Mark of Excellence

Chapter 4

“God damn it!  I can’t believe he got away again!”  Reid all but yelled as he barged through the front door.  If Luke looked very closely he imagined he saw smoke coming from his spouse’s ears. 

Although he normally wouldn’t make light of Reid’s bad mood, with the toddlers and Ethan in the room, he tried to take the edge off Reid’s boisterous entrance.  “Hi, honey.  So glad you’re home.  Would you like me to get you your robe and slippers so you can be comfortable and at least try to play the happy family game with the rest of us?”

Ethan snorted, Miri made her way to her father’s leg, clinging to the sofa and coffee table to maintain her balance.  Bobby dropped his ever-present bottle and did the same.  “Those two will be walking any day now.  I may have to move in with Grandma Emma to keep my sanity and my stuff protected.”

With his children as a distraction, Luke noticed Reid releasing some of the tension in his shoulders.  Reid looked at Ethan.  “You’re not going anywhere.  We’ll make sure your bedroom door is closed whenever the twins are loose.”  Reid squatted and looked directly at the toddlers.  “And you two are going to be a menace to society soon.  It’s a good thing I don’t believe in those baby leashes.”

Luke sighed.  “They’re called harnesses, Reid, and some parents who have particularly rambunctious kids need them to keep the kids safe.”

Reid glanced at Luke and then back at Miri and Bobby.  “Well, we can keep up with you two.  If you give us a tough time, you’re back in the stroller.  Deal?”  Reid raised his hand to high-five with the toddlers.  They patted a hand against his and giggled. 

Knowing Reid should be able to share what instigated his anger without the pressure of keeping a lid on his words, Luke turned to Ethan.  “Can you take these two upstairs to wash up for dinner?  Maybe entertain them for fifteen minutes.”

“How?  They have twenty second attention spans.”

Luke tilted his head.  He knew his brother was a teenager, but he couldn’t be completely clueless.  “You know how much they enjoy it when you play your guitar.  How about that?”

“Fine.  I’ll manage to figure something out.”  Ethan shrugged and sighed but didn’t question Luke’s request any further after looking in Reid’s direction.  Reid’s brow was furrowed and it was obvious to anyone over two years old that he was troubled and needed to vent.  “I’ll be down in twenty minutes.  Use your time wisely.”

Reid smiled at Ethan.  “You sound like your Grandma Emma when you say things like that.”

Ethan looked from Reid to Luke and back.  “I’m okay with that.  She’s pretty cool.”  Before anyone could say anything more, Ethan hoisted one twin into each arm.  “It’s a good thing you guys are active and stay trim or I couldn’t do this.”

“E!”  Miri rubbed Ethan’s cheek.

“Yeah, yeah.  I’m the greatest big brother in the whole wide world.”  Ethan glanced toward Luke.  “I learned from the best, but don’t quote me.”

Luke smiled.  “My lips are sealed... and thank you.”

Ethan nodded and left the room with the toddlers.

Walking toward the stairway, Luke listened until he heard guitar music.  He laughed when he realized Ethan was trying to teach the barely talking twins how to sing We are the Champions.

Returning to the living room, Luke found Reid sitting on the sofa with the remote control, flicking from channel to channel so quickly there was no way he could possibly register what was airing.  “Looking for any show in particular.  How about How to Kill a Colleague from your mood when you came in tonight?”

“Not a bad idea.  You should share it with your friend, the producer.”

“I’ll think about it.  How about my husband shares why he’s angrier today than when that stupid, ill-researched article was first released?”

It was clear Reid wanted to talk.  If he didn’t, he would continue flipping through the channels and seethe.  Instead, he immediately turned off the TV, tossed the remote to the end of the sofa, and turned to face Luke.  Luke sat down on the sofa next to him.

“Tell me.  What’s going on?”  Luke cautiously reached for Reid’s hand and was glad when he felt Reid hold his hand tightly in return.

“He won’t talk to me; Mark won’t talk to me.  I’ve tried and tried.  Even had my assistant page him for a consult.”

“Mark didn’t show up for a consult?”

“Oh, he did.  With another doctor.  Whenever there’s a chance we might be alone, he either finds a reason he can’t talk or brings along someone else.  I don’t know what the fuck would possess him to participate in that farce of a medical journal article, but it’s like I’ve--”  Reid’s voice trailed off.

“Like you’ve lost a friend?”

Reid nodded.  “Never thought friends were critical until I met you.  Now the thought of losing one is eating me up inside.”

Luke gently brushed his free hand over Reid’s cheek then tenderly pressed their lips together. 

“What could have sparked all this?  I’ve been running the past couple of months through my head like a film, trying to pinpoint the moment I did or didn’t do, or say, something that would spark such a hostile reaction.  I can’t think of anything that brought me out of my ordinary charm and demeanor.”

“I love your version of charm, and everyone else we know understands it.”

Reid tilted his head.

“You know what I mean.”

“Then why this, why now?”

“Have you ever heard the legal term, ignorance of the law is no excuse?”

“Of course I have.”

“Right, Mr. Genius.  Almost forgot.”  Luke was trying to remain light-hearted as his suspicions were becoming an unfortunate reality.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Let’s just say our good friends had good intentions, but didn’t carry them out to their appropriate completion.  Instead they dropped the ball and it exploded.”

“They?  I might have known.  Mr. Mayer had a hand in this and it somehow exploded in everyone’s face.”

Luke bit his lip and nodded.

“Kind of like the reason I came to Oakdale in the first place.  Doesn’t he ever learn?”

“Don’t forget this is Noah we’re talking about; with him if it’s not one form of explosion, it’s another.”

“So tell me.  What the hell do we do now?  I’ve cleaned up and repaired Noah’s stupidity before.  At least it helped me find you.  But this is a whole different story and the entire hospital is gossiping about it rather than concentrating on what’s important.  Not to mention Chris is confused as to why someone would sabotage the hospital while he was in charge and Mark is avoiding me like the plague.  The only one who’s talking to me regularly is Jason and he’s as clueless as I am.”

“Believe it or not, I’m already on it.  I’d like to tell you about the lunch I had with Casey today.”  Luke wrapped his arms around Reid.  “But before that, I’d like to give you a proper, yet PG hello before we call the kids down and get dinner on the table.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” 

Reid and Luke, with the background of Queen filtering down the stairs, enjoyed a few moments of quality time.  Luke was thrilled to feel Reid’s arms around him and felt their love for one another in the heat of their kisses.  Opening his mouth, allowing Reid entry, the two lost themselves in each other’s PG rated passion, although it was only briefly.

Before they could continue their moment of bliss a yell came from the top of the stairs.  “Hey, you two.  I don’t hear any talking and it’s been twenty minutes.”

[TBC] 

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