58 I see dead people
Word Soap: As The World Keeps Turning
Author: SYLnl
Title: #58 I see dead people
Rating: PG
Summary: “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light” - Aristotle Onassis
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 #47 #48 #49 #50 #51 #52 #53 #54 #55 #56 #57
Halloween lived up to its name this year. Reid felt like a zombie after his close encounter and he was startled by the knock on the door. His ‘do not disturb’ sign obviously didn't mean anything on this night.
When he opened the door, Allison’s look was a mixture of excuse and emergency.
“I did see the sign, but he’s asking for you specifically and Bob and Kim are very worried…”
Before she could point him into the right direction, Reid had spotted the group and understood Ali’s point. Doogie didn’t look right. At all.
“Good call,” he assured her. “Get me a monitor and…hell, you know what I need.”
“I do…” she gave him a quick nod and hurried of.
“Doogie, if you’re auditioning for the lead of our Halloween Thriller, you nailed it.”
“Ha ha,” Chris was not amused, “I need to talk to you.”
“What you need to do is to calm down,” Reid almost pushed him towards a room and Chris looked even more annoyed.
“I’m fine…I need to…”
“Excuse me for dragging up the past, but we all know your definition of feeling fine doesn’t mean sh…” he looked at Kim, “shambles.”
“My mother can take shit,” Chris sneered.
“I’m sure she can and I’m even more sure she has taken a lot of it from you,” Reid steered the young man to a bed, but Chris was still resisting.
“Oliver, I’m fine. I just need to talk…”
“We’ll talk,” Reid reassured him, “after you’ve put your ass on this bed and lay down.”
Chris protested some more, but gave in when he heard Bob’s tired “For once in your life just listen to him.”
With a displeased groan Chris lay down and let Reid hook him up to the heart monitor. Before Chris could grin in victory - the monitor showed a steady heart beat - Reid walked away and came back with a mirror.
When he held it in front of Chris’ face, all victory went out the window. He looked like hell and he realized he’d been an idiot. Again.
“Okay, I see your point,” Chris gave him a nod. “I do understand you just wanted to help…”
“Do you really?” There was no mockery in Reid’s voice. He was absolutely serious and that made his question even more powerful, “because all you do is fight me and honestly, it’s getting really old. Especially where your own health is concerned.”
“I’m sorry,” Chris even lowered his head. “But I felt okay and all the fuss…”
“…annoyed you. I get that. You had major heart surgery. Do you get that?
“I do. Even more after tonight and that’s why I needed to talk with you.” Chris was persistent and after a soft sigh, Reid pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed.
“I’m all ears. Shoot.”
“The guy who donated his heart…my heart… you were there, right?”
“I was, but you know I can’t tell…”
“Matt,” Chris tried to read Reid’s face, “That’s him, isn’t it?”
Before Reid could answer, Chris raised his hand. “Wait. Let me describe him. Young guy. Blond.” He just realized something and continued, “He looked like Luke, in a way.”
That remark brought Reid back to that particular night. He relived his fear when he had seen the guy on the gurney. For a few minutes he had been sure it was Luke.
“Yeah, he did look like Luke,” Reid confirmed on a soft tone. “It scared the hell out of me.”
“I remember too,” Bob nodded.
“You were there?” Chris obviously didn’t know.
“I was.” Bob smiled. “But how do you know about Matt?”
Chris paled and looked a little embarrassed and suddenly Reid knew. The ghosts had been busy tonight.
“Let me guess…he visited you tonight.”
The men ignored the soft outcries of the confused parents in the background and looked at each other for a moment.
“You make it sound like it’s the most normal thing in the world…” Chris had expected sarcasm, even ridicule. Anything but this calm acceptance and understanding.
“No, not normal,” Reid smiled. “But I did have my own encounter tonight…”
“He came to see you too?” Chris’ perplexity grew by the second.
“No, not him.” Reid didn’t feel like sharing the details, “but now I do understand why you looked like you’d seen a ghost. You had seen one.”
Chris chuckled for a minute.
“It’s something else, isn’t it?” he whispered and Reid nodded.
“It is,” he agreed, still guarded.
“It was very powerful,” Chris continued. Now he found an understanding listener, he felt a need to share. “He explained who he was and made it very clear he wasn’t happy my heart ended up in me…”
“What?” Without the young doctors noticing, Kim and Bob had moved up to the bed and had obviously heard every word.
“That’s pretty harsh,” Reid tried very hard not to smile, but wished he could high-five Matt right here and now.
“It was,” Chris shrugged, “but he explained in painful detail how he’d come to that conclusion and all I can do is agree with his findings…” The young Hughes bit his lip.
Reid and Bob shared a quick glance of understanding.
“And now I find myself wanting to know more about Matt. So I hoped you could tell me.”
“Chris,” Bob shook his head, “you know we can’t…”
“There’s no law against it,” Chris objected. “And maybe Matt’s mother would like to know what happened to her son’s heart.”
Reid was pretty sure she would, remembering his talk with her. He frowned. If he placed himself in Chris’ shoes for a minute - man, he really didn’t want to go there! - he would like to know about his donor. Especially after the ghostly experience Chris had this night.
“Okay, here’s what I will do,” all of a sudden Reid was very tired and felt an urge to go home. So he stood up. “I’ll contact Matt’s mother this week and I’ll ask her. I’m not giving you any information myself. It’s not my story to share. If she wants to tell you about Matt, she should have that opportunity.”
Chris extended his hand and Reid shook it.
“Thanks, Reid. I appreciate your help. Is it okay for me to leave or do you feel the need to keep me here?”
Wow, someone changed his tune.
“No, you’re okay to leave. Everything kept beeping in the right rhythms, so you’ll be fine.”
“Good,” Bob and Kim looked relieved too and Bob squeezed Reid’s hand a little longer than necessary. “Thanks for everything. You’re heading home now?”
Reid gave him a nod. “I am. Have to work on my beauty sleep, so I look my best tomorrow.”
They all laughed, even Chris.
“I’m sure you’ll dazzle everybody anyway,” Kim tapped his arm. “one way or the other…”
Reid grinned. “Subtle, Mrs. Hughes, very subtle.”
She surprised him with a soft kiss on his cheek. “Call me Kim.”
***
The house was dark and cold when he stepped in, so his first task at hand was to start a fire. He didn’t even put on lights. He sat on the couch and watched the flames. What a night.
He felt lonely. Luke hadn’t responded to his text yet - I’m heading home. Where are you? - and a part of him had hoped to find him already sleeping in their bed, but he wasn’t. And Reid had no idea if he would come home at all. Depending on the circumstances Luke would decide if he’d stay on the farm or not.
So Reid just sat there. On the edge of the couch, his hands folded on his knees, watching the flames. Hypnotized even, apparently, because he noticed Luke only just when he felt Luke’s body squeeze himself between his back and the couch. Luke’s legs found their way on his legs, Luke’s arms hugged him from behind and Luke’s cheek was pressed on his back. Reid smiled. Anybody not liking hugs was an idiot.
“Did you have fun?” Reid caressed the arms on his stomach and he could feel Luke’s smile against his shirt.
“I did. The kids were having a blast and it was great to watch. Will and Gwen came with Hallie and I basically hung out with them. Yeah, it was great.” Luke snuggled up even more. “And how about you? Busy night?”
“Crazy. Not busy. Crazy.”
Something in Reid’s voice alarmed Luke and he squirmed his way out of his self-made snuggery to take a seat next to Reid.
“What happened?”
“I saw dead people…” Reid’s ‘Sixth Sense’ imitation wasn’t great, but did deliver the message.
“What? Who did you see?”
“Annie,” it was a whisper and Luke squeezed Reid’s knee.
“Your Annie?”
The possessive pronoun made Reid smile and he nodded. “My Annie.”
“Wow,” Luke’s smile was radiant. “When I close my eyes, I can still see you sitting on that bed in Dallas, telling me about her. That was…quite a moment.”
“I know. You were the first person I ever told about her. About what she meant to me, I mean.”
Luke leaned against Reid’s shoulder. “I’m not surprised, to be honest. That moment felt almost sacred. Looking back at it, I think that might have been the moment I fell in love with you. Not nearly ready to admit that, even to myself, but you showed me your true colors and I was loving every one of them.”
Reid gave him an intense look. “I surprised myself with all that openness, so my defense mechanism really kicked in hard after our little heart to heart.”
“I remember that too,” Luke rolled his eyes. “Man, it was so frustrating. Three steps forward, two steps back.”
“Yeah, it was quite a dance,” Reid grinned. “Annie did that a lot, tonight. Dance, I mean.”
“How…I mean…why…” Luke shook his head. “Do you even want to talk about this?”
Reid pulled Luke closer and kissed his temple. “Yes, I do with you.”
And he did. He told Luke all he remembered and he surprised himself by remembering a lot.
“She was this transparent angel without wings,” Reid smiled. “I’ve seen a figurine like that somewhere. I don’t remember where, maybe at Katie’s. But she reminded me of that. This glass angel. So beautiful, so fragile.” Reid took a deep breath, “It was a gift.”
“Wow,” Luke let his head rest at Reid’s chest. “It sounds incredible.”
“It was. And I wasn’t the only one…” Reid shared Chris’ experience and the young blond was baffled.
“So you had a real Halloween experience after all,” Luke grinned, rose to his feet and pulled Reid up. “Maybe even the best one of us all…”
Reid placed his arm around Luke’s shoulder while they found their way to the bedroom.
“You know me, Snyder. Second best just will not do.”
And he showed Luke what he meant.