Serendipity (2/3)
Reid leaned against the nurse’s desk and waited for Bob to look up from the file he was reading. When he finally did, and rewarded Reid with a truly comical double take, Reid grinned. Bob gained control over his facial expression quickly enough, though. He clicked his pen and put it in his pocket, then closed the folder and handed it to the nurse before stepping away from the desk.
“I heard rumors you were in town.”
“I heard rumors you had planned on retiring,” Reid replied, coming into step with Bob as they headed down the hall.
Bob shrugged. “No one here who I would have been comfortable handing over the reins to wanted the job.”
“So you’re just going to work here forever?”
“At least until I believe Kim’s threats of divorce.”
Reid smiled softly. “So, I have to ask you something.”
“Oh?”
“What’s Luke Snyder’s blood type?”
Bob cast him a sidelong glance. Reid tried to appear innocent.
“B-pos,” Bob finally said.
“B-pos?” Reid’s heart soared, but all he said was, “It could be worse.”
“Yeah, but best bet is a family member. Lily’s A, and Holden’s O, so they and none of the older kids can donate. And Damian’s AB.”
Reid took a breath. “Bob. I’m B-positive.”
Bob turned to Reid in surprise. After a moment, he shook his head. “Reid, there are other considerations. Some other antigens that have been making it difficult to find a match - ”
“There’s no harm in testing me.”
Bob sighed. He started walking again. “I suppose not.”
“Just…don’t say anything to anyone. No point in getting anyone’s hopes up.”
Bob glanced at Reid again. His face suggested he knew exactly what Reid was doing, but Reid pretended he didn’t understand him. “Let’s get a sample,” Bob said.
**
Reid was halfway through his burger at Al’s when Luke slid into the seat on the opposite side of the booth. He flashed Reid a giant smile.
“You’re still here!”
“You sound shocked.”
“No, I - well, you don’t live here. You’re not going to stick around forever.”
Reid picked up on a slight undercurrent in that statement, even though Luke still appeared happy. And if there was one thing that Reid Oliver was physically incapable of doing, it was ignoring underlying tension. No. He poked at it, and he poked at it. Especially when it came to Luke, it seemed.
“I would have said goodbye.”
Luke raised an eyebrow at the tone of his voice. “Really?” he asked dryly.
“Mmm.”
“I wonder.”
Reid smiled. It didn’t reach his eyes. “What does that mean?”
“You wouldn’t have before,” Luke said, trying and failing to sound like he was joking. “I probably wouldn’t even have known you were leaving if I hadn’t gone to see you.”
Reid exhaled, crossing his arms on the tabletop as he leaned forward. “You wouldn’t have cared before. You made that clear enough.”
Luke’s forced smile dropped off his face. He scoffed and broke eye contact, instead staring out at the rest of the customers in Al’s for a moment. Then he shook his head; he stood quickly and turned, walking out of the restaurant without even a backwards glance.
Reid pulled himself to his feet, fumbling as he grabbed a bill out of his pocket and threw it on the table. It was much too much money, but he didn’t have time to worry about that. Instead he chased Luke out into the street.
“Now, you’re the one who doesn’t say goodbye.”
Luke shook his head. “Don’t start. I can’t even - ”
“Let’s have this out. We can’t just ignore it forever.”
Luke sighed. He stopped, put his hands on his hips and looked upwards as he tried to calm down. After a long beat, he turned to face Reid.
“It’s in the past.”
“So no grudges? No resentment? Well, then you’re a better person than me. Or maybe that’s just my healthy, and well-deserved, self-esteem” - Luke scoffed - “thinking my leaving would affect you one way or the other.”
“It did,” Luke admitted, shrugging as if they were talking about something entirely irrelevant. “Believe it or not, you actually broke my heart. Our little wing wasn’t enough for you. I wasn’t enough for you. I was ready to turn my back on everything - ”
Reid laughed derisively, shaking his head and turning away.
“But I moved on. You did too. And that’s fine. That’s fine.”
“Oh, really?”
“And I don’t want to have this fight. I want to ignore it. Life’s too short! And maybe that sounds like some sort of cliché from the dying guy, but…”
Reid felt all the blood in his body run cold. He watched quietly as Luke searched for the words he wanted.
“But it’s true. What happened is in the past. If I only get a little time with you before you go home or before I - then I don’t want to spend it yelling at you or…or asking why. So if you want to fight, I’d just as soon prefer that you leave now.”
Luke started walking again. Reid stared after him for a moment, and then quickly caught up to him. He dragged Luke into an alley, nearly tossing him up against the wall. Luke stared at him in surprise, but Reid barely paused before he leaned forward and crushed Luke’s lips and body against his in a powerful kiss.
Luke made a surprised noise and then suddenly was giving back as good as he got. His hands flew up to Reid’s head, scrunching into his hair just like they used to, and his tongue was thrusting forcefully into Reid’s mouth. He let his weight fall slightly, caught between the wall and Reid’s body, even as he pulled Reid closer to him.
“I don’t want to fight,” Reid mumbled against Luke’s mouth.
And then Luke pushed Reid away. Reid stared at him, and Luke smiled regretfully at Reid’s breathless, debauched state and his clear confusion.
“What?”
“We…I can’t even tell you how much I want this, but I can’t do it.”
Reid blinked. “You said you weren’t seeing anyone.”
“That’s not it. Although you are, so - ”
Reid shook his head quickly. “No, not really. The thing with Peter, it’s - it’s nothing.”
“Even still. I can’t. Not even counting the fact that I don't know how wise it is to start a relationship now...I mean, physically. I can’t.”
Luke looked extremely awkward, and Reid finally realized what he was saying.
“Oh. Oh! Right. Kidney failure. Not so great for acts of physical intimacy, I suppose. Especially considering - ”
“You’re babbling,” Luke said with a smile.
“I know.”
Luke sighed. He stared hungrily at Reid’s body, and Reid could feel himself start to respond.
“I suppose we could still…I could still…”
Reid shook his head. “I’d prefer it to be a two-way street.”
“So I should consider this incentive too?” Luke asked, a teasing smile springing to his face. “Get better so I can get some?”
“We need to find you a kidney.”
And suddenly Luke’s smile fell. “We need to be realistic.”
Reid sighed and bent forward, pressing his head against Luke’s shoulder. One of Luke’s hands came up; he buried it in Reid’s hair again.
**
Reid chuckled as Luke took a piece of cheese off the sandwich Reid was building and replaced it with a leaf of lettuce.
“If you’re going to stuff so much food in your mouth, could you at least try to make some of it just a little bit healthier?”
“You’re just jealous because you have to eat that crap, and I get this awesome food.”
Luke smiled as he took his relatively unappealing lunch and walked over to the table in Katie’s kitchen. He sat down and waited for Reid to join him. He took a bite, tried his best not to make a face and then smacked his lips.
“Mmm.”
Reid took a giant bite of his sandwich. Some mayo dripped down his chin as he chewed and swallowed. He grinned widely at Luke. Luke shook his head, but couldn’t resist the urge to lean across the table and lick the smear clean, ending with a big kiss. Reid lifted his hand to the back of Luke’s head and held it in place as he deepened the kiss.
“Hello boys,” Katie greeted them cheerfully.
Luke immediately broke the kiss. He sat down in his seat and nodded at Katie and Jacob. He couldn’t quite meet her eyes.
“Jacob needs to change out of his school clothes and unpack his backpack. Don’t mind us.” Her voice was just barely sing-song as she led the little boy into his bedroom.
Despite her rather obvious attempts to give them alone time, Luke inhaled his lunch and raced out of there. When Jacob and Katie finally emerged nearly 20 minutes later, Reid was alone in the kitchen, cleaning up their lunch dishes.
“Where’s Luke?”
“You scared him away.”
“Aw, crap.”
Reid shrugged. He walked out into the living room and sat down on the couch. Jacob sat down next to him and stared. The boy had some trouble figuring out what to think of the man who suddenly lived in his home. He stared at Reid a lot. It was kind of disconcerting.
“Are you Luke’s boyfriend?” he asked, struggling with the R as he often did.
Reid looked at him, then up at Katie. Katie held her palms up innocently.
“I didn’t put him up to anything.”
Reid looked at the kid again. “I guess,” he said, ignoring Katie’s tiny squeak at that reply.
“Luke’s my cousin.”
“I know.”
“So, if you get married, you’ll be my cousin too.”
“Well,” Reid said uncomfortably, now ignoring Katie’s barely-muffled laughter. “That’s probably not going to happen.”
“You don’t want to marry him?”
“No, it’s not - look, Jacob. It’s complicated, OK?”
Jacob stared at him some more, now with an eyebrow raised in skepticism.
“Don’t you want to go play or something?” Reid asked weakly.
Katie finally took pity on him, joining them on the couch and handing Jacob a small plate of crackers. He became entirely focused on his snack (a boy after Reid’s heart), and forgot about their conversation. Katie smiled at Reid over his head.
“So…you two have worked things out, huh?”
“What things?” Reid deflected.
“You know. All the mess from three years ago.”
Reid sighed. “We…I guess we just kind of agreed not to talk about three years ago. Ever.”
Katie took a page out of her son’s book and stared at Reid. “Healthy,” she finally said.
Reid shrugged.
**
Reid checked his email the following morning. There was nothing urgent, and his bosses were more than willing to let him take off for the family medical crisis that Reid claimed was the reason he stayed in Illinois after the conference. It was true, in a twisted sort of way. And it wasn’t like he didn’t have oodles of vacation time.
He replied to the important messages, and was in the process of deleting others when his phone rang. He reached out absent-mindedly and picked up the phone.
“Oliver.”
“Reid, it’s Bob.”
Reid lifted his head as he felt his heart start to race. “Yeah.”
“I don’t know how to say this, but…you’re a match. Not ideal, but about as good as he could ever get, even if we waited for months.”
Reid exhaled, bending forward until his forehead touched the mousepad of his laptop. “Are you serious?” he muttered.
“It’s time you talked to Luke.”
He hung up with barely another word and closed the lid of his laptop. He went searching for Luke then, ultimately finding him on a bench in Old Town, where Luke was writing in a notebook. Without a single word, Reid bent down and kissed the hell out of Luke.
When he pulled away, Luke’s smile was slightly dazed, but completely irrepressible. He kept one hand resting lightly on Reid’s neck as he stared up at him.
“Hi,” he nearly whispered.
Reid sat down and looked at him intently. He folded his hands in his lap and leaned forward. “We’re a good match,” he said.
Luke’s grin got impossibly wider. “I think so too. Timing has never been our strong suit, but…I think so too.”
Reid laughed. “No, I mean…we’re a good match. Immunologically.”
Luke shook his head imperceptibly, unable to find words to ask what Reid meant.
“Did you know I’m B-positive too?”
Luke’s face blanched. He sat up straighter and scooted closer to Reid. “What are you saying?”
Reid licked his lower lip. “I asked Bob to test me, and…it looks good.”
Luke shook his head. “No.”
“Yes.”
“Reid, no.”
“I wouldn’t lie about this, Luke.”
“That’s not what I mean. I won’t let you do this.”
Reid moved closer too, catching Luke in an almost-hug. He held firmly to Luke’s head and forced him to make eye contact.
“I’m going in and I’m having a kidney taken out of me. If you’re not there, it’s just going to be a waste.”
“Reid,” Luke breathed out.
He ducked his head, and Reid leaned closer until their foreheads touched.
**
The next several days were a whirlwind of additional tests and pre-op procedures. The night before the planned surgery, before Reid checked into the hospital, he called a familiar number.
“Reid!” Peter said when he finally answered after three rings. “Are you back?”
“No,” Reid said succinctly. “I’m still in Illinois.”
There was a long pause. “OK. What’s going on?”
“I have a - a friend here who needs a kidney transplant.”
“Oh crap!”
“I’m a match, so…”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow.”
Reid stared at the wall on the opposite side of the hallway. He and Peter were emphatically not serious. They were friends with benefits, and even the term friends was stretching it. They may joke occasionally about something more, but neither of them wanted or expected anything beyond what they had. Reid knew all this. But he still didn’t think it’d be this hard.
“I haven’t been completely honest about all this,” he admitted.
Peter made a noncommittal noise. “So when you say ‘friend?’”
Reid didn’t answer. It turned out that was answer enough.
“Well, then I really hope the surgery works out,” Peter told him.
“Thanks,” Reid said softly.
“Let me know how it goes.”
“OK.”
Peter laughed shortly. “I’d say see you later, but…”
“We were…” Reid said.
“We were what we were,” Peter reminded him. “There are no broken hearts here.”
“Right. Yeah.”
“Goodbye.”
“Bye.”
Reid hung up the phone and stared at the screen for a moment. Then he pushed off the wall and walked towards Luke’s room. He wanted to see him one last time before he was admitted and had to deal with nurses poking and prodding him. As he approached the room, he heard voices and realized Katie was in there. Reid stopped abruptly and pressed himself against the wall so he could listen without being seen.
“I just can’t believe all this is really happening,” Luke was saying.
“It does seem kind of serendipitous,” Katie agreed. “But Reid would do anything for you.”
There was no audible reply from Luke, and then Katie asked, “Don’t you think that’s true?”
“I don’t know. I want to believe that, but - we haven’t talked about what this all means. What’s going to happen in a week or three when hopefully I’m on my way to full health and he needs to go back to work.”
“Luke. He’s giving you his kidney. I think he’s pretty committed to you, even if he hasn’t said anything about his feelings yet.”
“I know, I know! Ugh, I’m being crazy. It’s just…I thought he was really into me before, you know. I even - God, this is going to sound so lame, I even thought he, you know, that he quit for me.”
“Huh?”
“I know, right? Because of the ultimatum from Bob about Invicta. Like Dr. Reid Oliver would ever choose his personal life over his career. I told you - lame.”
“He did quit for you.”
“Clearly that isn’t true, Katie, or he never would have left. I even went over to your place, all excited and - and hopeful, and…no. He explained it was all about the job at the Mayo Clinic. He told me I was a blip on his radar.”
“Luke!” Reid could hear the disbelief and shock in Katie’s voice. “Trust me on this. I was there when he made the decision to quit. I may have even…gently persuaded him in that decision.”
Reid quietly scoffed.
There was a long pause. “Then why did he - ?” Luke asked.
“I don’t know. But I wish I had forced this conversation with you sooner!”
Reid couldn’t listen to them anymore. He made some obvious noise as he reached for the door and pushed it completely open. Katie turned to face him, while Luke shifted on his bed and refused to meet Reid’s eyes.
“Hey,” Reid said.
“Hi!” Luke replied, overly cheerful.
“I better get home to Jacob,” Katie announced.
She stood and walked past Reid, stopping to pinch his arm. Hard.
“Ow! What was that for?!”
“Nothing,” Katie replied, stomping out of the room.
Reid turned to face Luke; Luke shrugged.
To Be Continued