A/N: Hey guys! This was, admittedly, rushed and will be getting (most likely) a hefty bit of re-writing, but hopefully you'll get a smile or two out of it.
Enjoy!
Alwyn
Phase Two: The Hospital
"Is he kidding me with this?" Luke asked, staring at the hospital gown… and nothing else. "If by a 'wild ride' he means getting me arrested for indecent exposure, then he better plan on getting really well-acquainted with his dominant hand." He picked up the adjacent envelope. "Now what are the odds that there's a pair of pants in here?" No luck; it was just a short note.
Dear Luke,
At 10:30 there will be an ambulance outside to take you to the hospital. I hope you wore the boxer shorts that I put out for you this morning because the two very large men who will be assisting you have been instructed to take your jeans off by force in case you try to cheat the costume change. You will also find a blindfold and a pair of earplugs on the stretcher. Use them. (Don't argue with the director. I've got my reasons).
Now, I know how you feel about people helping you in and out of wheelchairs and hospital beds, so I hope you know that I say this with love:
Deal with it.
See you soon.
Love,
Noah
It's amazing how persuasive Noah can be when properly motivated. It's amazing how properly motivating Luke can be for Noah. Equally amazing is what you can accomplish when backed by Lucinda Walsh, the First Lady of Oakdale. How else would it have been possible to get a hospital to agree to allow Noah use of one of their rooms in order to re-create a memory. Actually, they were surprisingly willing to do so. Love for Luke Snyder spread more widely than he felt he deserved. Noah knew better.
Upon exiting WOAK, Luke felt more than a little ridiculous, thanks in part to the breeze that was threatening to expose his bare backside through the slit of the hospital gown. Any temptation to refuse being helped onto and off of the stretcher and onto the hospital bed were silenced upon sight of the two hospital orderlies assigned to young Master Snyder. (Fifty bucks says Noah told them to send the two biggest guys they had) Luke considered waiting to apply the blindfold and earplugs until just before arriving at the hospital, but Noah had done his job all too well: the two bulldogs hired to get him to the hospital needed only to look expectantly at the young man in order to convince him to comply.
Not long after arriving in the room, the same hospital room in which he had spent more time than he cared to remember, he felt the blindfold being removed and the earplugs taken out (The hindering of senses had prevented him from being aware that anyone had entered the room). Since Luke's eyes had grown accustomed to the artificial darkness the blindfold provided, the florescent lights had him squinting his eyes – just as he had done the first time around – until they adjusted to their brightness. (So that's what the blindfold was for) he thought. (I've gotta hand it to him… that boyfriend of mine sure knows how to set the scene).
The first person Luke saw through squinted eyes was, to his surprise: "Mom?" he asked in disbelief. "So he's got you in on this too."
Lily was wearing the same red top she had been when Luke first awakened from Colonel Mayer's attack. "Who does, Sweetie?"
"My magical-moment-making boyfriend."
Lily feigned confusion. "Boyfriend? I thought you and Noah just started dating," she said, and caressed the side of her son's head. "Hmmm. Maybe you hit your head harder than we realized."
"Wow," Luke said, "your commitment to your character is impressive."
Lily smiled gracefully and kissed her son's forehead. "Why don't I let you two have some time alone," she said, and with a delicate smile made her way out of the room.
"You… Two?" It hadn't occurred to Luke that someone might be sitting to the other side of his hospital bed. "Ohhhh." There, in the corner, was Noah, (pretending to be) asleep in his chair. He was wearing his red and green checkered shirt, unbuttoned, with a t-shirt underneath. On his head was Luke's black baseball cap, the bill pulled forward to cover his eyes.
"Uh, excuse me, sir?" Luke said. "I believe you must have the wrong room."
Noah did a surprisingly professional job of making his awakening believable, though perhaps smacking his chops was a bit much. No matter; it made Luke smile, which was the point. "Hey… You're awake."
"How was our fishing trip?"
"Well…" Noah pulled his chair up to just beside Luke's bed, leaned forward, placing his elbows on the mattress. "Luke, I'm afraid I've got some bad news."
"My fish got away?"
"You remember my dad?"
"Ah, yes. How is Doctor Evil?"
"Well…" Noah paused for effect. "It turns out he was a liiiiiittle less okay with the gay thing than I thought."
"Wow. Do I look surprised? Because I am," Luke said. "No really, totally blown away."
"Yeah, you look it."
"Must be the shock," Luke said. "Snyders look remarkably unshocked when they're… ya know…"
"Shocked?"
"Exactly!"
"Mmmm. That must be it."
Luke looked down at his legs. "Any chance I'm in this bed because the Hampton Inn was all booked up?"
"Actually, that's the real bad news."
"Oh dear," Luke said. "Well, don't sugar coat it. Give it to me straight… in a gay sort of way."
"You've caught a little cold," said Noah.
"A cold?"
"Oops, I mean paralysis."
"I caught paralysis?"
"Just a touch."
"Oh dear."
"Only from the waist down."
"Awww darn." In mock disappointment, Luke snapped his fingers. "I'll never lose my virginity now."
"Whoa, now. Let's not get crazy."
"Okay, so I'll lose my virginity, I just won't feel it." Luke pouted. "No fun."
Noah chuckled. "Trust me on this one," he said, "when the time comes for you to lose your virginity, I will make it my personal responsibility to make absolutely sure that you feel it."
Knowing that Noah was the right man for the job, Luke (re)hired him on the spot. "Well… as long as it's not too much trouble."
"Hey, you know what they say: It's a dirty job, but nobody but me is gonna do it."
Luke laughed. "Not enough applicants?"
"If that gets me the job, then yeah. Not enough applicants."
"Surprising, what with the state of the economy."
"Mystery."
"Jobs being scarce and all."
Noah's head swayed to one side, then the other. "Well, to be honest… maybe there were a few other guys interested in the position."
"Oh were there now?"
"I'm ashamed to say it, but yeah, there were," said Noah, "but in my defense, they couldn't make it because they're all down in the emergency room."
"The emergency room? What happened?"
"It's the weirdest thing. Some crazed, jealous lunatic came outta nowhere and beat 'em all to mush."
"Oh my!" Luke said, stifling a laugh. "Was he a cute lunatic at least?"
"That's what's even weirder. People say he and I could be twins."
"Ooh. Tall, dark, and possessive. Just my type."
Noah hoisted an eyebrow. "Possessive?"
"You mean, I'm free to see other people?"
"Of course you are but… wait… wait… I'm getting a vision," Noah closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "Uh oh!" He looked at Luke. "It looks like any other guys who try to date you will turn up on the missing persons list within 24 hours of the date's end." He gave a hefty sigh. "Too bad, Luke. I was really pullin' for ya."
"Mm-hmm, you're practically oozing disappointment." Luke reached out and tweaked Noah's nose, but jerked his hand back before Noah could make a game of biting Luke's fingers. Luke risked a more serious tone. "You know… if I remember correctly, this isn't what you were wearing the first time you came to the hospital."
Noah allowed for the change in mood, but remained in the scene. "Really? Because other than a mandatory trip to the police station, I've been right here in this room the whole time… because that's what you do when you care about someone as much as I care about you." Noah's heart grew weighted, and his manner grew humble. "I should've been here," he said with quiet certainty, and aged sorrow. "You needed me," he continued. "You needed me and I wasn't here..."
Luke's tears rose and fell with his blessing, and Noah honored them by leaving them be.
"In all fairness," Luke said, "You've just found out that your dad killed your mom, not to mention he just tried to kill me."
Noah took a moment, then nodded as one does as they're gradually becoming convinced, but not of what Luke guessed. "Yeah, you're right," Noah said simply. "My dad tried to kill two people, and now I can either torture myself because of the time he succeeded. . . or I could be here thanking my lucky stars about the time that he failed." One word more and Noah's waterworks would have commenced.
For the moment that followed, only their eyes were needed, until Noah realized there was something he needed Luke to know. "True or false," he said, brushing his fingers lightly over his lover's cheek. "If, God forbid, anything like this ever happens to you again, your boyfriend will be the very first person you see when you open your eyes."
Luke's manner remained vulnerable, but he replied in the spirit of the game. "What do I get if I get the answer right?"
Noah deepened his voice. "How does a sex slave for the rest of the weekend sound?"
Apparently, dreams really do come true. "Wow. I guess I better get this one right, huh."
Noah clicked his cheek. "I guess you better."
"Well let's see… My boyfriend's name is Noah… which is made up of four letters." Luke puckered his lips, tapping the lower to emphasize his depth of concentration. "And there are also four letters in 'true'…." He wrinkled his forehead in cartoonish concentration. "Gee, this is a tough one."
Noah rolled his eyes. "Ya know, you could just say that your boyfriend is the dependable type."
"Oh sure, I could," Luke said, "But my boyfriend doesn't like me to let him off the hook too easily."
"Now how'd I know that would come back to bite me."
"But just for fun, let's try it your way and go wiiiiiith…" Luke took this opportunity to reinvent the pregnant pause. "True?"
Noah brought his smiling lips dangerously close to his lovers. "Congratulations, Sweetheart," he said, in a voice that made a willing meal of his boyfriend. "You just won yourself a sex slave." Naturally, Noah followed with a knee-weakening kiss.
Luke gazed up, his ears still tingling. "Um… did you just call me 'Sweetheart'?"
Even Noah's shrug seemed charming. "I always thought it sounded cool when Han Solo said it."
Luke's smile widened. "To Princess Leia?"
Noah squished his eyes shut to escape rejection. "I was kinda hoping we could overlook that part."
A giggle bubbled up from Luke's center. "Oh I suppose I can let that slide."
Noah opened one eye. "Yeah?"
"Sure," Luke said, "but I draw the line at the gold bikini."
Noah chuckled and ruffled Luke's hair, as Luke had often done to him, and said, "Mmmmm… you're a good boyfriend."
This time it was Luke who remained committed to the scene. "But if this is back then, then technically you're not my boyfriend yet."
"Unfortunately, you're right. I'm not," said Noah, keeping himself near. His voiced softened with sincerity. "But you have no idea how much I wanna be."
Luke lost a quick battle with the lump in his throat. "Even then?"
Noah, his eyes drunk with sympathy, smiled, then whispered, "even then."
"I… I never knew…"
"I know. And guess whose fault that was." Three times, Noah tapped the center of his own chest while pointing at himself.
"Oh, I dunno," Luke said, thinking his boyfriend's sense of responsibility might be stretching beyond fairness. "I'm sure my own insecurities played their part in putting the blinders on."
But losing this round wasn't an option for Noah, which his grin made clear. "Well maybe they did," he said, with a hint of teasing. "But someone like you deserves to be wooed in a way that leaves no question as to the gentleman caller's intentions."
Luke felt like the cutest guy in school had just offered to carry his books for him. "For what it's worth, today you're dropping all the right clues."
Noah couldn't remember a time (before this) when he was excited enough to fantasize about skiping down the hallway, but his plan was working even better than expected.
"So…" Luke continued, in the name of putting one final insecurity to rest. "Since we're currently in a scene from two years ago, I've gotta ask you… You're not afraid that I wouldn't wanna see you after what your dad did?"
"Oh, are you kidding? I'm terrified," Noah said, taking Luke's hand. "But the guy holding your hand now knows that that's not his call to make. . . and he's man enough to risk being rejected…" Noah squeezed the trembling hand he was holding. "…because not risking it means he might never get the chance to be with you again… and any man who can't see that…" He shrugged. "…doesn't deserve you."
Luke's eyes had begun to sparkle with wetness. "I'm starting to think you've got that backwards."
Noah leaned to kiss his lover; his lips would win this discussion if his words couldn't, and not only did they win; their victory was the stuff of legend. "Don't worry, Sweetheart," he said. "You let me take care of that." But Noah wasn't willing to let his own self get away with a cleverly placed turn of phrase. "Remember how you told me that... that you hoped I'd find a way to forgive my father... not for him, but for myself?"
Luke's nod was subtle; Noah wondered if he had imagined it.
"Well... I'm hoping you can find a way to somehow forgive me for not being who you needed me to be," said Noah, with a sad smile. "Not because I deserve to be forgiven," he said, "but because you deserve to be able to finally let this go."
And with that, Luke felt the last threads of the wound rip open, with Noah's single tear to mend it. The room would never again be remembered as a place for an insecure boy, feeling lonely and abandoned. It would be a place where Luke remembered feeling horrendously flawed, and yet for the first time, knowing what it meant to be perfectly imperfect. Noah had known him at his worst, at his meanest, and at his ugliest, and as he promised, he had stood by him, so maybe, just maybe he was still worth loving after all.
Noah took Luke's hand and kissed it in a gentlemanly fashion. "See you in your next memory."
