Directly in the center of no where, sits a room, recommended capacity one.

oOo

Damian was long gone before Dr. Arrogant sonofabi- . . . Oliver ever returned his call. It figures that the one time Luke needed Damien to be, well, Damien, the man would have disappeared from his life. Luke wished he could have been surprised

Noah had been despondent. Angry. Sad. He alternately went from grieving to being hopeful and strong, ready to do whatever he could to get his eyesight back.

He let Lily find him a new surgeon. Well, he let Luke talk him into it. It wasn't as if Dr. Oliver was the only man ever to have performed the surgery (although his success rate was marginally higher than most) - there were many other qualified doctors in the country.

They ended up with a small kindly man by the name of Harold Shtal. He had been everything they could have hoped for in a doctor. He was friendly, he made Noah feel comfortable and he let the family be as involved in the surgery as Noah was comfortable with. Maybe not the best but certainly promising.

The doctor was confident, so confident in fact, that the surgery had been scheduled less than a week after he had arrived in Oakdale.

Luke pulled a chair up beside Noah's hospital bed, reaching for his boyfriend's hand.

"Luke." It was said softly, like a breath on the wind, and it caused Luke to smile. Noah tightened his grip as if to make sure he was really there.

"How ya feeling?"

"Scared." Noah gave a self-deprecating smile. "More like terrified. Excited too...but mostly scared."

"Everything's going be fine Noah. You are going to be fine. You'll be...I dunno, yelling about filters at the poor camera guy before you know it."

Noah gives him a tight smile and finally lets go of Luke's hand. "God, it's sad how much I miss that."

They sit in a comfortable silence, before Luke lets out a loud sigh.

"Noah, I've been thinking..."

"Never a good sign." Noah teased, causing Luke to stick out his tongue, whether Noah could see it or not. "Put that back it your mouth!"

Luke's jaw dropped almost audibly. "How did you...?"

"I don't have to see you, to know you." Noah picked up Luke's hand once again, placing a kiss to a knuckle. "Telling me what you were thinking about."

"Maybe I don't wanna tell you now!"

"If you didn't want me to know, you wouldn't have said anything, and you and I both know it."

Luke thinks about keeping quiet a bit longer, but Noah knows him to well - he can't keep his trap shut. "I was thinking that once the surgery is over, we could take like, a vacation, or something."

"A vacation?"

"Regardless of what happens with school, you can't start classes again until September, right?"

"Yeah..."

"So that gives us almost 8 months to just be." Luke starts to get excited. "We'll visit every state - see all the must-see cities of this wonderful country of ours! Los Angelus, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Orlando-"

"-Miami, Dallas, Boston..." Noah finished, nodding. "Luke..."

"If you thinks it's a bad idea, or too soon, I understand. I know we aren't really-"

"Luke, stop." Noah let out a small laugh. "Remember to breathe. I think it's a good idea."

"-Because we could always just stay...Wait." Luke stopped, and went over the conversation again in his head. "You do?"

"Yeah, I do. I think it's a great idea!"

"Excuse me, boys"

Both Luke and Noah's head snap up.

"Dr. Shtal." Luke jumps up to greet him. "Hey, hello, uh...we were just-"

"It's fine Luke." The kindly doctor smiles at him. "I'm just here to pick Noah up for preliminary testing."

"More tests?"

"The more I know going in, the better it is for everyone. And it's just a precaution." Dr. Shtal rests a hand on Luke's shoulder. "I promise you, everything is going to be fine. I'll take great care of your boyfriend."

Luke turns back to Noah, taking his hand once again, placing a soft kiss on his knuckles.

"Good luck."

"I'll see you on the other side?" It comes out more as a question and Luke gives a reassuring squeeze.

"I'll be there with bells on."

The doctor's medical team comes around to roll Noah out to the hall.

"I love you."

"You'd better." Luke grins. "I love you too Noah. Now go get better."

oOo

He's pacing. And pacing and pacing and pacing. He just cannot for the life of him sit still. Or even sit at all for that matter.

They say everything is going to be fine. The doctor knows what he is doing.

But ever since they rolled Noah away, he has had a pain in the pit of in his stomach, eating away at him and it's so intense he wants to throw up, but he can' he paces.

That's what he's doing when he hears foot falls from down the hall.

"Luke?" It's Dr. Bob and Kim. "This surgery is gonna take hour..." Like he didn't already know that. "Why don't you get out of here...get something to eat."

"I'm not really hungry." It's kind of true...

"Well...Take a walk with us."

"Yes."

"I mean the hospital will let us know if there's any news."

He appreciates what they are doing, really he does, which is the only reason he says, "Okay...but only for a couple minutes."

Dr. Bob smiles and pats his shoulder. "Good." He looks so proud; Luke wonders what it is he did to get that look.

They haven't made it more than a dozen steps when Dr. Shtal exits through the operating room doors into the corridor. His face is oddly quiet, and Luke feels his stomach drop.

"What...what are you doing out here already?" His throat is so tight the words squeak out, and his eyes are almost comically wide. The doctor won't look him in the eyes right away, but after a deep breathe, he looks up and shakes his head sadly.

"I'm sorry. I have some bad news..."

"I-" Luke starts, but has no idea what he was going to say, so he trails off.

"What happened?" Dr. Bob steps up to the plate, and Luke is sure he'll be grateful later but right now, he's just trying to stop his stomach from tumbling out of his mouth.

"There was...a lot more vascular damage than I anticipated..."

Soon after that Luke drifts off, not hearing the rest. He doesn't need to. He knows.

Noah Mayer is dead.

And Luke Snyder is shattered.

oOo

Two men enter the room.

One is more of a boy than a man, while the other has never been a boy.