THANKSGIVING

Chapter 1


 

Reid had finally managed to find a minute to sit quietly in his office when the phone started ringing. After enough emergency room patients, including three head traumas, had been admitted to make it seem as though Memorial hospital was situated in a war zone rather than Oakdale, all Reid wanted was thirty minutes to spend quietly reading his New England Journal of Medicine. Was that too much to ask for? Now someone had the nerve to be calling him -- probably Chris summoning him to sign some ridiculous piece of hospital red tape. Reid was learning the downside of being Chief of Staff. Bob had never really mentioned all the damn paperwork he had to sift through on a daily basis.

He grabbed the phone on the fifth ring since his assistant had already left for the day. “Yes, and this had better be damn important.”

“Hey, Reid.”

“Ethan. Sorry, I’m just a little tired.”

“Long day at the hospital?”

“And it still isn’t over. I’ve admitted three patients of my own to the neurology wing, one of whom I had to operate on, so I won’t be seeing you or Luke for dinner tonight.”

“You work through dinner a lot; so does Luke.”

“I know, Ethan. I hope you’re not angry.”

“No. It’s cool. I know you both have really important jobs. I figure someday, I’ll be at the foundation or World Wide too.”

“Either that, or you could go into medicine.” Reid smiled remembering the last time he’d said that to Ethan in front of Luke.

“Yeah, because I’m such a math whiz.” Reid could imagine Ethan rolling his eyes. “Remember last week’s math test? You had to help me prepare or I would have flunked.” Ethan chuckled. “I’m holding you to the promise you made to Luke and me -- you said you’d be with us for Thanksgiving.”

“Don’t worry. Chris is on call that day. He owes me, and it’s the first time I’m going to cash in.”

“What’s he owe you for?”

“Not enough time to talk about it now.” Reid frowned remembering Chris’s foolish and risky behavior years earlier. “Listen, kiddo, is this just a hello call or did you actually want to ask me something? I do have patients to see and nurses to berate.”

Ethan snickered. “Oh yeah. A few of the guys want to go to the skateboard park. Jacob’ll be there too.”

“So?”

“So, Luke’s in a meeting and I’ll probably be late getting home for dinner so I figured I’d better ask one of you.”

“I don’t know, Ethan. Luke doesn’t like it when you stay out later than usual on a school night.”

“Come on, Dad. Please!”

Reid shook his head. “Why do you always use the D word when you want something from me?”

“You know I call you Dad for other reasons too, not just when I want something. Anyway, is it working this time?”

He had to hand it to Ethan. The kid was smooth and knew just how to play Reid. “Go ahead.” Before hanging up Reid recalled his fatherly duty. “Wait a minute -- aren’t you at Jacob’s house. How are you going to get your skateboard and protective gear?”

“No problem, Jacob has extras and he said I could borrow them.”

Ethan had an answer for everything. He really was getting too smart for his own good. “Okay. Be careful. I’ll call Luke and leave him a message letting him know where you are so he can pick you up directly from the park.”

“Great!” Ethan paused. “Thanks, Dad.”

“You’re welcome. Hey, kiddo, remember, don’t make any plans for tomorrow night. Luke and I have something special to talk to you about.” Smiling, Reid hung up the phone. He was still surprised at how much he loved being the kid’s father. It was a role he’d expected to play even less than that of a husband, but it seemed that the Snyder men, at least Holden’s two youngest sons, were his kryptonite. He was completely unable to fight against either of them, he was like putty in their hands.

Picking up the phone one more time, he dialed Luke and was surprised when his partner actually picked up.

“Hey, hubby.”

“Luke, what the hell?”

Luke snorted. “I love baiting you. What’s up?”

“I thought you were in a meeting. I planned to leave you a voice mail.”

“Meeting went smoothly. Everyone agreed on where to allocate some special funding and since Grandmother is somewhere in Europe with John we ended early, no disagreements. So why the call?”

“Ethan’s at the skateboard park.”

“With Jacob?”

“Yes, and some of the other kids. He borrowed some of Jacob’s equipment.”

“What!”

“Luke, calm down, what’s the big deal?”

“How much equipment does Jacob have? Chris just bought him a whole carful of new gear because he had concerns about the quality and stability of Jacob’s older stuff.”

“He wouldn’t lend his cousin an unsafe board.”

“If he knew it was unsafe. Chris didn’t tell Jacob or Katie, he just quickly replaced it. He obviously hasn’t had a chance to dispose of it yet, so it’s still lying around and Jacob would have no idea he wasn’t to use it anymore, or lend it out.”

“Oh God!”

“I’m leaving the office now and driving to the park.”

“I’ll meet you there.” Reid was about to hang up and fly out of his office, when Luke’s yelling stopped him.

“No, wait there. I’ll call you the second I get Ethan. Shit!” Reid could hear Luke’s breathing getting heavier as he ran, presumably toward his car. “I’ll talk to you soon. Love you.”

“Call soon.” Reid disconnected and slammed the phone onto its cradle.

Trying to read his journal was now futile. He couldn’t focus on anything but thoughts of Ethan. After five minutes of staring at the same page, Reid threw the magazine across the room and began to pace.

The phone finally rang a few minutes later. Seeing Luke’s number in the caller ID, he grabbed it. “Do you have him?”

“Reid, it’s Katie.”

“Katie, why do you have Luke’s phone?”

“I met him here at the park. He called me as he was driving.”

“He didn’t get into an accident, did he?” Reid could feel his pulse racing.

“No, I’m sure he was using his ear piece and driving safely.”

“So why are you calling me?”

“Oh God, Reid.” He heard Katie’s voice hitch.

“What the hell happened?”

“Just as we both arrived one of the wheels on the skateboard must have snapped off.”

“Katie, what are you saying?” Reid heard sirens getting louder through the phone. “Katie, where’s Ethan? Is he okay, is he with Luke?”

“Luke’s with him; he hasn’t opened his eyes yet.”

“What about the helmet?”

“I don’t think he was wearing it.”

“No!” The phone slipped from Reid’s hand. Every pediatric head trauma he’d ever witnessed in the ER started flashing through his mind. He heard the siren, through the phone line, getting louder once again. “My son. This can’t be happening.”

Leaving the phone off the hook, Reid tore out of his office taking the stairwell, four flights, down to the emergency room to be there when the ambulance arrived.

As soon as he arrived he heard one of the EMT’s radio in with their expected time of arrival.

“Where’s Dr. Mark Jenkins?” Reid barked at the nurse manning the desk.

“I think he just left, Dr. Oliver, but he is the neurologist on call.”

“Page him. Now!”

“Yes, sir, right away.” The nurse grabbed the phone and pressed the numbers in quickly.

“Then page Dr. Chris Hughes. I don’t want any other pediatrician near my son. He may be an idiot sometimes, but he’s the best pediatrician at Memorial.”

“He’s still in the building sir.”

“Good. Get him!”

“Dr. Jenkins is on his way and Dr. Hughes already left his office and is heading down here.”

Reid paced, waiting to hear the sirens, hoping Ethan would be awake and cranky by the time he arrived.

[TBC]
 

Return to Thanksgiving