A/N: I am not an expert on ATWT, but I have been watching this storyline recently on YouTube, so please excuse any mistakes. Possible tissue alert.
"Sorry. Will explain later. Love you."
Luke stared down at the cell phone cradled in his hand containing the cryptic message left by Reid a few hours earlier. The two of them were suppose to go apartment hunting today, a first step towards securing their commitment. They were in a relationship now, an honest to goodness relationship. Significant others. Lovers. He had even teased Reid about the gaudy sofa he had seen down at the furniture showroom , and how it would fit perfectly in any future living space.
Reid had just snickered in reply, used to Luke's gentle ribbing of him before joining in the fun and answering, "As long as it's big enough for the two of us..." his voice trailing off, but his eyes communicating the rest of his desire.
A shiver passed through Luke at the remembrance, until his gaze zeroed in at the text message in front of him. The trembling now moving to his hands as he sat in the ER waiting room instead.
The funny thing...no the inexplicable thing was he had received a phone call from Alison before ever receiving Reid's text. The apartment complex, he was waiting at, must have had poor cell phone reception. Definitely not a plus where Reid was concerned since he'd be on call.
Alison told him to get to the hospital quickly...nothing else...no explanation...no details. As his heart sped up, thoughts of his mom or possibly one of his siblings being sick or injured, especially with the weather, filled his brain. Making a mad dash for the door, he called apologetically over his shoulder to the bewildered apartment manager to please excuse him, and let Dr. Oliver know he'd been detained.
"Sorry. Will explain later. Love you."
The six brief words began swimming before Luke's eyes as he reread the message. How so like Reid. Always succinct and to the point. But he wouldn't explain later... He couldn't.
Due to fog in Oakdale, all flights were postponed including medical flights. Nothing coming in...nothing departing. They were losing the golden hours, the hours in which a transplant organ would remain viable. To Reid this was unacceptable. He wasn't losing Chris Hughes. Not to this. Not now. Hughes was his only real competition for the chief of staff position at Memorial, even though Chris had been gravely ill the past few weeks. Reid had wanted the position, but not like this. He'd win it on merit, not by default. He wanted to crow his victory to the current chief of staff's son. No, he'd make sure young Hughes was well on the road to recovery before any decision was made by the hospital board.
Finagling a medivac chopper and a pilot as reckless as himself, he took off to retrieve a heart.
"High winds and poor visibility..." Was all Luke could remember from one of the paramedics who had been at the scene... that and the mention of a note that had been scrawled on a prescription tablet and taped with medical tape to one of the bodies.
"If I don't make it out of this alive, take my heart. It's a good one. Dr. R. Oliver."
Collapsing into himself and clutching his sides, Luke Snyder could do little to control the sobbing which now took hold of him as the reality of the situation washed over him even through the irony of Reid's last words.
"...take my heart. It's a good one..."
Though faced with the devastating pain of losing a loved one, Luke could only agree. Reid had gone up in that chopper to save the life of a colleague and friend. He had braved the elements and his fear of small, enclosed places to do what he considered had to be done. His thoughts were with Chris, Katie, Bob and Kim...and perhaps even with Luke. Though some might think because of Reid's brusque personna and brisk manner he lacked in humanity and compassion, but Luke knew better. "His was a good heart. The very, very best."