Fabrication (3/27)
All four men stepped out of the exam room into the hospital corridor. Bob had called down to radiology and confirmed there was an opening for Noah to get the CT scan. As they headed in that direction, Luke’s phone rang. He excused himself, walking off a few steps to answer it. The others stopped to wait for him. Reid usually didn’t mind uncomfortable silences (in fact, he usually caused them), but considering the circumstances, he couldn’t wait until they were moving and he could focus on neurological concerns again.
An annoyed sigh signaled the end of Luke’s conversation, and Reid glanced up to see him snap his phone shut. Reid watched as he shook his head, staring down the hall. Then, Luke turned and walked back to them.
“Noah, can you call me or someone else when you need a ride home?”
“Yeah, sure. Is everything OK?”
“Massive mix-up at the shipping company. I really gotta go take care of it.”
Shipping company?, Reid wondered.
Luke paused for a moment, then turned to Reid. He held out a hand. “Dr. Oliver, it - ”
“Oh my God!” the shrill shriek interrupted him.
Everyone in the hall turned, startled and confused, to the sound. Half the medical personnel in the vicinity were already starting to move towards the woman in case of an emergency. It turned out everything was fine. She merely thrust a baby into the arms of the man standing next to her, raced down the hall, and flung herself into Reid’s arms. He stumbled back a few feet, finally catching his balance and hugging her back.
**
Luke couldn’t help but laugh (and feel a little jealous) as he watched Katie plant kisses all over Reid’s face. Noah soon caught his attention, however, by stepping closer to him.
“What’s going on?” he asked. “Who is that?”
Luke leaned in, talking quietly in his ear. “It’s Katie. You can’t tell?”
“I think only dogs can hear her now.”
Luke laughed in agreement. Then he sighed.
“They were pretty good friends when Re - Dr. Oliver was here before. OK, I really have to go,” he added quickly, before Noah picked up on anything strange in his tone.
“Good luck with everything,” Noah said.
“You too,” Luke replied. “Call me or else I’ll talk to you at home.”
He placed a hand quickly on Noah’s arm and waved at Dr. Hughes. Reid was still focused on Katie, who was talking rather rapidly at him. This was probably a good thing. He could just leave, without making a big deal out of it or anything. And the next time, they saw each other, well, they’ll already know that the other one is around and it just won’t be a surprise, and everything will be fine. Right.
Luke was halfway down the hall before he realized he had even started walking. Don’t look back, he thought to himself. Don’t look back.
As he turned the corner, Luke’s head barely turned to the side as he glanced out of his peripheral vision.
**
Reid had nearly landed flat on his back when Katie ran into his arms. He’d never admit it, but it took him a second to recognize who was running towards him. He hadn’t expected to see her there, and he really hadn’t expected to see her holding a baby, and she was moving so fast, she was basically just a blond streak. But God, once he figured it out (she was still about five feet away at the time), he wanted to cry. That was something else he’d never admit. He lifted his arms almost immediately, hugging her as tightly as he could. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed her. He hadn’t realized how much he really needed a friendly face right then.
After peppering him with kisses, she finally pulled away, keeping her hands on him as if she were afraid he wasn’t real.
“Reid Oliver! What are you doing here?” she demanded, smacking his arm.
Reid laughed, finally finding his voice. He nodded in Noah Mayer’s direction, spotting an amused Bob over Noah’s shoulder. “I’m here for Mr. Mayer.”
Katie twisted, looking at Noah for a second. “Of course. I can’t believe no one thought of it sooner. Did the Snyders call you or - ”
“No, Bob did,” Reid interrupted quickly.
“It was Alex Roberts’ idea,” Bob chimed in.
At that moment, the man holding the baby joined them. “Bubbles?” he asked curiously.
“Oh! Oh, sorry. Reid, this is my friend, Henry Coleman. I don’t think you two ever met, did you? Henry, Dr. Reid Oliver. And this! Is Jacob,” she concluded, taking the baby from Henry.
Reid put a hand out, placing it softly on the baby’s head. “Yours?”
Katie nodded, beaming down at the kid. “Jacob Bradley Snyder.”
“Snyder?”
“That’s right. I’m Katie Peretti Snyder now.”
“The gene pool in this town is still no deeper than a kiddie wading - ”
“That’s enough out of you, Dr. Oliver,” Katie said, laughing. “We have a lot to catch up on though, obviously.”
“I’ll say,” Reid agreed, nodding. “But I really should get Noah - “
And with that, Katie was all laughing, cheerful goodbyes and promises to meet soon and making Jacob wave his little hand at Reid. Reid finally turned back to Bob and Noah.
“Sorry about that,” he said.
Bob shook his head, laughing. “There is no escaping Katie when she wants to talk to you.”
Reid nodded in amused agreement. Noah just shook his head, confused and surprised.
“I just - everyone in this town seems to know you, Dr. Oliver, and I’ve never heard your name before today.”
Reid didn’t let himself wonder why.
But that didn’t stop him from wondering other things as the machines whirred around Noah Mayer. It didn’t stop him from wondering about Noah’s repeated references to his boyfriend. And whether they had anything to do with the young man who had driven him to the hospital and sat close beside him on the exam room table.
**
Luke got home fairly late that night. He could hear the sounds of dinner in the dining room. He walked through the house quickly, finding his siblings, mother and Noah gathered around the table already.
“Luke, you’re home!”
Luke nodded, taking his place next to Noah quickly.
“Did everything go okay?” he asked Noah.
“Yeah,” Noah replied. “Dr. Oliver says I’m a good candidate for the surgery, but he wants to try some other pre-op treatments first.”
Luke tried not to react. “So, he’s - he’s going to be in town for a while?”
“It’ll be a couple weeks before he even attempts the surgery, I guess. Apparently, it’s part of a really big study, so his bosses in Dallas are being pretty cool about it.”
“That’s - that’s good.”
Lily chimed in. “I couldn’t believe it when Noah said he met with Dr. Oliver today. Girls, do you remember Dr. Oliver?”
Natalie shook her head as she took a bite of her mashed potatoes. Faith was pushing her fork through her potatoes sullenly (as only a teenage girl could) and shrugged.
“He was the mean one, right?”
Luke laughed. “He was…blunt,” he agreed.
“I remember him!” Ethan said loudly.
“Oh, you do, do you?” Luke said, leaning closer to his baby brother.
“Yeah! He woke up Mama!”
“That’s right,” Lily said, laughing. “He woke me up.”
Luke looked at Noah, who was also smiling at Ethan's declaration.
“Actually,” Lily continued. “I don’t really remember him. He left shortly after the surgery, as I recall, and everything’s still a little hazy. Luke, you probably knew him best of all of us. You should let Noah know what he can expect.”
Luke focused on his plate, feeling the blush rise up his neck. “I was 16. He barely gave me the time of day,” he lied. “Anyway, I gotta tell you what happened with these shipping manifests today. It was crazy.”
**
Reid spent a few minutes organizing the temporary office he’d been assigned at Memorial. It was then and only then that he allowed himself the time to sit down, exhale, and acknowledge what happened that day. He had seen Luke Snyder again, and all the feelings he had repressed years ago came rushing back in. A million times worse, actually, now that he was clearly dealing with a confident young man instead of a confused and scared boy.
The problem was, he was apparently involved with someone. Seriously. And that someone happened to be Reid’s patient.
Reid sighed. What had he expected? That Luke still had some sort of hero-worshiping crush on him? Or that some small part of him had been waiting, hopelessly, all these years for Reid to come back to Oakdale? That they could pick up where they’d left off, making out in his office? It was one thing for an inexperienced kid to fall for an extremely attractive, intelligent, successful, older man. To expect a young man like Luke was now, with the world in front of him, to want anything to do with a cynical, workaholic, socially inept 35-year-old was ridiculous.
Continued