The Hospital

Part 4

“No way! That’s not going to happen. If you try to go through with this, I won’t give permission to operate.”

The announcement of just whose donor kidney they thought they may have found had stunned both Luke and Reid. The minute Reid had become aware of their plan to test Faith as a possible donor, he immediately knew Luke would be upset, and feared he would react the way he just had, refusing to even consider it. His main concern at the moment was how agitated Luke was becoming, he needed to calm him, and soon.

“Luke, at least listen to what Dr. Walker has to say.” Reid was trying to remain professional, but it was getting harder by the minute as he desperately wanted Luke to give in and accept the doctor’s news gratefully. He looked at Mark, still standing in a corner at the far end of the private hospital room, hoping he might have a thought, but his fellow neurosurgeon simply shrugged.

“No, Reid. There’s no way in hell I’m letting my sister donate.”

“You’ve done the research. We both know there are virtually no long term effects on a live donor. If Faith wants to do this--”

“She’s too young to make this decision. What if she wants more kids? I don’t want anything to happen that may risk her future.” Luke glared at Dr. Walker. “If she wants more children, can you guarantee this wouldn’t have an impact?”

“Mr. Snyder, as a responsible physician and surgeon, I can’t make any guarantees to you, or your donor, but it would be better to have a live donor, and one who’s a sibling is usually best.”

“If you can’t give me any guarantees about Faith’s future then I have to refuse.”

If he wasn’t so worried, Reid would have strangled Luke on the spot. Faith was actually trying to do something positive in her life. Unfortunately, even Reid had to admit that if Faith was going to become the next Lily and have several more children, beyond her first rugrat, offering to donate a kidney was probably not the best plan. Selfishly, Reid wanted to ignore his interfering intellectual side.

“There have been two others who have stepped up to volunteer, Mr. Snyder, neither of whom will ever have children.”

Nodding, Luke looked directly at his doctor. He was clearly avoiding eye contact with Reid. “I’m listening. I assume these are men, because if you bring up Ethan--”

“Luke!” Reid placed a hand on his partner’s shoulder and squeezed. “Don’t insult Dr. Walker. She would never address him as a donor.”

Putting his hands in the pockets of his lab coat, Mark looked away.

“I’m sorry, Doctor.” Luke lowered his head.

“I may be taking a giant leap, but that’s the younger brother you told me about when you saw me in Boston a couple of years ago.”

Biting his lip, Luke nodded.

“Mr. Snyder, I may be open to new and innovative treatments, but I’m not about to break the law or risk malpractice, even for Reid.”

Before the conversation could get any further out of hand, Chris Hughes walked in, diffusing what promised to otherwise get ugly. Reid scanned the room. Only Luke Snyder could garner an audience of four doctors of their caliber at one time. The fact that one had a specialty in pediatrics nearly made Reid chuckle inappropriately as he’d teased Luke frequently about his ability to retain both his youthful zeal and appearance.

“Dr. Walker, it’s a pleasure to see you again after all these years. We genuinely appreciate you coming here.” Chris’ eyes locked onto Reid’s. “I hope you don’t mind, but there seemed to be a lot of discord with our donors over Faith’s participation in preliminary testing. They seem to be arguing about who should or shouldn’t donate. However the other two potential donors are in process as we speak. Their lab work should be back in a couple of hours.”

“Thank you, Dr. Hughes.” She sighed and began to check her patient’s pulse. Reid dreaded to think how fast it must be racing.

Mark stepped to the foot of the bed. “Luke, I’m going to find Noah.”

“Good. He wasn’t in very good shape when I spoke with him earlier today.” Avoiding all others in the room, Luke continued to look directly at Mark. “Can you ask him to drop by soon? I’d kind of like to talk to him about something.”

“Sure. I’ll have him make arrangements with the station as soon as I see him.”

“Thank you.” Luke leaned back against his pillow, suddenly seeming calmer. Reid wondered what that was all about, but didn’t have time to dwell on it. Right now he only wanted to hear more about the prospective kidney donors.

“Dr. Walker, Dr. Hughes, I’m doing my best to keep my tongue here, but I’d like some answers before my patience is totally shot to hell.”

The nephrologist placed her stethoscope in her ears and began to examine Luke. After his outburst, he looked weaker, almost completely drained of what little energy he had left.

Chris moved away, giving the visiting surgeon some room to work. “Parker and Jack are both getting blood drawn. They both discussed this with me, with each other, and with Faith. All of them agreed this was the best course of action.”

“Thank you, Chris. I’m glad Jack was here to talk some sense into Faith.” Luke’s eyes were closed as he spoke.

“Actually, Parker convinced her not to push to donate. Apparently those two are really growing up. They’re not playing house anymore. I have to admit, they sounded like a mature couple.”

Reid saw a small smile cross Luke’s face. Good, he’s relaxing. “While I know you’ve been around here a lot longer than I have, you do know that neither Parker nor Jack is related to Luke by blood.”

Chiming in, Dr. Walker spoke as she completed the brief of exam of her patient. “As we discussed, we’ll do the advance therapy as rapidly as possible on both the patient and the donor. Both of them have been informed of the procedure and Luke has already started, in the hopes we’d find a donor quickly.”

Eyes widened with this new piece of news Reid stared into Luke’s eyes. “Please don’t keep secrets from me again.”

“Reid.”

“I know you’re trying to protect me, but I can take care of myself. Don’t deny me the privilege of taking care of you too.”

“Never again. I promise.”

“Okay.” Accepting Luke’s answer for now, Reid looked forward to using this as fodder for many healthy, active arguments in the future, when they were on an even playing field.

A pager went off in the room and all three doctors glanced downward. It’s too bad Luke was so ill, he would have probably laughed his head off from that moment alone.

Chris looked up. “I’ll be right back. It’s the lab. I told them I’d be with you, Dr. Walker. Would you like to step outside with me and we’ll check on our two prospects?”

The specialist nodded, and followed Dr. Hughes out of the room.

Reid took a seat next to Luke on the bed. Holding Luke’s hand, he laced their fingers together. “No one would have hurt Faith.”

“Did you know?”

“No. And the ridiculous truth is, I wouldn’t have let her get tested either.”

“You’re really becoming a family man, Reid.”

“Let’s not let that get out. I don’t want to let on I’m going soft.”

“You, Dr. Oliver, will never be too soft.”

Reid snorted. “Only you could make a joke laden with sexual innuendo under these circumstances.”

“I know I look like shit, but would you kiss me?”

“I hadn’t noticed. You always look hot to me.” Gazing into Luke’s beautiful, thin face, Reid tenderly brushed their lips together. He meant for it to be little more than a peck, but Luke’s free hand wrapped around Reid’s head, tangling his fingers in his hair, keeping them connected.

The chaste kiss became as needy and passionate as one can get in a hospital room. “I love you, Reid, and I plan to be here to annoy you for many years to come.”

“That’s what I live for.” While his words sounded sarcastic, both Reid and Luke knew they were the truth. Although no one in Oakdale would say it out loud, everyone was aware of Reid Oliver’s complete and total devotion to Luke Snyder, and that he would do anything to make his young partner happy.

“You’d better go back to Ethan. He must be scared.”

“Luke, I need to bring him here, show him you’re alive and planning on staying that way for years to come.”

“Before the surgery. Bring him before the surgery.”

Reid’s eyes closed tight. He wished he could examine Luke himself and find out just how weak he really was before going under anesthesia. Fortunately, before he became too overwhelmed by his thoughts regarding the near future, Dr. Walker and Chris returned.

“Jack’s a go!” Chris reminded Reid of Bob for a moment. His eyes bright as he realized he was participating in the act of saving another life at Memorial.

Dr. Walker stood next to Luke and looked directly at him. “You may not be a blood relation, but it was quite an incredible match. We’ll still do the pre-surgery therapies, but I was surprised at how significant the compatibility was.”

Letting out a breath, Reid looked at Chris. “Does Jack know?”

“Yes. That’s what took us so long to return. We went to give him the news.” Chris came closer to Reid and Luke, looking down at both of them, making no comment about the fact that Reid was still sitting in the bed with his spouse. “He said he was sure it was Holden’s way of taking care of his son.”

Luke grinned. “And Carly?”

“She’s been with him all afternoon. I think she may have cheered when they got the news.”

“Yeah, Dad had to be behind this -- somehow.” Luke closed his eyes and squeezed Reid’s hand tighter than Reid thought he had the strength for.

[TBC]
 

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