drink before realizing what he was even doing.
He stared at the bottle. And then he took another drink.
**
Reid stretched out on the couch, the remains of his dinner still on the coffee table. He was ostensibly reading a journal article, but in actuality, he was remembering back to his run-in with Luke at Al’s. The kid had seemed very stressed out, but as usual, he beamed when he saw Reid. He had started to speak to Reid, but Reid shut him down as quickly as possible. He walked out of Al’s, leaving Luke there alone. When he quickly glanced through the window, the boy was still standing in the middle of the room, looking confused and hurt.
Reid lifted his hand to the bridge of his nose. Get it together, he thought to himself, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head quickly. He focused back on the article in front of him and made a note next to a citation he should read as well.
There was a knock on the door, and Reid lowered the journal to his lap, staring at it in surprise. The only person it could possibly be was Katie, and she was having dinner with some Hank friend of hers. Maybe Lucinda, but she tended to leave Reid alone.
At the second knock, he threw the journal on the table and swung his feet off the couch. Standing, he made his way to the door and opened it. He immediately gulped, staring at his visitor in surprise.
Luke was leaning against the doorframe, biting his lower lip in a shy smile. The top buttons of his shirt (a striped polo, of course) were undone, revealing the kind of chest hair you wouldn’t expect to see on a 16-year-old boy. (Sixteen, Reid reminded himself. Sixteen.)
“Hello,” Reid said cautiously.
Luke pushed off the doorframe. “Hi,” he replied, crowding Reid as he walked past him. Reid caught a trace (more than a trace) of alcohol on him, and he furrowed his brow. He turned to face Luke, closing the door behind him. Now, in the light of the room, he could see Luke’s eyes were somewhat unfocused.
“Have you been drinking?” he asked.
Luke shrugged. “A little.”
“Luke, you’re underage. And you’ve had a kidney transplant.”
He turned on Reid then, grinning broadly. “And how do you know that, Dr. Oliver?” He stepped closer, lifting a hand to Reid’s collar. He tweaked it, and Reid backed away. “Have you been doing a little research on me?”
“What are you doing here, Luke?”
“You left Al’s before I could tell you. I’m leaving the country soon. I thought we could…say goodbye.”
Continued