47 Checking up
Word Soap: As The World Keeps Turning
Author: SYLnl
Title: #47 Checking up
Rating: PG
Summary: Reid is roaming around Memorial
Big Thanks To: ltklo, for brushing up my grammar
Previously on As The World Keeps Turning:
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14 #15 #16 #17 #18 #19 #20
#21 #22 #23 #24 #25 #26 #27 #28 #29 #30 #31 #32 #33 #34 #35 #36 #37 #38 #39 #40 #41 #42 #43 #44 #45 #46
He liked things in order. You might even call him methodical and he wouldn't disagree. It gave him a sense of comfort when life run its course as he planned it. And the Universe had been kind to him today. Everything had gone according to his schedule. No surprises, no detours, no bumps in the road. Smooth sailing, the whole day.
Days like this were rare. Reid was very aware of that, so it had put him in an extremely good mood. And it obviously showed, because Chris Hughes watched him almost in horror.
"What made you this chirpy? Are you so glad to see me leave?"
"Still convinced you're the centre of the Universe, are you? But yes, I am glad you're recovered enough to leave. More interesting...why are you so down about it?"
Chris lowered his head. "You need to ask? I will be recuperating at my parent's..."
Reid honestly didn't get it.
"So? I'm pretty sure they'll take great care of you."
"Hover over me, you mean." Chris pulled a face.
"Poor you," Reid replied without sympathy. "Having to deal with all that parental love."
"Yeah well... I guess it's better than a rehabilitation centre..."
"You guess?"
"But I'd rather be at Katie's..."
Ah, now Reid could connect the dots.
"Our Florence Nightingale bailed out on you, did she?"
"Big time. She didn't even offer."
"Shame on her for having a busy life of her own," Reid faked indignation.
"But if she really cared for me, she..." Chris stopped when Reid started shaking his head. "What?"
"You and your outlook on caring,” Reid’s good mood was fading. “How caring were you when you kept silent about feeling sick?”
Chris bit his lip, but Reid wasn’t finished yet.
“From where I’m standing you have all these high expectations for the people around you and very outlined ideas about how they should and should not act, but you let yourself get away with about anything. Maybe you should turn that around and start treating others how you’d like to be treated.”
“Who died and made you Mother Theresa?” Chris sneered, unwilling to admit Reid’s words hit home.
Reid just grinned.
“I wish you a speedy recovery, Doogie. May the force be with you.”
Without a greeting Reid left Chris alone and continued his rounds with a quick stop at Damian’s room. The policeman at the door gave him a quick glance, before returning his attention to his laptop.
“Reid!” Damian was genuinely pleased to see him. Over the last few weeks they had reached some sort of friendly interaction and the chess set on Damian’s bed stand had a lot to do with that.
“Time for a game?”
“I’m afraid not,” Reid knew Damian’s chess skills by now and the Italian was pretty good. Reid hadn’t lost one yet, but their games did take a while. And he had no time to spare, today.
“It’s my last round of the day,” Reid explained and Damian understood immediately.
“I’m glad my son is still the main attraction,” he smiled.
Reid just nodded. He didn’t discuss Luke with Damian. Ever.
“How are you doing today?”
“I’m okay. No pain or anything. Surgery is planned for the day after tomorrow.”
Reid gave a quick nod. “I heard. Dr. McLyan is coming in from Northwestern.”
“You know him?”
“Not personally. But he’s one of the best.”
“I’m glad,” Damian smiled and made a hand movement. “And now go and have a great evening with Luciano.”
“Thanks,” Reid gave him a I’m-sure-I-will-have grin, raised his hand in a vague greeting and walked over to his last stop of the day.
Barbara looked annoyed at him, so he focused on the guy next to her bed.
“Hey Will, how are you doing?”
“Pretty good. You?”
“I’m having a very pleasant day, so no complaints here.”
When he walked up to his patient, her annoyance had tripled. Barbara didn’t like to be ignored.
“Ah, so you do remember I was here too?” she scoffed, brushed aside Will’s soft disapproval and gave Reid her famous ‘Do-you-realize-who-I-am’ look.
But Reid was not impressed. Of course he wasn’t.
“I did, but I prioritize my attention.”
“So Will is more important to you than I am?” Barbara was thrown.
“Yep,” Reid’s wink to Will was unmistakably defiant and Will laughed out loud. After a severe look from his mother, he was willing to explain:
“Reid is living with Luke and Gwen is Reid’s assistant, so we…”
Barbara didn’t let him finish. “With Luke?” She looked at Reid, “That’s quite an age gap.”
Reid’s initial response didn’t make it out of his mouth, but did make his eyes glimmer with restrained amusement. If only you remembered, Mrs. Coleman..
“It is,” Reid agreed with a smile, “I can highly recommend it.” He took out his penlight and shined it into her eyes.
“How do you feel today?”
“Not much change. Bob told me about the swelling you found on the scan. I understand this memory loss could be caused by that swelling and could be temporary?”
Reid gave her a nod. “True. We just have to wait and see. Please don’t strain yourself by trying to remember.”
Barbara sent him a smoldering look. “Do you have any idea how annoying it is to have everybody tiptoeing around you? Afraid to say to wrong thing?”
“I actually do, but unlike you I find it exhilarating,” Reid and Will shared a grin.
“I’m not sure I like you,” Barbara murmured and Reid’s grin broadened.
“Please don’t. Like me, I mean. It would ruin my reputation,” Reid rolled his eyes, “and my involvement with Mr. Snyder has already put quite a dent in it.”
“Poor Luke,” Barbara shook her head, “It’s incomprehensible how a sweet boy like that would fall for a sarcastic and rude excuse for a human being like you.”
“Sometimes you need to see two people together to understand the connection,” Will suggested with a telling smile to Reid, “Even the most unlikely couples can turn out very self-explanatory if you see them interact.”
“Your son is right,” Reid agreed. “And believe me, I’ve seen my share of odd couples around here…”
Barbara shrugged, totally oblivious of the undertone, and picked up her remote control.
“Whatever. If you’re done, I’d like to watch WOAK.” Before Reid could reply, she had brought the TV to life - ha, she could play the ignore game too - and after greeting Will, the doctor left the room. Or heading out, to be exact. Barbara’s “What is he doing there?” made him curious enough to walk back. He placed himself behind Will, so he could watch the screen and looked worried when he saw Katie and Henry together. He knew he couldn’t prevent Barbara from watching… maybe he could stop Katie from broadcasting? He stepped outside the room and tried her mobile number. To his surprise, Kim answered.
“Reid, I’m sorry…Katie is live right now and…”
“That’s why I’m calling. Barbara is watching this. What is Katie doing?”
“Trust her,” Kim was very calm. “We were hoping Barbara would watch. Katie thought it would be a way to give Barbara some information about Henry, without Henry being present and without hinting at their connection.”
“Hmmm,” Reid had to admit, that was pretty smart thinking, “I hope it works.”
He disconnected and watched Barbara through the window. She was still all annoyance. Then he noticed Will looking at him and Reid gave him a thumbs up. After Will’s nod, Reid collected his coat from his office and walked over to Gwen.
“Anything new?”
“Nope,” she gave him a radiant smile, “You’re ready to go.”
“Great,” Reid glanced at his watch. He would actually be on time. “I’m not on call, am I?”
“No, Dr. Morgan is available in case of an emergency. Big plans?”
“Dinner at the Lakeview,” Reid revealed. “Luke is having a meeting over there, so it made sense to grab something there.”
“Send him my love,” Gwen turned off her computer, “And I will start looking for mine.”
“Let me narrow the search for you. He’s in his mom’s room. Just saw him there.”
“Ah great. Thanks.” Gwen took her bag and they both walked out. “Have a good one, Dr. Oliver.”
“You too. See you tomorrow.”
Reid was right. He was on time. Luke was the late one, this time. He smiled when he saw Luke still deep in conversation with two gentlemen and he took a seat at the bar so he could watch the last part of Katie’s show.
“I hope you enjoyed our new Up-Close and Personal section. Thank you, Henry, for allowing us to know you better,” her smile was beautiful and loving as she looked into the camera. “And thank you for watching. Oakdale has some amazing citizens and I’m glad I could introduce one of them today. Talk to you soon, Oakdale.”
A loud commercial ended Katie’s personal promotion of Henry and Reid smiled. Sometimes she came up with some good ideas, he would give her that. When he turned on this bar stool to check on Luke, he saw the men shaking hands and when Luke waved him in, he walked over.
“Gentlemen, this is my partner, Dr. Reid Oliver.”
Both men smiled friendly and introduced themselves, but it didn’t ring any bells, so Reid forgot the names immediately.
“They’re helping me out with all the permits needed to start building.”
“It is very exciting,” the older one stated. “We’re very impressed by Mr. Snyder’s plans.”
Reid noticed the younger one being very impressed by Mr. Snyder and not just because of his plans. Instinctively Reid stepped closer, put his arm on Luke’s back and gave him an intimate smile.
“Yeah, he is something else.”
That seemed to work. The younger man, about Reid’s age, looked the doctor in the eyes and gave him a quick nod.
“So we’ve noticed,” his voice was calm and friendly. “It was a pleasure meeting you…” he looked at Reid again, “…both.”
Reid returned the smile. “Same here. Enjoy your evening.” Please leave!
After a final greeting the men left the lounge and Reid dropped himself into a seat. When he saw Luke grin, he raised his eyebrow. “What?”
Luke bent over and kissed him. “You’re pretty hot when you’re all possessive.”
Reid lowered his eyes. “I wasn’t…”
“And then some!” Luke grinned, placing his hand over Reid’s. “But it was absolutely adorable.”
“You did notice he was checking you out, didn’t you?”
Luke laughed. “I did. And I’m afraid I induced that to some extent.”
“You did?” Reid looked up. “Why?”
“I was curious about him. He’s a good looking guy and I had a feeling he was gay, but I wanted to make sure…”
Reid was getting uncomfortable. What was going on?
“Again…why?”
This time Luke lowered his eyes, but after a deep breath he met Reid’s eyes again.
“I thought he might be a good match for Dr. Morgan…”
For a moment Reid just looked at Luke, but then the message kicked in and Reid started to laugh.
“Since when do you take an interest in Morgan’s love life?”
“Since he took one in ours, I guess.” Luke grinned. “I hadn’t planned it, or anything. It was a spontaneous idea after I saw this Kevin Broyd.”
Reid shook his head, still laughing.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…you’re something else, Mr. Snyder.”
“So you’re not gonna talk me out of it?”
“Why should I? If you think it’s a good idea, give it a try. Watching Katie, I’m not sure something good comes out of matchmaking, but maybe you’re better at it. As long as you don’t marry me off, I wish you the best of luck.”
“Luck has nothing to do with it,” Luke was beaming. He had expected some resistance - Noah would have been all over him for interfering and invading someone’s privacy - and was pleasantly surprised by Reid’s support. He watched his man with a huge smile and when their eyes met, Reid winked at him.
“So now you’re suggesting you can recognize a good couple before they actually are one, are you?”
Luke understood the tease and grinned. “That’s right. Now I do. It took me some time to figure it out myself, but I do believe I know what to look for now.”
“You go for it,” Reid smiled and tapped his watch. “Can we eat now?”