The Big Gamble (Part 1)
Part One:
He remembers the moment exactly; the moment his life changed forever. He remembers how the lights were dimmed, the soft glow overhead bright enough to light the table. He can see the faces of the other men clearly, sweating and looking nervously between the two of them. He still remembers the cocky, arrogant look on the fool sitting directly across from him, so sure of himself in that very moment. But above all, what he remembers most is the look on that man’s face when he spread his cards down on the table in front of him: straight flush.
Oakdale was a strange town. Reid had only been there a few weeks, moving to the little sector in the middle of nowhere as a favor to a doctor who he had grown to respect. He had first met Bob Hughes at a medical conference while he was still in school. One of the doctor’s at Mass General, who had also taught at Harvard, had taken a particular interest in him from the get go. It was because of Dr. Thompson that Reid had gotten to know the kind, old man. The two had struck up a rather unusual friendship that was conducted by telephone and e-mail. Bob was with him every step of the way, from his first surgery to his first patient lost. He often called to congratulate him on his most successful surgeries that made its way around the medical field. He was young and quickly becoming one of the best doctors that modern medicine had ever seen, which is why the buzz around their community was so great when people heard that the big, bad Dr. Oliver was moving to some small, Podunk little town. Reid had to shake his head and roll his eyes at himself, he as well not believing that he would do such a thing. But when he got the call from Bob’s wife that he had passed and expressed his wishes for Reid to take over for him as Chief of Staff at Memorial, he knew he wouldn’t be able to deny the dying man’s wish. He made a promise to himself that he would give it a year, keep the little hospital that could going, and then he would move on. He owed Bob at least that much, although he knew that the older man would also know that there would be no way in hell that he would stay in such a town for long, so he felt little guilt about leaving it eventually. He had heard stories about Oakdale from Bob for years and to say he was terrified about stepping foot in the town would be an understatement of epic proportions and after arriving in the place to experience it firsthand, Reid could honestly say that his early diagnosis was correct. This town was fucked up.
“Henry, just do it!” Katie said sternly.
Henry groaned as his best friend pushed him toward the abrasive and brash Dr. Reid Oliver. Since moving to the small town just a few weeks before, he had made quite an impression on the townspeople. There weren’t many around who hadn’t heard of Bob Hughes’ replacement at Memorial. What they soon discovered however, was the doctor in question was nothing like the man he succeeded. He was often talked about as arrogant and rude. One thing that couldn’t be denied was the man’s obvious skill as a surgeon, but beyond that, there was no real desire to want to have anything to do with him. Katie was the exception to the rule. All it took was one diagnosis of her son Jacob with his first ear infection and she took it upon herself to befriend the man in question, much to his chagrin. While he could be rather…..abrasive, Katie just took it as a sign that the man needed to make some friends, which is how Henry found himself in the current predicament of asking Reid Oliver to his monthly poker game.
“Eh hem,” he cleared his throat.
No response
“EH HEM!” he tried louder.
Reid folded the paper he was reading and looked up annoyed. “Did you need something or do you just have something caught in your throat? I hope for your sake it’s the former because I may be a doctor, but I’m not at the hospital, which means I’m not going to save your life if you quit breathing.”
Henry stood there with his mouth gaping wide open. “You’re a doctor!” he exclaimed. “Isn’t there some Hippocratic oath your people have to take? Thou shall save lives?”
“I’m eating breakfast,” he said simply.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t aware that there were set times when it came to choking. Shall it be better if my oxygen supply were to cut off…….say around one?”
“Actually, no. That’s when I eat lunch, but by the way you keep going on and on,” he gestured wildly with his hands, “I’d say you’re fine, so why don’t you just tell me what you want and why you’re bothering me.”
Henry scoffed. “Fine. Tonight I’m having a poker game. I get one together every month. Would you like to come?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Oh thank God.”
“No, no, no, no!” Katie yelled rushing over.
“Oh Jesus,” Henry and Reid murmured at the same time.
“You have to go,” she said looking at Reid.
“Why?” the replied in unison once again.
“Reid, it would be good for you to get out for a little while. Just think about it. You can relax, have a few drinks, make some friends…..”
“Make some what?”
Katie rolled her eyes. “Friends silly!”
“Why does it have to be with him?” he asked pointing towards Henry.
“Why not with me? What is so wrong with me that you would consider it a travesty to be my friend?”
“Your shirt has sequins on it.”
“So?” he said loudly. “What’s wrong with wanting to be bright and colorful?”
“Flamboyant,” Reid added in.
“It’s not…..flamboyant. It’s fashion.”
“That Nathan Lane would’ve sported in ‘The Birdcage’.”
Henry gasped. “Katie.”
“Calm down Henry. No one really cares about your ugly shirt.” Henry just looked scandalized while Reid snorted. Katie turned towards him and poked her little, bony finger at him like she was E.T. getting ready to phone home. “You’re going to that poker game. End of story!”
“Or what?” Reid challenged.
“Or I’ll call you every hour on the hour for the rest of your life. Don’t think I won’t Dr. Oliver.”
“You don’t even have my phone number,” he pointed out.
“Pssh. I lifted that off your phone the first time we had coffee and you went to the bathroom. What do you think I am, some kind of amateur?”
“You stole my cell phone number?” he asked incredulously.
“I needed it.”
“Why?”
“So I could call you, duh!”
“Why?”
“Because we’re friends!”
“What is this word you keep speaking of?”
“You’re going. Trust me Reid. You don’t want to get on my badside!”
“As someone who has seen many sides of Katie, both emotionally and physically,” Henry piped up, “that is most definitely true.”
Reid scrunched his face in disgust at the thought of Henry and Katie before sighing in resignation. “Fine. One game.”
Reid had never been to a poker game with such a diverse group of people before. First of all, there was Henry, who had changed out of the sequined shirt (thank god) into a plain black one, but was now adorned with one of those ridiculous green visors. To his right there was a man with shaggy, sandy brown hair. Reid didn’t quite know what to do with him and his lesbian haircut, but the first thing he did when he sat down was make fun of Henry, so he was okay in Reid’s book, until he found out that he was actually Henry’s brother. Then all respect went straight out the window. He, himself, sat on the other side of Justin Bieber and then to his right sat Brad, Katie’s idiot husband. He was tall, dark and handsome. He could see the appeal physically, but once the man opened his mouth, Good God was he dumb! Oh well. Not everyone could be as awesome as he was. Next to him was The Godfather. The man was pure scruff and dressed all in black. Any minute Reid was sure he would try to open up his suit jacket and try to sell him a fake Rolex. He sat there talking with Brad, laid back looking calm and relaxed, like he had practiced the look in the mirror several times. There might have been something about a roundhouse kick mentioned somewhere in the story. He wasn’t sure. Next to him was…..yeah, he didn’t know his name either. Some college kid, who seemed nice and innocent enough. He was talking to the blonde kid next to him. He didn’t know why, but there was something about the kid that automatically rubbed him the wrong way. Finally was the blonde kid who he was talking to. There was nothing special about him. He was young too. Probably about the same age. Also dumb given the fact that he was tilting his chair so far back he was probably going to……ooop. Wait. Yep. There he went.
“Woah!” Casey popped up from the floor. “Head rush,” he laughed.
Reid shook his head in amusement before all eyes went to Henry.
“Alright gentleman. Game’s 5-card draw. Minimum bet is $5, maximum…..well….whatever you’re willing to part with.”
They had been going at it for quite sometime. Most of the snacks were gone and the table/floor was surrounded with empty beer bottles. Everyone knew though that this hand would be the last because someone was about to lose and not just lose, but lose BIG. Everyone around the table had folded with the exception of the two seated directly across from each other. Reid stared at the dark haired little punk, taking in every feature. His glistening eyes and his little arrogant smirk. He was so sure of himself and his hand. He almost felt bad for what he was going to do, but well…not really.
“Another thousand.”
Henry’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head while he heard Brad mutter ‘Dude’ right next to him. He could see the guy’s friend, Casey, lean over at him.
“Noah, you don’t have that kind of money,” he whispered. “You’ve already bet more than you actually have.”
“I know, but I’ve got this in the bag. Case, you think you could….”
“Noah, I don’t even have that kind of money.”
“I’ve already thrown everything I have into this game. I can’t lose now.”
“Tic tock, Tic Tock” Reid said moving his head side to side. “I’m getting kind of bored, so if you wouldn’t mind folding so we can get this show on the road…..”
“No,” he said quickly. “Just…..wait. I’ll think of something. I don’t have that kind of money, but there has to be something else I can give you, just give me a minute.”
“Noah,” Casey leaned in again. “Just give it up man. It sucks yeah, but, look, we’ll just call Luke and have him come pick us up, it’s not that…..”
“Luke!” Noah suddenly remembered.
“Yes,” Casey said slowly. “Luuuukkee. Your boyfriend. Jesus, how many have you had?”
“No, Luke! He’s what I have to offer!”
“Wait, what?” Casey said shaking his head like he had water in his ears.
“Excuse me?” Brad crossed his arms over his chest and stuck his head out.
“I’m throwing my boyfriend in,” he said confidently.
“No he’s not!” Casey replied quickly.
“Why in the hell would I want your boyfriend?”
“Oh this is not going to end well!” Henry groaned burying his face in his hands.
Paul just looked amused. “Coming tonight was so worth it just for this.”
Even Chuck Norris 2.0 decided to get in on the action. “Hey kid. You might want to think about this for a minute. I mean….even I know never to offer up my lady unless she’s willing to go along with it, you know what I’m sayin’?”
“You’re gay,” Noah stated looking at Reid. “I’ve heard you are. Everyone knows.”
“Swell!” Reid exclaimed. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“You’re gay and in Oakdale. You don’t exactly have the selection you would have if you were back in a big city. I’m giving you the advantage of not having to look at all. Luke’s alright. He probably won’t disappoint you that much.”
“Are you seriously pimping out my cousin right now?” Brad asked infuriated. “Casey, you need to reel your friend in…..quickly.”
“Noah, have you thought about what Luke’s reaction might be to all of this; trading him in a poker game to someone he’s never even met?”
“I’m not trading him,” he reasoned. “I’m betting him.”
“Because that’s so much better!?” he said incredulous.
“Casey I’m not going to lose. Trust me!”
Casey shook his head. “I’m telling you right now man. Don’t do it.”
“Why don’t we just call it a night?” Henry said staring nervously between the two. “We can all just walk away. No harm, no foul, right?”
“Wait,” Reid said. He shrugged one shoulder slightly. “What’s he like?”
“You can’t seriously be encouraging this!?” Henry asked him.
“If he’s willing to part so easily with his boyfriend, I’m just curious. What is he an uggo? A buttaface?”
“No he is not!” Casey said outraged. “Luke’s actually pretty hot thank you very much.”
“You sure he’s not your boyfriend?” Reid asked.
“You sure he’s not your boyfriend?” Casey mimicked mockingly. “Noah! Stop. I’m not going to let you bet Luke like he’s some sort of possession. You’ve obviously had a little too much to drink tonight and you’re not thinking rationally….”
“Take it or leave it Dr. Oliver.”
“Oh for Fuck’s sake,” Casey mumbled.
“Deal,” Reid smirked.
“Oh Double Fuck.” Casey looked as if he was about to be sick.
“You win, then you get everything. I win, I get all of your money and your boyfriend becomes mine.”
Noah, completely full of himself smiled and lowered his cards to the table. “Sorry you wasted your time tonight doctor. Four of a kind….in Jacks.”
Casey let out a deep breath and visibly relaxed as did most of the table. Reid rubbed his hand against his mouth while leaning forward and slightly fidgeting. “Never knew you actually had a good hand.”
Noah grinned again and reached forward to the center of the table where money was strewn about.
“I always do like to pride myself on being the best though.”
Casey’s gaze flickered over to him and Reid could see out of the corners of his eyes that the rest of the table visibly tensed. The glint in his eye grew bigger as across from him, the man’s grew dimmer. “Straight flush,” he said as he laid his cards down.
Everyone could hear the whimper come from Casey’s throat, but excluding that, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
“Well fuck me,” Brad murmured, knocking everyone back to reality.
NEXT
He remembers the moment exactly; the moment his life changed forever. He remembers how the lights were dimmed, the soft glow overhead bright enough to light the table. He can see the faces of the other men clearly, sweating and looking nervously between the two of them. He still remembers the cocky, arrogant look on the fool sitting directly across from him, so sure of himself in that very moment. But above all, what he remembers most is the look on that man’s face when he spread his cards down on the table in front of him: straight flush.
Oakdale was a strange town. Reid had only been there a few weeks, moving to the little sector in the middle of nowhere as a favor to a doctor who he had grown to respect. He had first met Bob Hughes at a medical conference while he was still in school. One of the doctor’s at Mass General, who had also taught at Harvard, had taken a particular interest in him from the get go. It was because of Dr. Thompson that Reid had gotten to know the kind, old man. The two had struck up a rather unusual friendship that was conducted by telephone and e-mail. Bob was with him every step of the way, from his first surgery to his first patient lost. He often called to congratulate him on his most successful surgeries that made its way around the medical field. He was young and quickly becoming one of the best doctors that modern medicine had ever seen, which is why the buzz around their community was so great when people heard that the big, bad Dr. Oliver was moving to some small, Podunk little town. Reid had to shake his head and roll his eyes at himself, he as well not believing that he would do such a thing. But when he got the call from Bob’s wife that he had passed and expressed his wishes for Reid to take over for him as Chief of Staff at Memorial, he knew he wouldn’t be able to deny the dying man’s wish. He made a promise to himself that he would give it a year, keep the little hospital that could going, and then he would move on. He owed Bob at least that much, although he knew that the older man would also know that there would be no way in hell that he would stay in such a town for long, so he felt little guilt about leaving it eventually. He had heard stories about Oakdale from Bob for years and to say he was terrified about stepping foot in the town would be an understatement of epic proportions and after arriving in the place to experience it firsthand, Reid could honestly say that his early diagnosis was correct. This town was fucked up.
“Henry, just do it!” Katie said sternly.
Henry groaned as his best friend pushed him toward the abrasive and brash Dr. Reid Oliver. Since moving to the small town just a few weeks before, he had made quite an impression on the townspeople. There weren’t many around who hadn’t heard of Bob Hughes’ replacement at Memorial. What they soon discovered however, was the doctor in question was nothing like the man he succeeded. He was often talked about as arrogant and rude. One thing that couldn’t be denied was the man’s obvious skill as a surgeon, but beyond that, there was no real desire to want to have anything to do with him. Katie was the exception to the rule. All it took was one diagnosis of her son Jacob with his first ear infection and she took it upon herself to befriend the man in question, much to his chagrin. While he could be rather…..abrasive, Katie just took it as a sign that the man needed to make some friends, which is how Henry found himself in the current predicament of asking Reid Oliver to his monthly poker game.
“Eh hem,” he cleared his throat.
No response
“EH HEM!” he tried louder.
Reid folded the paper he was reading and looked up annoyed. “Did you need something or do you just have something caught in your throat? I hope for your sake it’s the former because I may be a doctor, but I’m not at the hospital, which means I’m not going to save your life if you quit breathing.”
Henry stood there with his mouth gaping wide open. “You’re a doctor!” he exclaimed. “Isn’t there some Hippocratic oath your people have to take? Thou shall save lives?”
“I’m eating breakfast,” he said simply.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t aware that there were set times when it came to choking. Shall it be better if my oxygen supply were to cut off…….say around one?”
“Actually, no. That’s when I eat lunch, but by the way you keep going on and on,” he gestured wildly with his hands, “I’d say you’re fine, so why don’t you just tell me what you want and why you’re bothering me.”
Henry scoffed. “Fine. Tonight I’m having a poker game. I get one together every month. Would you like to come?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Oh thank God.”
“No, no, no, no!” Katie yelled rushing over.
“Oh Jesus,” Henry and Reid murmured at the same time.
“You have to go,” she said looking at Reid.
“Why?” the replied in unison once again.
“Reid, it would be good for you to get out for a little while. Just think about it. You can relax, have a few drinks, make some friends…..”
“Make some what?”
Katie rolled her eyes. “Friends silly!”
“Why does it have to be with him?” he asked pointing towards Henry.
“Why not with me? What is so wrong with me that you would consider it a travesty to be my friend?”
“Your shirt has sequins on it.”
“So?” he said loudly. “What’s wrong with wanting to be bright and colorful?”
“Flamboyant,” Reid added in.
“It’s not…..flamboyant. It’s fashion.”
“That Nathan Lane would’ve sported in ‘The Birdcage’.”
Henry gasped. “Katie.”
“Calm down Henry. No one really cares about your ugly shirt.” Henry just looked scandalized while Reid snorted. Katie turned towards him and poked her little, bony finger at him like she was E.T. getting ready to phone home. “You’re going to that poker game. End of story!”
“Or what?” Reid challenged.
“Or I’ll call you every hour on the hour for the rest of your life. Don’t think I won’t Dr. Oliver.”
“You don’t even have my phone number,” he pointed out.
“Pssh. I lifted that off your phone the first time we had coffee and you went to the bathroom. What do you think I am, some kind of amateur?”
“You stole my cell phone number?” he asked incredulously.
“I needed it.”
“Why?”
“So I could call you, duh!”
“Why?”
“Because we’re friends!”
“What is this word you keep speaking of?”
“You’re going. Trust me Reid. You don’t want to get on my badside!”
“As someone who has seen many sides of Katie, both emotionally and physically,” Henry piped up, “that is most definitely true.”
Reid scrunched his face in disgust at the thought of Henry and Katie before sighing in resignation. “Fine. One game.”
Reid had never been to a poker game with such a diverse group of people before. First of all, there was Henry, who had changed out of the sequined shirt (thank god) into a plain black one, but was now adorned with one of those ridiculous green visors. To his right there was a man with shaggy, sandy brown hair. Reid didn’t quite know what to do with him and his lesbian haircut, but the first thing he did when he sat down was make fun of Henry, so he was okay in Reid’s book, until he found out that he was actually Henry’s brother. Then all respect went straight out the window. He, himself, sat on the other side of Justin Bieber and then to his right sat Brad, Katie’s idiot husband. He was tall, dark and handsome. He could see the appeal physically, but once the man opened his mouth, Good God was he dumb! Oh well. Not everyone could be as awesome as he was. Next to him was The Godfather. The man was pure scruff and dressed all in black. Any minute Reid was sure he would try to open up his suit jacket and try to sell him a fake Rolex. He sat there talking with Brad, laid back looking calm and relaxed, like he had practiced the look in the mirror several times. There might have been something about a roundhouse kick mentioned somewhere in the story. He wasn’t sure. Next to him was…..yeah, he didn’t know his name either. Some college kid, who seemed nice and innocent enough. He was talking to the blonde kid next to him. He didn’t know why, but there was something about the kid that automatically rubbed him the wrong way. Finally was the blonde kid who he was talking to. There was nothing special about him. He was young too. Probably about the same age. Also dumb given the fact that he was tilting his chair so far back he was probably going to……ooop. Wait. Yep. There he went.
“Woah!” Casey popped up from the floor. “Head rush,” he laughed.
Reid shook his head in amusement before all eyes went to Henry.
“Alright gentleman. Game’s 5-card draw. Minimum bet is $5, maximum…..well….whatever you’re willing to part with.”
They had been going at it for quite sometime. Most of the snacks were gone and the table/floor was surrounded with empty beer bottles. Everyone knew though that this hand would be the last because someone was about to lose and not just lose, but lose BIG. Everyone around the table had folded with the exception of the two seated directly across from each other. Reid stared at the dark haired little punk, taking in every feature. His glistening eyes and his little arrogant smirk. He was so sure of himself and his hand. He almost felt bad for what he was going to do, but well…not really.
“Another thousand.”
Henry’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head while he heard Brad mutter ‘Dude’ right next to him. He could see the guy’s friend, Casey, lean over at him.
“Noah, you don’t have that kind of money,” he whispered. “You’ve already bet more than you actually have.”
“I know, but I’ve got this in the bag. Case, you think you could….”
“Noah, I don’t even have that kind of money.”
“I’ve already thrown everything I have into this game. I can’t lose now.”
“Tic tock, Tic Tock” Reid said moving his head side to side. “I’m getting kind of bored, so if you wouldn’t mind folding so we can get this show on the road…..”
“No,” he said quickly. “Just…..wait. I’ll think of something. I don’t have that kind of money, but there has to be something else I can give you, just give me a minute.”
“Noah,” Casey leaned in again. “Just give it up man. It sucks yeah, but, look, we’ll just call Luke and have him come pick us up, it’s not that…..”
“Luke!” Noah suddenly remembered.
“Yes,” Casey said slowly. “Luuuukkee. Your boyfriend. Jesus, how many have you had?”
“No, Luke! He’s what I have to offer!”
“Wait, what?” Casey said shaking his head like he had water in his ears.
“Excuse me?” Brad crossed his arms over his chest and stuck his head out.
“I’m throwing my boyfriend in,” he said confidently.
“No he’s not!” Casey replied quickly.
“Why in the hell would I want your boyfriend?”
“Oh this is not going to end well!” Henry groaned burying his face in his hands.
Paul just looked amused. “Coming tonight was so worth it just for this.”
Even Chuck Norris 2.0 decided to get in on the action. “Hey kid. You might want to think about this for a minute. I mean….even I know never to offer up my lady unless she’s willing to go along with it, you know what I’m sayin’?”
“You’re gay,” Noah stated looking at Reid. “I’ve heard you are. Everyone knows.”
“Swell!” Reid exclaimed. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“You’re gay and in Oakdale. You don’t exactly have the selection you would have if you were back in a big city. I’m giving you the advantage of not having to look at all. Luke’s alright. He probably won’t disappoint you that much.”
“Are you seriously pimping out my cousin right now?” Brad asked infuriated. “Casey, you need to reel your friend in…..quickly.”
“Noah, have you thought about what Luke’s reaction might be to all of this; trading him in a poker game to someone he’s never even met?”
“I’m not trading him,” he reasoned. “I’m betting him.”
“Because that’s so much better!?” he said incredulous.
“Casey I’m not going to lose. Trust me!”
Casey shook his head. “I’m telling you right now man. Don’t do it.”
“Why don’t we just call it a night?” Henry said staring nervously between the two. “We can all just walk away. No harm, no foul, right?”
“Wait,” Reid said. He shrugged one shoulder slightly. “What’s he like?”
“You can’t seriously be encouraging this!?” Henry asked him.
“If he’s willing to part so easily with his boyfriend, I’m just curious. What is he an uggo? A buttaface?”
“No he is not!” Casey said outraged. “Luke’s actually pretty hot thank you very much.”
“You sure he’s not your boyfriend?” Reid asked.
“You sure he’s not your boyfriend?” Casey mimicked mockingly. “Noah! Stop. I’m not going to let you bet Luke like he’s some sort of possession. You’ve obviously had a little too much to drink tonight and you’re not thinking rationally….”
“Take it or leave it Dr. Oliver.”
“Oh for Fuck’s sake,” Casey mumbled.
“Deal,” Reid smirked.
“Oh Double Fuck.” Casey looked as if he was about to be sick.
“You win, then you get everything. I win, I get all of your money and your boyfriend becomes mine.”
Noah, completely full of himself smiled and lowered his cards to the table. “Sorry you wasted your time tonight doctor. Four of a kind….in Jacks.”
Casey let out a deep breath and visibly relaxed as did most of the table. Reid rubbed his hand against his mouth while leaning forward and slightly fidgeting. “Never knew you actually had a good hand.”
Noah grinned again and reached forward to the center of the table where money was strewn about.
“I always do like to pride myself on being the best though.”
Casey’s gaze flickered over to him and Reid could see out of the corners of his eyes that the rest of the table visibly tensed. The glint in his eye grew bigger as across from him, the man’s grew dimmer. “Straight flush,” he said as he laid his cards down.
Everyone could hear the whimper come from Casey’s throat, but excluding that, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
“Well fuck me,” Brad murmured, knocking everyone back to reality.
NEXT