THE TIME TRAP

Chapter 2

As he watched Mark pace back and forth in front of his desk, Reid wasn’t sure whether he should be amused or annoyed.

“Every time I try to help him or do something for Sammy all I get is, ’I can do it myself, I’m not incompetent.’”  Mark banged his fist on the desk.  “It’s as if he needs to somehow prove he can be the best father and doesn’t want or need any support from his husband.  I thought we were building a family together, but it sure as hell doesn’t feel that way!”  Mark banged his fist one more time adding emphasis to his words but fortunately not knocking over any of Reid’s pictures or his model of the human brain.

“If you’re finished beating up my desk as well as your valuable surgeon’s hands, which I need since we’re short-staffed, I wouldn’t mind if you took a seat.”

Mark’s cheeks reddened as he took a seat facing Reid.

“I wish I could say I’m surprised by your partner’s attitude, but unfortunately I can’t.”  Reid sighed.  “It’s not that I haven’t seen an extreme amount of growth in Noah over the past few years, but this is still the man that made my husband feel like shit for wanting Noah to be a supportive partner when it really counted.”

When Mark looked directly at him, Reid noticed his eyes were bloodshot with dark circles under them.  “I know their history.  I just thought that Noah’s need to demonstrate his ability to handle everything by himself, under all circumstances, would have mellowed.”

“Noah has mellowed, but my educated guess, coupled with what little psychology I know and believe in, tells me he’s suffering from the need to be a far better father than the one he had, and in achieving that he also shows you that he can be all things to you and Sammy at all times, the perfect husband and father.”

“That’s a fucking laugh.”  Mark looked down.  “We haven’t had any time alone in weeks.  Every time I go near him I can feel another brick being laid in the invisible wall building between us.  As if on cue, before we get to talk it out, or fight it out, my goddamn pager usually goes off and I have an emergency to attend to at Memorial.”

Reid could empathize with the pager issue.  He and Luke were grabbing every chance they got to touch whenever time permitted and grabbing quickies whenever possible.  However, it appeared the one major difference between the two couples was he and Luke were making the effort to get what they could no matter how limited their time.  “I’m doubling my determination to get three more surgeons under contract.  I have two I’m ready to hire and who will be available within the next month and one more in process who has to complete a contractual obligation with Mass General.”

“In the meantime what do I do about Noah?  I’ve never felt so shut out of anyone’s life.  You and I had a closer bond in Texas.”  Mark stood up again and walked toward the picture of the clinic they both spent many hours in while both worked in Dallas.  “We were a great team but we probably would never have made it as permanent lovers and committed partners.”

Reid chuckled as he stood up, walking to Mark’s side.  “Neither of us was ready to enter a real relationship.  Besides, when I found my destiny, I recognized him immediately.  It just took time for us to find our way to being in the same place at the same time emotionally.”

“You really don’t think we could have made it had we given it a try.”  Mark’s voice softened.

“It doesn’t matter, does it?”  Reid hoped his words were comforting his friend in some way but got the surprise of his life when Mark wrapped his hand around the back of Reid’s neck and quickly drew him in for a kiss.

Before Reid could shove Mark away or punch him in the gut, the door to the office swung open.  “What the hell!” 

“Jason.”  Mark stepped back and covered his mouth for a moment.  “Oh God, Reid, I’m so sorry.  I don’t know what came over me.”

“Neither do I, Mark, but you and your damn husband, and I stress the word husband, had better work it out.  I don’t ever want Luke walking in on a bullshit scenario like this one.”  Reid swiped the back of his hand across his lips.  “I only have one man I kiss like that and I married him and have three kids with him.”  Reid took a deep breath and turned toward Jason.  “Now what the hell do you want, Doctor?”

“I just came to tell you that the kids in pediatrics are having a great time with the Valentine’s Day decorating kits Luke ordered for them.  Even the most incapacitated children are able to point to the locations for the nurses and candy stripers to hang hearts from.” 

“Thank you, Jason.  I’ll make sure Luke knows he’s brought another successful program to Memorial.”   Reid looked from Jason to Mark and back again.  “And Jason, what you just saw...”

“Dr. Oliver-Snyder, I not only saw, but also heard, your reaction.  I am a friend and colleague to you both, so you can trust me with keeping silent about what I just witnessed. Luke and Noah are my friends too, so I also have no wish to hurt either of them by blabbing about what I saw.  But I will say, Mark, you need to have some serious time with your husband.  Casey and I are learning the ropes of a solid relationship and considering his family’s track record it’s all pretty damn new for both of us, but I do know it’s better to fight it out if the relationship is worth it.  Surely your marriage is worth it?”

Mark looked back and forth several times at both of his colleagues and good friends, then nodded.  “Thanks to both of you.  I can’t believe I nearly screwed everything up, giving into my anger and frustration.  You’re both right, Noah and I need to sit down and really communicate before things get even worse between us, we need to work together to get past this bump in the road. What we have is way too important to risk destroying because neither of us is willing to thrash things out.”

“Now you sound like the genius doctor I hired.”  Reid patted Mark’s shoulder as he showed him out the door.   “Now go home to your husband and fight it out.  You, Noah, and Sammy will all be better off for the effort.”

When the door closed behind Mark, Reid turned to look directly at Jason.  “If you say a word about what happened I’ll have to kill you... or personally scramble your brains.”

Jason laughed out loud.  “Duly noted, Doctor.”

“And on a personal note, thank you.  Your timing is impeccable and your advice was just what our colleague needed to hear.”

“You’re welcome, Reid.  I’ll take off now.  I suddenly have a need to go home and let Casey know, in as many ways as possible, how much I love being in a relationship with him.”

“Even with Andy as part of the package?”

“You got Ethan as a part of your package.  Any regrets?”

“Never one.”

“Same here.”

“By the way, Jason, if it doesn’t completely mess up your evening, I wouldn’t mind if Ethan spent the night at your place.”

“I certainly don’t think Andy would mind, and neither would I.  I’m sure Casey will be fine with it.  But let me ask, how are you going to deal with Miri and Bobby since I suspect you’re trying to arrange some quality time in your own home?”

“I can think of several Snyder women who would love their company.”  Reid smiled.

“Are you going to tell Luke what happened?”

“I thought about keeping this to myself, but I realized it would go against everything Luke and I have developed over the years.”

“Doctor, you have just proven once again that you are a genius both in and out of the operating room.”

“Thank you, Doctor, but that’s no news to me.”  Reid grinned and Jason chuckled.

Reid and Jason left the Chief of Staff’s office side by side and walked to the parking lot together as both left to make sure their relationships remained intact.  Reid just hoped Mark would be equally successful.

[TBC]

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