Six months had passed since he'd been discharged from the hospital. He was still bound to the damn wheelchair which was annoying as hell but given the fact that only eight months ago he'd been believed to be beyond saving kept him from bitching too much. Dr. Shepherd had allowed him to go back to work – paperwork only – which helped some but he was still itching to get back into the OR which was why he is currently in the Grimaldi jet headed to Seattle Grace-Mercy West.
He had moved in with Luke as soon as he was discharged. They figured since they'd already said I love you and this accident just proved how short life can be that they'd throw caution to the wind and just go for it. Reid had also taken care of some legal matters that being a doctor he should have tended to long before but had never gotten around to – he made a living will. Luke was an incredible caregiver with his never ending patience but Reid could see the tension and worry in Luke's eyes. He knew that these injuries put him in a similar position to what Noah had been in when Reid had come to town and while Luke was trying his best to remember that Reid was not Noah, Reid could tell that half of him was waiting for the other shoe to drop. He tried to be reassuring but that wasn't his strong point and some of Luke's insecurities ran far too deep for Reid to fix with reassuring words alone anyway.
His relationship with Bob hadn't improved much since Bob had been so ready to throw in the towel and let Reid die. The last straw had been when it had come out that John had had him tested as a potential donor for Chris. Luke had been upset when Nurse Stuart had handed him the blood work confirming that Reid was a match for Chris but had understood that if he had not survived his injuries, maybe he could still help Chris. Upset turned to livid however, when Nurse Stuart pointed out that the test had been ordered before Reid had been examined by Dr. Hughes. It hadn't been until he'd been released that Luke brought this up with him, to which he'd been mad but had understood that Luke didn't want to risk his recovery. After a lengthy discussion with Luke, he had tendered his resignation claiming that this, after the whole Invicta ultimatum was just not the environment he wanted to work for. Soon after, both Luke and Lucinda resigned from the board and withdrew all promised funds from the Neuro wing.
The announcement that they'd be landing in ten brought him out of his head. Luke was frowning at his phone, probably looking at the weather report. This time of year, Seattle's weather was usually the same – rainy with a chance of sun. He sat there watching Luke mess with his phone and smiled. Finally it was time to exit the plane, it took some time with this damn wheel chair but finally they were in the car headed toward Seattle Grace Mercy West.
Soon he was sitting in front of his entire team of doctors. Luke had really outdone himself with assembling a surgical team for his recovery. All top of their field and the fact that they were all able to adjust to his bizarre allergy without missing a beat really impressed him – and he didn't say that a lot. He was still only half way through his recovery but he knew he wouldn't even be this far without these people. He appreciated competence but of course Luke knew that. Finally Derek stepped forward.
"Well everything looks good. I still want you to take it easy but I think you can abandon the wheelchair. You're still on restricted duty at work?" Derek asked, looking up at him.
"Yeah. I've completely caught up my paperwork."
"Well, I think you can start patient care but I want a nurse with you at all times and you're still not clear for surgery."
"Okay. What about sex?" He asked.
"Your spine should be healed enough by now but just remember what I said before, stop if you feel something you shouldn't."
"Well Reid, I want you to continue having monthly checkups with Dr. Stuart but I think we're done and just in time for your appointment with Callie." Derek offered his hand. Reid shook Derek's hand as a pretty black haired woman stepped up.
"Hello, Dr. Oliver. I don't know if you remember me, you were pretty high most of the time I was there." She laughed. "I'm Dr. Callie Torres, the attending orthopedic surgeon at Seattle Grace – Mercy West. We're going to look at different preferably non-surgical treatments for your wrist injury and hopefully we'll get you back in the operating room in no time." She said.
"Sounds good." Reid said. Then a mousy looking woman stepped up.
"This is Dr. Lexie Grey, she's on my service today so she's going to take you to x-ray. Then we'll see what good. Unfortunately, you have to sit back in the wheelchair while you're here, hospital policy."
"So you're a neurosurgeon like Derek?" the young doctor asked.
"Yes. Do you often call your attending by their first name?" He replied.
"He is my brother – in – law. How come I've never heard of you?"
"Your education is poorly lacking." He said.
"Well I'm sorry, I only graduated from Harvard."
"And yet you've never heard of me? Graduate by the skin of your teeth did you?"
"I happened to have graduated with Highest Honors, but Neuro is not my chosen specialty. I was only on Derek's service for a few days."
Reid stopped talking then, losing himself in thought. He hoped his x-rays showed that his wrist injury could be fixed with a simple procedure. He knew Luke was beside himself with worry at the thought that he'd need another surgery.
The x-rays didn't take long and soon he was sitting in an exam room with Luke and Dr. Torres.
"Well Dr. Oliver, it looks like you have a Smith's fracture. Fortunately I can insert the plate and screws using ORIF here in the office with a local anesthesia."
"Luke, what do you think about suing John for what he tried to do?" Reid asked quietly after they left the hospital.
"Is that what you want to do?" Luke asked in response.
"Yeah, I mean, you would think it'd be the last thing I'd want to do after the Judd thing but that was a case of trying to lay blame where there was none but in this case there is blame to be laid. John knew that if I died, you would want to try to save Chris once it came out that I was a viable donor, and it would have been easy enough especially since I'm a registered organ donor to 'have me tested' for Chris after the fact so he tried to convince you that there was no hope of survival. He deserves to have his license taken. "Reid said.
"Oh I agree with you. Okay, so we file a malpractice suit. Do you have a lawyer you want to take this?" Luke asked.
"Yeah. I'll call him later." Reid said as they entered their hotel room. They had a late lunch and then Luke worked on his laptop while Reid called an old friend. After three rings, a man that didn't sound much older than Luke answered.
"Harvey Spector's phone." Mike said.
"Where's Harvey?" a man asked.
"A little busy at the moment, but he'll be able to take your call momentarily. May I ask whose calling?" Mike asked.
"Reid Oliver, I'm an old friend from Harvard." Reid said.
"Who's that?" Harvey asked, coming from his shower.
"Reid Oliver says he's a friend from Harvard." Mike said. Harvey nodded as he took the phone.
"Reid, how's life treating you?" Harvey asked.
"Crazy, you?" he asked.
"Same. So need legal defense from a malpractice suit?" Harvey asked, figuring the maverick doctor had finally gotten himself into trouble.
"No, actually I'm filing one and thought of you." Reid replied.
"Okay, how soon can you come to New York?" Harvey asked.
"Hold on a sec" Reid said, Harvey could hear Reid speaking to somebody in the room with him, something about a private jet, and then he heard Reid say,
"Still there Harvey?"
"Yeah." Harvey replied.
"We can be there tomorrow afternoon, probably around two." Reid said. Both men, not one for idle chit chat, hung up the phone after that. Harvey called and left a message for Donna to clear his afternoon.
Meanwhile, in Seattle….
"Our flight is at ten." Luke said, hanging up his phone.
Finally after a light dinner, their jet lag caught up with them. Luke fell asleep with his head on Reid's chest.
He could see falling asleep with Luke like this for the rest of his life. He panicked momentarily, but was asleep before it could really take hold.
The next morning, he woke up to a still sleeping Luke. He could see waking up like this for the rest of his life. This thought terrified him; he'd never been the marrying kind before. Of course, before Luke, he'd never been the relationship or love kind either. He slipped out of the bed, headed for the shower, his mind going a mile a minute. He could see himself spending the rest of his life with Luke; in fact he couldn't imagine life without him. Ugh God help him, this was not how he thought.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice that Luke had stepped into the shower behind him until he felt Luke's arms wrap around him. He jumped slightly, turned around.
"You startled me."
"What's on your mind?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, something is bugging that brilliant brain of yours."
"It's nothing really." Luke gave him a look that said he didn't believe that for a minute but he wouldn't push it. He leaned forward and kissed Luke. Luke broke the kiss before dropping to his knees. By the time he comes into Luke's mouth, the water is cold but neither of them really noticed. Stepping out so Luke could finish showering; he got dressed quickly and called Katie.
"Hey, Reid? How'd the doc's appointment go?"
"As good as expected, I'm out of the wheel chair but I gotta have a nurse follow me around while I do patient care and still no surgery."
"Okay so what's wrong?"
"What makes you think there's something wrong?"
"The tone of your voice, so what is it?"
"These thoughts keep popping into my head, thoughts of spending the rest of my life with Luke."
"So?"
"So? Do you realize what these thoughts mean?" It must have clicked in Katie's mind because she started squealing.
"Damn it Katie, Are you trying to deafen me?"
"Oh sorry, but that's so great! You wanna get married."
"That is not great. It's ridiculous."
"What's so ridiculous about marrying the person you love?"
"Weddings are foolish spectacles dedicated to archaic notions of making vows and promises you probably can't keep."
"So it's the wedding and not marriage?"
"If it works, it works. If it doesn't then a ceremony with all the vows and pretty poetry in the world are going to change that."
"I think you need to reexamine these cynical beliefs before it costs you the one person you love the most."
"What do you mean?"
"Luke is a Snyder which in case you haven't noticed is kind of synonymous in this town with being family oriented. Luke is going to want a family of his own someday and what do you think is going to happen when that day comes."
"I don't know."
"What's going to happen, Reid, is that you're going to end up with another ultimatum. And if you make the wrong decision this time, it might not be as easy to correct."
"Easy to correct! I almost moved to Minnesota!"
"Focus Reid, in case you haven't noticed in the time you've been with Luke but you've kind of rubbed off on him in a way. He doesn't put up with your bullshit. The day is going to come when Luke is going to want to start his own family and when that day comes you're going to have two options… get over your fear based beliefs and go for it or let Luke find someone who will."
"These beliefs are not fear based."
"Aren't they, do you remember before the accident when you came home to tell me you'd made a mistake in telling me to go home instead of staying with Chris, what you told me you learned?"
"You shouldn't run away from love just because it scares you. But what does that have to do with this."
"It's the same principle. You shouldn't run away from getting married on the off chance it might not work out. You yourself said either it'll work or it won't, that a wedding wouldn't change that so what's the big deal?"
"It's not a big deal that's what I've been saying."
"I meant what's the big deal in going through with one if it make's Luke happy?"
"Katie."
"Just think about it. Listen I've got to go, Jacob's awake. Call me later? Okay. Think about it."
The next thing he heard was the dial tone. By then, Luke was dressed and ready. They got to the airport by nine thirty and was in the air at exactly ten a.m.
Watching Luke, he couldn't help but think about what Katie had said. Maybe Katie was right? It would definitely make Luke happy and the fact that these thoughts were popping into his head must mean he's not as against it as he thought he was. It terrified him but yet the idea of another ultimatum, losing Luke again, maybe forever this time terrified him more. And he knew Katie was right about one thing. Luke would want a family someday and not giving him the chance to have one either with him or without him would be a kind of selfish that even he hasn't yet reached.
Reid and Luke walked into Pearson Hardman at exactly one fifty and easily found Harvey's office. Reid walked up to the woman at the desk.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Reid Oliver and this is Luke Snyder we're here to see Harvey." He said. The woman looked him up and down before pressing a button on the intercom.
"Harvey, Dr. Oliver is here."
"Show him in."
"This way, gentlemen, by the way I'm Donna, will you need any coffee, soda, water?" she asked as she guided them into Harvey's office.
Harvey watched as Donna led Reid and a gorgeous blonde that couldn't be older than Mike. Before either of them had the chance to respond to Donna's question he said,
"Don't bother Donna; we'll be heading out for lunch here in a moment." A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips as he watched everybody look at him questioningly. Ignoring this, he walked out the door after Donna leaving the others to follow him.
They ended up at Harvey's favorite sushi bar. Seated, drink and food orders taken, Harvey started the introductions.
"Reid, long time no see, this is my associate Mike Ross. Mike this is Dr. Reid Oliver, he and I were in the same class at Harvard." Harvey said.
"Nice to meet you Dr. Oliver, so what kind of doctor are you?" Mike asked.
"Call me Reid please. I'm a neurosurgeon." Reid said, and then looked to Harvey, "Harvey, last you told me only senior partners got associates so either they've changed the rules or congratulations are in order."
"Yes, I made senior partner." Harvey said to Reid before turning to the blonde, "and you are?"
"I'm Luke Snyder. Reid's boyfriend." The blonde said. Their food showed up then and Luke moaned as he popped a piece of sushi in his mouth.
"See Luke, I told you Oakhell's sushi was second rate."
"Okay so Dallas had better sushi, I think what you got in exchange was worth the trade. "
"Wait…..you don't live in Dallas anymore?" Harvey asked.
"No, I live in Oakdale, Illinois." Reid said.
"Where?" Mike asked.
"It's a small town about an hour outside Chicago." Luke said.
"Okay, better question why?" Harvey asked.
"That would be because of me." Luke said. Harvey watched as Reid laid a hand on Luke's before Reid continued,
"His ex had an accident setting up fireworks that left him blind. I was the only surgeon believed to be able to fix him so Luke blackmailed me into coming to Oakdale for a consult. Only planning on staying in town a couple days, I was offered a place to stay by Luke's Aunt? Or is it cousin? Never mind, doesn't matter last thing we want to do is get into Luke's family tree, we'd be here for weeks, anyway Katie and I became friends and she with the help of a friend's recent inheritance bribed me into staying with the promise of a state of the art neuro wing."
"Wow." Both Harvey and Mike said in unison.
"If you don't mind my asking how'd you go from blackmailed to dating?" Mike asked.
"It all started with a complaint to the medical board. A grieving couple blamed Reid for their daughter's death. I helped him beat it."
"If you helped him then why do you need us now?" Harvey asked.
"I didn't help him in a law type way, I more saved him from himself. You see, Memorial's policy says anyone with open inquiry can't practice so Bob, Reid's chief of staff, suspended him. I walked up in the middle of this discussion and ended up dragging Reid away before he ended up fired instead of suspended. He ended up having a bit of an identity crisis with the whole can't be a doctor thing. I ended up using my grandmother's connections to get him a hearing in front of the board much quicker than he'd have gotten otherwise. Finally I helped him with his testimony, " Harvey watched the look shared between the couple as Luke continued, " Don't get me wrong, Reid's brilliant, the best at what he does but he lacks social skills which as you've known him more than a few hours, you probably know this Mr. Specter. The problem when it came to his testimony wasn't whether he'd done something wrong because he hadn't, the problem was that this was not something he was going to win with facts and figures. He needed to be reminded that he was a real human with real human emotions, that showing those emotions every once in a while doesn't make him a lesser doctor. "
"Okay. So what's the problem? Why are we here?" Harvey asked.
"That problem started with Doogie." Reid said with a smirk.
"Doogie? As in Houser ?" Mike asked confused.
"No. Reid gives nicknames to those around him. Doogie is Chris Hughes, Chief of Staff's son. He went to school with you guys. Long story short, Chris contracted something that damaged his heart while with Doctors Without Boarders. Hiding his illness until it was damn near too late, he wasn't on the transplant list when he should have been. His brother called in favors to basically cut him in line. Doctor in Bay City decided that heart rightfully belonged to his patient and Reid drove up to do what he does second best, argue. Unfortunately impatience and forgetting that train tracks plus flashing red lights and lowering arms equals danger meant that instead of making it to Bay City, he ended up back at Memorial with life threatening injuries. I was told by Dr. John Dixon that Reid's injuries were fatal and that all they could do was make him comfortable. At my insistence, they did what they could to keep him alive while I brought in specialists. I figured that if several surgeons could tell me Noah, my ex, would be blind for the rest of his life and Reid was able to fix him, that surely there was someone out there that could fix Reid. Luckily I was right."
"Luke's friend discovered the donor test and realized what Dr. Dixon had done." Reid finished.
"Sounds easy enough, file the malpractice suit, I assume you kept the record of the donor test?" Harvey asked.
"Yeah."
"And is your friend willing to testify to what she found?" Harvey asked.
"There lies the rub. What you have to understand is that sadly you will not find many people willing to put the law above their own self -interest. For her to testify would be to testify against family. Dr. Dixon is the grandfather of Ali's husband on both sides."
"How?" Mike asked
"Ali married Casey whose mother, Margo, is Dr. Dixon's daughter. Margo married Tom whose step-mom share a son with Dr. Dixon. Technically Dr. Dixon is a member of my family too. As well as being married to my mother's adopted mother for several years, he also has a son with my mother's biological mother."
"Wow , how twisted is that town?" Harvey asked.
"That isn't anything. Whole damn town is inbred. The whole town changes spouses more often than you change suits."
"And you live there why?" Harvey asked.
"Luke and Katie." Reid answered simply.
"If it will help, there is the team of doctors and surgeons that actually saved Reid." Luke said.
"Yes, who were they again?" Harvey asked.
"Dr. Greg House and his team as well as Dr. Derek Shepherd, Dr. Owen Hunt, Dr. Callie Torres, and Dr. Miranda Bailey. " Reid replied.
Not long after that, lunch was over and everybody was preparing to leave.
The next couple of weeks were a blur of doctor's appointments as Reid started physical therapy, lawyer's appointments as they worked with Harvey and Mike on the case, and realtor appointments as they worked toward selling their home and finding a new place outside all of Oakdale's crazy. It had been a hell of a deal trying to figure out where they wanted to move to. Reid didn't really care as long as they were far removed from Oakhell, but Luke was having a hard time with completely cutting ties with everything and everybody he'd ever known and starting new. The answer finally came when Luke's friend Alison called with a job offer for Reid. The hospital where Alison worked was looking for a new chief of staff, someone completely new to the failing hospital. When her boss had found out that she'd worked with and knew Reid Oliver, she been given the task of seeing what it would take to steal him.
With a town picked and a job that he could do even injured as he was, the move was quickly underway. Of course, as anyone who had resided in Oakdale for any period of time could tell you, it was only so long before the good turned bad. Which for Reid and Luke, started the same day Luke had found a building to buy that would house the home base for Grimaldi Shipping as well as The Snyder Foundation. Luke had just hung up the phone with the realtor when Reid's phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Reid? This is Harvey Specter. I'm calling to set up a meeting with yourself, Luke, and ."
"Sure." Reid looked to Luke who pointed to his watch then held up two fingers while mouthing 'meeting with Grandmother.' Reid nodded, then into the phone said,
"Will two o'clock do for you?"
Two o'clock that afternoon found Reid, Luke, Lucinda, Harvey, and Mike sitting in a booth at Al's dinner while Harvey explained the problem.
"Tom Hughes, though I don't know how, has found something that was never supposed to see the light of day."
"Which is?" Lucinda asked.
"Mike doesn't have a law degree." He said, then continued, "The day of my associate interviews, Mike who has an elderly grandmother that raised him, agreed to do a one-time drop off for his drug dealer ex-friend in exchange for the twenty-five grand he needed for his grandmother's nursing care. Turns out the drop is a set up though Mike's amazing mind allowed him to escape from the cops waiting in the hallway by the room where the drop was supposed to take place. He ended up in my interview room where I'd told my assistant Donna to wink at me if one of the applicants said anything intelligent. Mike was the only one. When he got into where I was actually doing the interviews, his brief case full of pot came open which led to him telling me the whole story. I, and this is the only thing I'll probably ever admit to being foolish about, foolishly tried to beat him at a memory test. I offered him the position and we've been working together ever since. To let this get out not only ends with Mike and I most likely in prison but also ruins the reputation of Pearson Hardman."
"Okay, so we don't let it get out." Luke said, looking to Harvey, "I'm guessing Tom is going to reveal all if you pursue the lawsuit?" Harvey nodded.
"We'll drop the lawsuit, this is Oakdale, there are other ways to deal with wayward doctors. However, we won't throw friends under the bus to do so."
"I know some people that can help with John." Lucinda said, "now let's see if we can't neutralize the threat to you guys."
"You can do that?" Mike asked.
"Legally?" Harvey added.
"I think you're past worrying about legality, Specter." Reid said.
"Don't worry it's perfectly legal. But it will mean some pretty significant changes to your lives."
"Here's how I think we can do this, if you two are willing, both Grandmother and I are going to need legal representation we can trust at the new home bases of Shipping, The Snyder Foundation and Worldwide Industries. I'm sure Reid will be looking for new representation for the hospital once he takes over. Now of course that means giving your notice at Pearson Hardman and relocating to Ohio. Once there, Mike can enroll in the local college and law school on a free ride scholarship courtesy of The Snyder Foundation. Meanwhile, he can still practice with you." Luke said.
"What about Donna?" Harvey asked.
"And my grandmother?" Mike asked.
"It'll be your law firm to employ whoever you want Mr. Specter, and of course we'd arrange for your grandmother to be moved to a top notch facility in Dresden." Luke said.
"That sounds fine, we'll give our notice as soon as we get back to New York." Harvey said, as Mike said, "How can I thank you?"
"No need. "
The group split up soon after that, Harvey and Mike headed back to the Lakeview, chatting as they walked.
"This town is insane. " Harvey said.
"I know, I did the research remember? I can't wait to go home."
"New York won't be home for much longer." Harvey said.
The next morning was busy; they were up in the air by nine and in New York by ten thirty. By eleven, they were at the office. Both Harvey and Mike went straight to Jessica's office. After Jessica's assistant let them in and they were seated, Jessica, sitting behind her desk said,
"I had a very interesting appointment earlier this morning, a Mr. Trevor Evans. He made some interesting allegations against you Mr. Ross." Harvey watched as Mike only lost his cool for a moment before regaining it but before given the chance to speak, Harvey interrupted,
"I know what Mr. Evans told you, and I'm saying it won't be a problem."
"So it's not true?" Jessica asked.
"I didn't say it wasn't true, I said it won't be a problem." Harvey responded, then stood to hand Jessica the envelopes containing both his and Mike's letters of resignation that Mike had typed up last night.
TBC