The Long and Winding Road 33/?
Title: The Long and Winding Road
Pairing: Luke and Reid
Other Characters: Bob, and Lynne
Summary: This is a story about the courtship of Luke and Reid. This story is AU.
Disclaimer: These are not my characters. All belong to ATWT and its parent company(ies). All mistakes are mine.
Rating: PG
A/N This chapter explains the dossier’s that Chris had at his apartment. I have no medical training so I have just made up the medical stuff to fit this story.
Luke and Reid hurried over to Memorial, wondering what on earth Bob would need to speak to the two of them about.
As soon as they arrived at Bob’s office, Lynne ushered them in. Luke and Reid just looked at each other. Luke gave Reid’s hand a reassuring squeeze, although he wasn’t sure who he was trying to comfort, Reid or himself.
Reid just shrugged in response.
“Thank you both for coming over so quickly,” Bob greeted them solemnly.
Reid just stared at Bob waiting for him to continue.
“Is everything alright, Bob? You seem very upset,” Luke offered realizing that Bob was deeply distressed, his clothes were rumpled and his eyes were rimmed in red..
“I’m afraid that I have some terrible news for the two of you, and I’m not really sure where to begin.”
“Does this have anything to do with me being the Chief of Staff? Are you telling me that I no longer hold that position?” Reid inquired, his whole body suddenly tensing.
Bob shook his head. “No, this doesn’t have anything to do with the hospital, really. Your position is safe and I am sure that you will do a brilliant job.”
“Does this have something to do with Chris?” Luke asked gently.
Bob let out a deep sigh. “Yes, I’m afraid that it does.”
Reid just gaped at Bob, wondering why the other man wanted to talk to him about Chris. He realized that Bob was going to beg Reid to keep Chris on staff.
“Bob, I’m sorry but I just don’t see how I could possibly keep Chris on my staff. He clearly has no respect for me or for the boards’ decision. I know that he’s your son, but I will simply have to fire him,” Reid stated and got up to leave.
“Sit down,” Bob stated, harshly. “It seems that I am going to have to explain more to you than I thought. Chris was taken to Deerbrooke last night,” he paused, “as a patient.” Luke and Reid took a moment to exchange a surprised glance, and then turned their attention back to Bob. “I had hoped that he had just had a minor breakdown and would soon be able to return to Oakdale.”
“I’m so sorry, Bob. We didn’t know, we just thought that he had gone home to cool off. I thought that he had probably just had too much to drink,” Luke offered.
“I wish that was all that it had been, but unfortunately the situation was even more serious than I had realized. I didn’t go home last night after the retirement dinner; instead I went over to Chris’s apartment. I told Kim that I was just going over to pack a few more things for him, but really I was there on a fishing expedition.”
“What were you looking for?” Reid asked, his curiosity piqued, as it was obvious that Bob had found it.
“Well, when we made it clear that he was going to the mental hospital, as a patient, Christopher insisted that he needed something from home. He became agitated, when I explained that Kim had already packed a bag for him. I knew then that there was something that he wanted with him, and I wondered what it could be.”
“And now you know, and you wish that you didn’t,” Reid surmised. “This something has to do with Luke and me, doesn’t it? That’s why we’re here.” Reid stated.
“Yes,” Bob replied, feeling older than he ever had before. He pointed to two file folders that were on his desk. One was very thick while the other one was quite slim. “It appears that Christopher had developed a sick obsession with you back in med school that never abated. He has some old school newspaper clippings with stories about your brilliance that he has written ‘that should have been me’ in the margins of. He ranted at length about how you had cheated to win the fellowship and that you needed to be stopped.
“He has notes on all of your cases. It’s clear that he resented each and every one of your successes. Your failures, though few, seemed to give him hope. There is evidence in this file that he may have contacted Mr. Judd and suggested the malpractice suit.”
“How would he have managed to get a hold of Mr. Judd? It seems unlikely that there would only be one in Dallas, and cold calling would have taken away his credibility,” Luke interjected.
“I’m not sure how he would have managed it,” Bob admitted.
“I know how he could have done it,” Reid answered quietly. “He probably called Sam Fletcher, Annie’s paediatrician. Sam and I went to med school together, and since I now know that Chris was there too, it’s likely that he and Sam were friendly. Chris probably phoned him up under false pretences and retrieved the Judd’s number.”
“That would explain it. He probably then called Mr. Judd and took advantage of the poor soul’s grief.” Bob sadly acknowledged. “Chris was furious, according to some of the writing’s in this file, that you were cleared of the charges and thus kept your medical license.”
“I honestly don’t even remember him from med school. We probably had some of the same classes, but I mainly kept to myself and studied my butt off. I was there to become the best doctor that I could be, and I didn’t really become close friends with anyone. I vaguely remember there being a few articles about me, but they mostly had to do with me winning the fellowship. Some people thought that I had cheated and demanded an investigation as you know. Do you think that Chris instigated that too?”
“Yes,” Bob admitted quietly. “I think that he resented you from the beginning simply because he expected to be the big man on campus. He was always very sociable and he very much enjoyed being popular. He was always bright, and being from a small town like Oakdale there wasn’t that much competition, so he was used to winning all of the academic awards. Looking back I think that he took too much pride in those awards, and felt that he was entitled to the accolades, and didn’t really imagine that he had any competition, because here he really didn’t. Harvard, as you know, is not like Oakdale. It is highly competitive having some of the best minds in the country vying for top marks. I told Christopher before he went that it was going to be a challenge, and that he should focus on doing his best, not being the best. I honestly thought that he had accepted that, but seeing this file it is clear to me that he saw you getting the attention and accolades that he felt he deserved. As a result he blamed you for being more successful that he was.”
“I honestly had no idea, Bob. When I met him here he was hostile toward me, but then lots of people don’t like me, so it wasn’t something I particularly paid attention to. I only became concerned when he started being nice to me. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but he made me uneasy. He seemed to be overly concerned with my relationship with Luke, so I asked Luke not to tell him that we were together. We didn’t actively hide our relationship, but we became careful not to flaunt it in front of Chris.”
“As it turns out you were very wise to do that,” Bob acknowledged as he pointed to the slimmer file folder. “This is a dossier that he had started putting together on Luke. It seems that he felt that it was Luke that saved your medical license in Dallas. According to this file he plotted with Alison to split the two of you up, and to solidify things he wanted you to get back together with Noah. He seemed to believe that Luke was both your lucky charm and your Achilles heel. I think that he felt that if you two broke up, your life would somehow be ruined and he would be able to secure the position of Chief of Staff.”
Luke was shocked. “I’m so sorry that you are suffering, Bob. I truly hope that Chris gets the help that he needs.”
“Thank you Luke. I hope that he is able to get better as well, but I want to assure you both that I have couriered copies of these files to Deerbrooke and I will make sure that he is not released until several psychiatrists deem him sane,” Bob finished with a tear in his eye, knowing fully well that, in all likelihood, Christopher would be institutionalized for the rest of his natural life.
Reid understood what Bob was saying and felt badly for his mentor, but he also felt tremendous relief that Chris was locked up so that Luke was safe.
“Bob, I would really like to look through the dossiers on my own. Would you mind making copies for me?” Reid asked, needing to know exactly what had been going through Chris’s mind.
“I’ve already made copies for you,” Bob answered pointing to a cardboard box in the corner. “You may take them with you and go through them at length. I would appreciate any insight you may have to offer after reading them.”
Reid nodded.
“Please let us know if there is anything either of us can do to help,” Luke offered generously.
“I will,” Bob smiled. “Thank you for your concern.”
Luke and Reid got up to leave, but Bob stopped them. “I’m so sorry that I didn’t realize earlier just how sick Christopher is. I knew that he was competitive with you, but I didn’t really think that there was anything wrong with that. In fact, I was a proud, I thought that he was striving to be as dedicated a doctor as you are, it wasn’t until I heard about him talking to the board that I realized he felt entitled to the position and wasn’t at all interested in putting in the hard work that you do on a regular basis.”
“Bob the important thing is that Chris is getting the help that he needs,” Luke offered. “You aren’t to blame for Chris’s illness. Reid and I are fine, the hospital is fine, and hopefully Chris will be fine too, one day soon.”
Bob nodded and shook their hands and bid them good bye.
Once the two had left Bob’s office, Luke put his arm around Reid’s shoulder. “Are you okay?” he asked cautiously.
“Yeah, I think so. What about you?” Reid replied.
“Yeah, I’m okay. It’s frightening to think that Chris has been obsessed with you for such a long time, without anyone realizing how sick he truly was.”
“Mental illness is tricky to diagnose, especially a case like Chris’s where he was obsessed with one person. He was able to mask his psychosis more easily because we haven’t had any contact until now. My coming to Oakdale, his hometown, working for his father, probably escalated his condition.”
“Please don’t blame yourself. You are not responsible for his actions,” Luke stated.
“I’m not, I promise. I am just grateful that he is getting the help he needs far away from us. I can only imagine what he might have done next had he been allowed to remain free. I have a lot of respect for Bob for assessing the situation objectively and taking the necessary steps. That can’t have been easy.”
Luke leaned in and kissed Reid warmly. “Look at you being all compassionate for Bob,” Luke teased lightly. “So do you want to go back to the hotel and scour the dossiers or do you want to go to Al’s for some food?”
Reid hesitated, but only for a moment. “Let’s go to Al’s,” he responded, the files would keep.
End Notes: I don’t really plan to spend any more time on the dossier’s I just thought that Reid would definitely want to read each and every page.
Again I don’t have any medical training, so this is all just fabricated to fit this story.