Of course, Luke came back the next day. He never mentioned Reid's outburst but also didn't bring up the topic of Reid's future again. Although in a way Reid felt sorry for Luke, there was nothing he could do to make things easier for the blond. Pretending he was getting to terms with his situation would have been a lie and he just wasn't a person to sugarcode anything. So he kept on lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling and cursing the fact that he had ever started to care for other people.
Katie came to see him a few times and told how empty her place was without him and how she and Jacob were looking forward to him finally being released from the hospital and coming back home. Reid could not help but admire the strength and self-control with which Katie coped with Chris' death, but he couldn't get himself to bring up the topic and neither did she.
Every day Luke turned up in the hospital room with new hope in his eyes and every day his hope was crashed. He brought food, he brought coffee, he brought books, he brought DVDs, but each time he did, Reid only thanked him politely and then ignored the things. Whenever Luke tried to hold his hand or even kiss him, Reid turned all cold and rigid. Reid himself couldn't even explain why he wasn't able to open up to Luke anymore, but the numbness inside his heart and his brain just couldn't respond to any kind of intimacy.
It went on like this for another week, before Reid finally came to his senses. The reason was that with a shock he finally realized what he was doing to Luke: He must have been sleeping very deeply that afternoon, because he couldn't remember having heard Luke come in, but when he woke up, he found Luke sitting next to his bed. Bending over the bed, his head on Reid's chest Luke was crying desperately. When Reid heard him sobbing uncontrollably and felt his body twist with the intensity of the sobs, he finally felt a deep pity for the man he loved and regret at the way he had treated him those past weeks.
He carefully lifted his left hand and started to gently stroke the soft blond hair. Luke started at the touch and looked at Reid with a mixture of fear and guilt. "I…I…I'm sorry", he stammered, obviously fearing another outburst from Reid. "I'll pull myself together…I was just…" "Shhh, it's okay", Reid whispered, continuing to caress Luke's head. "Everything is going to be okay", he heard himself say… In spite of himself he carefully drew Luke's head towards him. For the first time in weeks they kissed.
And that was when he had decided to go with the sugarcoding after all. For Luke's sake he decided to pretend that he was able to move on. He remembered all too well how much he had hated Noah for making Luke suffer the way he had and there he had been doing the exact same thing. From that day on, Reid acted as if though he was interested in his own recovery, and the growing relief and faith in Luke's eyes almost made it worthwhile. For Luke's sake he no longer allowed his true thoughts and feelings to show, but displayed some sort of brave acceptance. Reid endured x-rays, the change of bandages, the removal of casks and reluctantly went along with the physiotherapy treatment he was prescribed and which of course continued after he was finally released from the hospital.