The Long and Winding Road 30/?
Title: The Long and Winding Road
Pairing: Luke and Reid
Other Characters: Many Oakdaleites
Summary: This is the story about the courtship of Luke and Reid.
This is story is AU, as Reid is very much alive. Katie and Chris are not together.
Rating: PG 14 for language. The F bomb has been dropped.
A/N: This is the end for Chris. I hope that you like it.
“Wow, Luke the food is delicious,” Reid enthused. “Did you have something to do with it?”
Luke blushed a pretty shade of pink. “Teri created a few menu choices and I picked the one that I thought you would enjoy the most,” Luke shrugged, feeling pleased and embarrassed at the same time.
Reid leaned over and kissed Luke warmly. “You are the best boyfriend ever,” he whispered, just loudly enough for Luke to hear.
Luke blushed even more
After all of the dinner plates were removed from the tables, Luke turned to Reid. “I’m so full; I wish that I hadn’t eaten quite so much,” he lamented.
“What are you talking about? The food was incredible, I wish that I had eaten more!”
“Oh my God,” Luke answered in disbelief. “Aren’t you full?”
“Well, kind of,” Reid admitted, “but we’re still going to have dessert, right?”
Luke groaned and wished that he had an elastic waist band.
Mercifully he noticed Bob walking up to the front of the room and standing at the lectern that had been placed there, just for this evening.
“This is it,” he whispered to Reid, a huge smile on his face.
Reid simply nodded and grabbed Luke’s hand. He would never admit it, but he was actually feeling pretty nervous.
“May I have your attention please,” Bob spoke into the microphone.
All eyes immediately focused on Bob.
“Before the servers bring out coffee and dessert, I thought that I would take this opportunity to say a few words,” he began.
Faith groaned and glared at her mother. “I have to sit through a boring speech, why didn’t you warn me about this,” Faith hissed at Lily.
“Faith, you are almost an adult, you need to learn how to behave, now please listen to Bob,” Lily admonished.
Faith rolled her eyes. “I would rather be at home with Natalie, Ethan and Grandma Emma,” she muttered, loudly enough for Lily to hear.
“Faith,” Lily responded, louder than she intended and several people turned to stare at her.
Lily smiled to hide her acute embarrassment, and then turned to glare at Faith, who was smirking to herself.
Lily returned her attention to Bob.
“I have truly enjoyed serving the hospital for these many years,” Bob droned on.
Reid could barely pay attention to Bob’s speech as the anticipation took over his entire nervous system. Thank God that Luke is beside me. Luke was holding Reid’s hand and running his thumb gently over Reid’s index finger in an effort to calm the other man down.
“It has been a great joy to treat children, who have grown up and then brought there children to be treated by me,” Bob continued.
Craig was feeling a little bored and was hoping that Bob’s speech would get more interesting. Then he noticed that Kim was fidgeting, uncharacteristically, and followed her gaze to see that Chris was beaming. Hmmm maybe this will get more interesting after all. Craig sat back and waited, hoping not to be disappointed.
“As with all things in life, there is a cycle, and the time has come for me to pass the torch on to someone else. I am happy to announce that the new chief of staff, is not only a brilliant doctor and marvellous colleague, this man has also become like a son to me,” Bob continued.
A look of confusion crossed Chris’s face. Like a son? What the hell does that mean??? I am his son, aren’t I? Oh my God, did Mom cheat on Dad? Do I have a different biological father?? Oh, I understand, Dad doesn’t want my promotion to be tainted by nepotism. Mystery solved Chris returned to beaming.
Kim meanwhile, studiously looked down at her lap to avoid seeing the hopeful look on poor Christopher’s face. He’s going to be devastated. I know that he’s not ready to take over the hospital, but I hope that Bob is doing the right thing.
Craig noticed Kim’s obvious discomfort, which seemed to increase as the speech seemed to be nearing its end. He looked over at Chris, who clearly believed he was getting the top job. Oh my God, the kid is delusional! I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Luke smiled at Reid and leaned in and whispered, “I am so incredibly proud of you, I love you!” into Reid’s ear.
Reid smiled at Luke, and felt more secure than he had ever felt in his life.
Katie glanced over and caught the look between them. Reid looked so open, and so vulnerable and beautiful. She quickly looked away, feeling a bit like a voyeur.
“So without further adieu, I would like to introduce the next chief of staff at Memorial Hospital,” Bob intoned. “Dr. Reid Oliver, would you please join me and say a few words,”
Reid stood up to join Bob on the dais, while the crowd applauded.
Luke and Katie were over the moon to see Reid get the job he so richly deserved.
The Hughes table, all except Kim who was still looking down at her lap, were stunned.
Craig could see that Chris was apoplectic at the news.
“Reid Oliver, Dad can’t be serious, Chris hates that guy. He still blames Reid for some fiasco that happened to him in med school. This is a slap in the face to my little brother,” Tom finished in a shocked voice.
The table turned to see Chris standing up, his face purple with rage.
“Oh my God,” Margo muttered. Thank God that Jack and I are already here. I have a bad feeling about this.
“Wow Sis, I just wish I had some popcorn so that I could really enjoy the show!” Craig whispered in Margo’s ear.
Margo just gave Craig a withering look. “Did you know anything about this?” she demanded quietly.
“No, I swear!” Craig answered putting his hands in the air as a sign of innocence. “This is just a happy coincidence that I happened to come tonight. My only intention was to come here to support Bob.”
“Did you know that Reid was getting the top job?” Carly asked Lily, with a mixture of awe and surprise. “I expected the job to go to Susan. She has a lot more seniority than Reid.”
“I really didn’t know, Luke mentioned something about Reid being considered, but I figured it was just Luke being a cheerleader for his current beau,” Lily shrugged.
“Lily,” Holden chided. “You really need to take Luke more seriously. He is an adult now with a good head on his shoulders, and a beautiful heart.”
“I guess so, but to me he will always be my baby,” she replied with a smile.
Holden rolled his eyes. “That’s my point, he’s not a baby and if you keep treating him like he is, you may find that you lose him.”
“Calm down you two, I think that Chris Hughes is about to blow a gasket, so I can’t be worried about the pair of you, okay?” Jack admonished the couple.
Faith rolled her eyes at her Uncle Jack, but turned with the rest of the table to stare at Chris. Oh my God, Uncle Jack is right; Chris is going to have a fit. Finally things are going to get interesting!
Ali, who had begun to edge her chair closer to Emily’s and further away from Chris’s while Bob was speaking, was now practically sitting in her sister’s lap and fervently hoping that everyone would think that she had come with Emily and Paul rather than Chris.
Paul chuckled when he heard Bob announce Reid’s name and mused that perhaps that was the reason for Dr. Oliver’s excellent seating placement.
Noah squinted at Paul, finding his comments in extremely poor taste.
Janet, however, nodded vigorously and commented on what a great job Luke had done with the seating plan. “Dr. Oliver is an amazing doctor, why he fixed my Dusty right up a few months ago. By the way, have you seen is ass? The man is smokin’ hot. I bet he’ll get people to donate to the hospital just so that they can see him. I would, you know if I had any money. Maybe I can get Dusty to donate…” she blathered on and on.
Noah squinted at her too.
Just as Reid reached Bob at the podium, Chris stood up and started yelling. “Dad what the fuck is going on here?”
“Christopher!” Kim admonished from her table. “Don’t use that language or that tone with your father.”
“Dad come on, the joke’s over, tell everyone that I am the new chief of staff. You can’t seriously be handing over the hospital to that jackass!”
Luke was practically shaking in his seat. How dare Chris say such things about Reid??? Bob had better put a stop to this now!
Katie reached out and took Luke’s hand to calm the younger man down. “Look at Reid,” she suggested quietly. “He’s fine. If anything he is amused by Chris making a fool of himself.”
Luke looked up at Reid and saw that he had a ghost of a smile on his face and Luke realized that Katie was right. Luke immediately relaxed, but he didn’t let go of Katie’s hand.
“Christopher you need to sit down and accept that Reid is the new chief of staff,” Bob replied sternly.
“The fuck I will,” shouted Chris. “I’ve talked to the board members Dad and I’ve told them exactly what kind of man Reid is and they would never have voted him in,” Chris finished smugly.
At that moment Leland stood up. “Chris, your father is fully aware that you spoke to us and we have discussed Reid thoroughly and we, the board, unanimously voted for him to be the next chief of staff. Now please sit down,” he finished angrily.
“What?” Chris started. “I can’t believe this. What does Reid have on all of you? You can’t possibly think that he is fit to run Memorial! I am a Hughes, for fuck’s sake. Memorial is my birthright!” Chris finished starting to move toward the dais, to take his rightful spot.
Paul noticed that Chris was moving and simply put his foot out and tripped Chris.
Everyone just stared as Chris toppled over.
“Oh Christopher, Baby, are you alright?” Kim asked from her table, getting up to check on him.
Chris got up, glared at Paul and noticed a stray steak knife sitting by Paul’s arm. He grabbed the knife and briefly threatened Paul with it.
“I ought to kill you, for that” Chris hissed out. At that moment Dusty appeared and performed a round house kick in order to disarm Chris.
Margo and Jack had seen and heard enough. Jack was the first one to reach Chris, and while he had been subdued by the roundhouse kick, it was Jack that put the cuffs on and led Chris out into the hall. Margo and Tom quickly caught up and followed Jack and Chris outside in order to see what would happen next.
“Please don’t hurt my baby,” Kim cried after them. “He really is a good person, he’s just misunderstood,” she explained and turned to glare at Bob.
“I’m sorry Reid, but I need to go and attend to this,” Bob apologized.
“By all means go, Bobbo,” Reid replied, ushering the older doctor off to his son.
“Well,” Reid began turning briefly to smile at Luke. “That was an unexpected turn of events, but then again this is Oakdale, so I’m sure none of you are truly surprised.”
The audience just stared blankly back at him.
Reid resisted the urge to roll his eyes and began the speech that Luke had written for him.
Meanwhile Bob had joined Kim, Chris, Tom, Margo, Jack, and Dusty he was pleased to see that nurse Gretchen had joined them as well.
Jack was the first to speak. “Bob, I’m sorry but we are going to have to arrest Chris, his behaviour can’t simply be swept under the rug.”
“Arrested,” Kim whispered in horror. “Jack, you know Chris, you know he’s not a …criminal,” she spat out the last word.
“My hands are tied, Kim. He threatened Paul with a steak knife,” Jack replied.
“Paul tripped me!!! You can’t arrest me; I need to run the hospital. I am the chief of staff.”
“Jack, I don’t think that jail is the best place for Chris,” Bob paused.
“Thank God, he can come home with us,” Kim added.
“No,” Bob said firmly. “Kim we are going to follow through with my original plan. If you and Margo agree to it,” Bob continued looking at Jack.
“Tell me your plan,” Jack sighed, another perfectly good arrest was slipping through his fingers!
“Chris clearly needs help,” Bob started.
“I have the whole staff to help me Dad. They all hate Reid Oliver too. I’ve seen to that,” Chris piped up helpfully.
“I was concerned that something like this might happen. I didn’t realize that he was this far gone, but I have arranged a spot for him at Deerbrooke and Gretchen and Dusty have graciously agreed to accompany him on the next train.”
“Deerbrooke?? Why would I be going to Deerbrooke? Did you go there when you became the chief of staff? Is that part of my training? Why didn’t anyone say anything earlier?”
“Christopher, I’m sorry, but you need help. You are going to Deerbrooke as a patient,” Bob answered gently.
“I’m going to a mental hospital as a patient??? Did Reid put you up to this? I knew that I should have killed him. Oh my God, wait until Mom finds out. She’ll never let this happen.”
“Sweetheart,” Kim said gently taking his hand. “You really do need help. Your father thinks that this is what’s best for you, so please just give it a try.”
“Oh my God, is this really happening to me? I’m really not the chief of staff? This isn’t some kind of elaborate joke?”
“No,” Bob responded in his kindest voice, while everyone else shook their heads, feeling incredibly uncomfortable.
“I’m really not the chief of staff?” Chris said again in bewilderment. Where did I go wrong! This is all Reid Oliver’s fault and Luke Snyder’s too. I’m going to get them as soon as I get out.
Chris had actually said that last part out loud and the group stood there feeling horrified. Even Kim realized that her son could not possibly remain free and that his healing process was going to take a very long time.
“I need to go back to my apartment and pack a bag,” Chris pleaded; there was a drawer where he kept a dossier on Reid that he wanted to take with him.
“No need, Son. Your mother stopped by this morning and packed a bag, just in case it would be needed. We will send more things when it becomes necessary. Dusty do you have your car ready? You need to get going if you are going to get to the train on time.”
“You’re not coming with me?” Chris asked, looking from Bob to Kim.
“I’m sorry Son, but I’m needed here. I can’t possibly leave now, when the hospital is changing into Reid’s hands. I need to be here for the transition. Gretchen and Dusty will make sure that you get settled.”
“I can’t believe that you’re choosing Reid over me, your own son,” Chris stated bitterly. “You’ll come and visit me thought, right?”
“Yes, we’ll come and visit you, once the doctors feel that you are ready to see people.” Bob replied, being careful not to commit to anything in particular.
Oh my God, I’m all alone being carted off the nuthouse. Don’t they know that I’m not crazy? How did this happen. My mom and dad aren’t even coming with me. They’re staying with Reid fucking Oliver. God I hate him!!!
“Okay, well it’s time to go. I’ll be in touch with your doctors soon to check on your progress. Please concentrate on getting well,” Bob finished sincerely.
“I’ll go with them so that they can keep the cuffs on,” Jack stated reasonably, he wanted to make sure that nothing went wrong. Chris had clearly gone off the deep end and was a threat not only to Reid, but also to Luke. Jack had to protect his nephew. “Please tell Carly where I’ve gone and ask Holden and Lily to take her home.”
“Thanks Jack, I will make sure that Carly gets home safely.”
Kim took a moment to tearfully say goodbye to her son. She was not really sure who he was anymore, but she prayed that he would get the help he so desperately needed at Deerbrooke.
I’m alone, I’m really all alone. Reid has won. I have never felt so defeated in my entire life. That was the last thought Chris had as he stepped into Dusty’s car.
Bob, Kim, Tom and Margo returned just in time to catch the end of Reid’s speech. By the rapt attention of his audience Bob knew that Reid was doing an excellent job.
“There is one more person that I need to acknowledge, without him I literally would not be standing before you tonight,” Reid paused and stared at Luke. Luke was beaming back at him. Oh my God, I think that he’s talking about me!!! I think that he’s going to thank me here, right now in front of everyone!!!
“Luke Snyder, I love you! Thank-you for dragging me here to Oakdale,” Reid finished, nodded to Bob, who had managed to join Reid on the dais, and went back to his seat.
Luke kissed Reid as soon as he was able to. “I love you too,” he said earnestly, once he had broken the kiss. “I can’t believe you said that, in front of everyone.”
Reid shrugged. “It’s the truth. I wouldn’t be here without you.”
Luke rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t talking about you thanking me, although that was really great too; I meant that I couldn’t believe that you said you loved me in front of everyone.”
Reid shrugged again. “It’s the truth and to be honest with you I really don’t think anyone was terribly shocked by that announcement.”
Luke just smiled lovingly back at Reid. I’m sure that everyone was shocked by that announcement.
A/N I’m not quite done with Bob’s retirement party. Luke is correct, people were very surprised and not everyone was pleased. I bet you can guess who that was!!
I hope that you were satisfied with Chris’s exit. He will not be back! I had planned this from the beginning and I hope that it was believable. Chris will not be back, but you will find out about the dossier that he has on Reid.