Title:
Remember - Alternate Ending
Chapter:
2
Rating:
PG-13
Summary:
A drunken driver creates trouble for Luke and Noah
Characters:
Luke, Noah, Holden, Lily, Lucinda, Dr. Bob
Genre:
Angst, Drama, AU
Warnings:
Disclaimer:
This site is no way associated with "As the World Turns",
CBS, P&G, or Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann. This is not for
profit. No copyright infringement is intended. Authors submit and
write their own work.
"The surgery was a success, Mr. Snyder, but the next 24 will be very critical. It´s touch and go at this point. I will allow one person to sit with him, but no stress," said Dr. Bob and looked around at the Snyder´s, who had gathered at Oakdale Memorial.
Holden had his arm around Lily while Lucinda had her arm around Noah. `Thank god,´ he thought to himself. The surgery was a success; he had almost lost Luke again.
He couldn´t bear the thought of losing him, they had only been married for about a year. He felt the strings around his chest loosening a little, so he was able to breathe again.
"What about the other?" asked Lily in a very small voice. They looked over at a woman sitting with a little girl.
"He was lucky," Dr. Bob said. "A broken arm and some minor bruising but he´s going to have a mayor hangover when he wakes up, if you´ll excuse me, I have to go tell her."
"Okay, I´ll go in first and then Holden, Then you can go in mom, and then Noah can sit with Luke," Lily said with tears in her eyes.
"Excuse me," said a small voice and everyone turned to find the woman standing there. "I just wanted to say how sorry I am about what Peter has done. How is he?" Her voice faded away, it was like she was almost afraid to ask.
"He ..." started Noah but couldn´t continue, he felt the tears burning in his eyes and looked away. The strings around his chest tightened again and he gasped for his breath.
Holden looked at him and could see the fears in his eyes. He placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "He´s out of surgery but the next 24 hours is very critical. It´s touch and go at this point."
"I´ll show you to your husband, Mrs. Forbes," said Dr. Bob as he suddenly stood by their side. Mrs. Forbes and the little girl turned around and walked down the hall together with Dr. Bob.
"Come," said Holden and placed a hand on Noah´s shoulder making him jump. He had been sitting in the waiting area waiting for the Snyder´s to visit Luke. Now it was his turn to see Luke.
Holden guided him through the door and Noah stopped dead in his tracks. "Come Lily, let´s go home. Leave the boys alone." He placed an arm around Lily and they walked down the hall with Lucinda trailing not far behind.
Noah looked at the closed door and slowly turned around to the injured body in the hospital bed. The sight of Luke lying in the hospital bed hit him like a ton of bricks.
He heard the steady beeping of the heart monitor, praying that it would never stop. He saw the needle in Luke´s hand leading up to a blood bag and his IV. He saw the oxygen tubes sticking out of Luke´s open mouth, helping him to breathe.
He was almost afraid to closer to the bed, afraid of somehow hurting Luke. He stayed still a few feet away. "You can hold his hand, if you want. It helps him so he knows that he´s not alone."
Noah jumped when he heard the voice. A tiny nurse smiled at him while she checked Luke´s vitals. "Oh I´m sorry, I didn´t mean to scare you."
"It´s okay," said Noah his voice just above a whisper. He watched the nurse walk out of the room again and slowly made his way to the chair, which was standing besides Luke´s bed.
He leaned in over Luke and gently kissed his forehead. "Hi my love," Noah said as he sat down and took Luke´s hand in his, gentles caressing it. He brought it to his lips and kissed it.
"Please Luke, I love you. You have to wake up; you have to come back to me. I can´t leave without you, I love you too much." He blinked the tears away from his eyes. If he started to cry, then he couldn´t stop again.
"Remember when we meet for the first time? On that beautiful beach on Hawaii, I was just standing there, looking out at the water. Wondering about what was going to happen to my life, and then an angel started walking towards me, that angel was you.
I couldn´t stop looking at you, the way the sun glowed around you. You were so beautiful, you took my breath away. And then you looked at me and smiled ... oh my God, that smile. It was the moment that I feel in love with you.
That´s way you have to wake up, I can´t do this without you, I´m so in love with you. Please come back to me." Noah jumped when he heard a sniffle; the tiny nurse was back again.
"Oh sorry, please continue, that was just so beautiful." She smile and wrote some notes in Luke´s chart before walking out again.
"Remember our first date? We had dinner at that little restaurant and then we walked together on the beach afterwards. The way the moonlight shined in the water and then we kissed.
The feeling of your lips on mine sent sparks flying around inside me. It still does every time we kiss. I knew in that moment that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you." Noah kissed Luke´s hand again.
"If you can hear me baby, squeeze my hand." Noah looked at their hands, afraid to blink, afraid of missing anything. But nothing happened. Noah couldn´t stop the tears and started to cry.
He leaned close down to Luke´s ear and whispered. "I love you Luke with all my heart. Come back to me." He said that over and over, it helped to calm him down. Slowly his breathing returned to normal and the tears stopped.
"Remember I came back to Oakdale with you and meet your family. I was convinced that they wouldn´t like me but you kept saying that they would, and just like you said they did. You all took me into your lives and were so good and kind to me. You all became the family I never had before."
"Remember your grandmother let us live at the cottage. Remember the first time we made love. It was perfect. I feel even more in love with you afterwards. We became one, the missing piece I had been missing my whole life. You said it yourself, remember. You were lying with your head on my chest, your legs intertwined."
"Remember when I proposed to you and you said yes. You would be mine and I would be yours for live. Remember our wedding day. You were dressed in the perfect Armani tux and you looked perfect as always. I couldn´t even take my eyes of you as you walked down the aisle with your mother.
That smile on your lips calmed my nerves. And then we went back to Hawaii for your honeymoon. We stayed in that cabin; it was so far away from all the others. It was like we were in our own little world …"
Noah suddenly stopped talking when he felt Luke´s forefinger moving slightly. He looked up at Luke´s face and started gently stroking his hair.
"Luke, can you hear me baby?" Noah asked a he ran a hand down Luke´s face. Luke´s fingers moved a little bit more and slowly he opened his eyes but quickly closed them again because of the bright light. He slowly blinked his eyes open again, getting more and more used to the bright lights in the room.
Noah felt the tears fall from his eyes and down onto Luke´s forehead as he kissed it. "You´re awake honey, thank you God," he said again and kissed Luke´s forehead once again. He pressed the call button to call the doctor. He whispered "I love you baby, thank you for coming back to me," into his ear.
"Luke," said Dr. Bob as he entered the room and walked towards the bed. "It´s good to see you awake again. Noah, I need you to leave the room while I examine Luke."
"Okay. Baby, I will go get some coffee, see you soon." Noah said and stood up. Luke squeezed his hand unable to do anything else.
When Noah returned to Luke´s room Dr. Bob was just about finished. "And remember if you need anything, just press the nurses button." Noah nodded and watched Dr. Bob leave the room, leaving Luke and Noah alone once again.
"Oh my God," Noah said and felt the strings pop one after one when Luke turned his face and looked at him. "I´m so glad that you´re awake again." He gently kissed Luke on the lips.
"Me too," whispered Luke, his voice hoarse from the life support in his throat. "What happened?" Luke asked his voice just a whisper. Noah got up and found a cup and a straw so that Luke could have something to drink.
"It was a drunk driver. He lost control of his car and drove directly into you."
"All I remember is the headlights coming towards me," said Luke after he had something to drink. "How is he?"
"He´s fine, just a broken arm and some minor bruising," said Noah and cupped Luke´s face in his hands. "Have I told you how much I love you?"
"Yes, but I never get tired of hearing it," said Luke with a slight smile. "Well, I love you forever Luciano Snyder-Mayer." Noah said and gently kissed Luke´s lips.
He held the kiss for a few moments but to him it seemed like hours. "You know, I had the weirdest dream," said Luke after a while. "I kept hearing your voice taking to me."
"That was not a dream," said Noah and suddenly the tears were back in his eyes. "I kept talking to you, hoping and praying that you would come back to me."
"Come here baby," Luke mentioned and took Noah´s in his hands. He kissed him and when they pulled back he looked into Noah´s eyes, getting lost in those blue oceans of love just for him.
"I will always come back to you. I love you forever Noah Benjamin Snyder-Mayer." They kissed again.
"Forever and always," Luke whispered into Noah´s ear.
