Doctor Reid Oliver was sitting in his office at Oakdale Memorial Hospital staring absentmindedly at a case file. He had been in this dump of a town for nearly three months and ever since the first day he'd been unable to completely concentrate on his job. But it wasn't because he was in a small, strange hospital filled with whining hypochondriacs, although that was certainly part of it; rather, it was because of the rich brat, Luke Snyder that his mind wasn't wholly engaged on helping his patients. The kid had blackmailed and kidnapped him, for Heaven's sake, but, somehow, he could never manage to get Richie Rich out of his head. It was driving him insane – and to the point where it was interfering with his work.
Suddenly, there was a crash out in the hallway and Reid was snapped out his reverie and back to reality. A second later, Reid realized what he needed to do if he was ever going to be able to focus on his job instead of Luke Snyder. Standing up, Reid grabbed his jacket and left the hospital.
Fifteen minutes later, Reid was standing outside of the Snyder house. His finger was just about to press the doorbell when his courage failed him and he dropped his hand to his side. Five seconds later, Reid's hand was again at the door, this time ready to knock. For the second time, Reid chickened out and dropped his hand. A second later, Reid was startled by a voice from behind him.
"Dr. Oliver?" Reid turned to see Luke standing behind him.
"Mr. Snyder."
"Is everything alright?" Luke said, walking over to the door and opening it, letting Reid walk into the house before he shut it. "Are you here about Noah? Because you know we broke up a couple weeks ago."
"Noah's fine," Reid said, somewhat coldly. Uninvited, Reid sat down at one of the chairs, which surrounded the dining table. Five seconds later, Reid was standing and in another five seconds he was sitting down again.
"Is something wrong, Dr. Oliver?" Luke asked, thoroughly confused.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come. This was a really bad idea," Reid said, standing up and walking to the door.
"Dr. Oliver, you must have come for a reason. So just tell me," Luke said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Reid clenched his teeth and slowly turned back to face Luke. They stood staring at each other for a minute, and then Reid said, "I can't do this anymore. It's driving me out of my mind."
"What is?" Luke asked, still confused.
"My feelings," Reid said, stepping closer to Luke.
"Look, Dr. Oliver. I know that you hate me. You've made that very clear. Was it really necessary for you to come over to my house to reiterate how much you dislike me?" Luke said, angry now.
Reid incomprehensibly shook his head and blurted out, "I love you."
Luke stared and blinked rapidly at Reid for a few seconds and then burst out laughing.
"Yeah. Okay," Luke said when he had caught his breath. Chuckling, Luke turned his back on Reid to look for the remote.
Embarrassed and angry, Reid said, "You're laughing at me?"
"Well, it was a joke," Luke said, still looking at the remote.
Not one to be cowed by being humiliated, Reid said, "So you won't go out with me?"
Luke laughed again and looked at Reid. Suddenly, the smiled faded from Luke's face.
"Are you serious?" Luke asked, his eyes wide in surprise. When Reid didn't answer him, Luke said, "What would ever make you think that I would go out with you? Since before we met you've wanted nothing to do with me. You hung up the phone on me the first time we talked and then as soon as you saw me you started insulting me and wishing me dead. And ever since, you've done everything in your power to never have to see me, including keeping me and Noah apart. The only time you ever wanted anything to do with me was when you wanted my money. And now you're telling me that you love me and that you want to have a relationship with me?" Luke stopped talking, breathing heavily in anger.
Slightly ashen faced, but also angry, Reid said, "Yes. It's true that I didn't like you when we first met. Did you expect me to fall at your feet, to kiss the ground that you walked on, even though you'd blackmailed and kidnapped me? Actually, come to think of it, you probably did."
Luke opened his mouth to retort, but Reid cut him off. "Yes, I wanted you to stay away from Noah. But I only meant for that to be at the hospital. I didn't want you around me. You were too distracting. Noah took it upon himself to decide that I meant for you two to be separated all the time. And, for your information, Mr. Snyder, I didn't want to ask you for money. I had no choice. I wanted my neurology wing and you were the only person who could give it to me."
"And when exactly was it that you fell in love with me?" Luke said, angered even further by the insult to Noah.
Reid didn't answer the question. Luke shook his head in disgust and said, "You're a brain surgeon, so I know you're not stupid, Dr. Oliver. You must know that you're the last person on Earth I would ever go out with."
More angry than hurt at the moment, Reid clenched his teeth and said, "Fine. You've made yourself and your feelings perfectly obvious. Thank you for making me realize how stupid and foolish I've been and reminding me why I've fought so long against having feelings for anyone. I'm sorry for having wasted your time."
Within thirty seconds, Reid was gone and Luke stood staring at the door, dumbfounded.
